Season 2010: Round 17

From The Couch

State of Origin III Preview: The simple fact of the matter is that Origin III will play out how Queensland want it to play out. If they have been getting high and partying hard for the last week just as they did in the lead-up to Origin III last year, this will be a close one with Queensland some chance of getting beaten. If the Queensland lads are focussed and anywhere near their best, Queensland will win by 20 and maybe more.

I fancy that after the embarrassment of last year and the possibility of farewelling a number of their legends that Queensland will be focussed and champing at the bit and ready to maul yet another hapless Blues team to shreds. There will also be an element of revenge to the Maroons game three campaign with a few get-squares for some filthy and grubby New South Wales play sure to be in the offing.

The rumour mill has it that Darren Lockyer and Petero Civoniceva may be playing their last match for Queensland on Wednesday night. Coach Mal Meninga may also bid the team farewell with Meninga linked with a possible move to English club St. Helens. If any of these icons of Queensland rugby league has privately informed the team that this will be their farewell match, the Blues will, to coin a cliché, be lambs to the slaughter. This Queensland team has achieved everything there is to achieve over the last five years with one exception: they have not swept the Blues.

The smart money is that will change on Wednesday night at ANZ Stadium.

On exposed form, this Queensland team is so far above the Blues outfit that if an Australian side was picked this weekend, the starting thirteen would nearly certainly be all Queenslanders. The Maroons are playing with such confidence, such flair, such commitment and they are doing so against such a poorly constructed Blues team that it is impossible to see New South Wales winning. If the Blues are to come out ahead on the scoreboard, it will be because Queensland have lost the match.

This is the best Blues team selectors have named all series but it is still an ordinary one. I am pleased that an attacking centre was picked in Michael Jennings and I love seeing young props Kade Snowden and Tim Mannah afforded an opportunity but it won’t be enough. The Blues should make more of an impact up the middle of the field and they should pose more of a threat out wide but with Trent Barrett at five-eighth, Beau Scott at centre and the lack of a Hindmarsh like worker in the backrow, the Blues will still be soundly beaten.

And hopefully it will signal the death knell in terms of Origin football to Craig Bellamy and the four selectors as well as team management and the board that oversaw such a travesty.

Darren Lockyer will star as the Maroons give a hiding to a Blues outfit shockingly led by Trent Barrett.

Prediction: Queensland 36 New South Wales 12

Preview of the Most Interesting Wednesday Match: New South Wales Residents host Queensland Residents in the curtain raiser to Origin III on Wednesday night and it shapes as a far more interesting battle than the Origin contest that will follow it.

The match pits the best of the NSW Cup against the best of the Queensland Cup with plenty of first grade experience and potential in both teams.

The NSW Residents team is chock full of Melbourne Storm players with English international Gareth Widdop, rising star Justin O’Neill and first grade players Willie Isa, Jesse Bromwich and captain Rory Kostjasyn. Also included are up-and-coming Roosters prospect Aiden Guerra, former Bulldogs first grader Lee Te Maari and Souths cult hero Jamie Simpson.

The Queensland Residents team includes Raiders players David Milne, Brett Kelly and Brad Cross along with promising Manly halfback Daly Cherry-Evans, Cowboys backup hooker Clint Amos and Queensland cup hard man Dayne Weston.

The NSW Residents shape as favourites for the match and should start a short quote but I fancy the Queensland lads. They have a major edge in the halves with Daly Cherry-Evans leading the way and they may be a little more rugged up front. With the Queensland Cup a stronger competition, the smart money will be on Queensland Residents at any plus.

Channel Nine: Nine should hopefully have hammered its coffin shut even tighter with the decision to delay the broadcast of Origin III into Melbourne. Due to the series already being decided, Nine have made the decision to delay the broadcast until 9.30. It is a disgraceful decision and a slap in the face to rugby league. Nine continues to treat rugby league like its own personal sex slave locked up in a below ground dungeon for near two-decades now. David Gallop should remember this kind of behaviour when negotiating the new deal.

Rugby league fans in Melbourne can still see the game live, however, if they make it down to the Limerick Arms in South Melbourne. I’ll be there drinking heavily and putting the slows on the Blues while a big crowd is expected. Click here for details. Click Here.

