While 8 NRL teams (or, at least, their non-representative players) are about to enjoy their first weekend off for season 2010, the Tuesday Roast enjoyed a bye weekend in Adelaide during Round 8.
Adelaide has a small but loyal core of rugby league followers (who enjoy the one game per season (in most years) played there), the Tuesday Roast spotted rugby league posts on two occasions and even found a pub in the city which was promoting the upcoming State of Origin series, but any full-time return by the NRL to Adelaide (the Adelaide Coopers perhaps?) looks a very long way off.
In any event, it's time for a very brief summary of Round 8's events pieced together from smidgens of information gathered over the weekend:
* Parramatta continued their improvement with a solid win over an understrength Bulldogs. The Bulldogs may not have been at their best but Parramatta can struggle in such situations; they are accumulating enough points now to struggle for a few more months and start their late-season charge.
* The other Friday night game saw Newcastle defeat Brisbane in a battle of the early season strugglers.
* On Saturday afternoon, Canberra's injury-hit squad made the Warriors think a win would be easy. The Warriors woke up to find themselves 16-nil down. Despite a late comeback, Canberra held on for a much-needed win.
* Gold Coast's run of form continued with an impressive win over fellow high-flyers Penrith. Penrith failed to exploit the weary Titan legs after a very tough Monday night game and Gold Coast gave a very professional display in recording a strong win.
* Melbourne toyed with the Cowbores on Saturday night. Their task was made easier by another injury to Feral Thurston (which, rumours suggest, was deliberately inflicted by Melbourne players who wanted Cooper Cronk to be Australia's halfback) but Melbourne's ability and carefree attitude meant they were far too good.
* The final Saturday game saw the Dragons thrash Cronulla.
* On Sunday, a late Braith Anasta bomb and Beau Ryan fumble brought the game to life after 70-odd minutes and gave the Roosters a 12-8 win over the Tigers.
* Lastly, it was another impressive first 50 or so minutes by Manly before another late collapse allowed their opponents a sniff of a chance. However, Souths could get no closer than 8 points on this day.
Tuesday, 4 May 2010
Round 8: Bye from Adelaide
Tuesday, 27 April 2010
Round 7: Storm Warnings (or Storm Financial Phase 2)
The 2010 NRL season was altered drastically last Thursday when rumours of salary cap rorting by the Melbourne Storm were confirmed. This was a rare event in the usually gossip-heavy world of Rugby League, where the initial buzz was dwarfed in magnitude by the official announcement.
Within minutes of the announcement of the Storm’s fate, there was a huge number of ramifications for a wide portion of the NRL and sports-loving public of Australia and even elsewhere. In this week’s Roast, we will attempt to discuss a small percentage of these and provide some insight as to where the season – and the game itself – may be headed.
For starters, the extreme punishment meted out to the Storm can only be viewed as suitable. To give anything less would have been seen as weak, toadying to News Ltd and bowing to the view that significant punishment would irreparably damage Rugby League in Melbourne. While it may be a lot to ask of their players to play out the remainder of the season for little incentive, if the Storm was allowed to shave $700k from their 2010 salary in the form of pay cuts or moving several players on to other teams/countries/codes, the risk in future years would be that teams would feel little threat from being over the cap early in the season.
This is especially so given how difficult it is for the NRL to find evidence of salary cap rorting and the relatively meagre resources at the NRL’s disposal to police salary cap rorting. If, in, let’s say 2013, a certain un-named team (let’s call them the B Broncos, no wait that’s too obvious….Brisbane B) realises they are well over the cap just before or early in the season and that the NRL somehow has got wind of this, then the solution could quite easily be to cut one or two players, take your points punishment and move on as if nothing happened.
Back to the players, while much has been made of their misfortune (even if they had no knowledge of any salary cap rorting), they must realise they are part of the club, just as the dodgy administrators are/were, just as the honest low-level administrative types are, just as the loyal supporters are. Many rugby league clubs have suffered in recent years from the acts of players, supporters and administrators; when people in one of these groups commits an offence, everyone is affected. When the Bulldogs supporters destroy trains and make people scared on their way home from matches, everyone suffers (through lower revenue from sponsors). When Danny Wicks and Chris Houston are arrested for drug-dealing, everyone in the Knights suffers. Knights’ administrators can’t say to sponsors “You can’t be angry at us, we didn’t deal those drugs”. Similarly, the Storm players can’t expect to play on as if nothing has happened when past administrators have been revealed as massive salary cap cheats. They must suffer along with everyone else at the club. Cameron Smith has been looking increasingly concerned with every media appearance in recent days, but he does very nicely for himself and will continue to do so, regardless of whether the Storm can play for points this season or not. If anyone deserves sympathy, it should be players like Brian Norrie, Ryan Tandy, Todd Lowrie, and Luke MacDougall: older players who signed with the Storm on bargain-basement contracts. The rorts were unlikely to have filtered way down to the lower ranks of the Storm’s starting 17. While cutting these players loose will only make a small dent in the Storm’s reported salary cap exceeding, you can bet some players of this ilk will be asked to leave and may find it hard to sign with a similar team/opportunity as they thought the Storm would provide them.
The Tuesday Roast will be back with more after this break.
Are you a Melbourne Storm die-hard supporter, whose heart has been ripped in two by recent events?
Did Craig Bellamy’s inspirational and defiant prepared speech to the media last Saturday bring a tear to your eye and a warm, fuzzy feeling to your heart?
Did Bellamy’s passion reach out and grab you, despite his tenuous command of the English language, nervous and staccato delivery, abbreviation of words that were never meant to be abbreviated and overuse of cliché? Did he leave you wanting more?
Well the latest offering from News Ltd Merchandise is for you! It’s Craig Bellamy putting his spin on of some of the most famous speeches ever!
Hear Bellamy convey the passion of Martin Luther King… “Oi have a dream that me four little children will one day, at the en of the day, live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their crackter….”
Close your eyes and imagine Bellamy in much more of a battle than anything on a rugby league field… “We shall defend our Oi-land, whatever the cost may be, we shall foit on the beaches, we shall foit on the landin grouns, we shall foit in the fields and in the streets, we shall foit in the hills, we shall never srenner…”
Bellamy channels a similarly popular figure from America’s past… “And so, moi fellow Mericans, ask not wot your cunry can do for youse but wot youse can do for your cunry. Moi fellow cizens of the world, ask not wot Merica will do for youse, but wot togeffa we can do for the freedom of man…”
But Bellamy is not just an intense rugby league coach, he also has a softer side… “I stan before you t’day the representive of a family in groif in a cunry in mournin in a world in shock. We are all united not only in our desoir to pay our respects to Doiana but rather in our need to do so. For such was her extrordinry appeal that the tens of moolyins of people takin part in this service all over the world via television and radio who never actually met ‘er feel that they too lost someone close to them in the early hours on Sun-dee mornin…”
Plus many more speeches for any occasion! With Mothers Day approaching fast, I couldn’t think of a better present for mums and contemporary English students alike!
