MANLY vs COWBOYS
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MANLY vs COWBOYS
St George Illawarra Dragons v South Sydney Rabbitohs
Sydney Cricket Grounds Saturday 7.30pm
What better place to take the centrepiece of the Heritage Round than the ground with arguably more rugby league heritage than any other in the country?
Footy returns to the SCG on Saturday night as the famous Red V hosts the famous cardinal and myrtle, 50 years after downing the Rabbitohs there to earn their 10th straight premiership win.
A team boasting three immortals – Reg Gasnier, Johnny Raper and Graeme Langlands – as well as a host of Test stars downed a Bunnies outfit featuring names like Bob McCarthy, Ron Coote and John Sattler in a match that set rugby league attendance records that could not be matched until the 2000 Olympics led to the creation of the then-110,000 seat stadium at Homebush.
The Dragons famously went on to win an 11th straight premiership the year after, before the young 1965 Rabbitohs players matured to take four titles of their own in five years from 1967.
This weekend's clash will feature some big names from the modern game, none bigger than Rabbitohs skipper Greg Inglis, along with his teammates Adam Reynolds, John Sutton and the Burgess twins, up against the likes of Josh Dugan, Benji Marshall and Ben Creagh.
Each side will be desperate for the two points given they have one win between them in the past five weeks. That went to the Rabbitohs in Round 16, although they've had two byes in that time as well and are reasonably comfortably placed in fifth spot on the ladder.
Meanwhile the Dragons, ladder leaders after 12 rounds, are in serious danger of dropping out of the top eight with another loss or two and will be desperate to get back in the winners' circle after five straight losses.
That task is made easier by the returns of fullback Dugan, halfback Marshall, and second rowers Joel Thompson and Tyson Frizell. That sees Charly Runciman, Drew Hutchinson, Nathan Green and Mark Ioane drop out with Justin Hunt going from fullback to wing and Will Mathews and Jake Marketo dropping to the bench.
The Rabbitohs also get Inglis back from Origin duty, shifting Alex Johnston to the wing with Joel Reddy dropping out. Cameron McInnes starts at hooker for the suspended Issac Luke and Tim Grant is back at prop moving Dave Tyrrell to the bench and Jason Clark out of the 17.
Watch out Dragons: The Dragons are statistically the worst attacking side in the competition after 18 rounds with just 42 tries this year, and while they remain the second-best defensive team they still need to be able to score enough points to win the game against a Rabbitohs outfit that has the best effective tackle percentage (91%) in the competition, as well as being the fifth-best defensive side in terms of points conceded. They'll be hoping the return of attacking weapons Dugan and Marshall will somewhat alleviate that this week.
Watch out Rabbitohs: Speaking of, the return of Marshall this week is massive. The Dragons missed his experience and direction last week, and the combination he has formed with five-eighth Gareth Widdop, if it can be rekindled behind a bolstered forward pack laying a platform, will be massive. To have the equal-second-most try assists in the competition (12) in the team that has the fewest tries is no mean feat.
Key Match-Up: Josh Dugan v Greg Inglis. The battle of the No.1s is massive here. Each is arguably the best and most important player in their side. Two of the biggest and hardest to tackle fullbacks in the NRL, each is capable of blowing a game wide open with dangerous kick returns. Dugan (172 metres per game) is gaining the second-most yardage among fullbacks while Inglis (141 metres) is no slouch either. Dugan also has the edge in tackle breaks with fourth-most overall (64) ahead of Inglis's 47 (18th). Dugan also has the edge in kicks defused (43, fifth) over Inglis (32, ninth) but Inglis is better at putting his mates through a hole, with 10 line break assists versus Dugan's two.
The History: Played 24; Dragons 15, Rabbitohs 9. Since Illawarra merged with the Dragons the Red V have had the edge over Souths, but this year's defending premiers have won six of the past seven meetings.
What Are The Odds: South Sydney have been one of the better backed sides of the round with Sportsbet punters. Seventy per cent of all money is with the Rabbitohs and they've even been well supported conceding the start in line betting. Latest odds at Sportsbet.com.au
Match Officials: Adam Devcich & Chris Sutton; touch judges: Brett Suttor & Steve Carrall; Video Referees: Jared Maxwell & Luke Patten.
Televised: Fox Sports, Live, 7.30pm.
