If it's 2008 and the next State of Origin game is coming very soon then it must mean a less than satisfactory round of NRL club games is in the vicinity. While the usual victims (Melbourne, North Queensland and Brisbane) suffered the most, they were joined in Round 13 by the Roosters and New Zealand, who both performed well below expectations. Newcastle also suffered mightily without their Origin players but were lucky to get away with a win. Scott Prince's late call-up into the Queensland side would have significantly damaged the Titans' hopes for success but they were fortunate enough to be drawn against the Storm B-team.
When the Gold Coast entered the competition in 2007 (making an even number of teams for the first time since 2001), the NRL realised player welfare concerns meant they had to keep byes as a part of the competition, but decided to give each team only 1 bye (not 2, as had been the case between 2002 and 2006). After further complaint from players, the number of byes returned to 2 for 2008, but in contrast to the status quo since....the mid 90s (at least?), these byes were scheduled relatively early in the season or before State of Origin rounds.
Did the NRL hear anything from the players apart from "we need a second bye"? Teams with a significant number of representative players have always preferred the bye either before an Origin game or after the Origin series, while other teams start to need a bye in the middle of the season or just after (usually due to coping with a mounting injury toll or just to allow niggling injuries to improve or heal). To load up the byes early in the season or after Origin games (thus eliminating a source of pride for many representative players: the post-Origin back-up for your club) is not only ignoring the wishes of players and clubs, but going against what was the status quo for many years.
Whatever the NRL's reasons (do they want even more parity between teams?), the draw has been in place for many months now: those clubs affected by the loss of players to Origin have to do the best they can in the circumstances. Amidst the gloom (literally and figuratively) of a wet byeless long weekend, Cronulla's excellent effort against Penrith on Sunday was a standout performance. While they weren't as short-handed as some, they showed it was possible to play at or near their best despite missing two of their best players.
Since Ricky Stuart took over as coach, Cronulla have shown a tendency to lift their game considerably when taking on the NRL's best teams, when playing away from home or both. This has seen them win record wins at Manly, Melbourne and North Queensland against the expectations of most.
Not surprisingly, these wins also coincided with Cronulla's often dormant attack showing rare signs of life. When Cronulla's attack is off and they have to fight for every single point, their ambitions of playing in September can seem far-fetched. They know this, but too often, they lapse into a mentality of "a 1-point win is the same as a 20-point win, so 1 is all we need".
So, in hindsight, falling way behind to the Bulldogs a few Mondays ago was the shock they needed: since then, they almost caught the Bulldogs, they started slowly before thrashing the Titans last Sunday.
They fell behind early to the confident Panthers, but they spent the remainder of the first half executing a well-devised strategy: pressuring the rookie Penrith playmakers and attacking the new combination on Penrith's right-side defence. Devising a strategy is one thing, but executing it is another thing entirely: to help ensure this, Ricky Stuart reshuffled his team to bring in young halfback Blake Green. Having a third playmaking option (in addition to Kimmorley and Brett Seymour) on the field was crucial in overwhelming Penrith's defence in the first half.
Cronulla put 4 tries on in the first half, exploiting Tighe, Sammut and others on Penrith's right-side defence. Penrith didn't seem to expect such a targetted attack (their other centre, noted sieve Michael Jennings, would be rapt not to be mentioned in a discussion about poor defensive centres) but their attack wasn't so crash hot either. Cronulla's defence was typically strong, but Penrith was making mistakes to kill potential try-scoring chances, Luke Lewis' dream run at halfback was in the process of ending (although he didn't play that badly) and Penrith wasn't utilising the try-creating talents of Sammut on the right wing (as they often did last week against the Cowbores).
Another of Cronulla's faults is that they treat a 2-3 try lead as a match-winning one: they did this again here. Their strong defence and another try down Penrith's right-side saw their half-time lead of 12 extended to 14 with under 5 minutes left, but incredibly Penrith almost snatched victory: a seemingly consolation try was followed by a Cronulla dropped ball and another try before a last-ditch cross kick by Rhys Wesser (of all people) saw Luke Rooney and Frank Pritchard up against Misi Taulapapa as the ball drifted towards them. Taulapapa continued to ruin his 2007 repuation as a liability by smartly forcing Rooney to knock the ball on, thus ending the game.
Penrith could point to the absence of Civoniceva (and his leadership and calming influence) but overall they were thoroughly outplayed and outcoached by a Cronulla team that continues to surprise - even without Origin players Bird and Gallen. In hindsight Penrith was probably due for a loss, but it took a very good effort to beat them.
The same could be said about the Roosters. Despite their talented roster, their fortunes seem closely linked with their intensity levels. In other words, they win when they are fully motivated and ready and they lose when they are flat. To the Roosters' credit, they had only been flat in 2 games before Round 13: losses to Newcastle and the Dragons (these came after 5 strong games to start the season). Their last month had been very good, with strong wins over Canberra, Parramatta, the Warriors and the Tigers. While they managed to defeat Parramatta with a weakened pack before the last State of Origin, they were never in the hunt against a fired-up Manly. They were probably due for a loss, but the absence of Origin players expedited this.
Manly had already lost 2 games at Brookvale, including their last start against the Dragons. They had seen the "second string" Roosters pack dominate Parramatta in Round 10. In short, they had a number of motivating factors. Manly was dominant throughout, controlling possession, forcing mistakes on a wet afternoon and scoring a combination of well-worked and far too easy tries.
There was little, if any, rain at Homebush on Saturday night, but a very slippery surface greeted the Bulldogs and Newcastle. As both teams realised how poor the conditions were, they adjusted their games accordingly: the result was perhaps the most boring game of the season. Running from dummy half became the most effective way to move the ball down the field and it quickly became apparent the Bulldogs were the better team in the battle of the ruck, had the better players to make metres from dummy half and create holes in defence and most importantly had the smarter and more experienced players (as Newcastle was missing Buderus, Simpson and Gidley).
However, Newcastle led this game after scoring in the early minutes and held this lead for the remainder of the game. The Bulldogs hurt themselves by making too many mistakes (although the poor conditions were a factor here), but they suffered far more than they deserved to from poor refereeing decisions or bad luck on uncertain refereeing decisions.
Newcastle's lead was 4 points at half-time, but to call it tenuous was an understatement. They had made far fewer errors than the Bulldogs (this figured to become more even over the second half), their kicking game was not as effective as the Bulldogs' kicking game and refereeing decisions usually even themselves out over the course of a game.
The opening 10 minutes of the second half saw the struggle continue before Newcastle finally made a major error: a pass thrown behind the runner just 10 metres out from their line. As the ball bobbled near their tryline, Newcastle's Jarrod Mullen tried to force the ball, but seemed unable to, before the Bulldogs' Andrew Ryan appeared to put the ball down for a try. Incredibly, referee Sean Hampstead was certain of Mullen grounding the ball and elected not to consult the video referee.
When the replay was shown on the big screen, Bulldogs' supporters (and players) were aghast: a likely try to Ryan and a lead was gone. The anger had barely died down when Wes Naiqama broke a tackle: the end result of this play was Newcastle's second try, which basically ended this game as a contest. The Bulldogs tried hard to come back but in doing so made more mistakes. One of these led to an Adam MacDougall try, which took Newcastle's lead to 16.
Someone had to win this game, but Newcastle was at about 20% of their performance when they played Melbourne and the Gold Coast in recent weeks. This game encapsulated so much about what is wrong with the NRL in 2008.