From May 7th, this epic album will be available at all stores, but before then, it will only be available from Melbourne Storm offices at a bargain price of $700,000 divided by how many sales we get! Plus every 100th sale gets to visit the Melbourne Storm marquee – who knows what goodies you might find!
So the more you buy, the cheaper it is and look out for a secret goodie – philosophies we uphold here at the Storm since 2006!
Welcome back. The news of Melbourne’s salary cap rorting has renewed calls to adjust or eliminate the salary cap in the NRL for a number of reasons (to encourage junior development, reward long service, the salary cap is too difficult to police and it is responsible for too much talent being lost to overseas or other codes).
In the current financial environment for the NRL and its clubs (most of who are struggling), a salary cap or some form of expenditure restraint is an absolute must. As a former NRL staffer once revealed to the Tuesday Roast “You need to have the salary cap to protect the clubs from themselves!” The combination of insufficient revenues from the sale of TV broadcast rights, payments back to News Ltd for monies invested during the Super League War and into the Melbourne Storm and a difficult financial environment for many clubs (especially in Sydney) means the salary cap absolutely cannot be lifted; if anything, it probably could be lowered.
However, if the anticipated leap in TV revenue comes from 2013 and some/all of the other factors placing a drain on the game’s revenues can be repaired, there is the possibility of a substantial jump in the game’s revenues. This could come in the form of a much higher salary cap but probably should come in the form of no salary cap but some other form of equalisation amongst the clubs.
The current regime has helped to maintain a strong level of parity across the competition, but it has seen a type of laziness amongst clubs. Teams do not necessarily have to invest in junior development or highly value players who have been at the club for many years. Not to say these areas are not important, but when the best teams or the teams on the rise see their salary bill push up to the value of the cap, there are usually a high number of players off-contract who can largely fill any voids your team may possess.
The logical extensions of this are that experienced players are not as highly valued as they ought to be and roster turnover is higher than it should be: both of these reduce the ultimate quality of the play in the NRL.
In a regime without a salary cap, there would be more scope for teams to dominate over longer periods, but teams would receive a greater return on investment in junior development, would be more able to keep experienced, veteran players and they would have the greater incentive (more often than not) of a great team to emulate and strive to be like. This cannot be understated; in those team sports across the world without a salary cap, or in those individual sports where one man/woman has dominated for years, there is a greater incentive from all within the game to get better, a greater target to aim at, as opposed to a system of greater parity where near enough is often good enough.
Of course, a completely open system would likely to be too problematic; some conditions to make it fairer for small teams are probably needed (e.g. some sort of benefit for those teams with long-standing players). This could come in the form of revenue-sharing from the NRL (and perhaps slightly more revenue to those teams with longer-serving players). However, if the mutterings about the number of other teams rorting the salary cap is close to correct, then perhaps a simpler, more open system of equalisation is needed.
This could be in the form of a points cap, where each player is ascribed a notional points value based on his level of experience, rep game participation, whether he was a junior with his current club and whether he is a long-serving player. Of course, while this system is completely open and the points for each player would be made public, it has its own problems too, such as the method of allocating points for each player. The National Basketball League has operated with a points cap for a number of years now and has discovered complexities which were not evident prior to its implementation.
While much still remains uncertain, one thing does seem clear: there will have to be change to the current system sometime in the next few years. The NRL cannot risk discovering massive rorting by a number of teams; rugby league is noted for its resilience and ability to cope with adversity but surely this would be too much.
On to the Round 7 action:
* On Friday night, the Bulldogs started slowly but put Brisbane away with a 3-try burst early in the second half. In the other game, a surprise comeback from injury by Feral Thurston was not enough to stop the resurgent Eels from making it two wins in a row.
* Saturday’s action saw Penrith overcome the gallant Tigers in a very competitive, but error-riddled game. In the other game, Cronulla made it two in a row at home by starting slowly but ultimately thrashing a pathetic Newcastle side.
* Sunday’s triple-header saw Canberra give up its second straight huge lead at home in losing to Souths, the Roosters were able to stay with the Dragons for 40 minutes but repeating this task proved far too difficult as the Dragons won easily before the still-very-motivated Storm thrashed the woeful Warriors.
* The final game of the round on Monday saw Gold Coast make the most of their luck in the first half to stay close to a rampant Manly team before taking advantage of their late-game tiredness to record a famous win.
See you next week.
Tuesday, 20 April 2010
Round 6: Brought to you by PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, TAB Sportsbet, Centrebet, Sportingbet, Betfair etc. etc. etc….
“This is Brown, he beats one! He’s got the fullback to beat! Good stop, try saving tackle from Coote! He came up trumps…” Jason Costigan commentating Warriors v Panthers on Sunday
Round 6 of the NRL in 2010 had to largely make do with a bad hand as a number of teams struggled after tough Round 5 games and/or a mounting injury toll, but ended on a high after a surprise ace up its sleeve (in the form of another intriguing chapter in the Melbourne-Manly rivalry).
Friday night’s action kicked off with the Tigers in a heads-up battle against the Bulldogs. The Tigers must have felt they were up against a stacked deck; they were missing a number of key players while the ante had been raised for the Bulldogs after their slow start to the season.
A strong start for the Bulldogs and a high Tigers error count made the Tigers’ task that much more difficult; surely if the Bulldogs played their cards right, they would win this one easily. The final score was a fairly wide margin of 20 points but it was a very determined effort from the Tigers when the chips were down: the margin was only 8 points with 7 minutes left.
The second Friday game saw the short-handed Dragons travel to the Gold Coast to take on the Titans. The Titans were coming off an amazing win over Melbourne last week, but even their most ardent supporter would admit they were hit by the deck and sucked out (to an extent) to get the win. When the dealer turned over a 12-point deficit for the Titans early in the second half, the task for them to follow suit and come back again this week was just too tough. It was a very impressive effort from the Dragons; their typically solid, structured performance produced in spades.
Saturday’s action kicked off in Newcastle, where the more-boring-than-normal Cowbores came to town. It was painfully obvious from very early on in this game that the Cowbores were not playing with a full deck: the absence of Feral Thurston, Payne and Nutjob O’Donnell, plus the presence of Ty Williams, meant the Cowbores were taking 2 club-7 spade into battle against Newcastle’s pocket Kings.
But the flop was crazy: 7-4-5 all clubs and somehow the Cowbores were back in the game. However, the turn brought a third King (in the form of Cooper Vuna making a set of tries) and a blank on the river meant the Knights held on for the win.
The final Saturday game saw Canberra travel to Sydney to take on the Roosters. Canberra successfully called Parramatta’s pathetic bluff on the previous Monday night and took a strong hand to the showdown, so much so that they were given a solid chance to make it two wins in a row. But the Roosters were due for a win and their strong effort was helped by a high Canberra error count.
