Round 2: A St. Patrick's Day Roast

The game of Rugby League is the product of many great ideas and concepts. However, many of these took some time to be recognised, accepted (and ultimately introduced) by the game’s administrators.

Despite ongoing financial struggles for a number of clubs (especially in inner Sydney) in the 1960s and 70s, it wasn’t until the early and then late 1980s that teams out of Sydney were introduced into top-class Rugby League and the shift towards full-time professionalism began. It was around this time that the first Saturday night games were played and despite the NBL showing how successful Saturday night games could be, it wasn’t until the mid to late 1990s that Saturday night games became a regular occurrence in top-class Rugby League.

The mid to late 1990s was a turbulent time in Rugby League, where it took more than two and a half years and many millions of dollars spent before someone realised the Super League War was a waste of time. More recently, the introduction of the second on-field referee had a gestation period of almost two decades.

In contrast, the Tuesday Roast's realisation that a St Patrick’s Day-inspired recap of an NRL round’s happenings would be a good idea came only a week after it should have happened.

Ladies and Gentlemen: presenting your Round 2 NRL recap in limerick form.

Souths v. Parramatta

South Sydney started the comp on fire
But some were worried they were too ‘high’
When Parra showed resolve
Souths had to fold
Anderson could be a great hire

Souths and Parramatta had vastly differing fortunes in Round 1, but took on opponents of vastly different quality: while Souths ran up the score (on a day when almost everything went right) against the pathetic Roosters, Parramatta threatened to be on the receiving end against the Warriors.

History pointed to a Souths’ victory in this game – given Souths usually start the season very strongly (whilst Parramatta are renowned slow starters) and Souths had a fairly easy game (whilst Parramatta had a typically tough game in Auckland) – but a number of smart tipsters had concerns. Could the somewhat youngish Bunnies maintain their focus after such an easy win? Would the five-day turnaround affect them (especially given their lack of familiarity with it)?

Normally, these concerns would have been almost insignificant, as Parramatta usually start seasons slowly and have rarely shown the desire to engage in a tough battle. But it quickly became apparent in this game that they were desperate to win; even from as early as the first minute, when Nathan Hindmarsh allowed the kick-off to run through his legs and into touch. The grin on Hindmarsh’s face and Parramatta’s ensuing tough defence on Souths signalled what was ahead.

Souths did score a few minutes (from a freak Sutton bomb) but never really threatened to score again. Souths was keen for the battle as well, but once Parramatta took the lead midway through the second half, it was going to take a mighty effort to win it back.

Could this be the start of a new era for Parramatta? An era of intensity, toughness and discipline? Reports from Parramatta were that the players were in their best shape for years; such reports can be commonplace at the start of each season, but it appears to be the truth in this case.

In the latter years of Brian Smith’s tenure and all of Michael Hagan’s time at Parramatta, their softness became increasingly apparent, but new coach Daniel Anderson’s disciplinarian style could be exactly the change this once-great club needed. To score a big win without a major contribution from their high-priced backline would have been unthinkable last year. It’s only Round 2, but Parramatta look to have a key ingredient for ultimate success in place early on.

Brisbane v. Melbourne

There once was a team from Melbourne
Who were convinced refs were against ‘em
When Gorrell knocked on
And Hoffman looked on
Wallace scored: that was (almost) the final margin

While these teams have undergone major transformations in personnel over the last few years, this remains once of the best rivalries in the NRL. Their semi-final last season was one of the best in recent memory and this game was very similar (even though the Storm is not quite the team they were from 2006 to 2008).

Brisbane dominated play for most of the first half after an early Storm try but increasingly desperate Melbourne defence meant Brisbane’s lead was just two points at half time. Brisbane took advantage of Melbourne errors and forced Melbourne into line dropouts to gain a significant edge in time in possession, but they also benefited from a penalty count in their favour, some of which were harshly called against the Storm. Anthony Quinn’s perceived forearm was little more than a reflex action and an unfortunate position of Sam Thaiday’s head, while the referees seemed to keep a closer eye on any illegal tackling techniques by the Storm rather than Brisbane.

