Andrew Moore | 05/05/08 | 0
You would have to be the world’s greatest nark – or a North Queensland supporter – to not feel happy for South Sydney coach Jason Taylor and his players.
The Rabbitohs yesterday played good football, a reminder of what they achieved last year, to beat the highly fancied North Queensland Cowboys 28-24.
It started so poorly for Souths as well. After being battered from pillar to post in the Sunday papers, four minutes into the game Nathan Merritt had a brain explosion – kicking a ball out on the full 10 metres out for his own line. Then from the ensuing scrum, Ash Graham crashed straight through Dean Widders to score. It was 6-0 Cowboys just like that, and it looked as if the Rabbitohs were in for another long afternoon.
But they dug deep, chanced their arm, and played some really good rugby league. John Sutton seems to be finally coming into his own as a match-winning forward, Isaac Luke made a very good fist of things at halfback, hooker George Ndaira is a bit of a revelation, and centre Beau Champion had the best game I’ve ever seen him play. It was a strong all-around performance, and definitely gives South Sydney something to build on after next weekend’s bye.
The Cowboys on the other hand have plenty of problems. After a winning streak of three games, they’ve now dropped two in a row and are back in second-last position on the ladder. With Matt Bowen struggling big time with his fitness – he was a waste of space out there yesterday – things aren’t looking good for them. It’s funny, a week ago I thought they were magnificent in a losing cause against Melbourne, but they were very poor at times yesterday.
Also on the weekend Newcastle scored a very impressive win over Gold Coast, with Kurt Gidley just magnificent for the Knights. Parramatta started to play great footy for a change in the second half against Penrith after a very poor opening 40 minutes. The Panthers didn’t receive many favours from the referee to be fair, but the Eels deserved to win an entertaining game.
Brisbane won an equally entertaining game over the Wests Tigers. The Tigers can feel pretty good though about the way they fought back in the second half.
The main worry for the Broncos are the knees of Darren Lockyer – he’s now out of Friday night’s test against New Zealand.
Greg Bird moves to five eighth for Australia as Mick Crocker comes into the squad. But what about Anthony Laffranchi? He was the 18th man before Lockyer’s injury, and he’s still the 18th man! Now that I don’t understand, along with why I’m tipping so badly. I suppose though poor tipping means a good competition, and that’s certainly what we have after eight rounds.
It started so poorly for Souths... But they dug deep, chanced their arm, and played some really good rugby league.
Andrew Moore
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