It’s now become a tradition in week two that everyone with a grievance must stand front and centre and moan until someone drags away the dead horse they’ve been flogging (and that equine probably died of boredom in the first place).
Previously it was all about talking about the pointlessness of the McIntyre system after teams seven and eight were promptly towelled up in week one of the finals. Now that those teams have started winning their first finals match fairly regularly, we’ve needed to listen to the chumps that got dusted play their violins.
This week the Tigers showed that while they haven’t played in the finals for five years that would as sure as hell make sure everyone noticed them by kicking off about the fact that they had to travel to Canberra.
Honestly, by the end of it, who would have thought they’d been ordered to get to capital on foot and over broken glass.
Let’s be clear, the Tigers lost at home, the Raiders won away. Yes, the Tigers may have chosen to play their home game at their opponent’s home ground, but they still made the call.
Perhaps CEO Stephen Humphreys was just showing you why British Airways, the company he used to work for, is in the state it is.
The major plank in their argument was that it was similar to last year’s scenario when the Dragons were beat in week one and then travelled to Brisbane.
Of course, the difference was that the Dragons last year finished first; the Tigers this year finished third. Their mum’s may have been proud, but surely a home final is enough of a reward, maybe David Gallop should have called them up at assembly and given them all gold stars and merit cards.
Over the course of 26 rounds, the Tigers only won three more games than the Raiders, that’s hardly enough to expect the red carpet rolled out wherever they go.
The Tigers were also pissed about the scrum which was called after Simon Dwyer clobbered Jared Warea-Hargreaves. Let’s be honest, they were lucky to get a scrum, that tackle in which contact was made to the head was a penalty every day of the week during the regular season.
I lost count the amount of times I heard a player claim his victim was falling and the referee brush him off with “it doesn’t matter contact to the head was made.”
Steve Clarke bottled it after the vision that the video ref would have decided the game brought him out in a cold sweat.
Of course, the Panthers wanted to ensure they weren’t left out and claimed it was also unfair they had to play at the SFS (which would have been the case under the old system anyway) and Matt Elliot though he’d make up for lost time and throw in his two cents on exotic markets.
This was the area the bookies had done pretty well on in the whinge department, although curiously none of them wanted to see any limits put on betting, except perhaps limits on people actually winning. A usual sore point for those mugs.
Of course, it may all be an elaborate scheme to help the Tigers set themselves up as underdogs.
It’s actually pretty clever to be able to quickly go from “we are so superior we should be playing this match on our turf” to “we are really up against it” in the twinkling of an eye.
The Tigers are playing the old trick of saying half their side is injured and will be rushing to be fit. I’ve seen enough finals footy to know that every single player the Tigers have down as doubtful will play.
The Sydney Morning Herald even ran a story about their “secret weapon” for the match – the hyperbaric chamber.
Just how secret is something when it’s printed in a newspaper 48 hours before the game, especially when it’s something that every club uses.
But the highlight from the Herald was their reporting on Jonathan Thurston’s silly buggers in Brisbane.
One article had leading Herald journalist Roy Masters bemoaning how things were blown up these days because of the amount of recording devices in the public, while another story asked readers “Did you see anything? Send us your MMS.”
Just bring on the footy.
Sam H
Roar Pro
Garbage Gobbo. Tigers have consistently been in the top two or three biggest drawing Sydney NRL teams for the last 6 years (we've made the finals twice over that period, some winning streak). Our memebership number isn't great. One of the reasons for that is the fact that we play home games at three different grounds that are a long way apart (although as a ticketed member who lives 300 plus kms away from all of our grounds I don't have a lot of sympathy for that excuse.) But if you look at home attendances (and away crowds for that matter) it's clear that the Tigers are now playing with the big boys as far as Sydney goes. As they should be.
Andrew
Guest
Hopefully when the comp expands, we move to the 10 team finals series the NRL used in 1998 which was better than both versions of finals being used currently.
sheek
Guest
Sorry for not reading all the posts, & apologies if I trawl over previously mentioned things. 1. The McIntyre system is not one version but many variations. Both the NRL & AFL are using different variations of the McIntyre system. The McIntyre system has evolved over time from a final 4, to a final 5, to a final 6, to two variations of a final 8. 2. Most people I discuss this with, agree the AFL system is infinitely superior. In week one, the top 4 & bottom 4 are separated. Significantly, home ground advantage always goes with the higher placed team at the end of the regular season, even if they lose in the first week of the finals. 3. This is as it should be. Not only do the higher placed teams get a second chance after the first week of the finals (if they lose), they also retain the home ground advantage. 4. The higher placed teams after the regular season, have earnt the right to some advantages, however small, for being consistently better than lower placed teams. Even if they won just one more game over the season, or 3, which isn't insignificant. An excellent recent example of why the AFL system is better, is when the Bulldogs played the Swans in Melbourne. The Bulldogs finished the regular season in 4th, & lost to first placed Magpies. The Swans finished 5th & beat 8th placed Carlton Blues. Despite losing in the first week, the Bulldogs retained home ground advantage over the Swans for finishing higher in the regular season. That home ground advantage saw them hold out the Swans. The AFL version of the McIntyre application is far superior & fairer than the NRL version. Practically so.....
