As Bill Lawry Would Say: ‘It’s All Happening’

Ashton Agar after getting out for 98 in the First Test

So for once, instead of struggling to come up with a topic to write about, this week there has been so much going on that I couldn’t decide which topic to pick. Therefore, as the fence sitter than I am, I figured I’ll just touch on a bit of everything and then reward myself with a weekend away.

To start, let’s talk about the Origin decider. The Queensland streak remains alive after they hung on to win by two and NSW have to wait another year to try to end the drought. Those who follow me on Twitter or Facebook know that I, like many others, think the biggest issue for NSW was halfback Mitchell Pearce.

The only people I have seen defending Pearce have been Roosters fans and even Roosters fans have been divided on it. I am not questioning Pearce’s heart or effort levels. I think he desperately wants to be the best player he can and gave it his all yet again, but he quite simply isn’t good enough. He is a good defender for his position but NSW need a halfback that can create points and that is something Pearce has not done in five years playing for NSW.

His kicking game is below par and he doesn’t have the dynamic passing or running game. He also didn’t take control of the direction of the team, which lead to many plays that looked like they had no plan.

The argument that a halfback needs a forward pack going forward to be able to perform doesn’t hold water here either as the NSW pack won the arm wrestle. NSW had every opportunity to win game 3 as well as getting the better of the forward back for the last two years in general. Pearce may well be a great guy, but he has had more than enough chances and it’s time NSW make the move they should have made before this series. It’s certainly a popular opinion and I’m not saying anything that hasn’t been said elsewhere over and over, but enough is enough and it’s time the Pearce experiment ends. He just isn’t that good.

Onto the Ashes, where Australia lost the First Test but there were certainly a number of positives to take out of it. From a neutral standpoint it was one of the most entertaining and gripping Tests I have ever watched and whilst Australia ended up on the losing end, it gave me belief that we can absolutely make this a competitive series.

Darren Lehmann’s decision to play Ashton Agar instantly paid off with one of the greatest moments in Test history, with a 19 year old Agar, batting 11 and with Australia in dire straits, getting to 98 (alongside a tremendous knock by Phil Hughes) before holing out trying to get his century.

There is clearly a concern with the top order, which hopefully will be rectified as the series moves forward, but I can’t remember a tail that so consistently wags. Our bowlers are honestly not that much worse at batting than our specialist batsmen are. Which isn’t really a compliment to our batsmen, but is still praise for our bowlers.

As I write this the team for the Second Test was announced and so I had to quickly rewrite this bit about selections for the match. Cowan was axed as expected and replaced by Usman Khawaja, who was the likely replacement. Mitchell Starc also makes way with Ryan Harris getting the nod over Jackson Bird as the replacement fast bowler. Cowan had to go and Starc has been a bit down on form so neither was unexpected. I wasn’t sure whether Harris, Bird or a second spinner would come in depending on the conditions and it’s hard to argue with Ryan Harris getting the nod.

But either way, I’m no longer feeling as down about our chances for the series as I was before the First Test, which is saying something considering we are now officially trailing in the series.

Also a quick point on the whole DRS and Stuart Broad saga. First of all, I think we need to be a bit careful to put all the blame on England, when we got a bit lucky ourselves in the first innings with Agar and the fact that Clarke continues to misuse the review system. That said, Broad should have walked and the fact that he didn’t absolutely makes him a dirty cheat.  Also, the on field umpires were atrocious for both sides and this wouldn’t be an issue if they actually did their job at a level even near competent. Aleem Dar is one of the worst umpires I can remember and it baffles me how he continues to get such big matches. He is like cricket’s Jason Robinson.

Onto Le Tour. Whilst some of the individual stages have been exciting, is it just me or is the fact that Chris Froome is so dominant making the race kind of boring. It’s hard to stay up at night knowing the result is already over barring injury. That’s not to take anything away from Froome himself. He was expected to do this and he is delivering in spades and proving that he probably would have won Le Tour last year as well if his team had let him.

