Round 1: Las Vegas Discussion / *Spoilers*

[Betterdays22]

I personally thought it was a loose carry but we see the arm come back from behind Xerri and dislodge the ball. In my opinion he was not playing at the ball in a stripping motion and this should not be penalized but we will see another 30 this season with it being about a 50/50 split on the rulings. I don't agree with the call but if it wasn't in golden point it wouldn't be considered the howler it is being made out to be.

Ref needs to have a bit more match awareness though?

You look at it in isolation and go, yeah its an understandable mistake, but it being in Golden Point shows pretty poor match awareness. If there was any doubt in his mind he should not of blown that penalty, understanding that giving a penalty at that stage it would almost certainly be match defining.

 

[Lestronge]

Would love to see a game of AFL on a rectangular field.

That would be hilarious, I'm going to get the pop corn.

Are you taking the piss out of me ? I literally said there wasn’t the infrastructure in place a sentence or 2 later …..

 

[weststigers]

Definitely a loose carry, they wasted their challenge earlier in the game on something that was never gone be over turned.
Maybe teams should get another challenge in extra time?

Golden Point always leaves one team bitterly disappointed and the bad calls exacerbate that.

Any field goal or penalty goal should be play on. Only try wins it.

 

[Dr_Ice]

Yeah, still a lot of empty seats especially noticeable during the Bulldogs v Dragons game. For such a grand occasion they should be filling the stadium.

I saw some of the English match and the top sections of the stands at each end were where their fans were sitting (and it was packed). A large proportion of the English fans probably left before the second NRL game

 

[mljpalmer@kingfisherwine]

NRL season hasn’t even started yet and I’ve already had a gut full of Voss. God damn he gets worse and worse every year.

Must agree about Voss. He suffers from Verbal Diahorea. Loves the sound of his own voice and becomes irritating quickly.

 

[tig_prmz]

Definitely a loose carry, they wasted their challenge earlier in the game on something that was never gone be over turned.
Maybe teams should get another challenge in extra time?

I think the challenge was worthwhile. The Dragons player didn't change his line at all. He turned and went straight towards the ball. Just because a player gets impeded doesn't mean the other player did something wrong. Anyone can run into someone and claim to be impeded.

 

[Tiger Tarl]

I still reckon that a draw at full-time should mean both teams get one competition point, THEN they play golden point overtime (5 each way) for the other competition point. It makes the 'Golden Point' name have a double meaning and would make the ladder a truer representation as currently a team losing by one in Golden Point gets the same as a team getting beat by 50. Ie. Nothing.

 

[bptiger 0]

Dragons completely robbed.

Love watching the grit of Flanagan coached sides.

And again we see that the refs decided who wins games , there was. No strip at the end , just another leg up for the dogs

 

[TheEnz]

I think the challenge was worthwhile. The Dragons player didn't change his line at all. He turned and went straight towards the ball. Just because a player gets impeded doesn't mean the other player did something wrong. Anyone can run into someone and claim to be impeded.

I thought that challenge would be successful, the vide ref said it was an escort...however they should look at it more from the players perspective...is he supposed to stand still or move out of the way, or dissapear?, he was tracking towards the ball and Kikau obviously grabs him at the end to make it look like he was impeded. Absolute crock of shit that call. And apparently there is some sort of new rule about what will be ruled a strip and something about a hand on the ball or some other such crap. To me that was a loose carry every day of the week and twice on Sundays.

 

[innsaneink]

I thought that challenge would be successful, the vide ref said it was an escort...however they should look at it more from the players perspective...is he supposed to stand still or move out of the way, or dissapear?, he was tracking towards the ball and Kikau obviously grabs him at the end to make it look like he was impeded. Absolute crock of shit that call. And apparently there is some sort of new rule about what will be ruled a strip and something about a hand on the ball or some other such crap. To me that was a loose carry every day of the week and twice on Sundays.

He didnt look back once at Kikau either

 

[GNR4LIFE]

Must agree about Voss. He suffers from Verbal Diahorea. Loves the sound of his own voice and becomes irritating quickly.

For years I thought he was fine. Then I went through a period where I still didn’t mind him, but could see why people disliked him. Now, he’s totally jumped the shark. Cannot stand his hyperbole. Him and Ginane are level now. Warren Smith is the only commentator on either channel that I have time for these days.

