After a wonderful week off for international footy, the NRL returned for Round 15 over the weekend. It kicked off with an eye gouge, before some actual, decent rugby league broke out, including another cracker between the NRL’s top two in Adelaide. Here are my talking points from the weekend that was.

It’s time for the NRL to get serious on eye gouging
It really goes without saying, but eye-gouging is unbelievably dangerous. It’s an act which, let’s be honest, isn’t necessary and has the power to send a player blind.

It’s not just the impacts on an NRL career, but the rest of a player’s life the NRL has to think about when they talk eye gouging, and right now, they have a clear chance to put the deterrent in place so that no other player will carry out such a dumb act going forward.

The rugby league world was left shocked on Thursday evening when George Burgess tried to take the fast passage into Robbie Farah’s brain with one of the most brazen acts you’ll see on a footy field.

Was it John Hopoate taking Keith Galloway’s head off levels of bad? No, probably not.

But was it worthy of a send off, followed by a long stint on the sidelines? Absolutely.

And I don’t often lock myself to an opinion and not listen to others. I’m always happy to have a chat with Roarers and let them try to change my opinion on matters, but I won’t be on this one.

You can’t intentionally try to insert your finger into another player’s eye and get away with it. It’s just not on.

Now, the NRL have already missed one chance to make a statement about the matter. George Burgess should have been sent off on the spot. It was an act which deemed the punishment.

Instead, the Tigers got no advantage other than a penalty in front of the posts, although the fact Wayne Bennett replaced Burgess after 17 minutes and never let him back on the field probably tells you a thing or two.

The second chance for the NRL to make a statement about this kind of behaviour is at the judiciary.

The matter has been referred straight there, instead of attracting a charge, and it’s time they lay the foot down. Given this is the second such instance of Burgess eye gouging in 12 months (Test footy last year being the first), he needs to go on a very long holiday.

Possibly the rest of the season. I’m not going to suggest an exact number, but anything less than eight weeks would be far too lenient.

As it stands, it might be the end of Burgess at Souths and the NRL, but even so, he probably shouldn’t return this season.

That’s how dumb it was.

Was that a grand final preview?
I know there are times when I’ve written words to the effect that this competition is a two-horse race all the way to September, however, that’s not the point I’m making here.

There are other teams in the race. Of course there are. South Sydney, Cronulla, heck even the Raiders, Knights and Manly are all making the case that if they make the finals, they could find a way to string three or four games together and finding themselves with the Provan-Summons trophy aloft.

It’s just that, in terms of consistency, it’s the Storm first, the Roosters second, then some daylight, then the rest.

The game in Adelaide on Friday evening was a belter. A real, genuine top of the table match, and the second time the two sides have thrown one together this season.

While Souths are falling apart, Cronulla are struggling to beat the Bulldogs and other teams don’t hold a candle, the Storm’s only real concern is whether they are peaking too early, and the Roosters whether they are going to keep getting injured.

Melbourne do have genuine worries about where their peak is. After a pretty sub-standard start to the season, they have really hit their stride and won six of their last seven by a combined margin of 131 points.

They are six points ahead at the top of the competition and already look to have the minor premiership wrapped up.

The Roosters, on the other hand, might be equal with Souths, but have had injuries to deal with, and the way they have played has been solid, although, unlike last season, they have been playing good footy all the way through, and so like the Storm, the question must be asked as to whether they have another gear to go to.

Going into back-to-back grand finals is a bloody hard task. The toughest thing there is to do in rugby league, but it’s hard to see who is stopping these two sides at the moment.

It can be done, but it’s going to take one almighty effort.

Rhyse Martin will be a huge loss to the NRL
So you’re telling me that no club in the NRL wanted Rhyse Martin?

I find that unbelievably hard to believe. This man is one of the most talented young forwards we currently have in the system, and shows it just about every time he walks onto a footy field, and yet, for those who haven’t heard, he is reportedly being released by the Bulldogs to join Leeds… In, you know, England!

