Australian skipper Darren Lockyer added to his already compelling case as the greatest ever Kangaroo as hew pocketed yet another Test record in his side’s 42-0 Four Nations thumping of rugby league minnows Papua New Guinea on Sunday.
Lockyer surpassed Ken Irvine as Australia’s leading Test try-scorer, his 34th four-pointer one of few highlights on a wet afternoon at Parramatta Stadium where the Kangaroos did just enough to get their campaign off on the right foot.
The Kumuls tried hard but were hopelessly outclassed, their best passage of play being the 30 minutes either side of halftime when they held the home side scoreless thanks to some enthusiastic defence.
Around it however the Australians scored with relative ease, the cobwebs of more than two months on the sidelines for a host of players visible as they took their foot off the pedal after beating the clock over the opening 25 minutes.
But it was clearly Lockyer’s afternoon, Australia’s most capped player and captain adding another entry to his stunning list of achievements.
“To break that record is pretty special,” Lockyer said.
“I’ve been privileged I’ve been able to play for Australia for a long time and along the way I’ve had some great memories and to chalk up a record is something I’ll always be proud of.”
While Lockyer seemed reluctant to bask in his glory too much, coach Tim Sheens said the skipper’s record spoke for itself when it came down to deciding who was the best.
“Based on the record book, yes he is (the best),” Sheens said.
“It puts him in that category but I’m certainly not going to start saying he’s a better player than Graeme Langlands or Bobby Fulton or the Immortal-type players.
“But he’s putting himself in that category.”
The record won’t be the only reason Lockyer will have memories of the match however with the five-eighth targeted by massive PNG centre Menzie Yere who unleashed a flurry of big hits.
And Lockyer wasn’t the only one to get rattled, with Kumuls coach Stanley Gene praising his side’s defence even if a 12-2 penalty count and poor play from the halves meant they weren’t able to do much with the ball.
“There would be a lot of ice in that Australian dressing room,” Gene said.
“You guys (in the media) were writing about us getting flogged and it was going to be a stroll in the park (for Australia) but the big thing I told the boys was not to throw the towel in.
“They fought all the way.”
That they did, with Australia looking like they would cover the 52.5 points starts being offered by bookmakers by halftime when they went 26-0 ahead after 25 minutes.
As dominant as Australia were they were helped out by some sloppy play by the visitors in the opening period, two tries coming from kicks, another after a knock-on from a PNG scrum win and Billy Slater’s opener coming after Lockyer’s kick hit the upright.
Willie Tonga celebrated his return to the Test ranks after a five-year hiatus with a double, with prodigal son Lote Tuqiri the only Australian back not to score a try.
“We were a bit rusty here and there but we did enough,” Sheens said.
“There’s a few bumps and bruises (and it was) a good hit-out.”
sportfreak
Guest
Tee hee A league player called mungo. I'm being childish I know....
Dave
Guest
do you guys ever do your homework before you open your mouth? are you wrong about your tv ratings.
Dave
Guest
actually the wallabies played samoa in 2005 in sydney and got twice as much as the kangaroo's/png game. imagine if the nz maori and tonga played in the curtainraiser that crowd would have jump to 45,000. four top international rugby league teams playing at paramatta stadium and got 11,000 is shocking mate and don't use the weather as an excuse please. its getting old.
Cman
Roar Rookie
JAJI, A full house in the driving rain in Melbourne for the ANZAC RL Test this year and TV ratings that the other code would die for. I would say the Kangaroos are very relevance in Australia. Union, Footbal, AFL would never get those ratings for there national teams outside of a world cup. (TV ratings AUS vs NZ - Total 1,826,000) http://www.talkingfooty.com/tv_ratings_2010.php
JAJI
Guest
The Socceroos are now a bigger act than the Wallabies and the Kangaroos. We got 25,000 to a visit from Paraguay in a meaningless friendly with no media coverage and no Free to Air telecast. Ask true League fans and the season ended when the Dragons ended 31 years of hurt 3 weeks ago in sensational fashion. International League carries little interest hear or overseas - thats why they are avoidng having many games in Sydney. 11,000 crowd figure is a disaster given the rampant publicity from The Daily "Terror" and Channel Nine - how many stories have we had that Lote is so happy "to be back". I bet as the scoreline hit 40 on a rain soaked Sunday at Parra Lote started thinking of the days of playing in front of 80,000 at Twickers and Stade De France for the Wallabies against meaningful opposition. I think the Kangaroos are just below the relevance of the Commonwealth Games in the international sporting landscape
Col the bear
Guest
Congratulations to Darren Lockyer and his record try. But it shows how great of a player Mungo was with a record that stood for 42 years. Would have been great to see him play in his prime. Go the bears!
sportfreak
Guest
A good point you raise Dan. A slight if trivial retort if I may! The Fiji game was played in Canberra - a city of 400k tops. The PNG game played in Sydney - a city of 5 million plus. I did enjoy watching the PNG rugby 7s team at the Commonwealth games. They were plucky and tough - a joy to watch. They were rugby players - not cross code mercenaries either.
