Melbourne Storm were the big winners of Round 13 with a comprehensive victory over the inconsistent Cronulla Sharks 38-6 on Sunday night.
The round began with what looked like a one sided affair until Parramatta got their engines running and came within two points of the Roosters who were either outplayed or were off their usual game. The Eels looked set to possibly hit the lead when a chip kick saw Jarryd Hayne almost take the ball and head for the line, only he pulled up lame with a hamstring injury and Minichiello took the ball down the other end of the field and scored. He might be hopeful of taking Hayne's spot but Minichiello would have to be one of the most over rated fullbacks in NSW. But then again, why reward bad behaviour and give the full back spot to Josh Dugan? Oh that's right, we made a drug addict an immortal, enough said.
Saturday saw the Dragons over power a very disappointing Newcastle side in a dour 14-8 victory. Straight after that game the Bulldogs faced the Cowboys in Townsville and I predicted a big game from Ben Barba and he pegged the first two tries. But the game wasn't controlled by either team and at half time the scores were level and it was that sort of game. The cowboys moved out to an early lead in the second half 20-12 but u could tell there was more brewing in the Bulldogs and Tony Williams off the bench got things rolling and the Bulldogs went out to 36-20 which should have been the final score. But a rubbish decision by the video ref deemed a ball that was knocked forward by the cowboys did not in fact travel forward and gave a try to end the game at 36-26. The video refs are seriously screwing the game up and something needs to be done. I have been squawking about the fact that they should be able to rule on forward passes if they see them in the footage, i dispel the reasoning that it means u need more cameras on the field. We just use the current cameras but if they see a forward pass, no mistake, then let em rule for gods sake. In this case though, how the hell is it not knocked on when it travels forward? Are video refs allowed to gamble on footy?....
Sunday saw an absolute cracker of a game in New Zealand which seemed like it was played in a set from a Harry Potter scene, the dark gloomy conditions were very spooky. Those Warriors have really hit form and they mowed the Eagles down 18-16 in a terrific comeback. Straight after was the match of the day Penrith v Tigers and we all thought it was going to be a runaway victory for the Panthers at 18-4 but the tigers clawed them back and edged them out 20-18 in an amazing comeback.
The round wound up tonight with another dismal display by the Broncos who were out gunned early by the Raiders in Canberra who defeated the team from Brisbane 30-18.
So a few upsets has seen the top 4 still kept in reach by all the other teams. The Bunnies, Roosters and Storm are fairly secure up there and the Eagles hold 4th spot. The Bye this week saw the Titans secure 5th spot just ahead of the Sharks and inform Bulldogs and Raiders all in 6th.
Next Friday sees a huge encounter between the Bulldogs and Sea Eagles who flogged the Dogs back in Round 5. Will they manage to get revenge in the land of the silver tails?
We shall see...
J G S
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