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Cowboys cop fine only for Interchange Breach

The Cowboys find themselves extremely lucky today, to only cop a $25,000 fine imposed by the NRL for last weekends interchange breach.

Amazingly the Cowboys escaped deduction of NRL competition points, mainly because the NRL sideline official made an error in the provision of replacement cards.

Had the sideline official done his job correctly, the Cowboys most certainly would have lost points as the official rule from the NRL states:

“If a 14th player is on the field in any circumstances and for any reason, the club will lose the points it earns from the match.”

The Cowboys breathe easy now, as they consolidate their points from the win against Canberra combined with a bye this weekend - putting their previous slide behind them.

Cowboys confident of clearance

North Queensland Cowboys officials are confident that the NRL hearing into their substitution bungle on Saturday night will be favorable.

The Cowboys had 14 players on the field in Canberra for around 20 seconds or 3 tackles. Unlike the previous bungle by the Brisbane Broncos several years ago, where Corey Parker was the additional man and scored a try - the Cowboys duo of Faiumu and Smith took no part in the match.

The Cowboys are claiming that the NRL substitution sideline official took the sub card from Faiumu thereby clearing the player to run on to the field.

It will be interesting to see what the NRL hearing produces, will they blame their sideline official? If the NRL go after the Cowboys and attempt to dock competition points and / or fine the North Queensland club, expect the Cowboys to fight the penalty through legal avenues.

As the Broncos did in 2004, they fought and successfull won their appeal and had 2 points returned to them.

Peter Parr from the Cowboys has also stated that docking of 2 points is extremely severe. In comparison he pointed out that the Warriors were only docked 4 points for a salary cap breach in excess of half a million dollars.

We wait with interest.

(Cowboys CEO Peter Parr Pictured)

NRL News Sunday Rugby League

Bunnies in the money over Sharks
South Sydney 16 def Cronulla 12

A vibrant and enterprising Bunnies outfit today got home against the usually hard defending Sharks. It was 3 tries a piece, but an out of sorts Luke Covell missed his 3 goal attempts - 2 shots being from close range.

As NRL News reported and predicted earlier this week, it was a desperate Souths side that did everything they could to ensure they won this match. Jeremy Smith was at his scheming best, and Dean Widders kept most of his kicks in his kit bag for once and just did the hard running. Scoring a try himself and looking solid. Roy Asotasi was machine like at prop - the big man playing 80 minutes and breaking the Sharks line several times, something other teams have struggled to do. Asotasi needs to continue shouldering the load, with fellow hard man David Kidwel leaving such a hole.

The Cronulla Sharks looked to have improved slightly with their attack formations, especially Dykes when he got out of dummy half directly a few times. The Sharks were also aided by Lance Thompson - who as always, was just tireless in attack and defence. Thompson getting through the line early to setup his teams first try. Lance Thompson would not be out of place in a NSW Origin jersey, the guy is choc full of experience, rarely injured and hard as nails.

Ricky Stuart and his team will rue the missed opportunities today, and Covell will spend the next 2 weeks practising goal kicks as the Sharks have the bye. Stuart was unusually softly spoken in the press conference after the loss, the usually firey coach refusing to blame to loss on Covell and was upbeat about the improvement in the Sharks attack.

Souths desperately bag the 2 points, taking them to 14 and giving them some confidence as they face the Knights in Newcastle and then take on the might of Melbourne.

Birthday win for Storm over Dragons
Melbourne Storm 28 def Dragons 6

Thankfully for Nathan Brown and the Dragons, the Melbourne Storm didn’t click into gear until the 2nd half and also missed 5 conversion attempts to flatter the St George Illawarra side today.

In reality it was a 6 try romp for the Birthday boys. The Storm celebrating 10 years in the NRL and having a crowd of just under 14,000 to cheer them on at Olympic.

The Dragons started confidently and led early, with an enterprising try to Beau Scott - who brushed through some average Storm defence. The confidence grew with the Dragons, the young side looking impressive for a period. The loss of Jason Ryles really took the wind out of the Dragons, with the rangy prop going down with knee problems in what seems like a weekly occurrence for the former rep star. Why St George Illawarra re-signed Ryles I will never know, simply no value due to constant injuries.