That said, Melbourne would have been cheering to be down by just 2 at half-time, before the worst refereeing mistake of the night: a very obvious knock-on by Brisbane hooker Aaron Gorrell at dummy-half. There is a small chance the ball didn’t go towards Melbourne’s tryline, but this hasn’t stopped literally thousands of whistles being blown and knock-ons ruled over many decades in similar situations.

Obviously, Melbourne should have heard ‘Play On’, forgotten about the refereeing blunder and not allowed Wallace to score a rather easy try, but one senses the Melbourne players have had their fill of refereeing mistakes. This collective mental tiredness could become a major obstacle in their premiership path this season, as the significant decline in their depth of playing talent will mean they can’t count on just turning up to win a number of games (as they have in previous seasons). A huge effort will be needed more often than not: as it was in this game.

Luckily for Melbourne, Brisbane clocked off after Wallace’s try gave them an 8-point lead (just as they did in last year’s epic semi-final). Granted, the humid Brisbane night and the fast game (enhanced by the two referees and less use of the video referee) were also factors here, but Brisbane could have buried Melbourne with perhaps 10 minutes more of inspired play not long after halftime.

As it turned out, Melbourne slowly came back and looked more like the team we know and hate from previous seasons (although players like Proctor, Isa, Anderson and Hinchcliffe will take some time to become strong links in the Melbourne chain). After Proctor scored, Brisbane went further into shut-down mode and held on for the win (with a bit of luck) despite some Justin Hodges tomfoolery in the latter stages.

The much-hyped Greg Inglis had a poor game; injuries and the increased burden he has to carry looked to affect him. The remaining big-name Storm players will all have to shoulder a bigger load this season (after a number of years of long seasons and plenty of representative games). An injury or two could mean trouble for them. In the interim though, a tough trip to an even more humid part of Queensland awaits.

St George Illawarra v. Gold Coast

There once was a team from the Gong
Who couldn’t help but turn good things wrong
But since Bennett arrived
Their toughness has thrived
Now if only their attack could be as strong

Melbourne’s opponent from Round 1 – St George Illawarra – returned home to Wollongong to take on the Gold Coast, a team they have defeated in every match-up since the Gold Coast’s inception.

On paper, this looked to be a curious clash: the committed but struggling-in-attack Dragons against the flashy, skillsy but (for some unknown reason) softish Gold Coast. The Titans scored early after Scott Prince feasted on a wayward Ben Hornby pass, but failed to trouble the scorer for another 75 minutes despite some significant possession near the Dragons’ line.

While the Titans were perhaps unlucky not to score through Mark Minichello (due to a forward pass), the Dragons held a slim 2-point halftime lead which grew much stronger early in the second half. This occurred through more points, but most importantly more dominance of the game. The Dragons’ 12-4 lead seemed like much more than 8 points.

Prince complained after the game that his team suffered at the hands of referees who allowed the Dragons to dominate the ruck, but Dragons coach Wayne Bennett responded that the Gold Coast found it easy last week in the heat. As usual, both protagonists have a slice of truth in their comments, but the Dragons will eventually need to find some more points to win a sufficient number of games. In that respect, they will relish facing Cronulla this weekend; a team that also has a physically dominating style but rarely converts that into a high number of points.

Penrith v. Bulldogs

There once was a team from Sydney’s Far West
Whose talent was above many of the rest
But their dumbness is a major sin
So they don’t often win
They had the Dogs at their behest…

After the Bulldogs’ thrashing of Manly last week, they were heavy favourites to defeat Penrith on Saturday night. The ease with which they scored their first try in the opening minutes gave further weight to this.

From here, the game went topsy turvy. The smart, experienced Bulldogs made a number of inexplicable mistakes which allowed the talented but largely brain-dead Panthers back into the game. Penrith’s forward pack is the envy of a number of teams; Civoniceva and Waterhouse were especially effective and scored or set up several tries.

Penrith’s other weapon was their high kicking game. Despite the experienced Luke Patten at fullback, Penrith’s bombs often caused mayhem for the Bulldogs back three.

