By Alan Nicolea
November 18th 2008 @ 2:03am
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Hayne’s hit gives hope for international league
Fiji focused before, and subsequently after, their 52 point loss against Australia on just one thing - hope. Hope for a solid showing against the world champions. And hope for an upset of the highest order.
But it wasn’t to be the fairytale they’d prayed for.
Nine minutes in and Fiji found themselves sixteen-nil down thanks to two tries by Brent Tate and one to Billy Slater.
All hope was lost. In the blink of an eye, the Kangaroos had already torn Fiji apart and booked itself a Grand Final spot against New Zealand next week at Suncorp stadium.
Fiji on the other hand were now left to hope for something else.
After twenty or so minutes of the first half, ‘the Bati’ were praying that their semi-final appearance against the Australians would not yield a record breaking loss because, judging from the form of Kangaroos stars Lockyer, Thurston and Slater, there was a good chance of that happening.
Thankfully for the Fijians, their faith was rewarded.
Fiji started gaining more possession of the football in a first half that was already over as a contest. Eels star Jarryd Hayne got involved, providing a slick pass to captain Wes Naiqama to send him on a run down field.
Now this was drama. Naiqama was in the clear and only had Slater opposing him. What next?
Naiqama grubbered the ball cross field into the waiting hands of Johnathon Thurston, despite a massive appeal (and rightfully so) regarding an obvious knock on from Karmichael Hunt.
When Fiji should have had the gods smiling down on them, they cursed ‘the Bati’ with a decision that would allow Australia to post more points heading into the break.
Slater scored his second try soon enough and the Kangaroos were home and hosed. And still with forty minutes of football left to play.
Australian captain Darren Lockyer was the first to learn of Jarryd Hayne’s new tackling methods, with a thunderous shoulder charge that forced the ball loose and rattled the 43 test veteran.
But Hayne wasn’t finished.
He wanted to take aim at another devout Christian by the name of Israel Folau - the 100 kilo winger.
It was the special moment in an otherwise predictable Test match that saw the Kangaroos pile on a half century score.
But when Hayne confronted Lockyer and Folau, it seemed if, for just one second, Test rugby league actually had some meaning.
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Steffy said | November 18th 2008 @ 2:09am | Report comment
“it seemed if, for just one second, Test rugby league actually had some meaning.”
of course it has meaning
Alan Nicolea said | November 18th 2008 @ 5:35am | Report comment
Steffy
‘Of course it has meaning’. What i mean’t was in that period of the game (where Hayne defied the likes of Lockyer and Folau), Fiji were actually competitive and muscled up in defence for one another. Unfortunetly though, as with most second tier nations, they played with heart when they were 26 nil down on the scoreboard. They should have displayed that heart at the beginning of the match. Then the semifinal, and world cup for that matter, would have had some real meaning. Although Hayne left his actions late, it was good to see Australia rattled somewhat in those few moments of the match.
oikee said | November 18th 2008 @ 8:03am | Report comment
One thing gone un-noticed is how close the other teams are in comparision to the aussies, Fiji 52-0 England 54-4 New zealand 36-6 Scotland beat Fiji Ireland beat Samoa, Tonga beat Ireland, France unfortunately have only one team to call upon, so take out oz and the rest of the teams are pretty evenly matched. Maybe we should just make the Kangaroos hold the cup and play the game between the other nations, once this comp is over then they can have a shot at the Kangaroos to try to wrestle the cup off them. The league world cup would be a great contest without the aussies.
Alan Nicolea said | November 18th 2008 @ 10:04am | Report comment
Oikee
Indeed the other nations are very close to each other. I think New Zealand would have been on par with the aussies if Sonny Bill Williams, Frank pritchard and Roy Asotasi were playing. Throw in Brent Webb aswell.
I think international league competitivness all comes down to eligibility for me. If you were born in or have kiw heritage, you play for New Zealand, end of story. Same thing for Tonga and Samoa and the rest of the other nations. I cannot believe that most islander players sacrifice their eligibility to play for their home nation, just because they want to play Origin. They should be allowed to play both without pledging their allegance to the kangaroos. Look at Brad Thorn - he plays for Australia in league just because of the Origin but in Union he plays for the all blacks.
If this happened, Test rugby league will prosper bigtime. Its a guarantee for success.
Dave said | November 18th 2008 @ 3:42pm | Report comment
Look nobody’s going to say it so I will. The reason all the other teams are so far away from Australia is because it is not played seriously in enough places for other countries to catch up. I know people who want international league to suceed might going to have a go at me for saying this, but it feels like there’s a lot of blind justification going on around this competition. Maybe some time in the future we will see meaningful international league. It aint happening now, so let’s not dress this thing up.
There’s been a lot of talk about this being a development tournament. People who fall back to this view often point to the first rugby world cup semi finals in 1987 where something like 18,000 showed up to Concord Oval. The implication is that if league just keep plugging away it too will eventually have a decent world cup. The problem with this theory is that:
1. League has been trying since the 1950s - so where’s the tournament?
2. International rugby was established well before 1987 - the world cup just gave it more of a focus.
I know there are a lot of people in Australia who would like league to have a genuine international feel. Petending that has already happened doesn’t make it so.
