The Synopsis - NRL Round 7

Friday Night;

St George-Illawarra Dragons, playing before a packed Kogarah-Jubilee Oval, hosted the Brisbane Broncos in a match that had all the ingredients of a final - despite it being April.

This match between the two surprise packets in the 2015 competition started with the Broncos having 9 sets out of the first 15 and scoring a try in the corner to lead 4 - 0. The Dragons hit back almost straight away with an unconverted try to Fijian winger Eto Nabuli. With a Dragon Penalty goal soon after, the score was 6 - 4 and stayed that way till half time. Converted tries to both teams were the only scores in the 2nd half and the two point margin remained as the Dragons won 12 - 10.

Brisbane lost no friends as they played out the match with just 15 players, after Justin Hodges (hamstring strain) failed to return after the break and Alex Glen (fractured eye socket & broken nose) left the field after 50 minutes. Despite the extra workload the Broncos still had multiple opportunities in the Dragons red zone, in the last 10 minutes, but fell agonizingly short. St George-Illawarra (baffling pundits and delighting fans alike) again conceded just 10 points, confirming their reputation for strong, effective defence. Although possession finished 50/50 the Broncos made 15 errors - far too many at this level.

Also in Sydney, the Bulldogs took on the Sea Eagles in a battle between two understrength teams. Manly, with 8 first graders out injured, struggled to hold a Canterbury team (5 first graders unavailable) who started quickly and led 10 - 0 after just 7 minutes. Manly have a reputation for fighting hardest with their backs to the wall and they scored a converted try to Daly Cherry-Evans (DCE) in the 25th minute and narrowed the margin to just two when captain Jamie Lyon potted a penalty goal right on half time. The closeness of the score hid the real nature of the half as, at times, the Bulldogs seemed to make ground at will, while the Sea Eagles struggled. After the break, the home team scored 18 points to the visitors 8 and the final score 28 - 16 was a fair indication of the difference between the teams. The Bulldogs out-ran, (1559 - 1281 mtrs) out-kicked (444 - 234 mtrs) out-tackled (13 - 17 missed) and ultimately out-scored the Sea Eagles. Curtis Rona, joining from the Cowboys this year, continues to give excellent service to the Bulldogs with another double to take his tally to 8 tries from his team's 26.

Super Saturday;

It is never good to pre-judge an NRL match, but I was not expecting much from the Titans or Panthers in their match on the Gold Coast. On average, both teams miss 31 tackles and make 12 errors every week. The Titans were favoured to win because of their good form against the Eels last week and the Panthers being ‘down on troops'. Penrith started with 75% of the possession and young centre Waqa Blake crossed for a try which was converted by Josh Mansour for a 6 - 0 lead after 8 minutes. Eight minutes later the Titans hit back with an unconverted try to Captain William Zillman. At the 26th minute, Titans fullback Josh Hoffman scored the second of two tries inspired by Kane Elgey, the boom halfback who may well leave the club should DCE arrive as planned for 2016. The home team, despite less possession went to a 10-6 half time lead. It had been forty minutes of free flowing, frenetic rugby league from both teams and their worst game of the season (round 2 in Bathurst) was now a distant memory for the Gold Coast. In the 2nd half the Titans overran the Panthers, to win 32 - 6. Penrith despite 40 tackles throughout the match in their opponents red zone, could only manage one try while Gold Coast scored five. Clearly without Jamie Soward the Panthers have no kicking game. Without Peter Wallace they have no direction, without both they are lost.

Meanwhile, 1400km north of the Gold Coast, Jonathan Thurston, who has inspired the Nth Qld Cowboys to three wins in a row, was preparing for his 250th NRL game, against the NZ Warriors. Hulking forward Ben Hannant was readying for his 200th. Last week I noted that the NZ team would have extra time to prepare and with Nth Qld playing South Sydney on Monday night, the visitors would have few excuses, if they lost this match.

The Warriors got off to a flying start, scoring converted tries in the 5th and 8th minutes for 12 nil. The Cowboys kicked the ball out ‘on the full' from the restarts gifting penalties and possession to the Warriors from half-way. For the fans in Townsville, this wasn't how the match was supposed to go. However Warriors mistakes brought the Cowboys back into the match and after camping in the visiting teams half for an extended period the home team scored in the 21st and 29th minutes and the score was then 12-10. A late try to Warriors centre Solomone Kata made the half time score 16 - 10.

The 2nd half started much like the first with a converted try to Warriors winger Manu Vatuvei taking his team to a 12 point lead. But with the NZ team making four errors for every one from Nth Queensland, their lead began to be whittled away. A converted try to Lachlan Coote made the score 22 - 16. A Penalty to NZ's Shaun Johnson took the score to 24-16 but the Cowboys would not be denied. Hooker Jake Granville, who scored their first try, scored two soft tries from dummy half, inside eight minutes and the match was won (or lost), depending on who you support. Cowboys 28 - Warriors 24. The New Zealand team led for 78 minutes but they made 15 errors and like Brisbane - that's far too many at this level.

Earlier on in this report I said that the Brisbane/St George match had all the ingredients of a final, however the game itself did not reach that standard. Saturday night's match between the Storm and the Roosters, did. It was an epic.

