NRL Grand Final - Sydney Roosters vs. Manly Warringah Sea Eagles

[Anonymous person]

I thought you weren't watching any more games this year after Melbourne lost?

I'll watch whatever I want thanks ;)

 

[Kimlo]

did no such thing. i said it looked like he was going down the path of being a player who played 1 season too long - and at that stage he most certainly was. he was terrible for a fair while there.

anyway thats the last im saying about that as youre the one taking it off topic and im not going to continue as ill be the one who gets banned for you baiting.

But he wasn't, was he? His last year was arguably one of his finest. So you were wrong. I could say the same thing in reverse, at the time you were saying Friend was a star, he wasn't anything near it so at the time you were wrong.

 

[Nashy]

Darren Lockyer played no part in the 2013 Grand Final, so why the **** is he being discussed. Move on or warnings will be issued and thread bans will ensue.

 

[Anonymous person]

so who here thinks we just saw sonny bills last match of rugby league? *raises hand*

 

[Kimlo]

I hope not, he's a super talent and very exciting to watch. He is also the ultimate professional on and off the field and is a credit to the game while also being a huge publicity machine. I really hope he stays on in the NRL.

 

[Nashy]

He's still a dog in my eyes. He can leave. Money is all he cares about.

 

[KingWebcke]

I have a lot more respect for SBW now than I did at the start of the year, so I'll be sad to see him go. when you actually listen to him speak (rather than whatever is being written about him in the newspapers) he sounds quite humble and down to earth. he obviously has a lot of baggage but I think the image that most people have of him is more of a media caricature than an accurate reflection of him as a person.

the only time he comes across as a **** is when he is around Mundine, which really just says that he some duds friends (don't we all)

 

[Alec]

Yeah, he's become a good bloke since bailing out on the Bulldogs. He admitted that was wrong afterwards and that he'll regret doing that to them forever. CH9 loves to treat him like some god, but he seems to be happy just to do what's needed for the team and stay out of the spotlight if they let him.

I wish he stayed, but played for a less disgusting team than the Roosters.

 

[Big Pete]

Finally got around to watching a replay of a game.

Still holds up as a cracking contest. Manly started each half on fire but just didn't have the cattle the Roosters did. Eventually the Sea Eagles defence would fatigue and this would allow the Roosters offence to shine.

Talking points...

Clive Churchill medalist - Daly Cherry Evans - Still a fair call. Was the best player across the 80 and was still coming up with smart plays till the death. Only real complaint I have of him is that he should have moved around the field more when Manly were desperate for points. Sticking him on the right hand side just made it easy for the defence and I think Manly had more points in them down the left.

For those saying a MotM should go to a winning team - who deserved the award for the Roosters? I thought both Maloney and SBW were pretty inconsistent. I thought the Roosters best on the night was Friend, Moa also had a really good game I thought.

The Refs - I liked how they reffed the match actually. They could have been really nitpicky at times but they kept the game fair. Wouldn't call it a good performance though as they seemed to make a bunch of bad calls that went the Chooks way (Pearce knock, Pearce hand in the play the ball, forward pass, Jennings playing at the kick etc.).

Pearce - Didn't star or anything but thought he put forward a genuinely solid performance. Couple of very good kicks which earned territory or repeat sets and did set up a try, albeit I thought the run from Moa was more pivotal.

Matt Geyer Award - David Williams. Poor ol' Davey had a shocker - bundled into touch, knocked on a potential game changing intercept, dropped what could have been a match winner, was evidently spooked by Tupou and allowed Jennings to score the match winner....yeah well deserved.

 

[Dexter]

Yeah Williams stunk the place up but I thought he was helped a lot by Lyon, the backwards flick pass was unnecessary and ended up hard and low and he got put into touch because Lyon gave him a ball that could only end up that way.

Good to see you have come around to the the chooks getting the rub of the green, they were the team that benefited most from the bad decisions.

 

[Big Pete]

In fairness, the majority of those calls happened very early in the game and didn't have a bearing on the game - the footy gods dealt with it.

