The Synopsis - NRL Round 8: The ANZAC Round

After the Round 3 loss to the Rabbitohs, I wrote that the Tigers will improve as the season progresses and that barring injury to their spine (Farah, Tedesco and Brooks) they will be a force in 2015. Since then, although run down twice, they have become the best starters in the competition, scoring early and often. On Friday night the Tigers blew the Bulldogs off the park, avenging their round 4 loss. In Round 4, after a 6-6 first half they raced to a 24 - 6 lead but lost 24-25. This time the Tigers after leading 16-0 went on to thrash the Bulldogs 38 - 14. Robbie Farah was voted by many as best on ground for his dummy half work, 46 tackles and all round leadership. (Luke) Brooks and (James) Tedesco scored two tries a piece while ‘Mr Reliable' Pat Richards added 16 points to his season tally, (75pts) with a try and six goals. For Blue and White supporters, the Bulldogs were a shadow of their former selves. The Good Friday ‘incident' has, it seems, stalled their season and Coach Hasler has his hands full getting it going again. With one win in their last four matches, they travel to Townville to play the Cowboys in 2 weeks. Having said all that, the acrobatics, athleticism and speed of Tigers' Winger Kevin Naiqama, had to be seen to be believed.

Saturday:

The first of 5 matches on ANZAC Day was the Warriors v Titans from a sunny Mt Smart Stadium. Despite the best efforts of the NZ commentators to talk up the home team, as previously reported, they just don't play for 80 minutes. The Warriors scored five tries but when they ‘switched off' for just 18 minutes in the second half (48th - 66th minute) the Titans ran in four tries to go from 6 pts behind (12-18) to 14pts in front (32-18) and that was it. The final score Titans 32 - Warriors 28 flattered the home team. Gold Coast fans shouldn't ‘jump the gun'. Their Titans have won three games in a row but they are in for a shock when they play any of the top 4. Beating an understrength Panthers, a struggling Eels mob or the sleepy Warriors is excellent, but, it hides a few issues that will have to be dealt with, asap!! (1) The Titans miss more tackles than any other team; (2) The Titans are 15th in discipline; (3) They are 14th in Errors and their kicking game (measured by metres gained) is almost as bad as the Warriors in 16th position. Based on today's display neither of these teams will be taken seriously by the ‘big boys'.

Match 2 at Hunter Stadium between Newcastle and North Queensland was close at the final whistle, but from the 21st minute, the Cowboys led on the score-board, by 6 , 8 , 10 and for a while 14 points. The final score Cowboys 26 - Knights 24 certainly made the home team look better than they were. Jonathan Thurston was professional, as normal, while his opposing captain Kurt Gidley made errors, (like dropping the ball from a kick-off), that revealed the pressure that losing three straight, places on the ‘brains trust' of an NRL club.

The third match in the marathon was the traditional ANZAC Day match, between theSydney Roosters and St George-Illawarra Dragons. This day will probably be remembered more for the storm that brought, rain, hail and lightning and a 25 minute safety stoppage , than for the football that was played either side of the downpour. The Dragons were the better team and led 10-0 when the heavens opened. Both teams returned to the field for the 14 minutes left of the first half and the Roosters grabbed a converted try, for a 6-10 half time score. This was Dragons captain, Ben Creagh's 250th NRL match and his team mates never let him down. The Dragons defence continues to be the main talking point of their season and in another low scoring, yet dominant display they won 14-12. I cannot ignore the Roosters who have been on the losing end of two excitingly close high quality Rugby League matches and as a result find themselves outside the Top 8. Roosters Coach Trent Robinson must be a little concerned, as, despite a strong roster they have now lost four matches in a row. After the two week break the Roosters play the Tigers and with a +37 differential (2nd overall) a win will see them leapfrog back into contention, a loss, unthinkable.

The Melbourne Storm and Manly Sea Eagles were also caught in a downpour during their match in Melbourne on Saturday night. The strange draw of the NRL, which for the second time in just 6 weeks matched the northern beaches team against their southern state opponents, saw team 16 defeat team 1 on the premiership ladder. Much to the distress of Storm Coach Craig Bellamy, Manly won 12 - 10 and his team have now lost three matches by a total of just 5 points. With the best differential in the league, the loss to Manly won't hurt Melbourne much, but losing twice to the same team, suggests Manly may have worked out your strategy and how to defeat it. As the rep season approaches, the Storm will be hoping that their ‘spine' gets through unscathed. They have matches against Parramatta in round 9, then South Sydney and Sydney Roosters. Like the Broncos of the 80's and 90's they need a buffer to get them through to mid-July and still be in contention for the finals.

The last ANZAC Day match was in Brisbane and I have to say, by kick-off I was already mentally exhausted as I sat down to watch the Wayne Bennett coached Broncos take on the Brad Arthur coached, Parramatta Eels. The first half was a tight affair and Brisbane led 8 - 4, the difference, thanks to a couple of Penalty Goals by Corey Parker. Eels fans must be disappointed. After their team's first round win over the Sea Eagles, (except for the win over South's) it has been a down-hill run. Ten minutes into the 2nd half, Eels' Winger John Folau, in just his 7th NRL match, spilled the ball after running it back from his own line and Broncos' Prop Josh Maguire collected it 30 metres out and scored untouched. The conversion took the score out to 14-4. Eels' debutante winger Bureta Faraimo, bagged a second try and his team was back within four points. The Broncos hit back 5 minutes later with a penalty goal and then a converted try, taking their lead back out to 12 points (22-10). Bureta Faraimo scored his third try, but the Broncos' 5/8 Anthony Milford crossed for a converted try making the final score 28 - 16. The break will do the Eels good, they need to start over. It might have the opposite effect on the Broncos who have built momentum and confidence over the last six weeks, this is especially true of their young halves Hunt and Milford.

Sunday;

The first game on Sunday was played between the Penrith Panthers and the Cronulla Sutherland Sharks at Pepper Stadium. Again, it was a Matt Moylan inspired win for the Panthers, as they dismantled the Sharks 26-18. The Cronulla side led 18-12 at half time, thanks to tries to Sosaia Feki, Ricky Leutele and Valentine Holmes, but that was the extent of their points, as they were held scoreless in the second half. A try to Matt Moylan straight after half time set the tone, and from there it was all Panthers. Matt Moylan, along with Dallin Watene-Zelezniak, had a hand in most of the Panthers' tries in a devastating attacking performance.

The Canberra Raiders are starting to build themselves a reputation for coming from behind to win, on top of their reputation in 2015 for being solid away from home. The Raiders were just too strong in the second half for the defending premier Rabbitohs side, who fell to their third straight loss. The Rabbitohs can simply not get their halfback back in the side quick enough, as they look to lose all structure without Reynolds providing direction for his side. News this week that creative forward Glenn Stewart will miss an extended period will only hurt the bunnies further. The Rabbitohs were messy with the ball in their hands, but the Raiders' team performance was impressive. Kurt Baptiste was strong from the interchange bench, and Edrick Lee was his usual attacking powerhouse, as the Raiders ran out 30-22 winners