The Storm also lost Dallas Johnson and will monitor his problems over the week ahead. The Storm do miss Cooper Cronk and his organisation skills mid field, but when they got going it was a sight to see.

Clearly several classes above every other NRL team, the Storm totally dominate in attack. Their deep and sweeping attack plays move from one side of the park to the other - very similar to the Canberra Raiders green machine in the early 1990’s for those that can remember.

Greg Inglis looks to be able to break the line at will and the timeless Matt Geyer again proved his versatility scoring a tough try in the corner.

The baby Dragons got another lesson in how to play, but at least they have another supporter next week - with Jason Ryles set to join the thousands of red and white players in the stands, cheering on the young squad.

St George Illawarra face the Manly Sea Eagles next week in a home game for the Dragons and the Storm enjoy the week off to consolidate their place on top with a bye.

Parramatta Eels crush Baby Roosters

Parramatta 36 def Roosters 16

North Queensland Cowboys win but lose

North Queensland Cowboys 28 def Canberra Raiders 24

Gold Coast Titans just beat Knights

Gold Coast Titans 28 def Newcastle Knights 22

Bulldogs Upset Manly, Warriors win

Bulldogs 27 def Manly 8

A solid first-half effort from the Bulldogs set up an upset 27-8 win over second-placed Manly and ended the Sea Eagles’ 10-game Fortress Brookvale streak on Friday night.

The under siege Bulldogs leapt out of the blocks to a 20-8 lead at the break, scoring a converted try and a field goal in the second half to put an end to Manly’s long running dominance at Brookvale, where they had not lost a match since round 16 last year.

“We’re now four points out of the eight and we all knew if we lost again we were going to drop way out so we knew coming here [we needed a] big effort [to] get a win,” he said.

Recalled Centre Willie Tonga said the team has had to change its tactics to be more competitive.

“In the first couple of NRL rounds with our highly forward pack we used to go into every game thinking we were going to out-muscle them but that wasn’t the case so we had to change things,” he said.

The Bulldogs’ 1/2 time advantage remained in tact throughout a dead-locked second stanza in which no points were scored until forward Nick Kouparitsas crossed in the 70th minute to put the finishing touches on a sweeping move that ran almost the length of the field.

Bulldogs captain Andrew Ryan set the ball in motion when he passed off to Sonny Bill Williams who managed to find former Queensland centre Tonga in space on the left-hand edge with an off-load.

Willie Tonga then spiraled a pin-point overhead pass to once again pick up Ryan on the inside, who shaped to pass left before finding Kouparitsas inside to his right, leaving the interchange player with little to do but put his head down and storm to the line.

El Masri converted the try to add to his first-half tally of three conversions and a penalty goal.

Kiwi five-eighth Ben Roberts, who recently signed a two-year contract extension with the Belmore-based franchise, then had the final say with a deft field goal four minutes from time, calmly slotting home under little pressure.

Earlier in the match, in-form Manly back rower Anthony Watmough, who this week extended his stay with the club until 2010, opened the scoring in the fifth minute, with Jamie Lyon converting successfully for an early lead.

Willie Tonga collected a first-half brace for the Bulldogs while Corey Hughes also touched down for a four-pointer.

El Masri extended the lead marginally with a penalty shot on the stroke of half-time to add to his three successful conversion attempts, while Manly could only manage a penalty shot through Lyon in response.

Bulldogs 27 (W Tonga 2, C Hughes, N Kouparitsas tries; H El Masri 3 conversions, penalty goal; B Roberts field goal)
Manly 8 (A Watmough try; J Lyon conversion, penalty goal)

Warriors 54 def Panthers 14

The Warriors continued their stunning return to form with a massive 40-point demolition of a hapless Penrith Panthers outfit in their round 15 NRL clash at Mt Smart Stadium in Auckland last night.

Two tries apiece from 5/8 Michael Witt and fullback Wade McKinnon gave the New Zealand-based side the foundations to race to a 54-14 victory to hand the club back to back wins for the first time since round 7 this year.

Michael Witt opened the scoring account in just the second minute and scoring a second in the 18th minute, then slotting three conversions to bag 14 first-half points as the Warriors raced to a 36-10 lead at the break.