I also think raising speculation of him cheating as the media have been doing is ridiculous. It’s an unfortunately side effect of the sport’s history, but Froome has done nothing to suggest he is cheating besides being really, really good. I’d like to think he isn’t cheating because neither are his competitors anymore. However, should he end up in a doping scandal at any stage, it would be tragic and would be another nail into the coffin of the sport for many people.

We also are currently being graced with the presence of English Premier League champions Manchester United, who are here to play an A-League All Stars team this weekend. Then next Wednesday, my beloved Liverpool will be taking on the Melbourne Victory and I am fortunate enough to be traveling to Melbourne to watch the game. I’ve never seen Liverpool play and I’ve never been to a sporting event at the MCG, so to say I’m excited would be an understatement.

I hope to write about the experience next week, so stay tuned for that and remember, ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’.

Turning Blue

Greg Bird applauds the fans after Game 1

So Origin 1 is behind us and finally NSW will play the series from in front. It was a fascinating game, which had incidents, some brilliance and a potential sign of a change of fortunes.

Overall New South Wales were fantastic and it was exactly the sort of win they needed to allow them to play with confidence for the rest of the series to try and end the Queensland streak. Going into the game, most people seemed to believe that NSW held the edge in the forward pack whilst Queensland had a more dangerous backline and of course held the edge in the all-important spine of 1, 6, 7 and 9.

New South Wales built their foundation on that forward pack and overall they destroyed the Maroon’s forwards, forcing Thurston and Cronk to play on the back foot for most of the game. Guys like Gallen, Watmough and Greg Bird are built to play Origin and didn’t disappoint.

However the standout was clearly Luke Lewis, who had one of the great individual Origin performances. No he didn’t score a try or have that many highlight plays, but his hit ups, tackles and passes were extraordinary and he never stopped. He rightfully won the Man of the Match award and it was well deserved for a player who often doesn’t get the plaudits of some of his more flashy or exciting colleagues.

On the other hand, I thought Mitchell Pearce had a very mediocre game for a victorious NSW side. Before I get accused of Rooster hating, I thought James Maloney was superb on debut and Michael Jennings was brilliant too. Pearce however, was non-existent. The guy is playing halfback, which if you don’t know, is supposed to be a pretty important position in a football team and yet he seemed to barely touch the ball. When he did he mostly just dropped it off for a forward to take a hit up and my only memory of him throwing a longer ball was when he underthrew a pass to Lewis, which Lewis unfortunately couldn’t reel in.

Pearce is a solid defender and he wasn’t poor there, but he certainly was no halfback either. In such a great team performance his individual effort won’t cop much criticism and I know he won’t be dropped, but it still should be pointed out that we won in spite of him and not because of him. Oh, I also thought Ryan Hoffman had a surprisingly poor game with some bad drops and not much impact.

The standouts for NSW in my eyes were the aforementioned Lewis, the always awesome at Origin level despite his club form Jarryd Hayne, Maloney on debut, the ever reliable Robbie Farah and the “Bash Brothers” Bird and Gallen.

This brings me to the Paul Gallen punching Nate Myles incident. Yes, I understand that Origin has a different atmosphere and level of leniency, but in my eyes Gallen was very lucky to stay on the field. It doesn’t matter if Nate Myles is a dirty player or if he plays for Queensland, Gallen put a deliberate high shot on him and then when Myles got up unhappy about it, Gallen rocked him with two punches.

Would Myles have punched Gal if Gal didn’t do it first? Maybe. But that incident was all Gallen and regardless of what game it happened in, in my eyes it is not on. Had a Queenslander done it to a Blue, all of NSW would be crying foul and especially if it happened to a player from the individual club you support. So the idea of “that’s Origin” is bullshit in my eyes. Rugby league is a contact sport but it is not a combat sport, even at Origin. That wasn’t a fight; it was one player deciding to punch another.

