Match Review thread

[Big Pete]

Caught an old game on Foxtel and wanted to share your opinions? This is the thread for you!

Or just me, I'm a Rugby League nerd and need my summertime fix.

 

[Socnorb]

Nice thread idea BP.

 

[Big Pete]

Round 2 2013
Manly Sea Eagles vs. Newcastle Knights


Before I start talking about the game, why oh why am I watching this?

Well, you see, I'm absolutely dying for some Rugby League. Yes, I am that much of a Rugby League nerd and sadly Fox Sports hasn't been able to satisfy my cravings. However, since I got my hands on the latest Rugby League Annual, I'm now peering through each of their 'featured' match of each round to make better sense of the season that was.

What makes a featured game? Honestly, I'm not sure and a lot of these choices make me scratch my head but I'm willing to go along with it. Since there's a ton of Roosters/Manly games, I'd imagine it's the games that were of the most relevance when everything was said and done.

As for the game itself...

This turned out to be one of those disappointing one-sided affairs, in this case, Manly running out 32-0 victors.

Hardly a surprise given what we know, but coming off Round 1, both teams looked set for big seasons, but in the end Manly were just far too good across the paddock. What I really appreciate about watching this 2013 incarnation of Manly is how much they love the physical aspect of the game. It's like everybody took angry pills (>_> <_<) before the game and just wanted to bash some freakin' heads in and that's what they did here, but in basically all facets.

In a lot of ways, this was a great highlights package of all the stars Manly had in 2013. DCE and Lyon were coming up with great momentum changing playmaking plays, Watmough was tearing the Knights apart in the middle and Taufua was killing it down the left hand fringe.

In the end, Manly won 32-0 in one of their best performances of the season. Not much of a game as a neutral supporter but an easy game to touch on when talking about the merits of the Sea Eagles circa 2013.

I agree with the Dally M votes which were...
3. Jamie Lyon
2. Anthony Watmough
1. Daly-Cherry Evans

Next Up: Round 3 Sharks vs. Warriors.

 

[Porthoz]

Round 2 2013
Manly Sea Eagles vs. Newcastle Knights


Before I start talking about the game, why oh why am I watching this?

Because you're a masochist? Do you cut yourself as well? :aetsch:

Or are you on the good stuff? :stoned:

 

[Morkel]

I wish I had fox. I wish if I had fox I'd have time to watch it.

 

[Big Pete]

Round 3
Cronulla Sharks 28 (Morris, Gordon, Ryan, Tagataese, Robson tries; Gordon 4/5 goals) def. Warriors 4 (Hurrel try; Johnson 0/1 goals)

What a strange game to pick as the 'feature' but I guess the story surrounding the match is what earned it this distinction. Basically, this was the game where Flanagan was re-instated as coach and the Sharks responded with a strong 28-4 performance.

I didn't study the Sharks last year but of what I saw from them, this was their typical good performance where the forwards laid a good platform and the likes of Carney, Robson and Gordon weaved enough magic to win. Also liked how they would use their fringe runners in attack and how structured their plays were, it's something the Broncos could definitely take note of.

Warriors at this stage were absolutely terrible and it frustrates me that we got to play them when the odds were stacked so high in their favour. 4 otherwise easy competition points down the drain, not that we deserved a finals spot but still, that's a point that always annoyed me about this season.

ANYWAYS, silly rant aside, why were the Warriors crap? Well, the swealtering conditions didn't help matters but they were just so lax in defence and kept shooting themselves in the foot with silly mistakes.

Best example I can give is, Shaun Johnson comes up with his usual freakish display kicking two consecutive 40/20s, something I've never seen before. However, in both sets, he knocks on and undoes all the good work, if that doesn't just about sum up his form from that time, I don't know what else does.

They also desperately needed a dummy half, Elijah Taylor and Pita Godinet simply couldn't get the job done and while Friend is as solid as you can get, it's clear his body isn't able to handle the rigors of first grade anymore. Forwards were pretty much all outplayed although I thought Lillyman made a couple of good charges.

If I was voting, it'd be tough because there were a lot of stars out there for the Sharks, I think I'd go...
3. Andrew Fifita
2. Todd Carney
1. Paul Gallen

NEXT UP: Round 1 Roosters vs. Rabbitohs

 

[Broncoman]

I'm a Rugby League tragic and there is every chance I will be a regular poster in this thread.

