Ben Hunt Penalty
Those poor Raiders and poor lil’ Ricky Stuart.
“We was robbed!!!”
Victor the Viking
To recap, the Raiders had possession of the football inside the Dragon’s 10m with 10 seconds to go.
Not a minute to go as stated by FoxSports’ Cooper Cronk.
Did the Dragons cheat? Well, yes and no.
This is the rod that Peter V’landys made for his own back.
When he decided the game would become a better spectacle if there were less penalties and blow a ‘six again’ call instead.
But the coaches are crafty.
Coaches soon exploited this by giving away set restarts in the opposition’s half knowing they can reset their lines without compromising field position.
How many games did you watch where there was a set restart in the first tackle?
So, the NRL followed my suggestion below and introduced a penalty in the 40m zone.
But the coaches are crafty and this scenario was inevitable.
Dragons Capt. Ben Hunt knew with ten seconds remaining, the ‘Six Again’ call meant nothing. He knew that the only way a penalty would be awarded is if the ball was stripped or with a professional foul. That was not going to happen in the last two plays of the match.
Canberra coach Ricky Stuart challenged the referees to be brave. As he would.
NRL’s Graham Annesley stated the referee ‘could have awarded a penalty’. The operative words are ‘could have’. But they didn’t because that is how the rules are set out.
It was not a professional foul if there was 20 minutes to go so why would it be with 10 seconds remaining?
If you ask me as a league supporter, as a Dragons supporter, that was a penalty every day of the week. Well, two years ago it would have been.
The Raiders, and any other team in that position, would want the option of a penalty. But this is not possible under current rules.
This is V’landys‘ problem. He created it.
NSW Selector – Latrell
Latrell Mitchell played his first match in x weeks and immediately announced he was not available to play in the Origin decider.
This is very poor form.
The rule is quite simple. If you are in contention and state you won’t play representative football, then you can’t play for your club that week.
Latrell is lucky this hasn’t been enforced. Yes, he is trying to pay back the Rabbitohs for sending him to the USA for treatment but the simple answer was to have a discrete conversation with Freddy and Brandy and not announce this to the world.
Manly Capitulate?
Sea Eagle supporters would have been in tears if the Storm pulled off a remarkable comeback victory. This is after Manly let the Cowboys score three tries in the final eight minutes of last week’s match to lose by two points.
Leading 36 – 12, the Storm scored four tries in as many minutes to leave six seconds and one play to force the game into golden point.
Aquaplaning
Did you watch the Sharkies v Bulldogs game @ CommBank Stadium?
Wow. I was more intrigued with the mini tsunamis created with each tackle than the match. And this is meant to be a modern stadium.
Still, not quite up there with the conditions @ Shark(nado) Park when they played the Rabbitohs in 2015.
You can check out that game here.
Warriors Return Home
It was fantastic to see the New Zealand Warriors finally return home.
A near capacity crowd cheered the Warriors to victory in an emotional day.
I was privileged to watch the Broncos play the Warriors @ Mt Smart Stadium in 2018.
It was a pilgrimage. Taking the train from Auckland. The walk to the stadium. Walking through all the memorabilia in the grand stand. It was a very cool experience. And to top it all off, instead of ice creams being sold in the stands, we had hot cinnamon donuts. Only in NZ.
Good luck with your tips and your team this week. Keep an eye out for the Origin Decider previews from myself and our exclusive Queensland correspondent, Shagger.
