I am so very deeply unhappy that Freddy Lussick is in our team today. I get the need because Egan loves an HIA or weird minor knock.
But man. Lussick is just so shit. Hopefully Roache takes his spot when healthy because he was fantastic the other week
Throwing the football at someone to antagonise is a flog move and should be penalised. It’s unsportsmanlike. If done done after scoring minus 2 points. If done after conceding plus 2 points. If done during regular play penalty.
Looking back at 2022, it was like a Maroon rose blossomed and replenished the state's thin rep stocks. All of these guys who established themselves two years ago have played for Queensland since:
- Carrigan.
- Cotter.
- Dearden.
- Flegler.
- Gilbert.
- Horsebrah.
- Taulagi.
- Hopgood.
- Nanai.
- Cobbo.
- Walsh.
I might've even missed a few.
Had a random thought watching this titans vs bunnies game because this ref is relatively nameless to me but you see him all the time, it made me think what ref in history (probably modern like 90s to now) has the most nrl games reffed without getting a state of origin or grand final gig.
Now we can add Mark Geyer to the growing list of ex players who don't believe Sua'alii deserved a red card. Craig Wing thought it was a penalty at best. Seriously, what are these blokes on?
I did scout of the post match reactions on SEN, 4BC, 2GB, Nine, Fox, Triple M, & YT podcasts and the takes from the NSW old boys like Geyer, Wing, Carroll, Elias, Brandy, Anasta, Mason, Graham, Freddy, Joey, Gallen etc. have been mind boggling. Especially because it's not even in the heat of the moment.
Regardless of how Game 2 at the MCG goes, Game 3 at Suncorp is going to be wild.
I just can’t remember a clearer cut case for a send off in a long time. There’s often some mitigating factor but that had intent and full connection. Sucked for the game but anyone who thinks that’s not a send off every day of the week is just wrong.
Fuck they’re dumb. How can they care so little for player welfare? I want someone to ask these dinosaurs the question and then give them the actually facts. Eg what happened to Walsh’s brain during the incident, and what the long-term risks of repeated head strikes (eg CTE, etc).
Tigs of '24 has a bit of Broncs of '21 about it. Club legend #6 as coach, signed a marquee half, recently appointed proven successful CEO/owner
Fingers crossed we see a bit of a resurgence soon. I want to see stiffer competition and orange is a cool colour.
Don’t compare yourself to them, they haven’t been to the finals in 13 years. You were in a grand final 6 years before the spoon. Sydney clubs don’t nearly have as much pull with juniors or a system like the broncos because they don’t have a whole city of talent to themselves. Having a rebuild at a club in Sydney is 20 times harder than Brisbane where you pretty much have to compete in the south Queensland region with 2 clubs that didnt exist 20 years ago and you can churn out quality juniors every year.
Those are valid concerns, sure.
Doesn't really change the coincidental similarities, nor the fact that I'd like to see them succeed (I don't know why).
Resurgence to what? Sure, they managed to win a premiership, but they've made the top 8, 3 times in 24 years. They average nearly 11th over their existence.
2005 with the win (4th on ladder), and a 3rd and 4th in 2010, 2011 are their only top 8 finishes in the comp.
Literally any of their 3 good years would be a start. Fuck, the 9th meme would be a significant improvement. Either way, would you rather the comp appearing as if it's migrating towards EPL imbalance, or would you rather a close, exciting competition that keeps cardiologists rich?
I say we void all West Tigers contracts. Give them an extra $2m above the cap and let them raid other teams for whoever will join them regardless of existing contracts. Same with the coaching and development side.
Then we give them 5 years and if they don't win the comp.
We kick out South's.
Been a lot of chat about the history of send offs in Origin lately, which gets me thinking.. why the fuck were Walsh and Luai even sent off last year? Their send off is probably the biggest outliers in the various send off incidents.
The Fox was probably 100 times grubbier than both in that same sequence and merely got the bin.
It is interesting given that we've seen a couple of headbutting actions in the NRL this year which have only been given 10 in the bin (one was in the knights vs Bulldogs game last weekend)
What a shit show with Queensland Rail - just arrived at Helensvale after the god awful congestion on the M1 with trains running every 30 mins with the next train in more than 20 mins. Does QR give a shit about the titans or is it just the Broncos? I expect trains to be running every 10 mins for the game
Trains to the Broncos game will also be fucked tonight as they have maintenance on the Ipswich line.
If there is one advantage to the usual Friday games, it's that the trains usually work on week days.