Wade McKinnon also crossed for a double haul of four-pointers either side of the interval, with George Gatis, Wairangi Koopu, Epalahame Lauaki all scoring first-half tries, Manu Vatuvei and Louis Anderson joining the scorers during the second period.

Michael Witt then added a further three conversions to finish with six from six, while usual kicker Tony Martin also made three from as many attempts early in the match.

The Warriors scored an amazing six tries to two in the first half, with Luke Lewis and Nick Youngquest the only players to cross for the visitors during a forgettable opening period.

Keith Peters got himself on the scoreboard for Penrith in a woeful second-half display, the Panthers suffering their worst of 10 losses in NRL 2007 to remain in 15th place with a chance of dropping to the very bottom of the ladder should the Dragons win in their match against the league-leaders Melbourne Storm on Sunday afternoon.

The victory gives the Warriors their sixth win of the year and their second on the trot after a 12-2 victory over Cronulla last week to snap a six-match losing streak.

Ivan Cleary’s team has an opportunity to rise as high as ninth on the ladder should other NRL results go their way over the course of the weekend.

Warriors 54 (M Witt 2, W McKinnon 2, G Gatis, W Koopu, E Lauaki, M Vatuvei, L Anderson tries; M Witt 6 conversions, T Martin 3 conversions)
Penrith 14 (L Lewis, N Youngquest, K Peters tries; M Gordon conversion)

NRL Round 15 Tips and Predictions

Warriors vs Panthers (Auckland)
The axe has been swinging in Penrith, with coach Matt Elliott dumping Peter Wallace from the top squad claiming he was ‘out of form’ - this couldn’t be further from the truth. Wallace has been the Panthers best player and was dropped because he signed with the Brisbane Broncos. Elliott has thrown Maurice Blair into the pivot position, but don’t be surprised to see Richie Rich (recently signed from St George) snuck into the top squad. Pritchard lost his spot, and will start from the bench.

The Panthers are re-arranging deck chairs on the Titanic right now, so expect to see the Warriors build on their win last week. The NZ Warriors were good in the wet and away from home - now back at home base they will be primed for a good showing.

Verdict: Warriors to win

Manly Sea Eagles vs Bulldogs (Brookvale)
A much anticipated clash here in Sydney, the Bulldogs who are struggling on and off the field will be in ‘Dogs of War’ mode and desperate for a win. Problem is, they are travelling to ‘Fortress Brooky’ and Manly’s defence this year has been bulletproof. Too many changes for the Dogs through this year in the halves, actually right across the park - they’ve chopped and changed plenty. Manly will be too strong and having Steve Menzies back on deck simply makes them stronger.

Verdict: Manly to win

Canberra Raiders vs Cowboys (Bruce Stadium)
The home loving green machine - in their backyard. Always super strong in the ACT, the green machine face they sliding Cowboys. While Graham Murray will have been in lockdown mode all week with the North Queensland team - the carefree Raiders will be too enthusiastic for the Cowboys. Expect the slide to continue for the Cowboys.

Verdict: Raiders to win

Gold Coast Titans vs Newcastle Knights (Carrara)
The injury ravaged Titans get some much needed talent this week, with Preston Campbell and Luke Bailey back for the Knights game. This one is hard to pick, as the Knights played well last week on the back of their new young halves combination. Luke Walsh and Jarrod Mullen look the goods for now and the future. I think the Titans forwards will prevent any major rolls for the young Knights halves though, Titans too good at home - with more points due to Presto back on deck.

Verdict: Gold Coast Titans to win

Sydney Roosters vs Parramatta Eels (Aussie)
If you listen to expert tipsters, no one has given the Roosters a chance here. However, had the Roosters not lost Nate Myles due to disciplinary reasons and had Mini and Braith been there, the Roosters were worth the tip. Parra was very ordinary last weekend and were lucky to escape the young inexperienced Dragons. However, the Eels have a much better record at night, winning 80% of night matches - seemingly enjoying the soft dewy surfaces. I fear the Roosters might be in for a long night here, with plenty of youngsters trying to stop the likes of Fui Fui and Cannings. Forwards too strong for the Eels.

