A few years back, and living a far more financially loose lifestyle before the kids came along, I loved a flutter on the pokies.
Evil little things they are, I became memorised by the bells and whistles, like a dumb kangaroo in the headlights. I lost money.
For the uninitiated, you whack a button, the reels spin and you either win a few cents or whack again. If lucky enough to get a win, the option exists to double the amount.
By choosing correctly between black and red the win is doubled and for those a little more daring the choice of correct suit multiplies the win by four.
Make sure you have a member of the Wests Tigers board or recruitment team with you if you ever do this. The reason? When it came to making a choice from the ridiculously named ‘big four’ the Wests Tigers nailed it.
Mitchell Moses’ performance on Thursday night once again showed that the Parramatta half is not the player the Eels, most pundits, or I, thought he was. In Luke Brooks the Tigers held onto the right man, and with Aaron Woods and James Tedesco taking flak elsewhere, they might just have played the best strategic gamble of the decade.
Luke Brooks of the Tigers (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
Still incapable of man-handling a game and taking control, Moses’ positive influence was negligible with his kicking game exposed again as, at best, inconsistent.
Talk of Moses wearing a sky blue jersey has been premature to say the least, and the reality of Parramatta’s poor season and listless position on the ladder is reflective of the absence of true match winners and game-breakers in their squad.
The Eels will now have their eyes more toward 2019 than the current season, giving them the chance to unearth some future talent and develop it with match experience over the second half of the season.
The Broncos did enough and that is the best you could say about their effort, with a run of early penalties and a sin bin helping to set up their lead. All were deserved, yet after the two early tries they could manage only one more in a game where blocks of penalties swung momentum either way.
The club will be happy with the ceremonial significance of the 18-10 win in Wayne Bennett’s 800th, yet they still sit just outside the top eight with a lot of improvement required if they are to be a serious challenger in spring.
It hit me like a wet newspaper on Friday night. The Raiders are nowhere to be seen in 2018. I began writing this just after half-time when the scores were level at 14 and a Jarod Croker penalty restored parity.
It didn’t really matter what happened after that. I’d seen enough and the lean mean green machine haven’t done anywhere near enough to impress me this season.
I travelled to the nation’s capital in Round 2 to visit relatives and catch the clash with the Knights, who surprisingly have had a more impressive season that the Raiders thus far.
That night the Raiders let one slip. I was less than impressed yet remained aware that there was a long way to go before we came to the guts of the season.
Raiders fullback Jack Wighton. (AAP Image/Mick Tsikas)
Since that time the Raiders have managed five wins. Their victim list reads as such: Bulldogs, Eels, Cowboys, Titans and Sea Eagles. I rest my case.
The Sea Eagles were good – very good – at times, and despite the sin-binning of Trent Hodkinson, they managed to hold their shape throughout the second period.
So tense was the atmosphere and important the points that Trent Barrett’s hair moved. I’m sure of it.
The climax saw an Aidan Sezer field goal sink the Sea Eagles ship, and despite tipping Canberra, I felt the better team may have come away empty.
The two points creep the Raiders a little closer to the top eight, yet they are still so far away in reality. A win against the Eagles at this stage of the season does little to convince me they will be anything but annoying to the real contenders in the coming months.
In the late Friday night game Melbourne travelled to North Queensland seeking a consolidating victory while the home side played for respect.
A late field goal to Cameron Munster appeared to have sealed the deal for the Storm before the home side launched one final assault, only to be denied a match-winning Michael Morgan try by the pesky man in the box.
It wasn’t a clash to write to grandma about and it leaves the Cowboys viewing the serious competitors from afar.
The Storm need to find some consistency and not be hoodwinked into believing that what they produced to beat the Cowboys will be anywhere near enough to threaten the teams that are setting the standard this season.
Peter Phelps
Guest
The Green Machine is fine, machines do mis-fire, stall and run out of fuel but they are still machines. Take your point though.
Peter Phelps
Guest
I doubt that there will be any complacency in the Storm camp. They know how badly they are playing which is why Friday was a dour no frills low risk game. I don't know what is driving it but something sure needs to get fixed soon if we are to have any chance of going back to back. Maybe we need a positive Bellamy announcement to get the lads back on track ? Talking of Bellamy, did anyone else notice how quite and "down" Bellamy looked on friday night. Smithy seemed to be doing all the team pre match encouragement whilst the coach just stood there looking at the floor. If he has lost the fire then maybe he is better off going.
The Barry
Roar Guru
So you’ve described Woods on a bad day but not every game he plays is like that - far from it. I pointed out a couple of his duds but as an example he was fantastic against the Roosters and the Eels where he was running hard, made metres and got quick play the balls. I’m not remotely suggesting pick him for Origin - even though he was a starting player for the world champions six months ago.
Forty Twenty
Guest
The refs continue to ignore the rules regarding the scrums like feeding the ball the middle of the scrum for a start. The drop out is often taken over the line and penalty kicks for line are rarely taken on the mark ( possibly never ) , Markers often harass the player playing the ball and the person playing the ball often harasses the marker. All these are ignored and help the game flow. The only ones here that I would enforce are in the play the ball area. If they enforce the scrum rules I'll find something else to do. It is a myth that the refs enforce all the rules. They already pick and chose.
Emcie
Roar Guru
As Elvis said below, Brisbane will leap frog at least one team next week thanks to a bye and other teams draw. I'm not sure exact ladder position is a great guide to how teams are going at this stage of the competition, and points differentials in particular only really have any meaning once the regular season is complete (and even that can be argued with the current draw). It just seems that the there's a narative around the Broncos this season (and previous seasons as well) that paints everything they do in a negative light that is in no way comparably to the narative around other teams despite similar results.
