NRL Almanac – Carrying a seven-year grudge

It always amazes me how much stock we can put in a single event when assessing a person, a football team or even a life scenario.

For example, my mate Parko still thinks that Geelong’s Darren Milburn is essentially the reincarnation of Lucifer, by virtue of a single shot he put on Carlton’s Steven Silvagni a number of years back. Ask Canterbury fans about someone like Jarrod McCracken and you’ll immediately get a phrase like ‘treasonous’ (if perhaps nestled within a more colourful arrangement of words). The name Steve Jackson will illicit great joy from Raiders fans for one bustling 1989 Grand Final try; the name Paul Carige groans of despair from Eels fans for a series of monumental errors in the losing 1998 Preliminary Final.

As for yours truly, I carry a grudge towards the Wests Tigers because of just one game – they stood in the way of my beloved Cowboys and an inaugural premiership in 2005.

Admittedly, it was only the quirks of the McIntyre finals system that saw a team run fifth on the ladder, lose 50-6 (also to Wests) in week one of the finals and somehow live to see the premiership decider. Still, when you support a team so starved of premiership success, you’ll take whatever you can get (cue Sharks fans nodding in agreement).

Worse yet, our last three trips at Campbelltown had resulted in losses by 10, 24 and 12 points. Still, it could have been worse – two games at Leichardt over the same period had resulted in losses by 44 and 20 points. Suffice to say, neither the Tigers nor suburban Sydney footy more generally are the friend of anyone from up Townsville way.

The script was playing out as per the historical precedent when a converted Moltzen try and a penalty goal saw the home side leading by eight within the first 10 minutes. Minutes 11 to 38 saw a terrific response from my boys though – stout in defence, both crisp and penetrating in attack.

The reward was a pair of tries and a deserved 12-8 lead going into ha… oh no…. why would you try to bat that rushed pass on Matty Bowen? Why not just take the ball and prevent an intercept try to Tuqiri under the sticks? I know you have to take the good with the bad when it comes to the North Queensland custodian, but you don’t have to be at all happy about such brain farts.

That try gave the Tigers a 14-12 lead at the main break – a lead they would never relinquish as the margin extended to eight, was cut back to two and then finally returned to eight in the final few minutes.

There was one clear shining light for the visitors though – the continuing upward spiral of one James Tamou.

A young man from Palmerston North and subsequently Levin (both in New Zealand …. I mean really, really south eastern New South Wales), he made his first grade debut in 2009 and has come on in leaps and bounds every year hence.

While his hard-hitting defence and ability to bend the line with the ball in hand were important, two plays identified him as something out of the box.

The first was a line break made by Benji Marshall in returning a kick. Benji looked set to go the distance, with number 10 for the Cowboys his closest pursuant. Yet while winger Ashley Graham could not make inroads, the big Kiwi …. I mean Blues prop never shirked the task and forced Benji to slow down and look for support.

The second was a rampaging run which set the platform for Ashley Graham’s try – some fancy footwork to break the line and speed rarely associated with a 113kg man were in full display. He is clearly a superstar in the making.

It may have been another road loss, but this long white cloud definitely had a silver lining.

 

WESTS TIGERS 26 (Tries: Moltzen 2, Tuqiri, Marshall Goals: Marshall 5/5)

NORTH QUEENSLAND 18 (Tries: Hall, Winterstein, Graham Goals: Thurston 3/3)

Venue: Campbelltown Sports Stadium

Crowd: 13,059

Votes: 3- Robbie Farah (WS), 2- James Tamou (NQ), 1- Benji Marshall (WS)

 

Thanks to Mark Nolan/Getty Images AsiaPac for use of the photo