Warriors on a roll as they wallop Roosters in NRL 2008 finals
September 20, 2008
Friday night in Auckland the Warriors defeated the Roosters 30-13 to setup a clash with Manly for a grand final berth. The match was played in front of a sell out crowd of 25,585 in Auckland.
Last week who would have thought the Warriors would still be in the race for the 2008 NRL trophy? They were just two minutes away from elimination. Making the most of their opportunity the Warriors opened the scoring against the Roosters after just three minutes.
A last tackle play grubber kick hit the padding on the left goal post and Lance Hohaia was on hand to dive over. There was several minutes of video ref analysis before the try was given. There was some doubt if the try scorer had interfered with a Roosters chaser and if the Warriors no. 9 was offside. Technically he was however they decided he did not interfere with play. The conversion made it 6-0.
The Roosters did not let this early set back slow them down and they took it to the Warriors. Great defence kept the Sydney team out until eventually the weight of possession was too much for the Warriors.
A Mitchell Pearce 40-20 kick gave the Roosters a repeat set of six and from that set the young halfback was able to take on three Warrior defenders close to the line to go in for a try. It was more a try you would see a forward score. The conversion tied the scores at 6-6 after 30 minutes.
Just minutes later the Roosters would go in again. This time they try came from long range. A good backline movement saw Sia Soliola kick ahead. The ball took a wicked bounce for the Warriors fullback Hohaia and Minichiello was able to toe ahead. In the race to the ball he was held back slightly. The decision went to the video ref and to the dismay of the crowd in the stadium a penalty try was awarded. It was a borderline decision. If Minchiello did not have his right arm held he most likely would have scored however there was some doubt. He still had to gather the bouncing ball and force it. With the conversion from right in front the score was 12-6.
The Roosters were not able to cross again in the first half and as time wound down they took the field goal option to send the sides into halftime with the Roosters ahead 13-6.
In the second half the Warriors came out firing. Their defence stepped it up a notch and they pounded the Roosters in attack just running out of dummyhalf. They got back to back sets of six early in the half and took advantage of that and Hohaia scored his second try for the match as he threw a dummy to evade Craig Fitzgibbon.
The early try seemed to send the Roosters into panic mode. Even though there was plenty of time they started throwing the ball around and went from side to side instead of straight like the Warriors were playing. The teams traded the ball for several sets before the Warriors got a glut of possession. This was too much for the Roosters. The Warriors got over the line but the player was held up.
With more possession it was not long until the Warriors again crossed. This time the hooker appeared to have lost the ball over the line. It went to the video ref. After many different replays the video ref finally awarded the try giving the benefit of the doubt to the Warriors and Ian Henderson was awarded the try. The Michael Witt conversion took the score to 18-13.
Again possession was telling. A kick in goal by the Warriors was casually picked up by Minichiello. He had been hoping the ball would go dead. By the time he grabbed it he was surrounded by Warriors. From the dropout that followed the Warriors worked a good play and a nice cut out pass to Manu Vatuvei saw the big winger run 10m to cross out wide. A great conversion followed.
This was pretty much the end for the Roosters. The crowd was now going wild however with 18 minutes still on the clock there was time.
As the Roosters had not scored in the second half and there was only five minutes left in the match the Warriors now had the Roosters on the ropes. The visiting team spread the ball looking to get back into the match. They were looking good as a back line move took place to get an overlap only to see the Warriors Aidan Kirk grab an intercept and race about 80m down field to score the knockout blow. The conversion came and it was 30-13 to the New Zealand Warriors.
Once again the Roosters had let a reasonable first half lead slip in the second half as they went scoreless. The match was basically a repeat of the Brisbane game from a week ago. The Warriors did dominate possession in the second half and they made the most of that.
The Warriors march on. They deserved the win and they will now take on Manly next weekend for a grand final spot.
The other NRL final for the weekend sees the Melbourne Storm travel to Brisbane to take on the Broncos. The match is scheduled to kickoff at 7.45pm. The winner will play Cronulla who like Manly have the week off.
Warriors pluck Roosters to move to one game from NRL grand final
September 20, 2008
In the opening week of the 2008 NRL finals series the New Zealand Warriors pulled off the big upset by defeating the minor premiers Melbourne Storm at their home ground.