The Way We See It: The season is delicately poised for each of these sides; a win would be both a relief and a confidence boost while a loss would be serious cause for concern heading into the final stretch, particularly for the Dragons. They'll be massively boosted by the return of four top-line players but you get the feeling the form curve of the premiers is slightly better at this stage. Rabbitohs to get the job done in a low-scoring thriller.
DCE hurt as Cowboys down Sea Eagles
Mon 20 Jul, 2015, 8:46pm
By Joe Riordan, NRL.com
The North Queensland Cowboys have outclassed the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles to score a commanding 30-12 point victory at Brookvale Oval on Monday night.
The win – the Cowboys' eighth in a row on the road – entrenches the men from North Queensland in the NRL's top two alongside fellow Queenslanders the Broncos.
It also further distances the top two Queensland teams from their NSW counterparts, with the Cowboys now four points clear of the third-place Sydney Roosters.
For the Sea Eagles, their task to sneak into the finals now appears much more treacherous, with victories in six of their last seven fixtures required to remain a chance.
If they do fail to reach that mark, they'll be the first Sea Eagles team to miss the finals since 2004.
If Manly were to have had any chance of getting the better of their opposition on Monday night, and get a string of wins together, they needed their star halves fit and firing.
That didn’t happen though, as Daly Cherry-Evans missed half the game with a shoulder injury, while Kieran Foran was visibly struggling with a leg complaint in the second half.
Manly will be sweating on news regarding DCE's left shoulder, given the influence he has on their success.
Meanwhile, the Cowboys' own superstar half, Johnathan Thurston, was brilliant as usual as he helped his side celebrate Gavin Cooper's 200th NRL match.
Thurston had the ball on a string with his kicking game, and led his team around the field with calm composure.
His brilliance was on show in the seventh minute as he ignited the scoring after the Cowboys benefited from consecutive sets on the Manly line. Off the back of a deep backline movement, the star five-eighth didn't look to pass, instead putting boot to ball setting up Antonio Winterstein perfectly on the wing.
But Manly's long-term halfback would even the ledger 10 minutes later, poaching an easy four-pointer off the back of a loose Cowboys offload. DCE was quick enough to kick the bouncing ball through before Matt Scott could dive upon it, reclaiming his grubber to score under the post.
Once again, a couple of penalties by Manly gave the Cowboys another great attacking opportunity in the 28th minute. North Queensland once again showed their attacking potency, this time scoring off a desperate late offload at the line by Lachlan Coote which was cleaned up by Kane Linnet.
A 32nd minute penalty goal extended the Cowboys' advantage to 14-6.
That gap looked likely to be bridged late in the first half as Manly found themselves in good attacking position on the Cowboys line. However a handling error and a ruthless counter attack by the Queenslanders meant the difference would only be widening before the half.
The Cowboys went 70 metres, exploiting an overlap on their right side to eventually score through Winterstein. That was the winger's second, and the third time North Queensland had scored down their left side in a worrying sign for the Manly right-edge defence.
In what became a crucial moment in the game, DCE went down with a left shoulder injury just before half-time. He would not return upon the beginning of the second half, however that blow was softened when Brett Stewart dived on a well-weighted Kieran Foran grubber to open Manly's scoring immediately upon resumption.
From then on Manly committed a few crucial errors before the Cowboys made them pay in the 60th minute as Michael Morgan sliced through. Showing off his speed, Morgan got on the outside of a sliding edge defender and had enough power to barge over from close range. Thurston failed to convert from near the sideline, but his team still held a commanding 24-12 point lead with 20 minutes remaining.
With a smart short-side play the Cowboys drove the nail into the coffin soon after as Morgan once again showed his running game, brushing off some soft defence to break through and set Jake Granville up under the posts.
North Queensland Cowboys 30 (Winterstein 2, Linnett, Morgan, Granville tries; Thurston 4 goals) defeated Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 12 (Cherry-Evans, Stewart tries; Lyon 2 goals) at Brookvale Oval. Crowd: 7,643
I felt a little bit of sweet justice watching the game last night. :p
Only downside is the Donkeys 'n Cowboys sit at 1 & 2 (respectively) on the ladder, 'n we're at the bottom rung of it.
Hope Flipper in gooonnnne for the season, fingers crossed. Karma :banana:
There is no downside in the Cows smashing Manly except by not enough. And with a little apology to Shakespeare "was that a grimace I saw before me?" ... so pleased to see that supercilious smile wiped from the face Flipper the Turd.