Big Pete
International Captain
- Mar 12, 2008
- 32,097
- 25,712
- Thread starter
- #235
It's been a few days since the Four Nations final and I've finally had time to digest the Kiwi's victories.
A couple of talking points...
Best Kiwi Performance Ever? Can't say but gee it would have to rank right up there as the best I've seen. They were absolutely relentless and gave Australia very little. In fact, whenever they did come up with a mistake, it was still deep inside Australia's half so they still had the territorial advantage. My hats off to them.
Kiwi Bench - Turned the match for mine. It was a very even game, with Australia starting a touch better but when the likes of Eastwood, Taupau & Harris came on, it swung the momentum of the match.
Manu Vatuvei - Underrated performance of the year? I'd dare say so. Vatuvei was enormous on the wing for NZ. Not only did he score two tries including what would become the match winner but he also did a remarkable job with the football earning the most metres of any player on the park. If you want the big difference between both teams, I reckon it starts with Big Manu.
SJ Man of the Match - It could have gone to several players - Vatuvei, Bromwich, Mannering & Taumalolo but SJ's moments of brilliance as well as his last tackle players were absolutely key.
One Referee - While I believe the two referee system needs to be refined, I can't see how people are using the Four Nations as proof positive that one referee was better. I thought the reffing suffered from the exact same issues - either too many penalties or not enough. As for the performance of Bentham, I thought he made some good calls, but he also made some poor calls too. Two soft head high calls that went both ways, the non-call on Mata'utia's forward pass to Cronk in the lead up to Hunt's try as well as the constant refusal to award Kiwis a last tackle penalty for the Australian challenge on SJ being the highlight.
Australia - I actually thought the Australians played well but simply weren't good enough on the night. Couple of the last tackle plays were poor and I thought the backs cost Australia some precious momentum at times but I thought they did everything they could to bring themselves back into it. However, the Kiwis were just relentless.
Sheenius - I've seen a lot of people point to his use of Hunt but by far his biggest offense for mine is the way he used Corey Parker. Parker was taken off in the 32nd minute and only came on around the 68th - that's approximately 44 minutes of game time! To make matters worse, it was reported that Bird + Thaiday were playing busted so the move made absolutely no sense. Before he came off, I thought Parker was right up there with Cam Smith as the best player for Australia.
Dylan Walker's Pass - Not as forward as Mata'utia's to Cronk, but still a touch forward. Fair call by the touchie.
Surprising Shocker - Didn't notice it at the time but Cooper Cronk didn't have the best of games. Kicking out on the full on the 40/20, lot of pedestrian last tackle plays, the knock on from dummy half (albeit, Mata'utia's ricochet didn't help) etc. I'm a huge fan of Cronk and admired the fact that he didn't give up till the bitter end but not one of his best nights in the office and perhaps another argument against him as far as careers go.
A couple of talking points...
Best Kiwi Performance Ever? Can't say but gee it would have to rank right up there as the best I've seen. They were absolutely relentless and gave Australia very little. In fact, whenever they did come up with a mistake, it was still deep inside Australia's half so they still had the territorial advantage. My hats off to them.
Kiwi Bench - Turned the match for mine. It was a very even game, with Australia starting a touch better but when the likes of Eastwood, Taupau & Harris came on, it swung the momentum of the match.
Manu Vatuvei - Underrated performance of the year? I'd dare say so. Vatuvei was enormous on the wing for NZ. Not only did he score two tries including what would become the match winner but he also did a remarkable job with the football earning the most metres of any player on the park. If you want the big difference between both teams, I reckon it starts with Big Manu.
SJ Man of the Match - It could have gone to several players - Vatuvei, Bromwich, Mannering & Taumalolo but SJ's moments of brilliance as well as his last tackle players were absolutely key.
One Referee - While I believe the two referee system needs to be refined, I can't see how people are using the Four Nations as proof positive that one referee was better. I thought the reffing suffered from the exact same issues - either too many penalties or not enough. As for the performance of Bentham, I thought he made some good calls, but he also made some poor calls too. Two soft head high calls that went both ways, the non-call on Mata'utia's forward pass to Cronk in the lead up to Hunt's try as well as the constant refusal to award Kiwis a last tackle penalty for the Australian challenge on SJ being the highlight.
Australia - I actually thought the Australians played well but simply weren't good enough on the night. Couple of the last tackle plays were poor and I thought the backs cost Australia some precious momentum at times but I thought they did everything they could to bring themselves back into it. However, the Kiwis were just relentless.
Sheenius - I've seen a lot of people point to his use of Hunt but by far his biggest offense for mine is the way he used Corey Parker. Parker was taken off in the 32nd minute and only came on around the 68th - that's approximately 44 minutes of game time! To make matters worse, it was reported that Bird + Thaiday were playing busted so the move made absolutely no sense. Before he came off, I thought Parker was right up there with Cam Smith as the best player for Australia.
Dylan Walker's Pass - Not as forward as Mata'utia's to Cronk, but still a touch forward. Fair call by the touchie.
Surprising Shocker - Didn't notice it at the time but Cooper Cronk didn't have the best of games. Kicking out on the full on the 40/20, lot of pedestrian last tackle plays, the knock on from dummy half (albeit, Mata'utia's ricochet didn't help) etc. I'm a huge fan of Cronk and admired the fact that he didn't give up till the bitter end but not one of his best nights in the office and perhaps another argument against him as far as careers go.
