I was going to start with a piece on wingers but a person calling himself ‘The Prospector’ (he says he finds the gems others miss) sent me a piece you can read below on that very subject. Although on wingers, as we approach Origin – if Coates is fit (hopefully) he will be one of the first picked.
The ANZAC Day clashes, barring the Titans surprise win over the Warriors, were lacking ANZAC spirit with two thrashings. Admittedly, when Suli was put to sleep in the 10th second of the match, the Dragons were going to struggle. The coach’s decision to put Tom Eisenhuth, a solid Bedford truck style forward, on Manu, a V8 Mustang, seemed strange. And it was! Likewise, Melbourne toyed with the Rabbits. The Titans did show a fighting spirit and Brimson made a point to the coach that this is where you have to play me. Whilst I’m not a fan of Boyd, he looked better outside Foran. The Storm this weekend will give us an idea about the Titans and I don’t expect it to be pretty.
Manly, as predicted, were too good at Brookie and I’ll leave the description of the foolish winger play to The Prospector. Like the Bunnies coach, Arthur must be feeling some pressure (as he has the full support of the Board!) again this week. I thought Sanders at 5/8 was solid on debut but Parramatta don’t look like a side that will trouble the top sides.
The Broncos are really starting to flex their muscles in this comp and the Tigers were on the receiving end of it. In what was a highly entertaining game, the Broncos young stars are demonstrating speed, agility and strength that must worry other clubs. They must, however, keep Reynolds on the park and his late intercept is one for the highlight reel. Reynolds also adds great value to containing Walsh’s infectious enthusiasm. Spare a thought for a multi taking friend who only needed 44.5 plus game score for a collect. The old ‘break your heart’ multi! If you want a laugh (and it involves a winger, but not at fault), watch the highlight reel for Samuela Fainu’s great tackle on Corey Oates – copybook tackle with just one minor problem. Watch and see, and have a little chuckle to yourself.
Penrith, on the other hand, were not as impressive against the Cowboys who at least showed some determination. A 78% completion rate was un-Panther like and opened the door for the Cowboys but they couldn’t take control. The Cowboys have to string together some consistency or their season will be in drought.
Ari O’Hanlon, Under 6
Redcliffe at Lang Park was the end of my day of footy. Grandson Ari lined up for the Norths Under 6 team at the famous Bishop (Bashup) Park for the 8.30am start, and junior league was alive and well. An old Brethren prop finds it hard to enjoy the surrounds of Bashup but Ari played well. I’m not sure about Tag football as I think it teaches bad habits, but the kids don’t mind. It was BRL heaven – The Devils v the Wests Mitchie Panthers in traditional strips. Harry was warming up for the Albany Creek Crushers at 9.30am before heading to Lang Park to play the Bribie Island Warrigals. The kids loved it but were both out of juice by the end of the day given they played 3 hours of 1 on 1 backyard footy for me the night before!
Harry O’Hanlon, Under 8
Redcliffe supporters, on the other hand, could only have been disappointed with the lacklustre performance of their side. Redcliffe did not play to their DNA I spoke about last week. I said last week that Gagai back was a plus and it was a big plus as his enthusiasm had him as my best player on the field. Armstrong made a strong debut for the Knights in what I thought was a poor match. Driving home I was listening to Andrew Moore on ABC Radio and he said that, at 16 -0 to Cronulla, the match had all the trademarks of a thrashing. He was right on the money with that comment and the 40-0 score line maybe flattered the Raiders who are another very inconsistent side who most probably cannot trouble the top sides.
Now to The Prospector with his weekend winger watcher’s wail.
I didn’t watch all the games over the weekend but, from what I saw, it was a shocking weekend for the men who hang around with footballers. Let’s forget all the times they bit on the centre when there was no need, and the times they shot in from the flank and arrived a second too late. That is standard fare, unfortunately. Here are my top 4 from the round.
4th. Semi Valemei. The fatal shot that killed the Cowboys did not come from Cleary, Edwards or Yeo but from within their own ranks. Valemei dropped 2 bombs, both at crucial times, and one leading directly to a try. He misses a medal due to the fact that it was skill errors and not brain snaps. Neither catch looked overly difficult, at least not from my vantage point on the lounge full of Great Northern.
Bronze. Marcello Montoya. Montoya demanded a captain’s challenge with 21 seconds on the clock in the first half against the attacking juggernaut that is the Gold Coast Titans. The challenge was unsuccessful and the Titans did not score. They would have loved to have that challenge up their sleeves towards the end of the game. However, the captain should take the blame as well. Enough said.
Silver. Only a boarding house scrape of butter between the top 2 this week. I am going with Taane Milne for his senseless and dangerous attack on Munster when the game was in its death throes.