Dan Wighton
Roar Guru
While I dont think anyone was over the moon with the attendance for Sunday's match, it is important to give it some perspective. A new tournament, a game against a minnow on the world stage, who had been significantly weakened by injury. It was also in poor weather (given though that the pre-sale had not been strong), outside of the league season and many of the top line players had been ruled out. The Sydney public are also notorious for their refusal to attend international games. Of course international RL is not as strong as RU, but the attendance for Sunday's match is hardly an indication that International League is in trouble. If we are to compare attendances, perhaps the best comparison would be to look at the Wallabies v Fiji back in June - a small team on the world stage who were significantly outplayed by their rival. That game, the attendance was 14,400 - so 3K more than the PNG game. International RU is stronger than RL, the Wallabies are more well supported than the Kangaroos even though league is more popular, and the difference was only 3K. Unfortunately, there are no recent matches with the Wallabies v Puk Puks to make an accurate comparison.
sportfreak
Guest
think you are getting a bit mixed up pally. I asked for numbers to back up your argument and you have come back with nudda. The August Bledisloe saw about 800k all up and September 11 had about 149,000 pay TV subscribers watching in addition to the 316,000 you mentioned above. So despite trying to suggest that Sunday's borefest at the Parramatta far out ranked a dead rubber Bledisloe proves you should be writing for the Telegraph or other quality paper with vested NRL interests. As you are aware September 11 this yearwas a tough night for any code in Aus due to the 3 games on that night. Although only 80,000 in Sydney watched the Swans game and about 400 the NRL, the AFL nationally won the night at a canter.
Cman
Roar Rookie
Sportfreak, the other 2 Bledisloe games were about the same TV ratings as the 3rd. It's the biggest game of the year for Union and thats all you can get on free 2 air. Pretty sad. If the Wallabies played a small Pacific Island team in the rain in Sydney they would of got the same kind of crowd if not less. When the Kangaroo's play the Kiwi's in the final in Brisbane they will get TV rating Union can only dream of. Plus a great crowd.
sportfreak
Guest
CMAN - my comment was that 10k punters turned up to a game where they were basically giving awy tickets at $20 bucks a pop. If you want to compare the Bledisloe where we saw 75k attend a dead rubber where tickets cost $100 plus, then please do so. Everyone agreed the game was a cracker. I think you"ll agree that the Sydney ratings were far higher because of the weather - cripes even I had the league on as there was nothing else to do... Please come back to me with the Foxtel numbers though champ.
sportfreak
Guest
cmon CMAN - I dare you to add the Foxtel numbers to that tally of yours. Anyone worth their salt who has Foxtel watches test rugby on Fox sports.....
jus de couchon
Guest
Cant think why League supporters dont get miffed with the Idiots that run their game . If International expansion is their aim then why the delusional hype around 4 nations?
mickh
Guest
are you serious. The English deserved twice as many penalties than they got due to there holding tacktics and would have lost by 40 if the Kiwi's played the way we know they can.
Jedda Baxter
Guest
If you're condemning international rugby league on a game between the Kumuls and the Kangaroos on a horrid wet afternoon then you've already made your mind up long ago. Do you think if the Four Nations wasn't on that the 2011 season would kick off any sooner? Then just enjoy watching some bonus footy and chill out.
Jedda Baxter
Guest
Rugby league isn't party 7s rugby. Rugby league fans in Sydney only part with their money for a fair dinkum contest. Let's compare the tv ratings for the PNG game with the upcoming Bledisloe. You wouldn't want to be counting on the Bledsiloe beating the PNG international in ratings.
Jedda Baxter
Guest
"The only joke is that it has taken 100 years for administrators to start taking the international game seriously. The Four Nations is a terrific concept,". So how is that concept any different to the world cup that the game started in the 1950s? So you can take 50 years off your 100 years for a start.
Jedda Baxter
Guest
Yes, it's a failure on rugby league's part that they waited to start their world cup until 30 years before rugby union.
M1tch
Guest
Okay, it confirmed for you, but luckily you are in the minority..
M1tch
Guest
It was just over 11k...yay int rugby league is alive