Post by padds on May 13, 2021 21:10:09 GMT
Match of the Day saw the 3rd against 1st as Adelaide Attitude entertained Auckland Orcas at the Adelaide Oval in the early kick-off. Adelaide have been climbing the table after a bad start to the season and have won 6 out of their last 8, while Auckland have hit a few bumps lately with 2 defeats in their last 4. The Orcas were missing Jai Arrow, Tom Trbojevic and top scorer Jesse Ramien, while Attitude were at full strength. Both both teams fielded the same side as last week, when Adelaide nilled Brisbane Raiders, while Auckland battled bravely, but finally succumbed to Gold Coast Crusade. Attitude got off to a flyer in the first minute. Auckland kicked off and 5 tackles later Nathan Brown took advantage of a lax defence to score near the posts. James Maloney kicked the conversion and Attitude were off to the perfect start. They looked to add to their lead, but after 13 minutes suffered a setback when second rower Joseph Tapine went down under multiple tacklers and was carried off in obvious agony. The treatment room guessed at a 2 month absence. Auckland came more into the game now, but it was Attitude who scored next. After good backline movement Maloney put up a huge bomb, which was fluffed by Stefan Ratchford and collected by Victor Radley who touched down for his 3rd try of the season. Maloney goalled and Adelaide were cruising. However, they were caught napping 2 minutes before the break, when Auckland put a kick in goal and as Brimson was shepherding the ball out of play Andre Savelio appeared out of nowhere to touch down for the try and leave AJ with egg on his face. Cameron Smith tacked on the 2 points and Adelaide went into the break with a reduced lead of 6 points. Auckland started the second half more positively and levelled the game up on 53 minutes. In a flowing move Toby King made the vital break and sent in Jack Welsby for a try under the sticks. Smith converted and it was 12 all. Both teams had a try disallowed by the video ref and with 10 minutes to go it was anybody’s game. Stephen Crichton made a great break and as he tried a quick play the ball Auckland were caught offside. Instead of taking the 2 points Attitude ran the ball and Tom Makinson squeezed in at the corner for a vital 4 pointer. A magnificent conversion from the touchline gave Adelaide breathing room and they sealed the win 2 minutes when good forward play gave Radley the room to cross for the clincher. Maloney added the goal and Adelaide ran out 24-12, which didn’t really reflect the closeness of the game.
2nd placed Gold Coast Crusade took on Perth Panthers at the Cbus Super Stadium hoping for a slip by the Orcas in the the early match. Neither side had any injury problems and Gold Coast made a couple of cosmetic changes as Siosifa Talakai replaced Tom Johnstone and Ryan James came in for Addin Fonua Blake. Perth were unchanged. Gold Coast were favourites to keep up the pressure at the top, but suffered an early setback when the Panthers scored a try through Josh Papalii after a video check. Kyle Feldt missed the conversion, but made amends when Crusade gave away a penalty for offside 5minutes later. Perth were well on top but suffered a major blow when influential hooker Danny Houghton limped off with an obvious ankle problem, later diagnosed as ligament problem that will mean a 4 week rest for him. As Houghton left the field Panthers had a try disallowed by the video ref, and to compound this, Gold Coast hit back with a fluent movement through the back line as Dylan Edwards cruised in at the corner. Surprisingly Adam Reynolds missed the goal. Perth frustrated Crusade for a further 10 minutes and then pounced with a try by James Fisher-Harris, goalled by Feldt. Again, Gold Coast responded and just before halftime reduced the arrears to 2 when Matt Whitley took advantage of bad defence to saunter over for a try which Reynolds converted. However, over eagerness gave away a penalty for offside and Feldt kicked the goal for Perth to lead 14-10 at the break, Normally Gold Coast are strong in the second stanza, but gave Perth the chance to pull away, and they took it with both hands. Jesse Sene-Lefao received the ball 15 metres from the line and threw a huge dummy which wrong-footed the defence as he strode under the posts. Feldt added the 2 and Perth led by 10. There was still half an hour to play, but Gold Coast could find no way through the resolute defence and Perth managed the rest of the match easily to run out 20-10 winners.