So those fans who genuinely think it was awesome, or if you think it’s great because it happened to Nate Myles, I think you watch football for the wrong reasons and need to reconsider your values. I like a bit of Origin biffo as much as the next guy, but last night was not that. Anyway, NSW got a lucky break, but Queensland have had numerous breaks over the last few years so it was bound to even out and I don’t feel too bad.

Meanwhile, what about on the Maroon side of things? They finally looked old after a near decade of dominating the Origin arena. Their forwards were dominated, Thurston was completely out of sorts and even the Storm ‘Big Three’ struggled to impact the game.

Greg Inglis barely touched the ball and the one time he finally got decent possession he created Queensland’s only try. I doubt they will do it, but I think they need to switch Inglis and Slater in Game 2, at least at various points during the game to get Inglis involved. He is simply too important and valuable to them to not utilise more. Plus he is one of the few Queensland playmakers that can create without the forwards getting momentum first.

As a biased Souths and NSW fan however, I hope he stays at centre, barely touches the ball and simply gets through the game unscathed.

Another takeaway from the game last night is that we have all still played as much State of Origin as Josh Reynolds. I like Josh Reynolds and think he will play plenty of Origin in his career. It is not his fault he didn’t play, nor is it his fault he was selected at all. But this idea of selection a utility player for purely backup reasons and not even using him is insane to me. Origin is the hardest, fastest, most tiring form of footy and NSW are giving up one of their bench spots as a ‘break glass in case of injury’ backup plan.

It is no coincidence that as NSW forwards got tired in the second half; Queensland scored their try and came close to scoring more. Yes we won anyway, but it damn sure would have been a lot more comfortable if we had another player with fresh legs out there. I don’t care if it’s a prop like Tim Grant or a bigger utility that can cover halves like John Sutton, but all 17 positions should be utilised.

A win should never cloud over things that weren’t good just because the overall result was.

Finally, it is being reported that Robbie Farah may have a broken eye socket and is in doubt for Origin 2. That is a nightmare for NSW as Farah is probably the hardest player to replace in the entire team. Go on, name his direct replacement if he can’t play, I’ll wait….

…

Exactly.

Who are our options at 9 without Farah?

Michael Ennis? He’s a mediocre footballer and failed at Origin level already

Josh Reynolds? A good player and would have replaced Farah if Farah came off in Game 1, but he isn’t a hooker.

Mitch Rein and Nathan Peats? Like them both as youngsters but nowhere near Origin level right now and I don’t think either would argue that.

Ryan Hinchcliffe? To be honest I feel like I’d pick Hinchy out of these names even though he is mostly playing lock, but I wouldn’t be happy about it. At least I trust him as a player and feel like he’d handle the Origin cauldron, but the gap from Farah down to the other options is troubling to say the least.

If I’m forgetting anyone please let me know.

Anyway, NSW got a fantastic result in Game 1 and look like a great chance to finally reclaim the Origin crown. I’ll just spend the next three weeks praying to the great cockroach in the sky that Robbie Farah is back in time for the next instalment.

Is Anyone Else Underwhelmed?

The Panthers celebrating during their huge win over the Warriors

We are now 10 rounds into the 2013 NRL season and I think that is a fair enough length of time to reflect on what we have seen overall so far. Whilst from a biased perspective as a Rabbitohs fan the season has been great, as a general rugby league fan I feel like 2013 has been quite frankly, rubbish.

Taking all bias out of consideration depending on which team you support and which teams you hate, if you simply look at the games player this year, in my opinion the quality of matches has been poor. There have simply been more bad matches than good compared to previous years.

When you look at the NRL ladder there is certainly a logjam in the middle of the table, which is something the NRL is striving for, as only the few bottom teams have been truly uncompetitive and out of contention. However does the fact that excluding the top and bottom outliers, everyone else can seemingly beat each other on any given day make the league better overall?

Obviously the entire purpose of the salary cap is to prevent overwhelming dynasties and prevent teams from not being able to compete. But so far this year, just because the league is close has not meant the matches have been good.