Salary Cap Thoughts: It is interesting yet completely unsurprising that the NRL rubber-stamped the Dragons deal for Mark Gasnier, a deal which is heavily back-ended. It is believed Gasnier is playing for around the $120,000 mark with his deal being bumped up to $450,000 a year next season and beyond. The NRL clearly viewed Gasnier’s return as a win for the game and they were most flexible in allowing him to return to his former club despite the fact Gasnier’s signature at the Dragons makes a mockery of the salary cap in its current form and shows that in its current state the salary cap is unworkable. Market value is the only value that should count under the cap and that should be determined by a central panel and/or an independent valuator based on age, past achievements, past contracts and contracts of equivalent players. It is absurd that a team leading the competition and with five 2010 representative three-quarters (Brett Morris for Australia and NSW, Matt Cooper and Beau Scott for NSW, Darius Boyd for Queensland and Jason Nightingale for New Zealand) can sign yet another under market value.

Mark Gasnier’s signature with the Dragons should also signal an end to noises coming from the NRL that they will attempt to destroy the Storm team in its current state and force at least one of the big four out of the club. If the Storm can keep their big four and get back under the cap then they should be able to do so. This should hold true no matter how the team was assembled and it should true regardless of how the contracts are currently structured or how they will be restructured.

The NRL has made its bed with the Gasnier case. To circumvent the salary cap, teams can sign players below market value. The Dragons have gotten away with it. The Melbourne Storm should be afforded the same luxury.

Israel Folau, Good Luck with Life, You’ll Need It: Jessica Halloran wrote one of the creepiest sports stories I have read in recent times in the Sunday Telegraph when profiling defector Israel Folau here Click Here. Folau seems to be, um, a very dedicated Mormon and son. It does not appear as if he is being used or controlled by his church or his parents at all. And isn’t it kind of his parents to give their boy an allowance while he earns the cash. He must really be looking forward to his parents moving down to Sydney with him so he’ll have plenty of support in a game he will fail at after being spurned by the game he turned his back on. Good luck, Izzy. Hopefully your allowance can purchase camaraderie and the skills required to succeed in AFL. At least the Mormon Church is happy the AFL came knocking at the NRL’s door.

Isaac John Loves A Meaningless Field Goal: Followers of the meaningless field goal would have been violently aroused last Sunday afternoon when Warriors halfback Isaac John slotted a mongrel field goal that barely got above the cross bar as the rains and winds swooped over Auckland. The field goal was taken in the final minute of the match against the Eels with the Warriors leading 34-6. John, whom it should be noted is signed with the Geurie Greens in the FFL, chuckled to himself knowing how much From The Couch Nation was impressed by his antics.

Hitching Your Wagon to the Wrong Horse: The ramifications of Cronulla signing Shane Flanagan to replace Ricky Stuart are already being felt down at Toyota Park with their most exciting prospect and leading try scorer in both 2009 and 2010 opting out of the Sharks in 2011 after exercising a clause in his contract that allowed him to walk if Ricky Stuart was replaced as coach. Ferguson hasn’t just walked out on the Sharks. Ferguson has laid the boot in to the battling club. “'I want to win a premiership, and also with the things going on in the club, the uncertainty, I just want to be in a stable place where I can concentrate on winning a title, that is what is in my heart. It is nothing personal; I do have an emotional attachment to the club. I just want to win” Ferguson told the Sydney Morning Herald. Ferguson’s departure is indicative of two things. First, Cronulla are in a poor financial position and there is growing uncertainty over the future of the club. Players do not want to commit long-term to a club that may not be around in the long-term. Secondly, it shows what a mistake the signing of Flanagan was. The Sharks wanted to go cheap. That is understandable. They should have found an assistant from outside the club, however, and one that was away from the Ricky Stuart coaching tree. Flanagan has little drawing power in terms of recruitment and he is seen by players as a poor man’s version of the current Sharks boss. The club is trying to rebuild but they cannot even keep their promising youngsters. The Sharks made the right call in firing Ricky Stuart. They have made a possibly fatal one in replacing him with Shane Flanagan. As a comment, Cronulla fans should be calling for Ferguson’s immediate sacking from the NRL team. It should be noted that Blake Ferguson managed six handling errors against the Bulldogs on Saturday night, quite probably an NRL single-match record.