The news is just ridiculous to me. Martin has it all. He runs hard, tackles hard, has a good passing game, can kick, and is a damn good goalkicker as well.

How not only the Bulldogs turned him up, but every other club in the NRL turned him before the June 30 deadline this evening is beyond me.

Martin is one of those players who you can build a club around moving forward, and more importantly, he was exactly what Canterbury needed.

Guys like Martin, Lachlan Lewis, Nick Meaney and Corey Harawira-Naera are people who need to be playing in their best 17 week in and week out as the future of the club.

Instead, Martin, who should have been a future club captain, is now likely to disappear.

And yet, if you look at the way he has been treated by coach Dean Pay this year, then it’s hardly a surprise.

Martin has been in and out of reserve grade, up and down off the bench, and not playing any certain role for the club he burst onto the scene for during 2018.

Whatever the problems were behind the scenes, Pay needed to get them sorted out for the good of the club, and heck, the good of the NRL, but he couldn’t get it done for whatever reason.

Little wonder there are rumours about the future of Pay at Belmore, and on a day they should be celebrating a mighty fine effort against Cronulla, fans will instead be left scratching their heads and asking what next?

Can the Green Machine get their mojo back?
Ricky Stuart didn’t beat around the bush when assessing exactly how bad his team were during the final 50 minutes of their eventual loss to the Eels in Darwin on Saturday night.

And nor should he have. His side needs some sort of rocket to get back to their best.

The Raiders were one of the surprise packets of the opening exchanges in 2019. They played an attractive, hard-nosed style of rugby league on the back of their big forward pack, who were rolling everyone, and really looked in a good spot to push for the top four.

That’s not to say they aren’t there now, but a few worrying signs have crept in for the Green Machine.

It was mainly their energy and commitment in defence on Saturday, although that’s always going to suffer when you make errors and don’t have possession, although, in saying that, the Eels gave them plenty of opportunities to get back into the game.

While injuries have hurt Canberra, they can’t be blamed for the loss against Parramatta, and while they had won three on the trot leading into Saturday, only one of those were what might be considered a top-level performance – against the Tigers.

Again, I don’t want to be critical of the Raiders, because they have been unbelievably good in 2019, but it’s games like Saturday which set them apart from the big guns.

Ah, to be a Warriors fan
How do you do it? It must be close to the most frustrating sporting experience on the planet to follow a club with enough talent to be winning competitions, but the mental toughness of an under 12s side who just want the fulltime siren to sound so they can go to McDonald’s.

I’ve written plenty on the Panthers these last few weeks, and their comeback during the second half in Auckland on Sunday afternoon is just another step on the correct road if they want to make the finals come September.

But the Warriors. Where do you even start?

To break it down to the short and skinny of the situation, it’s going to be another failed campaign. Another campaign where a talented bunch of individuals produce a range of inconsistent performances, playing as a group of individuals rather and a solid team, and crumble to miss the top eight.

Following Sunday, they slump to a record of just five and nine, which leaves them needing a bare minimum of seven victories from their final 12 games, which is something this team looks absolutely incapable of doing.

The worst bit for the Auckland-based side is we have seen it all before. We have seen clean outs of coaching staff and players over the years, but something in between the ears of this club stops them from winning games of footy.

Obviously, the extra travel is a problem, but it really shouldn’t cause that much of an impact in this day and age, and not being able to turn Mt Smart Stadium into a fortress is another major issue for the club.

To give you an idea, they have won just two out of seven at their home ground this year, and while it was a bright start there, it’s laziness in defence and an inability to play 80 minutes which leaves them behind on the scoreboard.

As a neutral fan, you want to see them play in the finals, because they are so unpredictable and bring a really fascinating brand of rugby league to the table.

As an opposition fan, you don’t want them to make the finals because of how dangerous they can be.

But as a Warriors fan, the pain continues. What a tough situation.

