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Benji Marshall kicks the ball. AAP Image/Action Photographics, Colin Whelan
It was an action packed weekend of rugby league, with lots of controversies, incidents and even a big upset. It was also an extremely high-scoring round, with some quality football played. To make all that occurred in Round 21 more digestible, we’ve broken it down into a series of rants and raves.
Rant: Bulldogs
There is no diplomatic way to put it: the Bulldogs are a dumb side. Talented? Yes. Exciting? Yes. Capable of beating the best teams in the comp? Yes. Deserve to be 10th on the ladder? Yes.
They’re an extremely frustrating side to watch, following up brilliant passages of play with ludicrously stupid moments.
The biggest worry is that the Dogs most reliable, stable and calm influence, Andrew Ryan, is being shown the door at the end of the season. So the biggest question is, who is going to supply the required leadership for the Bulldogs in 2012?
Rave: Eels
It’s rare a team can lose three games in a row and still earn a rave, but Parramatta thoroughly deserves it. Whilst it will be of little consolation to Eels supporters, the Parramatta players have tried their absolute hardest, only to lose two heart-breaking golden point games in a row, and then go down to led Melbourne last night, despite leading 18-0.
Strength is born out of adversity, and the Eels have certainly faced plenty of that in the last three weeks. But they’ve kept their heads high, continued to play hard, and have done their fans proud.
Rant: Dragons
With Sunday’s loss to the Rabbitohs, the defending premiers now find themselves outside the top 4. It’s not quite panic stations yet, but the Dragons do need to hit the finals with some momentum.
Other sides, including the Tigers, Warriors and Cowboys, are really ramping up their season when it counts most, and it’s a dangerous gamble for the Dragons to believe they can just ‘turn it on’ for the finals.
The Dragons defence, and ability to grind teams down, has been sorely lacking of late, punctuated by them surrendering two big leads to the lowly Raiders and Rabbitohs.
It’s a gross exaggeration to say their season is slipping away, but they do need to refocus in time for the finals, otherwise an early exit is on the cards for Benny and his troops.
And if the rumours are true that there was a lot of finger pointing and not much accountability during the loss to Souths, then things may be worse than we think.
Rave: Benji
I’ve made no secret of my admiration of Benji Marshall in the past, and after his mesmerising performance on Friday night, his stock just keeps rising. Marshall attempts things that other players can’t even imagine doing. He is an out-and-out superstar and one of the most entertaining athletes in sport, let along rugby league.
His game-winning break and subsequent no-look pass to Chris Lawrence added another chapter to an already extensive career highlights reel.
Benji is a major drawcard for the NRL, and whatever the Tigers are paying him, he’s worth double.
Rant: Channel 9
In this day and age of the texts, Facebook, Twitter, etc, Channel 9 can simply no longer show games via delayed telecast. It’s almost impossible to avoid the score.
Sunday afternoon’s game between the Dragons and Rabbitohs was one of the games of the season, and one of the greatest comebacks in recent rugby league history. Sadly, I didn’t get to truly appreciate it, because the result was ruined for me due to Channel 9 not showing the game live.
And don’t get me started on the network not showing rugby league in high definition.
It’s time to lift your act Channel 9.
Rave: Akuila Uate
When a side drops 50 points on their opposition, there are usually a number of players that perform well. And so was the case when the Knights demolished the Titans.
However, no Novocastrian was better than winger Akuila Uate, who scored a hat-trick.
Origin selection, and being around great players, can do wonders for a young player’s confidence and career. It seems that Uate certainly falls into that category, as he has gone from strength to strength since representing the Blues.
Rant: Referees
I know it’s predictable to have a crack at the referees, but they’re really struggling at the moment.
If the refs were a team, they would be receiving a flogging at training from their coach for performing way under par over recent rounds.
Josh Dugan’s winning try last week versus the Dragons last week shouldn’t have been awarded; and Robbie Farrah’s pass to Beau Ryan versus Manly on Friday night went a mile forward. Those two incidents had a large impact on the outcome of the respective games, and I saw plenty more obvious and shocking errors by officials on the weekend.
Just as teams need to start building for the finals and ensuring they’re perfectly honed, the referee’s also need to start improving.
Rave: Chris Lawrence
At the start of the year, I had one wish for the 2011 NRL season: that no players would get seriously injured. Reality and the physicality of the game dictate that this was always a pipe dream, but of all the injuries we’ve witnessed this season, none were worse than Chris Lawrence’s hip dislocation in round 3 versus Canberra.
There was talk Lawrence may never play again, and it took 6 people to put his hip back in. All of which makes his comeback, and game-winning try on Friday night, even more impressive.
Far from providing just one moment of glory, Lawrence was in the thick of the action all night long. He ran for 161 metres, had six tackle busts, a line break and an offload. He also completed 16 tackles.
His presence gives an already potent Tigers backline a further boost.
Rant: The Sharks
Woeful. Ugly. What more needs to be said?
We’ll leave it to Cronulla coach Shane Flanagan to sum up his team’s first half: “Try; we got the football; error; try; error; try; error; try. Just no respect for the football, no respect for the opposition.”
Couldn’t have put it better myself.
Rave: Cowboys
It used to be a simple equation when tipping Cowboys games if Johnathan Thurston was out injured: you simply wouldn’t pick them.
But Thurston has been our for four weeks now and the Cowboys aren’t just learning how to play without him, they’ve learnt how to win without him – the boys from North Queensland have notched 3 victories from 4 games whilst their captain is out.
While Dallas Johnson, Matt Scott and Matt Bowen have received a lot of press, coach Neil Henry has everyone playing their role to perfection, and with players like James Segeyaro, Ashton and Tariq Sims, etc, stepping up, the Cowboys are shaping as serious threat to win the 2011 premiership.