The prize for the Warriors was a home final against the Sydney Roosters. Tonight in Auckland the Warriors defeated the Roosters 30-13 to move one match away from a grand final berth.
read match report…
Warriors overcome Storm in big NRL upset
September 14, 2008
For the first time since the current finals format was introduced in 1999 in the NRL the 8th placed team has defeated the minor premiers. The New Zealand Warriors were pretty much written off going into the match against Melbourne Storm. They showed that the opinion of journalists counts for nothing when it comes time to play running out winners 18-15.
The Warriors were first to score through a penalty goal to Michael Witt. The Storm hit back with a try to Anthony Quinn in the 16th minute which was converted by Cam Smith. The Storm extended their lead after a penalty goal to Smith in the 28th minute. With the score at 8-2 just a minute out from halftime it looked liked the defending premiers would take that lead into the break.
The Warriors were not giving in that easily and managed to score a try out wide through Jerome Ropati which was converted to make the scores level at 8-8 as the teams went into the sheds at halftime.
The Warriors made the Storm sit up and take notice with an early try in the second half. Manu Vatuvei scored in the 45th minute and the conversion took the visitors out to a 14-8 lead. Billy Slater had failed to clean up a Grant Rovelli kick which allowed the Warriors player the chance to score the try.
Just minutes before the try Slater thought he had scored only to have his try waved away as the ref ruled that Lance Hohaia had been tackled without the ball.
The Storm had another try disallowed after Folau was ruled to have made a doublyese movement. Moments later he did score when he ran over in the 54th minute. The conversion was missed however a penalty goal in the 59th minute for the Storm levelled the scores.
The Storm looked to have escaped the embarassment of losing to the eigth placed team when Greg Inglis put them in front with a nicely struck field goal in the 69th minute. It could have been the blow that knocked the stuffing out of the Warriors.
It was not to be. The Warriors kept fighting and to the amazement of the Storm faithful they went in for a try in the 79th minute. After a break down the left side a nice pass sent Michael Witt over out wide. After crossing the line he paused for a second to taunt the Storm players before touching down for the winning try.
The loss for the Storm now throws them into the cut throat sudden loss football. They must now travel to Brisbane to take on the Broncos. The Warriors on the other hand are rewarded with a home final against the Sydney Roosters next Friday.
Even though the Roosters have to travel to Auckland for the match against the Warriors they have the advantage of two days extra rest as they played their finals match against Brisbane on Friday night.
The Warriors win sees the Canberra Raiders bow out of finals football in 2008. It also means that Cronulla gets the extra week off, along with Manly.
Broncos run over Roosters in opening NRL finals match
September 12, 2008
The Brisbance Broncos have come back from a 14-2 deficit to overpower the Sydney Roosters in the opening match of the 2008 NRL finals.
An intercept try to Sia Soliola in the 13th minute saw the Roosters go out to a 8-2 lead. He pulled in a Darren Lockyer pass as the Broncos tried to take advantage of an overlap. Not long after a good move saw Anthony Tupou go over with Craig Fitzgibbon converting to give the Roosters a 12 point lead.
Peter Wallace got the Broncos back in the match scoring from a jinking, stepping short run just before half time. He beat several Roosters players before crossing for the try. The teams went in at halftime with the Roosters ahead 16-8.
Just like in the round two clash where the Roosters held an advantage at the half the Broncos came out and kept the Sydney team scoreless in the second half. Brisbane scored one of the best tries of the season to start their move. The movement started about 50 metres out and went from one side of the field to the other through more than 12 sets of hands before Denan Kemp crossed on the right side.
Brisbane were to later kick a 40-20 which gave them good field position. From the scrum that followed they once again scored. This was too much for the Roosters and Brisbane further punished the Roosters to run out winners 24-16.
The Roosters now need to rely on at least two of the teams placed 6-8 on the ladder to lose over the weekend to keep their chances alive. Brisbane has earned a home final next week. The form they showed tonight suggests the premiership is not just a battle between Melbourne Storm and Manly.
Sonny Bill Williams shocks league world
July 27, 2008
Canterbury player Sonny Bill Williams has reportedly walked out in year one of a five year contract to pursue a potential $3million 2 year deal to play in French rugby union.