Many games have been blowouts, culminating in Round 10 when an overwhelming majority of games were complete massacres. Funnily enough, it ended up being the round that ended with a draw after Golden Point, but that was played between two of the premier teams of not just this season, but the decade as a whole.

After watching the Rabbitohs destroy the Tigers, in expected fashion mind you, 54-10 on Friday night, the odds you could have gotten that it would be the biggest margin or winning score of the weekend would have been very short. However Penrith then went on to beat the NZ Warriors 62-6 the following night. Adding to that, the Broncos beat the Titans 32-6, the Dragons beat the Eels 32-12 and the Knights beat the Bulldogs 44-8. All of those blowout winners were the home team.

Interestingly enough, those last three matches I tipped the losing team to win the game and I was proven to be extremely wrong. So the league is close enough and competitive enough for it to be possible to have no idea who is going to win (or least I clearly didn’t), but the individual matches have so often been uncompetitive. Why is it that teams seem to either turn up and play great or not to turn at all?

For the couple of weeks prior to their Newcastle loss, the Bulldogs started to build some ominous form, with their players returning and some impressive performances. But then the simply don’t turn up for the Newcastle game.

The Warriors have had a terrible season, but have been competitive in numerous matches before blowing late leads. But when they travel away from home, they leave all their talent in Auckland.

There have even been numerous matches this season that were close on the scoreboard but poorly played on the field. The high flying Roosters beat the Broncos earlier in the season 8-0 in one of the worst games I’ve ever watched and even my Rabbitohs have won a couple of games I’d rather forget about.

Overall, I seem to walk away after each footy weekend thinking that more than half the matches were simply bad and I know I’m not alone as numerous friends have said the same.

But why is this happening? We have a lot of great young talent coming through and there is clearly quite a lot of parity through most of the competition. The only answer I can come to is that there is a lack of age and experience shining through right now.

In an age where teams are trained to exploit any weakness in a defence, young players or defensively frail players have nowhere to hide and are being exploited over and over again.

The Holden Cup competition has given us many good young players, but the defensive side of that competition leaves a lot to be desired and the gap to the NRL has widened. This is why many clubs are now finding it smarter to have their young players play in the NSW or QLD Cup competitions where they compete against men as opposed to other boys.

Teams like Parramatta and the Warriors have brought up numerous young and talented players and on paper it seems like they should be competitive. But when they actually take the field, there are simply too many players who haven’t been conditioned to defend against quality attacks and they are being torn apart. Additionally, the pace of the game at NRL level is so much more physically demanding and it gets faster every year, so players are getting tired quicker and are being exploited for it.

I love watching the Under 20’s competition and following the young talented players, but the process of bringing them along in first grade is complex and requires patience and timing, which is something many teams either haven’t shown or are unable to show due to injuries or lack of depth.

When you compare it to the NBA, every year teams talk about the young, talented, up and coming teams full of great athletes and how they are taking the NBA by storm. Then the playoffs roll around and they get manhandled by the old pros and sent packing.

Teams need to find a way to better prepare their younger players for the NRL before they are thrown to the wolves, or else these sorts of inconsistent performances will continue.

Long term I think the NRL should change the Holden Cup from U20s to U22s or even U23s so players are given more time to develop in the NYC competition as opposed to the State competition. For right now though, I think we are simply going to have to get used to these lacklustre performances while we wait for the talented players to actually turn into good ones.

Finding Their Bite

The Bulldogs need more of this from Tony Williams

Last season’s beaten NRL Grand Finalists the Canterbury Bulldogs came into the 2013 with high expectations. It is now year two of the Des Hasler era and along with their recruitment of Tony Williams and progress of their young players, it seemed like 2013 would be a year to give the title a real shake.

We knew they would be without James Graham for the first couple of months after he took the team mascot too seriously and bit Billy Slater in the Grand Final, but then came the injuries and the Ben Barba saga to throw a spanner in the works.

Despite those issues, most thought the Doggies would still be solid and hold the fort until all their names were back. However, after a 1-4 start to the season, including an uninspiring performance last Friday against Manly, we have to wonder if or when they will re-find their mojo.

