The 2012 Australian National Rugby League season thread

[kenyan_cheena]

Originally Posted by kenyan_cheena

They are another one of the Bunnies' big rivals, along with my Tigers. Souths should win that game.

GI blow leaves Dragons fuming

[kenyan_cheena]

Huge game for my Tigers tonight against the Cowboys. Win or lose, they'll still be 8th, but if they win they'll be two wins ahead of the 9th-placed Warriors with six games to play. The Warriors stuffed up big time on Saturday, losing 24-19 at home to the Knights after leading 18-0 midway through the first half. In NFL terms, this is like a team leading 21-0 after the 1st quarter and losing 28-24.

[kenyan_cheena]

Originally Posted by kenyan_cheena

Huge game for my Tigers tonight against the Cowboys. Win or lose, they'll still be 8th, but if they win they'll be two wins ahead of the 9th-placed Warriors with six games to play.

Lost 29-16. Scores were tied 16-16 after the 1st half, which was akin to a track meet with numerous linebreaks and missed tackles. Cowboys scored early in the 2nd to make it 22-16 and dominated possession and field position for long stretches. Tigers defended bravely and held them out until the last five minutes, when NQ sealed it with a field goal and then a converted try ninety seconds from full time.

Tigers lost the game and paid a heavy price injury-wise. Lost Tim Moltzen to a hamstring strain DURING THE WARM-UP before the game had started, Curtis Sironen dislocated his shoulder late in the 1st half and is probably gone for the season, Chris Lawrence injured an ankle early in the 2nd half, Blake Ayshford hurt his back late in the game and Ben Murdoch-Masala rolled his ankle, also late in the game.

[Bobbuttons]

As for the Bunnies, I thought the officiating was rather poor in that match. And while I can understand wanting to make sure that players are safe (and given how hard these tackles are and and how little protection they wear in rugby, especially those tough Australian guys, I find that is a difficult task anyway), I'm not sold on a handing a big penalty to Inglis. It was a big, violent hit, yes, but given the fact that the player was being dragged down by another defender it's pretty easy to see that it was not an intentional shot to the jaw. Had the player not been pulled down the hit would have been deliver lower. That's how I view it, at least, watching it as it happened and then in slow motion.

Good win for the Rabbitohs, though, as they keep it rolling.

[kenyan_cheena]

Originally Posted by Bobbuttons

As for the Bunnies, I thought the officiating was rather poor in that match. And while I can understand wanting to make sure that players are safe (and given how hard these tackles are and and how little protection they wear in rugby, especially those tough Australian guys, I find that is a difficult task anyway), I'm not sold on a handing a big penalty to Inglis. It was a big, violent hit, yes, but given the fact that the player was being dragged down by another defender it's pretty easy to see that it was not an intentional shot to the jaw. Had the player not been pulled down the hit would have been deliver lower. That's how I view it, at least, watching it as it happened and then in slow motion.

Good win for the Rabbitohs, though, as they keep it rolling.

Quite a bit of controversy around it as the Dragons coach Steve Price complained about the hit during the post-match press conference. It's against the rules for players or coaches to publicly comment about incidents that have been put on report and the Rabbits believe that Price's comments had an influence on the grading of the charge against Inglis. Waiting to see whether or not Price is punished for it or not.

As for the hit, I'm in agreement with you. The initial contact is with Young's chest, and the other defender inadvertantly puts him in a position to make the impact of the hit worse than it would have been otherwise. It will be a joke if he is suspended for more than 2 weeks, but it won't be a surprise. The judiciary is notorious for their inconsistency and it's something that the game really needs to address.

[kenyan_cheena]

Rival coaches at war over Inglis hit

[kenyan_cheena]

Standings after week 20. As you can see, my Tigers are in a very precarious position in 8th, with FIVE teams nipping at their heels ... and we are playing the Rabbits next week.

NRL Live Scores | Rugby League Live Scores | League HQ

[grevan]

Originally Posted by Bobbuttons

As for the Bunnies, I thought the officiating was rather poor in that match. And while I can understand wanting to make sure that players are safe (and given how hard these tackles are and and how little protection they wear in rugby, especially those tough Australian guys, I find that is a difficult task anyway), I'm not sold on a handing a big penalty to Inglis. It was a big, violent hit, yes, but given the fact that the player was being dragged down by another defender it's pretty easy to see that it was not an intentional shot to the jaw. Had the player not been pulled down the hit would have been deliver lower. That's how I view it, at least, watching it as it happened and then in slow motion.

Good win for the Rabbitohs, though, as they keep it rolling.

For some perspective here's some thoughts through red and white eyes (as opposed to red and green)...

Inglis was not attempting to "tackle" Young as there was no use of the arms. His intention was to put on a big hit and hurt Young, which is quite legal within the context of the game. He got it wrong, clearly made contact with the head and for that he deserves a suspension. (I'm not getting into the hysteria around shoulder charges, I've got no problem with them staying in the game but when this is the result you better expect to spend some time on the sidelines.)

My problem with Inglis is even after seeing Young's condition there has been no apology or acknowledgement that perhaps he messed up. No remorse for the fact his actions resulted in a player being placed in a neck brace and carried from the field. He's an arrogant fool with a massive sense of entitlement given his position as one of the games best players. The fact there is so much outrage at his possible 5 match suspension while the ludicrous penalty handled out to Travis Burns goes basically ignored is the real travesty.

Burns spray could back case for intent

Karma's a funny thing though. I'm sure there won't be much talk by Souths supporters of players being dragged down into tackles or any other perceived extenuating circumstances if GI gets ironed out by a Kasiano or T-Rex type in the finals. The outcry will be deafening.

