Manly Face Decisive Test
Manly’s improbable push for an 11th straight finals campaign is gathering momentum after a dominant win against the Brisbane Broncos last Saturday and four wins in their last five matches. Not bad for a coach who has just been told he is unwanted next season by the club.
They face arguably their stiffest test this Friday though when hosting defending premiers South Sydney in a matchup that engendered plenty of heat in recent times.
A win could push Manly to eighth spot by the end of the weekend, a long way from the last placed position they occupied just six weeks back.
If the Sea Eagles are to win it will need to be on their star-studded backline, who rank second in scoring over the last five rounds, racking up an incredible 30.8 points a game. Over the first 16 rounds they ranked last in the NRL with just 15 points per match.
The Sea Eagles have long relied on their defence to see them home but if they are to make an improbable finals run it will need to be based on flair, not grit. Manly’s pack lacks the class or size to go with other contenders. Their backline is arguably the best in the NRL with six internationals.
Rugby League has a knack of producing a story and it seems almost serendipitous that the Sea Eagles will make the finals with Toovey at the helm and the wind at their backs.
Saints Seek Another Warriors Win
St George Illawarra hold one of the NRL’s biggest mock’s over a team in New Zealand and will go in unusual road favourites against the Warriors on Saturday afternoon.
And it is hard to make a case against the bookmakers, who are chips-in behind the Dragons.
St George Illawarra have won 18 of 22 all-time against New Zealand, including the last 10. That is a fair record considering the Dragons have not played finals football since 2011.
This game will have a huge implication on the finals. The Saints sit seventh and put to bed a seven-week losing streak against Newcastle last Sunday, The Warriors have fallen to ninth and have lost their last three. A win will go a long way to putting one of these 9-10 teams in the finals. A loss will spell doom.
With Trent Merrin returning for the Dragons and Andrew McFadden dumping Konrad Hurrell for reasons that seem beyond sense, it is hard to see St George Illawarra going down in this one.
Far and Wide
Expansion may not yet be on the NRL agenda but the game will be travelling far and wide this weekend with the Warriors-Dragons clash heading to Wellington in New Zealand and the western Sydney derby of Parramatta-Penrith shifting to Darwin.
The match at Wellington will be just the eighth NRL match staged in the city and the Warriors have won just one of the seven contested there.
Penrith and Parramatta have played on 90 occasions and this match in Darwin will be the first contested outside of Sydney. One of the most fabled Sydney rivalries has hit the road.
The NRL’s lack of vision has long held it back. Games played in outposts is a good start to growing the reaches of Rugby League.
SKD Returns
Premiership favourites Sydney Roosters welcome back Shaun Kenny-Dowall this Sunday when the Chooks head to Newcastle to tackle the Knights.
Kenny-Dowall has missed the Roosters’ last two outings after being hit with domestic violence charges, accusations he vehemently denies.
The lithe outside back has enjoyed arguably his finest season, scoring 13 tries in 16 games.
The Roosters have won their last seven, they have the best differential in the NRL and they get their all-time top tryscorer back. The Chooks are the title favourites and are without doubt the team to beat.
And with the Knights winning just two of their last 15 – and coming off a match where they conceded 46 points to a Dragons team who had not scored as many points in six seasons – it is hard to see the Chooks being pressed at all as they push for the minor premiership.
Shoulders First
Is the shoulder charge outlawed or is it now back in the game?
That is the question being asked after the Round 21 fiasco when Rooster Kane Evans laid a beautiful hit on Bulldogs behemoth Sam Kasiano. Evans was penalised – as the current rules suggest he should be – yet received no charge from the match review committee.
This coming just two weeks after Chris Sandow was rubbed out for two matches over a shoulder charge.
The match review committee also determined that Leeson Ah Mau’s swinging arm that collected Kade Snowden flush and left him wobblier than a bowl of jelly did not warrant a suspension.
So who knows if the shoulder charge is illegal or not? The NRL certainly doesn’t appear to be able to offer any clarity on the matter. And if we see one this weekend, the odds are long on anyone wanting to guess what penalties the on-field officials and match review committee want to dish out.
