Entries Tagged 'Rugby League' ↓

I’ve just finished watching the Warriors lose to the Eels, and while the result will eventually be forgotten, the fumbling, bumbling performance of Manu Vatuvei will not be.

This was the absolute worst display by a winger I have ever seen, the last 20 minutes of the game was torture for the winger, and torture for any Warriors fan watching.

His body language was awful, you could tell he just wanted to be somewhere else, and the Eels as you would expect did not let up with bombs and grubbers aimed straight for him. Things got so bad that the attacking Eels players did not always play for the ball – they were that confident he would fumble.

I felt really sad and sorry for Manu, because there is a high chance his confidence will not recover from the number of dropped balls and fumbles. I certainly hope it does, because when he is on song, he is awesome to watch. We’ve just not seen it for a long time.

Ivan Cleary was in a tough position – he could have benched him and run the risk of destroying his confidence even more . . .although the Eels ended up doing a good job of that.

If I were Ivan I would be having a quiet word Kiwi’s coach Brian McClennan, who has been able to extract some good performances from Vatuvei.

OK, right, let me get this straight.

In order to soak up time and get the ball back and minimise the chances of the Warrior’s winning the Cronulla Sharks decide to miss a penalty on purpose. . . .

This resulted in a goal line drop out, from which the Warriors regained possession with all of 5 seconds left. The game goes to the Sharks.

So is it dodgy to miss a penalty on purpose?

I read a few opinions about it on a Sharks forum, some interesting comments there.

It’s a sign of the times. In the same way that players were taking dives to milk obstruction penalties, this is simply the demonstration of a win at all costs attitude.

That don’t make it right though. The Sharks should have been penalised for missing on purpose. Sure they Sharks had just received a penalty; there should be an adequate reward for this. But if the two points was not sufficient, then why not tap and go, and use the six tackles?

What they did sets a silly precedent - imagine if this happened in a test or origin match - the fans and media would be going nuts.

I wondered what my thoughts would have been if the Warriors had been the team to miss on purpose. I can confirm my opinion would have been the same. This sort if action is bad for the sport and needs to be sorted now.

The biggest surprise I got watching the Warriors verus Sharks match tonight, was not the result, (an upset win to the Sharks) it was the sight of Misi Taulapapa playing fullback for Cronulla.

If you recall, he was booted out of the Warriors in 2006 for repeated breaches of team discipline involving alcohol.

I think he ended up joining North Queensland, and was playing lower grades. I’ve no idea when, why or how he ended up joining the Sharks, but good luck to him.

He scored a try against the Warriors, and apart from fumbling the ball when the Warriors kicked off again, looked really good, with a few other nice touches.

I wonder if his issues with booze are behind him - I certainly hope so, because he is a good player who will carve out a respectable NRL career if he stays focused.

The obstruction rule has caused a ton of angst in the NRL this year – there have been plenty of tries disallowed that should have been awarded.

But changing the rule is avoiding the issue. The issue is two fold. Players are using it to milk penalties and referees are not interpreting the rule correctly.

I actually think it is a good rule. I don’t know the exact wording, but I agree that ‘decoy runners should not be allowed to interfere with the defensive line’. Decoy runners are all well and good, but if they do prevent tackles being made, then there is an issue.

For the referee, the tricky part comes when deciding whether or not the defensive line was indeed interfered with. Actually, it’s not that tricky, but it’s difficult to establish any sort of benchmark, because each case is unique. It comes down to the interpretation of the video referee.

Aside from the two disallowed tries, there was one more terrible call against the Warriors when they took on the Rabbitohs. It was when the Warriors were on attack. Rovelli had the ball, got tackled near the try line, but flicked the ball out directly behind himself. Todd Byrne picked up the ball, but of course there were about 3 players, including Rovelli about three metres ahead of him. As soon as he moved, the ref called obstruction . . . the thing is though, that when Byrne got the ball, all the team mates were already ahead of him, there was nothing he could do. Based on this interpretation, Grant Rovelli should have held the ball instead of keeping it alive ☹

Oh, and one more thing . . . The fact that these decisions only go to the video referee when a try is (or is not) scored, and not on previous plays is clearly inconsistent. However, it’s the same for other rules. For example, if the referee misses a forward pass, then three plays later a try is scored, the video referee cannot go back and rule a forward pass. This is a separate issue that needs to be addressed somehow.

I was pretty happy with the first up performance of Krisnan Inu – secure under the high ball, and generally safe all round. He did not look over awed, which is a great sign that he was not out of place in a test match.

He did well to field a Lockyer kick that was low to the ground with Brent Tate looming in the first half. The Kiwis were penalised for taking out Lockyer late after the kick so the good work was wasted somewhat.

We saw little of him on attack, his kick returns were unspectacular, but at least they were safe and mistake free. It will be interesting to see if he will get more game time at the Eels now that he has played test footy.

The other newbies did OK as well. Greg Eastwood strikes me as being a game breaker – his pass to Benji with the line beckoning was good, as was his involvement in the movement that ended with Jake Webster spilling the ball.

