Post by padds on Mar 15, 2021 10:17:23 GMT
The Match of the Day saw Sydney Oilers play Brisbane Raiders at the Sydney Football Stadium. It was a David against Goliath as joint bottom Oilers faced up to joint top Raiders. 16,086 excited fans turned up expecting a points fest as Brisbane had scored 84 points in their previous three winning matches. Josh Mansour and Tohu Harris returned fro injury and centres and second rows were re-jigged as coach Roger Bossert has struggled to find any kind of form so far. Brett Morris returned for the Raiders in an otherwise unchanged line uo
Brisbane are noted for their quick starts and it took them just 3 minutes to open the scoring. A kick on the sixth tackle gifted the ball to the Raiders and they mounted an attack down the right with Harris feeding Mansour, He was tackled short but offloaded to Michael Morgan, who scored under the sticks. Gareth Widdop has kicked 19 goals so far this season, and made no mistake, Sydney hit back straight away and a great run set up the position. Paul McShane ran from dummy half and sent in Sonny Bill Williams, who announced this week he is retiring at the end of the season. Daly Cherry Evans converted and it was all square after 6 minutes. This seemed to upset Brisbane and Harris was back in the action as weak defence from the Raiders allowed him to stroll through for an east try. DCE goaled and when the Raiders were offside 2 minutes later he added the 2 to make it 14-6. 20 points in 10 minutes could not be maintained and it took till the half hour for the next score, which was always going to be vital. It fell to Brisbane as A great line break by Mike Cooper allowed Widdop to continue the move and kick into goal, Brett Morris was the first to the ball to score near the posts. Widdop added the goal; and the halftime score was 14-12 to the home side..
Brisbane repeated their lightning start of the first half with a try and goal in the first minute of the second stanza. Sydney kicked off and 5 tackles later George Lawler broke the line and sent Josh Charnley in for a try. Widdop kicked the touchline goal and the Raiders led. Both sides had a try disallowed by the video ref, but it was that man Gareth Widdop who stepped up with 2 drop goals in the last 10 minutes as Brisbane clung onto the win in what has been their hardest match so far. Coach Chris Maunder was glad to hear the final hooter as Brisbane held on to win 20-14
The early kick-off was Glasgow Reapers against Darwin Dragons at the Glasgow Stadium. Both teams had won 1 and lost 2, so both were looking for a win. Glasgow were without fullback Lachlan Coote ans Isiah Yeo was carrying an injury as coach Simon Laing gambled with playing him. Darwin were without Blake Lawrie, Reece Robson, David Fifita and Luke Keary.
Darwin started brightly and took an early lead when Man of the Match Moeaki Fotuaika chased down a kick through to score his 3rd try of the season. Nathan Cleary converted. Both sides were guilty of basic errors and Glasgow benefitted with an identical try to Darwin’s when Mitchell Pearce followed a kick in goal to score. Mitchell Moses added the goal and it was all square. After a period of lacklustre play the Dragons took the lead when Bradman Best made a great run and turned the ball inside for Apisai Koroisau to touch down under the sticks. Cleary goaled and Darwin led 12-6. Sloppy play got Darwin penalised for a head high tackle and Moses punished them.
Darwin started the second half 4 points up and extended that 10 when Cleary put up a bomb and Adam Douihei climbed highest to collect and score. Cleary converted and the scoring was done. The remaining 37 minutes were boring as two reams struggling for some kind of form cancelled each other out. The match drifted to a Darwin victory, but the celebrations were muted as Fotuaika was added to their injury list when he was carried off with 3 minutes remaining and will be out for 4 weeks.
Adelaide Attitude entertained Merseyside Dockers, who tasted defeat for the first time last week at the hands of Brisbane. Adelaide were bottom of the league with 3 losses, so it looked an easy afternoon for Jim Green’s boys. Adelaide were missing star centre Stephen Chrichton but James Maloney returned. Merseyside missed Will Hopoate and several Dockers players were playing with niggling injuries, which all got worse and Green’s gamble of playing them backfired.
