Monday Bunker: Anthony Seibold leading race for Dally M coach of the year award
SOUTH Sydney’s resurgence puts Anthony Seibold at the front of the queue for coach of the year honours and more — our team of rugby league writers analyse the NRL’s talking points.
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WITH Round 14 of the competition now done and dusted, our team of rugby league writers analyse the NRL’s talking points in the Monday Bunker.
TIME RUNNING OUT FOR RAIDERS TO RIGHT WRONGS
CANBERRA 22 PENRITH 23: Cleary breaks Raiders hearts in dying stages
The Canberra Raiders have to take ownership of the position they are in — and only then will their luck turn.
Because it is not bad luck they have now lost five games this year when they have been leading late.
It’s poor game management at crucial times that continues to let them down.
You give them those 10 competition points and they’d be on top of the ladder.
Instead they are sitting in 10th spot — and time is fast running out.
Ricky Stuart was filthy following Friday night’s 23-22 loss to Penrith when it was put to him this was another game that the Raiders threw away.
“What? No we didn’t throw it away,” Stuart fumed.
“What do you mean by throwing it away. Christ. We shouldn’t have even been in the game with the statistics (that saw the Riders fight back from being on the wrong side of an 85-15 per cent possession split early in the match). Have a look at the stats.”
Well, it’s true, the stats were against the Raiders — but let’s not ignore the reality, a lot of it was their own doing.
Looking at the stats, the Raiders finished with 14 errors to the Panthers’ six, and they lost the penalty count nine to six.
Granted, they copped some tough calls, but so did the Panthers.
Also factoring in injuries to Joey Leilua and Jordan Rapana, as well the absence of Josh Hodgson, Junior Paulo and Joey Tapine, the fact is the Raiders still led the team leading the comp 20-10 heading into the final 15 minutes.
To me, this suggests the Raiders can still be a force in the charge to the finals, especially when Hodgson returns from injury.
But not if they don’t change their ways, and stop throwing away games they should be winning.
— Paul Crawley
SUPER SEIBOLD SPARKS SOUTH SYDNEY SURGE
GOLD COAST 16 SOUTH SYDNEY 18: Refs revert to old habits as Titans fall
Rabbitohs coach Anthony Seibold could win an NRL premiership in his first season and should be favourite to be crowned Dally M coach of the year.
Seibold has done a remarkable job to guide South Sydney to the top four halfway through the season.
He inherited a squad from Michael Maguire and has transformed them into the in-form team in the NRL, along with Penrith.
The Rabbitohs racked up their sixth straight win with a gritty 18-16 victory against the Titans at Cbus Super Stadium last Friday night.
It wasn’t pretty and they got a fair bit of help from the referees, but the Rabbitohs were missing all their Origin stars.
Greg Inglis, Dane Gagai, Damien Cook and Angus Crichton wanted to play but Seibold made the decision to rest them. And the Rabbitohs still won.
The Rabbitohs were disappointments for three seasons after claiming a breakthrough premiership under Maguire in 2014.
Their squad has barely changed since last year but Seibold has transformed the Burgess brothers into world beaters and helped Inglis rediscover his best form.
Cook is now an Origin hooker and Seibold has turned the Rabbitohs into a serious title threat.
Seibold could follow Roosters mentor Trent Robinson in winning an NRL premiership in his first season as head coach.
The Dally M honours should be Seibold’s considering other contenders Anthony Griffin (Penrith) and Paul McGregor (Dragons) have been in their jobs for a number of years.
— Travis Meyn
SORRY SEA EAGLES LOCKED IN WOODEN SPOON BATTLE
MANLY 14 NZ WARRIORS 34: Sizzling SJ proves there’s no place like home
MANLY’S brief mid-season revival is dead and buried, and the wooden spoon is once again firmly in play.
The Sea Eagles produced their worst showing since April as they were lapped by a resurgent Warriors outfit, who marched downfield with alarming ease and pieced together some of the best length-of-the-field tries you’ll see this season.
Worse was to come: hooker Api Koroisau left the match with a suspected broken foot, and if that wasn’t bad enough a glance at the NRL draw would be enough to put Trent Barrett in a bad mood.
Their next six games include two showdowns with first-placed Penrith, one against second-placed St George Illawarra and a trio of games against top eight heavyweights Melbourne, the Roosters and Cronulla.
It has the potential to get ugly for Barrett and his battling squad, who fell into a heap on the back of Korisau’s injury — which came after the scheming hooker had opened the scoring for Manly and given a brief glimpse of hope.
The knives have started to come out for captain and chief playmaker Daly Cherry-Evans, whose combination with Trent Hodkinson produced very little of note in Christchurch.
He has 10 weeks to salvage something from what is increasingly looking like being a dismal season for the maroon and whites.
The win cements the Warriors’ place in the top four, and was a revival of the sort of form which had them among the early season front-runners.
— Joe Barton
KNIGHTS FIGHTING, BUT INJURIES REACHING CRISIS POINT
NEWCASTLE 16 SYD ROOSTERS 18: Customary Ponga magic can’t save Knights
Newcastle have certainly proved they’re a much different side to seasons gone by, but injuries are cruelling their chance of giving 2018 a red-hot go.
With star halfback Mitchell Pearce still recuperating from a pec injury the Knights have dropped games this season that may well have gone a different way had he been there and they now have more players in the casualty ward.
Jamie Buhrer, though primarily used off the bench this season, is an experienced head the Knights could have used as they wait for Pearce to return. And with big prop Daniel Saifiti out for up to six weeks with a foot injury just as he was hitting great form, things are starting to hit crisis point in the Hunter.