Luckily, the round was salvaged somewhat by an entertaining game between New Zealand and Souths on Friday night. New Zealand built upon their shock win over Newcastle last week by racing to a 14-nil lead, but the game deviated from the usual at this point, as Souths displayed attacking play and self-belief (in the face of a significant deficit) not seen in red and green in...decades maybe. Sure, New Zealand's defence was often poor but this didn't detract from what was becoming a very good game.
Souths' run continued after half-time and became 22 points without reply until the Warriors became Mr. Hyde again: in the space of a few minutes, a stumbling, unsure team became free-flowing, brash and exuberant. They ultimately matched Souths' try-scoring feats, but the ongoing absence of Michael Witt cost them perhaps 8 points in missed goals.
The Warriors returned to their Dr. Jekyll status, which again involved poor defensive play. Souths scored two tries quickly and far too easily to return to the lead. When first-gamer Chris Sandow boomed a field goal in the final minute, Souths' 12-game and 9-year losing streak to the Warriors was officially over.
The remaining games were a massacre of the weak: the Dragons went another step further in dispelling their repuation as extremely inconsistent as they took care of business in defeating an understrength but typically solid Brisbane. The Entertainers of the West blasted the Cowbores off the park in the opening half hour (save for Travis Burns' misguided aggression). The 'Bores made a nuisance of themselves coming to within 12 points, before the Tigers wowed the crowd again to finish off the game.
Canberra may have the worst injury toll in the NRL and may have suffered another major loss (Adrian Purtell) on Saturday night. Parramatta's reputation of taking it easy against weak opposition could have surfaced here, but Feleti Mateo continued his stellar play from last week and a relatively easy win over the gallant Raiders was the result. Sadly, Canberra elected not to play Michael Weyman, thus denying fans of sledging worldwide another instalment of Weyman v Riddell.
Last (as well as least), Gold Coast was missing Prince, Laffranchi and Harrison but still easily took care of the Origin-decimated Storm. Fans of watching players who go back on their word facing angry supporters of the jilted team would have been upset at Steve Turner missing this game due to his late State of Origin selection.
Enough has been said about the NRL's absurd byes policy for 2008 - until the next pre-Origin round anyway. See you next week.
Wednesday, 11 June 2008
Round 13: More pre-State of Origin Goodness
Tuesday, 3 June 2008
Why are NRL teams slow or unable to take advantage of a weakened opponent? Part 2
It was just two weeks ago where the Tuesday Roast highlighted the tendency of NRL teams to perform at a sub-standard level when faced with a weakened opposition. This was again the dominant theme throughout NRL action across the weekend.
However, while the main factor behind the poor performances against weakened opposition in Round 10 was the absence of State of Origin players, Round 12’s complacency took place with virtually all Origin players on the field.
Instead, it was the more common mid-season culprit of taking very capable but struggling opposition too lightly which was behind the majority of complacency in Round 12. Not helping matters for these teams has been the high turnover of players in recent years: this makes week-to-week consistency that much harder to achieve.
However, complacency and/or a drop-off in intensity became apparent in two games over the weekend due to a circumstance much more common in years past: the send off. While Rugby League has changed markedly in recent decades, it appears the age-old outcome of the team with the numerical advantage subconsciously easing off while the other team lifts to cover for their disciplined team-mate is still a part of the game.
The game which changed the most as a result of a send off was the Cowbores Penrith match-up. Despite the Cowbores having sacked Graham Murray as coach before this game and desperately needing to win to keep in touch with the top 8, Penrith was by far the better team in this game over the first 50 or so minutes.
Penrith’s defence was top-shelf (although the Cowbores’ attack was rather monotonous and predictable) and their attack was a threat to score from almost anywhere on the field. Luke Lewis had another strong game at halfback — it’s getting more and more difficult to blame poor opposition defence for Lewis’ lightning-quick adjustment to a brand new position — while the return of ultra-confident Jarrod Sammut gave Penrith another strike weapon.
Penrith’s early game domination only resulted in 10 points, due to a combination of some desperate Cowbores’ defence and bad luck. North Queensland amazingly took a lead to half time after a Feral Thurston kick ricocheted into the path of Burns then a Feral chip took a fortuitous bounce into the path of Daniel Abraham.
The teams exchanged penalty goals before Luke O’Donnell was sent off for using an elbow to fend off a defender (Lewis, who was one of several “divers” in this round — more on this later). From here, Penrith’s dominance disappeared completely, even though they were still 2 points behind. The Cowbores almost monopolised possession as they sought to kill the clock, leaving Penrith with little energy when they did get the ball, but Penrith rarely even made it across half-way in the latter stages of the game.
However, Penrith’s defensive effort was maintained, leading to the bizarre outcome of the Cowbores looking to keep the ball more so than trying to score and Penrith completely unable to move the ball. A rare Cowbores win seemed certain until they spun the ball wide and Penrith centre Michael Jennings gambled, took the intercept and gave Penrith an ill-deserved lead.
Suddenly, a Penrith win seemed certain. The Cowbores never seriously threatened Penrith’s line during this game…until the 80th minute. They regathered the ball from the kickoff and attacked Penrith’s line with an energy not seen previously. It was energy many times greater than when they were trying to kill the game and it resulted in a dubious no-try (Harris surely got the ball down…eventually) then a dubious try (surely Graham lost the ball?).
When the dust settled, Feral had a kick from the side to win the game. However, nerves got the better of him and his trademark hook was absent. Surely Penrith would win the game in extra time?
They did…eventually…but it took most of the 10 minutes and only occurred after the Cowbores lost another player (Steve Southern) to injury.
Despite doing their best to lose, this was Penrith’s 3rd win in a row: this hasn’t happened since late 2005. Incredibly though, they have now won 7 of their last 9 away games where they were the pre-game outsider with the bookmakers. However, it would have been a safe bet that the bookmakers expected a Penrith win once O’Donnell was sent off. They adjusted their game accordingly…
The other game with a send off was in Canberra on Friday night and it possibly saved the game from being a foregone conclusion. Manly dominated the opening half hour in Canberra before the send off took place.
But Canberra often falls behind at home before coming back strongly. There were some early signs of the standard comeback (such as a 40/20 kick from Carney) but Manly was the first team to score after the send off took place. Canberra did cut the deficit to 6 points, but Manly ended up winning quite easily. Manly may have won easily anyway, but it was unusual to see a Canberra comeback at home fall as short as this one did.
The other Friday night game didn’t have any send offs but could have had several. Brisbane and Parramatta have been bitter rivals for many years and this has continued even with the departure of Brian Smith. The corresponding fixture last season saw Jarryd Hayne labelled as a diver. He was again involved in controversy with his dangerous (cowardly?) tackle on an unsuspecting Tonie Carroll. Mark Riddell took up the slack from Hayne and milked Justin Hodges’ very late and very silly near-spear tackle for as much as he could. While the NRL judiciary probably didn’t like this game, everyone else (including Channel 9) loved it.
Of more relevance here though was that Brisbane was not at their best for much of this game despite the return of Darren Lockyer. They took Parramatta a bit too lightly — which was somewhat of a surprise, given the rivalry between the teams — but to their credit they lifted their game when needed. The salary cap and age has robbed Brisbane of much of their veteran leadership in recent years, so for them to produce when needed to defeat a much-improved Parramatta was a significant step.