Oh Buzz: I read with great interest in Monday’s Daily Telegraph that editor and avowed Sharks fan Phil Rothfield called Blake Ferguson “over-rated”. Less than four months back that same journalist made the ridiculous claim that Ferguson was the 50th best player in the game. I am extremely sympathetic to Rothfield’s position as a Cronulla fan and we have all said things we later come to regret but Buzz should put a bit more consideration in when making a list of the 50 best NRL players in order. Hayne at 3, Watmough at 6, Waera-Hargraves at 22, O’Donnell at 37 and Mullen at 38 also look a little bit dicey.

My Favourite Rugby League Tradition: Last Sunday afternoon was spent at the delightful Henson Park. The Bluebags were hosting the Balmain-Ryde-Eastwood Tigers in a top-of-the-table clash at the historic venue. After knocking back a couple of quick schooners at the Henson Park Hotel, right across the road from Con’s Delicatessen, before heading to the hill for an afternoon of sun, steak sandwiches, rugby league and KB Lager. Looking out over Henson Park and onto the old scoreboard and down at the King George V Stand, you could see the great moments of days gone by. The day in March of 1982 when the Bulldogs and the Jets played out the only scoreless draw in the history of the League. The day Manfred Moore tossed a football over the grandstand. When Singo was holding court in the Jet Set Lounge. The amazing run in 1981 when the Jets lost only twice at Henson Park on their way to the Grand Final. The 1970 Endeavour Cup win. The 1973 Willis Cup. Sunday was anything but wonderful from a rugby league perspective as Balmain ran out comfortable 28-16 winners on the back of some poor Newtown defence and some handy refereeing decisions that favoured the Tigers. It was a great way to watch football, however, the way it should be viewed. And 8,972 again turned up for afternoon footy at a suburban ground with the barbeque sizzling and the old ducks knitting and dogs running around the hill and kids on the field at half-time. I could not be more pleased that Newtown still plays high level footy at Henson Park. It is an experience every rugby league fan needs on their resume.

Fun Fact #1: The Newtown Bluebags/Jets played 1,305 premiership matches, finishing with a 583-663-69 record in 1983 after being the second rugby league club ever formed in Australia. Newtown won three premierships with this year the 100 year anniversary of their first title, won on the back of a Charles “Boxer” Russell kick after the siren. Newtown also won in 1933 and 1943.

Fun Fact #2: The Newtown Rugby League Football Club played their first match at Henson Park in 1936. The defeated University 21-0. The Jets last match in the big time at the ground was against Balmain on August 7, 1983. The Tigers beat the Jets 34-6.

Fun Fact #3: Newtown had a winning record against the following clubs: North Sydney (77-62-11), Western Suburbs (74-70-3), Canterbury (54-42-5), Parramatta (39-35-2), Penrith (18-13-3), University (21-10-1), Annandale (19-2-1), Illawarra (3-1) and Cumberland (1-0).

Fun Fact #4: Newtown recorded their biggest ever win in 1982 when they thumped newcomers Illawarra 51-0. Their biggest ever loss was in 1961 when the Saints thumped the Bluebags 65-9.

Fun Fact #5: Frank “Bumper” Farrell is the most capped Newtown player with 204 appearances for the Bluebags. Ken Wilson is the club’s all-time leading point-scorer with 1,001 all-time points. Ray Preston is the club’s all-time leading tryscorer with 109.

Fun Fact #6: Brian Hetherington, Graham O’Grady and Tommy Raudonikis scored Newtown’s three tries in their last Grand Final in 1981. Warren Ryan coached the team while Phil Gould, John Ferguson and Phil Sigsworth were among the other Newtown players.

Fun Fact #7: Coaches Harry Bath, Jack Gibson and Warren Ryan all coached Newtown before winning a premiership at their next appointment.

Fun Fact #8: The official attendance at every Newtown home game at Henson Park is announced as 8,972…the official final attendance of the club’s last match at the ground in 1983.

Fun Fact #9: Newtown won their last ever match in the New South Wales Rugby League 9-6 over Canberra at Orana Park. Michael Speechley scored Newtown’s second try of the match and final try ever.