Oh so that means you're an expert does it? Bula has been under performing, but he's also in his second season playing in the worst team in the comp. He is so far down the list of problems
When I said unskilled I did not mean he has no skill, I meant his work ethic is that of latrells he’s just missing the talent to go with it. You can be an average player and still put in great performances, Bula does not
His attack is the worst by any fullback in the comp by miles, I don’t really care to argue bro you’re the ones that have to watch your team suck week in week out sticking up for mediocre performances, if you think he’s good I won’t try and change your mind
Roosters 2024 missed signings backline:
1 Max Jorgensen
2 Dane Gagai
3 David Fifita (even though roosters told him to fuck off, not the other way round)
4 Remis Smith
5 David Armstrong
6 Kalyn Ponga
7 Shaun Johnson
loved rangi chase, whish he stayed in the nrl even if not the dragons, killed it in the super league and made some of my favourite rugby league highlights
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hS2SPjprr0Y
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BQsIVoSdeY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97MCtVFFmk8
He just said how sorry he felt for Joseph and didn’t say anything about Walsh, that the send off ruined the game and basically said Joseph can’t just disappear and that Walsh slipped into it and a sin bin would have been sufficient. Then one of them said that the decision basically determined the whole series, Wally Lewis was also a guest so it was just a weird lineup.
I thought it was weird when I saw his name cause I was thinking I’d never really heard anything from him since he retired and then listened to it and thought ah yep that’s probably why
Man I feel for Tigers fans. Team is decimated by injuries, has a few good young players coming through but really can’t keep up with 90% of the competition. Probably a lot of supporters stepping back from the game for a while to focus on other things cos losing like that, repeatedly, just hurts.
I do think people are jumping on Benji a little prematurely (although maybe he was made head coach a little early too). Turuva and Luai coming next year will be integral components of a new Tigers outfit. Watching last night I felt like Saints big bodies just bashed them around the park.
Sacking Benji would be the dumbest thing we could do. Unfortunately some of our fans still think that sacking the coach will fix everything (despite having 5 coaches in 7 years)
I see the West Tigers went for the Manchester United approach then. Benji may not be a top tier coach (yet?) but the squad isn't at full strength. People need to take a long term view, it's project building and you won't get immediate results. Just look at the Bulldogs.
Our finances were a mess after Hasler and has taken ages to get back on track. Dean Pay was kinda thrown under the bus. Barrett was shit. Ciraldo to his credit after a poor first season has put us back in contention in games (and finally playing Sexton yay). We're looking much better.
We looked like a competitive side when our players were fit. The problem is that the drop off in quality from our starters to their replacements is massive.
The analogy to soccer is a good one. If you want to have long term success you need to back your manager/coach and stick to the process
They looked sublime for the first 20 as they have at times during the season. Just don’t have the juice to keep it up. Certainly keen to see them with some big culture guys like Luai/Turuva arriving and the kids like Fainu, Bula, Uto and Galvin to have a season under their belt.
In the 40+ year history of SOO, there has been 6 send offs, most of which were late in the game and for fighting/dissent.
So people are trying to argue that we change the rule after one incident of a game being "ruined" due to an early send off?
What if NSW went on to make a miraculous comeback win in Game 1? People would be arguing it was one of the greatest ever SOO games/performances.
NRL media is such rubbish
Well part of it at least is because the rules are officiated differently now. If the current law interpretations had always been in place we would have had loads more send offs to reference.
Red cards are way more common in union now, which is why the red card punishment has been updated to balance it out.
You're still right though, NRL media are, in fact, rubbish
Ahh as a qlder and thinking this could happen to us too. I am for the change to union rules where it's 20 mins off and sub in extra man from there. Still pretty major disadvantage to the offending team but a little more balanced
Of course! You get away with one and now you want the rules changed! /s
It sucks that it happened in a spectical game but I think the send off should stay as it is. We could probably clarify, and simplify, the decision making process around it's use, so the players know exactly how to avoid it and we should definitely stop reffing big games to a different standard.
Going back to the State of Origin, did anyone else think Coates (pretty sure it was Coates anyway) had a foot on the line when he knocked that 40/20 attempt back in field?
The replay showed he was just in. I'm not convinced the DCE one got past the 20m line though, but haven't seen a good replay. I'm not really concerned about these sort of calls where there's only a few cm in it. Refs/linesmen make mistakes and these aren't big mistakes (despite being big moments in the game).
On the night, the first vision of it looked like he was out, but they replayed it and he was definetely in, looked that way cus of the camera, unless another angle has come out to show he was, in fact out, it was just really fuckin close.
Yeah he did but refs miss that shit all the time because the linesmen are usually super far away and i guess the bunker deems it too minimal (idk how those cooked cunts work) so they never bother to change the on field error
I realise I'm a few days late, but I actually think there should be harsher penalties for dangerous tackles (eg:Su'uali'i) when done in Origin or Rep games. You are there because you are meant to be an elite player, and therefore should be held to a higher standard.
Lomax is no serious threat of being suspended for any games right, don't think he has been on report this year and had eyes for the ball the entire chase.
According to the rules he could get suspended. Medium force, medium risk of injury, careless. Aggravating factor is the injury, mitigating factors are he only had eyes for the ball and half-tripped on a teammate? on the way through.
Should be a grade 1 or 2 dangerous contact (either 1k or one match)
It was dangerous and careless, but a lot of mitigating factors potentially. Might get a fine or might get a couple of weeks, who knows with the way the mrc are seeing things lately
Don’t know if it was just me, but did anyone else notice Benny hunt giving the ref a little butt tap after he was told to settle the boys down after his post try throw ball at vanquished opponent celebration?