He headed overseas without even letting his teammates know his was leaving the club. Canterbury players, management and fans are not impressed with the actions of Williams.
The NRL is also against the move and say that if Williams plays rugby he will be banned for life from playing in the Australian league competition.
On top of the threat to ban Williams from the NRL they are hoping the the rugby union authorities won’t register the renegade bulldog. If this happens he could see himself out of the game altogether.
It will be interesting to see how this pans out.
Manly run away from Titans
July 5, 2008
The Manly Sea Eagles flew north to take on the Gold Coast Titans at Skilled Park. The Titans were without some key players including Scott Prince who broke his arm in game 3 of the State of Origin and Luke Bailey.
In the first half both teams put on an entertaining match with good ball movement and solid defence. The Gold Coast were first to score when a good pass saw Anthony Laffranchi given enough space to make it to the try line in the 9th minute.
The Sea Eagles hit back in the 14th minute when Steven Bell crossed in the 14th minute. Another try followed to Steve Menzies who just keeps on showing age does not slow him down. The half time score was 12-6 to the Sea Eagles.
A penalty and a converted try saw the home team take a 14-12 lead by the 53rd minute. At this stage of the match you would have given it to either team.
A mistake by the Gold Coast when they should have cleaned up a Manly kick was what ultmately seemed to turn the match. Manly took advantage by scoring a try through Jamie Lyons in the 63rd minute and then the floodgates opened.
Three more tries followed as David Williams went over and a Brett Stewart double saw the score blowout to 34-14. On face value you would think Manly had the match under control howevr it was there for the Gold Coast to win with around 12 minutes left.
The win sees Manly sitting at the top of the NRL ladder while the Gold Coast continues a slide down to 7th at the moment. The will need to work hard to turn around their recent poor form where they are 1-4 from the last five matches.
Queensland take origin series despite losing Prince
July 2, 2008
In game two of the origin series Scott Prince came into the Queensland side and made a huge difference. Just look at the 30-0 scoreline.
In the deciding game three played on NSW home turf at ANZ stadium the QLD team got off to a good start when Israel Folau was on hand to take advantage of a Athony Quinn error. The NSW winger jumped to field a bomb, his let it bounce off his shoulder and Folau gleefully accepted the rebound and touched down for a try.
NSW hit back after a QLD error gave them the ball in good field position. At the end of the set of tackles Matt Cooper ended a move down the left side by stretching out to plant the ball down as he was tackled. The conversion by Craig Fitzgibbon gave NSW a 6-4 advantage.
The next thing I noticed in the match was Scott Prince running up the tunnel with what turned out to be a broken arm. He did this as he went it in for a tackle and whacked it against the elbow of Braith Anasta.
The loss of the QLD playmaker looked to have thrown his team into disarray as they had trained all week with him running the show. Now they looked lost.
QLD did manage to score again. It was Folau again. This time he did all the work. He lept high to take in a bomb. It was a spectacular grab that would have done the Swans proud. As he came down he had the skill to plant the ball for the four pointer. The missed conversion kept the scoreline tight.
Some penalties goals to NSW and one to QLD saw the teams go into the sheds at 10 all.
In the second half the NSW team looked most likely to win the match. The moved the ball around better than QLD however they maybe did not do enough. QLD without Prince seemed to struggle for direction and they could not add to the halftime score until some Johnathan Thurston brilliance busted the game wide open.
Thurston ran onto the ball out wide and recognized that a forward was sitting out wide. He dummied and took him on. Mitchell Pearce slid in defence to take the outside man and this let Thurston make the bust. As he looked for support Billy Slater flashed up along side to take the pass and sprint over untouched. The conversion took the score to 16-10.
After the conversion there was 11 minutes left for QLD to hold out. Calling on their strong desire to win the QLD team defended with passion and kept the Blues from crossing their line. Steven Price showed the commitment that it takes to play and win at this level. He charged down a Mitchell Pearce kick to diffuse a dangerous situation.
It was plays like that from QLD which helped them take the match and along with it their third straight series win. It was just the second time they had won at the Olympic stadium.
NSW will have to wonder what they can do to score more points. In game two and three they could only manage 10 points and this included just one try.