The under-performing but supremely talented Eels were overdue for a huge effort and it was not surprising they produced in a game where few expected them to win. The return of Krisnan Inu and a brilliant effort from Feleti Mateo reminded everyone why Parramatta was a top-4 prediction for so many at the start of the year.
If only Parramatta could help Eric Grothe’s struggling confidence. Opposing teams now know full well of Grothe’s struggles defensively: Brisbane attacked his side of the field repeatedly in this game. He tried his usual rushing out of the line, but Brisbane saw that coming and scored, he tried standing back in the line and they still scored. He did pick the right moment to attack and snuffed out an excellent Broncos’ attacking movement late in the game, but Lockyer’s last second brilliance came at Grothe’s expense.
Last Monday night, Cronulla’s wingers felt like Grothe does most of the time: the Bulldogs feasted on Ricky Stuart’s baffling decision to sack Luke Covell and instead go with a patchwork group of three-quarters. Injury forced Stuart to go back to Covell in Sunday’s game against the Gold Coast where a much better defensive effort was required.
The Titans started almost as slowly as they did in their loss to Wests last Sunday and came back similarly late in the first half: they actually took a lead to the half-time break in this game. Another easy try saw their lead extend before 20 minutes of solid attacking play from Cronulla — as well as increasingly sloppy Gold Coast defence — led to Cronulla running up a match-winning lead. Not just a Cronulla match-winning lead (i.e. 1 point) but a real match-winning lead!
Cronulla scored 30 points for the first time in over a year and this took place after the first time they conceded 30 points since July last year (the only time they conceded 30 points last season). Cronulla’s first match against the Gold Coast this season — a loss — came after they defeated Melbourne at Olympic Park, while this win against the Gold Coast came after an embarrassing loss. This shows just how powerful the mental side of the game can be…
For the Gold Coast though, in hindsight they have struggled for the past month. Their surprising early success has become increasingly difficult to maintain and they now have the added problem of being a much sought after scalp for more teams.
One of the teams to defeat the Gold Coast in recent weeks — with a brilliant defensive effort — was Newcastle. Newcastle also showed signs of class and premiership-winning potential against heavyweights such as Melbourne, the Roosters, Brisbane and Manly so far this season. The accolades many good judges had bestowed upon them were well deserved.
However, a quick glance at the Knights’ team list shows a lot of youth. On Saturday night, this list was missing Kurt Gidley. While very few people expected it, Newcastle’s largely lacklustre showing against the lowly Warriors probably shouldn’t have come as too much of a shock. This was a pale shadow of the team that tackled themselves into the ground against Melbourne or who hung tough against the Roosters before finishing with a flourish. It is a bit much to expect a mostly young team to be so consistent against the best and the rest of the NRL.
That said, the Warriors weren’t too great themselves, but they realised the Knights were having an off game and that they were a chance. Their defensive effort was much better than previous games in Australia and they eked out a close win in the end.
Even a team as chook-full of internationals and Origin players as the Roosters can experience fluctuating consistency levels from time to time. In general they were quite solid against the Tigers last night, but any team who takes on the Tigers in the wet is excused if they ease off slightly, such is the Tigers’ reputation as dry-track specialists.
When Tigers’ centre Dean Collis was tackled into touch in the Tigers’ first set, it looked like more of the same from the Tigers in the wet, but from there they gave a solid account of themselves. They defended their line well, only conceding points after errors gave the Roosters significant attacking field position. After several pieces of Robbie Farah brilliance, the Tigers were only down by 6.
Two key plays in this game gave the edge to the Roosters. What looked like a very promising attacking situation was ruined by a poorly executed Benji Marshall kick. This kick fell nicely for Mitch Aubusson, who was able to shrug off some poor attempted tackles and run over 90 metres for a try. Not long after, the Tigers were finally able to go around the Roosters’ defence and a try seemed certain. A Farah kick sat up nicely for Beau Ryan, but Ryan’s slightly awkward attempt to ground the ball was deemed to be a knock-on.
While the decision was not as shocking as Fox’s Greg Alexander made it out to be, it did appear to be a very close call. The Tigers were probably a touch unlucky. They did cut the deficit to 8 a few minutes later and had another great attacking chance after a Farah 40/20 in the driving rain, but they would get no closer.
In all, a positive night for both teams, with the Tigers giving a good showing against a big team in the wet while the Roosters put forth the requisite effort in a situation where they were expected to win well.
It should come as a surprise to no-one that Melbourne is one of the two teams who thrashed a weakened opponent, but the Dragons’ resurgence continues: their solid win over Souths was much too composed, much too efficient for a team notorious for shoddy performances when they are expected to win well.
Surely the old Dragons will come back soon…? If not, there is enough lack of depth, enough turnover of playing rosters and enough athletes who aren’t really footballers in the game to ensure enough material for another similarly themed Tuesday Roast in no more than a few weeks.
Tuesday, 27 May 2008
Round 11: Dé ja vu all over again
Even though Round 11 was played over the weekend after State of Origin 1, the scaled-back round meant only about half of those who played on Wednesday night were required to back up for their club team.
As a result, this was not your typical post-Origin round, especially given that almost half of this smaller than usual pool of Origin players backing up plays for the same team.
However...5 of the 6 games played looked very similar to past encounters between Round 11 combatants. As Yogi Berra - or maybe Rex Mossop or Benny Elias - might have said, it was dé ja vu over and over again.
Despite having one of the best minor premiership records in recent history in 2007, Melbourne struggled when playing days after major representative games. Two of their 3 losses came in these circumstances and they almost lost to a gallant Souths effort at Gosford. Souths once again took their fixture against the Storm to the Central Coast and once again they were scheduled to meet after a State of Origin. Like last year, Melbourne won a close, low-scoring game, but unlike last year, the main reason behind the tight scoreline was not stingy Souths' defence. Rather, Souths dominated possession for much of this game but lacked composure and execution for end-of-set plays.
Or, to put it bluntly, their last tackle plays sucked. Melbourne was not that much better - they couldn't even bring out their standard cross-kick for Folau play they usually use in tight games - but they did enough. Neither team would have been happy after this game. Melbourne looked more vulnerable after a representative game than they ever have, while Souths missed a golden opportunity. Jason Taylor can continue to spout clichés about effort, but they should have scored more than 10 points in this game.
Last night's game (between the Bulldogs and Cronulla) was far more entertaining and had many more points than the Souths Melbourne game, but both teams have plenty to work on in upcoming games. After establishing a reputation of being a fundamentally sound defensive team over the last year and a half, Cronulla's defence was horribly exposed. The Bulldogs have a number of skilful and smart attacking players, but for the most part they are not a great attacking team. When Daniel Holdsworth can find a gaping hole in your defensive line (with the smallest amount of sleight of hand) and race almost 50 metres to score and when Corey Hughes and Cameron Phelps (of all people!!) cause havoc around the ruck after quick play-the-balls, your defence has a LOT of work to do. Even noted defenders such as Pomeroy, Gallen and Bird were found out.
The Bulldogs were brilliant between minutes 10 and 45 of this game, but in the other 45 minutes of the game, they were sloppy. To be fair, any team with a 20-point lead over Cronulla has every right to feel the game is in the bag, but the Bulldogs' intensity dropped off to such an extent that the result was in doubt until the final 5 minutes of the game.