Fun Fact #10: The Newtown club song:

Newtown is coming,
Hear the Bluebags humming,
Newtown – Newtown
Newtown is flying – there'll be no denying
Newtown – Newtown

Thirteen men all dressed in blue,
Look out 'cause they're coming through
Newtown – Newtown
Here's the team that takes the field,
It's the team that will not yield,
Bluebags hear the crowd – they're roaring
Flashing, dashing, Blues are scoring

Newtown is coming,
Hear the Bluebags humming,
Newtown – Newtown
Newtown is flying – There'll be no denying

Willie M Medal Votes: Where do you go for the most worst of the worst? The Willie M Medal, honouring rugby league mediocrity since 2010:

 

Brisbane-West Tigers	3-Ashton Sims (Brs)
	2-Corey Norman (Brs)
	1-Daniel Fitzhenry (Tig)
Cronulla-Canterbury	3-Blake Ferguson(Cro)
	2-Tim Smith (Cro)
	1-Grant Millington (Cro)
Canberra-Roosters	3-Dane Tilse (Can)
	2-Terry Campese (Can)
	1-Adam Mogg (Can)
Warriors-Parramatta	3-Krisnan Inu (Par)
	2-Tom Humble (Par)
	1-Johnathan Wright (Par)
Dragons-Penrith	3-Mark Gasnier (Dra)
	2-Luke Priddis (Dra)
	1-Kevin Kingston (Pen)
Leaderboard	15-Preston Campbell (GC)
	13-Chris Sandow (Sou)
	12-Scott Dureau (New), Josh McCrone (Can), Joseph Tomane (GC)
	11-Brett Kimmorley (Bul)
	10-Trent Barrett (Cro), James Maloney (War), Mark Minichiello (GC), Tim Smith (Cro), Carl Webb (Cow)
	9-Todd Carney (Roo)

 

Rumour Mill: It seems moves are afoot in Canberra to bring Ricky Stuart back to the club with the Furner boys grip on the club loosening by the week. The Raiders have gone backwards under David Furner and Ricky Stuart remains highly regarded in Canberra and it is believed people within the club are pushing for him to take the reins. He is firming as favourite for the Raiders job. The Raiders are also believed to have been active in the player market. Off-contract wingers Blake Ferguson and Michael Gordon are both in the sights of the Raiders with Gordon believed to be a near-certainty of heading to the Raiders. Canberra are looking to replace out-of-favour three-quarter Justin Carney, who joined namesake Todd and Phil Graham as Raiders playing at Bondi. Cronulla are also in the race for Gordon though their immediate future may scare him off. The same could be true of Panthers half Wade Graham. The Sharks are making a big play at Graham as a replacement for Trent Barrett but Graham may be happy to bide his time at Penrith. Whilst on Trent Barrett, Barrett is reportedly reconsidering his decision to retire. The Sharks are interested in having him play another season while Canberra were desperate for his signature before Barrett’s management withdrew from negotiations. Parramatta have allegedly made a play at Cooper Cronk but it is hard to see how the Eels could afford him and it is unlikely Cronk will leave Melbourne as he will likely be the first of the big four the new Storm administration secure. Parramatta are also leading the way for the signature of Brett Kimmorley who is believed to be keen on one more season. He may also be offered a small deal to have a farewell year at Canterbury while the Sharks are prepared to pay big for a season or two from Noddy.

Power Rankings:

 

Rank	Team	Record	Last Week	High	Low
1	Dragons	12-4	1	1	2
2	Penrith	11-4	2	2	11
3	Souths	8-7	3	2	16
4	Wests Tigers	9-6	4	4	8
5	Manly	8-7	5	2	10
6	Gold Coast	9-6	6	2	6
7	Brisbane	8-8	7	6	15
8	Warriors	8-7	8	7	13
9	Roosters	8-7	9	4	11
10	Canterbury	5-10	11	5	12
11	Parramatta	6-9	10	3	13
12	Canberra	5-10	12	9	15
13	Cronulla	5-10	13	12	15
14	Newcastle	6-8	14	10	15
15	Cowboys	4-11	15	12	15
*	Melbourne	9-6	*	*	*

 

Where the Melbourne Storm Would Be If: The Storm would be jacking up for a finals run. Now they are releasing players left, right and centre as they try to come up with a plan to keep the Big Four.

Game of the Year Nomination, Round 17: Brisbane-Tigers, 14-16: It was a short weekend of rugby league that didn’t really provide a lot of entertainment. The best game was clearly the Tigers close victory over Brisbane. The Tigers jumped to a flying start but a plucky Broncos team led by the underrated Corey Parker reeled the Tigers in just after half-time and they looked home for all money before a piece of Robbie Farah brilliance in the final minute sent replacement Tigers winger Mitch Brown over to secure the two competition points. Robbie Farah showed why he should have been playing Origin as did Corey Parker but few others stood up in what was probably a 3-star match at best.

