The Synopsis - NRL Round 9

Penrith faced an uphill battle at Suncorp on Friday night, but the surprise return of Jamie Soward was a boost for a team that has struggled with game management over the last month. Brisbane have been very strong (leaving out their Round 1 loss to the Bunnies) and most pundits gave the Panthers little hope. How wrong could they be? Penrith, despite scoring no tries, competed for every minute of the match and drew level (4-4) with a penalty goal in the 56th minute. Then with a field goal by fullback Matt Moylan they went ahead 5-4, 5 minutes from the finish. On the first set after the kick-off, Penrith dropped the ball giving possession to Brisbane but the attempted field goal missed. The home fans breathed a sigh of relief when, after a 7 tackle set starting at their own 20, winger Corey Oates barged over to secure a Brisbane win, 8-5. With Soward back, the Penrith kicking game improved out of sight and the closeness of the scores was a tribute to their scrambling defence, which turned back the Broncos time after time. Penrith continue to be the offload kings of the NRL, continually putting Brisbane under pressure - but time after time they came away empty handed. The return of Peter Wallace, James Segeyaro and Josh Mansour can't come soon enough for the Mountain men.

Friday nights other match was a must win for the Roosters and it had all the ingredients for a top class rugby league match. The Tigers have excelled in their daytime matches while the Roosters are big time, night time specialists. This was evident in this clash between two potentially high scoring teams. The Tigers were never in the match as the Roosters scored tries in the 4th, then 24th, 27th and 30th minutes. The team that had outscored others with up tempo high scoring first halves was blown off the park to be down 0-22 at half time. For 20 minutes the second half remained scoreless with Wests going close, but, Eastern Suburbs scored again at the 62nd and 68th minutes. Daniel Tupou scored three of the Roosters tries and the final score, Roosters 36 - Tigers 4 showed just how much better the Roosters were on the night.

Saturday Match 1: Canberra Raiders V Gold Cast Titans
Blake Austin continues his rise from obscurity to most recognisable Raider, with his goatee and his magical feet his most recognisable features. In this Raiders 56 - Titans 16 thrashing, the Raiders were ruthless against a seemingly disinterested Titans. Austin and his young team mates handed out a footballing lesson scoring 10 tries to 3. For just 5 minutes in the 2nd half the visitors got as close as 8 points in arrears, but Blake Austin scored his second try and it triggered an avalanche. Starting with the Austin try the Raiders ran in 6 tries in the last 29 minutes. Importantly the Green Machine reversed their points for and against, from minus 3 to plus 27 landing them (temporarily in 4th place on the ladder.) After starting equal on points, when the final ball was kicked for Round 9, Canberra were in 5th position and the Titans were in 13th. This mirrored the on field gulf between the teams.

Saturday Match 2: Sharks V Warriors
When Sharks front rower Andrew Fifita barnstormed his way across the field and then through the Warriors defence to score a try in the 77th minute, fans at Remondis Stadium and (no doubt) Coach Shane Flanagan breathed sighs of relief. His team lead 16-14 and the match which (at times) was well below NRL level, with missed tackles and errors on both sides, had been won. However, no one told former Melbourne stalwart and Warriors forward Ryan Hoffman, who charged down the kick (that was supposed to end Cronulla's last set of tackles) then collected ball and charged down field. He was tackled but the Warriors had the ball and their mercurial half, Shaun Johnson, memorised the tired Shark defenders with a zig zagging run and scored the winning try. The final score, Warriors 20 - Sharks 16 was tribute to NRL coaches mantra, you must always compete for the full 80 minutes!!

Saturday Match 3: Cowboys V Bulldogs
This match, between a quality team on a winning streak, (Cowboys) and a quality team struggling with a month long crisis of player injury and suspension, (Bulldogs). Good Friday is now 35 days ago but Bulldogs fans look back to that day as the day their team's fortunes changed for the worse. With 3 minutes remaining their Trent Hodgkinson kicked a field goal to grab a one point lead and most likely give them their 4th win of the season. It didn't happen. A desperate tackle in the 79th minute (trying to prevent a field goal) went badly wrong and South's were awarded a penalty, snatching a one point win. Since then, the Bulldogs have lost three (out of 4) further matches and find themselves in 11th place. The Cowboys lost their first three matches and many were asking if their season was already terminally off the rails. Facing defeat with one minute to go, Captain Jonathan Thurston kicked a field goal to level the scores and then another (in extra time) to win their round 4 match against the Melbourne Storm. Counting that win, the Cowboys have now won six games in a row.