Sydney Oilers were up against the in form team of the moment, Darwin Dragons, at the Sydney Football Stadium. Sydney broke a 5 match losing streak when they beat high-flying Hull last week, but were up against a Darwin side which had won its last 3, Last weeks win cost Sydney injuries to Valentine Holmes, David Nofoaluma and Danny Richardson, adding to a side already missing James Tedesco, Angus Crichton and Matthew Eisenhuth. Dragons were also missing several players, the most notable being Nathan Cleary and Matthew Dufty. Both teams showed several changes from the previous week and shows the depth of both squads that both sides chosen were so competitive. As against Hull the week before Sydney raced inio a 12-0 lead .Ryan Papenhuyzen and then Dale Finucane scored tries, both converted by Daly Cherry-Evans. Darwin took time to get going, bit got on the scoreboard on 20 minutes when Latrell Mitchell linked up with the three-quarters and from 5 metres he is unstoppable. He added the 2 and the Dragons were off. 3 minutes from the break the gap was 6 points, and after 2 quick-fire tries it was still 6. Alex Twal for Sydney, converted by DCE and a reply from Isaiah Papalli goalled by Mitchell for Darwin to make it 18-12 at the break. The second half was an anticlimax as the Oilers reverted back to early season form and the Dragons ran away with it. Bradman Best, Kurt Mann, Luke Garner and Cameron McInnes scored tries and Mitchell converted 3 and added a penalty as Darwin won the game 36-18 to clock up their 4th successive win.
The Anglo-Scottish match saw Glasgow Reapers matched up against Hull Kingston Redskins at the Glasgow Stadium. The Reapers have been sliding down the table after a bright start, and were in the middle of 4 games without a win. Hull lost last week in a shock defeat at home to Sydney, although the video ref controversially disallowed what looked like the winner for them. That would have been Hull’s 5th win in a row, and coach Dave Paddock was so incensed that he wanted to report video ref Regor Tressob, but calmed down after a few beers. Glasgow fielded the same team that drew with Perth, while Hull brought in Bryson Goodwin for the injured Anthony Don. He joined Jackson Hastings and Dane Gagai on the treatment table. KR kicked off and in their first attack took the lead. Josh Aloiai knocked on and from the scrum Viliame Kikau broke the line and sent in Sean Johnson for his 6th try of the season. Johnson converted and Hull had the start they wanted. Their euphoria didn’t last long as Lachlan Coote and Mitch Pearce took advantage of lax defence to turn the score round. Mitchell Moses converted the first and the Reapers led 10-6. KR came back strongly and a bomb by Cam Munster was caught by Kalyn Ponga who rounded his opposite to score in the corner. A touchline conversion by Johnson gave Hull the lead and the game had seen 22 points in 10 minutes. The next 10 yielded none, then Daryl Clark caught the defence in two minds as he dummied to kick close to Glasgow's line, and walked under the sticks for the score. Johnson added the 2. Jarome Luai came on as a substitute and playing at looseforward he sidestepped the home defence to score within a minute of the change. Johnson again obliged and Hull led 24-10 at the break. Josh Jones was the bext on the scoreboard as KR continued their onslaught. Johnson kicked his 28th goal of the season to bring up 30 points. Redskins eased off now, and deserved all they got as Mosese Suli scored and Moses converted. Then came the moment which could decide Hull’s season, Shaun Johnson, who has been exceptional in the last half a dozen games was tackled as he kicked for position. He was hit in the shoulder area and walked off in agony. Broken arm or dislocated shoulder is the best guess and six weeks absence. With Hastings out already this is a blow Hull could do without. While KR were regrouping Glasgow scored another try through Dylan Napa, goaled by Moses and with 13 minutes still left Reapers were only 8 points adrift. As KR clung on, Glasgow were penalised for a dangerous tackle on David Fifita. Up stepped Kevin Naiqama, Hull’s top try scorer, to kick a penalty with his first ever kick. The lead was back to 10 and Glasgow could not break the defence again and Hull ran out 32-22 winners.
The late kick-off saw the other English team Merseyside Dockers play Brisbane Raiders at Anfield After a run of 4 games unbeaten Merseyside have slipped to 2 defeats in recent weeks, while Brisbane have struggled recently, losing their last 3. The Dockers were missing Ryan Sutton, James Roby and Josh Addo-Carr. Brisbane had a clean bill of health, apart from a few niggles. A quarter of an hour of ineffective rugby was broken as Konrad Hurrell became a human battering ram to force his way through4 tacklers for a four pointer for Brisbane. Adam Sezer missed the goal. It was rugby from two teams in bad form but a moment of magic by Niall Evalds resulted in another try for the Raiders, this time converted by Sezer. 10-0 to Brisbane and that was the first half. Jim Green must have threatened his team as Merseyside came out all guns blazing, and within 7 minutes they had claimed the lead. After a great run by Josh Morris Daniel Saifiti crashed over from close quarters, and then Jake Connor took an advantage of bad defence to score. Clint Gutherson added the extras and the Dockers led by 2. Instead of folding Brisbane came straight back and Sezer equalised with a penalty. We didn’t have to wait long for another score and it was Evalds who joined up in the attack and slipped the last tackle to score under the posts. Sezer added the 2 and the Raiders took control. Five minutes to go Richard Myler dropped a goal and then as the Dockers lost their cool Sezer added a penalty and Brisbane got back to winning ways 21-12.
