Round 17: D'yawanna Seehaiku? (It’s a Question, Not the Newest Polynesian NRL Player)

A noteworthy feature of the NRL in 2009 has been the return of the older and wiser (relatively speaking) player. The factors which have driven the average age and number of older players in the NRL down over the last few decades (faster speed of game, bigger, stronger players and hence more force in every tackle, the salary cap remaining largely stagnant whilst salaries on offer elsewhere or in other sports have been rising, Reserve Grade’s gradual demotion from the First Grade curtain-raiser to sharing facilities with park Rugby League players and the increasing prevalence of NRL-ready physiques amongst up-and-coming teenage players) have been well-documented, but we may be witnessing an end to this trend. Thus far in 2009, a very important component to the success of those teams near the top of the ladder – while also improving the standing of some struggling teams – has been the increased presence of experience and wisdom, especially in the important playmaking positions.

The return of experience to the NRL has been seen in several forms. These include the star player (who, due to good luck, good management and a desire to continue playing in the NRL, continue to enjoy very successful careers well into “old age” e.g. Civoniceva, Price, Lockyer, El Masri, Simpson, Hindmarsh), the late career renaissance (those who have never left the NRL but may as well have, due to long-term injury, poor form, a dramatic improvement in coaching received or being stuck on a rubbish team before moving somewhere their talents come to the fore e.g. MacDougall, Chris Walker, Ryan, Kimmorley, Patten, Cooper, Campbell) and the return from elsewhere (otherwise known as “what time in the wilderness can do for a player’s perspective” e.g. Wendell, Stacey Jones, Brad Meyers, Barrett).

The most recent example of the value of experience culminated last week (but was apparently in the works for some time). Brisbane’s on-field experience was cut significantly over recent years and as the Broncos’ losing streak mounted, it became apparent that an older, harder head (and jaw) was needed. Enter Tonie Carroll, six months or so into a real estate agent career, but Brisbane’s fortunes turned around almost the instant after which he returned to the field on Friday night.

While it appears to be the end of the trend for more on-field youth in the NRL, it is hard to see the trend reversing: unless Rugby League once again fully embraces its working class roots, you won’t see most players debuting at age 23, you won’t see most clubs holding on to their veterans until they can no longer play and you won’t see older, smarter players receiving their due when they are on the open market.

However, it is not a stretch or an untruth to say that most NRL followers have enjoyed the return of the experienced player; the Tuesday Roast shares this sentiment. As a tribute to the experienced players of the NRL, this week’s Roast will incorporate literary techniques representative of cultures where experience and wisdom are highly sought-after and much-respected qualities. Yes, it’s Haiku time again.

St George Illawarra v. Sydney Roosters

A slow Dragons start
Was turned around after half
Powered by Soward

On paper, the top-of-the-table Dragons had a decided edge over the bottom-placed Roosters but, as long-time Dragons’ supporters will tell you, these are dangerous games. The supporters’ suspicions were confirmed in the first half, as a committed Roosters team played well above their ladder position to take a 6-point lead to half-time. While a slow start may have been expected by some, the TAB was sufficiently concerned by the Dragons’ effort to register them as only a slight favourite to come back and win.

As it turned out, the Dragons’ price for winning plummeted early in the second half as several penalties and a half-time adjustment or two (looking to pass wide so as to go around the Roosters’ compressed defence) saw the Dragons take the lead not long into the second half. As it was against the Tigers last week, it was Jamie Soward who led the way. His ever-improving decision-making meant it was raining opportunities for the Dragons’ right-side attack – first-time right centre Matt Prior scored two tries, while Wendell bagged one – before Soward finished off a solid win with yet another long-range, runaway try against the Roosters.

Brisbane v. New Zealand

For Un-Zid, it was
Must-win again, but Tunza
And DT were huge!

This game was the Warriors’ second in their South-East Queensland road trip and it was quite similar to their match against the Gold Coast last Saturday night. Again, the Warriors started very strongly but again, they couldn’t convert much of their advantage into points. And again, they chose a penalty goal, which turned out to be a poor choice, as their attacking opportunities dried up as the game went on.