 

[TheEnz]

For years I thought he was fine. Then I went through a period where I still didn’t mind him, but could see why people disliked him. Now, he’s totally jumped the shark. Cannot stand his hyperbole. Him and Ginane are level now. Warren Smith is the only commentator on either channel that I have time for these days.

Agree 100% Warren Smith is the only decent one left. In terms of expert commentators how the hell does blocker get a gig. Cronk is good maybe 5% of the time, the only one I don't mind hearing from on fox is Sean johnson, the rest all seem to have an agenda.

 

[Tiger_Fanatic3]

 

[innsaneink]

‘Should go our way’: Dragons’ shock NRL approach as list of five key ref moments revealed

‘Should go our way’: Dragons’ shock NRL approach as list of five key ref moments revealed

www.foxsports.com.au

 

[tig_prmz]

I like PVL. He's done a lot of stupid things I disagree with, but he has also provided a lot of good ideas and rallied hard to turn them into reality. Last year was one of the best years of footy I can remember. He comes at the game from the perspective of what a fan would like to see. A lot of his ideas pass the pub test. You take the good with the bad, and at the moment he is delivering enough good to outweigh the bad.

But he is also a corrupt, slimy, mob-style boss who probably has dodgy backroom deals going on in the background.

I generally don't like people like PVL.

I put Richo in the same category.

The brashness, rudeness, bluntness etc. It feels more like a dictatorship than a collaborative environment.

However, these guys get stuff done. They get results. They cut through the red tape, take shortcuts and get things done now.

Now further to saying that, this is not a system that flourishes. A system like that can flourish for a short time when the leader is there, but now when you need long lasting results.

PVL has been amazing for RL. He made Vegas happen and he got RL back quicker than most other sports.

He is done now IMO.

 

[hank37w]

They both looked shiet

Dragons halves need a lot of work

Dogs got all the calls and barely got the win

Both have very lacking spines

Unless something drastically changes, they both miss the 8 IMO

Can only hope that you are correct about the top 8, particularly in respect to the Dogs.

 

[gregjm87]

Ref needs to have a bit more match awareness though?

You look at it in isolation and go, yeah its an understandable mistake, but it being in Golden Point shows pretty poor match awareness. If there was any doubt in his mind he should not of blown that penalty, understanding that giving a penalty at that stage it would almost certainly be match defining.

But the same would be said if replays revealed it was a clear strip but ref wasn't sure and went lose carry. Awarding an incorrect scrum at that point on the field at that time would almost certainly be match defining. A match defining decision had to be made either way. Unfortunately in my and most others opinions he got the call wrong. Of course I'd prefer we get the call right but it is an understandable mistake nonetheless.

 

[gregjm87]

Golden Point always leaves one team bitterly disappointed and the bad calls exacerbate that.

Any field goal or penalty goal should be play on. Only try wins it.

I'd rather piss off GP but if it must be kept. 4 points for a regulation win 3 points for a GP win 2 for a draw 1 point for GP loss and 0 for a regulation loss.
Dragons don't deserve the same 0 points as the Cowboys. Nor do dogs the same 2 points as the knights.

 

[gregjm87]

I still reckon that a draw at full-time should mean both teams get one competition point, THEN they play golden point overtime (5 each way) for the other competition point. It makes the 'Golden Point' name have a double meaning and would make the ladder a truer representation as currently a team losing by one in Golden Point gets the same as a team getting beat by 50. Ie. Nothing.

I just posted something similar. In my opinion the problem with this though you can't have some competition games where 3 points are up for grabs and some only 2 points.

 

[gregjm87]

I thought that challenge would be successful, the vide ref said it was an escort...however they should look at it more from the players perspective...is he supposed to stand still or move out of the way, or dissapear?, he was tracking towards the ball and Kikau obviously grabs him at the end to make it look like he was impeded. Absolute crock of shit that call. And apparently there is some sort of new rule about what will be ruled a strip and something about a hand on the ball or some other such crap. To me that was a loose carry every day of the week and twice on Sundays.

I thought it was a penalty ever day of the week (the escort/obstruction not the strip). It was both an escort penalty and an obstruction penalty.
Kikau was impeded. Yes he made sure the ref knew but he clearly was. It is not on Tu to get out of the way but he isn't supposed to be in the way (unless he has time to plant his feet and stand his ground). Gutherson is then not able to use him as a shield from the chasers which he did (whether it was knowingly or not can be debated). We see it every game where a player gets in the way, the ball runner concedes the tackle to not gain an advantage and not get penalized. That is what Gutherson had to do to avoid the penalty.