Gold. Mika Sivo gets the gong this week by a nose for the following reasons. Parramatta were well in the game when his indiscretion occurred and he is an important part of the team, unlike Milne, who should have been in Reverse Grade long ago. The sinbinning of Sivo effectively killed off any hopes Parra had.
Honourable Mentions: Reluctant winger and SOO hopeful Zac Lomax had a shocker in the ANZAC day blockbuster. Brian To’o showed the wingers what to do. The other in form winger, Coate,s did his hammy.
Thanks, Prospector, and I am glad you did not see my favourite current ‘super sub’ and son of the ‘fastest man in League’, Tyran Wishart, who had to replace Coates. He may have got an honourable mention. Also, when speaking of embarrassing, what about the performance of a certain journalist and commentator of Rugby League and Boxing on the weekend. It reminded me of the old fight down at the creek after school in lower secondary when I was a kid. The only difference was we were taught to try and punch first and punch straight! He should be banned from ever giving another opinion on Boxing as punishment. Enough said.
Interestingly the Oracle’s tip on the Warriors Matthews team was correct when they had a comfortable win first year in, so due deference for that tip and I gave Sanders a pass mark. He told me this week that the Storm will win comfortably, so take them to cover the line, total points over 44.5, Warbrick and Grant to score a try. For multi men, I think that’s about $20. Follow at your peril.
Thursday night sees the hapless Rabbits against Penrith. Barring some sort of coaching and playing Rugby League miracle, this should be one way traffic. Hornby will be in the hot seat after a poorly handled coaching execution, and the record of new coaches winning first up can’t possibly hold up in this match. I will be interested to see RITV’s take on this situation. Manly, with DCE cleared (and I believe he should have been) and Turbo beginning to hit his straps, should continue Canberra’s run of outs.
Clearly the match of the round is the Broncos v Roosters match with a big crowd at Suncorp. There are great match ups all across the park and both sides are in good form and nearly back to full strength. Radley – named at 22 – will be a big ‘in’ if he is fit. It should be a cracker and I’m thinking Brisbane.
Saturday has three games with Canterbury playing the Tigers first. I liked aspects of the Tigers play last week against the Broncos who were simply too good. Canterbury’s weakness is in the middle so if Wests can control that they are a chance of winning. The Titans will be no match for the Storm and I imagine the exciting Sualauvi Faalogo, who is named on the Storm extended bench, will be on the wing after his NSW Cup performance last week. Surely Bellamy will put Wishart back to the bench as Faalogo is an exciting player. The Cowboys should beat Redcliffe at home to wrap up the day.
The Warriors need to find form and should beat the Knights who beat a very poor Redcliffe last week, and Cronulla – if they are going to be serious about the business end of the season – should be comfortable winners against the Dragons.
So, my selections are Penrith, Sea Eagles, Brisbane, Wests-Tigers, Storm, Cowboys, Warriors and Cronulla. The Eels coach will enjoy the fact he has the week off with the bye because without Gutherson he is looking down the barrel.
My season prediction positions after Round Four: Penrith 3rd, Broncos 5th, Melbourne 2nd, Souths 17th, Roosters 7th, Cowboys 9th, Newcastle 13th and St George 11th.
Odd Rugby League fact: Cronulla SHOULD be on top of the competition as the draw has favoured them. Cronulla this year have played the Warriors, Canterbury, Wests-Tigers, Raiders, bye, Rabbits, Cowboys, Raiders and they have the Dragons this week. They should be on top of the ladder as the highest placed team they have played is the Bulldogs who are 8th and hardly a serious premiership contender. They play the Storm in Round 10 which will be their first match against a heavyweight!
You gotta love footy!
Photos courtesy of the author.
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‘weekend winger watcher’s wail’ – classic line, PITC! It made me think of John Leahy’s piece from a few years back: “You may ask, why wingers? The answer is simple. Because they were players who had very little ability and were the lowest in the backline pecking order, they were placed as far away from the ball as possible. Consequently, and because the inside backs were so diligent in their assigned role of dropping the ball whenever they received it, the main contribution to the game made by the winger was to not get involved. Their instructions were to run away as quickly as possible whenever trouble appeared and to avoid tackles at all costs. The fact that the game was organised so that the wingers didn’t get to touch the ball led to an incessant flow of complaints from them and eventually the apt description of “whingers” was applied. Even though the “h” dropped out over the years, unfortunately, the whingeing itself has not.” Perhaps JL is The Prospector!
No but JL is a very wise man and a great conversationalist on the game. He is also a Brothers man of course which puts him on the high pedestal- the modern winger of course does a lot more heavy work than those of times past and the removal of the corner flag has created acrobatics Ian Dauth would never have dreamed of!