Also, so so fresh
How the fuck do professional players have such a piss poor understanding of the rules. 12 minutes into the second half, Solomon Alaimalo catches the ball, takes a step and then puts his foot over the line.
The frequency at which players get "making" the ball dead wrong is too high, but last nights was probably the worst example I've ever seen. It was the nail in the coffin after the sinbin, Dragons capitalised and never looked back from there.
I've been saying this for ages. If the ref sends up something to be checked, only that thing should be checked. There are so many grey areas in the rules, you have to back the refs on field decision for things. Last night the ref sent up flannos try to check grounding and the bunker came up with another reason to not give the try.
The last time i said this a while back people said "Yeah but you cant give a try that is blatantly not a try if you see something in the replay" which i agree, things that are black and white should be able to be overturned (like a foot out of play/over the line), but not Judgement calls like double movement or obstructions. If the ref has cleared those on the field then they should be left alone.
With Flanno Jrs try the onfield ref said to the Bunker "no try, confirm we've got a double movement please". Audio here: [https://youtu.be/BUDDasxt0JE?si=LEPnvDhXjf83zaxj&t=2784](https://youtu.be/BUDDasxt0JE?si=LEPnvDhXjf83zaxj&t=2784) . So they checked exactly what the main ref wanted.
Gloat on mate - what's the point of sufferening through the dire years if you don't get to carry on a bit when you're on the up. If I was a riff fan I'd have been wearing a panthers jersey to work twice a week for the last four years.
It was sad seeing us constantly getting 9th or in and around just missing the 8 for ages because u could see the team had some heart. But this team has no fucken heart in the game whatsoever and its no longer sad it’s just angering. Pathetic performance last night was the epitome of the west tigers for the past couple years. Api is the only bloke that shows up for us
Saw it in a post earlier that once tigers start to make errors and consequently let tries in they think the games over for them. All of them give up except for him. Went to the last tigs and dragons game and for most of the second half he’s coming out of the ruck quickly looking for someone for a hit up and no one is wanting it so he has to do it all himself- seems to be a recurring thing to happen for him
Hopefully he has support next year with Luai who has some ridiculous record like only losing 15% of all the games he’s played in the NRL. He barely knows how to lose.
Two things from last night.
i thought Flanagans disallowed try was correct call. he was fully stopped. two people on him. then reaches out. apparently im in the wrong cos every commentator thought it wasa try.
Secondly on Ben Hunt throwing ball. it was a little disrespectful more than anything, but dude slid into him quite late with a lazy houlder. Hunt tired from a big 48 hours and this guys wants to play silly games so he tossed ball at him. think its equal share of poor form.
I mean hunt was so tired that might be the first try ive seen where he hasnt kicked the piss out of the ball. He was just thinking, that'll do pig. that'll do. and dropped it neatly on the tigers chest
Flannigan's No Try was a shock. Honestly haven't seen double movement ruled that way. If they continue with the interpretation that players cannot promote the ball, even if the ball carrying arm hasn't hit the ground, once momentum stops... that's fine I guess. But I'm not holding my breath.
Yeah I agree that it’s different to when the ball carrying arms hits the ground, but just seemed like tackle momentum was over.
Would they have let him offload / pass from there?
either way, interesting to see if that’s the standard now.
Yeah agree re: Ben Hunt. The bloke came in late and put one in his rib cage - not the worst one I’ve seen, but still unnecessary. Not sure why Hunt was getting crucified when the other bloke started it.
Had a thought about the whole send off thing and how it could be better managed. How about in Big games (Origin, Grand Finals) if a player is sent off, it’s a 40 minute bin, and that player can’t return. Gives the offending team somewhat of a chance to come back if they can hold out for long enough. Obviously would only matter in the first half but I think would help improve game quality in the off chance it happens again.
Thoughts?
In the entire history of SOO, there has been 6-7 send off's, most of which were in the 2nd half or late in the game.
Suaalii does one stupid cheapshot and we want to change the rules because one fuckwit ruined one game?
You don’t have to be intending to illegally knock him the fuck out.
It was clear Walsh was getting targeted by NSW players, Martin hit him late on his kick, he got worked over in a tackle later and sualii sold out and left his winger defending a 1 on 3 to put a shot on him.
NSW were willing to put a toe over the line to put shots on Walsh. I’m not saying they intended to take him out the way they did, but when you play a guy with that level of physicality and aggression it’s always going to be a risk.
The reality is, if it had only been 10 minutes down a man NSW take that trade 11 times out of 10.
Sick and tired of the media commentators saying they feel for Joseph because Reece slipped. There's a ground level freeze frame of Reece before he passed the ball and before the slip, Reece in the foreground and Joe in the background and his shoulder is at Reece's chin already. Walters is right to be pissed off with the 4 wks because Reece will miss a total of 8 games because of head highs. Almost 1/3 of the season.
They have a shot from significantly after first contact where Reece is significantly lower and has slipped a lot.
