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Thursday, 10 April, 2014 Page 29
Local Sport
NRL Wrap
Surprises tip the table IF you are in a tipping competition and are anywhere near the top of the table take a bow. A tough season became a nightmare for tipsters in round five with plenty of upsets that few saw coming. The Titans lead the way and I am sure at the beginning of the season no-one in their wildest dreams could have anticipated the make-up of the top eight as we head into round six. Expect the unexpected I think should now be the mantra of the hapless tipster. PANTHERS v SOUTHS THE heavens opened up over Sporting Bet stadium and the clash of the Panthers and Raiders was played in torrential rain. Hardly ideal conditions for a rookie to make his debut but it had little effect on Panthers’ 18-year-old Dallin Watene-Zelezniak who captured everyone’s attention scoring two tries. Jamie Soward showed his experience in the conditions as he guided his team around the park. The Panthers led 8-0 at half time and showed plenty of ticker and good defensive skills to hold on for the win. After three disappointing performances the Bunnies put a stop to their slide down the ladder with a convincing win over St George. While they did not do enough for me to consider them premiership material yet there were plenty of positive signs. Sutton returned to the halves and Burgess to lock and the machine worked much better. The Bunnies need to be on their game here the Panthers are playing some exciting football and are at the pointy end of the table for the first time in several years TITANS v BRONCOS THE Titans have surprised many with their positive start to the season. They moved to the top of the table after their narrow and somewhat controversial win over Melbourne at AAMI Park on Sunday. In a see-sawing game, the Titans held the lead for most of the second half before Melbourne bounced back to level the score. A dubious penalty to the Titans seconds from full time was converted by Greg Bird. Replays showed the ball was dropped rather than the strip drew the penalty. On Friday night little brother will be well prepared for the visit of big brother at Cbus Super Stadium. The Broncos fought back from a 10-0 deficit at half time against Parra at Suncorp to claim the lead early in the second half only to see the Eels work their way back to the lead. They contributed to their own downfall with constantly dropped ball and poor defence. As the Broncos shot themselves in the foot the Eels took advantage. If the Broncos can improve completion rate and ball security the game against the Titans will be a cracker. RAIDERS v KNIGHTS AFTER the dreadful Alex McKinnon incident the rugby league world held its collective breath as Raiders forward Joel Edwards was stretched from the field after a head knock. Under the new concussion ruling it is unlikely he will take the field in this game. The Raiders were forced to play catch-up football in the wet conditions at Penrith. They fought back from an 8-0 deficit but never really looked likely to wrest the game from the home side. Anthony Milford impressed in the conditions. His combination with Jack Wighton mesmerised the defence on occasions. Canberra is still dogged by injuries and captain Terry Campese may have a case to answer after he was placed on report for a forearm to the face of Lewis Brown in the playthe-ball. After the emotional roller coaster of the past few weeks, it was no surprise to see the Knights flat and out of sorts at 1300smiles stadium on Monday night. The Knights started the game on
Tigers Front Rower Aaron Woods celebrates his try against the Bunnies. 118406_01
An ankle injury to James Tedesco is set to be a major blow to the Tigers. 118406_02 a positive note but conceded three early tries and never found their mojo. With handling errors, penalties and poor defence they handed their opponents a win on a platter. They will be better here but the Raiders look to have the wood on them. EELS v ROOSTERS THE Eels put paid to their away-game hoodoo when they scored a narrow win over the Broncos at Suncorp. Ironically, it was Parra’s first away win since they beat the Brisbane at Suncorp in July 2012. The rebirth of the Parramatta side is one of the marvels of the 2014 season and they are gaining a reputation as the 2014 entertainers. In a thrilling game that could have gone either way, the performance of Chris Sandow was outstanding. Finally, Eels star Jarryd Hayne has a foil on the other side of the field. Discarded Bronco Corey Norman stepped up and showed his former club what they were missing. Winger Semi Radradra continues his impressive season and is proving a handful for oppo-
Around the grounds WARWICK EAST BOWLS NOTES Last Thursday our mixed triples were conducted with 10 teams playing. Results were as follows Round ! D Warr, B Black, E Welch def P Davis, A Mattiazzi, L Covill 15-7: D Miller, Grumpy, N Wickham def D Scotney, Freckles, J Marriot 19-15: C Lawler, P Collis, M Dodson def D Neal, K Gimm, B Johnstone 13-10: D Buchbach, E Diery, G Dent def G Farmer, D Sullivan, N Farmer 17-8: T Spence, R Philps, G Shelley def D Meneely, N Hassum, B Gibson 13-9: Second round, skips only G Sheley def E Welch 12-11: N Wickham def B Johnstone 20-6: N Farmer def J Marriot 21-6: G Dent def L Covill 13-10: M Dodson def B Gibson 20-4: . Winners were M Dodsons team with29 points with runners up being N Wickhams team with 28 points.
