| The View: Fox Sports provides its take on round 17 of the NRL season | | Print | |
| Tuesday, 07 July 2009 15:06 | |||
 Epic ... Manly's win gets our vote for game of the season. Mark Kolbe/Getty Defence played second fiddle to attack in round 17 of the NRL, ensuring spectator's necks felt the wrath of some exciting end-to-end football. Here's our view on the weekend that was. Ups and downs: Brisbane Broncos had been looking for something to get them over the line in the past month, and it took a 33-year-old who hadn’t played since last year's semi-final loss to Melbourne Storm to answer their call. Coming off the bench in Brisbane’s must-win clash with the Warriors, veteran Tonie Carroll was back to his intimidating best as his side scored a 28-14 victory over the Warriors. In the 42 minutes he spent on the field, the big man ended up with 15 runs for 121 metres and made 15 tackles. But the Broncos' first win after four losses on the trot has come at a high cost, with Israel Folau ruled out for eight weeks with a fractured foot. The Queensland powerhouse has claimed 12 tries this year and averaged 14 runs for 121 metres and four tackle busts per match.
Dally M Darling: Jamie Soward loves reminding Sydney Roosters what they let go of, and he did it again with a five-star performance on Friday night. The former Chook ran riot against his old team-mates, exhibiting a blinding display of speed to rack up a match aggregate of 208 run metres, which included two tries. The diminutive five-eighth was also effective in defence, admittedly not capable of side-splitting hits, but for the way he twice opportunistically scooped up loose Roosters passes in the second half and sprinted downfield to put his team in good position. Fittingly, Soward capped a fine all-round display in the 79th minute when he ran 80 metres to grab his second, before high-fiving the jubilant Dragons mascot. Game of the season so far: Manly’s 19-12 win over the Bulldogs on Monday night epitomised everything we love about rugby league: skilful ball movement; bruising defence and a bit of biff for good measure. This game was destined to have more than a pinch of feeling after the Bulldogs thumped the 2008 premiers back in round one - and it certainly didn’t disappoint. An early swinging arm from volatile Manly centre Steve Matai set the trend for an encounter that had unknowing NSW team-mates almost coming to blows. Brett Kimmorley exchanged pleasantries with Glenn Stewart and Anthony Watmough, two men he’ll be steering round the park for the Blues against Queensland at Suncorp Stadium on July 15. When the team’s got down to football, it was the Bulldogs’ last-ditch defence that, despite the loss, showed why they’ll be around at least until the back end of September. Bryson Goodwin’s flick to Josh Morris for the visitor’s opening try resembled a skill level more often seen in America’s NBA league. Anthony Watmough was at his bulldozing best, and right in the thick of things when Goodwin unleashed an unsavoury spear tackle on Michael Robertson after David Williams’s match-turning try. It was a proud night for the Northern Beaches faithful in what has been a difficult season, and as valiant as the Dogs were, the Sea Eagles have sounded a huge warning to the rest of the competition. There were 383 points scored in the eight matches – at an average of 48 points per game. The Rabbitohs-Tigers fixture was, predictably a high-scoring encounter (74), closely followed by Eels-Panthers (72) and Raiders-Titans (62). The mark represented a huge jump on round 16 when only 272 points were scored in seven games at an average of 38 per game. And if you travel back to round five, admittedly when teams were relatively untouched by injury and free of representative commitments, the difference is even more pronounced. Eight matches that April weekend yielded an average of just 35 points per game. Fatigue is obviously starting to play a huge role, which isn’t surprising considering the burden some teams have had to carry recently, and we can probably expect similar aggregates in the weeks to come. But the Cowboys-Sharks did provide a glimmer of hope for all the purists out there. The 0-0 half-time score represented the first time this season that no points had been scored in a first half of football. Golden Moment: Any concerns that Michael Jennings would be rusty on his return from a calf injury against Parramatta on Sunday were quickly extinguished. The Panthers livewire blew the cobwebs out with a hat-trick in a pulsating match that saw seven lead changes at CUA Stadium. But when the Eels hit the front with 10 minutes remaining, the stage was set for Jennings to set up debutant winger Junior Tia-Kilifi for the 77th minute match-winner. Jennings, playing at left centre, received the ball 25 metres out from the Eels' goal line and swiftly accelerated in, and then around his opposite marker Joel Reddy. The move created enough space for Jennings to score himself, but he unselfishly dished the ball for Tia-Kilifi, who touched down in the left corner to snatch victory for Penrith in front of 16,845 fans. Parramatta coach Daniel Anderson summed up the play perfectly after the game: "That last try, the winning try, Joel Reddy is a good player and good defender and he just smoked him," Anderson said of Jennings. Last laugh: Melbourne Storm. If you didn’t catch the Storm's win over Newcastle Knights you would have a hard time pin-pointing where the home side won the game, based on statistics. The Knights enjoyed a 60-40 advantage in possession and forced their hosts to make an extra 67 tackles. They also produced 18 offloads to Storm’s four, missed 32 less tackles and made 1582 metres to the Storm’s 1068. But a 77th minute try to Gold Coast Titans-bound winger Joseph Tomane ensured the home side sent the bewildered visitors home empty handed. Storm coach Craig Bellamy, particularly, could afford to smile after finally being on the winning end of a strong Greg Inglis performance.
Wouldn't want to be you: Here’s the stark facts for South Sydney fans: After another miserable outing against the Tigers, your team have now lost five in a row, conceded 185 points at an average of 37 points in those games and effectively played themselves out of finals contention with a string of horror displays. After winning three of their first four games to start the season, your team have only won two of their last 10 and are in real danger of being caught and passed by the six teams below them in the remaining eight rounds. What odds are Souths now for winning the wooden spoon? Things have really started to go downhill since their round 11 draw with Parramatta and some tough decisions are looming. While coach Jason Taylor is obviously going to be the most scrutinised, quite a few of the players - some signed to nice, juicy contracts - need to be held accountable as well. They have nine matches remaining – enough to either re-build a top eight charge or slip further into obscurity – and seven of those are against teams ahead of them on the ladder. You draw the conclusions! Crystal Ball: With nine rounds remaining the volatile NRL ladder still has time to shift dramatically. It is coming to the time of the season when deficiencies in depth, an unfavourable draw, or a string of injuries can quickly cripple your team. The Broncos, for example, glided through the first two months of the competition but have come crashing back to earth recently with four-straight losses. The View has looked into its crystal ball and made the following predictions. Late-season surge: Manly’s season has been slowly building momentum and a glance at the draw shows they have a fairly favourable run home. While there is no such thing as a certainty in the NRL, games against struggling teams; Rabbitohs, Roosters, Tigers, and two against the Sharks, are matches that the Brookie boys will back themselves to win. With Brett Stewart still to return, critics are already thinking twice about writing off the 2008 premiers. Bottoming out: North Queensland Cowboys’ record of two wins from seven matches away is an alarming statistic when viewing their run home. They Cowboys have only three matches remaining in Townsville – all against worthy opposition – and an away slog that includes three teams with formidable home records: Knights, Storm and Titans. Sitting in 5th on points differential it is hard to see them missing September – but they will – and you heard it here first! The likely final eight: 1) St George Illawarra 2) Bulldogs 3) Gold Coast Titans 4) Melbourne Storm 5) Manly 6) Newcastle Knights 7) Brisbane Broncos 8) Penrith
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| Last Updated on Tuesday, 07 July 2009 15:12 |
