From The Couch: Round 19
From The Couch: Round 19
Tigers Crucified By King Clown: Greg Alexander called it “garbage”. Fans across the game no matter who you support declared the Tigers had been robbed. It will go down as the worst call of the season from a referee so wildly incapable of fulfilling his very basic duties that he has left another stain on the game. Unfortunately for Ashley Klein, the stains he has left on the game look like someone had predilection for both bukkake and cotton sheets. The game needs little recap. The Tigers were on top of an inept Cowboys team. North Queensland surged back to a seven-point lead. The Tigers then scored two tries to lead by a point. This is when, as the meme says, the trouble started.
Let’s start at the start. It has not been discussed much but the Cowboys should not have even received a kickoff opportunity. The clock was stopped with one second left. It was stopped immediately after the conversion was waved away. Not when the ball landed. Watch every other game. The clock is not stopped prior to the ball landing. There should have been no time.
And then there should have been no challenge. Referee Chris Butler, panicking like a drug mule seeing the Metropolitan Police Bureau call them aside at Bangkok Airport, allowed the Cowboys to challenge despite not making a call including calling full time (which presumably could be challenged). It was utterly ridiculous. For the second time in a month, a referee at the end of a game completely soiled himself, the supposed voice of reason who the game says needs to be respected having less idea than anyone else. It was a total embarrassment.
And then we get to Klein, whose performance all game was appalling and who then decided to gift the Cowboys a win with a call so completely egregious, so completely out of sync with the Rugby League world, so completely wrong that if hypothetically of course – he was arrested and put in prison for his actions then nobody would blink. It was complete garbage and a complete garbage that should never have happened.
The NRL cannot allow this to continue. This is not a heat-of-the-moment wrong call. This is a senior referee who somehow got given the State of Origin series and is presumably the front runner for the Grand Final getting a call completely wrong, thinking a guy running back to catch a ball took another player out. It is a stain on the game, an embarrassment. And you know Anneseley will make excuses tomorrow, justifying this complete rubbish.
The Tigers should be livid. They are last on the ladder. They have endured a difficult year. Then they cop this. This is beyond the realms of a bad call. This is systemic failure.
The Overrated Top 12: The Top 12 players in the NRL who have “potential” and can exhibit “x-factor” but rarely, if ever, deliver on it when it counts and instead bring the Ric Flair when it doesn’t matter while failing when the kitchen gets hot.
- Zac Lomax
- Josh Schuster
- Luke Brooks
- Jarome Luai
- Jamayne Isaako
- Jack Bird
- Joe Ofahengaue
- Jesse Ramien
- Jordan Rapana
- Siosifa Talakai
- Ken Maumalo
- Ryan Matterson
Dragons Team of the Century: It was no easy job for those tasked with naming the St George team of the century but it was a job well done with no clear errors made. While the Dragons have been anything but a force in the NRL era after merging with Illawarra, it is hard to truly grasp the impact they had on Rugby League once upon a time. Their 11 consecutive premierships that included four Immortals helped change the sporting landscape of Australia. St George were unquestionably the most popular team among boomers, smitten with the magical Dragons. A century old, the club has left an indelible mark on the game, their high watermark higher than
2022 Field Goal Update – 20: After a long field goal drought, Valentine Holmes booted a long-needed field goal with five minutes to play in the last game of the round.
Fun Fact #1: Per the incomparable Aaron Wallace of Fox Sports, the Warriors have blown 54 double digit leads in the NRL Era. That is a record, surpassing the Raiders who have blown 53 leads.
Fun Fact #2: With Patrick Herbert scoring against the Bulldogs there is now no outside back who has played 10-plus games this year and not scored a try.
Fun Fact #3: The Bulldogs scored 30-plus once in 34 games under Trent Barrett. They have scored 30-plus in three of their last five games under Mick Potter.
Betting Market of the Week: Ricky Stuart was extended as Raiders coach because:
$41.00: He has an exceptional record as a head coach
$31.00: He has a clear vision for how to make the Raiders great again
$3.00: He has a dirt file on every Raiders board member
$1.50: Everyone in Canberra is completely scared of him
Rumour Mill: Adam Douehi and Ken Maumalo are both set to be loaned to Melbourne in the coming weeks. Reece Robson has also been linked with a short-term move to Melbourne this season before returning to the Broncos in 2023. Rugby union coach Eddie Jones is expected to take on a consulting role with South Sydney after finishing up doing whatever he is doing in the inferior code.
Moronic Coaching Decision of the Week: There is a certain level of respect afforded to Stacey Jones for the spitefulness that went into his decision to start Reece Walsh from the bench against Canberra. Replacing him with Chanel Harris-Tavita though was utterly moronic. Harris-Tavita also won’t be there next season and is clearly not a fullback. Jones either needs to play his best fullback in Walsh or test someone who could potentially play the position in 2023.
The Coaching Crosshairs: Speculation has been rife over the last week that two senior coaches would be moved on, perhaps as soon as the offseason. We have gone through the annual ‘Parramatta will sack Brad Arthur despite being in the Top 8’ storyline. It is bollocks. Arthur will only move on if he gets a better deal elsewhere. The Eels cannot find a better option and he will almost certainly see his deal out. The more interesting case is at the Dragons, where there is clearly a push to unseat Anthony Griffin despite the club overachieving this season. Griffin is an honest coach who is clearly being setup to be replaced by Dean Young sooner rather than later.
Watch It: Sometimes it is hard to believe how much time has passed. The Super League War does not seem that long ago.It seems like only yesterday Joey was playing. That is until you delve into old Footy Show segments and wonder how such a time existed when a former Test cricketer could dress up as an Indian, the biggest radio broadcaster looking like a bratty child and a man who now seems to call games every day dressed as a woman. Wow. Just wow. Watch it here.
What will it take for us to switch off for good?
A delicious irony with Ashley Klein is that if he had simply made the correct call the headlines would be the opposite of what they are now. Match reports would have been along the lines of “Bunker call clears confusion”.
If Klein had ruled no penalty he would be reveling in the limelight. Paragraphs would have been inked about how the bunker works as designed – to prevent the ref howler. But no. He blew it.
Maybe Klein is a fan of the round ball game because the Italian football team would have been impressed with that dive from Feldt. He just needed to clutch an eye and roll a couple more times.
Warriors – little sympathy for Walsh for mine. Without being too harsh, if he had been able to control his urges maybe his marriage would be still intact meaning he could be living in NZ with his family. Actions have consequences. Even for sports stars.