The Armchair Expert – Round 2

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Performance of the Round
How can you go past a side that has grabbed the headlines all week for all the wrong reasons? Their two best players sign with rival clubs. The coach is thrown through the ringer in the media as they call for his head. Their forward pack is apparently not big enough and lacking aggression. There is disharmony amongst the playing group.

Most punters had written Manly off in their clash against the full strength Storm. Sound familiar? The Sea Eagles have been written off by all and sundry on countless occasions over the past 10 years. When Dally M winning halfback Matt Orford left everyone thought they were shot. When favourite son Des Hasler walked away to join the Bulldogs we all thought their time at the top was over. And now in arguably their darkest period they still manage to band together and produce a stirring victory.

Although it's just one win, it meant so much to Geoff Toovey and his players. The footage of the former champion halfback in the middle of Brookvale speaking to his troops after the game will be on of the enduring memories of this season.

We, no doubt, will question Manly many more times throughout the season, but we can't question this clubs culture. Winning is in the water at the Northern Beaches.

Paul Carige Award for the Worst Performance of the Round
If they keep playing like they have for the first two rounds we might as well hand them all 26 of these awards now. Surely the only way was up for the Dragons after round one... surely. I'll leave Greg Alexander to sum up the once mighty Red V. "It (their attack) is like an under sevens passing drill where they catch and pass while all standing still. The bloke who ends up with the ball gets tackled five or six metres behind the original play the ball." Saint Mary McGregor is going to need more than a miracle to turn his side around.

Surprise Packet
They don't have all the big name players and haven't exactly set the world on fire thus far, but the Knights are bloody tough. The Cowboys had all the possession and field position in the first half and Newcastle had to tackle themselves to a standstill just to stay in the game. Like a good boxer, they absorbed a lot of heavy hits in the early rounds but refused to be counted out. Credit to Rick Stone, his side is playing a noticeably more attractive brand of footy than they were under super coach Wayne Bennett. Not many people thought the Knights would be sitting pretty with the Rabbitohs and Panthers at the head of the pack, but they thoroughly deserve too.

Russell Packer Medal for WTF Moment of the Week
Either Junior Paulo has been ripped off something fierce or Beau Scott has to go by himself a lottery ticket. Although Scott's tackle on Johnathon Thurston wasn't as bad as Paulo's on Matt Ballin in round one, how there is a nine-week difference between the two is beyond me. Surely Scott had to get at least a couple of weeks to keep it consistent. So to the suit wearing brains trust at the NRL judiciary, WTF?

Ref Watch
The amount of tries that are being sent upstairs by our officials is getting out of hand. Our referees are too frightened to make a call in the heat of the moment because they don't want to get it wrong and be harpooned by the media and coaches. Yet when they go to the video ref, the clowns in the box take three minutes to make a call and still somehow manage to make a meal of it.

If the ref signals try to the video ref, than they should have the confidence to blow it themselves. Toovey may call for an investigation if your wrong, Hasler may call you every name under the sun and hell, even Wayne Bennett may loose his cool. But at least the most important critics, our fans, will be pleased that there isn't large hold ups in play that drain the atmosphere out of a contest.

Around the Social Media Traps
This week a former star says goodbye indefinitely to his home city, a touching tribute for a mate and a new dog happy to be in the kennel.

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A photo posted by Jarryd Hayne (@jarrydhayne_1) on




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