The Tackle: Paul Crawley reveals his likes and dislikes from round 3
It wasn’t a punch that big Gorden Tallis would have been proud of - but this was a line-in-the-sand moment for the NRL. Paul Crawley’s round 3 LIKES and DISLIKES.
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Paul Crawley reveals his round 3 LIKES and DISLIKES from another action-packed weekend of rugby league. Plus scroll down for the Round 3 Dally M voting and updated leaderboard.
ROUND 3 DISLIKES
When are rusted on footy fans going to get it through their heads, you don’t have to knock someone out cold these days to get sin binned for punching. And there is no use Sharks fans blowing up about the incident involving Royce Hunt and Corey Horsburgh that cost the Sharks dearly in the second half loss to the Raiders.
Was it a punch Les Davidson, Steve “Blocker” Roach or big Gorden Tallis would have been proud to claim in the old days? No way.
But you just can’t throw a punch in the modern game regardless of if it is a love tap, or an air swing. We saw it last year with Victor Radley’s sin bin in the Roosters’ fiery finals loss to Souths where Radley barely clinched his fist and still got binned. But you run the gauntlet, you pay the price.
God knows the Raiders copped their fair share of dubious calls along the way.
BATEMAN’S MIXED BAG ON TIGERS DEBUT
There was a point during the Tigers’ clash with the Bulldogs when you wouldn’t have blamed John Bateman for telling Tim Sheens he was homesick and if he could get a lift from Belmore to Mascot Airport.
Trailing 24-6 early in the second half, the Tigers were an absolute rabble and English champion Bateman must have been wondering what he got himself in for.
In sweltering heat, the Englishman courageously battled on, racking up 32 tackles, and 70 metres from 10 hit ups as the Tigers somehow clawed their way back after a shocking start.
And just maybe Tim Sheens’ panic to make a bizarre mid-match change has potentially found the answer to his halves conundrum after moving Adam Doueihi to fullback and bringing on Brandon Wakeham to partner Luke Brooks.
The former Bulldog at least brought the Tigers to life with some direct ball playing and an injection of energy.
What they showed in those dizzy final minutes was a marked improvement on what they have shown all season.
But let’s not kid ourselves. It’s a bit early to say they have turned the corner.
Now they need to turn up and start how they finished when they take on the Storm on Friday night in Melbourne.
Just imagine if the Storm lose this after going down in back-to-back weeks to the Bulldogs and Titans.
Would that make the Storm the new favourites for the spoon and Craig Bellamy at the top of the market for first coach sacked?
Seriously, Hollywood couldn’t write a script for some of the stuff we’ve seen in so far this season.
HASTINGS SNUBS FORMER PROTÉGÉ
Is Jackson Hastings really misunderstood, or just a serial pest who gets what he deserves?
Because a week after Wests Tigers players were hammered for their treatment of Hastings after a fiery post match blow up, now the Newcastle halfback has found himself in the middle of another weird moment after an awkward handshake with young Dolphins’ No.7 Sean O’Sullivan.
While they shook hands, it was clear to everyone watching that Hastings point blank refused to look O’Sullivan in the eye.
You could even see the stunned response on O’Sullivan’s face.
In Hastings’ defence, he actually brushed about four of the Dolphins players at that point because he was apparently filthy he’d been forced off for a HIA after getting smashed by Kaufusi, and he wasn’t allowed back to try and help his team win the game.
But for young O’Sullivan, it was as good as a slap in the face when you factor in that Hastings was actually something of a mentor to him when they were together back in their days at the Roosters.
Back then Hastings was an emerging star and O’Sullivan just a teenager with stars in his eyes when his old man Peter was in charge of the Roosters recruitment.
Hastings has had a reputation of rubbing people the wrong way at every club he has been at. He should cop the tip that moments like this don’t do that reputation any favours.
KAUFUSI DUDDED BY NRL DOUBLE STANDARDS
No wonder NRL fans get so fired up and fed up trying to make sense of the NRL’s match review process.
How in the world is Dolphins enforcer Felise Kaufusi facing a three to four week ban for his late shot on Newcastle halfback Jackson Hastings – when a week earlier Roosters golden boy Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii escaped with a fine for an almost identical shot on Warriors fullback Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad?
It absolutely stinks of double standards.
