With Round 21 now all wrapped up, I will have a look at the week that was as we enter the business end of the season.
Broncos in trouble
With the second-last placed Sydney Roosters disposing of Brisbane on Thursday night, the Broncos have a lot of personal demons and questions they need to answer.
Their once stonewall defence has deteriorated and they’re now close to falling out of the eight completely.
The MRC is a joke
The fact the Josh Reynolds receives no punishment for his trip is ridiculous. The fact that Tyson Frizell receives one week for his ref touch is even more confusing.
The worst part is that he is likely to get off by taking it to the judiciary in the first place. Why bring it up, no one noticed it mid game?
Shaun Johnson continues to be an enigma
I don’t rate Shaun Johnson. It’s an unpopular opinion, but the Warriors-Panthers match showed why. His inconsistency is baffling. How can he be so good one week and nothing the next?
Brad Fittler believes it’s a personal attitude problem but I think the problem is a club culture issue. You only have to look at how Konrad Hurrell is firing on the glitter strip to imagine how good Johnson could out his comfort zone.
Tigers and Manly are likely to leave finals charges too late
The Tigers and Sea Eagles both came away with good victories (although against un-fancied opponents) however there is more of a chance that both teams have left their finals runs too late. Tigers have a better chance (being on more points) but a loss to the Cowboys this week will likely end it.
Souths in a dark place
What is going on at Souths? Clearly an issue as players look unmotivated. Something needs to change and it looks like its going to a be move on for Michael Maguire.
Melbourne set the bar
Had Johnathan Thurston have played, the Storm might not have won, but either way Melbourne are setting the standard for the standard for the competition.
The season’s best game?
The Titans-Sharks match was one of the greatest games of rugby league I heave witnessed in a while. The audacity of the Titans to step in the face of adversity is incredible as Cronulla continue to lead the table by a thread.
Neither team deserved to lose this match and after 90 minutes both stood equal with each other. A meeting between these two in finals football would be quite the sight.
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
Shaun Johnson is one of the best players on the planet. Would he be playing better if he were in a 'better' side? If you consider the logic, it really is a silly question. Whether it is intentional or not, there seems to be a tendency to try and explain away the successes, talents and achievements of players who don't represent Australia. 'Yeah but Sean O'Loughlinonly plays in Super League', 'Johnson would have lost to Thurston if he had played', 'New Zealand won because they played a B-grade Kangaroos' and so on and so on. It is extraordinarily disrespectful of those players and irks me no end. Yes, I have meltdowns too.
Pilferer
Guest
Yep spot on sleimen, I can only assume by josh's reasoning that jt was an enigma when he was 25 and playing in an average Cowboys team.
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
I don't agree with that line of thinking. Cameron Smith is probably the best player in all of rugby league at the moment. Shouldn't he win it every year? What about Thurston? Shouldn't he be winning it every year? Hell, if Wally Lewis was still playing he should be winning it. Right? Had someone been playing, if they had turned up... those arguments go nowhere. After all, if Glebe were still playing they would be....
Pilferer
Guest
Go to nrl.com and enter jt ,cronk, and johnson in head to head player stats . You will be surprised especially given he is playing with a dodgy quad. Sick of people blaming Johnson when the Warriors play crap. Put him in the storm sharks bulldogs raiders this season he would go close to the daly m.
Josh
Roar Rookie
Pretty sure that was the year when NZ won the four nations. He had a blinder in that tournament, but had JT or Hayne played for Australia theres a high chance either of them walk away with it.
Josh
Roar Rookie
As i said in the article above, the issues isn;t so much Johnson as it is the club. He's a talented player, not denying it. But you throw him in with some descent players (and a descent coach) and them numbers could be so much more. His potential is wasted at the Warriors.
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
Shaun Johnson won the Golden Boot. He only won it because he didn't deserve it. Everyone knows that.
J
Guest
Shaun Johnson is #1 for line break assists and #5 for try assists. I think he's doing fine.
The Barry
Roar Guru
I agree Stu. Johnson is the leading player on SuperCoach this season. While SuperCoach is far from the be all and all in rating players, what it represents is an objective weighted statistical analysis of a players contribution. You don't get to the top unless you're playing well and playing consistently.
Stu
Guest
Johnson has been very consistent for the warriors this year apart from the first couple rounds coming off a broken ankle. He is almost always the best on field during warriors wins but is overly criticised during losses for not having scored a 70m solo try. His stats this year will be up with thurstons for try assists, forced dropouts, line break assists and all of this while still nursing a quad injury.