Merseyside had an early call for a try disallowed by the video ref and a few minutes later they were penalised for offside. Jake Connor took umbridge to this decision and let the referee know. He didn’t appreciate Connor’s choice language and rewarded him with 10 minutes in the Sin bin. The Dockers had another try wiped out by the video ref and then to rub it in Adelaide scored a great try as Liam Farrell made a great line break to send in winger Sam Tomkins for the opener. James Maloney celebrated his return by converting from the touchline. The rest of the half was like a game of chess as both teams probed for gaps, but there was no more scoring and Attitude led at the break.
Super coach Anthony McElroy must have sniffed a chance of an upset and with a galvanising talk ringing in their ears Adelaide tore into the English side. 3 minutes in and Attitude doubled their lead as a great line break from Tomkins led to Man of the Match speedster Tom Makinson racing over for a try, goaled by Maloney. The lead was 12-0, which is a bogus lead in RL, but not this time. All the shackles of mediocrity fell away from Adelaide as the scent of a first win was getting stronger. Dockers resolve faded away as talisman Josh Addo-Carr was stretchered off after an innocuous tackle left him writhing in agony. First indications are that he will be out for about 6 weeks. The Attitude turned the screws now and made it 18-0 when Alex Glenn crashed over after good forward play. Maloney tagged on the 2 and the victory was sealed. There was still 20 minutes to go, and even though Clint Gutherson scored a consolation try, that's all it was. Adelaide saw out the remaining time for a well earned win to break the ice for both of MacDadday’s squads. Several of the Dockers squad sustained 2 week injuries and will be doubtful for next week.
Auckland Orcas took on Perth Panthers at Null. Auckland had several niggling injuries, resulting in Andre Savelio and Tom Lineham being called up from Byron. Strangely coach Bill Townsend selected winger Lineham in the second row. Perth were missing Josh Papaali, replaced by Jesse Bromwich. .
Auckland were the most careless of the two sides and it was a surprise when they took the lead. Good forward play by the Orcas resulted in Cameron Murray waltzing through a big gap in Perth’s defence for a try. Stefan Ratchford converted. Craig Hall reduced the deficit with a penalty goal and apart from a lot of huffing and puffing from both sides that was it for the first half.
The second half started off in the same vein and certain parts of the 16,692 crowd were getting restless. It looked like drifting to a boring win for the Orcas, when suddenly, with 13 minutes left Tom Lineham, growing into his unaccustomed position, collected a bomb and managed to get the ball down. After consultation with the video ref a try was awarded. Ratchford converted and did so again 2 minutes later as another bomb was put up. Perth hadn't learnt their lesson from the previous attack and allowed impressive Toby King to pluck the ball out of the air and score. King was awarded Man of the Match for the second time this season. The Orcas eased off now, the game being won, and a missed tackle allowed Elliott Whitehead to score in the dying minutes. Hall’s conversion made the match seem closer as Auckland won 18-8. Murray took a late knock for the Orcas and is considered doubtful for next weeks match.
The late match concerned Gold Coast Crusade and Hull Kingston Redskins. Crusaders took no chances with injuries and Siosifa Talakai moved back into the centres to be partnered by returning Nic Cotric. Adam Reynolds also returned in the halves. The Hull KR injury list is growing week by week and Daryl Clark and Viliame Kikau were joined on the treatment table by Kevin Proctor and Roger Tuivasa-Sheck. Alex Mellor moved into the second row and Gehamat Shibasaki made his debut. Dane Gagai replaced RTS. .It looked like a long afternoon for Hull, and thats how it turned out.
Gold Coast were looking for their 4th successive to keep up with Brisbane at the top. The visitors started brightly and had a try disallowed by the video ref, a certain Chris Bush-Walker, a lifelong Crusade fan. Gold Coast took from this and Ryan Matterson strolled through some poor defence to put the home team ahead. Reynolds kicked the goal and Crusade led 6-0. Defences took over now and one particularly hard, but fair, tackle felled Kodi Nikorima. He was carried off with a nasty looking leg injury. Info from the dressing room indicate he will be out for 7 weeks. Halftime arrived with no further change to the scoreboard.