Canberra coach David Furner would no doubt have called a spade a spade at half time, but the Roosters ace in the hole Todd Carney killed his former team. He kept his cards close to his chest after being vociferously booed by Canberra supporters before his first conversion attempt, but he would no doubt have been extremely happy to have performed so well against his former team.
Sunday’s early game was in Auckland, where Penrith travelled to meet the home side. The Warriors had enjoyed a string of wins or impressive close losses so far this season, despite having to shuffle their deck fairly often due to injury, so it was perhaps not a surprise they came up well behind when the cards were put on the table here: they were probably due for a stinker. In contrast, Penrith played their cards right and this worked in spades when confronted by the Warriors’ poor performance. They led 22-nil before the Warriors sat down at the table and won convincingly in the end.
Next up, it was the perhaps-permanently-short-handed Cronulla up against Brisbane. This would have been a top-shelf match-up not even two seasons ago, but the quality of both teams has since been lost in the shuffle. After a few tough weeks, the return of several aces in the form of Folau and Parker, as well as renewed confidence, meant a crushing win for the Broncos.
The final Sunday game saw Parramatta take on Souths. The Rabbitohs were playing with far from a full deck, especially in the forwards, but it once again emerged in this game that their greatest weakness is in their head. They were hit by the deck early on and should have had a convincing lead against the struggling Eels, but when Parramatta upped the ante late in the first half, Souths’ structure proved to be a house of cards. The main culprit here had to be Rhys Wesser, who made a number of fundamental errors in the first half and gifted Luke Burt an easy try after a pathetic effort to chase down a long kick early in the second half.
This game received considerable media attention after a high number of penalties against both teams forced the referees’ hand. The sin-bin bubble was broken first by Cayless, then the other referee followed suit as Champion joined Parramatta’s co-captain. But no attention was given to Daniel Mortimer’s two ‘dog acts’ (pun intended): his failure to own up to committing the offence which was incorrectly attributed to Cayless followed by his dangerous ‘attempt’ to compete for the high bomb, which could have injured the Souths winger. These were hardly surprises though; there is little doubt his father and uncles were involved in far worse than this.
Lastly, Monday night saw Melbourne take on Manly. These teams have been involved in a number of high-stakes battles since 2006, but Melbourne clearly suffered from their taxing game on the Gold Coast last week and failed to bring their A-game in the first 20 minutes after they sat down at the table. In this time, Manly jumped to a 16-nil lead. Manly’s forward pack often comes up trumps, but their ace in the hole this season might just be their new halfback Trent Hodkinson. His demeanour, solid defence and direct running are in impressive contrast to their declining halfback of previous years Matt Orford. While no-one outside of the northern beaches wants Manly to do well, it would be quite funny if the last two teams Orford left (2005 Melbourne and 2009 Manly) went on to have far better years after he left.
Melbourne battled back into the game with a short stack, but their game suffered due to Manly’s trump cards i.e. their ability to anticipate Melbourne’s pet plays and make them work harder than normal to score points. Melbourne had opportunities, but never seriously looked like winning here. Manly’s coach Des Hasler kept a poker face in the post-game press conference, but he would have been delighted at how well his team fared against the premiership favourites.
Until next time, may all your cards be live and your pots be monsters! See you next week.
Tuesday, 13 April 2010
Round 5: Welcome to the Whingeing Pom
In this week’s Roast, respect is paid to the English contribution to our game. Rugby League was born in England just over 100 years ago and it lives on there today. Despite the Super League in the UK being played at a generally lower and less intense standard than the NRL, most English teams enjoy a more loyal and passionate supporter following than their Australian counterparts.
As a tribute to this passion, let’s give a generous Aussie welcome to the newest Tuesday Roast correspondent simply known as Whingeing Pom. I met up with Whingeing Pom at the Oaks in Neutral Bay to dissect the Round 5 NRL action. So sit back, relax, lie back and think of England and enjoy.
“So Pommy, it was another interesting round of NRL over the weekend, although I sense you were not entirely happy with everything that went on?”
“Ohhh you’re not kidding there laddy! I dunno what it is about the NRL but it makes me right peed off, week in and week out like! For starters, that bloomin ol’ geezer Ray Warren. I know he’s an institution down under but bloomin heck, there’s no need to be giving away the score of the delayed game while the live game’s still showin!”
“But he didn’t say the score, Pommy, all he said was that the Gold Coast v Melbourne game was going to be a nail-biter. Nothing wrong with that is there?”
“Don’t be daft laddy! Only a nutter wouldn’t know based on that sorta comment that one team jumps out to a big lead only for the other team to coom baak strong-le! Although I must admit to aving a bit of a kip in the late going of the Dragons Broncos game as the Dragons cruised to the win, I guess I can oonderstand what e was doing like, tryin to men-ten interest. Boot still, very bloomin annoyin especially as I had a tenner on the Storm to win by 13 ploos into the Warriors and Raiders. I tell you, they urd me cursin’ ‘a’f a block away last night when Canberra got the win!”
“I feel your pain, Pommy, it could only have gotten worse when you saw the unlikely nature of the Melbourne loss?”
“Ohhhhh too right son, bloomin eck, if sum git told me the Storm would lead by 12 at half-time and go on to lose, I’d inquire if they’d taken a massive blow to the bollocks you know? And not just a blown lead, but that taam-wasting penalty: I must have missed the Olympic swimming watch that was showing in the stadium there like to tell everyone when those 40 blinking seconds were up! What a bloomin farce that was!”
“Alright mate, calm down. Souths and Newcastle, now there was a game which went pretty much as expected, a strong win for Souths. Isaac Luke with another great game. You can’t have had too many problems this game, old mate?”
“You know what son? I had to listen to most of this game on the radio. The plan was to meet oop at Jim’s place at Pymble, get a few chip butties and pints into us then watch the game. Bugger me tho if it doesn’t make an hour and a ‘a’f to get there from Cammeray tho! Jim told me it only takes 45 to an hour, bloomin blagger e is. I still erd the first 20 minutes on the radio, but you know it’s just not the same innit? Happy for Souths and yung Burgess like but that bloomin traffic…”
“Never mind, Pommy, you didn’t miss all that much. There was plenty of action in the late Saturday games, the exciting Tigers and Warriors both getting up for good wins.”
“Well you know, I was confident about the Cowboys’ chances (joost quiet-le, I still feel a bit uncomfortable tipping the Cowboys tho, sounds like a bit of a…you know…doe-noe if I should say this….a boom bandit name if you ask me) but of course they went out the window when Thurston got urt. Still, it’s surprisin how many teams play better – and how many teams let their guard down – when a big-name player gets urt, I thought the Cowboys still ad a shot like. But then that absolute blooming git O’Donnell threw the game away for them. What an absolute bloomin twat he was! He’s supposed to be an experienced player, then in no time at all, he gives away three penalties and gets himself sin-binned. The gobsh!te was lucky he didn’t get sent off! That was the game then and there like. Well doon, Tigers, another solid game from Gareth Ellis, started off by kneein Thurston in the bollocks to slow him down soom, but despite loosin a tooth and breaking his nose, he was my Man of the Match. Mug of the Match of course to that muppet O’Donnell”
“Not sure too many disagree with you there, Pommy, what did you make of the Warriors’ win?”