That said, for the Bulldogs to identify a gameplan against what seemed to be a strong opponent and to carry that gameplan out almost perfectly is an extremely positive outcome for a very inconsistent team. The aforementioned Hughes, Phelps, Matt Utai and others utilised their speed against the large but quite slow-footed Cronulla pack (especially after quick play-the-balls: this was more good work from the under-the-radar Bulldogs forwards), while continued attacking of Cronulla's defence out wide - where injuries meant several new combinations - led to all of their tries.
While many expected this game to be a low-scoring bore (with the poor playing surface at ANZ Stadium contributing), it should have come as no surprise that the points flowed: in the previous 4 meetings between these teams at Homebush, the average total points in each game was 55. The feelings of dé ja vu were enhanced as these teams had played at Homebush in the previous 2 Mays and on all 3 occasions Cronulla came into the match on the back of a solid winning streak. The 2006 Bulldogs Cronulla game at Homebush saw the Bulldogs understrength (due to Origin commitments) but they raced to a 24-6 lead before letting Cronulla right back into the game.
The Gold Coast Titans will be hoping the dé ja vu ends there for Cronulla: they play Cronulla in Round 12 and their last journey to the converted swampland of Woolooware Bay saw a very poor effort late in 2007. However, if their effort at the Home of Rugby League - aka Leichhardt Oval - on Sunday is any indication, they should be a good chance against Cronulla.
The Titans endured a fast start from a typically fired-up Tigers to be down by only 8 points at half-time. Not only were the Tigers motivated by their sub-par overall effort against Newcastle last week, but they felt their disciples were owed significant reparations after their meek capitulation to the leporine invasion in AD 2007, Chapter 25 on the Sabbath. That said, many of the disciples felt happy for the leporine invaders: after all, they spent what felt like 40 years in the wilderness and now must make bi-weekly journeys to lodgings far removed from their spiritual home. This is not due to all alternatives being booked out but solely to take advantage of the 40 pieces of silver on offer.
The Gold Coast sensed their chance, much like they did against Newcastle a few weeks back (despite being well behind at the half). Alas, committed Tigers defence kept them out and when Hodgson scored from a well-worked set play, the situation looked grim for the Titans.
Still, they didn't give up. The Tigers must have figured such an effort would break their back; the Gold Coast came back as their resilience and continued effort finally started to wear the Tigers down, especially in the middle of the field. Preston Campbell had a sensational final half-hour: his speed and side-stepping ability tested the tiring Tigers forwards and eventually saw the 14-point lead cut back to just 2.
The Tigers held on for the 2-point win. Since the Tigers' resurgence in 2004, they have enjoyed many a win over big-name opponents at Leichhardt, with many of these being sealed only in the game's final minutes. Meanwhile for the Titans, this was their 2nd straight close loss in a high-quality game in NSW. Their reputation as strugglers out of Queensland looks set to be on borrowed time.
The Queensland State of Origin team had a similar reputation for many years - even after securing a famous draw in Sydney in 2002 - before finally breaking their duck in Sydney in 2007. They entered the first State of Origin game of 2008 as favourites, with their highly rated backline and solid forward pack expected to be too good.
Meanwhile, the NSW team looked to have an edge in the forwards but ongoing uncertainty over the ideal halves combination and an inferior set of backs. In other words, this was much like 2006, and just like in 2006, NSW jumped out to a strong half-time lead. But unlike 2006, NSW won quite easily. Their defence in the heart of the second half was key and when Bird put Gasnier into a gap to set up Laffranchi, the game was won.
Two nights after this success, Gasnier led the St George Illawarra Dragons into battle at a venue where they have had much success in recent years: Brookvale Oval. While this success came with the much stronger Dragons team prior to 2007 (and against a weaker Manly team), it became evident from early on that the Dragons were a strong chance of winning this game. Their pack was enjoying an edge over the highly vaunted Manly pack, they were getting more attacking field position and they looked more likely to score when they had attacking field position...at least, when they could hold on to the ball.
Despite a high error count, the Dragons never lost touch with Manly and even though Manly had the lead for much of the game, they were not able to put the Dragons away. It came as no surprise when the Dragons took back the lead for good inside the final 5 minutes. While this try was the Dragons' first not coming from a Manly error or involving some degree of controversy, there was no question the right team won the game.
There were a number of similarities between this game and the meeting between these teams at Brookvale in 2006. In that game, the talent-laden Dragons always looked the better team and defeated Manly in the final minutes. In both games, Manly tried very hard, but their self-belief against the Dragons must be called into question. Coach Des Hasler called the Dragons "our bogey team" and Manly's collective attitude was not quite up to their usual standard for a Brookvale game. The mind is a powerful instrument...
Roosters Coach Brad Fittler would most likely concur with the above statement. His team made an emphatic statement both early and later in the first half in their defeat of the Warriors in Auckland. Firstly, they kept the ball for over 10 minutes as they put on 3 consecutive tries to start the game. The Warriors didn't give up and narrowed the deficit but were forced to endure several minutes of bruising Roosters' defence in the late minutes of the first half.
It was only a 20-12 half-time lead (just as it was in Gosford when Newcastle finished over the top of them) but they were never seriously threatened in this one. Shaun Kenny-Dowell had a hat-trick, but Braith Anasta starred, even scoring a rare win over referee Ben Cummins (when Cummins conceded Anasta had been elbowed by Brent Tate in an incident which preceded a push-and-shove between these players). Some may remember Anasta and Cummins came together in Round 26 last season when Souths' David Fa'alogo hit Anasta in the mouth with a right hook, but Souths received the penalty.
In the end, the Roosters thrashed the Warriors, showing what can be done despite the obstacles of having several important players backing up from Origin, being without other important players altogether and taking on a team undefeated at home so far this season.
So ends this week's dé ja vu Tuesday Roast. One can only hope the similarities end next week (especially the hastily cobbled-together Biblical metaphor). See you next week.
Tuesday, 20 May 2008
Why are NRL teams slow or unable to take advantage of a weakened opponent?
Round 10 provided further evidence of a phenomenon that has become widespread in recent seasons: where teams post poor performances despite facing a much-weakened opposition lineup, having strong motivation to the contrary or both.
This has become increasingly common in the approach to the finals series, where teams out of contention (and without any pressure or expectations) often defeat those with the lure of securing or improving their top 8 position, but the mid-season malaise suffered by many teams is often due to facing opposition missing many important players.
In some instances, this can be an absence of players before State of Origin games or just a host of players missing due to injury, but it can also come when playing an opposition well down on form. The factors attributed to many current failings in the NRL (static salary cap, significant talent and experience losses to UK/Rugby, continued increases in speed and intensity of games) are also relevant here (in making it difficult to maintain consistency and focus from week to week), but there is more to it: over short periods (enough time to build a significant lead), Rugby League is a game where a burst of effort alone can make a difference, especially in such an even competition. When the favoured team is flat or complacent, anything is possible.
Most games in Round 10 featured a healthy dose of playing down to a weakened opposition / playing poorly when circumstances or motivation suggested otherwise. Without doubt, the best of this came from Parramatta, for whom such an effort (or lack thereof) was not really a surprise.
Parramatta's Round 10 opponent was the Roosters, who were missing 4 of their best forwards to State of Origin. Even a pack as strong and as deep as the Roosters cannot fully cover for the loss of the 4 quality players; that is, they cannot fully cover for this loss against most teams. Against Parramatta, the Roosters' weakened forward pack still dominated.
