NRL Tackle: Paul Crawley’s Likes and Dislikes for Round 11
The Broncos are suddenly a hotbed of Origin talent — for both Queensland and NSW — and these are the calls that must be made, writes PAUL CRAWLEY.
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Paul Crawley runs the rule over every game from Round 11 in his LIKES and DISLIKES column.
DISLIKES
South Sydney dished up the club’s worst performance of the season against Canberra in Dubbo, delivering all the proof you need that Souths’ premiership window has officially slammed shut.
It was even worse than the round seven loss to the Tigers because this time they showed hardly any signs of life.
Damien Cook’s try-saving chase-down of Jack Wighton was the only memorable effort from the defence.
It’s hard to believe this team played the grand final last year - and could have won if Latrell Mitchell wasn’t injured.
They made the preliminary final in the three seasons before that, with Cody Walker and Adam Reynolds providing a proven winning formula that was the envy of opposition clubs.
But look at them now.
It’s a good thing South Sydney aren’t like the Canterbury Bulldogs and answerable to the members.
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If they were there might be a few directors and officials looking for new jobs.
Yet they still haven’t offered their fans an apology for letting Reynolds go.
Maybe it’s time they did.
And we keep going back to the Reynolds contract negotiations because how can you ignore it?
The simple fact is if they handled things differently they would not be where they are today.
They could have let any number of players go and found a way to keep Reynolds.
But they thought they had the answers without him.
And that gamble has backfired spectacularly.
After 11 rounds the Rabbitohs are now clinging to eighth spot on percentages, with the Raiders, Sea Eagles and Dragons on equal competition points.
It’s understandable the Rabbitohs are down without Mitchell and Cameron Murray.
But let’s not forget who the Raiders are missing - their first choice hooker Josh Hodgson, halfback Jamal Fogarty, as well as Jarrod Croker, who chews up a stack of the salary cap.
If they say they wouldn’t change their stance on Reynolds if they had their time over they are kidding themselves.
Bunker is destroying the game
The overuse of the bunker is destroying the NRL as a spectacle.
Let’s scale it back and only use it for potential try decisions.
And the sooner the people in charge of the game realise this the better it will be for everyone involved.
The refs and the fans.
Rugby league is not a sport that was designed to be watched in slow motion.
We love it because it is fast and spectacular. Because it is tough and brutal.
We need to accept it is not a science.
And it should not be about seeking perfection, but rather accepting the ref’s decision and getting on with the game.
Otherwise you ruin the product.
Which is my point for this rant.
On Saturday night we had the top four teams playing against each other and some of the footy was sensational.
How good are the Cowboys going? And the Panthers are just so professional and equally incredible.
But what really spoiled both matches was the constant stoppages that made it so incredibly frustrating to watch.
By the end of the Panthers-Roosters game I was switching over to the election because at least that was playing out in real time.
How often are games running over time this year?
It’s out of control.
Whether it’s for a captain’s challenge. Players taking a dive to milk a penalty.
Or every try decision.
Fans are sick of it.
Yet the endless search for perfection is still not clearing up the confusion.
We saw the perfect example of that on Thursday night with the Dane Gagai no try.
The fact is Gagai lost control of the ball, and by the letter of the law did not regrip it before it touched the turf.
So technically it was a no try, and the officials on the night got it spot on.
NRL head of football Graham Annesley has already come out and supported the match officials on this.
Yet my point here is that even though the rules say it was not a try still did not stop fans and experts arguing all weekend that the no try should have been awarded.
So why bother with all the replays and stoppages?
Seriously, why are we trying to continually trying to please everyone all the time when we are never going to get 100 per cent support for any decision?
Let’s stop seeking perfection and just get on with the bloody game.
JWH lucky not to be sent
Jared Waerea-Hargreaves should buy himself a lottery ticket after escaping with an $1800 fine for his extraordinary foul-mouthed rant at referee Gerard Sutton.
If that’s a grade one contrary conduct charge you’d hate to see a grade two.
Whether you think JWH’s high shot on James Fisher-Harris was worthy of an eight-point try is not the issue.
No player should ever speak to a referee the way the veteran prop did and he was lucky he was not sent off for his carry on.
If a coach said what Waerea-Hargreaves did at a post match press conference he would be fined substantially more.
Let’s be clear, there would have been no sin bin if he didn’t abuse the ref.
Bulldogs fans on high alert
The most embarrassing performance of the round came from the Bulldogs.
Days after Trent Barrett sensationally quit, you would have expected the players to at least turn up and show some resemblance of pride.
