Queenslander
13-04-06, 11:43 AM
Johns v Thurston
by Darren Lockyer
Thursday April 13, 2006
Source: The Australian
SUNDAY's match between Newcastle and North Queensland is going to be a mouth-watering affair.
Not only is it the two top teams going at each other, but we also get to see two of the best playmakers in the competition - Andrew Johns and Johnathan Thurston - go head-to-head.
The Cowboys are unbeaten, but I am going to stick my neck out and tip the Knights to take the points. Joey is still the best player in the game and when he is firing, Newcastle is close to unbeatable at home.
While both players are equally as important to their respective sides, they are, in fact, very different to play against.
Thurston is a young gun on the way up, playing with so much energy it makes us older blokes tired just watching him. He probably touches the footy more than any other player in the competition. He is very quick, deceptively strong and likes to isolate big men one-on-one and take them on.
It is extremely difficult to devise any real plan when you play the Cowboys because so much of their footy revolves around JT or Matt Bowen taking on the line and then a wave of support coming through to capitalise on any half-chance.
Much of their play is spontaneous and watching a video of the things they do one week doesn't always help because half the time they don't even remember what it was they did.
Playing Joey is a different kettle of fish. The thing with Joey is you know what he does in certain positions.
However, knowing it is one thing - stopping it is another proposition entirely.
To begin with, Joey has the best passing game of any player I have played with or against. He doesn't take the line on anywhere near as often as JT, but he does it just enough to keep the defence thinking he might. Joey is a master at creating doubt in a defender's mind and exploiting that indecision.
With age he has become smarter in his play and learned to inject himself at precisely the right time. Joey will wait and watch things unfold in front of him. He will often step in and put a move on early in the tackle count with the intention of setting up for something two plays later.
He waits for the right moment, when the defence is getting lazy or is backpedalling, then he will go straight at them with two or three runners either side. Defenders have nightmares about this situation.
Joey's team-mates at Newcastle have unwavering faith in him and support him exceptionally well. They run in a group of five and six and Joey can spot the one defender in the opposition who is out of position or in two minds about who to take, and before you know it they are past you.
Matt Gidley and Danny Buderus have been feeding off it for years and George Carmont, Milton Thaiday and Brian Carney are joining in this year.
I think on Sunday Joey will prove, once again, why he is the best in the game, but whatever the outcome it will be a match-up no footy fan should miss.
Crowd behaviour is still a serious issue in our game and plenty of people around the competition are working to ensure we don't see a repeat of what happened at the Bulldogs-Tigers game.
All sorts of proposals have been made, but one thing I think needs to be looked at is the use of the big screens at games for replays of controversial incidents.
If we are trying to minimise the situations where people might start getting a little rowdy, this is where it has to start.
The English Premier League soccer banned replays of such incidents years ago and the improvement in crowd behaviour has been marked.
Sometimes things happen in an NRL game that stir the emotions on both sides, say a high tackle or a late shot or even a punch or two.
The last thing we need is for the people upstairs to show well-oiled supporters five or six replays of a bloke from their team getting whacked.
It is unfortunate, but the video has infiltrated its way into our game and we need to put a stop to it.
Video referees should rule on groundings only and replays at the ground should be limited to tries.
We are wasting way too much time watching replay after replay, looking for minor infringements which aren't there.
We have referees and touch judges for a reason. If they miss things, so be it.
Darren Lockyer's column appears on the Broncos website each Thursday.
by Darren Lockyer
Thursday April 13, 2006
Source: The Australian
SUNDAY's match between Newcastle and North Queensland is going to be a mouth-watering affair.
Not only is it the two top teams going at each other, but we also get to see two of the best playmakers in the competition - Andrew Johns and Johnathan Thurston - go head-to-head.
The Cowboys are unbeaten, but I am going to stick my neck out and tip the Knights to take the points. Joey is still the best player in the game and when he is firing, Newcastle is close to unbeatable at home.
While both players are equally as important to their respective sides, they are, in fact, very different to play against.
Thurston is a young gun on the way up, playing with so much energy it makes us older blokes tired just watching him. He probably touches the footy more than any other player in the competition. He is very quick, deceptively strong and likes to isolate big men one-on-one and take them on.
It is extremely difficult to devise any real plan when you play the Cowboys because so much of their footy revolves around JT or Matt Bowen taking on the line and then a wave of support coming through to capitalise on any half-chance.
Much of their play is spontaneous and watching a video of the things they do one week doesn't always help because half the time they don't even remember what it was they did.
Playing Joey is a different kettle of fish. The thing with Joey is you know what he does in certain positions.
However, knowing it is one thing - stopping it is another proposition entirely.
To begin with, Joey has the best passing game of any player I have played with or against. He doesn't take the line on anywhere near as often as JT, but he does it just enough to keep the defence thinking he might. Joey is a master at creating doubt in a defender's mind and exploiting that indecision.
With age he has become smarter in his play and learned to inject himself at precisely the right time. Joey will wait and watch things unfold in front of him. He will often step in and put a move on early in the tackle count with the intention of setting up for something two plays later.
He waits for the right moment, when the defence is getting lazy or is backpedalling, then he will go straight at them with two or three runners either side. Defenders have nightmares about this situation.
Joey's team-mates at Newcastle have unwavering faith in him and support him exceptionally well. They run in a group of five and six and Joey can spot the one defender in the opposition who is out of position or in two minds about who to take, and before you know it they are past you.
Matt Gidley and Danny Buderus have been feeding off it for years and George Carmont, Milton Thaiday and Brian Carney are joining in this year.
I think on Sunday Joey will prove, once again, why he is the best in the game, but whatever the outcome it will be a match-up no footy fan should miss.
Crowd behaviour is still a serious issue in our game and plenty of people around the competition are working to ensure we don't see a repeat of what happened at the Bulldogs-Tigers game.
All sorts of proposals have been made, but one thing I think needs to be looked at is the use of the big screens at games for replays of controversial incidents.
If we are trying to minimise the situations where people might start getting a little rowdy, this is where it has to start.
The English Premier League soccer banned replays of such incidents years ago and the improvement in crowd behaviour has been marked.
Sometimes things happen in an NRL game that stir the emotions on both sides, say a high tackle or a late shot or even a punch or two.
The last thing we need is for the people upstairs to show well-oiled supporters five or six replays of a bloke from their team getting whacked.
It is unfortunate, but the video has infiltrated its way into our game and we need to put a stop to it.
Video referees should rule on groundings only and replays at the ground should be limited to tries.
We are wasting way too much time watching replay after replay, looking for minor infringements which aren't there.
We have referees and touch judges for a reason. If they miss things, so be it.
Darren Lockyer's column appears on the Broncos website each Thursday.