In torrential rain 34 gladiators went at each other in wave after wave of attack and defence and neither gave in. The first half had many highlights and at half time it was 10-10. The Roosters restarted the match and for the next 33 minutes, fans at the ground and others like me at home, were spellbound as each team tried desperately to break the other. 29 / 33 completed sets (174 tackles) with just 2 Penalties and 2 errors ending the other 4 sets. It was a game of millimetres as wingers crashed into corner posts with multiple opponents clinging to them. Then when commentators were practically begging the teams to attempt field goals to break the deadlock, first the Storm and then the Roosters scored tries wide out and their goal kickers magically converted to make the score 16-16, with 4 minutes to. At 78'30" Melbourne's Cooper Cronk attempted a field goal which was blocked, but his team were awarded six more tackles. On the fourth of these he tried again and succeeded. The Melbourne Storm had won 17-16 and while they deserved to win, the Sydney Roosters, didn't deserve to lose. Of the 7 rounds of matches played so far in 2015, this was easily the best exhibition of the game we all love.

Sunday Afternoon;

Sunday's first match at Leichhardt Oval was heavily influenced by how well each team handled the gusty winds (40-60kmh). The team who had use of the wind first, the Tigers, scored four tries and lead 22 - 0. The local fans were all smiles as first, Tim Simona, then Keith Galloway, then Luke Brooks and finally Pat Richards crossed for four-pointers, almost without an opposition hand on them. In all the excitement, no one stopped to notice that the Tigers had 80% of the ball and a howling gale at their back. In the last 15 minutes of the first half, as possession rebalanced, the Raiders put on tries to Shannon Boyd and Jarrod Croker, creating a 22-12 half time score and a suspicion among the watchers that the Tigers may struggle running into the wind. Suspicion became reality. In the 2nd half the Raiders scored tries in the 44th minute to trail 22-18, in the 64th minute to draw level, 22-22, kicked a Penalty to take the lead , 24-22 and finally a converted try to win Raiders 30 - Tigers 22. Controversy broke out after the match when it was revealed that the Tigers were denied a full set (referee error meant they had 5 tackles instead of 6) in the dying minutes of the match. But only fans with one Black and one Gold eye could argue that this cost the Tigers the match. In fact the 22 nil score-line was the culprit. It was all too easy for the Tiger Cubs and they dropped their intensity, allowing their opponents back into the match. The Raiders, who are also a young team on the make, took the opportunity offered and never looked back. Hopefully BOTH teams learned an important lesson on a windswept Leichhardt Oval, soon to be mothballed as a relic of where the game was played, way back when!!

Match 7 for the round was at Hunter Stadium, between the Newcastle Knights and Parramatta Eels. The southerly blowing in Sydney found its way up the coast. My colleague/friend wondered out loud; "given how poorly the Knights had handled the wet and windy conditions in the last fortnight, how will they go today".

We didn't have long to wait for our answer, as the home team scored converted tries in the 4th and 12th minutes. The Knights were running at will and the Eels players were falling off tackles. But, errors were creeping into the Knights game and Eels centre John Folau, with his team taking advantage of the extra possession, scored twice before half time. With the score 12 - 10, the home team would run into the wind in the 2nd half. Just two minutes in, Parramatta kicked a penalty goal and it was 12 - 12, three minutes later Newcastle replied with a Penalty goal of their own and it was 14 - 12. Both teams scored tries and with 30 minutes left on the clock, it was 18 - 18.

Handling errors and missed tackles by both teams was hampering the implementation of coach's plans and at times the game was hard to watch. Dane Gagai scored for Newcastle in the 56th minute and they lead 22-18 with 20 minutes to go. Parramatta hooker, Nathan Peats scored from dummy half and Chris Sandow converted to give his team a 2 point lead, at the 68th minute marker. Nathan Peats scored again when a kick by Sandow rebounded into the in-goal area and the number 9 was there to touch down. Amazingly Sandow missed the easy conversion and with 5 minutes to go, Parramatta led 28 - 22 and that was final score, but commentators were discussing the possibility of a late Newcastle try and extra time. It was not to be. Newcastle, who had started 4 and 0 were now 4 and 3.

Monday Night

The Cronulla v South Sydney match at Remondis Stadium was played in extraordinary conditions. Sheets of rain blew constantly from the south and puddles of water lay all over the ground. Just over 3000 hardy locals turned up and were treated to Rugby League of an impossibly high standard. Officially, the Sharks completed 86% of their sets, making just 6 errors, while the Rabbitoh's completed 26/36 sets. The Sharks won 18 - 10 but either team could have finished in front on the scoreboard, as the bounce of the ball was erratic and impossible to rely upon. Some referee's decisions perplexed onlookers but the whistle blowers deserved as much praise as the players for their efforts. Sharks hooker and captain (for the night) Michael Ennis was best on ground controlling the match from dummy half with a peerless kicking and passing game. The Sharks conceded just 2 penalties, the lowest team score this year. This Monday night in the Sutherland Shire, 34 Rugby League players really earned their wages. They all deserved a win bonus.