The first half was relatively even, as the Roosters made a number of errors, but their defence held quite firm against a rather pedestrian Parramatta attack. However, in the first 15 or so minutes of the 2nd half, the Roosters held onto the ball and their forwards took over. From this platform, halves Anasta and Pearce took advantage and did as they pleased. Tries came far too easily and within 20 minutes of the second half, the Roosters had a match-winning lead. Parramatta supporters everywhere would have been disappointed, but perhaps none more so than Ray "Rabbits" Warren, who sounded almost funereal as Pearce took a late intercept and ran away to score.
As noted earlier, Parramatta has become one of the teams most likely to put in an "unexpected" stinker like this. They have become almost as bad as the Dragons at losing games when they're favoured by many to win. Speaking of the Dragons, one of Parramatta's more famous losses came against them in 2004 (which took place, like the Roosters game, before State of Origin 1). In this game, the Dragons were missing Bailey, Barrett, Cooper, Gasnier, Hornby, Kite, Thompson and Timmins either to State of Origin or to injury. Parramatta was missing Burt, Cayless and Hindmarsh, but they were thrashed 37-6 by the second-string Dragons (led by the...ahem...inspirational leadership of Jason Ryles). As Piggy Riddell dominated, the boos reverberated around Parramatta Stadium: the Eels probably deserved boos on Friday night as well.
Cronulla is not as bad as Parramatta when it comes to losing games they should win - their forté is an alarming inability to win at home and perhaps the worst attack in the NRL - but they were in a similar situation as the Eels on Saturday night. In fact, Brisbane was probably weakened more than the Roosters by State of Origin and injuries, but the fact that they were not massive outsiders showed how little respect many gave to Cronulla's ability to win at home and to score enough points to beat Brisbane (who, in their Origin and injury-weakened state, rarely looked like scoring).
Despite having some of the best supporters in the NRL, Cronulla had won just ONE of their past nine games at home and have endured long losing streaks there in recent years: a stark contrast to the period between the mid 90s and early 2000s, when Cronulla was almost unbeatable at home. The fans again turned up in hope on Saturday night, but it didn't look very good early, as Cronulla errors gave Brisbane a much-needed assist into attacking field position. In contrast, Brisbane's ball-handling early on was exemplary and eventually they found a try to take an early lead.
Slowly, Cronulla fought their way back into the game - a significant task given a still very-strong Brisbane forward pack - and dominated the game for an extended period into the second half with the wind at their back. However, this dominance resulted in just 12 points. While Cronulla was missing their two best players in Gallen and Bird, they still had significant attacking field position but rarely looked like scoring.
Their best attack came from set plays; there is little doubt of the significant improvement in Cronulla's defence under Ricky Stuart's coaching, but their attack has regressed markedly. The enterprise, instincts, nous and (most importantly) attacking confidence has almost completely disappeared in Cronulla's game. Instead, they rely on several set plays and the bare bones of an attacking system. Stuart is either over-managing his team from an attacking perspective, unwilling or unable to coach an attacking system (as opposed to a few plays) or the key attacking players are under instruction not to undertake any risky attacking plays. Given Stuart's history of chopping and changing halves, the latter would not be surprising, although Kimmorley may now play a more expansive attacking game with his NRL future now secure.
Kimmorley did seal the win for Cronulla with a late field goal: at this stage, any home win for Cronulla is a great one, no matter how ugly.
The same could be said for Penrith, who have an incredibly poor recent record: at home, when favoured to win at home and when coming off a win. They were also without Petero Civoniceva for their game on Sunday against the still injury-hit Warriors. But his absence meant little as Penrith gave a rare glimpse of their attacking potential. Pritchard and Jennings dominated down the left-hand side. They dominated to such an extent, you wonder why it doesn't happen more often. Meanwhile, the newest, largest halfback in the NRL, Luke Lewis, had another good game (although his introduction to halfback has been made quite gentle by another poor defensive showing by Penrith's opposition) and Tighe and Gordon continued their strong recent form on Penrith's right.
That said, the Warriors were again (for a game in Australia) very poor. They fought back late in the first half, but a weak attempted kick in attack by Grant Rovelli was returned by Pritchard then Jennings for a Penrith try: this broke the game open and Penrith piled on the points from here. Still, a win in this situation is a very good one for Penrith. There's a looooong way to go, but they just might have turned the corner.
Even Manly and Gold Coast slipped from their previous strong form against weakened opposition. Manly figured to be the weekend's big winners. They took on a Cowbores team minus Feral Thurston, Matt Bowen, Carl Webb and (if the rumours were true) coach Graham Murray (on a permanent basis). Even still, the Cowbores competed very well for most of the first half. Alas, without anyone with more than rudimentary playmaking talents, they never seriously were in the contest, but they stuck close with a team known for their consistency of effort for far longer than many expected. The final wide margin flattered Manly, but also reflected the magnitude of problems within the Cowbores.
The Bulldogs don't have Feral Thurston (well...not since 2004 anyway) but they have almost as many problems as the Cowbores, with injuries, a coaching change already booked in for 2009 and some big-name player unrest. While the table-topping Gold Coast was without the likes of Rogers, Laffranchi and Campbell, a close contest between these teams seemed extremely unlikely, especially with Scott Prince's omission from State of Origin and the return of inspirational co-captain Luke Bailey.
The Bulldogs dominated possession in the game's early minutes but never seriously threatened to score. When the Gold Coast finally saw some ball, they put on 3 tries in relatively quick time: the thrashing looked on to everyone except the most one-eyed Bulldogs supporter and the Channel Nine commentators.
However, in the remaining minutes of the first half, it became quickly apparent the above list included most of the Bulldogs' players. They came back into the game with two tries down Gold Coast's right-side defence: once they had this sniff of a chance of victory, they attacked wherever chances made themselves apparent. This attack took place both with and without the ball, as a series of well-executed tackles secured an increasing amount of possession. Much of this possession was returned quickly towards the Gold Coast tryline.
Despite more Scott Prince brilliance and a Prince penalty goal, the Bulldogs were not to be discouraged. How was this the same team who meekly submitted to Penrith last week? Even when Gold Coast had the ball, the Bulldogs smelled blood and attacked any sign of weakness (which were becoming more apparent). A turnover of possession in Gold Coast attacking territory was bundled back down the field by, of all people, Jarrod Hickey. Soon after, Reni Maitua scored: he looked more energised than he has been in years.
To describe Gold Coast's four-point lead at this point as tenuous was to be polite: they were in desperate need of the full-time siren. A dubious penalty and a possible knock-on came in the lead-up to what appeared to be the game-tying try to Michael Sullivan; alas, a forward pass was called, denying what would have been an incredible comeback win.
For the Gold Coast, it was another home win, but it was not so much a wake-up call as fingernails down 1000 blackboards. Sure, they were without several important players, but until they see off a challenge such as this in somewhat more convincing fashion, they will have little support to come close to Premiership success.
Perhaps luckily for the Gold Coast, their next opponents also came close to defeat against an understrength opponent in Round 10. For the third time in four seasons, the Wests Tigers played the Knights in Newcastle with the Knights missing a host of important players. State of Origin meant the absence of Buderus (as it did for the corresponding game in 2007) and Cross, injury and suspension ruled out Gidley and Hilder respectively, while Newcastle's massive effort to be competitive with Melbourne for 60 minutes last Monday night meant most other players were not 100% for this game.
