Monday Bunker: Panthers paying for Anthony Griffin sacking, dire Dragons’ drop inexcusable
MONDAY BUNKER: Decision that’s become increasingly tough to comprehend, don’t sleep on out-of-form contender and more — our team of writers analyse the NRL’s Round 24 talking points.
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WITH Round 24 of the competition now done and dusted, our team of rugby league writers analyse the NRL’s talking points in the Monday Bunker.
TIGERS’ SEASON DONE BUT BRIGHT FUTURE AWAITS
WESTS TIGERS 22 MANLY 20: Cleary’s men snatch dramatic win
IT’S easy, in the cold light of the day, to say the Tigers have blown their chance at finals footy.
Regardless of results in Round 25, the Tigers will finish ninth. They are now the sole owners of the longest playoff drought in the NRL. Dropping winnable games to the Titans, Knights, Eels and Bulldogs sealed their fate, and despite some rollicking wins over top four sides along the way the bus has been stopped for another year.
But think about where they are compared to 12 months ago, and how far they have come.
The Tigers were expected to be wooden spoon fodder this season. Losing Mitchell Moses, Aaron Woods and James Tedesco was supposed to knock the arse out of them.
Instead, Ivan Cleary has built a roster that competes every single week, even making key modifications along the way this year.
Their weaknesses have remained the same through the season — they can’t score points in the quantities required to make the finals — but now they can identify and work on them throughout the off-season.
Whatever combination they go with in their spine will have a proper chance of working together and building combinations. They know where they want to be and they know how they can get there.
The Tigers have a platform to build on, which is more than they’ve had in some time.
— Nick Campton
GRIFFIN SACKING EVEN HARDER TO COMPREHEND NOW
WARRIORS 36 PENRITH 16: Under-fire Panthers fading fast
WHEN Penrith sacked Anthony Griffin in early August, we asked club great Brad Fittler what sort of impact it would have on the Panthers’ premiership hopes.
Wait a couple of weeks, Freddy said.
We’ll know then.
Well, three weeks since Griffin was ousted — and assistant Cameron Ciraldo promoted to the top gig — the mountain men have now dropped consecutive games against the Warriors and Newcastle and scraped home in a third against Gold Coast.
So does the Griffin sacking now sit among the biggest NRL blunders of 2018?
At the time, Penrith were still in touch with the top four.
And under Griffin, had also led the competition midway through the year.
Yet since the coach was punted by Panthers GM Phil Gould — and with support from several players, apparently — the team is suddenly on the cusp of becoming the first casualty of the NRL playoffs.
And, yes, they are currently missing star No. 6 James Maloney.
But what chance even the NSW Origin star, who has an innate ability to simply go out and win, can fix this slide?
Undoubtedly, the Griffin sacking has hurt the club.
And team.
Leaving everyone to wonder where Penrith would have finished with him still at the helm?
— Nick Walshaw
EELS OWE FANS APOLOGY FOR EMBARRASSING SEASON
NORTH QLD 44 PARRAMATTA 6: JT farewells Townsville in style
The dreaded wooden spoon is about to arrive in western Sydney.
A loss to the Sydney Roosters this Saturday night will see the Eels finish last for the third time in seven seasons after back-to-back spoons in 2012-13.
It is a pathetic result for a club that is one of the richest in the league and Parramatta players and hierarchy owe their fans an apology for another embarrassing season.
The Eels should have pushed for a top-four spot but have clearly missed the game-breaking brilliance of rugby defector Semi Radradra.
For the Cowboys, it was a fairytale night for Johnathan Thurston. In his final home game in Townsville, the retiring Thurston enjoyed a 16-point haul to share the spoils with his good mate Matt Scott, who celebrated his 250th NRL game.
North Queensland have been noticeably sharper in the past month with Jordan McLean adding presence to the front row and Gideon Gela-Mosby and Ben Hampton bringing speed and zip to their backline. Rookie Jake Clifford is also developing nicely at five-eighth and could be a good foil for Michael Morgan next season.
— Peter Badel
RABBITOHS ROLLED BUT CAN STILL BE FINALS FORCE
CANBERRA 24 SOUTH SYDNEY 12: Serious questions for Bunnies as slump continues
Don’t sleep on South Sydney just yet.
Of course it is a concern for the Rabbitohs to lose three straight games with the finals looming but it’s not all doom and gloom.
Souths showcased strong signs against Canberra on Saturday, especially in the first half.
The Bunnies jumped out to a 12-0 lead while skipper Greg Inglis looked formidable in his return from a broken thumb.
Unfortunately for Souths, this all changed in the second half.
The Rabbitohs led by eight points at half-time but failed to score a point in the second half while they conceded three tries.
The Bunnies were brave in defence but their ball control was poor and it must immediately improve.
On the plus side, Souths have one round remaining before the finals to make the necessary changes.
If the Rabbitohs can find their form against the Wests Tigers, they will go into the finals full of confidence.