“Well as I said before, I thought the Warriors were a great chance in this one, I had them in my original weekend moolti with Storm 13+ and Canberra, but once the Storm lost, I changed tack soomwhat. I took separate mooltis with Bulldogs to win by 1-6 points and total match score between 41 and 50 points. Anyway, the first one looked in danger as the Warriors threw the ball round and led by 12, but I was happy seein the points on the board y’know? Even more so when the Dogs came back and woiped out the lead. For woonce, look was turning my way – or so it seemed. Booger me if that bloomin pillock Kimmorley somehow misses that easy field goal that woulda won the game! I swear he has something against me. It started with my 6-leg multi in 2005 which had Buderus as last try-scorer in Origin woon. Every bloomin extra time ends in a field goal except this woon, when bloomin Kimmorley picked out Matt Bowen perfectly with that intercept pass and Bowen gets last try instead. Cost me $1000 that day he did! Then the Warriors roob salt in my open wound with that late break, kick ahead that Luke Patten foombled and Hohaia scored. I couldn’t Adam and Eve it y’know?!”
“I’m beginning to understand the origin of your name, Pommy. How about Sunday’s action, any thoughts there?”
“Manly polished off the Sharks quite naarsley, an easy win there. What really got my goat about Sunday afternoon though was this was supposed to be an improved Brookvale Oval. Cronulla might have got belted by Manly, but at least they’ve ad soobstantial Government foonds to upgrade their ground. Brookvale is still roobish, little more than a park football ground! I guess that’s what happens when the entire Northern Beaches all vote Liberal at every election!”
“Yep ok, it’s probably best if we don’t hear your political views for everyone’s sake. How about the late game, any views on the resurgent Panthers?”
“No…..joost kiddin hahaha of course I have a view you silly git! Caught some of this game, Penrith looked quite impressive, but the Roosters looked lethargic. I know they’re a yoong team but all these games in the heat have taken their toll. But credit to Penrith for executin their game plan and tiring the Roosters out. I also noticed yoong Coote had a big game and received quite soom recognition for it. Not sure what all the foos was about though, he made a few nice plays, threw a fluky flick pass…not much really. Especially when Penrith had a much better young fullback in Jarrod Sammut. Yoong Sammut was faster, more athletic, a better kicker, more skilful and more confident than Coote….and doesn’t look like he’s 12 years old either! And Penrith had to let Sammut go to Old Blighty to get a game! I moost admit to wondering if Coote’s dad is on Penrith’s committee or something – how else can such an oonspeckTACKular player be so highly thought of?? I just don’t get it.”
“Fair point there Pommy, how about Coote getting man of the match in his debut when he dropped a number of bombs and missed all 4 shots at goal? It was a greater case of missing the obvious than Cronulla with Albert Kelly! Last game was last night and Parramatta and Canberra. Your take Pommy?”
“Well the obvious target in this game was that absolute blagger Mateo. What a lazy sod he is! But Parramatta really shouldn’t be surprised, they were always going to miss Todd Lowrie. Put it this way, Melbourne doesn’t go after dud buys, let me tell you. But what really got my goat was that so-called try to Ben Smith. I know it’s in the rules that he didn’t play at the ball with his torso but it’s joost not right like. Lookily Canberra got the win they deserved but the Smith no-try try could have swoong the game y’know? How embarrassin would it be if a try like that won some team a grand final? Cor blimey!”
On that note, tally-ho….I mean see you next week.
Tuesday, 6 April 2010
Round 4: Easter Eggs
As a special treat, this week’s Roast will be an 8-pack of Easter Eggs. Instead of being chocolate, these Eggs are of the metaphorical variety, but this doesn’t mean they will be any less satisfying as they contain tasty discussion of many of the key issues in the NRL. Another key difference here is that these Eggs are easily found – unless you looked for them on Tuesday that is (sorry guys).
Hornby retires from representative Rugby League – is he serious?!
On Good Friday morning, when most League supporters were looking forward to analysis and prediction of the clash of the best two teams (by some margin) so far this season, the news of Ben Hornby’s decision to make himself unavailable for the season’s representative fixtures instead took up column inches. While frustration would have been ultimately felt at breakfast tables across Australia as this piece of irrelevance was made public, the first reaction had to have been one of hilarity.
Put simply, has a player with less hope of making representative games ever announced his retirement from them? Perhaps delusions of adequacy swept through Hornby as a flash-in-the-pan Brett Kimmorley returned to State of Origin aged 75 last season and made Hornby think he was a chance again. Or maybe Hornby got concussion after falling on his ribs in scoring the season’s opening try at Parramatta. Admittedly, Hornby might have been a chance of selection in the City-Country game, but if such a pointless selection happened, he could have done what Matt Cooper, Eric Grothe, El Masri and several others do (or did) year-in and year-out: make up a minor injury and miss the game.
After the Dragons were soundly beaten by Melbourne on Friday afternoon, it would not have been surprising if it was reported many of their players wished they’d used a similar excuse before this game. While the score-line was often close, Melbourne was well in control for most of the game. Quite frankly, the Dragons should have been embarrassed they couldn’t produce somewhere near their normal level of play when it was needed, and that they looked largely ineffective when they fell behind and rarely threatened the Storm try-line.
For Melbourne on the other hand, Friday was further confirmation how far ahead of the rest of the NRL they are. They struggled at times, although were never seriously threatened, through the first 3 weeks against some mediocre opposition, but when a test loomed, they lifted strongly and executed their game plan almost flawlessly, despite missing a number of highly regarded players.
While Melbourne would have been ecstatic at their performance, much of the media experienced a similar reaction, especially after Billy Slater’s late try and Cooper Cronk’s pass to Slater. Unfortunately, it should not have been a try as Cronk’s pass was noticeably forward to all not in purple or in possession of a Channel 9 media pass. It is understandable why so many chose to overlook the forward pass; this game, while being very well played, was hardly “exciting” for the layperson. But that doesn’t make it right.
Carney’s resurrection continues, but should it be happening with the Roosters?
Unfortunately for the purposes of the above headline and its pun value, the Roosters Broncos game did not take place on Easter Sunday. Of course, this did not mean that Todd Carney’s “resurrection” couldn’t continue. It was another stellar performance from Carney as the Roosters accounted for the struggling Broncos fairly comfortably; Canberra can only have wished they had a halfback an eighth as good as Carney.
