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SMITHY: Ennis's antics not enough for the Dogs

28th August, 2014
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Canterbury fans are under investigation after disgusting scenes at ANZ Stadium (AAP Image/Action Photographics, Grant Trouville)
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28th August, 2014
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What a match of tangled emotions! On a number of levels I felt myself riding along with the fascinating and frustrating conflict on the screen.

Judging by the messages rolling in from my footy mates during the playoff qualifier for the Rabbitohs and Dogs it sounds like that was pretty widespread.

I was fascinated to watch the Rabbitohs battle with themselves as much as their opponents, and particularly with Dogs’ captain Michael Ennis.

That they found a way to win such a difficult match with such a gritty and committed opposition could be just the tonic for Souths as a team.

But did they actually deal with what lay in front of them at half time or did they just keep grinding away in their usual fashion, praying that everything would work out ok?

I guess only they really know how much they gained out of this vital match as well as the important two competition points.

The other group who seemed to struggle with frustration in this match were the commentary team.

Like Souths they seemed to struggle from very early on with the fact that the red and greens were not dominating. They seemed fixated on any and all of the errors made by Souths in the opening 40.

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But at half time the stats showed that not only had the Dogs made errors too but that the share of position and possession was not even a consideration, certainly not to the point the commentary team kept grinding into us.

Perhaps they wanted a win by some margin for the Rabbitohs to build up next Thursday night’s blockbuster – the Roosters hosting the Rabbitohs.

They also continued to ratchet up the frustration scale for me with a whole host of their usual forays into the merits of other programmes appearing on their network, other matches being televised this weekend, the mechanics of modern day football and how much they hate this footy compared to the great days of decades past.

All the while there was a tremendously competitive and tough as nails battle going on. The Bulldogs playoff chances demanded a victory.

The toughness and difficulty each team posed for the other appeared to be just what the Dogs wanted, their modus operandi for victory.

“Whatever it takes” could well have been plastered on the walls at Belmore; it appeared to be tattooed on the forehead of their captain!

Souths as a team were clearly put off their game by Michael Ennis’s antics.

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Sam Burgess seemed to be suffering the same dramas with his English teammate James Graham apparently knowing just how to rearrange Sam’s apple cart. I thought that one on one was an epic and certainly something that everyone could have enjoyed with some more prompting from the frustrated and distracted commentators.

Big Sam won the match for Souths because he found a way. His combination plays on inside passes from the crafty Luke Keary kept them in the match – two really important tries but more importantly footy smarts utilised to craft them.

He also triumphed physically, coming back onto the field after appearing to be finished for the night at one stage. He is also a man on a mission yet with a different method of going about achieving it.

Adam Reynolds showed calmness under pressure to find the best of the try passes to take his team to the front on the scoreboard when it really mattered.

He did so without running behind his support runners and showing great awareness of that specific situation – he may not have done that in the past.

Maybe these moments show Souths are improving their poise, particularly the halves. Reynolds cool as a cucumber field goal emphasised that point.

But what of the Dogs result and future? A text from a mate, a Parra fan says plenty: “Ennis is annoying me! You should not be able to play like that and allowed to win. Somebody should do something about it.”

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The commentary team seem to switch between admiration and frustration on this matter.

They sometimes makes me feel as if they enjoy the way Ennis does what was commonplace “back in the day”, a time when the style of footy was what they long for today: niggle, debate, push.

And yet they too eventfully want the referee to take action. In fact some of the comments suggest the referee needs to take much sterner action.

My mate said it like this. “Ennis is the worst influence on our sport. Refs even said they knew what was happening yet they did nothing to stop it.”

Thankfully the Rabbitohs did what they needed to do by managing those tendencies to play frustrated footy, enough to win the match.

Bigger but different challenges lie ahead.

I can’t wait for their next match.

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