Manly have missed a golden opportunity to stay at least remotely connected to the top eight with an uninspiring loss to the Cowboys at Lottoland.
Thursday night matches can sometimes have something of a lacklustre feel, particularly when the frigid weather sets in. Any sadists hoping for that scenario to play out would not have been disappointed on Thursday night.
With a host of Origin players in camp as well as the unpredictability of the draw that saw two teams in the bottom four do battle, Thursday night become justifiably forgettable.
At season’s end, the North Queensland Cowboys might be the only people that remember the night at all, as two understrength teams nervously and uninspiringly poked and prodded in search of a pair of precious premiership points.
Thankfully, two men salvaged the night and had something special to share. Jason Taumalolo decided to carry the ball 25 times and run for 268 metres.
Sounds fairly normal when said so simply yet it was an astonishing performance.
The best forward in the game seemed to sense that those around him were becoming a little sceptical and he took the Lilliputians in the palm of his enormous Gulliver-like hand and carried them to victory.
He was ably assisted by a cheeky young fella in headgear, returning from injury after a start to the season that saw many question whether his use-by-date had perhaps arrived.
It wasn’t vintage Johnathan Thurston, but he was bloody good. With far more responsibility falling to him with Michael Morgan unavailable, JT’s passing game posed questions to the defence and his precision kicking late in the count came up trumps on numerous occasions.
The Cowboys’ JT. (AAP Image/Dean Lewins)
The Cowboys were far from brilliant yet the Eagles seemed far from interested and lacked attacking options without the brothers Trbojevic.
Despite the Eagles pulling back an eight point half time deficit and getting within four after 58 minutes, the Cowboys kicked away comfortably in the last half-hour of the match to set up a comfortable fourteen point win.
If the professional display of the Cowboys can be replicated in coming weeks they should climb a few rungs on the ladder and will have sneaky hopes of squeezing into the eight come seasons end.
If they do, the cellar will take on an incredible shape with Manly, Canterbury and Parramatta looking a likely bottom three at this stage of the year. I don’t think we are in the 80s anymore Toto!
Friday night saw a juicy clash between the Bunnies and the Sharks at ANZ. A match I hoped to attend, but didn’t.
Despite best intentions, the frightful weather saw me stay indoors and evaluate the game from home rather that the live atmosphere of the ground.
At times, I felt I had made the right decision after some uninspiring football in the first forty minutes.
Cronulla offered little in the first half after kicking an early penalty goal and the Bunnies responded with two of their own and a try to Thomas Burgess that saw them take an eight point lead into the break.
Souths looked far more likely and the Sharks, despite their efforts and diligence, failed to impose a serious threat to the Bunnies line. In fact, there were times where the Cronulla line-up seemed completely disconnected and pass after pass hit the turf rather than the intended player.
Rabbitohs fans. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
As if to NRL script, the Sharks mounted something of a madcap comeback. It was a resurgence that never really gathered momentum until the late try to Sione Katoa brought them within eight points, after the conversion from Chad Townsend.
The rejuvenation would have had Sharks fans wondering where the attack had been for the first seventy minutes that had seen them rustle up a measly two points.
With both teams surging towards a top-four position after a month of solid football, it was a real statement for the Bunnies. After five wins in succession, the Sharks had rights to feel well and truly involved in the premiership dialogue.
The Bunnies may just have put a serious dent in those aspirations on a cold night at ANZ were the South Sydney Rabbitohs continued their impressive rise in 2018.
Stuart Thomas
Expert
KC, respect? Didn't I applaud the performances of your two stars? And suggest the finals were still on the cards? I believe I called the performance a professional one. Hence the fact that you guys will remember it and Manly want to forget it very quickly. I think that is widely acknowledged. A poor crowd on a cold night with two struggling teams missing some stars can sometimes be a little underwhelming. But the Cows and came and got the job done. Don't ever forget that watching a game as a fan is very different to watching parochially as a neutral observer. Football.
eagleJack
Roar Guru
If Cordner goes down Jake will lead the Blues this series. That’s how highly the hierarchy rate him. And deservedly so.
Big Will TBU
Guest
Jake T looked tired and bereft of ideas against the Raiders last week - I'm hoping he's 200% better than that on Wednesday night. Make him captain of Manly if you like but I doubt that he's been earmarked as a future NSW captain.
3 recalcitrant monkeys
Guest
Great for the game to do this it should be a QRL priority to get a Q cup team in Darwin
Forty Twenty
Guest
I don't know how we can asses the impact of a captain very easily from the Jason Recliner. The Cows and Eels were both rated as title threats this season based on their roster yet aren't ahead of Manly on the table who most had missing the eight and some had as wooden spooners. Add to that one of the worst injury tolls in the comp and I'm not sure why other captains aren't in the spot light in that case as well as DCE. If DCE was at the Raiders no doubt his captaincy would be in the spot light a lot more than Crokers is.
steveng
Roar Rookie
Mate, I'd rather go and see my Rabbits at 1300smiles Stadium two weeks ago (what a beautiful place that was) having beautiful Northern prawns and seafood in that wonderful Northerly weather than at that dreaded ANZ, having a shrivelled up hot dog, pies or anything at that ANZ any day! The SCG is a perfect place for us, its criminal that the SCG has been given to the Swans as that would have been perfect last night for the Bunnies vs the Sharks game, there is no comparison having a game at the ANZ instead of the SCG!
ret
Guest
I thought the Lewis hit on Ponga was much worse than the one on JT. It was a shoulder straight to the head; whereas Thurston copped a heavy push that caused a whiplash effect. Amazing that Lewis avoided even a penalty. Agree with the comments regarding the Bunnies first half performance. The inside ball from Walker to Sutto (that eventually resulted in the first try) was reminiscent of Cliffy/Beaver. “Uninspiring” indeed.