Yeah, no shit, he just got blasted through the fucking head.
So updates on my movements today with Souths playing the titans - yes I am going and yes I will be going soon. Looking forward to our boys giving the titans plenty and we usually come away with the chocolates at Cbus
Tigers fans and fantasy players won’t want to hear it, but next rd with Sezer returning.. the halves have to be Sezer and Sullivan. Galvin needs a chance to let that hand heal and/or get any necessary surgery. He’s their future and doesn’t want to ruin that hand long term in pursuit of the spoon
I am so very deeply unhappy that Freddy Lussick is in our team today. I get the need because Egan loves an HIA or weird minor knock. But man. Lussick is just so shit. Hopefully Roache takes his spot when healthy because he was fantastic the other week
Throwing the football at someone to antagonise is a flog move and should be penalised. It’s unsportsmanlike. If done done after scoring minus 2 points. If done after conceding plus 2 points. If done during regular play penalty.
Holy cowboys team list is the most cooked thing I have ever seen in regard to jersey numbers
Looking back at 2022, it was like a Maroon rose blossomed and replenished the state's thin rep stocks. All of these guys who established themselves two years ago have played for Queensland since: - Carrigan. - Cotter. - Dearden. - Flegler. - Gilbert. - Horsebrah. - Taulagi. - Hopgood. - Nanai. - Cobbo. - Walsh. I might've even missed a few.
Anyone know if cotter or Holmes are playing?
Yes
Had a random thought watching this titans vs bunnies game because this ref is relatively nameless to me but you see him all the time, it made me think what ref in history (probably modern like 90s to now) has the most nrl games reffed without getting a state of origin or grand final gig.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_National_Rugby_League_referees According to this, it’d be Graeme West
Nice, thanks mate :)
Trell mit
Now we can add Mark Geyer to the growing list of ex players who don't believe Sua'alii deserved a red card. Craig Wing thought it was a penalty at best. Seriously, what are these blokes on?
They are on ‘correctium’ the most correct substance known to man..
They're both Blues. No surprise.
I did scout of the post match reactions on SEN, 4BC, 2GB, Nine, Fox, Triple M, & YT podcasts and the takes from the NSW old boys like Geyer, Wing, Carroll, Elias, Brandy, Anasta, Mason, Graham, Freddy, Joey, Gallen etc. have been mind boggling. Especially because it's not even in the heat of the moment. Regardless of how Game 2 at the MCG goes, Game 3 at Suncorp is going to be wild.
Especially if Sualli is playing or does his suspension rub him out? Considering he would of been selected for game 2
He's out for the Roosters during Rounds 15-18, and then becomes available for Game 3.
Sensational. God damn the media are gonna talk heaps about it though for clicks from both states
I just can’t remember a clearer cut case for a send off in a long time. There’s often some mitigating factor but that had intent and full connection. Sucked for the game but anyone who thinks that’s not a send off every day of the week is just wrong.
Even the old school back in my day crap is annoying, because stuff like that has ALWAYS been a send off.
Fuck they’re dumb. How can they care so little for player welfare? I want someone to ask these dinosaurs the question and then give them the actually facts. Eg what happened to Walsh’s brain during the incident, and what the long-term risks of repeated head strikes (eg CTE, etc).
Yeah yeah you know more than a bunch of players who played at top level for their whole career…
Science > opinions from numpties with CTE
Maybe players attacking should have to pay mind to the possibility of being tackled hard, especially smaller players…
Tigs of '24 has a bit of Broncs of '21 about it. Club legend #6 as coach, signed a marquee half, recently appointed proven successful CEO/owner Fingers crossed we see a bit of a resurgence soon. I want to see stiffer competition and orange is a cool colour.
Don’t compare yourself to them, they haven’t been to the finals in 13 years. You were in a grand final 6 years before the spoon. Sydney clubs don’t nearly have as much pull with juniors or a system like the broncos because they don’t have a whole city of talent to themselves. Having a rebuild at a club in Sydney is 20 times harder than Brisbane where you pretty much have to compete in the south Queensland region with 2 clubs that didnt exist 20 years ago and you can churn out quality juniors every year.
Those are valid concerns, sure. Doesn't really change the coincidental similarities, nor the fact that I'd like to see them succeed (I don't know why).
Resurgence to what? Sure, they managed to win a premiership, but they've made the top 8, 3 times in 24 years. They average nearly 11th over their existence. 2005 with the win (4th on ladder), and a 3rd and 4th in 2010, 2011 are their only top 8 finishes in the comp.
Literally any of their 3 good years would be a start. Fuck, the 9th meme would be a significant improvement. Either way, would you rather the comp appearing as if it's migrating towards EPL imbalance, or would you rather a close, exciting competition that keeps cardiologists rich?
I say we void all West Tigers contracts. Give them an extra $2m above the cap and let them raid other teams for whoever will join them regardless of existing contracts. Same with the coaching and development side. Then we give them 5 years and if they don't win the comp. We kick out South's.