Jacob Saifiti is out with a broken shoulder, Nathan Ross remains under a cloud with a hamstring issue and Tautau Moga (ACL) won’t be seen this year.
Despite it all, they pushed the Roosters right to the siren on Saturday night and went down by just two points. Considering the Bondi club had won nine of the past 10 and put at least 24 points on them in each of those wins, it shows the vast improvement the Knights have made.
It’s hope for them for next season if their recruitment drive continues as they say it will, while the Roosters will be pleased to have held on with Origin players backing up and to stay firm in the top eight ahead of their blockbuster with Penrith next week.
— Fiona Bollen
HAYNE PLANE RELAUNCHES IN TOP END
PARRAMATTA 20 NTH QLD 14: Mal’s massive JT call after Cows’ Darwin disaster
There are signs of life in Jarryd Hayne.
It’s been a long time since we’ve seen the plane airborne, but Darwin provided the unlikely launching pad for an overdue resurgence.
Yes there was a touch of class in Hayne’s pair of tries in Parramatta’s upset win over the Cowboys, however what appeals most is the nature of his brace.
It was Hayne’s attitude and intent to get involved that laid the platform for his impressive performance.
His first try came from a quick tap against a lazy defensive line, while he secured his second four-pointer after latching on to a cross field kick.
While he’s only played five games this year, Hayne had a season high 15 runs on Saturday night.
The former Dally M Medal winner showed a willingness to get involved that we haven’t seen since his return to the NRL following a stint in the NFL.
Hayne gained some additional size during his time in the US which naturally reduced his speed around the park.
Father Time means he’s not exactly the electric youngster that lit up the game several years ago. However his talent is undeniable.
Hayne simply needs to get himself involved to allow the talent to blossom.
On his return from injury in the Top End, Hayne finally put himself in a position to let his ability shine through.
He’ll never return to his heroic form of yesteryear, but if he continues to inject himself into games more frequently we’ll be sure to see glimpses of what we know the man is capable of.
— Tim Williams
POINTS PROBLEM COMES BACK TO BITE TIGERS
CRONULLA 24 WESTS TIGERS 16: Gallen turns back clock to spark Sharks
Have the Tigers hit their ceiling?
Ivan Cleary’s boys are tough, committed and physical to the end, that can never be questioned.
But grit and toughness can only take a team so far. In the 24-16 loss to Cronulla their inability to match the strike of the Sharks, coupled with some fatigue-induced errors and lapses of discipline, cost them badly.
Scoring points has been a problem for the Tigers all season as they struggle to find their best combinations — more often than not, if the likes of Luke Brooks or Benji Marshall doesn’t create something in the attacking quarter they can really struggle to cross the line.
With just 218 points from their 14 matches, the Tigers have scored the third least amount of points in the competition, ahead of the anaemic Eels and battling Bulldogs.
It’s a measure of the quality of their defence that just two of their losses have come by double digits, while four have come by two points.
The Tigers are stronger mentally than they have been for many years, and the bedrock of a bright future is in place.
But their lack of points just puts so much pressure on them week to week. They find it difficult to chase down leads or to score quickly.
Considering how far they’ve come already this season and the resurgence of players like Brooks it’s not the worst issue in the world, but it’s one they need to tackle if they’re to take the next step.
— Nick Campton
INCONSISTENCY HURTS BRONCOS AS SEASON HANGS IN BALANCE
MELBOURNE 32 BRISBANE 16: ‘Most disappointing half of football I’ve seen’
The Broncos face a massive task in keeping their top eight hopes alive, after a poor second half against the Storm on Sunday.
Wayne Bennett blasted his team for their final 40 minutes, labelling it one of the “most disappointing” halves of football he had seen from Brisbane this year.
And while it could be argued the club were hurt by a number of questionable refereeing decisions, they were definitely their own worst enemy towards the end of the match.
The Broncos are really lacking consistency.
They have shown glimpses of hope this season and put in some great performances, including their previous meeting with the Storm and in their win over the Roosters.
But they have also had some shocking games, such as Sunday’s fadeout and their Round 4 clash with the Titans.
The Broncos are certainly not used to being in this position at this time of the season and it is a concern that they do not appear to be building towards a big run.
They are teetering in eighth place at the moment, but will need a big win over Cronulla next week to kick start their season if they want to be serious finals contenders.
— Rikki-Lee Arnold
ONE PLAY THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TWO CLUBS
BULLDOGS 16 DRAGONS 18: Red V edge brave Dogs to reclaim top spot
THE seasons of Canterbury-Bankstown and St George Illawarra were perfectly summed up in a single moment on Sunday afternoon.
It was the 68th minute with the scores locked at 16 all.
The Dogs were threatening a major boilover against the joint premiership favourites at ANZ Stadium.
The threat was nullified when big money recruit Aaron Woods hit former Bulldogs skipper James Graham late after passing the ball.
The play was ill-disciplined and absolutely senseless.
Gareth Widdop nailed the penalty goal from in front of the posts to give the Dragons a two point lead.
The margin remained the same for the rest of the game, with the Dragons getting out of jail with a two point victory.
The Dogs were brave, but ultimately they remained without the vital competition points that have eluded them all season.
You can officially put a line through Canterbury in 2018.
Woods is on the outer with the Dogs midway through the first year of his new contract.
Graham has inspired the Red V to within sight of an NRL premiership.
It was one single penalty that spoke volumes about the current state of two clubs at opposite ends of the table.
- Tim Williams