My goodness there has been some dreadful football over the last couple of weeks.
Given the point of the season we’re at, I’m not surprised.
I tend to think about the NRL season in three distinct parts: the pre-State of Origin period, the State of Origin period and the post-State of Origin period.
We generally see the best football of the year in the pre-State of Origin period, when almost every team has the opportunity to make the eight and when teams are almost injury free and are fresh from the off-season.
When I look back on those rounds this year, the dominance of the St George Illawarra Dragons and the Manly Sea Eagles’ strong start stand out, as do how Luke Keary looked to be fitting so well into his new home at the Sydney Roosters.
Then State of Origin comes along and wreaks havoc on the season. There are always plenty of injuries, new players being given an opportunity and gripes about how this period favours some teams over others.
The focus during this period always moves away from club football and onto the rivalry between Queensland and New South Wales – so much so that when the series is over everyone suddenly remembers that finals are around the corner and the end of the season is looming.
We’re now at the point where several teams, including the Canterbury Bulldogs, Newcastle Knights, South Sydney Rabbitohs, Gold Coast Titans and Wests Tigers, know there is no chance they can make the finals. Unsurprisingly some of these teams begin to switch off and start thinking about the offseason, so we start to see games where the quality of football is substandard.
But even with that in mind some of the football we’ve seen recently has been atrocious. Interestingly it’s not just been the teams who have been ruled out of finals contention that have been difficult to watch – it’s also been some of the teams that should be making a push for the finals given how congested the middle of the ladder is at the moment – the Dragons, the Sea Eagles (prior to last weekend) and Warriors all come to mind.
The dismal standard of football in some cases has made me think about which team has been most disappointing this year, and there are a couple of contenders.
(Image: AAP Image/Dave Hunt)
Gold Coast Titans
This is a team that made my top eight at the start of the year. Given they just missed out last year, I thought the addition of Jarryd Hayne would only improve the team as would Kane Elgey returning and Ash Taylor’s learnings from last year.
I was wrong.
To be fair, the Titans have had plenty of injuries. This is a team that have had so many injuries that I wonder if it’s beyond the point of coincidence and something to do with their strength and conditioning.
What intrigues me most about this team is that they were the team that everyone described as ‘gritty’ and ‘brave’ earlier in the season. I thought that their sole purpose in the last few weeks of the competition would be to mess up other teams’ runs to the finals, but despite being almost at full strength now, in the last fortnight this team has shown none of the grit and tenacity which held them in such good stead earlier this season.
Hayne looks similar to how he did at the Parramatta Eels: outstanding some weeks, uninterested other weeks.
The effort against the Broncos on the weekend was appalling. To have 54 points scored against you in 57 minutes of football is almost unfathomable. This was the heaviest defeat the Titans have ever endured.
A team with players like Ryan James, Jarrod Wallace, Nathan Peats, Hayne and Ash Taylor should not find themselves so low on the ladder, but here we are.
Canterbury Bulldogs
If I don’t see another Canterbury Bulldogs game this year, I won’t be disappointed.
But I do believe in the old saying ‘a fish rots from his head’, and there has been plenty of rotting at Belmore this year. It started with uncertainty around the coaching future of Des Hasler – and continued uncertainty despite the Bulldogs re-signing him earlier this year – the playing future of Josh Reynolds was played out in the media and then the news of Raelene Castle’s resignation effective at the end of the year came among rumblings of a divided board.
Some of this has surely impacted the team, which looks lost in attack each week. It says a lot when your best fifth-tackle option is David Klemmer kicking across the field to Marcelo Montoya.
Kieran Foran has his work cut out for him next year, and after what I’ve seen from him at the Warriors this year, I query whether he is up to the challenge.
(Image: AAP Image/Paul Miller)
Canberra Raiders and Penrith Panthers
For the moment these teams get only honourable mentions that depend on whether they make the finals.
Despite being premiership favourites at the start of the year, Penrith waited until the back third of the competition before managing to beat a team in the top eight. They have now won five straight and are still very much in the mix for the finals – unless the Raiders take their spot – but to do that the Raiders must win at least three of their four final games if results go their way, or all four if other matches don’t fall for them.
If both these teams miss the eight, you can certainly put them down as major disappointments in 2017.
New Zealand Warriors
This is the team that inspired me to write this article. At the start of the year I said that the NRL should ‘fold’ the Warriors if they did not make the finals this year.
Any team with talent like Bodene Thompson, Simon Mannering, Shaun Johnson, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and Issac Luke should be aiming to finish the season comfortably within the top eight.
But, true to form, the Warriors have disappointed, and when Shaun Johnson was ruled out for the rest of the season five weeks ago, I wondered whether they would win another game. Their effort against the Knights on the weekend suggests that they will not, because they do not have the mental toughness to compete in the NRL as a top-performing team.
I’m out of excuses for the Warriors. They have had several different coaches, none of which have been able to produce results. It’s perhaps time for the players to start taking some responsibility and recognise the impact that their poor football is having on rugby league in New Zealand.