Millster said | November 18th 2008 @ 4:05pm | Report comment
Alan - I agree partially but it does beg the question though as to what the name “State of Origin” (which should be a pretty simple concept really) means if people who are actually Kiwis, Fijians, and Tongans play supposedly as ‘natives’ of NSW or QLD. I tend to agree with Oikees views from a few weeks back that you should have a broader comp with the 2 origin sides (but with ONLY players who are genuine cockroaches or cane-toads) playing in a 5 or 6 team series with Tonga, Fiji, PNG and NZ. Now that’s international league with some meaning and a structure that makes a whole lot more sense than what we’re currently seeing.
Oikee - enjoyed being in your state yesterday. Particularly enjoyed being picked up at the airport by a bright orange cab with the colours and logo of the QLD Roar all over it. You guys are learning where the strength is obviously…
oikee said | November 18th 2008 @ 4:26pm | Report comment
That was not bright orange Millster, that was maroon, and the roar sign was grafitti. Sorry to dissapoint you.
Hope you enloyed your trip Millster, good to have you back.
oikee said | November 18th 2008 @ 4:37pm | Report comment
If anything Dave this world cup has highlighted how far behind league is compared to Union and of course Football, never will be that big. Its done justice for small reasons, we know where we stand and we need to get rid of deadwood, ie;– Gould and Rabs Warren, i seen a post on here not long ago saying Gus Gould should take over as the ceo of the NRL. Some people have no sight at all.
At least we now have a little development money for these smaller nations. I could give you a list of good things to come from this comp. But i wont bother as its nearly over, i am sure they will be reported after the events over.
Nobody is saying this event is massive, but we still have the same old people knocking the event. I really dont care anymore, i am totally over peoples comments, i am just going to enjoy what i like to watch.
onside said | November 18th 2008 @ 5:01pm | Report comment
Dave,
Re, Other teams are so far away from Australia the game is not played seruiously enough for them to catch up.
That may be spot on, but its what I love about the RLWC, that is two teams,say Fiji v Samoa where enthusiasm
outweighs skill. Rugby League can sometimes be so predictable and professional it is boring.
Athletic excellence is not always exciting . The best teams are not necessarily the most entertaining.So its great
to see teams really get stuck in, MAKE MISTAKES and ENJOY THE CONTEST.
Most professional rugby league athletes in Australia see the game as a job. Its hard work and it shows.
Watching ‘minnows’ have a dig is good for the soul, a celebration of the code.I believe this aspect should be
a real strength of the RLWC. But its largely ignored.
Australia cannot be held responsible for being in a class of its own, but the Island Nations bring a naivety, a
romance to the table , that represents the true spirit of the code.
Alan Nicolea said | November 18th 2008 @ 5:13pm | Report comment
Onside
Australia cannot be blamed for its dominance yes, but it would help if they stopped poaching players from other nations, lets say, from Tonga.
oikee said | November 18th 2008 @ 6:01pm | Report comment
Good post Onside, i also think the England New zealand games were good. All this world cup has shown is that the NRL is the best comp and can now sell itself as such. What they should do now and hopefully they will , bring the papuans and fiji lads along with the tongans and samoan into the comp, looking at the under 20’s i think this is already happening, not many white boys about.
Tim said | November 20th 2008 @ 2:04am | Report comment
Alan: If New Zealand had Pritchard, Asotasi, and SBW it would still be a huge upset for them to beat Australia. Neither Asotasi nor Pritchard had a fantastic year, and as for SBW, one man can only do so much. The fact of the matter is that if you’d be hard pressed to find more than a couple of players in the Kiwi squad who you’d even consider taking over his Kangaroo counterpart.
Let’s start with the backs: The NZ halves - Benji Marshall and Thomas Leuluai - would struggle to start in some NRL and SL teams, let alone be preferred over Jonathon Thurston and Darren Lockyer. Ditto Lance Hohaia, who isn’t even the Warriors’ first choice fullback (he came to the position as a replacement for an Aussie, Wade McKinnon). Steve Matai did well against Israel Folau in the NRL Grand Final, but I doubt he’s under any illusions about being an equal player, and nobody in their right mind would pick Jerome Ropati over Greg Inglis. This only really leaves the wingers as an area in which NZ might claim superiority, or at least parity. Brent Tate and Joel Monaghan are not superstars, and whilst Sam Perrett isn’t either, Manu Vatuvei is probably starting to fit that description.
Onto the forwards: Nathan Cayless and Adam Blair or Petero Civinoceva and Steve Price? Cayless at his peak wouldn’t have been considered the equal of Civinoceva or Price, and he definitely wasn’t at his peak in 2008. As for Blair, he can’t even make the Storm starting side ahead of White, of all people.
And so we go on through the squads. There’s no question that New Zealand _can_ beat Australia, and would stand a better chance of doing so with SBW, Asotasi and Pritchard, but to suggest that they’d be on par and expect victory on a regular basis is nonsense.