NRL Round 13 – Prop in the Canefield: You gotta love footy!

 

 

 

No sooner had Round 12 been put on line when a mate of mine, The Fossicker, phoned me to say he had Neil Pringle’s Scanlan’s Footy card. The Fossicker has a couple of sets of the cards from his days at school in Rocky. Our school – St Stans – wore the Balmain strip and The Fossicker was a centre three quarter in our 1975, 40 kg (6 Stone) Premiership team . (Yes, I was under 6 stone 4 at the pre-season weigh-in but finished the season at 7 stone 2.) He sent me a picture of his 1977 Scanlan’s Bubble Gum Footy Card number 103 with Bing in full flight. Well done, Fossicker, and we will keep you in mind when we need information going forward, given you’ve still got your bubble gum cards. See below for Bing’s Origin thoughts.

While on Neil Pringle, I did ask how he got his nickname. I was told it was a very simple nickname, deriving from the fact that Neil has a penchant for breaking into song, hence the nickname ‘Bing’ as in Bing Crosby. Welcome aboard, Neil, and we look forward to your further insights. Bing let ‘The Investigator know that after putting his criticism on line last week, he felt like he now had V’Landys’ henchman chasing him down like a Neil Pringle cover tackling special. Don’t worry, Bing, as the Ben Bradley of the Almanac – John Harms –  has got your back! I also received a bit of interest in The Prospector’s compound concept, however no one was going to put their team down in public. It certainly is a good topic of conversation to see the teams that you can pick.

 

 

The Thursday night game at half-time looked like a fair match between the Bulldogs and the Dragons however, in the second half the Dragons completely capitulated. Eisenhuth (and I am completely bewildered why the coach would have tried something that failed a couple of weeks ago) was left stranded again on the left-hand side and he can’t be blamed for the weakness of their defence. The Bulldogs really put the sword through them and Lomax going to the bin didn’t help. I still fear the Bulldogs are not stiff enough in the middle of the field. On the other hand, the Dragon’s second half performance was very ordinary.

You can’t say too much about the North Queensland Cowboys or the West Tigers either. In what was a fairly poor game, the Cowboys got the money but neither coach could take much away from that match. Both sides leaked defence and showed little aptitude for digging in deep during the match. So much was expected of the Cowboys this season, again, and they have not delivered. This was exemplified by some poor plays including Drinkwater and Townsend. A ray of hope at least for the Tigers is their 5/8 Galvin who looks like a player.

The final game was a classic Manly/Melbourne encounter. The game had it all, even though the handling was very poor. However, Brookvale seems to lend itself to that. Manly showed resolve that they haven’t shown for a while, especially in the last period defending their line. The fifth Hopper to play NRL demonstrated that he is a player. He did some tremendous work.  All in all, because of the closeness of the score, it was a very entertaining game.

The first game on Saturday had the Raiders up against the Roosters. The Raiders were not in the class of the Roosters who continue to show that they are a heavyweight in the competitive section of the competition.  The Raiders’ defence was not good enough as you cannot miss the tackles they missed and expect to be considered a threat.

I feel for Cronulla as it was about the first time I’ve tipped them against a top side, and that was the kiss of death. And the Panthers, with a number of players out, embarrassed the supposed Sharks who looked way off the pace. It was a clinical demolition.

The final game on the Saturday night was a Rabbitohs versus the Eels. The Rabbitohs were too good but clearly Mitchell needs to be up in the front line for the Rabbitohs. When he really plays, they are a very difficult team to beat. The non sin binning on the Ofahengaue hip drop was hard to follow. It’s good to see Hornby get a win but I think Barrett might have a bit of a wait.

The Broncos and Titans in front of a huge crowd was entertaining but a very disappointing performance by Brisbane. Well done, Titans. Finally, the game between the Warriors and Dolphins saw the Warriors hold on with an almost Reserve Grade team. Again, entertaining Rugby League but, for mine, lacking the starch to beat the top sides.

Because of Origin (which I’ll get to) we only have 5 games and 34 stars missing in Round 13. Thursday night sees the Eels at home to the Sharks. Trent will have to wait another week and the Knights should prove too strong for the Bulldogs at their home ground. The Panthers will accommodate the Dragons even with their Injuries and rep selections for, without Hunt, the Dragons are rudderless. The Dolphins and Raiders is the match of the round with Redcliffe only losing The Hammer and Canberra only without Young. Trai Fuller is back and I will watch him with a high degree of interest. The final match should see a Tedesco-charged Roosters deal with the Cowboys given the Cowboys are without 6 players and are away from home. Enough said.

So, to turn our attention to the upcoming Origin in Sydney. I was very surprised by the non-selection of Fifita but other than that I feel as though the Queensland team just about named itself. I think Cobbo on the bench is a good selection for Queensland as he can cover a number of positions.  I’m not really worried about the New South Wales side but I share similar views to Bing in that I could not believe the non-selection of Yeo. I also felt Tedesco had the right to still be the fullback and was surprised that by leaving him out, they chose to select six debutants. I must say, courtesy of the Strurddy’s team, (led by former Australian, Queensland and Valleys halfback Ross Strudwick, I enjoyed the XXXX Origin Long Lunch (see memorabilia below) where the Maroons were in attendance. A number of players were interviewed and a fitting tribute was made to former Origin star Carl ‘Charlie’ Webb. From where I sat, the Queensland Origin team looked relaxed and ready to play. The Analyst contacted me out of the blue and said he felt Queensland’s biggest advantage was in the coaching staff. His view was that Billy would outcoach Maguire. Billy Slater certainly looked cool, calm and confident when he spoke to over 700 Maroon fans at the luncheon who will all be baying for New South Wales’ blood next Wednesday night in front of our television sets.

 

 

Long lunch memorabilia on the Table!

 

Bing sent the following views on SOO1 2024:

My head is still trying to get around the omissions of David Fifita and Latrell Mitchell from the SOO teams. I was looking forward to the battle between Latrell and Cobbo, but that’s not to be. Fifita’s performance against the Broncos last weekend was inspiring and I thought Billy would have included him. Overall, both teams could be struggling if replacements are required early because of HIA. Queensland looks to have a better team on paper but I’ll be cheering for the Blues, of course. I can’t fathom why Yeo is not in the run-on side. Let’s hope that the referee and their incompetent bunker officials have limited input during what should be the game of the year.’

Thanks, Bing, and now you’ve got the Refs, Bunker and the Henchmen offside!

So, my selections are Sharks, Knights, Panthers, Dolphins, Roosters and of course Queensland.

My season prediction positions after Round 12:  Penrith 2nd, Broncos 6th, Melbourne 3rd, Souths 17th, Roosters 7th, Cowboys 11th, Newcastle 7th and St George 12th.

Odd Origin Rugby League fact: 56 NSW players have played 1 game compared to 26 Qld players. This does not include 1 game players from 2023. 12 of the 56 NSWs players were from 1980 and ‘81 who played only 1 game whereas only 5 (and they were all from the 1980 side) came from the same period.  My Queensland One Game wonder team is as follows 1. Allan Smith 2. Terry Butler 3. Adrian Vowles 4. David Stagg 5. Cory Allen 6. Greg Holben 7. Greg Oliphant 8. Arthur Beetson © 9. John Lang 10. Danny Nutley 11. Rod Reddy 12. Alan Cann 13. Matt Ballin (You just have to pick him).

You gotta love footy!

 

Images courtesy of Matt O’Hanlon

 

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