Franks
Guest
Suburban clubs playing a great game. Not sure of your comparative point. Are Souths Penrith without the pokies? Who cares about memberships - it's about attendance and TV ratings. Both Souths and the Tigers are big players in those markets.
Springs
Guest
Tigers have been consistently among the best crowd-pullers in the NRL, even after msiing out on finals for four years straight, while Souths are obviously not te most popular club in Sydney.
Gob Bluth
Guest
Dream on William. Let's look at memberships (from the start of this season) Souths 17395 Dragons 13327 Bulldogs 10062 Eels 9056 Tigers 4935 Roosters 4528 Sea Eagles 4370 Sharks 4342 Penrith 3970 The Tigers are the Sharks on a winning streak. Next you'll be telling me Sydney FC is the cities biggest sporting club.
Willy
Guest
Ditto for Tigers v Saints in 2005.
Willy
Guest
Scotty - I know how the current system works. What I'm saying is the AFL system is better because it guarantees eliminating two of the bottow four teams - leaving the best six teams (the top 4 and the best two of the bottom four) to battle it out. It just makes sense on so many levels. Imagine if Manly had won last week. The Tigers would have been eliminated after finishing 3rd and losing a brutal game by 1 point after 100 minutes of footy. Ridiculous. And the fact is the McIntyre System throws up these issues year on year on year.
Vinay Verma
Roar Guru
Scott, this is a true story,myfather in law and one brother in law were fanatic Bears and I was Manly and never shall the twain meet was my war cry.
Springs
Guest
No, the reward that Geelong got for finishing second was both a home final and a second chance. They were not good enough to win, and even then they still got a home final he next week! That's a pretty big reward. And if Geelong is the AFL's second best team, how come they didn't beat the third best in week 1? Last year in the NRL, Bulldogs vs Eels was far more exciting than the Grand Final, in fact the Grand Finals over the last few years have been quite dull. It's not about excitement, it's about who deserves to be there.
Vinay Verma
Roar Guru
Steve,our parents gave us this sense of tradition and enjoymnet..are parents today too self-centred..I know when coaching junior cricket some of the parents considered the coaching a Creche.
Mega
Guest
If the Raiders make the GF the NRL will get a very special visitor: http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-match-preview/the-green-light-never-goes-out-for-webber-20100916-15eqk.html
Scott Woodward
Guest
I think The Dragons v Titans will be an excellent GF.
Scott Woodward
Guest
Willy Mediocrity does not come in to it as this is a brand new competition and the trick is that you have to keep winning. So your idea of 1 playing 4 is not a reward for finishing 1. Playing 8 would be.
Willy
Guest
Some credit should also go to the success of the Wests/Balmain merger, and the great new club they've created. The Tigers play great footy, are always out in the community doing good things and are an absolute credit to the game. And for this they get some wonderfully committed supporters.
Willy
Guest
It's simple Steve. A top 8 is too many in a 16 team comp - it rewards mediocrity. You only have to win as many as you lose to make the finals! But with cash on the line, and the excitement it generates late in the season, it's here to stay. The compromise should be this - we'll have a Top 8, but 5 v 8 and 6 v 7 mean than TWO of the bottom teams go home after week one. That leaves us with a more deserving Top 6. A far more reasonable number in a 16 team comp. That's the best reason for going with the AFL system.
oikee
Guest
I will get back to you Scott, after the finals. I have taken note of your points.
Willy
Guest
"Perhaps CEO Stephen Humphreys was just showing you why British Airways, the company he used to work for, is in the state it is. The major plank in their argument was that it was similar to last year’s scenario when the Dragons were beat in week one and then travelled to Brisbane." This is garbage. The move to the SFS was the right decision. The Tigers are a big club (well on their way to being Sydney's biggest, if not already) and they should be playing big games in a big stadium. A small team mentality should be left to small teams with small futures.
Steve Kaless
Roar Guru
They don't call it the "Insular peninsula" for nothing (although I've The Shire trades by that name as well). Let's face the Sea Eagles are happy if their fans travel to Brookvale. PS More power to your friend, it will certainly give the kids something to talk about on Monday morning, and in all seriousness some of my best memories from a child are about going to the footy with my dad. Hope they enjoy themselves.
Steve Kaless
Roar Guru
Furthermore, why should a team that has snuck in and finished 7th or 8th only have to play a team ranked 5 or 6 in week one. The only problem with your 40k home ground limit I think only four clubs have home ground that big. Bulldogs, Rabbitohs, Broncos and Roosters. (Toss in the Storm if they shift to Telstra dome).