Verdict: Parramatta Eels to win

South Sydney Rabbitohs vs Cronulla Sharks (Telstra Stadium)
If only the Bunnies had a decent, local home ground. The abyss that is Telstra gives no advantage to the Souths team and even the burrow boys can’t be seen or head from the bleachers at Telstra. Both teams have had good defence this year and will keep it tight, so this should be low scoring. I feel Souths might just have the edge in this game, they showed enough against the Sea Eagles last week and had some ref calls gone their way - they might have won. I haven’t seen enough improvement in Cronulla each week to give them the nod here.

Verdict: South Sydney to win

Melbourne Storm vs St George Illawarra Dragons
Well, I think even the biggest enemies of Saints must be feeling for Brownie and the boys. The red and white school kids head down to Melbourne to cop what should be the canning of the year. If Melbourne are in the mood and fire up, the score could be anything. Saints need to play a slow style game here, kicking for touch on every play and forcing a stop start affair. However, the Saints never ever play this way, and the inexperience will prevent them from mounting any decent strategy.

Verdict: Melbourne Storm to win

Brisbane Broncos vs Wests Tigers
Now this clash should be another beauty. The Tigers didn’t show enough focus last week to put the Titans away after they looked good for most of the match. I feel they are really starting to miss Brett Hodgson and of course the spark of Benji Marshall. The Broncos on the other hand are starting to head north with their form, everything is improving for the 2006 premiers. Expect Brisbane to continue their late run.

Verdict: Brisbane Broncos to win

NRL News and Media Focus

One thing that NRL players and coaches are loving at the moment is that all the media headlines are focused on player transfers, asking prices and contract lengths. Even before this, plenty of talk and attention was on the NRL State of Origin Series. There was little talk of NRL clubs and how they were tracking.

All this news, has taken the heat off struggling clubs, out of form players and NRL teams ladder positions. Sure, the ladder is fairly congested and apart from the top 2 teams - most other teams are within striking distance of the top 8.

Take the Bulldogs for example, they have been hammered by poor form, internal fighting - talk of Folkes and Noad getting boned and finally the mischievous acts of players Sonny Bill Williams, Ben Roberts and Willie Tonga. (Roberts and Sonny Bill finding foul of the law). Usually these kind of headlines would be back page news and would keep getting weeks of press.

The Bulldogs must be counting their blessings, as the amount of media talk centered on contract negotiations around the NRL has allowed them to get off very, very lightly. Sonny Bill Williams who has been caught DUI and now for indecent exposure - would have been sacked, had he been any other player from any other club.

Other clubs that would be happy that headlines have been centered elsewhere, The Roosters, Dragons, Sharks and South Sydney.

The Roosters form has been woeful all year, Chris Anderson must be finding things extremely frustrating and he must be watching his back as knives sharpen. The well backed and proud club doesn’t take lightly to poor results and surely Nick Politis has got RSI by now - you can imagine him calling everyone and anyone on his mobile to give them a serve. The Bondi boys have dodged plenty of media bullets, with Anderson and players escaping public execution.

Over in Dragon town, Nathan Brown is probably amazed that more pressure hasn’t been heaped on him. Every year there are usually loud cries for Browns head. Sure there would be some corners of the NRL calling for his scalp - but the media pages haven’t joined the chorus. With the player retention at St George Illawarra being nothing short of woeful, they have lost bucketloads of talent recently - its amazing Doubst and Brown haven’t regularly been featured on the backpage and hung out to dry.

Just next door in Cronulla, when Ricky Stuart signed with the Sharks it was headline heaven. Ricky Stuart who is always in the news, and has TV cameras panning to him regularly as he swears or throws a headset during every game - it’s media magic. Combine this with the perennial under-achievers the Cronulla Sharks who regularly cop it for never achieving grand final glory and can go from world beaters to cellar dwellers in the space of half a season.

The Sharks form has been average at best in the past few weeks, while their defence has impressed - their attack has been non existent and they were very lucky to escape with a win against the Dragons a little while back too.

The Sharks handling of Josh Hannay was extremely poor. The former Queensland Origin centre relocating from Queensland to NSW for a multi-year deal - only to be told he isn’t even good enough for reserve grade. To Hannay’s credit so far he has copped in on the chin, but a man can only take so much.

The media has again been kind to the Sharks here, with only limited coverage of the Hannay affair and mixed results of late.

