2019 Rd 22 V Storm: Game Day

[The Nickman]

Oh no pickles. I believe you have echoed good sir.

I actually believe it’s the rare Echo EDIT combo!

EDIT

[bonehead]

History will remember him more fondly due to his resume than his actual play on the field warrants imo.

A lot of L’s on that resume. Especially in SOO.

And one premiership which would have an asterisk next to it for a lot of people given the salary cap revelations conveniently accounted into surrounding years, and measley peptide punishments.

the most L's of all time, just think how many more losses if he didn't miss 2yrs for his drug ban.

[The Nickman]

Twisting an opponent's ears thirty years ago - actually, probably forty years ago - might have been de rigeur, but this is 2019. It is completely unacceptable to do what Smith did in rugby league today, IMO. If Bateman did it... and it is not fully clear to me that he did... he should have copped a penalty too.

Facials... all this rubbish. That's not footy. That's not rugby league. Not the rugby league I want to see anyway. I want to see fair, tough tackles. Great passing, great kicks, great takes, great runs, great tries. No rubbish.

Agree with you 100% GE. The rules of Rugby League were not written by John Hopoate and his heat seeking digit. The NRL, Coaches, players and Refs should understand the actions of a few are driving people away, as evidenced by the decline in those watching the game.

But how good are those Raiders in 2019? From last year where we would get out to a strong lead only to give it back to the opposition and not make the finals, to this year where the defence, match after match, is relentless. The unfit and the unwilling are no longer on the roster and it shows. Last week the Raiders beat the minor premiers in a massive comeback that has the entire Rugby League fan base talking. There are a maximum of 7 matches for the Raiders to play in 2019. We are now a 'tough to beat' side. It is 25 years since our last Premiership. 30 years since our first. We are no longer the Faders. But we need to beat Manly this weekend and it has proved a tough task for us in prior years. After this weekend the Raiders will have played each of the main Premiership threats twice each this year. Yet there we are in third place. The ladder spot has been well earned. The countdown to possible 2019 glory has begun.

Agreed mate!

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Ahhhh, the old echo edit... nothing beats it

[BJ]

The newspaper reported that 5 other clubs including Raiders had a higher average defensive play the ball speed than Melbourne Storm.

This is yet another article that highlights the complete ineptitude of sports media journalism and the NRL to provide clear and open analysis and data for comparison. Other sports provide better data and analysis, why can’t rugby league?

‘Average seconds per play the ball’ only tells a tiny proportion of the story. I would start with the same number of seconds taken but also as a median, mean, segmented mode and other plots of the data to paint a clearer picture.

It’s context of the tackle that needs to be understood. Many of the issues that fans, experts and players have with the Storm is their ability to artificially control the ruck following a half break or when the attacker is inside the 10m zone. This is what should be analysed. Car insurance premiums aren’t solely based on the type of car you drive.

This is the kind of data NRL needs to provide and it’s this analysis that needs reporting by someone with a clue about both rugby league and data.

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/hang-o ... 52j0h.html

[greeneyed]

Canberra Raiders ride the Storm to record one of Canberra’s greatest sporting comebacks
Tim Gavel

To this day, head and shoulders above others, remains the Raiders’ victory in the 1989 Grand Final. Not only did the Raiders defy the odds to make the finals, but they also had to come from behind to defeat Balmain 19-14 after a John Ferguson converted try sent the game into extra time.

I would rank the Raiders come from behind win on the weekend against the Storm as possibly the second greatest comeback of all time by a Raiders team.

Read more: https://the-riotact.com/raiders-ride-th ... cks/319201

Canberra Times podcast: Was Cam Smith's ear pull dodgy or fair game? https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/ ... fair-game/

Storm defend Smith and NRL tackle tactics: https://www.espn.com/nrl/story/_/id/274 ... le-tactics

[Lui_Bon]

I had been focussing on those still shots of Smith and his 'ear gouge' on Simo and wondering how he didn't get some sort of contrary conduct charge. I just watched the video footage and realised he wasn't grabbing his ear at all. He had hold of Simo's jersey. You can see it pull away as he lets go. Might have given the ear a rub in the process but it wasn't as bad as I first thought.

P.S. Smith is still a grub.

This is why Smith gets away with it - he grabs the jumper to pull it up so he can attack the ear and temple. You also can't see what he's doing with his other hand, which is in roughly the same region of the head.

Just on the game, Melbourne is a bit of a rip off - the seats cost more, the beer costs more and doesn't come in cans, the tv screens are too small, their amplified cowbell/woodblock would have to be almost as bad as the Cronulla trumpeter, their ground music is really really loud, their crowds are a bit quite (might just have been Saturday!), their stupid dancers are stupid, and worst of all, the seats DON'T HAVE A CUP HOLDER!!!

Actually, with us two points down, I said to my wife "we need a Hodgson strip here". The very next tackle...

All up I'm pretty glad I went!

[dubby]

Thanks for the tips ,Lui.

I'm sure to eschew Melbourne in future. I hate everything you detailed, lest the cup holder. That's a bit meh for my game day experience

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[Northern Raider]

I had been focussing on those still shots of Smith and his 'ear gouge' on Simo and wondering how he didn't get some sort of contrary conduct charge. I just watched the video footage and realised he wasn't grabbing his ear at all. He had hold of Simo's jersey. You can see it pull away as he lets go. Might have given the ear a rub in the process but it wasn't as bad as I first thought.

P.S. Smith is still a grub.

This is why Smith gets away with it - he grabs the jumper to pull it up so he can attack the ear and temple. You also can't see what he's doing with his other hand, which is in roughly the same region of the head.

It's a bit like the AFL jersey punch.

[The Nickman]

Thanks for the tips ,Lui.

I'm sure to eschew Melbourne in future. I hate everything you detailed, lest the cup holder. That's a bit meh for my game day experience

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EDIT

[Lui_Bon]

Thanks for the tips ,Lui.

I'm sure to eschew Melbourne in future. I hate everything you detailed, lest the cup holder. That's a bit meh for my game day experience

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To be fair, you hate absolutely everything about everything, so... there is that

I, for one, have always enjoyed AAMI Park, and I’m going back there this weekend. But, I don’t hate everything either

Do you have really short legs? If not, how do you fit in their seats? And where do you stow your cup?

That said, their food looked alright. i just ate elsewhere.

[reptar]

Was it better than Olympic Park?

[greeneyed]

Was it better than Olympic Park?

It is.

[reptar]

Was it better than Olympic Park?

It is.

Okay. I don't recall drink holders at Olympic Park

[pickles]

Oh no pickles. I believe you have echoed good sir.

I actually believe it’s the rare Echo EDIT combo!

EDIT

If you expect to read and understand every post before posting myself you're thinking of someone else! Whatever that post actually said before all the edits!

Rewatched this game again and am struggling to agree with anyone questioning Hodgson's game. He laid on the try for Croker which got us back into the match. Then he kicked a 40/20 in the first set of the second half that completely changed the trajectory of that half, we started that set on our line and instead of defending from about 30m out from their line at best we were straight on the attack. He then came up with the strip that gave us the opportunity and after playing wide all night put Papalii through for his try (Papalii still had a lot of work to do no doubt). You would struggle do well to argue that any single player had a bigger impact on the outcome of the game. He wasn't perfect but he certainly came up with the plays that mattered.