How patient will the Titans be with Garth Brennan?
The Titans looked like a team who had lost all hope on Saturday afternoon as the Manly Sea Eagles arrived to Robina and ran up a 30-12 victory.

Now, you can handle losing. You can handle rebuilding if that’s what a club needs to do. You can handle young players making mistakes to an extent.

But as a fan, as a club, and as a playing group, you shouldn’t be able to accept a team who look like they don’t want to play for each other or their coach.

The saying “coach X has lost the dressing room,” never looked more spot on than it did for the Titans on Saturday.

Garth Brennan seems to have lost his side and where they are going in 2019. Obviously, all hope of playing finals footy sailed up the river many weeks ago, but the side now just have four wins from their 15 games, and with so much footy still to pass under the bridge, things are about to get very ugly.

Not many coaches get sacked in their first two seasons, but for a side who had so much promise at the start of the season to now lose seven of their last nine and show no commitment on defence – well, questions must start to be asked.

Brennan was a great coach at NSW Cup level. He was part of the Penrith Panthers development juggernaut at that level.

However, what he has at first grade hasn’t stacked up so far, and he must be running out of chances in a hurry with the Titans board.

No Ponga, no worries as the Knights make big statement
Look, I was going to write about the Broncos and the decision to switch Darius Boyd and Anthony Milford, but I don’t think it’s fair to pass judgement based on one away game and the evidence. In saying that, it will be up for discussion in the next couple of weeks as the Broncos season goes on the line, so don’t fear, we will get there.

But no, this week, it’s more important to chat about the Knights, and their incredible winning streak which must have fans in the Hunter more than just a little bit excited.

While they did lose to the Storm last week, they have now taken seven of their last eight, and while the doors were blown off the wagon against Melbourne, they are right in the hunt for a top-four berth.

Sure, Newcastle had some luck playing against understrength versions of the tri-colours and Bunnies, they still did what they needed to do.

Last night’s game may have been the most important of their season so far. No Kalyn Ponga, a week off following a loss, and playing a desperate Broncos at home.

They absolutely had to win, and win well. And that’s exactly what they did.

Their forwards were outstanding, and there wasn’t a bad player on the park for the men from the Hunter, who can start to dream of their first finals appearance in years.

And after rumours have suggested Mitchell Pearce will be called out in the Blues squad for Games 1 and 2, will we finally see him there tomorrow?

On form, it’s a hard case to ignore.

Matt Dufty sums up the Dragons 2019, but they don’t have a better option at the back
If there was ever a rocks and diamonds player who summed their whole team up, then it’s Dragons fullback Matt Dufty.

On Friday night alone, he made two horrific errors in the first half which put his team under pressure against the Cowboys, before playing an instrumental role in the Dragons comeback at both ends of the park, saving the day on multiple occasions and popping up in attack.

Interestingly, looking at the stastical analysis of Dufty over his career, he plays a lot better in a winning side than a losing one, but that’s no excuse for the errors he made during the first half against the Cowboys, and the errors he has made right throughout his time in the top grade.

There can be no question the Dragons fullback has great speed and good vision, but when he goes from missing simple tackles and dropping easy balls to scoring tries like a thief in the night and stopping a rampaging Jason Taumalolo just as the Cowboys were mounting a late charge, you have to shake your head and wonder why.

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As mentioned though, that is the Dragons all the way around this year.

They just can’t string 80 minutes together. They had to win after the representative round if they wanted to keep their season alive, and there are no doubts it was a better performance, but they still found themselves behind, and still had the same issues.

In saying that, half the team didn’t get to the ground until half an hour before the game thanks to the massive accident in Wollongong which had the crowd looking a New South Wales Cup game for the first half – credit to the Dragons fans who didn’t turn around and go home, with some walking in as late as 70 minutes into the contest.

Maybe it played a role, but when it happens week in and week out, there is more to it, and the Red V must get it right if they want to play finals footy.

Roarers, what did you make of Round 15? Drop a comment below and let us know.

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