The Bulldogs’ second try was also rather easy and it was increasingly apparent that this game was fast becoming a typical game at Penrith: plenty of tries, plenty of mistakes and he who made the last mistake would suffer.

The Bulldogs overcame an 8-point halftime deficit quite quickly then the scoring stopped for a while. Penrith enjoyed the best of this period but made unforced mistakes or took poor options in their attacking zone or failed to exploit an increasingly tiring Bulldogs defence. Their somewhat makeshift halves combination was mostly to blame here, but they were far from alone.

Eventually Waterhouse gave Penrith back the lead and Penrith could very well have extended it or at least dominated possession so as to minimise the opportunities allowed to the Bulldogs in the final minutes but they did neither. Sammut’s failure to hear the referee’s call was unfortunate but far from the only Penrith mistake when the game could have been sealed.

The Bulldogs had one last chance to snatch victory and they did – albeit with an extra man on the field (why would an experienced player like Andrew Ryan run back on after being interchanged because a trainer told him to? Unlimited interchange went out many years ago) – but they should never have had such a chance.

North Queensland v. Wests Tigers

The Tigers looked impressive on Monday (hmm sorta)
Despite not really doing what they oughta
Hence the Cowbores and the heat
Combined with the short week
Meant they weren’t Tigers but Lambs (to the slaughter)

Last Monday night’s game between Wests and Canberra was fast and entertaining on a draining night and both teams suffered in Round 2 due to having to exert much more energy than necessary because of their high mistake rate.

Wests’ cause was exacerbated by having to play in steamy Townsville just five days after Monday night. That said, they trailed by only 10 approaching the hour mark of this game despite another very high mistake rate. They gifted the Cowbores a significant amount of possession and good attacking opportunities (while the Cowbores returned the favour, although not nearly as often).

This disparity was widened considerably in the game’s final 20 minutes as the Cowbores finished strongly and the Tigers wilted. Amazingly, the FOX commentators (and others, in post-match reaction) used this time to discuss the Cowbores’ top-4 prospects. It never ceases to amaze how a moment or two of excitement (usually from a perennial contender for the NRL’s Most Overrated title: Matt Bowen) can make even the most objective analysts forget the Cowbores’ obvious flaws from the last few seasons. A far better effort will be needed by the Cowbores to overcome the Storm on Saturday night.

Canberra v. Sydney Roosters

Canberra too went well on Monday (just short)
They were 2008’s attacking juggernaut
But while the Chooks tried hard
Canberra played like retards
They only barely got past naught

Once again, Canberra was near the top in wooden spoon favouritism when the betting markets were first released for the 2009 season. This seemed a crazy proposition: Canberra had a brilliant second half of 2008 and brought back almost all of the team which had such a successful run.

They were a touch unlucky to lose to the Tigers last Monday night, but Terry Campese had a wonderful game: his growing influence, in combination with a promising group of back, a very solid forward pack and a very good home record threatened to make life tough for the struggling Roosters on Sunday.

Canberra missed a great opportunity after just 2 minutes and Campese was successful in two 40/20 attempts inside the first 15 minutes (including an incredible check-side kick) and it seemed only a matter of time until Canberra’s attacking juggernaut got rolling.

But it never happened.

The Roosters were clearly a more committed team than the one embarrassed by Souths last Sunday, but Canberra’s defence asked them very few questions, none of which were very difficult. As the time without scoring increased, so did Canberra’s frustration (Campese, in particular, was seen several times screaming at his teammates: I’m sure Craig Fitzgibbon had a chuckle about this).

Meanwhile, the Roosters eventually opened the scoring, after a number of Canberra mistakes and penalties eventually allowed Anthony Minichello’s last involvement in an NRL game for several months to be a very successful one.

Canberra’s inability to score – or even threaten to score – continued and the Roosters extended their lead early in the second half. Minichello’s replacement – Ben Jones (usually a half or outside back) – played well and was rarely pressured in his new position by Canberra.

When Mitchell Pearce scored easily, the Roosters had the win sealed up with under 15 minutes to go: an embarrassing outcome for a team as talented as Canberra (even allowing for their two injured players).