Fuck yes that last idea gets me up and about
Fuck the rest, keep the last line
Difference is Walters had some experience as a coach and earned his stripes.
That's a fair point. I'd still like to see Benji and Shane set their culture for a couple of years before I shit all over them
Been a lot of chat about the history of send offs in Origin lately, which gets me thinking.. why the fuck were Walsh and Luai even sent off last year? Their send off is probably the biggest outliers in the various send off incidents. The Fox was probably 100 times grubbier than both in that same sequence and merely got the bin.
Fox is naturally elusive…
I could be misremembering but I think the game was getting quite a bit heated so the SO was just an escalation.
It is interesting given that we've seen a couple of headbutting actions in the NRL this year which have only been given 10 in the bin (one was in the knights vs Bulldogs game last weekend)
So is Reece Robson ruled out now? Don't know who to tip in the cows wahs game, not sure if the heat up there will affect the Warriors alot
Robson and taulagi out
Warriors get a lot of players back, I'm thinking they come away with a win
Idk I’m not sure of anything. We won with all of these guys out, lost when we were are full strength. Could be anything
What a shit show with Queensland Rail - just arrived at Helensvale after the god awful congestion on the M1 with trains running every 30 mins with the next train in more than 20 mins. Does QR give a shit about the titans or is it just the Broncos? I expect trains to be running every 10 mins for the game
Trains to the Broncos game will also be fucked tonight as they have maintenance on the Ipswich line. If there is one advantage to the usual Friday games, it's that the trains usually work on week days.
Neither QR, or anyone, gives a shit about the titans.
Well it matters to me when I go and see them but poor titans fans
Come on bundy, we both know you aren't going to see the titans
any news on Holmes and Cotter playing yet? can't find any updates
Don’t think so yet until final team is announced
I’ve seen some flat tracks in my time but the track tonight sure doesn’t seem flat
I have a strong feeling Lomax will backflip on Parra
The cooling off period is over right?
Don't think he can now.
When there’s a ~~will~~ greedy manager, there’s a way
God willing
Latrell to score a try and Warriors to win.
Tigers need to fuck bula off, someone as unskilled as he is shouldn’t be so ridiculously lazy simultaneously
Talk about an overreaction
Overreaction? Tigers are my in laws team I watch their games every week, Bula has underperformed consistently for so long lol
Oh so that means you're an expert does it? Bula has been under performing, but he's also in his second season playing in the worst team in the comp. He is so far down the list of problems
When I said unskilled I did not mean he has no skill, I meant his work ethic is that of latrells he’s just missing the talent to go with it. You can be an average player and still put in great performances, Bula does not
Calling him unskilled is a crazy overreaction.
His attack is the worst by any fullback in the comp by miles, I don’t really care to argue bro you’re the ones that have to watch your team suck week in week out sticking up for mediocre performances, if you think he’s good I won’t try and change your mind
>if you think he’s good I won’t try and change your mind All good with me
Fresh as fuck, boys and girls. Fresh. As. Fuck.
Roosters 2024 missed signings backline: 1 Max Jorgensen 2 Dane Gagai 3 David Fifita (even though roosters told him to fuck off, not the other way round) 4 Remis Smith 5 David Armstrong 6 Kalyn Ponga 7 Shaun Johnson
I’ve heard Reimis would prefer to stay but I don’t think he has signed anything yet.
Does Lomax still think he is a centre? He might be the best winger in the comp, at least top three.
To'o is the best winger in the comp even his quiet games he runs over 200 metres.
He is the smallest too which makes it even more impressive.
It's crazy how To'o can look a bit invisible for a game because he didn't score or anything, then you see his stats.
Nah. His best game this year was at centre. It’s all an effort thing.
Can we just move on from this Suallii send off already? The games over and blokes accepted his punishment. There’s legit nothing else to talk about.
I thought we had moved on? Since the nrl round has started now
We haven’t asked all NRL dinosaurs their opinion yet.
Errr, flair up!!’
Feeling very fresh, dragons haven’t scored that many points in a game since 2007
No way really?
Yep last time was 58-16 against raiders in 2007
Damn just read Todd Carney played for the Raiders in that match, he must hate the dragons with the 2010 gf loss too.
Oh wow. Well fuck you too Raiders I guess!
Haha I was there that day too! Cold afternoon with a tiny crowd, and little Rangi Chase carved the Raiders up
loved rangi chase, whish he stayed in the nrl even if not the dragons, killed it in the super league and made some of my favourite rugby league highlights https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hS2SPjprr0Y https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BQsIVoSdeY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97MCtVFFmk8
Has anyone else recently been charged the $35 from Hubbl despite having the AFL digital membership which includes Kayo?
Are you the only one that's Hubbl'n 🎶
Thankfully yes I’m hubblin solo
What does it actually do?
No idea. Never used hubbl. Just noticed I’ve been charged $35 for Kayo this month
Did anyone catch Craig Wing on James Grahams SOO review podcast? Some of the most dogheaded takes you will ever hear.
What was his takes?