Ben Barba ended up only missing three games and was back in time for the big match against the Rabbitohs in round 4. He went ok in that match given the circumstances and I thought the Bulldogs overall were good in a losing effort against a top opponent. But they followed that up with the Manly performance, where Barba looked like he had little interest in being there and certainly didn’t seem in a position to contribute positively to his team.

Speaking of having little interest and not contributing positively, Tony Williams has been less T-Rex and more Barney the Dinosaur since moving from Brookvale to Belmore. I don’t know if it is a fitness issue or a motivation issue, but he has been not only a bust in terms of the money he is being paid, but he is actually worse for the Bulldogs on the field than if he were not playing at all.

His defence is mediocre; he is not running hard and worst of all he doesn’t even stand correctly in the attacking line so he can receive the ball. Last year at Manly he would hit the ball at pace and put the defensive line on the back foot; this year he is standing in front of his teammates so any pass to him would be a deliberate forward pass penalty.

Right now I would imagine he is zero chance of playing in the upcoming Test match or for NSW in State of Origin and it would take a massive turnaround to get him his Blues jersey back. But for the Bulldogs to get back to contending for a title, turning Williams back into the T-Rex will be crucial.

With Inu and Graham both still a few weeks away from returning from suspension and Kasiano still not ready to go, the Bulldogs have a tough few weeks ahead of them. Being 1-4 is a salvageable position if it is turned around relatively quickly. They have been slow starters in the past and managed to contend, however the elastic band only stretches so far before it snaps.

What is very unlucky for the Bulldogs is that in a season where they were going to be under the pump with players out to start the season, they also managed to have the most difficult draw imaginable. In the first five rounds of the season, they played the four teams that finished directly below them in positions 2-5 on the ladder last season. The only other team they played was Parramatta and that of course is their lone victory.

The Storm, Rabbitohs and Sea Eagles have been the benchmark teams once again this year and whilst the Cowboys have not been great either, they played well enough in Round 1 and got the points. When you combine the missing players with the quality of their opposition, the Bulldogs have been up against it from Round 1.

That brings us to Round 6. This Friday night the Bulldogs travel to Allianz Stadium to take on the Sydney Roosters. The Roosters had been looking fantastic and with an impenetrable defence until their second half collapse in Canberra last weekend. Now both teams will be desperate for the victory.

With a logjam in the middle of the table, the difference between the Roosters going 4-2 or 3-3 at the Anzac Test week off is massive. Had they held on against the Raiders, there might have been less urgency to the match for the Tri-Colours.

For the Bulldogs, this match is everything. Not only is it the difference between being 2-4 or 1-5, it is Sonny Bill Williams’ first match against his old side and the Doggies’ fans will be calling for blood. When Willie Mason faced a similar (if not quite as hostile as this Friday will be) reaction in his first match for the Roosters against the Bulldogs, he delivered probably his best performance for the Roosters in a one sided affair. If Sonny Bill Williams’ does the same then we might be seeing the Bulldogs digging a hole from which it will be very difficult to get out.

Either way, we are going to learn a lot about both teams on Friday night. The Roosters are clearly good, but how good? At this point I think they are a playoff team without being a real threat to the Premiership. They will destroy bad teams like they did to Parramatta, but good teams won’t back down against them. If the Roosters can start beating the good teams, then maybe we will have a real contender on our hands.

The Bulldogs at their best are clearly contenders. But by the time they reach their best, if they ever get there at all, it might be too late. Not every team can go on the run Parramatta went on in 2009 to the Grand Final and the Bulldogs season needs to start on Friday night before the Test Match and City vs. Country weekend.

Come Friday night their bite needs to be as big as their bark once again.

Busted Broncos

Corey Norman makes a break against the Cowboys

The Brisbane Broncos are not very good. This is not new information or something no one else is saying, but rather an accepted reality in 2013, albeit one we are not used to. We are used to the Broncos being perennial contenders or at least making the finals, as well as Suncorp Stadium being a near impossible place to go and win for an away side.