Exchanges with Fisk:

Tedeschi after Ben Hannant was disallowed a fair try: “Steve Clark is a cheating c***.”

Fisk in response: “I was about to text you. What rubbish.”

Fisk on Kris Keating: “He is like a terrible Adam Dykes, running across field and dummying before getting smashed.”

Coaching Stocks:

Wayne Bennett [5] Benny couldn’t pull it off this week. Won’t be too concerned though. Expected Gaz to be rough.

Craig Bellamy [4.5] BYE

Matt Elliott [4.5] Huge win for the Panthers. Confidence is sky high right now. They can play with the big boys.

John Lang [4] BYE

John Cartwright [3] BYE

Des Hasler [3] BYE

Tim Sheens [3] Tigers got the points against Brisbane but were very disappointing. Need to lift against better teams

Brian Smith [2.5] Roosters showed plenty of resilience in beating Canberra without the ball or field position.

Ivan Henjak [2] Sans Origin stars, Broncos showed plenty of heart to just miss out against Tigers. Still, 2 pts gone.

Kevin Moore [2] Dogs starting to fire since Barba been given a chance. Moore should have started him a month ago

Ivan Cleary [1] The Warriors are going at full click at the moment. They are scoring in the rain. Humiliated Parra.

Rick Stone [-0.5] BYE

David Furner [-0.5] The Raiders attack is insipid. May be first Raiders coach since mid-80’s to miss consecutive finals.

Daniel Anderson [-1] Anderson is under the pump at Parra. Losses are piling up and Hayne is manoeuvring against him.

Ricky Stuart [-3.5] Tim Smith has to be dumped. Soon. Surely.

Neil Henry [-4] BYE

Obscure Score of the Week: Capricorn Capras 15-Northern Marlins 14, Queensland Under 14 Junior Carnival. Capricorn hit the front of the under 14’s portion of the carnival after the South East Queensland Poinsettias were rolled 14-10 by the South East Queensland Kookaburras and then the Capras scored a thrilling 1 point win over the Marlins. A Cooper Brambling field goal was the difference.

Stats from the Penguin: Ben Pomeroy was back to his best last Saturday night against the Bulldogs where he contributed very little. Pomeroy made 12 tackles but missed 5 and he dropped the ball once while making only 12 runs for 83 metres. He was a turnstile as well as a Tommy Ten Thumbs. Good to have you back, Penguin.

The Queanbeyan Kangaroos 2010 Campaign: The Kangaroos had a well earned break this weekend with a bye during round eleven action. It is believed Aaron Gorrell led the team to a set of remote rural caves where the players slaughtered foxes and lived like animals and belted each other with rocks to prepare for this weekend’s derby with the Scourge of Queanbeyan, the loathed Queanbeyan Blues.

Fantasy Team of the Week:

1. Jerome Ropati (War)
2. Sam Perrett (Roo)
3. Chris Lawrence (Tig)
4. Matt Prior (Dra)
5. Kalifa Fai-Fai Loa (Dra)
6. Ben Barba (Bul)
7. Todd Carney (Roo)
13. Corey Parker (Brs)
12. Lewis Brown (War)
11. Ben Te’o (Brs)
10. Shane Tronc (Brs)
9. Jake Friend (Roo)
8. Nathan Cayless (Par)

Waiver Wire Advice: Dragons prodigal son Mark Gasnier is a must pick-up this week. Gasnier is going at $200k and was renowned for being a top fantasy centre before he bailed for the holiday that is being an outside back in rugby union. The Gas started from the pine this week and turned in a rugby union like performance but he will return to the starting team when the Dragons return from a bye and with Jamie Soward running the right channel, Gasnier will get plenty of quality ball. At the price, he is a better play than the likes of Daniel Vidot and Beau Ryan, both around the same price. In other fantasy news, Corey Parker won the fifth annual Clayton Friend Medal for the best player in the FFL. Parker secured the Medal when Issac Luke did his shoulder playing touch football.