With Greg Bird making a similarly strong impression with a new club after a period out of the game for bad behaviour, the question is being increasingly asked whether troubled but highly talented players should be sacked from their club. In such a close competition, Carney and Bird are pivotal players, as the form of Cronulla and Canberra since these players departed indicates. It can be a fine line between satisfying season ticket-holders and sponsors and maximising the chances of winning games; perhaps Carney and Bird would not ever have been able to rehabilitate with their previous club? If so, perhaps compensation from the club to benefit from a rehabilitated star player is needed? You’d like to think rugby league’s crackdown on bad behaviour will mean such questions do not again need to be considered, but it would be naïve to think five years’ worth of vigilance will change an entire culture.
Sharks’ signing Smith shows his true colours
Saturday night’s first game was not one for the archives. One team couldn’t care less, the other team….just couldn’t (for the most part). Throw in the rain and it was probably a surprise the combined score for the game reached 11.
But the game was memorable for Tim Smith’s contributions. He struggled to make much of an impact in general play (although his relatively unknown goal-kicking talents were pressed into service after a season-ending injury to Luke Covell) but he showed he will feel right at home in the Shire. Firstly, a cut meant he had to change his jersey during the game. This normally leads to wolf-whistles from the female part of the crowd, but a Southern Cross tattoo across Smith’s back caught the eyes of the local male redneck population.
Secondly, Smith’s post-game quote to the media (referring to his first-half head clash and its effect on his memory) warmed the cockles (cock…tee hee) of many a Shire yokel’s heart: “I can’t really remember hardly anything”
Cronulla will probably still finish towards the bottom of the ladder this season, even with the signing of Smith, but at least they will be more interesting.
Cowbores try something less boring and (shock horror) become a revitalised team!
A combination of injury and poor form meant the Cowbores had to make a number of changes for their important match against the Gold Coast on Saturday night. Each new player – Shannon Gallant, Ray Thompson and Will Tupou – was making his first grade debut for the Cowbores and for Thompson and Tupou, it was their first grade debut for any club. The exit of Ty Williams, Michael Bani and Grant Rovelli from first grade meant a sizeable void in experience – but would the youthful enthusiasm more than offset this?
The answer was a resounding YES. Gallant was a star in rare appearances for the Tigers in recent years but somehow found himself stuck behind Williams in the full-back pecking order for the Cowbores, despite Williams being able to time his 40m sprint using a calendar. Even more perplexing for the Cowbores is that Gallant plays a lot like their injured star full-back Matt Bowen. FOX’s Andy Raymond reached new heights of on-air diplomacy when he stated “I think Shannon Gallant is a little more in the mould of Matty Bowen than Ty Williams is, with the greatest of respect to Williams of course”. It was hardly surprising that Gallant had an excellent game; hopefully he has a big one this week against the Tigers who stupidly released him late last year.
But Thompson and Tupou also enjoyed very solid debuts. Thompson’s neat no-look flick pass leading to the Cowbores’ first try was almost Benji-like. Rovelli wouldn’t be able to replicate such a pass in 1000 attempts. It was the start of a very confident opening game. Meanwhile, Tupou defended in the Cowbores’ sieve-like right-side defence and was asked to defend in the centre position (despite being a winger) so Williams’ partner-in-slime Ashley Graham could defend on the wing. Amazing! The Cowbores’ right-side defence was much improved.
With much of their dead wood gone, the Cowbores recorded an easy win over the Titans. Who knows how many more talented youngsters from the far north are in the Cowbores’ extremely boring system? This team could be anything as long as Feral Thurston hangs around.
Manly finally shrug off the curse of the penalties
In their first three rounds, the large and somewhat immobile Manly side suffered more so than most when on the receiving end of a number of penalties. While they were far from perfect in a number of areas in their 14-6 win over the Warriors, Manly would have been much happier that a series of penalties to their opposition did not result in a number of tries being conceded. This is especially so given that they had to endure 10 minutes with one less player than the Warriors.
This was one of the better games of the weekend, despite the high number of errors. Both teams are playing quite well and are above the pre-season expectations of many.
(Rampant Raiders + Terrible/Tremendous Tigers) * Sunday Afternoon = Entertainment Plus
It became apparent quite soon into Sunday afternoon’s game at Canberra Stadium that the home team was in a rare mood. This happens every so often (more so usually against high-flying opposition and/or when the Raiders are not expected to win) but when it does, it is almost always a large Canberra win. Rampaging forward runs, crisp ball movement, excellent play-making and strong defence mean field position for whoever is unlucky enough to be Canberra’s opposition is almost impossible to get. Usually, when Canberra cools off, the game is well out of reach.
It almost happened here – on several occasions – but the Tigers did just enough to stay in the game (and received enough good fortune to stay in the game), but once they realised they weren’t out of the game and started to turn around Canberra’s possession advantage, they stormed back into the game. Farah’s decision to throw the long pass deep in the Tigers territory paid off massively (although there was a huge amount in Croker’s knock-down bouncing nicely into Farah’s hands); this made it only 22-10 but it was the turning point. Campese’s unfortunate penalty goal attempt into the post was also very unlucky, but a standard miss or make probably would only have been a small hindrance to the Tigers’ momentum.
In the end, the score-line blew out late; the Tigers were certainly not 13 points better than Canberra, but it was another great game. Not just a comeback, but a well-played game. Phil Gould sounds like a broken record with his love for Sunday afternoons, but there is no doubt games are of a higher quality in natural light and (usually) dry conditions.
Newcastle and Penrith in Easter Monday battle of dumb play
On Monday afternoon, it was another huge comeback, but not nearly the same quality of play. Newcastle dominated the first 20 minutes but failed to score and Penrith took a surprise lead. Newcastle then posted 4 tries as Penrith made a large number of mistakes (errors and dumb penalties conceded) to give Newcastle much possession.
Newcastle’s 18 point half-time lead was then frittered away as routine attacking kicks by Penrith were blundered by Newcastle. MacDonnell’s dropped bomb fell right to Michael Jennings who ran for the corner. A “nothing” mid-field kick led to another set of 6 tackles and then a try, before a Walsh grubber which appeared to be rolling across the dead ball line was ignored by 2 Newcastle defenders and set upon by Luke Lewis. In this time, it was Newcastle’s turn to give away dumb penalties.
Newcastle recaptured the lead when Jarrod Mullen showed Lewis his show-and-go scrum move for at least the fourth time, but Lewis allowed Mullen past him for the easy try. Penrith equalised again when Paulo was the only player to compete for the in-goal bomb kick.
Newcastle’s Scott Dureau almost gave his team back the lead with a brilliant field goal, but before this Penrith ignored several good field goal chances after questionable options by their hooker Iosefa (why was the more reliable Kingston not playing at such a crucial time??). Finally, the tiring Knights could not halt the dummy half runs of Penrith and a rare piece of smart play by former Knight Walsh put Purtell over the match-winning try.
Much drama, a big comeback, some great try-finishing plays, but much dumb play too. Overall, this was a low-quality affair. This is probably a tad harsh; it is only Round 4 after all. If this sort of game happens in Round 24 and both teams are well in finals contention, then there might be more of a problem.