Yet it wasn’t until after halftime they showed any real fight at all as they maintained their place at the bottom of the ladder – they only team still on two wins for the season.
This Sunday is the Dogs’ back to Belmore game against the Dragons.
If they produce a similar effort the fans will tear the joint down.
Bellyache’s selection blunder
Craig Bellamy doesn’t get many decisions wrong when it comes to selecting his team.
But the call to play Harry Grant in the halves was a shocker.
Why would you take the game’s best dummy half and try to play him out of position?
Grant just never looked comfortable and neither did the Storm as they slumped to back-to-back defeats.
In two weeks they have now gone down 36-6 to the Cowboys on the back of a 32-6 belting off the Panthers.
Those are very un-Storm like scorelines.
And the 9-4 penalty count from referee Grant Atkins was warranted.
You’d hate to be the Sea Eagles taking on the Storm this Thursday with Manly now without their super star fullback.
Turbo injury a rotten loss
Watching Tom Trbojevic leave the field in obvious agony was one of the saddest sights of the year.
And to find out he will miss the rest of the season is pretty much the killer blow for Manly’s final hopes.
It capped off a forgettable night for the Sea Eagles who were canned 9-2 in the penalties and didn’t get a set restart.
And back to my point on the bunker, the decision to penalise Christian Tulpulotu for high contact is another of those decisions where the bunker needs to stay the hell out.
If the ref misses it so be it, but if the bunker comes in and make a big call like that it surely has to be a serious offence.
The fact Tulpulotu wasn’t charged by the match review committee tells me that they got this wrong.
KNIGHTS v BRONCOS
Judge: Jimmy Smith
3: Selwyn Cobbo (BRI)
2: Payne Haas (BRI)
1: Pat Carrigan (BRI)
TIGERS v BULLDOGS
Judge: Wendell Sailor
3: Jackson Hastings (WST)
2: Luke Garner (WST)
1: Tevita Pangai Jnr (CAN)
EELS v SEA EAGLES
Judge: Scott Sattler
3: Reed Mahoney (PAR)
2: Ryan Matterson (PAR)
1: Lachlan Croker (MAN)
DRAGONS v WARRIORS
Judge: Tim Mannah
3: Cody Ramsey (STI)
2: Ben Hunt (STI)
1: Tohu Harris (NZL)
COWBOYS v STORM
Judge: Greg Alexander
3: Reece Robson (NQL)
2: Tom Gilbert (NQL)
1: Chad Townsend (NQL)
ROOSTERS v PANTHERS
Judge: Brett Kimmorley
3: Jarome Luai (PEN)
2: Api Koroisau (PEN)
1: James Fisher-Harris (PEN)
RABBITOHS v RAIDERS
Judge: Steve Roach
3: Josh Papalii (CBR)
2: Hudson Young (CBR)
1: Matt Timoko (CBR)
TITANS v SHARKS
Judge: Gary Belcher
3: Nicho Hynes (CRO)
2: Blayke Brailey (CRO)
1: Jayden Campbell (GCT)
LEADERBOARD
17: I Yeo
16: N Hynes, B Hunt
15: R Papenhuyzen, M Moses
13: D Cherry-Evans
11: A Reynolds, S Walker, J Tedesco
10: D Edwards, N Cleary
9: H Grant, J Hastings, C Munster, J Hughes, S Talakai
LIKES
Cowboys deliver six of the best
You don’t beat Melbourne like North Queensland did on Saturday night if you are not a fair dinkum premiership threat.
It doesn’t matter if the Storm are missing Ryan Papenhuyzen, Jahrome Hughes and big Nelson Asofa-Solomona.
The Cows have now beaten Parramatta and Melbourne on their way to six straight wins.
But make no mistake, the Panthers at Penrith this Friday will be their toughest test yet.
And without Jason Taumalolo and Kyle Feldt - who have both suffered potentially serious knee injuries - just makes it extra hard.
But who would have thought at the start of the year the round 12 game between the Cowboys and the Panthers would be talked up as potentially one of the games of the season?
Whether it’s their exciting backs or these young powerhouse forwards that don’t seem to know any fear, the Cowboys have attacking weapons all over the park.
I can’t wait to see how the brand of football the Cowboys are playing stacks up against the competition’s best defence.
You’d imagine the bosses at Channel 9 would be furious that they’ll be televising the Broncos and Titans as the main match on Friday, with the Cows and Panthers relegated to the 6pm start to be shown exclusively on Fox Sports.
Bronco young guns box office gold
That wasn’t the best the Broncos have played this year.