So the New Zealand Warriors win my award for most disappointing team this season. Who wins yours?
Johnno2
Guest
Hi Mary, To my mind the 2 most disappointing teams have been the Referees and the Judiciary The refereeing has been probably the worst I have witnessed in the modern league era The judgement from the prosecutors seem to be politically influenced in some cases in league terms and follow in the footsteps of the main stream social life except for the the severity of fines In my opinion the referees should be accountable and legitimate complaints by the prime coach per team not be penalised for a pertinent criticism The perpetrators of serious infringements should serve their penalty imposed by the judiciary after the injured player returned fit to play If the disabled player becomes unfit to partake then so be it for the instigator I agree the WARRIORS were sad this year , not a good look for the World Cup
TigerMike
Guest
Here is the official team performance rankings since... the Wests Tigers formed ok 2000 Based on 1 Premierships 2 minus Wooden spoons .. 1st Manly 1st x 3 2nd Brisbane x 2 3rd Tigers x1 equal w Easts Saint George 6th Cronulla x0 equal w North Q Melbourne Warriors Raiders 11th Parramatta x -1 equal s Gold Coast Canterbury Bankstown Penrith 15th Souths x -2 equal w Newcastle So you who want to remove teams you got 11 to flick, you
Chris Love
Roar Guru
For me it's Canberra. Not that I'm complaining. But fair crack, have a look at that roster. That Canberra team on paper should be sitting in second position and pushing Melbourne closely for the minor premiership. Look at that backline. The consistently best player in it all year has been a rookie winger. That backline behind that monster forward pack should be putting 50 on some teams. Something just isn't right out there in Canberra. While a lot of talk has been on des Hasler this year, I bet he would swap squads with Sticky in a heart beat. With a very inconsistent (or even?) top tier of teams (baring Melbourne) this year Canberra just had to produce last season's late form and they'd be seeing a home semi in a few weeks. Not only have they not improved they've declined rapidly with the same if not better roster.
BTop
Guest
Fox,Merhtens, Carter, Barrett.
Sylvester
Guest
Right, so why do they need to be white Australians to succeed? Paul Kent's point was that Australian age-group rugby league is tougher than in NZ - and he's right. It's nothing to do with race. The key might be to get more school-aged Kiwis playing in Australia, with a view of the Warriors bringing them back to Auckland when they're ready to play U20s or NSW Cup.
TigerMike
Guest
Mary Mary thank you once more for raising another current and contentious issue, for which there doesn't seem to be one simple solution. Part of these rapid rates of change in League can be attributed to the faster pace of life in general, as you put re Moses, if their hearts not in it, then ... go west.. young man. Likewise re the Tigers, Great point that they've had a long period of various issues and conflicts, one of the largest of which has been resolved, that the new coach wouldn't sign on unless he had the last word on recruitment, so cheers to that breakthrough. Despite the inconsistent results all year, it will be harder waiting for the 2018 kick-off!
Larry1950
Guest
Clearly the bulldogs have been unwatchable for the majority of the season, so they're on top by a margin. Warriors have served up their usual fare, early promise/fall in a hole/surge during the origin period(why do they always get the broncos then?)/fall away when the whips are cracking. Raiders probably overachieved last season so they're not as disappointing as first thought. Hot & cold halves combination, didn't use the polar temperatures as expected this year plus they started to believe Ricky's 'biased ref' mantra & used that as an excuse. Didn't hear him say the sharks got bad calls last round, his team should have had consecutive send offs but didn't. Penrith are a real chance of challenging the dogs for most disappointing if they miss the eight. Jury is out there.
Wascally Wabbit
Guest
The Roar team of " EXPERT " tipsters. Very disappointing........?