Crusade got off to a flier in the second half and doubled their lead within 4 minutes. Man of the Match Albert Kelly set up the position for Nic Cotric to mark his return with a try. Reynolds goaled and it was 12-0, which would remain the final score. Like the first half defences dominated and Gold Coast were happy to cruise to victory while Hull didn't have the cutting edge to break down a very solid Crusade defence. KR had another try disallowed by Walker-Bush. 2-0 to Hull in disallowed tries, but its points on the board that matter.
Brisbane are noted for their quick starts and it took them just 3 minutes to open the scoring. A kick on the sixth tackle gifted the ball to the Raiders and they mounted an attack down the right with Harris feeding Mansour, He was tackled short but offloaded to Michael Morgan, who scored under the sticks. Gareth Widdop has kicked 19 goals so far this season, and made no mistake, Sydney hit back straight away and a great run set up the position. Paul McShane ran from dummy half and sent in Sonny Bill Williams, who announced this week he is retiring at the end of the season. Daly Cherry Evans converted and it was all square after 6 minutes. This seemed to upset Brisbane and Harris was back in the action as weak defence from the Raiders allowed him to stroll through for an east try. DCE goaled and when the Raiders were offside 2 minutes later he added the 2 to make it 14-6. 20 points in 10 minutes could not be maintained and it took till the half hour for the next score, which was always going to be vital. It fell to Brisbane as A great line break by Mike Cooper allowed Widdop to continue the move and kick into goal, Brett Morris was the first to the ball to score near the posts. Widdop added the goal; and the halftime score was 14-12 to the home side..
Brisbane repeated their lightning start of the first half with a try and goal in the first minute of the second stanza. Sydney kicked off and 5 tackles later George Lawler broke the line and sent Josh Charnley in for a try. Widdop kicked the touchline goal and the Raiders led. Both sides had a try disallowed by the video ref, but it was that man Gareth Widdop who stepped up with 2 drop goals in the last 10 minutes as Brisbane clung onto the win in what has been their hardest match so far. Coach Chris Maunder was glad to hear the final hooter as Brisbane held on to win 20-14
The early kick-off was Glasgow Reapers against Darwin Dragons at the Glasgow Stadium. Both teams had won 1 and lost 2, so both were looking for a win. Glasgow were without fullback Lachlan Coote ans Isiah Yeo was carrying an injury as coach Simon Laing gambled with playing him. Darwin were without Blake Lawrie, Reece Robson, David Fifita and Luke Keary.
Darwin started brightly and took an early lead when Man of the Match Moeaki Fotuaika chased down a kick through to score his 3rd try of the season. Nathan Cleary converted. Both sides were guilty of basic errors and Glasgow benefitted with an identical try to Darwin’s when Mitchell Pearce followed a kick in goal to score. Mitchell Moses added the goal and it was all square. After a period of lacklustre play the Dragons took the lead when Bradman Best made a great run and turned the ball inside for Apisai Koroisau to touch down under the sticks. Cleary goaled and Darwin led 12-6. Sloppy play got Darwin penalised for a head high tackle and Moses punished them.
Darwin started the second half 4 points up and extended that 10 when Cleary put up a bomb and Adam Douihei climbed highest to collect and score. Cleary converted and the scoring was done. The remaining 37 minutes were boring as two reams struggling for some kind of form cancelled each other out. The match drifted to a Darwin victory, but the celebrations were muted as Fotuaika was added to their injury list when he was carried off with 3 minutes remaining and will be out for 4 weeks.
Adelaide Attitude entertained Merseyside Dockers, who tasted defeat for the first time last week at the hands of Brisbane. Adelaide were bottom of the league with 3 losses, so it looked an easy afternoon for Jim Green’s boys. Adelaide were missing star centre Stephen Chrichton but James Maloney returned. Merseyside missed Will Hopoate and several Dockers players were playing with niggling injuries, which all got worse and Green’s gamble of playing them backfired.
Merseyside had an early call for a try disallowed by the video ref and a few minutes later they were penalised for offside. Jake Connor took umbridge to this decision and let the referee know. He didn’t appreciate Connor’s choice language and rewarded him with 10 minutes in the Sin bin. The Dockers had another try wiped out by the video ref and then to rub it in Adelaide scored a great try as Liam Farrell made a great line break to send in winger Sam Tomkins for the opener. James Maloney celebrated his return by converting from the touchline. The rest of the half was like a game of chess as both teams probed for gaps, but there was no more scoring and Attitude led at the break.