Adam
Roar Guru
I think Norman is a big issue at the Eels. Runs when he should pass, passes when he should kick. But there is clearly too many "personalities" at that club. And too many guys who want to run the show. The Raiders struggle because they play a lot of footy by the seat of their pants, when it's on it's on. When it's not, well they are dreadful
RoryStorm.
Guest
I don't know if we should refer to the Canberra Raiders as the Green Machine. That was a term used to describe the Raiders in their glory years from 1989-1994 when all other teams knew Canberra were a machine and they were to be feared. The Raiders most certainly haven't had that fear factor since those glory years. These days Canberra should only be referred to as the Raiders.
Cugel
Roar Rookie
Pro tip: rugby league existed prior to 2018. What difference in the quality of the play is better this year than say 2012? Most would say, not a noticeable difference. What is noticeable is the 18 penalties per game (highest since 1984) as opposed to 11. Seven more stoppages per game, and a crap ton more exciting penalty goal attempts. Each of which eats a couple of minutes out of the game. Plus all the waiting around for scrum and drop out shot clocks to run down. The future of the game looks bright.
sham
Guest
Really? So what rules do you ignore and what sides do you favour when you ignore infringe ments to let the game 'flow'? When do the referees ignore the rules and when do they enforce them? Maybe at a Broncos home game a referee will penalise the away team more but let the Broncs get away with more to let the game 'flow'. It's illogical crazy stuff.
Stuart Thomas
Expert
Temp six and if the Chooks and the Tigers do get up, they will be just outside again. That seems likely, not definite, yet likely.
Stuart Thomas
Expert
Fair call Emcie, they sneak in after that one. I saw the Tigers and Roosters notching wins and just nudging them out by the end of the weekend. We'll see, either way, it is tight in the middle. Can't see the Dogs finding points against the Tigers tomorrow and surely the Roosters will get the cash against the Titans?
shirtpants
Roar Guru
The Raiders were only in it because dragons switched off for two of the softest trys they'll let in all year. They've got potential but surely Stuart should be getting more out of them
kk
Guest
If every law in the land was applied, the country would grind to a standstill. Greenberg is now dictating by fiat and an obsession with the Rule Book. The Rule Book needs revision to allow Rugby League to be played and enjoyed to the max. More footy, less whistle.
elvis
Guest
Brisbane just outside the top eight? They are 6th at the moment, with the bye next weekend. At least two of Souths, Easts, West and Cronulla will lose next weekend as they play each other, and one or more of them might lose this weekend. They will be just outside the top 4 come origin and with losing fewer players this year to Qld and having a few rep forwards coming back from injury, they aren't doing as badly as people think.
Albo
Guest
Yep k.k. ! Not sure what is going on out there, but the quality of play has been dreary generally in most games this season. Errors galore along with the refs penalty clamp down is becoming the norm it seems. Is it because of the increased pressure on players ? The loss or fading of some experienced leaders ? Or just the boring interchange rule ?
Paul
Roar Guru
If I'm a Qld supporter, I'd be dead worried heading into the first SOO after the Storm/Cowboys game and Brisbanes effort against the side coming last. The bulk of the Qld side will come from these Clubs and they showed little in attack while the ball handling at times was what you might see in an under 10s game. Forget about what team Freddy's going to pick and try and find 17 blokes to wear the Maroon who are playing better football than these sides showed.
Emcie
Roar Guru
Um, broncos are in the 8 at the moment. Sure you can argue that they might not still be there come Sunday night but even then they'll still be tied with the storm for competition points. The Eels butchered a lot of chances in the opposition 20 but they weren't exactly woeful over the rest of the field. Brisbane were also featuring a number of rookies thanks to injury and even had one edge featuring 2 wingers. I'm not saying Brisbane couldn't have scored more points, but I'm not sure the idea that they could've put a cricket score on the Eels is realistic
kk
Guest
Hi Albo, E 59 and P 54 for the 3 so far is like being a passenger on an all stations from Central to Newcastle.
Jeffrey Lebowski
Guest
TB Tedesco hasn’t been bad at all. But he hasn’t been much of a threat. You would think he would have been the decisive factor in a couple of wins but Mitchell and Ferguson have had more impact. I’d pick TT in a heart beat over Teddy. Tom is the complete package and able to influence tight games more regularly. If the blues go on and flog the maroons Teddy will get the scoreboard ticking over faster. However origin is normally tighter and in this environment Tom’s going to outplay Teddy. Concerning Aaron Woods I disagree with you. Qld will love Woods being included. His runs with little impact and takes nothing out of the defence. He might make the metres but that’s not what counts. His runs don’t lay an attacking platform they only make ground. The following play off a Woods run is met with a solid and set D line. His meanandering style allows the defence to make long tackles which is the most important stat and it’s not calculated. He lacks aggression, a hard running style and even the worst defenders aren’t worried when he hits it up. He must be the only test prop in history to have never cleanly hit a defender and hurt them.
Albo
Guest
Three awful quality matches to hit off the round 12 with errors the main feature of the play in all games.. Broncos once again just scrambled over the line against a clueless Eels. Manly's lack of leadership throws away the good works done by Turbo & Jurbo to hand the Raiders a rare win. In complete contrast, the Storm, thanks only to Smith's leadership and Munster's skills , did just enough to hang onto a win over the clueless Cowboys. Storm desperate for a halfback, and Cowboys desperate for the cricket season ( JT - 14 Supercoach points, Hess 5 runs, Taumololo 13 runs for 126 metres just beating Winterstien & Feldt ??)