But the story of this game was the dominance of Brisbane’s much-maligned Dave Taylor. He has shown glimpses of dominating games during his relatively short time in first grade, but his on-field time in first grade has reportedly been heavily reduced due to a poor attitude to training etc. For Brisbane to allow someone of such potential to sign elsewhere for next season suggests something is not right, but after watching Taylor put Warrior after Warrior on their back with barnstorming runs…surely these problems could have been worked through. Taylor could be one of the game’s great props.

One of Rugby League’s great locks in the last decade or so was Tonie Carroll. Little was expected from him in this game, his first game back after a comeback from retirement, but it was as if he’d never left. The hard runs off Lockyer on the edge of the ruck, the textbook crunching tackles…you get the impression he could play another few years (he may have to do this, of course, to put food on the table if life becomes much tougher in the Gold Coast real estate market).

Between Taylor and Carroll, Brisbane now had some punch in the forwards they’d been sorely lacking so far this season. This inspired Brisbane to come back from an early deficit and record a strong victory, with intensity and ball movement not seen in many matches (it was perhaps not a coincidence that Brisbane’s team play picked up once Folau went off injured).

Souths v. Wests Tigers

The Tigers are back…
…Sort of. Farah was great, but
Not much value here.

The first game on Saturday night was a tough one to tip, but also a tough one to watch: both the Tigers and Souths have been struggling mightily over the past month and beyond. While this game showed that Souths still have much work to do to in several areas – ‘on the field’ being the main one – the points-happy Tigers shouldn’t be too satisfied either. Once you score 36 points, there really shouldn’t be any nervousness, but this was the case as Souths mounted a mini-comeback and could have cut Wests’ lead to 12 with much time remaining.

However, when Simpson blew this chance, the Tigers steadied and added three more tries for a convincing win. Robbie Farah (a.k.a. the Ventriloquist) had a hand in almost every Tigers try, while Benji appeared more comfortable wearing number 6. Benji had some good moments but also some bad ones, but a sneaky highlight in this game came after Benji’s very questionable decision to try and set up Tuiaki for an inside pass near the Tigers’ goal-line saw Craig Wing knock the ball from Benji’s hands and lead to a Souths try. As replays of Benji’s silliness were being viewed, the music man played Katy Perry’s “Hot and Cold”: quite apt, really, for both Benji and the Tigers.

Melbourne v. Newcastle

Newcastle lift for
The big-name teams; but Storm
Hung tough, did enough

The bookmakers and (almost all) tipsters were pretty much unanimous: Melbourne just doesn’t lose two in a row, especially when the second game is at Olympic Park and even more so when their opposition is backing up five days after a Monday night game.

But this is not the same Melbourne Storm of 2006-2008: the Storm has had a number of close calls at home this season and really should have lost back to back games when the Warriors played them on ANZAC Day. Also, Newcastle is on the way to becoming a genuine premiership threat. Sure, they have troubles with consistency and disposing of teams they are expected to beat, but they have been nothing short of brilliant against teams above them on the ladder this season. Most importantly, Newcastle gave Melbourne two of their toughest games of 2008; a narrow loss at Olympic Park (where Melbourne’s reliance on Folau reached new heights – no pun intended) and an inspiring one-point win in Newcastle.

Despite being without veterans Simpson and MacDougall, Newcastle gradually dominated possession on Saturday night, but found points hard to come by due to a combination of excellent Melbourne defence and a very slippery surface. Nevertheless, Newcastle held a slim lead into the dying minutes of the game but just couldn’t hold on, as Inglis set up Chambers for the winning try.

Melbourne is somewhat difficult to decipher: at times, they appear brilliant, other times, they seem tired, but most of the time, they seem to do just enough (even if that’s not quite the plan) to win, especially at home. It remains to be seen how they will emerge from the Origin period; even in their best years, they have struggled to be near their best during this time.

North Queensland v. Cronulla

A tough one for the
Injury-hit Cowboys, but
They were just too good

An unusual challenge confronted Cronulla in the early minutes of their game against the Cowboys on Saturday night: their highly regarded opposition losing several important players. All of a sudden, Cronulla was not quite the rank outsiders many had expected them to be. They would have had the lead were it not for some excellent Cowboy defence and the archaic corner-post rule, but nevertheless a nil-all halftime score line against the Cowbores with Feral Thurston was a significant achievement.