Battle of the HYPED as Souths thrashes the Bulldogs
It took four rounds, but Souths finally displayed something near their potential as they easily disposed of the (briefly) high-flying Bulldogs. The much-hyped Sam Burgess – with Mum cheering him on from Russel Crowe’s box – scored two tries and led the Souths forward pack to a huge win over the short-handed but thoroughly out-played Bulldogs pack.
But one of Souths’ less hyped players also had a very good game – part of his stellar start to the season. What’s more, Beau Champion’s excellent game came against the increasingly favoured selection for the NSW left centre position in State of Origin, Josh Morris.
Of course, part of Champion’s success came due to being set up by John Sutton. The fake-tanned Burgess, Dave Taylor, Asotasi, Crocker will likely continue to command much of the media attention, but Souths’ fortunes will probably be determined more by the performances of Sutton, Sandow and lesser-known players like Champion.
See you next week.
Tuesday, 30 March 2010
Round 3: Show Us Ya Bags!
Instead of the typical dry and boring discussion about last weekend’s events in Rugby League, this week’s Tuesday Roast will instead play the role of Easter long weekend news reporter with a look at the best of this year’s Easter Show Showbags.
The traditional trip to the Easter Show can often end in traditional pain for Mum and Dad’s bank balance! But this needn’t be the case. There are a number of showbags on offer this year which are all the rage for the kids but won’t require the parents to take out a second mortgage!
One of the coolest showbags is the Wests Tigers bag. This perennial favourite of the kids and aging, cynical former Roosters and NSW Origin coaches alike dazzles the eyes and captivates the mind. Better yet, for the mums who don’t like their kids’ (or husbands’!) rugby league interest seemingly going for 10 months a year, this bag rarely if ever functions after the end of August.
But beware though, the toys in this bag only function under perfect conditions or if they haven’t functioned in quite a while. They can be quite temperamental. Still, they’re great value (especially if used on a Sunday afternoon): a solid B- for the Wests Tigers bag.
The Tigers bounced back remarkably well on Friday night against Parramatta. It was an excellent mix of their typical flashy attack, domination of possession, robust defence against a team who traditionally dominates them just five days after being roasted by the Roosters two Sundays ago. With that said though, Parramatta disappointed again. They traditionally start slowly, but a year and a half of the more intense Daniel Anderson coaching them has failed to eliminate this annoying (for their supporters) characteristic. They are in need a match where they are expected to struggle and lose, so as to jump-start their motivation. Cronulla is exactly not what they need, it could be an interesting game in the Shire on Saturday afternoon.
While many of the kids love the Tigers bag, it doesn’t have the tradition and appeal to kids of all ages like the Dragons bag does. Despite a takeover of Illawarra bag in 1999, this bag continues to enjoy the mass appeal it gained in the 1950s and 1960s. For most of the last few decades, it had some of the better, more highly regarded toys in all the bags…but their reliability under pressure proved to be insufficient. Their recent re-branding as a more low-budget bag but with a greater emphasis on reliability and consistency didn’t quite pay off last year, but early previews of this year’s bag promise greater progress towards this goal. This could be one of the bags of 2010: an A- for the Dragons bag.
Round 3 saw another suffocating win for the Dragons. The victim this time was the Cowbores, who had a fairly good excuse for their sleep-inducing play. The Dragons again jumped to an early lead, again relied heavily on their left side for attack and again failed to let their opponent anywhere near a comeback. The two best teams so far will play tomorrow afternoon in Melbourne, and while these very efficient teams could produce a low-scoring, disciplined affair, it will almost certainly be the best-played game of the season to date.
Another popular bag this year will be the Penrith Panthers bag. While often a bag of questionable quality, it often seems to have a certain likeable-ness to it, which means it enjoys solid levels of support in Sydney’s west year in and year out. This year’s edition has some highly sought-after toys: everyone wants a Civoniceva even though it’s been around for years, while local products Lewis and Waterhouse are in their peak years. However, this year’s edition is also quite fragile; Waterhouse and the very temperamental Pritchard can give way at any time, while their instructions seem to be written in Swahili: no one quite knows how they work. Success seems possible for the Panthers, but probably not: a C+ for them.
Penrith was not far away from a win on Saturday night and they had their chances to really threaten an unusually error-prone opposition, but in the end, it was another just-enough win for Melbourne. Penrith was better than last week (although that wasn’t hard), but they were generally sloppy and was a touch lucky to have a chance to tie the game in the dying minutes. Melbourne was somewhat off the pace, but welcomed back Cooper Cronk from injury. His impact was immediate and will be vital if they hope to defeat the Dragons this week.
The Manly Sea Eagles bag has long been one which polarises opinion across Sydney, but is regularly amongst the highest-selling bags. This year’s bag is without some of the more successful items of recent years and, at first glance, appears to be more one-dimensional with an emphasis on strength and durability. However, the latest gossip is some items within the bag have surprise elements of skill, especially the previously lampooned Tony Williams. Exposure to alcohol is not advised for the contents of this bag, but that is a risk with all bags to be fair. Manly is likely to perform strongly again this year: a B for the northerners.
(Apologies to those after the Newcastle Knights bag. This is perhaps the most popular bag in some years, but its proprietors are under investigation by NSW Police and it has hence been withdrawn from sale at this year’s Show).
For the third straight week, Manly jumped to a big lead but they would not allow a third straight comeback. Their 12-minute, 3-try period of monopolising possession after Jarrod Mullen’s conservative kick for the sideline was the platform for a big Manly win.
Although it enjoyed a very successful period in the late 1980s and early to mid 1990s based on the development of high-class local produce, the Canberra Raiders bag only enjoys a relatively small amount of support each year. With that said though, this support is quite loyal and they can sometimes be rewarded with great entertainment. However, this entertainment is highly unlikely to occur anywhere except at your own home, especially with the consistent loss of expertise behind the bag being lost to other brands in recent years. Probably better value elsewhere: a D+ rating here.
Canberra lost another one away from home on Saturday night, although they would have done very well to come close to the Gold Coast. They were asked by the draw-makers to back up just 5 days after Monday night, a difficult task in the warm weeks of the early season. Also, any game at Robina for visiting teams figures to be difficult, even though the Titans have been slow starters this year. The loss of Scott Prince for a while could slow the Titans down, but, a bit like Parramatta, a challenge may spur them on to greater heights.
The New Zealand Warriors bag often enjoys very strong levels of support from expatriate Kiwis and those who enjoyed excitement and entertainment alike. This can be a strange bag, often disappointing markedly when it is expected to produce and capable of brilliance when these expectations are removed; alternatively, a sunny Sunday afternoon can see high entertainment levels no matter the expectation or situation. In recent years, the Kiwi/Polynesian influence has been usurped by expertise from Queensland, yet this has largely failed to change the unusual character of this bag. A fairly good bag, but probably only if you don’t expect much: B- here.