bearfax
Guest
Mary the problems with the game at the moment are legion. Lets start with the Judiciary..The problem isnt purely the fault of those one the Judiciary Board, but also the limitations of penalties that are allowing seriously dangerous play to go on with little more than a rap on the knuckles. The Ofahengaue spear tackle is an example. Have the League not learned anything from the McKinnon episode. Such tackles are beyond dangerous and have to be stamped out of the game. Yet he gets a 3 week penalty for what could have been a serious career ending incident and quadriplegia. There are of course many others, even this year, yet the League has set a level of penalty that explains why parents dont want their children playing the game. Add to that the inconsistency of penalties, even a blind eye to many incidents. The League has to get it into its head that the majority of supporters have a better view of incidents on TV than the refs. They have video replays for side line refs, but it seems too often incidents are ignored or down graded. Oh for the days of Cowan's judiciary. The League, especially in NSW are ignoring the country centres where many of the players originate. Some Rugby League Groups and many teams have disappeared. Meanwhile AFL makes ongoing incursions into what were Rugby league strongholds. A mate from Griffith has pointed out that league is being replaced by Aussie Rules because of lack of interest from the Admin. The way its going League could be the second football code in NSW in a decade or two. Why are all teams not forced to play at least 2 home ground games a year in country or other growing locations. Some teams do it but many dont. The juniors issue remains Palaeolithic in how it is run. While Aussie Rules pays for kids equipment and registrations and shows significant interest in the kids, Rugby League has kids paying for all equipment and registrations. There is also, because of past socio-economic divisions, a serious inequity in areas 'claimed' by clubs as their territory. Little wonder that teams like Sydney City and Manly grab juniors from elsewhere. Meanwhile Brisbane has claims on a 23 million population city and outskirts, and then gripe about players being taken from 'their nursery'. No attempt has been made to redress this for the equity of the game. Perth and Brisbane have had teams ready to step into the comp for years, yet the League dithers about year by year crying poor and that it cant be afforded. Rubbish! Both have extensive corporate support, grounds, structures etc yet year by year we hear excuses. One is the TV money and the cap. What is not understood obviously is that adding two clubs in areas where League could grow dramatically, encourages is a bigger TV audience, crowd figures, so when the next agreement comes through you have a bigger claim on TV revenue. Hold the cap back for a year or two and add the teams and in the long run the finances will be enhanced. Then look at other potential admissions eg Central Coast NSW, second NZ even PNG. I've always believed that you grow or you die. League was actually beginning to make ground on AFL before 1998. The SuperLeague war destroyed that progress. Now we have had a succession of reactive, or 'do nothing' administrators rather than proactive people who see the game in a decade and how we can again compete effectively with AFL. At the moment we have a top heavy game, fragmenting at the foundation, and failing to appeal to supporters, parents of players, corporate bodies in a manner that is seeking to show its positive attributes rather than look for excuses for problems they have caused themselves. Oh I could go on and on about it Mary. I remember when League was The Game between the 60s and 90s. But we've been dropping the ball since then
matth
Guest
Absolutely, French is to Wynnum Manly what Hughes is to the Bulldogs.
Mary Konstantopoulos
Expert
Oops! Good pick up - thanks for picking it up. Much appreciated.
Mary Konstantopoulos
Expert
Ben, I think the reason I didn't include them in my article is because I didn't see them making the 8 this year and where they have fallen is where I predicted. They've got a couple more weeks to show us something.... the best part about the Bunnies this year has definitely been Angus Crichton!
Mary Konstantopoulos
Expert
Hi TigerMike! So sorry it took me so long to get to this one. I think some sort of a standard would be helpful, but I guess the issue always comes down to players being human. Let's take Mitchell Moses for example. It looked to me like he signed with the Eels earlier in the season and wanted to go play with them immediately. It looked to me like he made it very clear that that was what he wanted to do and kept persisting even when he was told no. Could they have dumped him to reserve grade instead? I know some coaches see that as a waste of money. In the end if a player doesn't want to play at a club, it's very hard to make him do so. I hate this whole space - contracts are now in a place where they aren't really worth the paper they are written on. And it's funny, fans say there's no loyalty - yet how many people now want to punt Des, despite him having just signed a new deal.
Mary Konstantopoulos
Expert
You're right Baz, not sure how I keep getting that jumbled up. Even more reason why they should have been better this year.
Mary Konstantopoulos
Expert
You and I must have character in spades then! :P
Mary Konstantopoulos
Expert
Completely agree!! I have been so impressed at how he has bounced back, particularly after that game against the Bulldogs which would have been very traumatic for him. I'm really proud of the Knights this year and look forward to them improving even more next year.
Mary Konstantopoulos
Expert
I know that must have been hard to write... thanks for sharing Baz.
The Brown
Guest
The channel 9 commentary team...
zac
Guest
good article steve its about time someone wrote something like this. you seem to know a lot about footy you should write more often
Steve Wilson
Guest
Its not ridiculous, its on point. After going to australian based school carnivals for over 20 years, you get to know what your watching. Also after attending maybe over 2000 training sessions for harold matts, sg ball over the same period of time, you form your own opinions about trends in the game, this includes coaching trends, training methods, talent identification, cultural differences and attitudes,body shapes/ are they comparable to rule changes etc/ rule changes that affect junior development etc.......... i know one particular NRL club ...... i spoke with the junior development manager at that club only 2 months ago, he told me that particular club is now focusing on bringing juniors in from country area's and developing them from the age of 14, as opposed to buying kids from NZ..... his comment to me was " in the long run, its cheaper, its less hassle, they want it more the country kids". There are some great polynesian juniors in the game, mainly in the canterbury bankstown, parramatta, and penrith junior areas.And man for man, they are more talented than the caucasion kids. But You see one of NZ's own,graham lowe expressed his concerns about the bro culture,and he was shouted down, many years previous john monie had the same concerns etc........ not here to offend or insult anybody, just my opinion on what i see and what others in the game are feeling at a junior elite level. And i wasn't talking about the established first graders who are at the end of there careers who go to the warriors, i was talking about getting a core group together of elite caucasion or polynesian kids who have had there junior football here in australia, to form the nucleus of hard working tough kids, so they change there culture from the ground up, so it becomes no longer an easy walk into thererep and nrl teams because they are big, and can throw the ball around, a massive change is needed for them to establish a hard edge from a young age, just because your big shoudn't be good enough any more for the warriors.