The Broncos were the big winners of Round 14 when they beat the Wests Tigers 32-12 tonight in Brisbane.
But who cares, the NRL is a bloody disgrace tonight after Blake Ferguson, the NSW Origin Player was sacked after being formally charged with indecent assault of a woman in Cronulla. Now everyone makes errors in life and sometimes we do silly things when we get drunk that we regret. Usually our mates keep us out of trouble and look after us. But do we indecently assault people? I'm not so sure. But think about it, Josh Dugan and Blake Ferguson drinking at a pub prior to origin camp, could anything possibly go wrong?
Did the whole world forget this photograph incident when selecting the NSW Origin team? Was this taken a few years ago and the boys have grown up? This photo was taken in MARCH 2013! And Dugan was eventually sacked from Canberra. Did the NRL congratulate and support Canberra for having such a low tolerance of dickhead behaviour that brings the game in disrepute? No, they let him sign with the Dragons only a few weeks later. That will teach him wont it? Sure he was playing well for the Dragons, but surely the NRL would not allow this scandalous man to be elevated into an Origin game only a few months later, and yet they did! And Ferguson was awarded a Blues Jersey by Laurie Daley for game one. The first thing these idiots-in-arms did when back together for origin II was a piss up together. The NRL got what they deserve for continuing to reward bad behaviour. They talk about Women in league and go on with all that rubbish and then we see the likes of Ben Teo, now Ferguson, and let's not forget the girlfriend glasser Carney, all current or recent origin players. It's an utter disgrace and its a smack in the teeth for all those model football players who give kids a legitimate reason to look up to them. Like Jonathan Thurston for example, we saw what Dugan thought of him this weekend, and yet he was cleared of that late hit, that was fine was it? What a joke. But the bogan supporters wont understand what all the fuss is about I guess. They will continue to defend these boofheads and cheer them on.
So........... lets wind things right back to Friday night when the Bulldogs faced a huge encounter with Manly at Brookvale. I was watching this with my sisters family and it was a very vocal affair. I was stunned when the Bulldogs went out to an 18-nil lead after 18 minutes but I knew there was too much class in Manly to start celebrating. Manly kept in there for an 18-6 half time score but the Bulldogs kept kicking a head first 24-6, then 30-12 and with 15 minutes to go I thought yes, the team has never lost a game when they score a minimum of 20 points so there's no chance they would be run down at 30. But when the Eagles scored a couple of tries and it was 30-24 it was a bit scary and there were a lot of dodgy refereeing decisions and foul play being missed but I still thought 30 would be enough to win until the unthinkable happened and Manly levelled with a freak try to the man suspended several times in his career already Steve Matai. Not that the NRL rewards bad behaviour. The conversion from the side saw the game levelled at 30-all at full time. I didn't think the Bulldogs slackened off at all, I think they were too tired to match the upped tempo of the Eagles but momentum and luck and a few blind officials saw them nab us in the end. I still thought we had done enough to deserve a win but I didn't want it to end the way it did. A penalty for the flick up of a leg in a tackle that saw Reynolds flip himself over as he tried to get out of the tackle occurred on the half way line. It would have put the Bulldogs in a very good attacking position and build for a field goal attempt. But that was not to be as the referee marched the Manly side 10 metres for back chatting and from the 40m line it gave amazing goal kicker Trent Hodkinson an in-range goal. I think the marching was harsh and unnecessary but as a Bulldog supporter I was relived when that ball went through the sticks because as I said before I thought we had done enough to deserve it. But its a shitty way to win and an even shittier way to lose, but the final score was 32-30 and a win to the Bulldogs.
Golden Point is absolutely ridiculous and needs reform. I think its great to try and unlock a leveled game with some extra time, and the idea of first scorer wins is fine as a concept, but Golden Point in its current form is awful. They should make it GOLDEN TRY, and the teams can only win by getting a try. That way it is more difficult to win and we get a longer period of extra time, without it being a field goal contest or lost on a penalty goal. GOLDEN TRY will be incredibly exciting, especially if it goes to the video ref and you see the words GOLDEN TRY on that screen in golden yellow writing. That result would be earned and not won by a stroke of luck.
Anyway in other games of course the Cowboys earned their win against the Dragons on Friday 22-16, and on Saturday the Raiders put on their 10th consecutive win in Canberra 24-12 over the Panthers. It really must suck to go down there to play as a visitor. Later that night the Sharks bounced back from their horrific loss in Melbourne to beat the Eels 32-14 at home. Sunday saw two very close encounters as the top two teams of the competition were given a real shake. The Rabbits held off the Titans tho 30-24 and the Storm clawed back to pip the Knights 16-14 in Newcastle. later that night the Warriors continued their amazing form at the moment when they did the Roosters over at Allianz Stadium 23-12.
So in what was a dramatic weekend of games and plenty of drama off the field it does make you realise that this is a game played by men who are as flawed as they are talented and not all of them can handle the lifestyle of a professional football player. You really need to develop great self control to not believe all the hype about yourself. Some guys like Ferguson just forget that they are not above the law and he is paying the price now that he faces a very serious charge.
Let's hope the good guys of the game keep our flags flying.
J G S
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