Prop in the (Irish) Sea: Finals Week 2
Pleased to report that the Prop is alive and well. He has departed Ireland after having his customary swim in the Irish Sea. He spent Saturday at the race meeting at Leopardstown as a special guest of legendary Irish trainer, Aiden O’Brien. Unfortunately, that did not help him as he reported a losing day.
Prop and the Councillor head out into the Irish Sea at 6.30am
He headed across the Sea to the valleys of Wales and delivered an impromptu lecture to the former local Welsh miners titled ‘Coal mining in the Central highlands of QLD, the open cut method’. By all reports it was very well received.
L to R: S Evans, Prop, J Davies, N Williams, G Price, J Jones, R Morgan. The lads are apparently keen to visit CQ for some crabs and coal.
The Courier Mail this week, like everybody else in the media, have been completely ‘Brainwalshed’. Michael Ennis has been – he mentioned the name Walsh 7 times before the Broncos first try. At that point I stopped counting. More on that man Walsh later, of course.
Week 1 Review
Storm v Bulldogs. A brutal, physical encounter. Both teams pushed all their chips in to try and secure the win. As the game progressed you sensed that the loser might pay a heavy price for the loss. Unfortunately for the Bulldogs it was them. A Kikau pass found Warbrick who went the distance to seal a tight victory. The loss of Crichton is obviously massive and they must regroup quickly. The only positive was the standard of the game, particularly defensively, which was far superior to the other top four clash (discounting all the drama).
Warriors v Penrith: Another hard-fought game which was closer than the final score indicated. The Warriors went into the fight with one arm tied behind their back but gave a great account of themselves. Again, luck went against them with a freakish bounce favouring the Panthers and an obvious forward pass being overlooked to all but seal the game. A predictable victory but hats off to the Warriors.
Sharks v Roosters: The boys from Endeavour/Caltex/Ronson field were simply too good on the night for the disappointing Roosters. Trindall was very good and they would appear to have a chance next week.
Canberra v Broncos: Sunday, for me, began with watching the ‘Fight of the Century’ from that great Cathedral of Rugby League, Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. I consider myself fortunate that, in my early sixties, I have seen approximately 20 ‘Fights of the Century’. It finished right on time to cross to that local, country parish church of Rugby League, GIO stadium. The game is now considered a classic but it did not start out that way. To use a boxing analogy, it looked more like the once a year, local fight night at the Globe Hotel than a ‘Fight of the century’. It was error ridden, the defence was poor, and it looked like two lower ranked teams slugging it out. I don’t think I can add much more that has not already been said. Last week I posed the question, would we see ‘virtuoso Walsh’ or ‘scatterbrain Walsh’. Well, we saw both. If you haven’t seen what transpired, go and watch it. Canberra blew it completely and are more at fault than the Broncos were great. As I mentioned earlier, the other top four clash was a lot better, quality wise.
The ‘Man from Bremer River’ reported that Reece only suffered one possible game ending/season ending/life threatening injury during the match. It happened when the son of the mule contacted his leg when attempting the game-tying field goal at the end of normal time. Fortunately for Reece, he was able to recover quickly and take the resultant penalty goal.
Week 2 Preview
Week Two is always a great week. Two teams on a high after a great win and two teams on a down after a loss. I cannot remember a year where the losers are coming off such a big mental and physical letdown as this year. Will the Raiders and the Dogs be able to bounce back? Honestly, I do not know.
Canberra v Cronullargh: My mind goes straight to the Qualifying Final of 2016 when the Sharks upset the Raiders on their home deck en route to their first premiership. Could they repeat the dose? Yes, they have shown something not generally associated with the Sharks recently, consistency. Normally, I would go against them, thinking they are due to throw in a bad one. I think the PTSD from last week may be too much to overcome for the Raiders. Sharks for me.
Canterbury v Penrith: The words I keep hearing this week about the Panthers are, rested, refreshed, full strength. The words I am hearing about the Bulldogs are, injured, beat up, confused (about their line up). I think everything points to a Penrith victory. I hope I am wrong but there seems to be a sense of inevitability about them now. Penrith to win.
Odd Fact/Stat: The headbutt, aka ‘The Liverpool kiss’, has been in the news this week. Former GB forward Cliff Watson, who famously headbutted Australian forward Jim Morgan in the Brisbane Test of 1970, holds the distinction of being the only British player sent off twice in Test matches v Australia. Watson went on to play 39 games for Cronulla, including the 1973 Grand Final against Manly, generally regarded as the most brutal grand final ever.
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Mark, I fear the stars may be aligning for the Panthers – they’re getting back to a full list as they meet teams (Warriors, Bulldogs) who are either out of form or losing key players. But it’s a funny old game, as we saw last weekend.
Meanwhile, Prop is making waves wherever he goes!
Prospector, I agree that all pundits are seeing the Panthers winning this week as inevitable, but I didn’t think their form against a brave Warriors team was all that convincing. If they do advance and play with similar ill-discipline to last weekend’s first half, they will find it hard to outscore the Broncos who thrive on momentum gained through weight of possession. The Bulldogs will be down on class without Crichton but showed plenty of desperation to stay in the fight against the Storm, and will be equally desperate with huge crowd support. It may be wishful thinking but i give them a genuine chance.
Mark, I wonder if you are old enough to remember that there was a souvenir 45rpm record released after that 1973 Grand Final? It featured Ray Warren commentary in which he said ‘They are throwing everything but the kitchen sink at each other’ in the opening exchanges. Rugby League was a very different game in the early 70s and the late Cliff Watson would have been perplexed by a player being binned for sledging and the equal punishment being given to a player who head-butted, albeit harmlessly.
Rugby league just can’t help itself — every week it dishes up another headline.
Earlier in the week it was all about the genius of Reece Walsh, guiding the Broncos to yet another big win. Ricky Stuart, meanwhile, twice went the “early crow” only to have victory snatched from his hands after 93 brutal minutes. Classic footy theatre.
And then came the outrage over Walsh supposedly getting off for a “headbutt.” Seriously? That wasn’t a headbutt — it was more like a Hongi: (the traditional M?ori greeting of unity, peace and respect between two mates.)
If you want to see what a real headbutt looks like, fire up some 1970s footage of Great Britain prop Jim Mills — the undisputed master of the infamous “Liverpool Kiss.”Sorry Prospector………, Cliffy Watson had nothing on Big Jim
Hypocrisy, by definition, is when someone pretends to believe something they do not truly believe, or acts in a way that contradicts their stated principles. I am in disbelief at the penalty or lack there of dished out by the Roosters over the alleged incident between Victor Radley & Brandon Smith… A suspension and fine hardly align with Uncle Nick’s previously declared “zero-tolerance” stance on drug-related matters.
Obviously, Uncle Nick has had a change of heart and buckled under the pressure applied by Trent Robinson and senior players..
I can’t help but wonder: if Radley were a “Neville,” would he have received the same treatment? History suggests otherwise.
Settle Hammer, every news story says ” There is no suggestion Victor has done anything wrong” after giving him a pizzling. No legal grounds to sack him. If he gets charged with something they will open the trapdoor, for sure.
Steve, no, I do not recall that 45rpm (single). I hope you kept it, that is a real collector’s item. Mind you, 6 Merrell St is next level in terms of Rugby League memorabilia. Sounds early for Rabs but i suppose he was about to burst on the scene in 1974 with the Amco Cup, “That could be a Volvo”.
Yes, big Jim Mills. Sent off 20 times. Banned from NZ. Welsh legend. Good call, Hammer.