[kenyan_cheena]

3 weeks for Inglis. Better than 5.

[kenyan_cheena]

Incredibly, FOR THE SECOND WEEK IN A ROW, the New Zealand Warriors were defeated after leading 18-0. They almost kept the Sea Eagles scoreless for the first half, but Manly got a try just before the break. They were still behind 22-12 with ten to play but scored twice to pull off an amazing 24-22 win. Last week the Knights came back from 18-0 down to beat the Warriors 24-19. Two huge losses for them. They would be in 8th place now if they won them both, instead they are 11th and will be two wins out of 8th if the Tigers beat the Rabbits today.

In other games so far, Melbourne fell to their 5th consecutive loss while the Bulldogs stretched their winning streak to nine games and the Panthers scored an extra-time win over Cronulla. The Titans killed the Roosters' feint hopes with a crushing 36-16 win.

NRL & Rugby League News, Scores, Stats & Transfers | League HQ

[kenyan_cheena]

I went to the game. Left 5 minutes before full time. First time EVER I've left a Tigers game before full time.

Rabbitohs have what it takes to give title shake

[kenyan_cheena]

Five weeks remaining in the regular season. Right now there's a 3-way tie for 4th and a 4-way tie for 8th...

NRL Live Scores | Rugby League Live Scores | League HQ

[Mark D]

Year by year the competiton grows and also the team management. I think the players are enough motivated to make a good result at the end of the League.

[kenyan_cheena]

Originally Posted by Mark D

Year by year the competiton grows and also the team management. I think the players are enough motivated to make a good result at the end of the League.

[kenyan_cheena]

Week 22 has just concluded with the highest scoring game of the season, the Tigers defeating the Eels 51-26 in what the commentators were sarcastically calling "the best game of touch football all season". For you folks in the US, touch football is the rugby league equivalent of flag football, except you only have to touch the opposing player for him to be considered as tackled.

The Tigers made a terrible start and trailed 22-6 midway through the first half before pulling it back to 22-18 by halftime. The Eels scored in the opening minute of the second half to make it 26-18, but from that point on the Tigers ran riot, scoring 33 unanswered points to bring about the final scoreline.

In just his second game, Fijian winger Marika Koroibete equaled a Tigers club record by scoring four tries ... all in the 2nd half! Benji Marshall was back to his best after being in something of a form slump for the last five or six weeks, setting up a number of the Tigers' tries.

Here's the standings with four weeks to go...

1ST BULLDOGS 15-5
2ND RABBITOHS 14-6
3RD STORM 13-7
4TH SEA EAGLES 12-8

5TH SHARKS 11-8-1
6TH COWBOYS 11-9
7TH BRONCOS 11-9
8TH TIGERS 10-10

9th Titans 9-11
10th Knights 9-11
11th Raiders 9-11
12th Dragons 9-11
13th Warriors 8-12
14th Roosters 7-12-1
15th Panthers 6-14
16th Eels 5-15

Some great news for Bobbuttons as the Rabbitohs have now clinched a playoff berth, their first since '07 and third in 24 years since finishing 1st but losing the week before the grand final back in '89.

Unsurprisingly, Week 23 features some hugely important matchups, the biggest of which is the 2nd vs 4th clash between the Rabbits and Sea Eagles on Friday night. Other games that have a direct bearing on the playoff race are the Storm (3rd) v Titans (9th), Tigers (8th) v Dragons (12th), Bulldogs (1st) v Broncos (7th) and Knights (10th) v Sharks (5th).

NRL Fixtures - 2012 NRL Draw - NRL.com

[ukhotstove]

Rabbitohs tactics are to confuse the opposition by every player being named Burgess.

BBC Sport - Bradford Bulls: Tom Burgess to join South Sydney

[kenyan_cheena]

Originally Posted by ukhotstove

Rabbitohs tactics are to confuse the opposition by every player being named Burgess.

BBC Sport - Bradford Bulls: Tom Burgess to join South Sydney

They should rename the team the South Sydney Burgesses.

[kenyan_cheena]

Important win for the Tigers tonight, 22-12 over the Dragons. They are inching closer to clinching a playoff berth.

Results so far this weekend:

STORM 24 Titans 16
Sea Eagles 23 RABBITOHS 6
EELS 36 Roosters 22
TIGERS 22 Dragons 12
COWBOYS 52 Warriors 12

Rabbitohs-Sea Eagles was a home game for the Rabbits, but it was not played at their regular home ground. They took it up to the New South Wales Central Coast. The Bunnies were out of sorts and never looked comfortable. Oh, well. They had won six in a row coming in. Big test for them next week against the Sharks.

The Warriors are now gone for the season after that flogging from the Cowboys, their fifth loss in a row. They have been outscored by a combined total of 97-16 the last two weeks, after losing three close ones before then.

The Titans and Dragons are all but dead, as they are now two games behind the 8th-placed Tigers with three weeks remaining. The Knights and Raiders will have to win their games to stay in touch.

Here's how the standings look right now:

NRL Ladder | NRL Ladder 2012 | Rugby League NRL Ladder & Results | thetelegraph.com.au

[kenyan_cheena]

In Sunday's games the Raiders kept their playoff hopes alive with a 20-10 win over the Panthers while the 1st-placed Bulldogs overcame a 14-0 1st half deficit to beat the Broncos 22-14. That result helped my Tigers as they remain level with the Broncos in 7th at 11-10 (although the Tigers are 8th after tiebreakers).

[Bobbuttons]

Originally Posted by kenyan_cheena

For you folks in the US, touch football is the rugby league equivalent of flag football, except you only have to touch the opposing player for him to be considered as tackled.

We have touch football here in the States, as well.