The Roar
The Roar

Advertisement

The King’s Team of the Week: Round 7

Roar Rookie
22nd April, 2014
10

Another round of games completed in the 2014 NRL season and what an interesting round of games they were. Picking a team of the week for Round 7 was a tricky mission as there were not many standout performances and the games featured far too many errors.

Yet again we witnessed incredibly close games, unbelievable upsets and crucial refereeing errors. Who will win this year’s premiership? I am not sure anyone can answer that question based upon what we have seen so far.

There are a few contenders, however there is not a single team that looks threatening at vital moments.

The majority of the games were frustrating to watch this weekend. Just as the halves had set up the winger for a diving try in the corner, they would drop the ball. Just as a giant forward was fed a short ball on the line, they would drop it.

Just as a small zippy back broke the line and ran eighty metres, they would drop the ball. A massive total of 155 handling errors were produced over the space of the whole weekend. That is 155 on-the-edge-of-your-seat moments destroyed.

There were so many errors made at important times, it made picking the team of the week extremely difficult.

Let’s start with the stand outs.

James Graham played a sensational game and was quite deservedly awarded man of the match. I am not sure if this man even left the field to take a break, he seemed to be absolutely everywhere.

Advertisement

He played 64 minutes of the game, the most minutes of any prop. His battle with fellow countryman Sam Burgess was brilliant to watch as they tried extremely hard to pound each other into submission.

Graham also managed to continue tearing around the park after two head knocks that left blood oozing from a head gash.

Burgess put on another bone crunching performance for the 43,000 strong crowd. He crashed over the white chalk in the 36th minute to score the first try of the night. His barnstorming 22 runs helped him clock up 161 metres.

The highlight came from a drop out, where Sam ran full pelt into a Bulldogs brick wall. He showed no signs of slowing and accepted Graham’s challenge to determine the top Englishman on the field.

It does hurt to watch two English men standing out in our competition, however it is extremely entertaining.

I am not 100 per cent sure what position John Sutton was playing on Friday night, it seemed to be quite a few. He was everywhere – at hooker scooping and running, in the halves spinning his magic and in the forwards attempting to smash through the Dogs.

Shaun Kenny-Dowall earns his spot this week for running in 273 metres from just 17 hit-ups. He scored two tries at crucial times and busted away from seven tackles. No one was catching this speedster in the stats or on the field this week.

Advertisement

Jarryd Hayne is in remarkable form and has been performing admirably. Hayne did all he could to help the Eels over the line against the Tigers. He scored two tries and assisted in another. He ran 166 metres and busted out of seven tackles, but his efforts just fell short of a match-winning performance.

Brent Tate battled through pain and a few head knocks in the Cowboys game against Manly. Tate crashed over twice in the first half. He also played an important role in helping Curtis Rona sail over the line in the second half.

Chris Houston was inspirational in his game against the Broncos. He didn’t seem to quit even though his team was copping a battering from the ruthless Broncos’ forwards. Chris was extremely solid in defence and gained a valuable 141 metres off just 14 runs.

On the other side of the field Matt Gillett was the one battering and bruising the Newcastle Knights’ players. Gillett used all his might and force to score a gritty early try and completed 38 debilitating tackles. He was a workhorse all night and was pivotal in the Broncos’ easy win.

Jarrod Croker had Billy Slater covered – everywhere Billy went, Jarrod would be there first. He was clearly given the job to shut down the dangerous Melbourne fullback and he did the job incredibly well.

Croker deserves an award for somehow managing to drive Sisa Waqa hard into the ground. it was an incredibly hard task but the video referees deemed that Croker achieved this somewhat impossible feat.

Terry Campese steered the Raiders around the park, assisting in two of Canberra’s tries and busting through the line on numerous occasions.

Advertisement

Paul Gallen’s first game back from injury was excellent. He played the full 80 minutes. Gallen was back to his old tricks, racking up 161 metres to edge his boys closer to the try line. Paul managed to smash through tackles on five occasions and he troubled the Roosters’ defensive line on four other occasions.

Jorge Taufua played an extremely important part in Manly’s courageous win against the Cowboys. Tafua scored two tries and ran a total of 155 metres.

The hooker of the week actually goes to a player who came off the bench, Blake Austin from the Tigers. He was not on the field for all that long, but while he was there he scored a try and looked dangerous in the play the ball area. Austin’s enthusiasm and energy inspired the Tigers to eventually run home 21-18 winners.

The four extra positions on my team this week go to: Josh Dugan, Jason Taumalolo, Matthew Allwood and Jake Mamo.

Dugan was forever hassling the Warriors’ and helped the Red V to victory by scoring a try and running 175 metres.

The powerful second rower Jason Taumalolo put on an outstanding, hard-running display against the Sea Eagles. He accrued a game best of 182 metres from 22 hit-ups and busted through the tired Manly defence six times.

On debut in the NRL, Jake Mamo was subject to a heavy blow from the Broncos’ defence. For any debutant this would be enough to rattle the cage and dampen confidence but not for Jake. After this excruciating blow, Mamo managed to acquire 119 metres and look dangerous with the ball in hand.

Advertisement

The final spot on my team this week goes to Matthew Allwood, who played close to a career-best game in the centres for the Raiders. Allwood scored the Raiders’ first try and he appeared in other scoring moments of the game with touches of brilliance and hard running.

There are a few special mentions for some guys that missed the side by a long way:
Firstly, to the giant T-Rex, congratulations on showing up to play on Friday night, but the Dogs really needed you in both halves instead of just one.

Dane Nielsen played absolutely terribly on Saturday afternoon and single-handedly cost the Warriors the game. He crucified two simple scoring moments and he failed to run down Dugan when he really should have. Where is the Nielsen of old that played for Queensland?

Chris Sandow rounds off the special mentions for this week with a less than ordinary display against the Tigers on Sunday afternoon. Sandow tried a little too hard. He missed eight tackles and fumbling the ball four times which proved decisive as the Eels went down by a close margin.

A lot of research and planning has gone into this team of the week, watching every game of football over a long weekend was incredibly difficult.

Hopefully next week one team will put their hand up as title contenders, each team will have practiced how to hold onto a football and we will have a whole new roster of referees. Thanks to FoxSportsstats.com for providing the statistics for my team of Round 7.

close