Speaking of Pearce, his Roosters had every reason to be happy with their win, but they were not nearly as good as Mitchell’s father – Wayne (in the FOX commentary box) – suggested. He was almost as bad as Ray Warren calling Parramatta games.

Manly v. New Zealand

There once was a halfback named Stacey
Some had concerns he might be off the pace-y
But from his bag of tricks
Came two excellent kicks
And the 'Chur Bro’s' were in ecstasy

In 2008, Manly started quite slowly before their first home game (in Round 3): a thrashing of the Warriors. This game was only Round 2 and Manly was still without Brett Stewart, but they figured to put in a much better effort than their insipid performance against the Bulldogs last Saturday.

Helping Manly’s cause was the absence of two of the better Warriors players due to injury: Lance Hohaia and Micheal Luck (the spelling is correct: he’s the Dwyane Wade of the NRL). When Manly jumped to a 10-nil lead early on in balmy, un-Auckland conditions, a repeat thrashing looked on the cards.

But the Warriors responded and incredibly took the lead after three well-worked tries in no time (this was before Stacey Jones came into the game). Some vintage before-the-line passing from Steve Price set up two of the three tries.

Manly survived to half-time and the momentum swung back to them in the first period of the second half. They continued to attack the Warriors’ left side defence with further success and also executed well to score on the other side of the field.

But they also missed a number of other opportunities and given the speed of the game, the heat and Manly not being at their best (performance and match fitness), Manly’s 8-point lead looked vulnerable to another momentum swing. This was inspired the relatively fresh Jones, who turned the game suddenly with his chip kick and regather past a tiring Manly defence to cut the lead to 4.

It appeared Manly might hold on for the win as the clock ticked towards 80 minutes – the Warriors too were tiring and missed some possible opportunities for the win – until Jones’ final effort, a cross-kick. When Ropati came up with the loose ball and Kemp converted, this fast and entertaining (if mistake-heavy) game had its ending. One wonders if this draining game will affect both teams like the Tigers, Canberra and Gold Coast were affected this week.

Cronulla v. Newcastle

The team from the town dubbed ‘The New Cross’
Took on the Knights after a hot loss
The Game’s Greatest Thinker’s
Team put in a stinker
Their effort after Knights’ injuries was dross

Round 2 appropriately ended with an “Irish” game: Cronulla started the game against Newcastle looking fast and strong, but their performance went south once two of Newcastle’s better players (Simpson and Mullen) sustained injuries.

Conversely, Newcastle’s young side, after a slow start, picked up significantly after Simpson and Mullen left the game. Luckily for Newcastle, their side this week contained Scott Dureau as Mullen’s partner in the halves (and not the erratic Ben Rogers). Had Rogers been left as the only player in the halves after Mullen’s injury, Newcastle would have received such benefits as sloppy passes, bizarre kick options, a booming, swirling bomb (his one good play a game to make most forget about all his mistake) then more strange decisions.

That said, Newcastle was fortunate not to be behind 12-nil. A great attacking set from Cronulla threatened to result in their second try but Taulapapa’s effort was not quite as good as that seen from the indefatigable Kurt Gidley, who made up ground to nudge Taulapapa on to a small patch of white line.

From the ensuing possession, Newcastle scored then had the better of play until half time and continued this effort until their lead was 18. They had some luck with refereeing decisions (specifically on their second and third tries) but were far better than the Sharks during this time.

Cronulla did cut the deficit to 12, but got no closer due to a combination of uninspired, monotonous attack, relentless Newcastle defence and some (more) luck where a number of stoppages allowed the short-handed Knights to catch their breath. This wasn’t very lucky for Newcastle’s Cameron Ciraldo, whose foot was more east-west than north-south, but a number of other stoppages (and a cooler night at the climatically-bizarre Shark Park….?) meant Newcastle wasn’t suffering like other teams who lose players to injury during a game.

With the forecast again on the warm side for this weekend, Round 3 promises another series of games where fatigue plays a major role, but surely teams can’t sustain this pace as the heat continues, can they? See you next week.

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