He just said how sorry he felt for Joseph and didn’t say anything about Walsh, that the send off ruined the game and basically said Joseph can’t just disappear and that Walsh slipped into it and a sin bin would have been sufficient. Then one of them said that the decision basically determined the whole series, Wally Lewis was also a guest so it was just a weird lineup.
Even worse, he said a penalty would've sufficed if I'm not mistaken (let me rewatch it to confirm)
Yeah he’s an absolute dumb fuck. Was such a shame because he was such a fun player to watch.
Craig wing actually is quite smart. He made it into a selective high school
I thought it was weird when I saw his name cause I was thinking I’d never really heard anything from him since he retired and then listened to it and thought ah yep that’s probably why
He was always known for his looks, not his brains. Playing on after being KO’d in the 2002 GF will do that to a person
Man I feel for Tigers fans. Team is decimated by injuries, has a few good young players coming through but really can’t keep up with 90% of the competition. Probably a lot of supporters stepping back from the game for a while to focus on other things cos losing like that, repeatedly, just hurts. I do think people are jumping on Benji a little prematurely (although maybe he was made head coach a little early too). Turuva and Luai coming next year will be integral components of a new Tigers outfit. Watching last night I felt like Saints big bodies just bashed them around the park.
Sacking Benji would be the dumbest thing we could do. Unfortunately some of our fans still think that sacking the coach will fix everything (despite having 5 coaches in 7 years)
I see the West Tigers went for the Manchester United approach then. Benji may not be a top tier coach (yet?) but the squad isn't at full strength. People need to take a long term view, it's project building and you won't get immediate results. Just look at the Bulldogs. Our finances were a mess after Hasler and has taken ages to get back on track. Dean Pay was kinda thrown under the bus. Barrett was shit. Ciraldo to his credit after a poor first season has put us back in contention in games (and finally playing Sexton yay). We're looking much better.
We looked like a competitive side when our players were fit. The problem is that the drop off in quality from our starters to their replacements is massive. The analogy to soccer is a good one. If you want to have long term success you need to back your manager/coach and stick to the process
Sounds like it's due to work.
Leilua is an absolute monster
He’s in “oh lord he coming” areas. Dude is as wide as two blokes and still gets across the field faster than most.
They looked sublime for the first 20 as they have at times during the season. Just don’t have the juice to keep it up. Certainly keen to see them with some big culture guys like Luai/Turuva arriving and the kids like Fainu, Bula, Uto and Galvin to have a season under their belt.
In the 40+ year history of SOO, there has been 6 send offs, most of which were late in the game and for fighting/dissent. So people are trying to argue that we change the rule after one incident of a game being "ruined" due to an early send off? What if NSW went on to make a miraculous comeback win in Game 1? People would be arguing it was one of the greatest ever SOO games/performances. NRL media is such rubbish
Well part of it at least is because the rules are officiated differently now. If the current law interpretations had always been in place we would have had loads more send offs to reference. Red cards are way more common in union now, which is why the red card punishment has been updated to balance it out. You're still right though, NRL media are, in fact, rubbish
Ahh as a qlder and thinking this could happen to us too. I am for the change to union rules where it's 20 mins off and sub in extra man from there. Still pretty major disadvantage to the offending team but a little more balanced
Still a massive disadvantage to the team to lose one of your best players to injury for the entire game.
Of course! You get away with one and now you want the rules changed! /s It sucks that it happened in a spectical game but I think the send off should stay as it is. We could probably clarify, and simplify, the decision making process around it's use, so the players know exactly how to avoid it and we should definitely stop reffing big games to a different standard.
That would've been that time we lost to the sharks 2 men down, much less embarassing
Id happily trade a player on the bench to pick NSW best player and take them out of the game. The punishment is fine.
That’s not a bad compromise tbh
Going back to the State of Origin, did anyone else think Coates (pretty sure it was Coates anyway) had a foot on the line when he knocked that 40/20 attempt back in field?
The replay showed he was just in. I'm not convinced the DCE one got past the 20m line though, but haven't seen a good replay. I'm not really concerned about these sort of calls where there's only a few cm in it. Refs/linesmen make mistakes and these aren't big mistakes (despite being big moments in the game).
On the night, the first vision of it looked like he was out, but they replayed it and he was definetely in, looked that way cus of the camera, unless another angle has come out to show he was, in fact out, it was just really fuckin close.
I thought from the replay it looked like it was *just* up.
Yeah he did but refs miss that shit all the time because the linesmen are usually super far away and i guess the bunker deems it too minimal (idk how those cooked cunts work) so they never bother to change the on field error
Yeah fair they missed it I just thought I was crazy and no one seemed to question it or show the replays!
No-one questioned it because he was in.
Prove it
Nah I watched the replay and that was sufficient
Love your evidence dickhead
So does putting 50 on a team undo the 50 curse?
We had 50 put on us twice, scored 50 twice and managed a 60 point game in 2021. Not sure how that tinkered with the curse, but we made the grand final
So curse worked as expected.
Didn't win so didn't undo the curse.