In contrast, the Tigers were coming off the bye and welcomed back Robbie Farah and Benji Marshall: they were perhaps two players away from being at full-strength. This game went much the same as the games in 2007 and 2005 did: the understrength home team played quite well for some time, before the Tigers exerted their authority and surfeit of ability to win fairly comfortably. While they looked good for about a 20 minute period in the second half and scored some nice tries, the overall display was so-so: Tim Sheens had every right to publically voice his concern after the game.
Last night's game saw Canberra take on Souths. Canberra's ongoing terrible luck with major injuries saw them field a team significantly weaker than their best (although many teams would take the likes of Monaghan, Purtell, Carney, Tongue and Tilse in a significantly weakened team) while Souths was really only missing Craig Wing (a major loss, of course. You can probably guess how it turned out: a combination of strong play by the Raiders and insufficient intensity from Souths saw Canberra enjoy an easy win. The good work of recent weeks was wasted by Souths, while Canberra continue to be dreadful away and brilliant at home.
Lastly, in a round where the increasing tendency of Rugby League teams to waste dominating positions (or to rise against adversity and the loss of important players), the team most closely linked with such bizarre play - St George Illawarra - did as the formline suggested and thrashed a significantly weakened Melbourne Storm. However, it may be important to note that the Dragons were missing three of their important players: see the story above from 2004 as to how the Dragons often fare quite well when missing big-name players. Players such as Soward, Chase, Ryles and Poore had great games: if only they could reproduce this form on a more consistent basis.
It is also important to note just how understrength the Storm was. They won 2 games before State of Origin last season, but those teams featured Slater (one game), Folau, Quinn, Cross, Aubusson, Rua, Crossman, Newton: these players are now either Origin players or were forced elsewhere due to salary cap constraints. Melbourne is renowned for developing (or purchasing) some of the best youngsters in the game, but the young Storm players were out of their depth in this game. They gave away far too many late tackle penalties and errors.
The extent of the dropoff in performances in Round 10 from Melbourne, Brisbane and the Cowbores has brought a host of complaints that the NRL should make play State of Origin games on a stand-alone weekend. This would mean less potentially one-sided contests, but also less chance to see how teams on both sides react to being put in such unusual situations. One thing's for sure: Parramatta supporters wouldn't disagree with such a proposal (unless, of course, they were without many of their big-name players).
See you next week.
Monday, 12 May 2008
Round 9: Played Strong, but Done....Poorly (or how to put a week off to good use)
The passing of Jack Gibson on Friday cast a pall of sadness over Round 9 for many. However, the game Gibson knew, the game he imbued upon a generation of players, the game his great mind came up with a host of innovations for, that game is long gone. Today's game is more for the athlete rather than the natural player, more for the 6'3 95kg utility than the crafty player who can read and understand the game but isn't the best at tackling Mack Trucks.
Remnants of the game Gibson knew so well still remain today - and when they are seen, in combination with Olympic sprinter-like speed and/or physiques seemingly carved out of stone, they are a sight to behold - but are all too rare. Size, speed and the ability to wrestle are the commodities most in demand - the rules of the modern game dictate this.
When the modern game on the field is combined with the modern game off the field - where the salary cap gives struggling teams a leg-up and hence innovation is stifled (due to any benefits being lost to the jaws of the salary cap in due time) - a rather homogeneous product is the result.
There's no doubting the effort of most players (Played Strong) in today's game, but the general skill level and quality of many games often leaves a lot to be desired (Done Poorly).
This was especially the case in Round 9, which served up a number of sub-standard performances. Perhaps not surprisingly, most of the (few) teams who performed at or near their best came off the bye in Round 8 and were able to shake off injuries, lethargy or both and provide some highlights in an otherwise poor weekend.
The most surprising of these strong efforts came on Sunday from Manly. Much had been made of their rather impotent (but also quite predictable) attack in the early rounds of 2008. Their wins so far had come mostly from overwhelming poor teams at Brookvale Oval, with a brave win over a typically lackadaisical Parramatta as their only success away from home.
Even though their opponent on Sunday - Brisbane - was without Lockyer, then Hodges and Carroll, Brisbane still figured to be a far more difficult opponent than any other team Manly had beaten so far. Even if their defence stymied the usually strong Brisbane attack, their own attack probably needed to play at a higher level than had been seen this season (especially away from home): a potentially tricky task without Anthony Watmough and a less than 100% Brett Stewart.
Early on, Manly showed signs of taking the game to Brisbane, but Brisbane withstood Manly's efforts and put two tries on in fairly quick time. Manly's poor record when trailing early on seemingly made the likelihood of a comeback fairly slim.
But after about 25 minutes, inexplicably, the game turned. Brisbane put consecutive attacking kicks across the dead ball line, which gave Manly impetus. Several teams have attacked Brisbane's young outside backs with the cross kick this season: Manly's effort in this area caused havoc, with a try scored and a second try very nearly recorded soon after.
Manly's momentum gathered pace in the second half, as sustained pressure saw Brisbane look extremely vulnerable. Most importantly though, the predictable, one-pace Manly attack of early rounds was nowhere to be seen. New recruit Heath L'Estrange was the catalyst here, giving life to his forwards with incisive running from dummy half and asking many questions of the Brisbane defence.
Brisbane is a fundamentally solid defensive team, but they were found wanting, especially in the first 20 minutes of the second half, where Manly won the game. The absence of noted defensive specialist Carroll was significant, but Manly probably would have won well even if Carroll played.
Another team to significantly improve their attack after a bye week was Cronulla. While Cronulla's attack had been far less effective than Manly's, luckily for them, they played perhaps the worst defensive team (from a fundamentals basis) in the Cowbores.
The jury remains out as to how much of the credit for Cronulla's first-half onslaught of four tries should go to poor Cowbores' defence; Cronulla certainly had more life in their attack than in any time in the past 6 weeks or so and the early try to Kearney gave them a much-needed boost of confidence. But there is also little doubt the Cowbores made things easier for Cronulla than most other NRL teams would have. The decline of a much-vaunted defensive unit of 2004 and 2005 continues...
However, the Cowbores stayed in the game as Cronulla considered 18 points to be enough of a lead to win the game. To be fair, Cronulla's defence feasted on Feral Thurston having no other helpers and a 2nd half shutout looked likely for some time, before a Carl Webb run and a freak Luke O'Donnell effort cut Cronulla's lead back to 6.
Cronulla players probably felt more comfortable having to grind out a close win than coasting to victory, but there was a few close calls in the game's dying minutes: despite playing in the Test on Friday night and playing with an ankle injury, Feral Thurston never gave up and very nearly set up another try late on.
The other two notable team efforts from Round 9 also involved players backing up from Friday night's Test, but of a greater number than in either of the Cowbores or Sharks. The 5 Roosters' Test players - led by Willie Mason - all gave a very good account of themselves as the Roosters easily accounted for Canberra on Saturday night.
It was an important game for the Roosters to re-establish their momentum after consecutive losses (Craig Fitzgibbon was right up there with Mason leading the way), but Canberra was very disappointing. Sure, coming off a physical battle in the wet with the Warriors last week was going to be difficult, but their commitment, their mental application and their intensity were all lacking. This was a team who came close to defeating Melbourne 2 weeks ago...
Speaking of Melbourne, while they didn't play in Round 8, they had almost half their squad playing in Friday night's Test. When it became apparent not long after kickoff on Monday night that their opponent - Newcastle - was the third consecutive team to bring everything to try and achieve a rare win over last season's premiers, another major effort was going to be required by the Storm to get the win.
