Season 2008: Round 9

From The Couch

Played Strong, Done Good…Vale Jack Gibson. A man of few peers, whose incredible reach made rugby league an infinitely better game. For that, everyone involved in the sport will be eternally grateful. Jack played strong and he done good. We are the poorer for his passing.

Ridiculous Origin Selections, New South Wales…Ben Hornby, Peter Wallace, Anthony Tupou, Anthony Quinn. Bob McCarthy, Laurie Daley and company have clearly been enjoying the pipe when coming up with the Origin I team. Ben Hornby? How the hell did he get a run? Admittedly Kurt Gidley is out hurt but surely the bench spot should have gone to Todd Carney or Jarrod Mullen, both of whom are at least competent in one position. As for Peter Wallace, the less said the better. To think he got in ahead of some much better qualified halfbacks is astounding. Anthony Tupou’s selection ahead of Nathan Hindmarsh and Andrew Ryan is also the height of lunacy. Anthony Quinn’s selection is somewhat palatable considering the lack of genuine wing talent but surely Joel Monaghan, Steve Turner, Chris Lawrence or the Colin Best Express would have been better options.

Ridiculous Origin Selections, Queensland…Jacob Lillyman, P.J Marsh. Jacob Lillyman is a markedly worse player than David Stagg yet somehow got selected ahead of him. Amazing. And P.J Marsh…that selection is simply astonishing. If selectors don’t think Scott Prince or Cooper Cronk could do twice the job P.J Marsh could do (and in any role he fills), they are either dumb or corrupt.

I Think You Better Meet The Reggies Coach…If I ever see Daniel Holdsworth in first grade football wearing blue and white again, there may be a scene of great violence and bloodshed and anger. He has feet for hands and bricks for feet yet he has somehow maintained his first grade position. Steve Folkes must think it is amusing to remind us all of horrid halfbacks of the past such as Peter Wheeler and Barry Berrigan. Such nostalgic wit in such lean and mediocre times is anything but funny. Holdsworth has no discernible skills. He cannot catch, he refuses to run, his kicks go either three metres or over the deadball line, he has little intuition and his leadership abilities tally zero. With Ben Barba firing in the twenties and Aaron Groom reportedly playing well in the New South Wales Cup, the time for change is now. It is a sad state of affairs when thoughts turn to simple yearnings for Brent Sherwin.

Reading Between The Lines…It was most interesting that Penrith coach Matthew Elliott played Test forwards Petero Civoniceva and Frank Pritchard after resting Luke Rooney and Luke Lewis the weekend after City-Country. One would have thought a representative fixture would have taken more out of two forwards than two backs. Elliott has always been known as a little hard-nosed, even vindictive (see Peter Wallace), so don’t expect to see a great deal of the duo in Panthers colours. Lewis is heading to Souths next season and you could not get enough on Rooney to be playing elsewhere in 2009.

Week of the Chargedown…Those fans of the chargedown would have been giddy with excitement watching the Dragons-Eels clash with at least five Parramatta kicks blocked. It was a throwback to the Steve Price heyday when the chargedown was a common occurrence. In the end, it nearly got the Dragons home with Matt Cooper’s final try a direct result of a chargedown. With kicking such an important aspect of the modern game, defenders really should be placing more pressure on the kicker.

Here Have A Dollar, In Fact, No, Brotherman, Here Have Two…Treason is seemingly a sin that is forgiven in rugby league. In some parts, at any rate. Wendell Sailor, a man who chased The Quick Buck in rugby, has come back to rugby league with his tail between his legs. And his nose, by all reports, clean. He has signed with perennial underachievers St.George-Illawarra. Why the Dragons think someone who has not played competitive football in two years and no game of rugby league since 2002, who is thirty-three years of age, is beyond the comprehension of most rugby league fans. He will offer nothing to the Dragons who are in a desperate need of something. Some clubs just seem to enjoy mediocrity.

Video Referee Screed…Things just get worse. Jason Nightingale scored a legitimate try against the Eels after Eric Grothe dropped a kick return yet the Dragons were penalised for a Matt Cooper strip. Quite simply, Eric Grothe was loose with the ball as he always is and dropped it in a hard tackle. In the Storm-Knights game, the Storm were denied a try when the video referee awarded a penalty to the Knights on the basis of an obstruction. This followed a lengthy analysis of a tackle on Michael Crocker, a play significantly after the so-called obstruction, with the video referee clearly looking for an error that was not there. Video referees are actively looking to not award tries, showing an utter lack of understanding as to how rugby league is played. These jokers should be hung, drawn and quartered. The NRL needs to start appointing someone with some semblance of intelligence to act as a video referee in NRL matches.

Thanks, Thanks Very Much…Some of us had a more comfortable existence thanks to Centrebet’s markets on player metres and player tackles. No longer. Thanks to some rather selfish fools at, supposedly, NRLStats, Centrebet no longer off such markets after some alleged fraudulent behaviour by a gambler who may have been involved with those compiling the statistics. It looks like we have seen the last of the glory days.