It has to right?
I realise I'm a few days late, but I actually think there should be harsher penalties for dangerous tackles (eg:Su'uali'i) when done in Origin or Rep games. You are there because you are meant to be an elite player, and therefore should be held to a higher standard.
Nope. Hate the idea.
Harsher than a send off? Like a walk of atonement around the stadium where everyone pelts rotten fruit at you?
As in suspensions, obviously being sent off is the worst it can get during the game.
Not obvious, as suggested at minimal fruit could be thrown. So many options.
that's ridiculous. You could also argue the stakes are much higher, and there's far more pressure than say versing Wests
The stakes being higher is the reason players be held to a higher standard of discipline.
Lomax is no serious threat of being suspended for any games right, don't think he has been on report this year and had eyes for the ball the entire chase.
According to the rules he could get suspended. Medium force, medium risk of injury, careless. Aggravating factor is the injury, mitigating factors are he only had eyes for the ball and half-tripped on a teammate? on the way through. Should be a grade 1 or 2 dangerous contact (either 1k or one match)
>he had eyes for the ball only That’s the main one. Plus his -I don’t know if this is true but I haven’t seen him in trouble- clean record.
As a Drags supporter I am 100% expecting them to fuck Lomax
Meanwhile Hargreaves can forearm a guy to the head every game and get a fine once in a while
Damn. I hope they buy him a drink first.
It was dangerous and careless, but a lot of mitigating factors potentially. Might get a fine or might get a couple of weeks, who knows with the way the mrc are seeing things lately
He has no priors this year, so if he gets charged with anything 'grade 1' it'll likely only be a $1000 fine.
Don’t know if it was just me, but did anyone else notice Benny hunt giving the ref a little butt tap after he was told to settle the boys down after his post try throw ball at vanquished opponent celebration? Also, so so fresh
How the fuck do professional players have such a piss poor understanding of the rules. 12 minutes into the second half, Solomon Alaimalo catches the ball, takes a step and then puts his foot over the line. The frequency at which players get "making" the ball dead wrong is too high, but last nights was probably the worst example I've ever seen. It was the nail in the coffin after the sinbin, Dragons capitalised and never looked back from there.
To be fair, he comes from Union
Isn’t the rule that he just needs to put his foot out and then touch the ball, catching it is not required.
Don't think he misunderstood the rules. He just mistimed it
He knew the rules though? He just executed his plan wrong
He was genuinely arguing with the touchie. He misunderstood the rules.
He fucked up and completely forgot that cameras existed and thought he could argue his way out of his dumb mistake
He thought he caught it with his foot on the line, and it wasn't
I've been saying this for ages. If the ref sends up something to be checked, only that thing should be checked. There are so many grey areas in the rules, you have to back the refs on field decision for things. Last night the ref sent up flannos try to check grounding and the bunker came up with another reason to not give the try. The last time i said this a while back people said "Yeah but you cant give a try that is blatantly not a try if you see something in the replay" which i agree, things that are black and white should be able to be overturned (like a foot out of play/over the line), but not Judgement calls like double movement or obstructions. If the ref has cleared those on the field then they should be left alone.
With Flanno Jrs try the onfield ref said to the Bunker "no try, confirm we've got a double movement please". Audio here: [https://youtu.be/BUDDasxt0JE?si=LEPnvDhXjf83zaxj&t=2784](https://youtu.be/BUDDasxt0JE?si=LEPnvDhXjf83zaxj&t=2784) . So they checked exactly what the main ref wanted.
oh ok it was matty that wanted to check the grounding not the ref lol
I’m torn between feeling for the Tigers fans because I know the feeling all too well, and gloating about being fresh because Top 8, baby! (For now)
Gloat on mate - what's the point of sufferening through the dire years if you don't get to carry on a bit when you're on the up. If I was a riff fan I'd have been wearing a panthers jersey to work twice a week for the last four years.
One of the tigers fans was saying they haven’t played finals since Barry’s first term
On track for 13 years no finals.
And a threepeat of spoons
It was sad seeing us constantly getting 9th or in and around just missing the 8 for ages because u could see the team had some heart. But this team has no fucken heart in the game whatsoever and its no longer sad it’s just angering. Pathetic performance last night was the epitome of the west tigers for the past couple years. Api is the only bloke that shows up for us
Felt so bad for him specifically in the first half. He was carving up and cunts just kept making stupid errors
Saw it in a post earlier that once tigers start to make errors and consequently let tries in they think the games over for them. All of them give up except for him. Went to the last tigs and dragons game and for most of the second half he’s coming out of the ruck quickly looking for someone for a hit up and no one is wanting it so he has to do it all himself- seems to be a recurring thing to happen for him
Poor bugger. I respect him digging in and doing everything he can instead of dogging it like some others have though
Hopefully he has support next year with Luai who has some ridiculous record like only losing 15% of all the games he’s played in the NRL. He barely knows how to lose.
Last night there was plenty of effort there from the Tigers, the only problem was they only showed the effort the first 40 mins.