In hindsight, the Warriors probably would have defeated Brisbane even if they hadn’t lost Folau and Kemp to injury, although the final margin probably would have been much closer. In any event, the Warriors were in a buoyant mood on Sunday and attacked the struggling Broncos from anywhere on the field. As is their wont, the Warriors gained in confidence as the passes stuck and the points accumulated. The Warriors suffered to injury too, but luckily they were in a much better position than Brisbane to cope with them. Without Folau and Corey Parker, Brisbane could struggle mightily in the weeks to come.
Another traditional Sydney bag is the Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs bag. Much success in the past three decades means this bag enjoys perhaps the highest level of support in Sydney, but a major re-branding was undertaken last year after the bag became too comfortable with past success and lost its way badly. It is now once again “The Family Bag” and offers some of the higher quality, entertaining, but most of all wholesome showbag items. If you can prove your surname is Moore, you’re related to a Moore or you are Catholic, you receive 50% off and enter the very exclusive draw for future jobs (including first grade coach) in the Bulldogs showbag organisation. A perennial favourite: A- for the Bulldogs bag.
To paraphrase Mark Twain, rumours of the Bulldogs demise were greatly exaggerated. They produced a far better performance, which coincided with a very flat Roosters effort. The heat of the last two Sundays may have played a role here, but a more important factor was complacency. Confirming this was the fact that the Roosters started the second half quite strongly. The Roosters briefly threatened a huge comeback, but once this threat was allayed, the Bulldogs cruised to a big win.
Last – and least – comes the cheapest showbag, but sadly, the falling price hasn’t encouraged any greater support: the Cronulla bag. This bag enjoys fairly strong loyal support from the Sutherland Shire, but its lack of success, penchant for failing in pressure situations and the Shire’s insularity from the rest of Sydney has meant there is little support for it elsewhere. The long-running promise of a major financial infusion for this struggling institution remains just that at this stage; this has meant costs have been cut and hence the 2010 bag comes in that crappy plastic which pretty much falls apart when you touch it. Steer clear from this endangered species unless you enjoy self-torture: F for the Sharks.
The early signs were somewhat promising for Cronulla as they scored first and appeared to be more enthusiastic than the favoured and nervous Rabbitohs. But once Souths easily crossed the line several times, the score-line blew out and the game was over. There was little of note in Souths’ performance – apart from their repeated aerial attacks on Cronulla’s vulnerable fullback Albert Kelly. In the end, Souths would have been happy to get a comprehensive win but the game was awful for the neutral.
On that note, enjoy your Easter weekend and good tipping.
Tuesday, 23 March 2010
Round 2: An Irishman Walks Into An NRL Game And Says…
Round 2 of any given NRL season has long been recognised (by experts such as Phil Gould) as a round where unusual results can take place. Those teams which won well in Round 1 can find it difficult to replicate their form due to a lack of match fitness. On the other hand, those who lost heavily in Round 1 can often bounce back well: the motivation of avoiding zero points after 2 rounds can be surprisingly strong.
To celebrate the often unusual results in Round 2, this week’s match descriptions will come from a country and a culture which has provided the world with often unusual humour (as well as the best opportunity this year — before Origin — to get drunk on a Wednesday via St Patrick’s Day).
(Note: the incredibly dumb efforts of Canberra and Penrith in Round 2 probably qualify as more adequate catalysts for this week’s Roast than the oft-stereotyped Irish. Not only did they serve up some of the most stupid play seen in the NRL in decades, but they both wore jerseys which were very close to shamrock green! Unfortunately there is no native form of poetry to these regions)
St George Illawarra v. Bulldogs
These rivals’ games are often intense
But the ’Dogs looked weak without Ennis
The Dragons went left
And came up with success
This one was over after 20 minutes
It seems somewhat inappropriate to start a St. Patrick’s Day-related Roast with two teams whose history and/or emblem is so heavily in the culture of the English, but it also seems inappropriate that this was deemed the best game of the round by Channel 9 and instead we received another Dragons’ master class in getting to a lead and shutting the game down.
Both teams were without their hookers in this game, but the Dragons’ structure meant that even though they were forced to replace the energetic and speedy Nathan Fien with the geriatric Luke Priddis, their performance was once again brilliant. Their tendency to push most of their attack to their left hand side was far from a surprise, but it coincided with the Bulldogs’ weakest side defensively. Brett Morris finished with 3 tries, but the praise must go to the likes of Soward, Young and Prior for their excellent work in exploiting the Bulldogs’ weaknesses.
Souths v. Gold Coast
The much-hyped Souths were on show
And it looked like another tale of woe
But then a comeback and lead
They seemed certain to succeed
But another loss – bloody Sandow!
To be fair to Souths’ much-maligned half-back, the blame for this very-tough loss can’t be exclusively pinned on his shoulders. His late sin-binning was bizarre to say the least, but proved quite crucial in turning the game back towards the Titans.
But Sandow can be blamed for his role in Souths not having secured the win well before the 80th minute. Souths came back from 16-6 down to take a two-point lead and the struggling, tiring Titans appeared to have no way of coming back game bar for the referees’ late assistance.
Instead, a second straight Souths’ loss was music to the media’s ears (especially with the sight of most of Souths’ big-name forwards on the bench at the same time). Not only did they fan the flames of Souths supporters’ discontent, but it allows them to source quotes from lunatic ex-Souths players such as Craig Coleman (which in themselves can make even the most sane supporter look up the number of the nearest mental facility).
New Zealand v. Cronulla
For the Warriors, this looked easy
But simple ones often make them queasy
The Sharks bounced back
But the Warriors led by their pack
Won well; they can sometimes be a tease-y
Much has been made of the Warriors’ inability to finish off wins from strong positions as well as their inability to win in games where they’re expected to win well. Both of these propositions were tested on Saturday night, as the Warriors jumped out to a 16-nil lead, but the Sharks recovered to cut the lead to just 2 early in the second half.
This one certainly had the ingredients for another Warriors disappointment. Cronulla is probably underrated by many; a number of their players would be welcome by most, if not all, NRL teams, and they gave another gallant, if error-riddled, display here. But the Warriors held firm after Cronulla’s comeback (and despite the late withdrawal of their halfback Brett Seymour). They had the better of possession, made less errors and pressured Cronulla’s defence into conceding two tries which gave the Warriors the win.
On the whole, they looked impressive and will probably do so at other times, especially with a few wins or near-wins against some front-runners. In general though, keep in mind these exemplary efforts are largely an illusion. Potential is a dirty word for those who support the Warriors.
Newcastle v. Melbourne
Newcastle often does well against the Storm
And started with some excellent form
But the Storm held firm
Although the Knights made them squirm
Melbourne’s close win is becoming the norm
It was an intriguing match at Newcastle on Saturday night. The home team, still motivated to show the drug scandal will not affect them, started very strongly against a very good opponent but one they’ve played as well as anyone in the NRL over the last two seasons. While Melbourne is still missing a number of first-choice players, their resilience and ability to incorporate new players meant they lost little due to the forced changes, but the strong start by the Knights shocked them somewhat.