The Cowboys lost another player to injury early in the second half; not necessarily a great player, but one hard to replace in the current interchange system (winger John Williams). This made their four-try burst to put the game out of the gallant Sharks’ reach even more impressive.

Canberra v. Gold Coast

Titans hate cold
Their Coast is Gold not cold, but
No thrashing this time

The Gold Coast has shown further improvement across many areas in their third season in the NRL. Even their winning percentage outside of Queensland – traditionally this has been poor – has increased towards fifty per cent.

But for some reason, the Titans just cannot compete for 80 minutes in Canberra. True, their second half comeback was impressive – they really had no right to have a chance at tying the score in the game’s final seconds – but they should never have been down 28-6 at halftime. It was simply too easy for Canberra, who played well, but not at the same level as they did when beating Melbourne last week.

Canberra’s monster forward pack again laid the platform against the injury-hit Titans but the unlikely duo of Phil Graham and Josh Miller each picked up two tries, which reflected shoddy play on the part of the Titans: Graham hasn’t outpaced any serious opposition since before his terrible run with injury, while Miller’s two close-range tries spoke volumes about Gold Coast’s on-line defence.

To compound matters, after Canberra lost winger Justin Carney to a horrible broken leg, the Titans failed to explore opportunities on Carney’s side of the field (the right side) where it is well known that Canberra’s defence was shoddy even when Carney was present. Canberra has to play a lumbering forward in their outer right-side defence, but Prince and others failed to test the resilience of Canberra’s makeshift defensive combination. Overall, it was another poor afternoon in Canberra for the Titans, although at least it was no annihilation this time.

Penrith v. Parramatta

A Wild West Shootout
But with bullets of rubber;
Defence > round de-field

A packed suburban ground, a cool but sunny afternoon, a local derby and both teams in need of a win: the ingredients for a fast, entertaining game at Penrith on Sunday afternoon were seemingly all ticked off. But it became clear from quite early on that both teams had left their desire to defend as a team in the change rooms or on the bus. There were many points scored but labelling many of these as ‘try’ would have been exaggerating things just a tad.

However, the game ended up being quite entertaining (as long as you didn’t look too closely at the ease with which points came) as the game featured a number of lead changes and a number of displays of attacking brilliance. Players such as Hayne, Mortimer and Hindmarsh for Parra and Jennings, Walsh and Paulo for Penrith wowed the crowd…but it seemed as though Parramatta had a slightly better attitude and, more importantly, the lead late in this game.

But the win – and perhaps Parramatta’s faint chances of making the top 8 – were snatched away by a combination of the lightning-quick Jennings and that Walsh and Graham got him early ball and space a number of times. His almost undefendable step allowed Penrith to re-take the lead for good with 4 minutes left and the first real defensive commitment of the afternoon from Penrith sealed the win.

Manly v. Bulldogs

A great rivalry
Manly (just); Dogs gutsy
Game of the season

Given other results during Round 17, but also for reasons of revenge and stating that their premiership defence was far from finished, this was a must-win game for Manly. Their play in the opening minutes reflected this; Manly generally plays with an intensity and force amongst the best in the NRL, but there was no doubt they were at their best in these key areas early on. Another motivation for their strong start would have been the smallish size of the Bulldogs’ forward pack.

Manly jumped to a 6-nil lead but couldn’t stretch this lead any further, despite major effort, and the Bulldogs felt more comfortable about themselves and their chance for victory as it became clear Manly’s efforts were rather inefficient at leading to points. To paraphrase a tenet of martial arts philosophy, it appeared that Manly’s (over)aggressive play could have led to their demise, due to smart but committed play from the Bulldogs.

This game eventually turned into an epic, as these two committed teams with somewhat different approaches traded the lead and good opportunities to win, before the outcome was decided in the game’s final minutes as Manly’s Josh Perry summoned the energy for one more run before sliding across the line.

How good was this game? Manly v. the Bulldogs at Brookvale has provided some of the better games in the NRL since 2005, but this was the best of the lot. It was so good, in fact, it deserves more than a few paragraphs; discussion of this epic will feature heavily in the upcoming Roast for Round 18.

On that note, sayonara and see you next week.

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