It took far longer than it normally does - Newcastle's defensive effort was brilliant - but Melbourne eventually wore down the Knights. While a low-scoring grind, where all points were well earned, was more common in Jack Gibson's day than in the modern era, Melbourne's mechanical approach to the game is symptomatic of the problems in the game today.
As Newcastle's defensive efforts continued to repel the always-intense Storm, anyone who has even a few Storm games over the years could predict the means by which the Storm would attempt to punch through the Newcastle defence. In addition to their efforts to dominate possession despite not getting the ball back from kickoffs (through methods such as tackling Newcastle in their in-goal, aggressive defence forcing turnovers and benefiting from Newcastle ill-discipline), the standard plays were all trotted out: appearing to use Ryan Hoffman as the decoy runner but giving him the ball close to the line, giving Inglis the ball and letting him wind up and fend off the defence, Cameron Smith hitting one of their big forwards close to the line as well as the stock-standard kick-across for the oversized outside back (Israel Folau).
Newcastle clearly saw each of these plays as they were happening, but Melbourne's machine-like consistency and ever-improving ability not to get frustrated or lose focus when things aren't working is why they are the best in the NRL. Their on-field leaders knew that Newcastle might have known what was coming, but stopping it time after time is another matter entirely. When the cross kick to Folau finally worked, Melbourne was on the way to victory.
Strangely enough, Folau's second try came from a well-worked move; one that wouldn't have looked out of place in eras gone by. It seems Melbourne's conservatism and over-coaching stops them from attempting such plays when points are desperately needed (as they were before Folau's first try; the longer the score stayed at 0-all, the better Newcastle's chances of winning).
While Newcastle lost and didn't come off the bye from Round 8, their performance in standing up to a dominant Storm display for over 50 minutes without relenting was one of the most inspired in recent years. On the other hand, how long can Melbourne keep up their extremely high levels of intensity? In the last few weeks, they were bombarded by Canberra, made to back up just 5 days later in Townsville and made to follow up a Test for half their squad by facing one of the best defensive efforts of recent times.
They are, without doubt, the best team in the NRL, but the Origin period will drain their resources and test them (further) like they haven't been tested before.
The final 2 games of the round displayed so much about what is wrong with the NRL today, including the fact both games were played at Homebush.
Parramatta and St George Illawarra both showed glimpses of their massive potential, but both put forth considerable effort to give the opposition many chances to win. Dragons' supporters will complain about the controversial no-try to Nightingale (after a dubious steal call against Matt Cooper), but Soward's bombing of two tries later in the game was far more crucial to the game's outcome. Meanwhile, Parramatta's complacency returned each time their lead hit 12, while their continued inability to put downfield kicks above onrushing defence could have decided the game. As it turned out, the last chargedown made the final margin 1 point: both sets of supporters had every right to be unhappy.
The Bulldogs Penrith game on Saturday night was one of the worst games in recent memory. The injury-affected Bulldogs' lineup was crippled by 3 further late injury withdrawals (including Sonny Bill and Luke Patten), while Penrith coach Matt Elliott decided to play Luke Lewis at halfback. The result was an extremely disjointed game. Penrith eventually got on top, but it was a painful victory: the Bulldogs' effort was abysmal, while any game where a non-playmaker such as Lewis dominates is always going to be ugly.
Some rare positives from the game were further confirmation of Petero Civoniceva's reputation as a top-shelf player when backing up from representative games, but this was dwarfed by the effort from FOX's Andy Raymond and Gary Freeman, who toiled manfully to say positive things about this abomination of a game. There must have been ongoing and significant temptations to lash out in frustration at the many incompetent players from both teams, but their professionalism (and creative use of words) won the day.
Jack Gibson would never have used so many words (nor sugarcoated his thoughts) during his commentary career, but his patience would have been thoroughly tested if he was commentating today.
Vale Jack. See you next week.
Monday, 5 May 2008
Penalties: does the punishment now exceed the crime?
It's a few days after the event, but this article from the SMH on Friday is worth discussing.
The effect of penalties is more significant than ever before: as the article says, one in three tries now result from penalties (and this is without considering the repeat sets gained and the subsequent tries or the significant tiring of the opposition defence from having to defend multiple sets).
Curiously, this does not seem to be deciding matches: home teams are faring better than they have over recent years and the Cowboys - Melbourne game went Melbourne's way despite a huge penalty count against them (although it is hard to imagine any other team defending as well as Melbourne did and overcoming such a hurdle). But as the game continues to get faster and the emphasis on speed from dummy half increases, surely the relationship between penalties and results will strengthen.
A possible solution is to "grade" penalties. This could be done where the penalty for more minor infringements is merely a re-start of the tackle count, rather than a long kick downfield.
Or, offences could be graded and a set metre penalty could be enforced (as is the case in the NFL). Sure, the grading of offences could be difficult and having the on-field referee to determine the grade whilst carrying out so many other duties could prove a troublesome task, but it would overcome the current situation, where a penalty received in the middle of the field usually results in further yardage gained than a penalty received near the sideline.
Also, the yardage gained from a penalty would not be contingent on the quality of kick or the weather conditions (i.e. a strong wind) on the day.
Whatever the solution, something must be done in this area and done soon, otherwise the pressure on referees (and the importance of their decisions) will only increase: that can't be good for the game.
Round 8: A Lyrical Roundup
Even though Round 8 of this year's NRL competition provided us with two exciting games from ANZ Stadium at Homebush, the major event of the weekend at the Olympic Precinct was without doubt the Foo Fighters concerts at the adjoining Acer Arena.
Let it be stated that the Tuesday Roast is not one to ignore the sentiments of the people, so instead of the standard dry discourse, this week's edition will borrow heavily from the world of music.
But instead of describing each of last weekend's games via the pen of Dave Grohl, the lyrical link to Round 8 will come from another multifaceted (and, indeed, multi-group) musician: Mike Patton. Or, more particularly, the most famous band with which he is associated.
Ladies and Gentlemen, your Round 8 roundup is brought to you by Faith No More.
"It shouldn't bother me, no, It shouldn't, no no, It shouldn't bother me, It shouldn't but it does!"
(from A Small Victory, off Angel Dust (1992)).
While the Foo Fighters were performing for a full house on Saturday night, the Tigers and Brisbane game took place in a far emptier facility just metres away. Despite the small crowd, it was a highly entertaining game. Brisbane eventually won comfortably, but the Tigers gave them a few uncomfortable minutes late in the game.
Still, neither coach was pleased after the game. A Small Victory is about the competitive instincts engendered into a son by his father, followed by the realisation that no matter how strong this competitiveness, victory can not always be achieved. Both Brisbane's Wayne Bennett and Wests' Tim Sheens are father-like figures to their teams and were disappointed in post-match correspondence.
A losing coach is rarely happy, but this was perhaps the Tigers' best effort of the year to date. Sure, they allowed Brisbane to score too often with little difficulty, especially after coming close to putting points on at the other end, but they often stretched one of the NRL's best defences: a significant achievement for a team learning to play without their best player and who also lost a major cog (Todd Payten) very early on.
Meanwhile, Brisbane had every right to be very happy with their effort. Their ability to respond after pressure showing little to no signs of fatigue was exemplary, better than it has been for several seasons. Karmichael Hunt returned from injury and caused the Tigers problems for much of the game, while Peter Wallace took over from a struggling Darren Lockyer and led the team well and Sam Thaiday had a dominant game up front. Lastly, Ben Hannant did well to deceive all officials and earn a penalty from the half-way line, despite incorrectly executing the "make the kickoff go dead" procedure.