— Matt Logue
STORM’S HALVES PICTURE STILL CLOUDED
GOLD COAST 8 MELBOURNE 10: Sublime Slater, Munster magic spark Storm
Brodie Croft has the inside lane, but Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy admits he’s still no closer to nailing down his preferred halfback as the defending NRL champions prepare for a finals tilt without Cooper Cronk.
With the long-time playmaker now at the Sydney Roosters, Bellamy has tested a trio of options with varying degrees of success.
Croft was solid in the side’s 10-8 defeat of Gold Coast that cemented a top-four spot on Saturday night, but Bellamy said the audition process was ongoing given Jahrome Hughes was fit and available after a knee injury.
“There will be a little bit of who we think is going the best … but it will have a bit to do with the opposition as well on what decision we make,” he said.
“Common sense would say you’d like to go into next week (against Penrith) and go through with the one half (for the rest of the season).
“But if we think it’s better going for one and even if he plays well, go for another the week after, depending on who we play, we will.”
Croft has played well in the last two of his 13 games this season while Hughes has spent time at both halfback and fullback and the seemingly out-of-favour Ryley Jacks has played 12 games in the halves during 2018.
— AAP
BENNETT’S MEN MAKE SERIOUS PREMIERSHIP STATEMENT
ROOSTERS 8 BRONCOS 22: Napa under fire for brutal hit
THE Broncos have emerged as the smoky for the 2018 NRL premiership.
Brisbane’s 22-8 defeat of the Roosters on Saturday night at Allianz Stadium was a serious premiership statement.
The Broncos have knocked off the Rabbitohs and Roosters in consecutive weeks and are the team no one will want to play in the finals.
Coach Wayne Bennett has got the Broncos firing at the right time of the season and with there being no standout favourite for the title, Brisbane has a red-hot chance to give it a crack.
The problem for the Broncos will be that they will likely have to win four straight games to win the premiership given they are destined to finish outside the top four.
No team has won the NRL premiership from outside the top four, but the Broncos could buck that trend this year given the openness of the competition.
— Travis Meyn
NO. 1 REASON SHARKS ARE SHOOTING FOR GF RUN
CRONULLA 38 NEWCASTLE 12: Holmes makes history as Sharks surge
One way or another, Valentine Holmes is getting paid.
The Sharks flyer continues to hog the headlines for his sublime performances on the field — and speculation about his future off it.
With Holmes weighing up a big-money move home to Townsville in 2020, Cowboys superstar Johnathan Thurston has urged his club to ramp up efforts to sign the State of Origin ace.
You only have to look at his Sunday showing against Newcastle to understand why: 18 runs for 215 metres, eight tackle busts, two linebreaks, one try assist, one linebreak assist and one scintillating try, his 20th of the season to set a new Sharks record.
Cronulla, of course, are doing everything in their power to keep Holmes in the Shire long-term with coach Shane Flanagan joking “we will sell one floor of the Leagues Club if we have to” in order to keep him.
While his contract will seemingly be sorted down the track, what he does give Cronulla right now is the X-factor to propel them towards the grand final.
Sunday’s win over the Knights pushed the Sharks into the top four to set them up nicely for a run at the title.
They were patchy to start with against Newcastle but with Holmes leading the way shot to the front and were never headed.
While their win the week before against an understrength North Queensland was likewise unremarkable, they now own the hottest winning streak of any top eight side with three-straight successes.
And with Holmes running hot, Cronulla are as well-placed as any side to cash in.
— Dominic Burke
DREADFUL DRAGONS’ DROP DOWN LADDER INEXCUSABLE
STI 0 CANTERBURY 38: Fans turn on Dragons after Bulldogs belting
LAST week’s win over the Tigers seemed like a cathartic moment of rejuvenation for the Dragons, the spark that would turn their premiership campaign around.
Instead, it looks like it was the bounce when they fell to rock bottom.
We are only two week’s removed from the disastrous 40-4 loss to Parramatta and this week’s 38-0 thrashing at the hands of the Bulldogs was similarly insipid.
The Dragons were handed a second chance to get their season back on track and wasted it. Their forwards had none of the intensity of last week, save for Tyson Frizell and James Graham.
The decision to bench Matt Dufty was just bizarre and a rotten injury toll that claimed Euan Aitken and Jason Nightingale means they’ll be calling on part-timers for the rest of the season.
The greatest criticism, though, must be levelled at Ben Hunt. His team needed him to take control and lead the way in attack but he seemed totally incapable of doing so. Hunt is a talented player, but he let this game totally pass him by. His kicking ranged from the poorly executed to the poorly conceived — mindless bombs to Will Hopoate are a waste of time.
Cronulla’s victory across town means the Dragons are now on the outside of the top four and looking in. They travel to Newcastle next weekend and must win to secure a home final. It is entirely possible they drop to eighth by the time the finals begin.
For a team with this much talent, this much pedigree and so many good performances in the bank, such a fade out is truly inexcusable.
— Nick Campton