After watching a few episodes of SpongeBob I decided to pop on a Grand-Final I haven't watched for a while and I choose the 1994 Grand Final between Canberra and Canterbury

This game would be one of the most lopsided Grand-Finals since 1990. The Bulldogs produced a very sloppy performance ridden with basic errors, handling mistakes and silly penalties which gave Canberra an easy advantage which they took with both on hands and went on with the job and won the game easily thrashing a disappointing Canterbury outfit.

The Bulldogs banged it up from the start when Martin Bella fumbled the kick-off and fullback Scott Wilson dropped a high-kick from Stuart after the Raiders first set. Canberra shot out to a 14-0 lead thanks to unlikely hero Paul Osborne who played a big part in the first 2 tries offloading to Furner for the first and offloading to the left side where Nagas raced 50 meters to score. The 3rd try is imo the best of the game where Furner manages to sneak an off-load in a gang tackle and Daley draws left and streaks through a massive gap in the defense. He is ankle-tapped but manages to slam the ball down in the corner. An intercept try from Jason Williams brings the Bulldogs some hope but Noa Nadruku puts the Raiders back out to 12 when he runs over Matt Ryan and scores in the corner just before halftime.

The 2nd half follows the same script as the first as the Bulldogs continue to look out of their depth. Nagas scores his 2nd try from a Stuart kick that rebounds of Halligan (I think) and Furner slips through some poor defence and pops the ball to Jason Croker who scores an easy try. Jason Hetherington who was probably the Bulldogs best gets a lucky try from dummy-half but it's no consolation as fittingly in his farewell game Mal Meninga intercepts a pass from Jason Smith and runs 40 meters to score despite McCracken's efforts to stop him. The score remains unchanged for the final 17 minutes and the Raiders win the premiership with a resounding 36-12 victory.

David Furner receives the CCM after a strong performance in defence and attack but I think Bradley Clyde would've come very close to claiming his third MOM honours!!

Canberra Raiders 36: 2 Tries by Ken Nagas, tries by David Furner, Laurie Daley, Noa Nadruku, Jason Croker and Mal Meninga, 4 goals by David Furner
Canterbury Bulldogs 12: Tries by Jason Williams and Jason Hetherington, 2 goals by Darryl Halligan

Canberra Raiders

1: Brett Mullins
2: Ken Nagas
3: Mal Meninga (Captain)
4: Ruben Wiki
5: Noa Nadruku
6: Laurie Daley
7: Ricky Stuart
8: Quentin Pongia
9: Steve Walters
10: Paul Osborne
11: Jason Croker
12: David Furner
13: Bradley Clyde

14: Brett Hetherington
15: David Westley
(Other reserves weren't used)

Coach: Tim Sheens


Canterbury Bulldogs

1: Scott Wilson
2: Jason Williams
3: Steven Hughes
4: Jarrod McCracken
5: Darryl Halligan
6: Terry Lamb (Captain)
7: Craig Polla-Mounter
8: Darren Britt
9: Jason Hetherington
10: Martin Bella
11: Dean Pay
12: Jason Smith
13: Jim Dymock

14: Matt Ryan
15: Steve Price
16: Simon Gillies
17: Mark Brokenshire

Coach: Chris Anderson

 

[Big Pete]

It's a shame you didn't get the chance to review the matches in the lead up the grand final. The actual 94 finals series was one of the best in NRL history with a ton of classic matches which went right down to the wire and involved some of the best players to ever feature in the sport.

The actual Grand Final was an anti-climax for the reason you basically illustrated, only one team came to play. Not that the result was overly surprising, Mal going out a champion felt fitting and Osborne is one of those names like Craig Smith who fans only remember because of their deeds on Grand Final day.

94 was a damn good time period for the game, such a shame that Super League was less than a year away and all the pety in-fighting began.

Still got to get back into reviewing the Round 1 game, will post my thoughts up soon, even though I'm sure ya'll are still familiar with it and SBW TV.