Despite the post-match comments from the coaches, both teams should be fairly happy with how they performed. However, the same cannot be said of Penrith and Parramatta...
From the bottom, it looks like a steep incline, from the top, another downhill slope of mine, but I know…an equilibrium's there
(from Falling to Pieces, off the Real Thing (1989)).
Both of Western Sydney's major teams are notorious for being wildly inconsistent. Over the course of a season - or even a game or a half - they can touch dizzying highs and despairing lows. This game had it all: for both teams.
The first 10 or so minutes favoured the visitors. Some strong play by Penrith was prevented from being converted into points, before a very easy try due to pathetic Penrith goal line defence.
The remainder of the first half saw Penrith dominate. They scored two tries - to Civoniceva and Puletua - added a penalty goal and could have had several other tries. Despite no evidence of either defender getting hands under the ball, Nathan Smith was judged to have been held up over the line late in the first half. Clearly, this was the referee's initial decision before it was sent to the video referee (who could not decide either way) but how this initial decision was arrived at is a mystery to anyone who watched the game.
The first 10 minutes of the second half saw more bad luck come Penrith's way, as Michael Gordon's failure to fully know the possession-in-goal rule saw him expend a significant amount of energy in setting up a try for Luke Priddis which was never going to be awarded. To compound matters, Parramatta scored soon after, despite Brett Finch appearing to have come extremely close to being tackled before passing the ball out. The ensuing kick-and-hope took a very fortuitous bounce, leading to a Nathan Hindmarsh try.
Hindmarsh was overjoyed and rightly so: after another poor first half, his lucky try meant Parramatta was only down 2 points. From here, Parramatta provided what has become their standard 10 minutes of playing somewhere near potential: however, a downcast Panthers' team allowed the suddenly ebullient Eels far too many offloads and 3 long-range tries was the result.
With the game virtually won, Parramatta eased off and allowed Penrith a late try, but the failure to convert the try secured the win. In contrast to Wayne Bennett, Parramatta coach Michael Hagan was quite happy with his team's effort. Parramatta's next opponent is the Dragons: an intriguing matchup of teams who rarely play at their potential and of nice-guy but lame-duck coaches. I bet Nathan Brown wishes he had Johns, Buderus and Simpson at his disposal for his first 6 seasons of coaching...
Speaking of the famous Knights' troika, they were all absent from Newcastle's lineup as they took on the Gold Coast on Saturday night. But, incredibly, despite these big name absences, Newcastle was favourite to win. To again borrow from Faith No More:
Cause you come from out of nowhere, my glance turns to a stare
(from From Out of Nowhere, off the Real Thing (1989)).
Both Newcastle and the Gold Coast have impressed and surprised NRL watchers thus far this season. Neither team was expected to do much; in fact, many picked either of these teams for wooden spoon contention. Gold Coast was looking for their 6th win in succession, while Newcastle was looking to build upon their last start comeback win over the Roosters with their third win in four matches at home.
Newcastle coach Brian Smith has often achieved major results coming off a bye and he clearly had his team drilled for a big-time scalp. Their defence was very quick off-the-mark and gave the talented Titans little time to make plays. This was the basis for a first-half domination of field position and then possession, as tries to Naiqama and Mullen gave Newcastle a 12-nil half-time lead.
But as Gold Coast started to receive more attacking field position, their excellent kicking game resulted in a host of repeat sets. The Newcastle defence showed great resilience to turn away one of the best attacks in the NRL so far this season, but eventually Scott Prince set up 2 late tries and it was only further determined Newcastle defence and a fortunate penalty or two which gave Newcastle a famous win. This win was even more special due to having lost their last 9 games without Buderus.
The New Zealand Warriors don't have one player as influential as Buderus, but were without a number of important players for their game against Canberra on Sunday. However, their cause was helped by torrential rain in Auckland for much of the day. Canberra's comically high error count and extremely low completion rate was in stark contrast to the almost-perfect display of wet weather rugby league by the Warriors. It may well have been perfect, except for one of the more incredible penalty kick bloopers you will ever see...
It's always funny until someone gets hurt and then it's just hilarious
(from Ricochet off King For a Day (1995)).
Canberra's tragic inability to hold on to the ball for a sustained period, followed up by further mistakes as they tried in vain to chase down the Warriors, meant this was a very one-sided 14-6 win. It may have been more if the usually brilliant Michael Witt kicked a penalty goal late in the game. Instead, he incredibly miscued so badly that the kicking tee went further than the ball and Witt was left to nurse a sore leg after kicking the ground with such intensity. A more unlikely mistake will not be seen for many years.
The final two games of the weekend have a strong association with mistakes. Souths have made plenty of mistakes in their winless start to the season (including the unfortunate alcohol episode from last weekend), but their opponents on Sunday - the Cowbores - have had an uncharisterically slow start to the season.
A possible mistake the Cowbores made before this game was to decide to play Matt Bowen. Bowen was originally named in the team, before pulling out on Friday due to further knee soreness. This decision was then overturned on the weekend. Bowen had a solid game, but his knee injury was apparent at times, but interestingly, the Cowbores' loss on Sunday meant they are just 1 win and 4 losses this season with Bowen in the lineup (compared to 2 wins and 0 losses without him).
However, the more likely contributing factor to the Cowbores' loss was their massive effort in trying to overhaul Melbourne last weekend. In this game, their defence, crispness, intensity and all-round effort was far higher than in most games. To play at such a level only to lose by 2 points, then to lose Lilyman to suspension and have several players backing up from City v Country was always going to make a trip to Sydney against a spirited team such as Souths very difficult.
Awakened by the sun light, victimised by last night, memories flashing through my head, was I just born or am I dead?
(from The Morning After, off the Real Thing (1989)).
That said, the Cowbores looked very strong in the game's first 10 and final 10 minutes, more so than they often look when they play in Sydney (when the Cowbores moniker is far more apt). But in the intervening 60 minutes, the Rabbitohs' relentless effort eventually wore down the resistance of the Cowbores. The usual number of Souths' errors (including several kicks out on the full) were not dwelled on; instead they were shrugged off and continued defensive vigour and liberal dosings of speed in attack got them home.
Last and least, it was the City v Country Origin game from Wollongong. This relic continues to be a fixture on the representative schedule, and incredibly was brought back from the dead in 2002, despite marginal interest from most. One game in a "regional" centre is not enough to make up for years of neglect for Country Rugby League...
That's why I'm easy, I'm easy like Sunday morning
(from Easy off Angel Dust (1992), but originally by The Commodores (1977)).
Most supporters are over this game and over their long-time relationship with this game. Even many players are indifferent or even against this game; they "just want to be free to know the things they do are right".
That's enough lyrics for now. City overcame the considerable handicap of having Corey Hughes in their team to come back from a 16-6 half-time deficit and led by 6 with under 10 minutes to go.
City looked to have all the momentum, but after Todd Carney hit a gap and scored under the posts, the game was tied at 22 and a field goal shootout started....and stopped at the 80 minute mark.
An antiquated concept decided (or not decided, as it may be interpreted) by an antiquated method. Despite the initial empty feeling, this was probably an entirely appropriate outcome, especially with the lack of clarity provided by the game for a host of key NSW State of Origin positions.
On that confused note, regular service will resume next week.