And the Dolphins would be mad if they didn’t fight for a downgrade to try and clear Kaufusi to play in Friday night’s blockbuster against the Broncos.
If Kaufusi is rubbed out it has the potential to ruin one of this year’s most anticipated clashes given Kaufusi’s considerable influence on the Dolphins.
But this is not just about making this game a better spectacle, it’s about arguing for consistency across the board.
I wrote last week that Suaalii’s shot in my eyes warranted a tougher penalty.
But what doesn’t make any sense is that Kaufusi was hit with a grade two charge, after Suaalii escaped with a grade one.
If anything, Suaalii nailed Nicoll-Klokstad even later than Kaufusi hit Hastings, yet one tackle potentially gets four games, and the other a fine?
The grade two charge carries a three match ban if Kaufusi accepts the early guilty plea, or four matches if he fights the charge and loses at the judiciary.
Yet Suaalii wasn’t even sin binned, while the grade one charge meant he didn’t have to serve any time on the sidelines. It just doesn’t pass the pub test.
GUTHO EXPOSES MOSES’ PRICE TAG
You’d have to have rocks in your head to pay Mitchell Moses $500,000-a-season more than what Parramatta is currently paying Clint Gutherson.
Or am I watching a different game?
While Gutherson did everything in his power to drag the Eels off the canvas in the hard fought loss to the Sea Eagles, it’s fair to say Moses again failed to nail the big moments.
And put Moses’ performance up against what Adam Reynolds delivered for the Broncos on Saturday night, remembering Reynolds is on a reported $800,000-a-season.
It’s also worth remembering Gutherson was reportedly paid $2.3m over three years (about $750,000-a-season) for his last contract in 2021.
Yet the Eels continue to allow Moses and his management to baulk at signing a reported $5m four-year extension (equating to $1.25m-a-season).
The irony here is that Gutherson’s agent Sam Ayoub even had to defend his client amid accusations Gutherson was being money hungry the last time they did a deal.
But I don’t seem to recall anyone at the club racing to defend Gutherson like they are jumping over themselves now to defend Moses.
What no one at Parramatta can deny is that the longer this drags on the more Eels fans are entitled to question Moses’ real worth, especially when you take into account the Eels are 0-3 going into Thursday night’s grand final rematch against the Panthers.
WALKER PUTS HIMSELF IN HARM’S WAY
When is a referee going to stand up to Cody Walker and say it is not okay to come running in from 20 metres away to start a stink?
Surely the match officials can’t continue to ignore Walker’s childish antics after another incident in the loss to the Roosters.
I don’t know why the South Sydney five-eighth gets a license to run from a distance to instigate trouble every time there is a blow up in a match.
You can forgive Cam Murray for his reaction given he doesn’t have a history of this type of behaviour, and he was only coming in to defend Isaiah Tass after he was hit high by Joey Manu.
But Walker came flying in from nowhere to get into Nat Butcher, and then he had a second go after the incident broke up. It’s just another example of his lack of discipline, and the refs allowing him too much latitude.
At some point a moment like this will cost his team when the refs finally decide enough is enough.
Of course, the funniest moment was when big Jared Waerea-Hargreaves came to join the fun and Walker quickly backtracked.
DRAGONS ‘UGLY’ COLLAPSE
It’s no use being brave for 70 minutes then letting in four late tries and wanting everyone to go home thinking that was a pass mark.
Yes, the Dragons had a real go for the most part of the match up at Suncorp.
But after leading 16-8 at halftime, the way the Broncos tore them to shreds in the dying minutes to finish 40-18 winners was just embarrassing.
Jack Bird summed it up best when he threw up his hands in frustration as the Broncos raced in another try through some terrible defence.
We saw from the way they beat the Gold Coast last round, and how they started against the Broncos, that they have it in them to compete for the top eight this year.
But it doesn’t get any easier when they take on their arch rivals the Sharks on Sunday really needing a win to take the pressure off coach Anthony Griffin.
What we have to remember is that’s near the Dragons’ best team, so they don’t have the same excuses as the Storm who have been hugely disappointing as well going down to the Bulldogs and Titans in succession.
But the difference is Melbourne is missing some pretty handy players led by Cameron Munster, Ryan Papenhuyzen and Nelson Asofa-Solomona. You wouldn’t want to see the Dragons without Ben Hunt.