 

[Huge]

I didn't study the Sharks last year but of what I saw from them, this was their typical good performance where the forwards laid a good platform and the likes of Carney, Robson and Gordon weaved enough magic to win. Also liked how they would use their fringe runners in attack and how structured their plays were, it's something the Broncos could definitely take note of.

Just on that paragraph big Pete , you point out the structured plays which was something I also wrote about during the year. Even though not many posters actually watched Cronulla games , Robson played a big part in the solid structure. When he joined the season before he gave Cronulla a cohesive edge which had been lacking. Carney was good generally no doubt but Flanagan often praised the much maligned ( at least on this forum ) halfback. I even suggested the Broncos would have been better had we signed him instead of Cronulla, boy didn't I get laughed at over that one,

 

[Big Pete]

Robson is like the new age Shane Perry, he can do a job and has the occasional good game but beyond that, he's just a cog.

He fits in at Cronulla, but he isn't what the Broncos needed when you would have made that suggestion.

 

[Huge]

Perhaps, I just thought we needed an organising halfback and not a superstar half. Perhaps we had that with Prince but Robson was also a terrific tackler. Anyhoo, I'll continue to believe Robson is considerably better than the low rating he is given on this forum.

 

[Big Pete]

Fair enough CF.

One thing I'd like to point out is that Prince wasn't really picked up because of his ability to provide structure - it was more so for his talent and his bargain basement price tag. A more apt comparison would be between Robson and Wallace, and you would really have to go back to 2011 when Robson was off contract to get a true gauge of the reactions.

Personally, I think he's just a good fit for Cronulla in this moment, much like Perry was a good fit for Lockyer in 06.

 

[Mr Fourex]

Robson > Wallace

 

[Broncoman]

It's a shame you didn't get the chance to review the matches in the lead up the grand final. The actual 94 finals series was one of the best in NRL history with a ton of classic matches which went right down to the wire and involved some of the best players to ever feature in the sport.

The actual Grand Final was an anti-climax for the reason you basically illustrated, only one team came to play. Not that the result was overly surprising, Mal going out a champion felt fitting and Osborne is one of those names like Craig Smith who fans only remember because of their deeds on Grand Final day.

94 was a damn good time period for the game, such a shame that Super League was less than a year away and all the pety in-fighting began.

Still got to get back into reviewing the Round 1 game, will post my thoughts up soon, even though I'm sure ya'll are still familiar with it and SBW TV.

I would love to see both the games from the 2nd week of the Finals in 1994 both were thrilling fantastic matches that needed field-goals to decide them and the Major Semi-Final (2nd game) needed 20 minutes of extra-time which was decided inside the last 5 minutes.

On a DVD i've got (Magic Moments of the 90's) Andrew Voss said it was the game's most successful and exciting season to that time and I can see why. Record-Crowds, a magic Origin Series (all 3 games had historic and memorable moments, sponsors couldn't get enough and the on-field product was Simply the best. For the sake of this the best season of Rugby League i've seen would probably be 2005 with 2009 a very close second.

 

[GCBRONCO]

Brisbane Broncos vs South Sydney Rabbitohs 1989 Lang Park Round 15

8 Internationals missing, 2 of them injured the others on rep duty the Broncos fielded another patch up side full of reserve grade players and a few experienced players. Pretty scrappy game really, ball handling was poor from both sides at times, particularly from the Broncos and their defense at times allowed Souths plenty of holes to work with.

Broncos received the ball on kick off, hit it up pretty strong but then a penalty is given against the Broncos for being in front of the kicker which sees South's 5/8th Phil Blake score an excellent try early to give them a 4-0 lead. Broncos work hard after the try and french makes a small break, puts in a grubber near the try line but its cleaned up before the try line. The Broncos at times look strong in defence and at other times welcome mats are out for Souths to exploit but struggle to take advantage of them for now, Phil Blake(try saving tackles stopping him) and Les Davidson(bending the line at will, making breaks but losing the ball in the process) are cutting the Broncos to shreds.

