From The Couch: Finals Wk 2
From The Couch: Finals Wk 2
Ben Hunt Is Broken: There is, sadly, no coming back for Ben Hunt. No player has been damaged by a single play more than Hunt, who infamously dropped the extra-time kickoff of the 2015 Grand Final. Hunt had come off his best season and had made his Australian debut at the end of 2014. Fast forward three seasons and Hunt cost his new team St George Illawarra when he froze like a deer in the headlights. In the pressure cooker of finals football, Hunt fell apart like a good pulled pork. All Hunt had to do on Saturday was stay out of the way, organise the team and kick well. In the end, he didn’t kick at all. It is impossible to see him ever being able to mentally come back from another set back.
Gerard Sutton, Please: It is no surprise Gerard Sutton is refereeing big games – his brother runs the show. But he shouldn’t be anywhere near them. His call to penalise Cameron McInnes for deliberately passing into a Souths player was just ridiculous. The rule was brought in to stop clowns clearly taking the piss. McInnes never deviated from his position. The Souths player was in the ruck. He is going to ruin a game in the next couple of weeks, wait and see.
Farewell, SFS (Part 1): For any fan of Rugby League, the SFS has been the heartbeat of the game in NSW over the last three decades. There is little sadder than the demise of a stadium but that is what we are approaching with the famous ground slated to be demolished after this week’s Roosters-Rabbitohs clash. The grand old ground could not get a better farewell. The tears will flow, at least from this writer, when Rugby League and the SFS are no more.
Dally M Awards Forecast: The crystal ball is out:
Player: Damien Cook
Fullback: Roger Tuivasa-Sheck
Wing: Josh Addo-Carr
Centre: Latrell Mitchell
Five-Eighth: Cameron Munster
Halfback: Cooper Cronk
Lock: Jai Arrow
Second-Row: Tyson Frizell
Prop: Andrew Fifita
Hooker: Damien Cook
Interchange: Victor Radley
Coach: Anthony Seibold
Captain: Cameron Smith
Rookie: Rhyse Martin
Female: Alli Brigginshaw
2018 Field Goal Update – 40: Adam Reynolds became the first player since 1997 to boot three field goals in a game when he landed three beauties to give Souths a famous 13-12 win over St George Illawarra.
Fun Fact #1: Five of the six finals this season have featured a field goal.
Fun Fact #2: The last time a round consisting of at least four matches all featured a field goal was back in 1967.
Fun Fact #3: Adam Reynolds has moved to outright third on South Sydney’s all-time field goal list with 16 – 15 behind Neil Baker and 70 behind Eric Simms.
Betting Market of the Week: Will Sam Burgess be suspended for eight weeks and South Sydney fined $250,000 by the NRL:
$101: Yes – Consistency and precedent are important
$1.01: No – The League disregards all sense of relativity and logic
Rumour Mill: A prominent Daily Telegraph Rugby League journalist was rumoured to have been arrested last week for drunkenly jumping on the bonnet of a car and doing significant wilful damage. Wayne Bennett is reportedly cooling on a move to St George Illawarra and is considering seeing out the final year of his contract at Brisbane. Shane Flanagan and Parramatta have reportedly discussed a move to bring the premiership coach to the Eels. Issac Luke is firming to make a shift to Newcastle.
Key Stat for a Player Who Should Not Be in First Grade: Gerard Sutton made his NRL debut in 2009.
Game of the Year Nomination, Finals Week 2: South Sydney – St George Illawarra, 13 – 12.
The Coaching Crosshairs: Nathan Cleary’s decision to extend his contract with Penrith is a clear indication that Ivan Cleary will be coaching the Panthers sooner rather than later. After the embarrassment of Phil Gould’s decision to sack Anthony Griffin on the verge of the finals, it is expected all will be done to bring Cleary back to Penrith for 2019.
Moronic Coaching Decision of the Week: Paul McGregor has endured an up-and-down season but the lack of preparation he gave his halves pairing on Saturday night was astonishing. The Saints lifted and should have defeated the Rabbitohs but for the constant panic of his halves.
Beard Watch: Has facial hair helped anybody’s career more than it has Reagan Campbell-Gillard? Once again he was nowhere to be seen in a finals game. If he didn’t have his quaint little moustache he would be an average prop with a decent impact and low workrate.
Correspondence Corner: Knight Vision, your wise counsel knows no bounds.
Michael Butterfield, ridiculously he is in charge of a preliminary final.
CTPE, bingo.
Watch It: With preliminary final weekend upon us, there is nothing better than going back and remembering the infamous Paul Carige game. Watch it in all its glory here.
Slater’s ban highlights why the shoulder charge rule is so crap. The initial rule banning shoulder charges was a knee-jerk reaction to an incident where contact was made to the head (was it the Inglis one on Dean Young?), but was absolutely unnecessary. Any contact to the head – accidental or not – should be penalised, without a doubt, but the shoulder charge where contact is made with another player is just like another tackle. It may be harder to control, and the risk is there, but that risk is with the player as they know if there is contact with the head, they are in trouble. Having said that, how many high tackles per game are there, even though the players know they can’t make contact with the head? They should ban all tackling then…
The current rules that are in place tell us Billy should miss a game. It is a tough way to miss your last game, especially a GF, but this hopefully will make the NRL do another knee-jerk reaction and adjust the rule for next season and bring back the shoulder charge where it is just part of the various tackling styles available to the players.
And hands up who else doesn’t care who wins this year?
I rate Gerald Sutton in the same class as Ashley Klein, as useless as tits on a bull.
Don’t know why everyone is nitpicking Benny Hunt, gee whizz he’s no longer with the Broncos.
‘All hunt had to do on saturday was stay out of the way, organise, and kick well’….To beat the rabbits in Qualifying final without Widdop, Really??!!
I like your posts normally, but your comments on Hunt are unbalanced and bordering on moronic.
Hunt is always the scape goat. Sure, he is on a lot of coin – but he rarely gets credit when he plays well. He’s a solid half that rarely is injured. Durability is often underrated.
Andrew Johns ran it in ’97 when he should have gone for the field goal and it is lauded because it came off.
Only winning a GF will get people off his back and that’s not that easy
And the difference is ? Andrew Johns is an immortal and Ben Hunt is ….well he’s Ben Hunt
Whilst I agree that Be Hunt has had some infamous moments & probably a fair share of mental scars, I think the criticism is often unfair & he rarely seems to get public acknowledgement for his good moments. In the first final, for example, the Dragons had no business winning after they lost Widdop, but Hunt put in a blinder against his old club & fans, in a very high pressure situation. I think his combination with Widdop got them that far in the first place & I don’t think he got enough credit for that, especially in the first half of the season.