Roos v Kiwis **SPOILERS**

[Geo]

Smith saves Australia for last gasp draw
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AAP Sun, 25 Oct 2009 08:41:14
Cameron Smith's last-gasp try rescued Australia from defeat in their opening Four Nations clash in London as the Kangaroos drew 20-20 with New Zealand at the Twickenham Stoop.
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In an entertaining clash in front of a crowd of 12,360, the world champions looked set for victory when Frank Pritchard crossed with just five minutes remaining to give his side a six-point lead, before Melbourne skipper Smith struck in the 78th minute.
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Sydney Roosters prop Frank-Paul Nuuausala put the world champions in front after just five minutes before Brett Morris went over for a try on his debut, with Johnathan Thurston's conversion levelling the scores.
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A bruising encounter boiled over just before half-time in the shape of a 26-man brawl following a high shot on Isaac Luke from Paul Gallen.
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With the scores tied at 6-6 at half-time, Thurston got the Kangaroos got off to the perfect start after the interval when he picked the ball from the hands of Lance Hohaia to scamper over before slotting over the extras.
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Hohaia compounded his horror start to the second-half by conceding a penalty from which Thurston extended the Australian advantage by another two points to 14-6.
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The Kiwis were desperate for inspiration and they found it in the form of Newcastle Knights centre Junior Sa'u who powered through three men to drag his side back into the game.
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Despite spurning the conversion, New Zealand maintained the pressure and after Inglis knocked on, Hohaia bagged a converted try and take the lead.
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Pritchard looked to have sealed the upset but after Bryson Goodwin missed the extras, Smith picked up a Greg Inglis pass to cross and allow Thurston, who kicked four goals, to tie up the scores.

Fantastic Test match I thought…...Roos where lucky....Kiwis had the better of it....

Well Sheens....... God on the wing didn't do much...and a few other top liners....Changes expected....

Greg Inglis.....outstanding........Pay anything for him in a Wests Tigers jersey.....

 

[sleet52]

Jeff lima was very aggressive in tackles especially against his Melbourne team mates is that a sign? :laughing:

 

[stryker]

Was a great game mate, very physical.

Gould said that the queenslanders saved our bacon and I think he is probably right. Thurston, Smith, Ingliss - all outstanding - again…

Hayne is very uncomfortable on the wing - he is a waste of talent out there. Dont know where to put him but he needs to be involved.

Slaters defence at the back was very poor today , which is uncharacteristic for him. I expect a huge game from him against the poms or else maybe Hayne should play here from game three on.

Watmough - great effort as well.

Benji showed some great signs as well, great ball to put Pritchard over. Love to see Ellis running wide of Benj next year in this fashion.

Ref was a shocker

20 all.....Kiwi's hard done by, probably deserved the win.

 

[Tap_Twist_Snap]

Pretty good match. I really think that is the best I have ever seen the Kiwi's defend. As said above the ref was shocking but so were some of the players. Slater and Lockyer were dead set ordinary and gallen offers nothing other than being a dirty grub. Smith had a great game which is a shame for Robbie. Can't see him getting a run other than maybe a bench spot vs France.

 

[Guest]

Kangaroos-Kiwis all tied up

* By Andrew Webster in London
* From: The Sunday Telegraph
* October 25, 2009 7:51AM
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Australia v New Zealand

THEY almost did it again.

Before a roaring and well-lubricated crowd of 12,360, New Zealand came within a whisker of hijacking Australia for the second time in a year after fighting out a 20-all draw at the Twickenham Stoop this morning.

A try to Kangaroos vice-captain Cameron Smith with two minutes remaining - and halfback Johnathan Thurston's ice-cool conversion 20m from touch - saved Australia from a similar embarassment to last year's World Cup final, which the Kiwis sensationally snatched from the Australians.

They threatened to do the same thing this morning.

Because there is no golden point in international rugby league, the game finished as a draw but the message was clear: Tim Sheens' side are no certainties to win this competition.

The Australians had trailed 6-0 early on, before a try to debutant winger Brett Morris levelled the scores. Then Johnathan Thurston seemed to put the match beyond doubt early in the second half when he cheekily stole the ball from Kiwi fullback Lance Hohaia just metres from the New Zealand line and scored.

His conversion - and a penalty in the 50th minute - pushed Australia out to a 14-6 lead.

But just as they had shown throughout a fiery first half, the Kiwis were not going to lie down easily. When centre Junior Sa carried no less than five defenders over to score in the 54th minute to bring his side to within four points, it was game on.

With 11 minutes to go, Kiwi fullback Lance Hohaia slipped through a feeble tackle from Kangaroos fullback Billy Slater to score. And thoughts immediately harked back to November last year.