Top 5
Auckland Orcas 8 4 0 230 183 47 16
Gold Coast Crusade 8 4 0 197 156 41 16
Adelaide Attitude 7 5 0 223 181 42 14
Brisbane Raiders 7 5 0 214 176 38 14
Hull Kingston Redskins 7 5 0 197 167 30 14
Next Week
Brisbane v Sydney
Darwin v Glasgow
Hull v Gold Coast - 5th v 2nd
Merseyside v Adelaide
Perth v Auckland
2nd placed Gold Coast Crusade took on Perth Panthers at the Cbus Super Stadium hoping for a slip by the Orcas in the the early match. Neither side had any injury problems and Gold Coast made a couple of cosmetic changes as Siosifa Talakai replaced Tom Johnstone and Ryan James came in for Addin Fonua Blake. Perth were unchanged. Gold Coast were favourites to keep up the pressure at the top, but suffered an early setback when the Panthers scored a try through Josh Papalii after a video check. Kyle Feldt missed the conversion, but made amends when Crusade gave away a penalty for offside 5minutes later. Perth were well on top but suffered a major blow when influential hooker Danny Houghton limped off with an obvious ankle problem, later diagnosed as ligament problem that will mean a 4 week rest for him. As Houghton left the field Panthers had a try disallowed by the video ref, and to compound this, Gold Coast hit back with a fluent movement through the back line as Dylan Edwards cruised in at the corner. Surprisingly Adam Reynolds missed the goal. Perth frustrated Crusade for a further 10 minutes and then pounced with a try by James Fisher-Harris, goalled by Feldt. Again, Gold Coast responded and just before halftime reduced the arrears to 2 when Matt Whitley took advantage of bad defence to saunter over for a try which Reynolds converted. However, over eagerness gave away a penalty for offside and Feldt kicked the goal for Perth to lead 14-10 at the break, Normally Gold Coast are strong in the second stanza, but gave Perth the chance to pull away, and they took it with both hands. Jesse Sene-Lefao received the ball 15 metres from the line and threw a huge dummy which wrong-footed the defence as he strode under the posts. Feldt added the 2 and Perth led by 10. There was still half an hour to play, but Gold Coast could find no way through the resolute defence and Perth managed the rest of the match easily to run out 20-10 winners.
Sydney Oilers were up against the in form team of the moment, Darwin Dragons, at the Sydney Football Stadium. Sydney broke a 5 match losing streak when they beat high-flying Hull last week, but were up against a Darwin side which had won its last 3, Last weeks win cost Sydney injuries to Valentine Holmes, David Nofoaluma and Danny Richardson, adding to a side already missing James Tedesco, Angus Crichton and Matthew Eisenhuth. Dragons were also missing several players, the most notable being Nathan Cleary and Matthew Dufty. Both teams showed several changes from the previous week and shows the depth of both squads that both sides chosen were so competitive. As against Hull the week before Sydney raced inio a 12-0 lead .Ryan Papenhuyzen and then Dale Finucane scored tries, both converted by Daly Cherry-Evans. Darwin took time to get going, bit got on the scoreboard on 20 minutes when Latrell Mitchell linked up with the three-quarters and from 5 metres he is unstoppable. He added the 2 and the Dragons were off. 3 minutes from the break the gap was 6 points, and after 2 quick-fire tries it was still 6. Alex Twal for Sydney, converted by DCE and a reply from Isaiah Papalli goalled by Mitchell for Darwin to make it 18-12 at the break. The second half was an anticlimax as the Oilers reverted back to early season form and the Dragons ran away with it. Bradman Best, Kurt Mann, Luke Garner and Cameron McInnes scored tries and Mitchell converted 3 and added a penalty as Darwin won the game 36-18 to clock up their 4th successive win.