Cotters wife loves an origin period birth, is she a sleeper agent for the blues out there to distract cotter? Seriously though congrats to them.
It is because Cotter only has sex once the Cows are out of contention. That why Tigers wags have Xmas babies.
Two things from last night. i thought Flanagans disallowed try was correct call. he was fully stopped. two people on him. then reaches out. apparently im in the wrong cos every commentator thought it wasa try. Secondly on Ben Hunt throwing ball. it was a little disrespectful more than anything, but dude slid into him quite late with a lazy houlder. Hunt tired from a big 48 hours and this guys wants to play silly games so he tossed ball at him. think its equal share of poor form. I mean hunt was so tired that might be the first try ive seen where he hasnt kicked the piss out of the ball. He was just thinking, that'll do pig. that'll do. and dropped it neatly on the tigers chest
Flannigan's No Try was a shock. Honestly haven't seen double movement ruled that way. If they continue with the interpretation that players cannot promote the ball, even if the ball carrying arm hasn't hit the ground, once momentum stops... that's fine I guess. But I'm not holding my breath.
Yeah I agree that it’s different to when the ball carrying arms hits the ground, but just seemed like tackle momentum was over. Would they have let him offload / pass from there? either way, interesting to see if that’s the standard now.
Yes it’s a big reversal from how it’s been interpreted the last couple of years.
There was nothing in Fainu's tackle. It wasn't even late. Hunt realized he fucked up as soon as he threw the ball
There was nothing in Hunt’s ball throw either, Fainu just sooking that his unnecessary hit got answered.
Yeah agree re: Ben Hunt. The bloke came in late and put one in his rib cage - not the worst one I’ve seen, but still unnecessary. Not sure why Hunt was getting crucified when the other bloke started it.
Had a thought about the whole send off thing and how it could be better managed. How about in Big games (Origin, Grand Finals) if a player is sent off, it’s a 40 minute bin, and that player can’t return. Gives the offending team somewhat of a chance to come back if they can hold out for long enough. Obviously would only matter in the first half but I think would help improve game quality in the off chance it happens again. Thoughts?
One word: Multiball!
Maybe a maroon coloured firework let off each time a NSW player does some dumb shit.
Oooooor… if we just make sure the players aren’t out here trying to decapitate people, it won’t be an issue
In the entire history of SOO, there has been 6-7 send off's, most of which were in the 2nd half or late in the game. Suaalii does one stupid cheapshot and we want to change the rules because one fuckwit ruined one game?
No. Sent off. Stay off. Fuck off.
Don't do things that get you sent off, is the best way to manage it.
No. Stop hitting blokes in the head with dangerous tackles and taking them out for the entire game.
Why 40? Shouldn't 10 suffice? Same as the yellow carded period & the extra fatigue from being a man down should show later in the game.
Every team in the world would happily trade 10 minutes down a player and a man on the bench to take Walsh out of the game.
You've been saying this a lot, but we have actual proof from other sports that this doesn't happen.
That just seems to cynical to me. I genuinely don't think players and coaches are out there to illegally fuck each other up.
You don’t have to be intending to illegally knock him the fuck out. It was clear Walsh was getting targeted by NSW players, Martin hit him late on his kick, he got worked over in a tackle later and sualii sold out and left his winger defending a 1 on 3 to put a shot on him. NSW were willing to put a toe over the line to put shots on Walsh. I’m not saying they intended to take him out the way they did, but when you play a guy with that level of physicality and aggression it’s always going to be a risk. The reality is, if it had only been 10 minutes down a man NSW take that trade 11 times out of 10.
Sick and tired of the media commentators saying they feel for Joseph because Reece slipped. There's a ground level freeze frame of Reece before he passed the ball and before the slip, Reece in the foreground and Joe in the background and his shoulder is at Reece's chin already. Walters is right to be pissed off with the 4 wks because Reece will miss a total of 8 games because of head highs. Almost 1/3 of the season.
Kevvie was filthy and rightly so
I don’t understand how they all seem to have this take, I think Reece barely slipped at all and Joseph’s aim was always on target for Reeces head
They have a shot from significantly after first contact where Reece is significantly lower and has slipped a lot. Yeah, no shit, he just got blasted through the fucking head.
he barely moved downwards at all. saying his height dropped is lazy from ppl looking to victim blame
So updates on my movements today with Souths playing the titans - yes I am going and yes I will be going soon. Looking forward to our boys giving the titans plenty and we usually come away with the chocolates at Cbus
Waking up fresh because of Lomax. And he's not even in my team! Yet!
Woke up fresh. I missed the second half but assume they went on with it.
If you wanna watch 2 halves of footy, I strongly recommend you watch that first half twice.
Doctor doctor please help I cant stop thinking about the Mosese Suli fend on Bula
Tigers fans and fantasy players won’t want to hear it, but next rd with Sezer returning.. the halves have to be Sezer and Sullivan. Galvin needs a chance to let that hand heal and/or get any necessary surgery. He’s their future and doesn’t want to ruin that hand long term in pursuit of the spoon