In the end it was a sad send off for Danny Buderus who is the outgoing NSW skipper. He is headed overseas next year. The Queensland fans won’t care too much about that as they celebrate another fine series win for the Maroons.
What did you think of game three? Have your say below.
NRL wrap round 16
July 1, 2008
Cronulla has wrapped up round 16 with a win in chilly Canberra. As the rain and wind made playing conditions miserable the Sharks were able to come back from 12-0 down to run away with a 36-24 win.
The teams hardest hit by State of Origin absentees had mixed results. Melbourne who were without nine players pushed Parramatta. In the end they could not close the gap and the Eels snuck away with a 24-22 win. The Roosters without six stars defeated Canterbury in an entertaining match 24-14. Brisbane played the Penrith Panthers. Both teams were without nine regular first graders. In the end the teams could not be separated with the score 12-12 after extra time.
The Rabbitohs pulled off the most amazing win. They completed a huge comeback after falling behind 28-4 in the 49th minute. Souths ended up winning the match 29-28 to complete the second biggest comeback in NRL history. It was actually the Cowboys who pulled off the biggest comeback. In 1998 they went from being down 26-0 to win 36-28 against Penrith.
The St George Illawarra Dragons continued their impressive form of late with a six consecutive win after ending the unbeaten home record of the Gold Coast Titans. The Dragons won a close match 26-22.
In a round of close scorelines the most one sided match was the one between Manly and Newcastle. The Sea Eagles winning 28-12.
The last match to mention was the matchup between Wests Tigers and the Warriors. The New Zealand team score a rare away win running out winners 28-26.
If the quality of play is ever lacking over recent rounds you cannot complain about the excitement factor as so many games are being decided by four points or less.
The highlight this week is the State of Origin match on Wednesday July 2. New South Wales will be going all out to avoid their third consecutive series loss.
St George end Gold Coast perfect home record
June 28, 2008
The St George Illawarra Dragons have continued with their recent good form and have done what no other NRL team has done in season 2008. They have defeated the Titans on home turf.
In a close match the Dragons scored a try in the 68th minute to take the match.
The Titans had Ben Jeffery (4th minute), Brett Delaney (34m), Luke O’Dwyer (47m) and Mat Rogers (60m) score tries. Rogers converted two tries.
The Dragons also scored four tries however the accurate goal kicking from Jamie Soward gave St George the advantage. Ben Hornby (30th minute), Brett Morris (38m), Chase Stanley (51m) and Michael Lett (68m) were the try scores.
The win sees the Dragons in fifth spot on the NRL ladder four points from top spot.
Another Friday night thriller in NRL
June 28, 2008
There have been plenty of tight matches in the NRL over recent times. On friday night in the match between Brisbane and Penrith we got more of the same. Well almost.
Instead of the match being decided at the last minute, or in golden point extra time both teams were locked on 12 a piece after 90 minutes. That’s right, teams level after 80 minutes and still level after an additional 5 minutes each way extra time for the first draw of the season.
Both teams came into the match with understrength teams. Brisbane had four players sitting out on State of Origin duty and also a few more out injured. Most notably Darren Lockyer. The Penrith team were without Petero Civoniceva who lines up for Queensland in the State of Origin decider and many other top players who were out injured. When you add them all up each team was without nine regular first graders.
The match did not see many points as it was 6-6 at halftime and then 12-12 at fulltime. Luke Jennings got the first try of the match in the 24th minute. The Broncos scored the next two with Dave Taylor crossing in the 33rd minute and Corey Parker in the 48th minute.
With time winding down Michael Jennings scored a good try for the Panthers in the 73rd minute. 18 year old Lachlan Coote who was making his debut at fullback had the chance to win the match with the conversion. He also had several more opportunities to be the hero in his first ever first grade match in the NRL. A penalty shot just missed after two minutes of extra time and Coote also missed a well struck long range field goal attempt. As time wound down he missed a second field goal however that one was a dud shot.
Brisbane had a chance to steal the match at the end of regular time however Greg Eastwood’s field goal attempt was charged down.
In the end both teams walked away with a point. A good result considering.
In the other match on Friday night the Roosters pulled off a good win without 6 players who were on State of Origin duty. After falling behind 10-0 the Roosters worked their way back into the match before running out 24-14 winners.
One players misfortune is another players opportunity.