Obviously with Wayne Bennett now a few years removed from the club and the retirement of Darren Lockyer, that wasn’t going to last forever. It is a transitional phase for the club but Anthony Griffin had seemed like a good coach and they always have a factory of young players to call on to keep them competitive.

However, this season the wheels have completely fallen off. Now you might argue that it has only been three matches and for all we know they will win every game from now until September, but that still doesn’t change my mind.

One thing the Broncos have always done well is develop talent and typically be able to keep that talent at least until salary cap pressure from too much success forces them to make tough decisions. But in 2013, the Broncos are letting their best young player leave at the end of the season with no real foresight or long term plan.

Basically every footy fan I know believe that Corey Norman is the best young player on the Broncos, as well as one of the best young talents in the game. He is clearly at his best with playing his natural position of five-eighth, but due to the signing of Scott Prince he has been put at fullback so far this season. Now that would be fine, even if I disagree with it in the short term, if it simply ended there. Young players have often had to wait their turn while a veteran filled their best position. But now Corey Norman has signed to play for the Parramatta Eels in 2014 and the Broncos do not seem to be all that fussed by it.

The fact that Norman was available and that the Broncos didn’t seem all that intent on re-signing him was an open secret and the Eels were constantly rumoured to be his destination, especially after missing out on Josh Papalii. It is a fantastic signing for the Eels and gives them a long term spine to build around with Hayne, Norman and Sandow in three of the four key positions.

But why would the Broncos simply let him go without a fight? Do they genuinely believe he isn’t that good, do they honestly believe they are set with Scott Prince and Peter Wallace? Or is there more to Corey Norman that we simply don’t know and they didn’t want the headache anymore?

As far as I can tell, Anthony Griffin is simply choosing to build around the newly returned Scott Prince at five-eighth, despite the fact he is 33 years old and already seems to be a shell of his former self. Prince and Wallace together simply do not have enough attacking skill between them at this stage to lead a team to win more than they lose. They are both solid defensively, Wallace in particular, and overall the Broncos are still a good defensive side. But that isn’t going to do all that much when you quite simply cannot manufacture points.

It is a very similar situation to the one the St George Illawarra Dragons find themselves in. At the end of the day it doesn’t matter if you have try scorers and game breaker on the edges or wings, if you don’t have the halves to get them the ball in the right situations you will never get the chance to use those weapons.

But let’s say Scott Prince was playing at his best right now. It is still a horrible decision to let Corey Norman leave. No one beats Father Time and Scott Prince is not someone you can build around at this juncture. Even if you continue to play Norman at fullback, until you decide Prince can’t go anymore, fullback is still a vital position and one worthy of paying Norman the money he received from Parramatta.

The problem is that Griffin has a different mindset to the fans/club at this stage. Griffin needs to think short term because his job is on the line right now. I disagree he is making the correct decisions even in the short term, but even if he was right, it still is valuing short term competitiveness over long term success, which often ends in disaster.

I also do not understand playing captain Sam Thaiday at prop. The guy has been one of the best back rowers in the league for a decade or so and the club is not short of props anyway. I understand that they want to play Glenn, Gillett and Parker and therefore figure they can just put 10 on Thaiday’s back, but it isn’t a best use of their squad in my eyes.

I would move Gillett back to the bench to be the most damaging of impact players and let Thaiday go back to his natural spot at 12.

Broncos’ fans expect success because they have grown accustomed to it and I understand there is a lot of pressure on Griffin to be in “win now” mode. Also, despite the fact that they are Queenslanders, I give Broncos fans just enough credit to understand that they are rebuilding and need to develop their young players for the next golden era.

But there is no rhyme or reason to what the Broncos are doing right now and with this current strategy I can’t see success in either the short or longer term. When Corey Norman is killing it in blue and gold next year, I imagine Anthony Griffin will be shaking his head and wishing he was still coaching in the NRL.