When second-rower Frank Pritchard stormed over, the upset seemed inevitable. Kiwi winger Bryson Goodwin missed with the conversion, however, and it gave the Australians a sniff of victory.

With their last throw of the dice, centre Greg Inglis beat two defenders and then managed to off-load to put Smith over for the try that saved the backsides of the tournament favourites.

New Zealand had started the match in horrendous fashion with big prop Fuifui Moimoi catching the ball from kick-off deep in his in-goal before stepping over the dead ball line.

It didn't matter.

From the opening exchanges it was clear to all that the Kiwis - the inferior team on paper but certainly not in the heart - were going to try to ambush the short-priced favourites.

Moimoi went into kamakize mode early. So, too, did replacement forward Jarred Waerea-Hargreaves, who had evidently overdosed on the angry pills.

On pure emotion alone, the Kiwis shocked the Australians a-la the World Cup final last November when a short ball hit Frank-Paul Nuuasala around the middle of the ruck and he crossed to give his side a 6-0 lead after winger Bryson Goodwin converted.

From there, the tactics from the New Zealanders seemed simple - annoy the bejesus out of the Australians even if it meant a score of penalties went against them on the ledger.

Time and time again, referee Steve Ganson blew his whistle. Australia refused to concede defeat, constantly taking the tap and refusing to take easy points in the shadow of the posts. Time and time again, they failed to capitalise.

As the half ground on, the Australians' frustration seemed to mount - and the ferocity of the Kiwi defence grew.

A piece of magic from vice-captain Cameron Smith righted the ship in the 28th minute, when he unfurled a sweet flick pass for Storm teammate Greg Inglis 60m out from the line.

Inglis smoked downfield and ignored support on the inside from halfback Johnathan Thurston to send winger Brett Morris over in the corner for a try on debut. Thurston's sideline conversion locked it up at 6-all.

Then hell broke loose.

Kangaroos replacement Paul Gallen was the instigator when a wild swinging arm missed the head of Kiwi hooker Issac Luke by a whisker. He then pushed the head of the little Rabbitohs' rake into the ground, sparking a melee and a flurry of punches that brought both teams together.

Not content to be out of the action, Kiwi lock Adam Blair raced 30m to be in the thick of things - a move that took the third-man in edict in the NRL to another dimension.

It was a moment that lasted a matter of minutes but will resonate throughout the rest of the tournament. Australia might have started as the favourites - but that isn't going to stop the other nations from ensuring they know they are in a fight.

 

[JRD]

Kangaroos replacement Paul Gallen was the instigator when a wild swinging arm missed the head of Kiwi hooker Issac Luke by a whisker. He then pushed the head of the little Rabbitohs' rake into the ground, sparking a melee and a flurry of punches that brought both teams together.

Not content to be out of the action, Kiwi lock Adam Blair raced 30m to be in the thick of things - a move that took the third-man in edict in the NRL to another dimension.

How hopeless was this ref?He calls Thiaday out after this fight didnt even see him do anything in this incident,then calls Gallen out and says dont run into the fight,he was in the bloody middle of it and doesnt say anything about Blair who clearly runs from the other side of the field to get involved.Many other times he missed forward passes or bad play the balls or called knock on when there wasnt one.This clown shouldnt ref in group 6 let alone a bloody test match.

 

[softlaw]

as has been said gallen was atrocious & hayne is definitely not a winger.
Kiwis were brutal in defence but kept shooting themselves in the foot through stupid errors. Even then they would have won if not for bad goalkicking.
Aus defence was suprisingly weak, esp. near their own line where they let in a few soft try's. Complete opposite of the kiwis.
Benj was fairly quite. Did make a couple of good tackles which was nice to see. Didn;t kick at all that I saw.
sheens' pathetic cheap attempt to unsettle him didn;t seem to work. We'll see how badly it affects the Tiges.

No word yet on how badly Lima hurt himself. Thurston also seemed to go down at the very end with a bad shoulder. Anyone know anything more about this?

Final note the fox coverage was terrible. They cut 7 or 8 minutes. Didn;t see from the 19th to the 24th minute which included Morris' bombed try. Also missed Fui's knoc on over the line later in the game. That & the english commentators are completely clueless.

 

[TIGER]

Am i the only one that thinks Kurt Gidley is massively over rated. He 's NSW captain for god sake i just can't see it. He is a good footballer yes, but is he a rep player? let alone capt or Australian player. Gallen Hoffman Hannant and White are also questionable imo.