But beating the Knights in Newcastle without Adam Reynolds is massive step forward all the same.
What it shows is that even without their star playmaker there is just this growing belief among the group.
And it wasn’t as if the Knights didn’t turn up because they started the stronger of the two teams, and Kalyn Ponga was in everything.
But when a couple of tough calls went against the Knights, they lost their composure and it was the young Broncos who took it up a gear.
And as strong as they were in the forwards, it is these electric outside backs that are setting the competition alight.
Kotoni Staggs would have to be firming to win a spot in the NSW team with Turbo and Latrell out for game one, and his centre partner Herbie Farnworth never seems to put in a bad game.
Then on the wings Corey Oates has turned back the clock and this young Selwyn Cobbo is just NRL box office gold.
Billy Slater has some exceptional wingers to choose from for his Maroons team including Oates and Xavier Coates (even with Kyle Fledt now injured).
But it will be a huge call if Slater leaves Cobbo out.
Suaalii shows he’s more than skilful
What about Joseph Suaalii’s cracking hit on Panthers giant Viliame Kikau?
It shook the foundations at the SCG on Saturday night, where there wasn’t a lot to cheer about for Roosters fans.
It’s astonishing to think this kid’s still only 18.
But there more to Suaalii than his incredible athleticism.
It’s also only a matter of time until he gets moved into the centres.
Tigers need to lock up Madden
All the talk over the past month or so at the Tigers has been about how well the new halves partnership of Jackson Hastings and Luke Brooks has gone.
Well, in Brooks’ injury absence didn’t young Jock Madden stand up and again show what he’s capable of.
The former Australian Schoolboys halfback was absolutely outstanding, capping off a terrific game with a chip-and-chase try.
There’s talk if the Tigers don’t want him Wayne Bennett will at the Dolphins next year.
That was only Madden’s 10th NRL game, and he’s just turned 22.
Why would you even consider letting him go?
Dragons find their fullback
There’s no substitute for speed, and hasn’t Cody Ramsey got some?
In years to come the Dragons youngster might look back on his performance against the Warriors as the day he found his home in the NRL.
All season the debate has been about when would young Tyrell Sloan take ownership of the No 1 jumper.
But you get the feeling it’s Ramsey’s now, and he won’t let it go without one hell of a fight.
Panthers in a league of their own
Now for the reality check.
For all the teams out there who think they are in the competition to do more than make up the numbers.
The Panthers showed once again why they remain the benchmark.
The Roosters played really tough for the opening quarter but in the blink of an eye the Panthers just rattled up three tries and it was then a case by how far.
Isaah Yeo was once again the bloke to broke it open and how good is Jarome Luai playing?
But the thing that was equally impressive was how Luai spoke after the game with this humble but intense persona.
He told Fox Sports how the Panthers are such a young team and their best is still to come.
It’s scary to think how much better they could still get if they maintain that attitude.
Is Moses v DCE a Kangaroo conundrum?
Mitchell Moses continues to come up with clutch plays for Parramatta.
And when he recovered from getting sin binned in the first half to seal the win over Manly with the matchwinning sideline conversation in the 78th minute, it got me thinking.
If it wasn’t for Nathan Cleary, Moses would be the No.1 contender challenging Daly Cherry-Evans for the Kangaroos No 7 jumper for the end of season World Cup.
There’s no disputing only injury will open the door for Moses in the upcoming Origin series.
But the question here is if the Eels go on and make a statement in the big end of season games, should Moses enter the conversation as to who should be Cleary’s Test back-up?
After all, Cherry-Evans is 33, Moses is 27.
Knights get a welcome boost
It’s been a tough year for the Knights but they look to have found a real positive going on Anthony Milford’s first game back.
Milford showed some really nice touches after so long out of the game in the loss to the Broncos.
It’s also worth noting young Jake Clifford apparently had a solid game at halfback in the Knights’ NSW Cup win over St George with Tex Hoy at five-eighth.
It will be interesting to see how Adam O’Brien plays it if Clifford is ready to push his way back into the NRL team this week for the game against the Warriors.
You’d reckon Adam Clune will be the player under pressure because you wouldn’t drop Milford on that performance.
Sport Con: Joey’s shock take on Newcastle great
The Newcastle Knights lost the match but Kalyn Ponga won high praise from NRL Immortal Joey Johns who anointed the star fullback with an incredible honour.
Sport Confidential: Bennett’s Cobbo, RCG signing admission
South Sydney coach Wayne Bennett says the club “can’t afford” to make a play at the two hottest free agents in the NRL.