Gut-Wrenching Injury of the Week #1…Lincoln Withers. Withers is a workhorse at the Raiders who makes plenty of tackles while offering some creativity in attack. His loss will have big ramifications for a Raiders team who may enter freefall now.

Gut-Wrenching Injury of the Week #2…Kurt Gidley. Nobody was more deserving of an Origin jersey so it is a tragedy to see a cheekbone injury sideline him. Few players are as valuable to their team as Kurt Gidley so his loss will have the Knights on the backfoot for however long he is sidelined. He does everything.

Coaching Stocks…

Value	LW	Coach	Comment
5	5	Craig Bellamy	The Storm were far from crisp but were methodical in beating the Knights with 8 back-ups.
4.5	4.5	Ricky Stuart	A big win for both the Sharks and the Aussies. He could not have had a better weekend.
4.5	4.5	Wayne Bennett	The Broncos hit by injury but still near top. His efforts for the Kiwis should be admired.
4	4	Des Hasler	A huge and much needed away win in Brisbane. Back on track for a top four finish.
4	4	John Cartwright	The Titans had the bye.
4	4	Brian Smith	Newcastle defended outstandingly and were only beaten by fatigue. Finals contenders.
3.5	3.5	Brad Fittler	The Roosters blitzed the Raiders and had the game won after 20mins. Consistency a problem.
3.5	3.5	Michael Hagan	Eeked out back-to-back wins. Playing ordinarily but things look to be turning around.
3.5	3.5	Ivan Cleary	The Warriors had the bye.
3	3	Tim Sheens	The Wests Tigers had the bye.
1.5	1	Matt Elliott	Touching up Dogs will boost confidence but they still seem a team divided.
1	2	Neil Henry	The Raiders have shown a disregard for basic skills in last fortnight. Road struggles continue.
1	1.5	Steve Folkes	Had no excuses for one of the most inept Dogs efforts ever. He probably needs to go now.
0.5	0.5	Graham Murray	Massive home loss to a struggling Sharks. Things will only get worse throughout Origin.
0.5	0.5	Jason Taylor	South Sydney had the bye.
0.5	0.5	Nathan Brown	Should have beaten Parra. That is a loss they will rue. Things look dismal for the club + Brown.

 The Colin Best Express Fan Revue…Rearrange the letters in Colin Best and you get “Blest Icon”. Indeed. Fun with anagrams on the Colin Best Express.

Round Nine in 2002…Mark Riddell was sent off by referee Paul Simpkins in the Dragons controversial 21-all draw with the Canberra Raiders at WIN Stadium…Lote Tuqiri scored twenty-six points in the Broncos 50-12 thrashing of the Northern Eagles…The Colin Best Express scored Cronulla’s only try in their 36-6 loss to Parramatta…Michael Crocker kicked five goals in the Roosters touch-up of Melbourne…Eventual Minor Premiers (in fact, if not in history) Canterbury beat Penrith 25-22 in a thriller at the Showground.

Game of the Year Nomination, Round 9…Melbourne-Newcastle, 18-4. The Knights were courageous in the face of a 10-3 penalty count at the Olympic Park graveyard, holding on as long as they did. They kept the score tied at nothing apiece until after halftime but a lack of possession bought about by a lopsided penalty count saw them eventually crack. They did, however, remain in the game until the dying minutes. The match was bruising, intense and full of desperation. One of the best games of 2009, to date.

Great Canterbury Backrower of Yesteryear…David Thompson. In what has been a week of chargedowns, David Thompson had to be selected as the great Canterbury backrower of yesteryear. Thompson, always adorned in headgear, loved a chargedown. There is still significant debate as to whether David Thompson did in fact become Jamie Feeney.

Fantasy Players of the Week…Matt Cooper, Nathan Hindmarsh, Brent Kite, Jamie Lyon, Feleti Mateo, Luke Douglas, Craig Fitzgibbon, Israel Folau, Willie Mason, Sonny Bill Williams.

Surprise Fantasy Players of the Week…Jamie Soward, Steven Bell, Carl Webb, Brad Tighe, Fraser Anderson, Amos Roberts, Michael Gordon, Steve Menzies.

Rebecca Wilson-Danny Wiedler, Scorecard…Both found it necessary to centre their respective columns on Liam Fulton’s ass. Wilson (one would imagine) did it with a Germaine Greer-like middle aged leering while Wiedler (one would also imagine) seemed to get off like he was roaming the beat. Both were terribly distasteful and caused many readers to throw up just a little. We will again call it even with both doing a tremendous job in seeing who can get lower into the gutter.

And One Final Thought…The stupidity of the NRL’s timing system was once again highlighted on the weekend when Matt Cooper crossed for the Dragons with approximately 1:45 to be played. Rather than the clock being stopped after the try was scored and the Dragons having a legitimate shot at victory, the Dragons were penalised nearly a minute. That is the time that elapsed during the quick conversion and Parramatta’s slow return to halfway. I have said it before and I will say it again: STOP THE CLOCK WHEN THE BALL IS DEAD. It is fair, it simple and there is no reason why this should not be the way NRL matches are clocked.