Finally, the South Sydney Rabbitohs with all their Hollywood glitz have been the real winners in the media in the last month. Their form downturn has been nothing short of dumb founding. The Rabbitohs were out of the blocks very quickly, winning 4 from their first 6 games. A massive turnaround for the usually struggling club. With Russell Crowe, Peter Holmes A Court and Jason Taylor at the helm - the sky was the limit. Sprinkle in some injuries, maybe a lax attitude after early wins and some tough opponents and the Rabbitohs got into a real hole.

For a team so media hungry earlier in the year, grabbing every headline they could - they pulled off an amazing magic trick and vanished from all media radars. With the help of other breaking stories the Rabbits evaded plenty of heat and kept their heads low at the right time. Even the sacking of Joe Williams and Daniel Irvine - the early season stars, has gone quietly by. What about Peachy? He’s in the team one week, then gone the next? Big changes and all on the quiet.

That’s what makes the Rabbitohs v Sharks clash this weekend so juicy. Of all the games this weekend, this one means the most to both clubs. The Rabbits are hosting this one, and naturally both teams will be desperate. The Rabbits buoyed by the Craig Wing signing, injecting much needed confidence and the Sharks have apparently reworked their attacking strategies in the hope of more creativity - expect to see plenty of second phase play from the Sharks.

If the Rabbits lose they will be 4 points adrift of the top 8 and will be stuck down in the cellar with the likes of the Roosters and Dragons.

Regardless of the result, the loser will be praying for more diverting headlines in the media so the heats well off them. Hey Petero, you might just get some non-genuine calls from clubs hoping to keep you in the spotlight.

Wendell Sailor NRL Comeback?

Adam Sutcliffe
www.NRLnews.com

Former Brisbane Bronco and Rugby Union convert Wendell Sailor is back in the news today, as speculation increases that St George Illawarra are close to signing the big winger.

With Sailor being based in Sydney now, and serving a drug suspension until May 2008 - it looked likely that Sailor would join Souths or Saints as opposed to going North to link up with the Broncos again.

Wendell Sailor will be 32 next year and the pressure will be intense on the one time game breaker to perform as all eyes will be on the ex-Rugby flank man. When Sailor left to play Rugby he was arguably the most powerful wide runner in the NRL, and previously as part of the Broncos back three - he would almost always bust the first tackle and then require an army to subdue him.

Will Wendell still have the fitness and skill to be a contender in the NRL? The Saints must think so, former Wallaby team mate Matt Rogers seems to have made the successful return to top line NRL - as with every game Rogers is improving and honing his once Kangaroo jersey earning skill.

Wendell is slightly older than Rogers, and his build has blown out slightly from the speedy wing days. Wendell claims to be training hard on his lonesome, but there really is no substitute for regimented NRL team sessions. As Wendell Sailor and Matt Rogers have claimed, the training and fitness requirements for the 15 man Rugby game fail in comparison to the high demands of weekly NRL.

Saints have hinted they will push Sailor into the forwards which makes sense, the big man able to take advantage of substitutions where possible. Injury is of concern to someone at Wendell’s age, just as Jason Smith has been nursed through the final few years of NRL maybe the same would be suitable for Sailor. He has been fairly durable in the past, and any team willing to sign him would surely build a safety net into any contract to cover for extended outages. St George should be building this into all of their players contracts, as they all seem to be watching games from the sidelines these days.

The experience and presence alone of Wendell Sailor at St George Illawarra will greatly help a team struggling for senior players, and he is someone that can implement coaches gameplans as proved in Brisbane. The negative for Wendell is that he won’t have the quality all around him as he did in his Broncos days. The forward pack and surrounding backs Wendell played alongside at the Broncos - where absolute world beaters and this had to assist his game. It’s also tough moving into the engine room of the forwards, its not glamorous work - certainly for someone with no experience there, that’s used to streaking down the sideline and scoring all the points.

There is no denying Wendell’s ability and I am sure he would be his own biggest critic, he will also be well prepared for all the media attention should he hit the NRL field again. Sailors profile will help the NRL, proving once again that Rugby League is the preferred game for players who have tried both codes.

Is Wendell taking a gamble by coming back for one more stint? I don’t think so. With everybody waiting for Wendell Sailor to fail, it will be the perfect motivation for the media loving big man - to train harder, push the boundaries and prove most pundits wrong in 2008.

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