With that back story Saturday's win in Townsville by the Cowboys over the Bulldogs had an inevitability about it. The home team dominated long periods of play in the first half scoring tries in the 29th and 39th minutes, to lead 12-0 at ‘oranges'. With a flow of possession early in the 2nd half the visitors scored in the 50th, 54th and 61st minutes to lead 16-12, but as the commentators predicted (in the half time chat) the bigger Bulldog forwards started to run out of steam and with each possession the Cowboys gained more and more ground. With tries in the 65th and 69th minutes they took back the lead, 22-16 and that man Jonathan Thurston closed the door on Canterbury with a field goal and a 7 point lead in the 77th minute. Final score Cowboys 23- Bulldogs 16.

Sunday Match 1: Sea Eagles V Knights
In round 8, the team in 16th position defeated the team in 1st. This week the same team, the Manly Sea Eagles (still 16th) defeated the Newcastle Knights (12th). However, the final score Manly 30 - Newcastle 10 could have been significantly different as tries awarded to Newcastle by the on field referee (Adam Devcich) were overturned by the video review team, (Steve Chiddy / Daniel Irvine) in the 26th, 35th and 66th minutes. While the home crowd cheered, visiting fans and home viewers were stunned as the review system continues its controversial impact on matches. Consistency, it seems, is impossible to achieve while senior experienced club officials and former players alike are building momentum for change. The Video Review System established to avoid ridiculously wrong decisions being made has become a time consuming and at times perplexing addition to NRL rugby league matches. The on-field referees are forced to make a call, whether they are certain about what happened or not and they are looking increasingly inept as their decisions are reversed, by a team comprising a referee and an ex player, with access to replays from up to 6 different perspectives. Clearly the system or the instructions given to referees (or both) has to change if credibility is to be retained by the whistle blowers.

Sunday Match 2: Eels V Storm
Billy Slater is rugby league royalty. Cameron Smith is the best hooker of the modern era and Cooper Cronk directs his team around the field with professional ease and unless you shut them down or at least reduce their impact on the match, they will destroy you. That was the story of Sunday's 4pm match at Pirtek Park. The Parramatta Eels competed for every minute of the match, but the difference was, (in attack) Slater, Cronk or Smith created, crafted or completed the plays that gave the Melbourne Storm their advantage. Then (in defence) when an extraordinary effort was needed Slater was there to ankle tap Eels Winger Sami Radradra preventing an almost certain run away try or get to the ball first, in his in-goal area, to knock it dead and prevent a try. The final score 28 - 10 wasn't really fair to Parramatta because they were very good at most aspects of the match, but they didn't have a Slater, Cronk or Smith. PS: Penrith CEO and Fairfax columnist Phil Gould, beat me to the presses with his longer article heaping praise on the Melbourne trio.

Monday night: Rabbitohs V Dragons
The Dragons had won 3 matches by 4 points or less and another 3 with margins of 13+. Everyone from CEO's to Cab Drivers were praising their extraordinary defensive ability (especially on their own line) and most agreed it was the key to their victories. Tonight's match was no different. Closely fought by both teams, the final score South's 16 - St George 10 was built on strong defence, but the scoring opportunities were created and decided by the calm professionalism of the ball players. Sure, the Rabbitohs' tries were scored by fast young wingers but the opportunity to do so was created by skill-full ball players securing repeated possession that (eventually) overwhelmed the Dragon's defenders. South Sydney broke a three match losing streak and St George came up against one of the strongest teams in the NRL. Both clubs (based on what we've seen so far) will be part of the finals in September, even if the path gets bumpy along the way.