On Saturday night in the NRL I witnessed two games that finished with roughly the same score, but the games were completely different. We had the Storm versus Sharks and Roosters versus Tigers, and it’s fair to say both results were obvious to even most stubborn supporter.
The thing that stood out for me was that at 30-0 down at halftime, the Sharks managed to put on a brave face in front of a Melbourne side hell bent on redemption after their capitulation to the Knights last week.
They were tougher and defensively improved in the second stanza. Though the scoreline says different it could have been a lot worse if the Sharks didn’t put up a brave front. They could have easily packed up and lost contact with the game, and who would have blamed them. But that isn’t the Sharks, they fought for a solitary try and a deserved one at that.
The Roosters versus Tigers game started off as a great contest, and going into half-time only eight behind I felt the Tigers could conjure some magic in the second half and come home.
But the magic never came and all we were presented with was a team that had lost the pride in their jersey and in the team. There have been cries that the Tigers are injury riddled and that their boardroom is a mess.
The Tigers’ boardroom and administration is a basket case, but to use that as an excuse is an absolute joke. In no way does the board control how the players compete, they have to stand up at some point. To drop 40 points after competing so hard against an in-form Roosters side is inexcusable.
I am a Sharks supporter and have been proud of the way they have played this year. They have played through injury after injury to key members of the squad and have 50 per cent of their salary cap on the bench. That has to be close to a record.
Add in a second season with the ASADA investigation and the sacking of the Todd Carney and it has been the campaign from hell. Yet week after week they dig in and leave it all on the field. That way of thinking may not get you the wins but you keep your pride and gain respect, no one can take that away.
I feel for Tigers fans, they deserve better than what they are being given, especially after a stellar start to the season. They improved a lot, but right now it seems like a case of one step forward and three steps back.
I am not taking anything away from the Storm or the Roosters – they are both great teams and are both going to be hard to stop during the finals – but let’s all hope for a better 2015 for the Sharks and Tigers.
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