Saturday last was semi final of club singles with results R Philps defeating N Farmer 25-20 . leading 23-10 but managed to hold on to win. The other semi between P Dipplesman and Grumpy resulted with a win to Peter 25-9. The final is again between Peter and Ron who clashed in last years final also. One social game was played between F Gambrill & N Hassum against B Friend & E Diery with the winners being Ed & Barry 23-21. Next Saturday the 12th we are hosting the District Singles comencing at 9am. We have to furnish 8 markers for this event so members if available to mark please contact the club your help would be appreciated .
nents with his speed and power. In a game that turned into a tough arm wrestle, the Roosters struggled for a share of possession against the Bulldogs and were on the wrong end of an early 5-2 penalty count. With the scores locked at 8-all in the final minutes of the game, the Roosters declined the chance of two points when they were awarded a penalty close to the line preferring to aim for a try. It was a decision that perhaps cost them the game as Josh Reynolds kicked a field goal to give the Dogs a one-point advantage soon after. It was the only point scored in the second half in a gritty get-down-and-dirty game. It has been a slow start to the season for the premiers and while they have Sonny Bill Williams back in the fold they might have trouble containing this flamboyant Eels outfit. The entertainers to upset things here. TIGERS v COWBOYS THE Tigers are another side that were at the wrong end of the competition ladder for most of last season but are making every post a winner in 2014. The young Tiger cubs - the new kids on the block - were back to Leichardt Oval and demolished their more favoured opponents Manly 34-18 in one of the best regular-season victories in the joint-venture club’s short history. The win was soured by another ankle injury to fullback James Tedesco. It is a bitter blow for the Tigers. Adding to their woes, Braith Anasta is facing suspension for the first time in his career for a shoulder charge. Finally the Cowboys put it all together to post a big win over the Knights. The Cowboys ran in five tries and kept their line intact to end a three-game losing streak. It was easily their best performance of the season under new coach Paul Green. Gone were the mistakes that plagued the Cowboys in previous weeks. Debutant winger
Matthew Wright repaid the faith placed in him by the coach, scoring the first Cowboys try. If the Cowboys can repeat their solid performance they could easily make it back-to-back wins here. WARRIORS v BULLDOGS WARRIORS coach Matthew Elliott has become the first casualty of the 2014 season. On Monday the club announced his resignation amid denials that he was pushed. Tough gig coaching the Warriors - it seems to be the poisoned chalice of coaching. That is four coaches in four seasons. Former assistant coach now takes the reins and has told his players, “It’s time to harden up.” All this comes as the Warriors were mauled 37-6 by the resurgent Sharks in their last game. They were their own worst enemies. A dreadful completion rate was compounded by errors and missed tackles. With a new tough talking boss and a game in NZ this week, they will need to play to their potential to overcome the Bulldogs. The Bulldogs played a tough gritty style of football to outmuscle the Roosters in a lowscoring event where points were hard to come by. Canterbury bashed the premiers from pillar to post with aggressive defence and a line speed. Five-eighth Josh Reynolds took a punt and backed himself to slot his first ever field goal and break the 8-all deadlock as full time approached. This game will be watched with interest. Can the Warriors turn things around? Perhaps - but they will need to pull out something special to down the Doggies. SEA EAGLES v SHARKS THE Sea Eagles were ambushed by a young Tigers outfit. Manly should’ve been wary. The two games the Tigers had won previously showed more than enough to earn the respect of any team. It didn’t take long for them to get Manly’s full and undivided attention as they launched an unrelenting assault on the advantage line - and also exposed some lazy marker defence from Manly. The harder Manly tried, the worse things seemed to get completing only 24 sets from 40 opportunities. It was one of those days where everything that could go wrong, did go wrong. It is hard to see a side who has been as good for as long as Manly had playing so badly again. The Sharks finally got their bite back and took a huge chunk out of the Warriors. With a raft of players sidelined with injury, Todd Carney surprised many when he declared Jeff Robson was the player they missed most. Robson showed his worth, steering Cronulla to their first win with a 37-6 victory. Robson added spark to the Sharks taking pressure off Todd Carney, allowing the pivot to concentrate on his running game instead of burdening himself with organising. It was a great win but the Sharks should be weary of the wounded Eagles back home at Brooky - Shark fin soup could be on the menu. STORM v DRAGONS LAST week we saw J.T. lay down the law to his Cowboys’ team-mates - this week it is Melbourne Storm captain Cam Smith along with sidekick Billy Slater demanding more discipline from players to fix the Storm’s defensive woes after back-to-back losses. Melbourne, renowned for measuring themselves on their performances, are not living up to their lofty standards. Melbourne’s loss to the Storm had much to do with attitude and poor rate of penalties. In a game where a dodgy penalty probably sealed the result, Melbourne really can only blame themselves. They have a week to work on their defence ahead of hosting the Dragons. St George Illawarra was also less than happy with refereeing decisions after they were trounced 26-6 by the Bunnies. An 11-6 penalty count and a disallowed try did little to help. With seven consecutive penalties in the first half the Dragons were on the back foot and back pedalling. They were out on their feet and never recovered. There is sure to be some tough love in the Storm camp this week and it should pay dividends.
Casey’s tips BRONCOS RABBITOHS RAIDERS EELS TIGERS WARRIORS EAGLES STORM