After all the drama in the previous round of the NRL – and the resulting fallout – it was a welcome change to have a weekend where the attention and focus was almost solely on the actual football.
T’was quite the round of footy too, with yet another number of unexpected results, a golden-point thriller in Brisbane, and a bizarre game between the Rabbitohs and Cowboys.
Mum always said that when you’re on a good thing, stick to it, so I see no reason not to fire up the ‘Five Questions Machine‘ once again.
1. Where are those Wayne Bennett detractors?
Remember after Round 1, when the knives were out for Wayne Bennett? I called out the stupidity of it at the time, but the criticism of the supercoach looks even more absurd now that Brisbane sits atop of the NRL ladder.
Sure, there’s a long way to go and the Broncos have had some luck, but they’ve also improved every single week, and deserve to have ten competition points after six rounds.
Ben Hunt and Antony Milford are slowly developing a nice chemistry in the halves, while Bennett’s other masterstroke – firing up Sam Thaiday – also seems to have worked wonders, with the international forward at his terrorising best of late.
I don’t know if Brisbane have enough firepower to win the competition, but once they have their full complement of players, and Bennett fully stamps his authority upon the club, the Broncos will be a tough team to beat.
2. What is going on with the Bulldogs’ attack?
The Bulldogs’ fifth tackle options on Sunday against the Dragons will be the evidence I produce against anyone who continues to believe that the Dogs have good playmakers.
For a few seasons now I’ve sprouted the rhetoric that Canterbury’s halves simply don’t enough flair, creativity and correct decision-making, and Sunday afternoon is definitive proof of that line of thinking.
The Dogs were nothing short of diabolical when attacking the Dragons try-line, and it wasn’t via lack of opportunities either.
Taking nothing away from the Dragons brilliant defence, but the Dogs consistently took the wrong option on the fifth tackle, and for large parts of the game, didn’t even have an option. It was simply ‘shuffle it to Tony Williams’, or run around like headless chooks.
I don’t care that Josh Reynolds and Trent Hodkinson are the incumbent NSW halves. I don’t care that the pair took the Dogs to the grand final last year. Des Hasler needs to do something drastic with his team’s playmaking if he wants to win the 2015 premiership, especially with Brett Morris out for an extended period.
Whether that means looking around for a disgruntled half at another club locally or overseas, or altering the way the Dogs play in attack, something’s got to give out at Belmore. When Tony Williams and James Graham are your best ballplayers, you’ve got issues.
Sunday was embarrassing, but it was emblematic of concerns I’ve had with the Dogs for a while now.
3. Should Tyson Frizell have been sent off?
The short answer is no, I don’t believe that the Dragons’ Frizzell should have been sent off for his high shot on Tim Browne.
However, when a player is stretched off the park courtesy of a high swinging arm, the punishment needs to be greater than the same that is handed out for simply being offside, or holding on too long in the tackle.
I’m mindful of sticking strongly to my opinion that punishments should be decided upon independent of any injury that is sustained, but if a player can get ten minutes in the bin for swearing at a ref, I’m pretty sure illegally taking another player out of the game should – at the very least – receive the same reprimand.
Frizzell should have been sidelined for 10 minutes.
4. Are Canberra as bad as their ladder position indicates?
I have to be honest, I’ve been really impressed with the Raiders over the last two weeks.
After opening their season with a win over the Sharks, Canberra looked pretty poor in losses to the Warriors, Dragons and Roosters. They then had a solid win over Manly in Albury, and were desperately unlucky not to knock off Melbourne on Sunday afternoon, in what turned out to be a cracker of a game.
Halves Blake Austin and Sam Williams do a good job leading the team around the park, and while they still make errors you’d expect of young players, they have undeniable talent and a lot of potential.
The Raiders forward pack more than held their own against the Storm, and the Green Machine also has some exciting outside backs as well.