Beard Watch: This week we pay tribute to the greatest moustachioed coach ever to lead a first grade team in Australia. That man is none other than Warren “The Wok” Ryan. The Wok is one of the great underrated coaches who took three different teams to Grand Finals and lasted over 21 years and 422 matches in the game. Ryan, who was a centre with both the Dragons and Cronulla, got his first break in the top grade in 1979 when John Singleton signed him to coach Newtown. Ryan did an outstanding job with the Jets where he recovered from a 6-16 opening season to lead the Jets to three straight winning seasons and a 1981 Grand Final loss to Parramatta. It was the first time the Jets had three straight winning seasons since 1954-56 but Ryan left after the Jets failed to make the finals in ’82. The Wok then signed on with the Bulldogs and led the team to premierships in 1984 and 1985, his first two seasons at the club, and a Grand Final loss in 1986. Ryan feuded with skipper Steve Mortimer but his dour style was key to the Bulldogs success. After just missing the finals in 1987, Ryan signed with the Tigers in 1988 and took Balmain to consecutive Grand Finals. He is, to this day, blamed for the 1989 defeat after taking off Paul Sironen and Steve Roach and having both unavailable for extra-time. He left Balmain after the 1990 season when Balmain ran fifth and immediately had an impact at Wests, taking the Magpies to consecutive finals series for the first time since 1980 and their first finals since 1982. The Wok was fired from Wests midway through the 1994 season and was out of coaching for five years before becoming a shock replacement for Malcolm Reilly at Newcastle in 1999; two seasons after the Knights won the premiership. Ryan took Newcastle to two finals series in his two years in charge but was replaced by Michael Hagan in 2001 with Hagan immediately winning a premiership with Newcastle. Ryan’s record as a coach is outstanding: 422 games with a win percentage of 55.7%. He won two premierships and coached in six Grand Finals in nine years (where he was a first grade coach in eight). He took every team he coached to the finals and was coaching in the playoffs in 11 of 17 seasons. The Wok was a great thinker and a legendary coach and one of the great facial hair facilitators in rugby league history.

Lazy Long Bay Days, Part 18: After a week out in pursuit of a number of Roosters players, Houston is bought back to Long Bay to report to the Warden. “What the fuck are you on about Houston?” the Warden said. “You have done nothing. I should lock you in fucking solitary and throw away the fucking key you low piece of dirt. Get the fucking job done or the job will be done on you. Got that?” Houston nodded before a club came down hard on his shoulder.

Watch It: This week we are running with a collection of Newtown videos to keep with the theme of much of this week’s Couch. First up we have highlights of the 1981 Grand Final here (Click Here. Phil Gould gives one of the great balls to Brian Hetherington while Graham O’Grady was fearless with the ball and without. There was this Click Here. wild brawl against Manly that was one of the fiercest ever caught on video. And there is this Click Here. small tribute with the stirring Newtown theme song.

Correspondence Corner: It appears the wise words of From The Couch have caught the ire of forum member Imdabomb. Imdabomb took me to task on a number of points Right Here On the Luke Priddis no-try, Imdabomb, you are wrong and presumably a relative of Robert Finch somewhere along the way. It was a nitpicky penalty and one that should never be part of rugby league. Weyman did not grab the defenders head. He merely stood his ground. He cannot disappear. That should be a try every day of the week. I do agree with you on the first Kevin Locke try though. That was a joke. He did not ground the ball and the ball was dead but the video referee again made a mockery of rugby league by awarding it. Now to Jarryd Hayne. There is no confusing the fact that I think he is a low dog of a player who I hope never wears the blue and white. He has been, to the surprise of few, ordinary this year after signing a big deal in 2009. He won’t even allow his coach to criticise him anymore. None of that has anything to do with why he shouldn’t have won the Dally M Award in 2009. He shouldn’t have won the award because he didn’t deserve to get nearly every 3 points over the last 8 weeks of the season that he did. Hayne was certainly the best player in the competition over the back half of the year but he was not the best Parramatta player in every game they played over the last two months of the regular season. Hayne consistently received points because judges were looking to get him up. He was the personification of a self-fulfilling prophecy. Hayne played a capable game that may have snuck him a point at best and he is given three. In round 22 against the Bulldogs, Hayne received three points when Fuifui Moimoi was clearly the best player on the field. Jamie Soward got no such benefit of the doubt in every game he starred in. Judges bought into the Hayne hype and propelled him to the Dally M Medal when he, over the course of 2009, was not the best player in the competition. And in regards the Penguin, well, I’m sorry. He was back to his useless best this week and you have to remember last weekend was only against the disgraceful Cowboys but that doesn’t take away from the embarrassment of seeing him play even reasonably well.