The Roar
The Roar

Advertisement

Round 4 of the NRL was rocks and diamonds

John Folau carting it up for Eels reggies. (NAPARAZZI / Flickr)
Roar Pro
1st April, 2015
0

Round 4 of the NRL offered some really good contests, and some average football.

The Eels looked electric against Souths, and the Cowboys comeback against the Storm was amazing.

Conversely, the Warriors and Broncos seemed to be trying to find ways to lose the game, with the Warriors eventually winning the battle to lose.

From the latest round the following caught the eye.

1. Scheduling is terrible
The Sunday of the Cricket World Cup final should have been a day without fixtures, or at least only prior to the game starting.

The Warriors vs Broncos game was prior to the final, however it was the 20-year celebration of the Warriors debuting in the then-Winfield Cup. It seemed tacky and cheap having it on Sunday, when it deserved to be on the Friday night game.

Surely that would have made more sense than two games in Sydney on Friday, 12 km apart.

2. Video refs are beyond a joke
I’m surprised KFC still want to be associated with the video ref. Would it be that bad to do away with the video ref?

Advertisement

3. Canberra should deal with bad behaviour differently
The Roosters, through Todd Carney and Blake Ferguson, have benefited from the Raiders’ hard-line stance.

There should be a first right of refusal to the club that takes action, or a financial payment to them for doing the right thing.

4. Who needs Israel when you have Folau Mark 2?
John Folau looked awesome for the Eels and if he keeps this form up will create headaches for Brad Arthur when Semi Radradra returns from injury.

Folau is in the centres this week, but whatever combination Arthur goes with, the Eels have incredible depth.

5. Reducing the interchange next year could revolutionise the game
With players getting fitter and fitter there is hardly the need for so many interchanges. Players such as George Rose have complained it could reduce the careers of impact players.

An alternative view would be that teams which stack their team with 80-minute players could be disadvantaged against a team that has a balanced forward pack of 80 minute players and impact players off the bench, used in 40-minute rotations.

When T20 arrived in cricket, it was seen as the end of slow and spin bowling. Now spin bowlers open the bowling, and even fast bowlers are trying to bowl slow bouncers. The key being as rules or formats change, players and coaches will adapt and evolve to the situation.

Advertisement

Two games went to golden point this past round and the Easter round looks like it could offer up even more competitive games. Ryan Hoffman up against the Storm on Easter Monday should be well worth watching, especially as the Warriors vs Storm games are normally pretty special.

close