 

[Marshall_magic]

Am i the only one that thinks Kurt Gidley is massively over rated. He 's NSW captain for god sake i just can't see it. He is a good footballer yes, but is he a rep player? let alone capt or Australian player. Gallen Hoffman Hannant and White are also questionable imo.

He has all the selectors conned into thinking he's a utility. He's an above average NRL fullback, a very ordinary 5/8, an even worse halfback, and an alright hooker. Fullback is the only position he should be picked in rep sides at, anywhere else he's just not good enough. I'd rather they pick the sides with Lewis at lock (to cover the backline if someone goes down) and Cronk on the bench as the utility (can cover hooker and halves).

 

[hybrid_tiger]

Am i the only one that thinks Kurt Gidley is massively over rated. He 's NSW captain for god sake i just can't see it. He is a good footballer yes, but is he a rep player? let alone capt or Australian player. Gallen Hoffman Hannant and White are also questionable imo.

He is an average at player at best and IS NOT A UTILITY.

Has no business in any rep sides.

 

[Tigerdave]

Hayne is definitely wasted on the wing, barely saw anything of him as for the Kiwis, gee they defended well, but I got pretty sick of the penalties and dropped ball by the end.

Very good game overall though…. the crowd was pretty loud, albeit small I guess and that was a crowd record of 12,600???

 

[NZTiger]

Kiwis certainly deserved the win and have proven I believe that the World Cup win (and Tri Nations Final win) was certainly no fluke.
The Aussies will only get better but hopefully the Kiwis will grow too.
As long as it's a Kiwis v Kangaroos final, I'll be happy.
Stuff them Poms, who say they are clear 2nd favs to win theis comp AND are out for redemption from their early exit in the World Cup. Utter rubbish!
The English just need to accept the fact that Southern Hemisphere RL is far more superior.

 

[AmericanHistoryX]

does that include gareth ellis?

 

[Marshall_magic]

I'm nervous now. The kiwis forwards ate us alive, the Pommy forwards are even better. We could miss the finals if the Poms knock us over.

 

[Paris_Cobbs]

Australia were lucky to get a draw. Isaac Luke's missed conversion attempt cost NZ big time.

NZ defence was sensational. All 3 of Australia's tries came from broken play. The video ref should have checked whether Watmough knocked on before Smith put Inglis away for Morris' try.

Hayne should replace Slater vs the Poms. Whoever said Paul Gallen was a rep footballer? (It was Ricky Stuart actually). Agree that Kurt Gidley is overrated. Lockyer is only there on sentiment. Watmough, Hoffman and White had nothing. Cameron Blair and Frankie Pritchard were all over them.

Australia needs Robbie's creativity, but Smith was Australia's best player. So, what to do?

 

[Marshall_magic]

Australia were lucky to get a draw. Isaac Luke's missed conversion attempt cost NZ big time.

NZ defence was sensational. All 3 of Australia's tries came from broken play. The video ref should have checked whether Watmough knocked on before Smith put Inglis away for Morris' try.

Hayne should replace Slater vs the Poms. Whoever said Paul Gallen was a rep footballer? (It was Ricky Stuart actually). Agree that Kurt Gidley is overrated. Lockyer is only there on sentiment. Watmough, Hoffman and White had nothing. Cameron Blair and Frankie Pritchard were all over them.

Australia needs Robbie's creativity, but Smith was Australia's best player. So, what to do?

I thought Watmough went very well. Him and Pet were our only forwards who played well, along with Cam Smith. In the backs, GI showed why he is a freak, Thurston showed why he is the best, he is always coming up with the plays that no one expects, that one on one strip try was a key moment in the game. Slater was very ordinary, Hayne was quiet, but didn't miss the tackles Slater did. Morris was very good on debut I though.

Team for the next game

1\. Hayne
2\. Morris
3\. Inglis
4\. Hodges
5\. Morris
6\. Lockyer
7\. Thurston
8\. Petero
9\. Smith
10\. Hannant (Give him another crack, he was solid)
11\. Watmough
12\. Hindmarsh
13\. Lewis

14\. Cronk
15\. Thaiday
16\. Shillington (give him a shot)
17\. White (for lack of better options)

Gee, the squad really lacks forward depth, loaded up way to heavily with backs. Also, there is no where near enough props, only 4 of them. If Pet goes down, we're officially stuffed.

 

[Aladinsane]

The Kangaroos are still in Holiday mode, but you can't take away anything from The Family….the Kiwi were all hearts & Guts the way they played and defended in the first half and came back in the second....Adam Blair was outstanding.

Sheens has a lot of work on his hands to get Australia to play as a unit ,or the Kiwi Brotherhood might be enough to win this thing....