The Anglo-Scottish match saw Glasgow Reapers matched up against Hull Kingston Redskins at the Glasgow Stadium. The Reapers have been sliding down the table after a bright start, and were in the middle of 4 games without a win. Hull lost last week in a shock defeat at home to Sydney, although the video ref controversially disallowed what looked like the winner for them. That would have been Hull’s 5th win in a row, and coach Dave Paddock was so incensed that he wanted to report video ref Regor Tressob, but calmed down after a few beers. Glasgow fielded the same team that drew with Perth, while Hull brought in Bryson Goodwin for the injured Anthony Don. He joined Jackson Hastings and Dane Gagai on the treatment table. KR kicked off and in their first attack took the lead. Josh Aloiai knocked on and from the scrum Viliame Kikau broke the line and sent in Sean Johnson for his 6th try of the season. Johnson converted and Hull had the start they wanted. Their euphoria didn’t last long as Lachlan Coote and Mitch Pearce took advantage of lax defence to turn the score round. Mitchell Moses converted the first and the Reapers led 10-6. KR came back strongly and a bomb by Cam Munster was caught by Kalyn Ponga who rounded his opposite to score in the corner. A touchline conversion by Johnson gave Hull the lead and the game had seen 22 points in 10 minutes. The next 10 yielded none, then Daryl Clark caught the defence in two minds as he dummied to kick close to Glasgow's line, and walked under the sticks for the score. Johnson added the 2. Jarome Luai came on as a substitute and playing at looseforward he sidestepped the home defence to score within a minute of the change. Johnson again obliged and Hull led 24-10 at the break. Josh Jones was the bext on the scoreboard as KR continued their onslaught. Johnson kicked his 28th goal of the season to bring up 30 points. Redskins eased off now, and deserved all they got as Mosese Suli scored and Moses converted. Then came the moment which could decide Hull’s season, Shaun Johnson, who has been exceptional in the last half a dozen games was tackled as he kicked for position. He was hit in the shoulder area and walked off in agony. Broken arm or dislocated shoulder is the best guess and six weeks absence. With Hastings out already this is a blow Hull could do without. While KR were regrouping Glasgow scored another try through Dylan Napa, goaled by Moses and with 13 minutes still left Reapers were only 8 points adrift. As KR clung on, Glasgow were penalised for a dangerous tackle on David Fifita. Up stepped Kevin Naiqama, Hull’s top try scorer, to kick a penalty with his first ever kick. The lead was back to 10 and Glasgow could not break the defence again and Hull ran out 32-22 winners.
The late kick-off saw the other English team Merseyside Dockers play Brisbane Raiders at Anfield After a run of 4 games unbeaten Merseyside have slipped to 2 defeats in recent weeks, while Brisbane have struggled recently, losing their last 3. The Dockers were missing Ryan Sutton, James Roby and Josh Addo-Carr. Brisbane had a clean bill of health, apart from a few niggles. A quarter of an hour of ineffective rugby was broken as Konrad Hurrell became a human battering ram to force his way through4 tacklers for a four pointer for Brisbane. Adam Sezer missed the goal. It was rugby from two teams in bad form but a moment of magic by Niall Evalds resulted in another try for the Raiders, this time converted by Sezer. 10-0 to Brisbane and that was the first half. Jim Green must have threatened his team as Merseyside came out all guns blazing, and within 7 minutes they had claimed the lead. After a great run by Josh Morris Daniel Saifiti crashed over from close quarters, and then Jake Connor took an advantage of bad defence to score. Clint Gutherson added the extras and the Dockers led by 2. Instead of folding Brisbane came straight back and Sezer equalised with a penalty. We didn’t have to wait long for another score and it was Evalds who joined up in the attack and slipped the last tackle to score under the posts. Sezer added the 2 and the Raiders took control. Five minutes to go Richard Myler dropped a goal and then as the Dockers lost their cool Sezer added a penalty and Brisbane got back to winning ways 21-12.
Top 5
Auckland Orcas 8 4 0 230 183 47 16
Gold Coast Crusade 8 4 0 197 156 41 16
Adelaide Attitude 7 5 0 223 181 42 14
Brisbane Raiders 7 5 0 214 176 38 14
Hull Kingston Redskins 7 5 0 197 167 30 14
Next Week
Brisbane v Sydney
Darwin v Glasgow
Hull v Gold Coast - 5th v 2nd
Merseyside v Adelaide
Perth v Auckland