Wascally Wabbit
Guest
Disagree Steveng. Souths fans are spread all over Sydney ( and all over Australia) making Homebush relatively central. A hard slog ? I don't think so. We are only playing 9 home games at ANZ this year -- is it too much to expect fans to travel there 12 times this year ( including semis and GF ) ? 12 times out of 365 days? To use an old expression If someone wants to go, they'll find a way If they don't, they'll find an excuse Stuart wrote above that he didn't go because the weather was " frightful " Seriously Stuart ? It was cool and crisp, perfect for football. Would loved to have seen another 20 000 join us. The game deserved it.
steveng
Roar Rookie
The answer is 'The ANZ Stadium' who the hell would go out there on such a windy and cold night from Redfern, Mascot Botany where I live etc??? Its absolutely crazy that our home ground is that dreaded ANZ at Homebush, its not where we want to be and most of the Bunnies fans don't want the slog to the ANZ. Bring our Bunnies closer to our home turf and then you will get full crowds e.g. kick them Swans off the SCG and put the Bunnies there for our home games, like it use to be in the old days, as Redfern Oval is no more!
steveng
Roar Rookie
I fully agree with you Con. After about 10min in the first half, we played some of the most electrifying footy that we have played in 2018, the Bunnies outplayed and outmuscled the Sharkies and they didn't let them do anything for 75min of that game. It was a pity that in the last 5min the boys just fell away as the score didn't really reflect the total dominance of the Bunnies, which the Bunnies have to work on, as we can't afford to do that against some of the top sides in this comp!
jimmmy
Guest
I will add one more thing . Robbie Farah was very good at DH last night. It is a luxury for the Rabbitohs to have him on stand bye . He may be able to give Cook a break after Origin, A really good deal for Souths.
jimmy
Guest
I agree Con. The Rabbitohs were very, very good in that. The Burgess boys and Sutton were sensational. But really the whole team was. Everyone always on the move.Minimal one out stuff. Always throwing something at the defence. They and Penrith are the teams I am really keen to watch on TV this year. They both play RL the way it was meant to be played.
jimmmy
Guest
I’ll be out there next week 3RM. We have a good record up here. It’s a funny thing up in Darwin, Parra bring the game to town but it is 3 to 1 Cows supporters. I feel a little sorry for the Eels.
The Barry
Roar Guru
Souths pack is brutal. It will be a challenge for anyone to get over them. It would be ideal to draw them after the Denver test! Good to see John Sutton get a new lease of life. It’s probably off the back of the twins rediscovering their 2014 form...a lot of their players look happier playing off the front foot. It will be interesting to see what happens with the Cowboys as the season goes on. The NRL needs to step up with the late shots on playmakers. If a player like JT takes the ball to the line, he’s open season. When he hasn’t, like the Goz and Kaz shots he’s copped in the last two weeks it’s a cowardly cheap shot. I think there needs to be additional penalties. With an early guilty plea, both players only miss a week. Its looking like one of those where a player will need to be hurt bad before they crack down. I thought Lewis’ shot on Ponga was pretty rank as well. It was late, although not as bad as the other two but his shoulder hit Ponga in the jaw and while he didn’t tuck the arm by the side I don’t think he had any intention of tackling Ponga.
KingCowboy
Guest
Stuart show some respect. That win was massive for us. The game was highly enjoyable to all the cows fans I have spoken to. I get the feeling you don't really enjoy League anymore. Might be time to just stick to writing about soccer!
Renegade
Roar Guru
Yeah I’m with Con, that was a quality game. The sharks weren’t allowed to play in the first half, Souths were quite dominant during the opening 40 but I certainly didn’t think the sharks were playing poorly.
Big daddy
Guest
My major concerns are the crowds. 6k on Thursday and ten last night. Everyone keeps telling us south's have the most members. Where were they last night. And people will say it was too cold. There were 27k at the swans who were playing team running last.
Griffo
Guest
I didn't see most of the game but I did see The Thomas Burgess try in the first half. Sutton's role in that was sensational. He's one of those great clubmen.
Stuart Thomas
Expert
Coming at it more from a Cronulla angle. They were awful in that first half. The Bunnies looked okay, probably why you were enjoying it a little more. Great line from Sutton. Not sure if he was intending to be that clever.
3 recalcitrant monkeys
Guest
Was this the first game this year when the game wasn't gone that they took the tap and stayed on the attack in stead of taking the 2 ? Really positive game as they did the above a number of times on top of what was 2 games of close football and blown chances . Te Marie played a good second to Jt ,and Granville and JT 13 played 80. Jensen ended with a second week of impressive numbers . Tuala and Dunn showed they have enough "time" to play NRL .So lots of positives too take to Darwin.