It’s shame that they’ve lost Josh Hodgson and Shaun Fensom for a couple of weeks after both suffered second-half injuries against Melbourne, but credit where credit is due, Ricky Stuart looks to be building something nice in the nation’s capital, which belies the Raiders’ spot on the ladder.
5. Are we making it too difficult to score tries?
In the space of a couple of minutes just before halftime in last night’s Rabbitohs versus Cowboys game, two tries were disallowed by the video referee, when I thought both were legitimate tries.
Firstly, Greg Inglis appeared to ground the ball on a little skirt from dummy-half, but the 50/50 call went against him. Then almost immediately after, the Cowboys were called for obstruction on a play in which Glenn Stewart was never-in-a-million years going to make the required tackle.
I was shocked at both decisions, but I’m not going to take the boring, lazy option of having a go at the referees. Regardless of whether they were fair four-pointers or not, the question that actually popped into my head was this – are we making it too difficult to score tries?
More specifically, do we look for too many reasons not to award tries?
I’ll let Roarers have their say, but my two cents is an unequivocal ‘yes’.
AlinBris
Roar Rookie
Sorry, update to point 1 previously - here is the NRL interpretation of how a try is scored: 1. Grounding the Ball includes: a. Placing the ball on the ground with hand or hands, wrist or forearm b. Exerting a downward pressure on the ball in contact with the ground c. Dropping on the ball and covering it with the front part of the body above the waist and below the neck. A player who has had possession or touches/touched the ball and knocks the ball forward must regain possession (catch, hold or grip) prior to the ball hitting the ground, another player, goal post or cross bar. For the ball to be deemed grounded, pressure must be applied by the player’s fingers, hand, wrist, forearm or torso so as to create a reasonable influence on the plane of the ball including the spin, rotation, momentum or bounce. This still raises the question, was the ball 'grounded' as per these guidelines??? Want to check out the rule book? Here is a link: http://www.playnrl.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/ARL-Rules-book-2015.pdf
AlinBris
Roar Rookie
Let's Look at Law (yes, the principles behind the decisions): 1. Believe it or not, there is no actual law that describes what constitutes a try, but as we should all know, a try can only be scored from a 'controlled' act of 'placing' the ball on or over the try line. 2. Section 6 Scoring - Tries and Goals states "Referee Unsighted - The Referee should not disallow a try because he was not in a position to see the grounding of the ball". Basically this may be otherwise interpreted as the try scorer receives the benefit of the doubt. So, in review of these, the questions are, did he place the ball in a controlled manner. If this were to happen in the field of play it would have been considered a knock on - I'll leave it to you to ponder that one. The unsighted referee aspect actually opens up a far wider reaching can of worms. According to the rule book, If the referee was unsighted (which, in reality, should be the only option for ever going to the Video ref), he should never be allowed to give a "I have a no try" call. Think about that one too...
The Barry
Roar Guru
I hear you but I don't know how you change the rules and end up with a better process. Ok - obvious ones like Stewarts might get picked up but what about the dozens of 50/50's we see. We'll end up going from a relatively clear rule to relying on refs interpretation which never ends well. Would the defender have got there? Did the defender take a dive? I'd rather see ones like this pulled up than the dogs breakfast that would ensue from refs interpretation.
Rellum
Roar Guru
More fair would be 4 points for a win, 2 points for a golden point win and 1 point for a draw. The entire reason golden point exists is to have an exciting finish so I don't see why golden try is not the preferred option. I personally am happy with draws.