Ben Roberts, in his second game was good, and threatened at times, but at no stage took control. With more matches he will be get better. There was the dropped bomb of course, and I’ve no idea why he was at the back catching it instead of Krisnan Inu.

It was gutting to lost – it always is, but at least the score did not blow out as it threatened to do. SBW was disappointing, while Benji got better when he got involved. If anyone was going to crack this game open for us it was going to be one of Marshall, Roberts or Eastwood.

Oh well, onwards and upwards, back to the NRL till the next match. I’ve not doubt we’ll be better for the experience.

Stacey Jones should make up his mind about the Kiwis and decide if he wants to play in the 2008 Rugby League World Cup. We have limited options at halfback, and need all opportunities between now and the world cup to sort out who our best halfback is.

If he wants to play all the way through, then great - what a player to have. This does not mean he has to play every match between now and then, but we can plan for the tournament knowing he will be there. If he chooses to retire for good, then fine, his legendary status in the game does not change.

What he can’t do is play on the end of year tour, and then retire again. That does his credibility and our world cup chances no good.

So Stace, what’s it to be?

Well, I wondered what Bluey was planning, and now the picture is clearer.

He’s stated that this is the start of a campaign that will finish with the World Cup next year. This match is being treated as an opportunity to develop younger players, hence the likes of Krisnan Inu, Greg Eastwood and Ben Roberts all getting a shot at the top level.

I reckon it’s a good thing, but some people will be wondering if the Kiwis are sacrificing a chance at victory by blooding players with little experience.

As for Krisnan Inu, well I’ve heard of him, but have no idea what he plays (or looks) like. The selectors know what they are doing, so lets assume he’s up to the task. It’s a tough match to debut in as we normally get a pounding. The Aussies know this as well, so have not had to make many tough selection calls.

The Aussie team is a good one as they always are, but it’s far from a great team. The omission of Mark O’Meley was a surprise. The likes of Tate, Lyon are not playing as well as they have, but are proven performers at the top level.

In theory it’s another hiding coming up. But eventually we will pinch one, and when we do it will be oh so sweet - bring on Friday.

With David Kidwell out of the Anzac test match, there is no longer an obvious replacement.

One thing is for sure, Graham Lowe will be calling for Sonny Bill Williams to be made captain – he’s been vocal about this for some time now, so it will no doubt pop up in his NZ Herald column this week or next.

I don’t think SBW is a good choice. First he needs to get over his injury problems to a point where he at least plays more test matches than he misses. Aside from that he does not strike me as leadership material – yet. Give him a few more years and then lets see.

It will likely come down to Roy Asotasi, Nathan Cayless and Tony Puletua. The problem with Asotasi is that he, like Williams does not yet strike me as being captaincy material. The problem with Cayless is that he may not always be an automatic selection in the future.

For this match I would go with Puletua as he’s captained at club level, is an experienced player and well respected by his team-mates.

However, I think there is one more player that should be mentioned as a possible captain, and that’s Benji Marshall. It would be a huge amount of pressure for him, especially given our terrible record in Anzac test matches, but this won’t faze him.

Although he doesn’t captain his club team he strikes me as being mature enough and level headed enough to do the job. Also in his favour is the fact that aside from the captaincy, the Kiwis have a leadership group, so he’ll have plenty of support.

Anyhows, we’ll find out in the next two weeks.

Incidentally, what a freaky story about Kidwell . . . exactly how do you rupture knee ligaments by falling over your daughter?? South Sydney’s insurance company are probably asking the same question ☺

Three games into the NRL campaign, and Manu Vatuvei has hardly seen the ball. Michael Crockett has impressed with his pace and ability to finish, but poor old Manu has been stranded on the other wing.

The Warriors have not been able to get enough ball to him on attack this season, and he has instead been limited to running the ball back from his own line, and the odd run down the sideline. With limited chances against Melbourne he showed how devastating he can be.

With the Anzac test a few weeks away, Bluey McClennan will be wanting the winger to be on form - but he needs some ball (and a dash of time and space) to get there. If his centres can’t get him the ball, he needs to get more involved, and go looking for the ball.

While I am just as happy as anyone else that the Warriors have made a great start to the 2007 season, my mind can’t help but wander to something important – the Anzac test match.

Yup, the annual test match that usually involves the Kiwi’s getting a hammering is less than a month away. I’ve not read much about it, but I’ve no doubt that coach Brian McClennan would have been planning for this for a long time.

It’s a game I look forward to every year, as it is usually the only test match we play during the regular season. After a hiding in one of these matches I recall the then coach Daniel Anderson saying the match should be scrapped. This was due to the inadequate preparation – a late starting camp, jet-lagged players from the UK, suspensions, injuries etc.

Under coach McClennan, the Kiwis have been better the longer they are in camp together, so the short preparation time will be a factor. However it’s a factor we know about, which means a solution can be found.

Despite the regular hidings, I always have a great deal of optimism that we can win – and why not? We have the players and the coach to do it.

Bluey knows is as well, so lets assume he has been planning exactly how it will be done.

UPDATE: The hype has begun. Since the rep season launch function in Australia, the media coverage has increased greatly.