 

[KingWebcke]

I don't mind DCE as a winner but I think Sam Moa would have been more deserving. I don't think the CC should automatically go to the winning team but I think if you are going to win it on a losing side, you should have put in an outstanding performance that puts you head and shoulders above the rest. while he was easily one of the best players on the field (arguably even the best), I don't think DCE was far enough above the rest to win the MOTM when Manly still went down. Especially because the real defining brilliance of his play was really restricted to a 15-20 minute period in the second half. and also, I find his decision to continually target Daniel Tupou with kicks something that should count against him; it was a really poor strategy in my opinion.

in contrast, I thought Moa played a really valuable game. the Roosters got beaten in the middle for a lot of the game but I thought Moa was excellent. He took some great runs and I don't recall him getting driven back or flipped on his back at all; he always pushed through the tackle. He also put on some great shots in defence - there was one really good one in the first half but I can't remember who it was on. But he also had some more important contributions, like throwing the pass to put SBW through the line and it was his run that partially sucked in the Manly defensive line towards the posts, which resulted in Guerra's try. I thought he played the perfect front rowers game. but obviously, the fact that the CC Medal is chosen by the Australian selectors means that a Kiwi isn't going to win the award ...

Clive Churchill medalist - Daly Cherry Evans - Still a fair call. Was the best player across the 80 and was still coming up with smart plays till the death. Only real complaint I have of him is that he should have moved around the field more when Manly were desperate for points. Sticking him on the right hand side just made it easy for the defence and I think Manly had more points in them down the left.

I didn't like DCE staying out on the right (well, I just hate left/right halves all the time) but I don't know that it actually weakened Manly. I thought Manly's left side attack looked very fluid. Foran was making some really nice passes and I'm not sure that bringing DCE over a lot would have made it that much better. In contrast, I thought Manly's right side actually looked a bit stunted. I'm inclined to blame that on Glenn Stewart but the right side attack depended more heavily on DCE's individual brilliance. Of the two edges, I thought Manly's right side was the one that had more (unrealised) points in it.

 

[KingWebcke]

quote from McCarthy: "You have got a bloke like Sam Moa who played his arse off for 46 (minutes) but then you can’t give a medal for that." - See more at: No Cookies | thetelegraph.com.au

that guy is a bloody moron. first of all, Moa played 54 minutes and not 46 minutes. secondly, a forward playing limited minutes didn't stop you when it came time to award the CC Medal to Willie Mason or Brent Kite.

 

[Morkel]

quote from McCarthy: "You have got a bloke like Sam Moa who played his arse off for 46 (minutes) but then you can’t give a medal for that." - See more at: No Cookies | thetelegraph.com.au

that guy is a bloody moron. first of all, Moa played 54 minutes and not 46 minutes. secondly, a forward playing limited minutes didn't stop you when it came time to award the CC Medal to Willie Mason or Brent Kite.

Was going to post the exact same thing. What a stupid thing for him to say.

 

[Anonymous person]

In fairness, the majority of those calls happened very early in the game and didn't have a bearing on the game - the footy gods dealt with it.

i dont agree with that. thats like saying the 7th tackle try against the cowboys didnt have a bearing on the game because it was early on.

 

[Broncoman]

Friend is probably the 3rd best hooker these days, very slightly behind Farah. Meanwhile the best NSW have coming through is....Rein?

Ryan Hinchcliffe is a very capable hooker and is a versatile forward wouldn't be out of place in a Blues jersey imo.

 

[Alec]

Ryan Hinchcliffe is a very capable hooker and is a versatile forward wouldn't be out of place in a Blues jersey imo.

He's pretty much the same age as Farah. He's still not exactly great there either though.

 

[Big Pete]

i dont agree with that. thats like saying the 7th tackle try against the cowboys didnt have a bearing on the game because it was early on.

Not really because those calls didn't result in anything. Maloney kicked it out on the full and the Pearce hand in the play the ball saw Guerra drop it on the second tackle. Even then, the latter was consistent with the knock on call against JWH.