Zachary Gates
Roar Guru
As a Bulldogs fan I will admit that Canterbury certainly does have a problem in attack. Matthew Johns hit the nail on the head last year when he said that Josh Reynolds really isn't anything special as a footballer but simply like a dog with a bone. Last year the Bulldogs just couldn't score points and got to the grand final off the back of their brick-wall defence as well as their truly monstrous forward pack boasting James Graham, Frank Pritchard, Josh Jackson, David Klemmer, Tony Williams and Greg Eastwood to name some of the current players. Again this year, neither out-muscling the opposition up the middle of the ground nor making metres are a problem, but they simply just cannot score points. I thought the recruitment of Brett Morris was a fantastic move that would add flair, creativity and more than anything speed to the back-line and until he was ruled by injury against the Rabbitohs his impact was evident. The Bulldogs turned in 32 points against the Eels in round two in a game where Morris bagged two tries and made an impressive 154 metres. The last time they registered more than 32 points in a game was in round nine last year against the weak St George outfit in a game they won 38-6. I love my Dogs and know they will go deep into the finals this year, perhaps even one step further, but Des has got to sort out his side's attack.
Gobbler
Guest
If only you'd keep quiet too.
Danno1
Guest
Ryan & BT Why can't the person who inflicts concussion sit out the game, like the person on the receiving end? (and no I don't mean he gets whacked back) Both teams have 13 on the field but the penalised team loses one replacement. So Frizell wouldn't have been able to return for the game, the Dragons use up one more interchange than the Dogs, but both teams still have 13 players. The match review committee can make it's call, BTW I thought it was a pre meditated hit as a get square for the pre-half time melee, so he should get more than 2 weeks.
Ryan O'Connell
Expert
Probably not. But when a defender is never going to make the tackle in a million years, AND takes a dive as well, it doesn't sit well with me.
The Barry
Roar Guru
The decoys are going through in FRONT of the ball. If they interfere with the defensive line at all it should be a penalty, dive or no dive. That's fundamental to the game. Again I ask would the rulings be improved if we ask for a video refs interpretation of who's taking a dive and who's not?
Ryan O'Connell
Expert
In terms of last night's play, it wasn't just that Glenn Stewart was never going to tackle the Cowboys players, it's that he took a dive.
Ryan O'Connell
Expert
That sound sensible and fair.
Ryan O'Connell
Expert
Exactly.
Bring Back Rucking
Guest
Simple solution to video ref try reviews where the obstruction law is involved - NO slow motion replays for these ones. All replays (as many angles as you want) at normal speed. And if a defender is seen to take a dive a la Glenn Stewart last night, then he gets 10 minutes in the naughty chair, and play recommences (after the conversion) with a penalty on halfway to the non-offending team. The deterrent must be sufficient to make these primadonnas stop. League far too often takes the soft option when a blight on the game emerges. That's why hardly anyone gets sent off these days, but players still get suspended every week.
Charles NSW
Guest
The issue is not that the forwards pass! The issue is when they pass? This is where the halves come in as they should be directing the traffic
Geoff from Bruce Stadium
Guest
The reason why Bromwich etc were making so much ground up the middle was precisley because of the loss of Fensom and Hodgson. They seem to do the defensive work of 3 or 4 players. At least the rest managed to hold out the Storm for most of the half. If Hodgson is OK this week I'd like to see Baptiste on the bench. He offers a lot more go forward than Buttriss and McCrone in my opinion. He also scored two tries last week so is showing a bit of form. You could be right about Page but there has been talk about his potential for a while. He must have something if he won the Qld Cup player of the year last year which is normally awarded to blokes playing in the halves.
The eye
Guest
Pretty sure those Bronco fans are keeping quiet because history says they're going to collapse in a screaming heap post origin
Alex L
Roar Rookie
Yeah, the Union version is much more sensible.
Mals
Guest
I think the video review is better in Union than League. The ref doesn't indicate try or no try. If he sends it to the video ref he is confident it is a try and he asks the video ref "Is there any reason why I cannot award this as a try?".
Bulldog
Guest
I like the idea someone suggested the other day of making golden point actually a "golden point" - that is each team gets a point each for the draw at full time and you then play out the 10 minutes of golden point to get an additional point. So the winner effectively gets a bonus point (or two points) and the losing team gets acknowledged with one point for finishing drawn at full time.
Ryan O'Connell
Guest
The NRL actually ruled that he didn't have a clenched fist, and that contributed to his grading.