ROUND 3 LIKES
BENNETT SAW BRONCOS COMING
When Adam Reynolds initially signed with the Broncos, Wayne Bennett said his former Souths halfback wouldn’t make the difference they wanted unless his forwards “muscled up”.
Well, Reynolds has certainly lived up to his end of the bargain, and now the forwards are coming to the party.
In fact, Payne Haas’ closing spell would rate up with the most dynamic seen from a front rower in years as he swatted off defenders and offloaded beautiful balls for two tries like he was Arthur Beetson.
Haas finished with a phenomenal 18 runs for 198m while Tom Flegler had 16 for 155m, Pat Carrigan 14 for 137 and Corey Jensen 13 for 133m.
On the back of that the Broncos showed why they also have arguably the most dangerous backline in the entire premiership with every single back making a difference.
It was the best game we’ve seen from Kotoni Staggs in ages, while Selwyn Cobbo, Jesse Arthars, Herbie Farnworth and Ezra Mam all had their moments.
As impressive as the Dolphins have been over the opening three rounds, they won’t stand a chance against the Broncos if Haas and his fellow forwards turn up with the same attitude that destroyed the Dragons in the second half.
It sets a huge challenge for Jesse Bromwich, Tom Gilbert, Connelly Lemuelu and Mark Nicholls to see if they can go with the young Broncos pack.
ROOSTERS UNSUNG HERO OVERCOMES HUGE ADVERSITY
Jaxson Paulo has copped a lot of crap in his time in the NRL. But the way he fought back to star for the Roosters in a win over his former club was one of this round’s most understated performances.
You might remember Paulo even copped death threats amid some disgusting online abuse late last season at Souths after a stinker against the Panthers.
It came to mind over the weekend when Sharks winger Ronaldo Mulitalo spoke about some of the ugly social media abuse he gets.
When Paulo arrived at the Roosters not too many people really thought he was going to make a significant difference given the way the Rabbitohs didn’t exactly fight too hard to keep him.
But after a tough start on Friday night Paulo was outstanding in a game where the blowtorch was really on him, capping off a try scoring double for the second straight week.
JWH SHOWS HE NOT DONE YET
It’s only taken one game back but Jared Waerea-Hargreaves has certainly put up his hand for a new contract next season.
While the now 34-year-old is yet to officially declare if he wants another season in the NRL, there has been a lot of whispers that the Roosters might be umming and arring to let him go one more year.
But JWH showed in the win over Souths what he still means to this team.
Brandon Smith spoke about Waerea-Hargreaves’ inspiration in his return from injury.
If he stays fit he could clock up 300 games this season in what has been a tremendous career for the three-time premiership winner.
SEA EAGLES UNEARTH ANOTHER SUPERSTAR
When you think of Manly you think Tom Trbojevic and Daly Cherry-Evans as their two standout superstars.
Well, Josh Schuster could develop into one of the great modern five-eighths if he can get his defence in order.
At the moment there is just a few lapses in concentration that is really taking away from what he can do with the ball in hand.
But ability wise this 21-year-old showed again in the win over Parra in his first game back from injury what an absolute freakish talent he is.
WARRIORS’ WIN A REWARD
It was great to see the Warriors to snap a 13-match winless streak in Australia that goes back almost a year.
And to do it against the Cowboys in Townsville is just more proof how this team is coming together under new coach Andrew Webster.
Just looking at the stats, 11 players carried the ball for more than 100 metres. Now that’s what you call sharing the workload.
HOLBROOK HOLDS HIS NERVE AMID FORAN BLOW UP
Good on Justin Holbrook for standing his ground after Kieran Foran’s blow up for getting replaced during the gutsy win over the Storm.
As Holbrook explained after the game, he had to put Tanah Boyd back out after his HIA, and it made more sense giving Foran a spell at that point so he could be counted on to provide his experience at the back end of the game, which is why they bought him.
The best thing about Holbrook’s response was that he didn’t care that Foran blew up at the trainer. In fact, Holbrook admired it. But it didn’t make the coach backtrack on where he stood either. That’s two from three for a Titans side who will continue to surprise plenty as the season rolls along.
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Originally published as The Tackle: Paul Crawley reveals his likes and dislikes from round 3
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