Melbourne came back into the game from here, chopping Newcastle’s lead to just two points by half-time with two well-worked tries, but Newcastle returned stronger in the second half, aided by some uncharacteristically poor Melbourne play. Newcastle, however, could not breach the still-resolute Melbourne defence and, as is often the case, the team which successfully repels waves of opposition attack scores themselves soon after.
But Newcastle would have been quite frustrated by what became the match-winning try for Melbourne, as the Storm didn’t have to work the ball downfield at all; the try came about by a typically heady Brett Finch break past a player called offside who played the role of matador and deceived (for just long enough) an eager team-mate. A late penalty goal was the icing on the cake for Melbourne, who is quietly accumulating points in their nomadic start to the season. Melbourne v. the Dragons in a few weeks should be a cracker.
North Queensland v. Penrith
The Cowbores again started slow
Penrith looked into the flow
But the Cowbores had fight
And went down Penrith’s right
Which was manned by Larry, Curly and Moe
This was perhaps the most difficult match of the round to tip. Both teams looked brilliant and shocking in the same game last week. The Cowbores probably deserved some sort of favouritism at home, but Penrith had played them well in recent years, with success coming in Townsville too.
It appeared as though more success would follow here, as Penrith jumped to leads of 14-2 and then 20-8. However, the Cowbores came back and ended up winning this one easily as Penrith capitulated any time the Cowbores threw the ball to their left. While Michael Jennings and Michael Gordon are accomplished, quite experienced players — or, at least, were once thought to be — their combination on Penrith’s right-side defence yielded disastrous results.
Each of the Cowbores’ four tries came down Penrith’s right and involved nothing resembling intricate strategy. Two of these tries were nothing short of embarrassing. The first of these saw Cowbores’ second rower Scott Bolton at dummy-half near Penrith’s line. As he picked up the ball, Gordon anticipated a pass to Feral Thurston and sprinted in that direction, providing Bolton with a saloon passage to the try-line.
The Cowbores’ final try saw Feral throw the ball wide to mediocre winger Michael Bani. Bani was in open space and approached Penrith full-back Lachlan Coote, their star back-rower Luke Lewis and Gordon; Bani appeared certain to be tackled. But when Bani merely changed direction — not even a sidestep! — Gordon, Coote and Lewis were befuddled and Bani strolled over for an easy try. Lewis subsequently left the field due to concussion; I understand Luke, I would have come up with a similar excuse if I was embarrassed like that.
Bani is barely of first-grade standard, but he carried on like a pork chop after his try. However, given the Penrith players’ ineptitude, he might as well as have knocked their heads together then spun around on the ground (“Whoop-whoop-whoop-whoop-whoop!”).
Parramatta v. Manly
Manly started hot again
Getting a 20-point lead at Parra Stadium
Then Parra got on the train
Driven by Hayne
And helped by the refs in need of OPSM
What appeared to be a devastating defeat for Manly the previous Monday night, which saw them lose Brett Stewart and increasingly important prop George Rose, saw most expect Parramatta to win and win well on Sunday. Further hindering Manly’s cause was they had just 6 days to prepare for this game as opposed to 9 for the Eels.
However, Parramatta is traditionally a slow-starting team. Throw in the heavy expectations many have for them in 2010 (and even more so in this game) and it was not that surprising Manly started so strongly, jumping to a 20-nil lead early in the second half.
But as they did on Monday night, they failed to put their opposition away, and when Parramatta got some ball, they came back into the game, led initially by Moi Moi then by Hayne and his incredible 60 metre run.
Much has been made of the forward pass which cut Manly’s lead to just 2 points, but there was numerous errors by the referees on this day, including one which should made the forward pass null-and-void (Robson was in front of Hayne prior to Hayne’s chip-kick which was eventually passed to Robson).
Ultimately, Manly is playing at quite a high level, but not quite high enough to finish off games. The sight-hampered referees cannot be blamed for this.
Sydney Roosters v. Wests Tigers
On Sunday in the searing sun
The Tigers had some early fun
Until the Roosters got cluckin’;
On this day in the oven
It was the Tigers who were well done
As they did on the previous Monday night, the Tigers started strongly, this time jumping to a greater lead (12-0). But as the game went on, it became apparent they expended a lot of effort on the previous Monday night and they were vulnerable.
Meanwhile, for the Roosters, it was (in a way) more of the same as the previous Sunday. In their first game, they withstood the early onslaught from the large and physical Rabbitohs, while this time, they withstood the early onslaught from the more elusive Tigers. In both games, the oppositions had little in reserve after the early going, while the Roosters strengthened as both games went on.
In a weekend of vulnerable edge defences, the Tigers’ right side (and particularly Blake Ayshford) was punished in this game. Who knew Phil Graham could be a very good centre after only ever playing on the wing? No Tigers supporters were surprised that the experienced Daniel Fitzhenry was unable to provide any support to his under siege team-mate. The oven-like conditions would have been an appropriate time to stick a fork in Fitzhenry; he’s well and truly done.
The Tigers again finished with a heap of tries, but it was not nearly enough. A repeat performance of this nature could well see Parramatta played right back into form and off their slow start on Friday night.
Canberra v. Brisbane
At home and on Monday night
Canberra can give anyone a fright
But Brisbane hung tough
And Canberra was dumb
But the Raiders held on while playing shite
It was hardly a surprise Canberra started strongly (a 12-0 lead). At their best, they are a very capable team, with a more than willing forward pack and some amazing young talent.
But from the 10 minute mark until almost the very end of this game, Brisbane had the better of play, dominating for long periods. How they only cut 8 points of Canberra’s early lead during this time is baffling. Canberra almost always looked to make the exciting play and usually dropped the ball (although they can be partly excused for this by Brisbane’s so-so defence and that exciting play looked like paying off more often than not), while Brisbane had a lot of attacking possession and took poor last-tackle options or made errors.
It was in the second half though when Brisbane really dominated. Once they got on the scoreboard via Folau, Canberra was in trouble. But making Canberra’s situation worse was their unforced error count, their penchant for trying the exciting play (still) and Terry Campese’s baffling inability to settle his team down (with a long kick dribbling across the sideline and a slow walk to a scrum). Or, on those rare occasions they got near Brisbane’s line, for a kick into Brisbane’s in-goal area for the possibility of a repeat set.
Canberra was CRYING OUT for some assistance in the second half, yet Campese and his halfback this week (McCrone) both scored epic fails for their tiring team-mates. When Alan Tongue forced what appeared to be a pivotal and inspiring turnover with about 10 minutes to go, this excellent work was immediately erased by a brainless pass from substitute hooker Travis Waddell, which floated softly into the hands of Brisbane forward Sam Thaiday. Campese and McCrone had to be thankful for Waddell’s presence; from the moment he stepped on to the field late in the first half, his contribution was 100 times worse than awful.
In the end, the effort Brisbane needed to overhaul Canberra’s lead became too much and Canberra held on for the ill-deserved win.
See you next week.
