From The Couch 2019: Round 24

 

Finding Love for Gal Not Easy: The imminent retirement of a long-serving player typically swells up feelings of nostalgia, of respect, of love. Even for players not all that favoured, this is usually the case. It does not seem that way with Paul Gallen. Despite playing over 300 games – all with one club – and a long representative career, there has been very little outpouring of love or adoration for Gallen. And there won’t be any on these pages either, other than to say his farewell jersey was a fitting farewell. He came, he bled, he sweated, he touched the ball three times a set, he thought he was the best at everything and he has lost more NRL games and more State of Origin games than any other player. Gal won’t ever be forgotten as long as those records stand. Nor will his racist remarks or his attack on the face of Anthony Laffranchi or many other acts that have left him in a less than positive light.

Nine Are Irrelevant So Why Is Anybody Listening? Channel Nine were once the most powerful entity in Rugby League. They aren’t any longer. Their on-air product is abysmal and dated and with a fully functioning Fox NRL channel, Nine means very little. So the views of one executive that a Sydney club has to go is just stupid. The League needs to get back to thinking about expansion and how to make it work.

Henry Has To Go: If the NRL wants to leave the 2019 season with any credibility, Henry Perenara at the very least needs to be removed from his role as a video referee. He is an awful on-field official and should be sacked from that role too but there may not be enough talent coming through the ranks. There should be no such issue for video referees though, who should be totally removed from the on-field ranks. Perenara makes so many bad decisions it is not even laughable anymore. The biggest problem with him though is he completely disregards process. He twice overturned on-field decisions in the Bulldogs-Cowboys games without any clear evidence to do so. His need for fame is sick. He needs to be taken out of The Bunker immediately.

2019 Field Goal Update – 36: The darkest hour comes right before the dawn. So it was after three straight weeks sans a field goal that we had eight – including five in a single game – field goals across four games in Round 24. It was a wonderful week. Adam Reynold launched a meaningless one when up by 20. The Raiders-Sharks game was decided deep in golden point in a field goal shootout that saw Aidan Sezer hit three and Chad Townsend two. We even saw a weird attempt from Latrell Mitchell on the sideline that went nowhere. What a week!

Fun Fact #1: There are just 22 players who have kicked 20-plus field goals.

Fun Fact #2: Only three current players have kicked 20-pluys field goals, led by James Maloney on 25.

Fun Fact #3: Only seven players have kicked 40-plus field goals in premiership history, the last of which was Terry Lamb, who retired in 1996 and kicked his last field goal in a 17-16 win against South Queensland in his second last game.

Betting Market of the Week: The chance Henry Perenara would overturn a call that grass is green:

$1.02: Yes
$101.00: No

Rumour Mill: News Limited are expected to release a savage story on Penrith this week, lambasting the off-field culture of the place. Jai Arrow is expected to leave the Titans with Parramatta favoured for his signature head of Canterbury. North Queensland are expected to announce Valentine Holmes as their key signature if he does not progress with the New York Jets, as he expects. Issac Luke is favoured to move to the Tigers in 2020. Jesse Ramien may well end up back at the Knights now Nathan Brown has been moved on.

Random Fact of Rugby League Stupidity: Only seven men have coached in the NRL and have not won a game. Craig Hodges has coached the most games among them with nine.

Game of the Year Nomination, Round 23: Cronulla – Canberra, 14 – 15. Five field goals. Enough said.

Moronic Coaching Decision of the Week: Craig Hodges may be just an interim coach but he is one who will never be a permanent head coach if his reckless disregard for the future is anything to go by. His decision to hand Tanah Boyd his debut was shameful. The Titans aren’t firing, the season is dead and Boyd was thrown to the wolves against a Knights team off a humiliation that forced a coach resignation.

The Coaching Crosshairs: Paul McGregor will more likely than not be fired once the Dragons’ season comes to an end. There are no excuses for the heinous performance of the Saints this year. They are just getting worse. Their defensive efforts have been humiliating. The Dragons need to draw a line in the sand now and admit the McGregor Era was a major disappointment. There is coaching talent available. It is time to move on.

Beard Watch: Such is the return of the moustache that Penrith fielded a bench last weekend exclusively made up exclusively of moustaches. It did not go well for the Panthers.

Correspondence Corner: Robbo, imagine if it was a Canberra-Manly Grand Final when the decider returns to the SCG!

Archie and CTPE, Jackson was a close call. I also didn’t really like Johnston but valued winning so had him ahead of Vatuvei and Uate. I made my bed with rugby players so Semi no chance. Farah was excellent. I was never a huge Lewis fan though had a solid record. Boyd no chance as he spent the decade at fullback and was about 173^rd in line.

Mav63, I do not disagree with your assessment of Seibold.

Watch It: In 1993, Canterbury made a trip to New Zealand to take on West Coast, a Rugby League heartland on the South Island of New Zealand. Here are some highlights from a team featuring the likes of Terry Lamb and Simon Gillies. Watch it here.