About 11 minutes in Terry Matterson kicks for touch from a penalty, doesn't find touch about 30 metres into Souths territory however rebounds off a souths player into the in goal and ends up rolling over the in goal and ends up a line dropout for the Broncos, very funny to see. Plowman, Matterson, Tronc, Donnelly, hit it up hard, Dowling gets the ball and gives Renouf an outstanding offload but Renouf absolutely bombs it with the tryline right there. 22 minutes in French puts in a grubber that sees plenty of Broncos players converging in goal but somehow fail to score what should have been a certain try and Coleman manages to get out amazingly. 4-0 and the Broncos are their own worst enemies, looking dangerous in the first half but just letting themselves down in the ball handling. Broncos starting to get some polish and then French puts in an excellent grubber for a well placed Conescu to score to make it 4-4. Matterson manages to convert and the Broncos lead 6-4. Souths make a huge break down right hand side but somehow fumble it at the end and R Teevan manages to clean it up. Not long after Souths repeat this and Teevan again cleans up in pretty much the same fashion. Souths eventually get a penalty and its 6-6 at halftime, hard game to read at halftime. Should the Broncos be ahead but their mistakes letting them down or are Souths keeping them in the game?

Second half and the Broncos receive an early penalty, French kicks for touch, finds it but means little cause the Broncos again find a way to make a mess of it, then Souths get into the Broncos half and receive a penalty that gives Souths the opportunity to make it 8-6 which they take. Broncos are playing too much side to side football in their half now, giving Souths good field position and again Blake nearly makes them pay for it with a superb break nearing the touchline but unluckily puts a foot on the touchline. Kick from Rix has been charged down by Coleman, they send it wide, Roberts manages an offload to Neville to Adam O'Neill to score in the corner for an excellent try, Souths fail to convert and its 12-6. Souths knock on early in the kick return and then an offside penalty against Souths gives the Broncos an opportunity to make it 12-8. Then Rix on the last tackle manages to kick it dead, giving Souths a golden opportunity in the Broncos half but the Broncos hold on for that set. Broncos are struggling to get out of their own half but do manage to make it deep into the Souths half but to no avail because French puts up a bomb that sees the ball on the next flight to sydney. A couple of sets later, French is on the halfline, puts in a desperate chip kick on the last tackle, regathers and sends Gittins into gap on the outside but is desperately tackled on the last to save a try. Souths long kicking game has been superior, finding plenty of open space and touch line. A mistake early on a kick return by the Broncos leads to Souths having the ball, Matterson cops a forearm to the throat and responds with plenty of punches, sees the Broncos concede an easy 2 points to Souths and its 14-8. Souths well and truely on top, Brisbane stuck deep in their own half and Souths with all the ball possession, Phil Blake makes a dummy half run, puts in a chip and chase, regathers and scores a great try under the posts, 18-8, converted and its 20-8. After that the match is pretty much a slogfest, Broncos getting belted just trying to get out of their half, Souths too much on top to lose this and it ends up 20-8 to Souths.

Phil Blake a worthy man of the match by far, outstanding effort in a rather meh game.

(couldn't find reserve listings sorry)

Broncos:
2. R Teevan
15. K Gittins
3. S Renouf
4. C Johns
5. J Kilroy
6. G French
7. G Rix
8. G Dowling
9 G Conescu
10. S Tronc
27. J Donnelly
12. B Plowman
13. T Matterson

Souths:

1. B Djura
41. S Mavin
3. P Roberts
19. D Neville
5. R Harrington
6. P Blake (C)
7. C Coleman
8. M Lyons
9. J Serdaris
10. D Boyle
11. L Davidson
12. W Chisholm
13. M Andrews

 

[GCBRONCO]

Oh yeah found a video on youtube if you want to watch most of it, I warn you its not the best match though but if your interested in games of the past you haven't seen might be worth it.

 

[Alec]

Perhaps, I just thought we needed an organising halfback and not a superstar half. Perhaps we had that with Prince but Robson was also a terrific tackler. Anyhoo, I'll continue to believe Robson is considerably better than the low rating he is given on this forum.

Wallace used to be able to do it fairly well (the only thing he really could do), but then he suddenly lost all Rugby League ability at once. Prince was doing it late last season, and was actually doing it well.

Now we are kinda screwed IMO, unless Hunt somehow develops it over the offseason.

It's one of the main reasons I want Smith or DCE at the Broncos.

 

[Big Pete]

Still need to get around to watching the second half of Roosters/Rabbits but in the mean time...