After 4 rounds of NRL, the Melbourne Storm lead the competition undefeated along with the South Sydney Rabbitohs with 4 wins from 4 games.
The Storm managed to hold out a fast finishing Bronco's outfit 32-26 and the Rabbitohs held off a strong defensive Bulldogs side 17-12.
I went out to that game on Good Friday to ANZ Stadium and was part of the record crowd of over 51000 fans. The atmosphere was great to be out there and the game was a contest that didn't disappoint, that's if, as a Bulldog fan, you disregarded the score line.
The Rabbitohs are big dudes and possession is key to beating this side, and the scoreline in the first half reflected that this game was going to be about defence. The Bulldogs maintained most of the possession and lead most of the half by 6-0.
An incident that lead to Captain Michael Ennis leaving the field before half time, never to return, resulted in the Rabbitohs levelling the scores at the break. However one must ask, why was time not called off whilst Ennis was down, particularly when the next two tackles or plays occurred around where he was down receiving attention. The third play ended with the try.
The second half was dominated by the Bunnies and in due course they pulled away to a 16-6 lead touched up with a field goal to go ahead 17-6. The scoreline became respectable with a try on the bell to the Bulldogs narrowing the margin to 5 points.
That try was scored by Ben Barba who made his return to the field after a much publicised absence to overcome personal issues. There were many people speculating as to whether he should come back and the Footy Show in their debatable wisdom thought an audience poll on the subject was a good idea. This poll was in favour of Barba to return 51-49. How on earth people think their opinion is relevant when you have no idea what this man is dealing with is beyond me. Without knowing the exact details of this man's life you are in no position to judge or comment and I think Barba's situation has been handled with as much sensitivity as sensibility and the result will speak for itself.
Personally I found it very gratifying to see Ben play out there and he handled himself exactly as he should have. Expectations should be directed elsewhere and fans should just cheer the man on when he excites you with his play. But don't go expecting a try every time he picks up the ball at his own 5 metre line. It was good to see him get his first try of the year and let's see if he can mow down Merritt who is 6 tries ahead of him so far. If he finds his stride soon that might just be possible. Also was good to see Frank Pritchard return to the Dogs and now its just James Graham and big Sam Kasiano that who should be back for the Roosters match in Round 6.
The game was also a very disciplined match with only a handful of penalties awarded overall. The Bulldogs went the first 65 minutes without conceding a penalty,which I have not seen happen in years for this side, and yet the first penalty conceded could prove to be more costly off the field. Yes I am talking about the Krisnan Inu spear tackle on Greg Inglis. I think there was no doubt it was a spear tackle with Inu at fault and I don't think you have to be an expert to guess he will do some time for it.
The question was and is what do you have to do to get sin binned or sent off these days? I think we are opening the door to the return of the 'take out player' who's job is to go out and take out the play maker as it will only go on report and you wont lose a player. Is this safe? Is this fair? I support all the players in the team I follow but I accept that if they do something wrong they must be held accountable.
But the argument that was being bandied around my family this Easter was about the Melbourne Storm and the implied "Protection" they seem to be getting from the NRL. There were many examples discussed as to when Melbourne have breached the rules this year yet have gone unpunished but mostly it was the incident when Billy Slater recklessly extended his leg to kick the opposition in the face. Slater did not have to face a charge on that because it wasn't deemed intentional, which some have debated going by the footage, but why wasn't he examined on negligence? If you kick a player in the face because your jumping style is dangerous you should be held accountable like all other players in the wrong. Negligence should not be ignored merely because intention does not seem apparent. Or is this the 'Protection' of the Melbourne Storm being apparent?
In other games this round, the big winners were Manly who kicked the round off on Thursday with a 26-0 thumping of the Tigers. I still maintain my view that the Tigers are weaker this year with the addition of Anasta who is extremely over rated and most of their plays continue to be based on luck with Benji Marshall's kicking. If you closely examine their games you will notice the games they win are mostly due to the lucky bounce of the ball, not cleverness or brilliance. On the other hand the Panthers are very similar to the Bulldogs this year, they play well and they match their opponents but they don't manage to get on top of them and win the game. Today was no different against the Titans who were tight in their defence and ensured the Panthers attack broke down, but the Titans really need to clean up their kicking game if they intend to be a top 8 side this year. The Dragons somehow managed to trounce the sharks 25-12 and rid the game of Todd Carney in what was a shock result and this evening the Knights held of a Raiders side who lead 12-10 at half time to win comfortably by 28-12.
There are still two games to complete this round that will be held tomorrow to cap off this Easter Weekend. Warriors host the Cowboys and the Roosters host the Eels. The Warriors are looking for their first win and if you go by history they are due to take the points against the Cowboys. Roosters are favourites to beat the Eels but the Eels always play better when they are not expected to win, mostly because that is when Jarrod Hayne manages to pull his head in.
This edition of the blog has been quite one sided regarding the Bulldogs, but this is my view, not a factual sports report and whilst I can be balanced on most things and highly opinionated on others, I do see the big picture but there is much more worth focusing in on than what most media outlets decide to do.
I believe the Bulldogs are travelling far better than the ladder implies and whilst the media will speculate what's wrong it will be completely over done. The team started without 4 top class players, and two have returned just this week and two remain to rejoin in the near future. Out of their 4 games this year they have lost three and all three were against top eight teams from 2012, two of which were with them in the Top 4, the other they will face this Friday. When you consider all that and see just how competitive they have been in these losses you can see why I am very pleased with their efforts so far. But yes, you don't need to be an expert to say you need to win games, but these will come and the way the season works you only have to win just over half your games to make the finals, so early days yet.
That's my view of NRL after Round 4 and feel free to comment or argue your own views herein.
Go Bulldogs!
J G S
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