Super coach Anthony McElroy must have sniffed a chance of an upset and with a galvanising talk ringing in their ears Adelaide tore into the English side. 3 minutes in and Attitude doubled their lead as a great line break from Tomkins led to Man of the Match speedster Tom Makinson racing over for a try, goaled by Maloney. The lead was 12-0, which is a bogus lead in RL, but not this time. All the shackles of mediocrity fell away from Adelaide as the scent of a first win was getting stronger. Dockers resolve faded away as talisman Josh Addo-Carr was stretchered off after an innocuous tackle left him writhing in agony. First indications are that he will be out for about 6 weeks. The Attitude turned the screws now and made it 18-0 when Alex Glenn crashed over after good forward play. Maloney tagged on the 2 and the victory was sealed. There was still 20 minutes to go, and even though Clint Gutherson scored a consolation try, that's all it was. Adelaide saw out the remaining time for a well earned win to break the ice for both of MacDadday’s squads. Several of the Dockers squad sustained 2 week injuries and will be doubtful for next week.
Auckland Orcas took on Perth Panthers at Null. Auckland had several niggling injuries, resulting in Andre Savelio and Tom Lineham being called up from Byron. Strangely coach Bill Townsend selected winger Lineham in the second row. Perth were missing Josh Papaali, replaced by Jesse Bromwich. .
Auckland were the most careless of the two sides and it was a surprise when they took the lead. Good forward play by the Orcas resulted in Cameron Murray waltzing through a big gap in Perth’s defence for a try. Stefan Ratchford converted. Craig Hall reduced the deficit with a penalty goal and apart from a lot of huffing and puffing from both sides that was it for the first half.
The second half started off in the same vein and certain parts of the 16,692 crowd were getting restless. It looked like drifting to a boring win for the Orcas, when suddenly, with 13 minutes left Tom Lineham, growing into his unaccustomed position, collected a bomb and managed to get the ball down. After consultation with the video ref a try was awarded. Ratchford converted and did so again 2 minutes later as another bomb was put up. Perth hadn't learnt their lesson from the previous attack and allowed impressive Toby King to pluck the ball out of the air and score. King was awarded Man of the Match for the second time this season. The Orcas eased off now, the game being won, and a missed tackle allowed Elliott Whitehead to score in the dying minutes. Hall’s conversion made the match seem closer as Auckland won 18-8. Murray took a late knock for the Orcas and is considered doubtful for next weeks match.
The late match concerned Gold Coast Crusade and Hull Kingston Redskins. Crusaders took no chances with injuries and Siosifa Talakai moved back into the centres to be partnered by returning Nic Cotric. Adam Reynolds also returned in the halves. The Hull KR injury list is growing week by week and Daryl Clark and Viliame Kikau were joined on the treatment table by Kevin Proctor and Roger Tuivasa-Sheck. Alex Mellor moved into the second row and Gehamat Shibasaki made his debut. Dane Gagai replaced RTS. .It looked like a long afternoon for Hull, and thats how it turned out.
Gold Coast were looking for their 4th successive to keep up with Brisbane at the top. The visitors started brightly and had a try disallowed by the video ref, a certain Chris Bush-Walker, a lifelong Crusade fan. Gold Coast took from this and Ryan Matterson strolled through some poor defence to put the home team ahead. Reynolds kicked the goal and Crusade led 6-0. Defences took over now and one particularly hard, but fair, tackle felled Kodi Nikorima. He was carried off with a nasty looking leg injury. Info from the dressing room indicate he will be out for 7 weeks. Halftime arrived with no further change to the scoreboard.
Crusade got off to a flier in the second half and doubled their lead within 4 minutes. Man of the Match Albert Kelly set up the position for Nic Cotric to mark his return with a try. Reynolds goaled and it was 12-0, which would remain the final score. Like the first half defences dominated and Gold Coast were happy to cruise to victory while Hull didn't have the cutting edge to break down a very solid Crusade defence. KR had another try disallowed by Walker-Bush. 2-0 to Hull in disallowed tries, but its points on the board that matter.
