'12 | 1st SF | Fri | Sea Eagles 22-12 Cowboys | Allianz

[Garts]

I dont think Thurston should be blaming the refs at all. They lost due to Thurston being selfish and eating the kebab. Wont play any good after one of those.

Onto Manly, how good was Jorge Taufua, he has been a beast the last 2 weeks. I remember many bagging him on here as being useless. Smart bagging a young player trying to find his feet in first grade.

 

[Chardy27778]

That was disgrace the reffs last night. Thurston did so well not to unleash after the game on ch9. But Manly you going need that help next week. If there is one team Manly don't want to play before gf it's Melbourne in Melbourne. They hate each other. I think storm will win by 10-20

 

[kia ora storm]

Bring it on !...Manly can bring the niggle and the refs with them but Storm will show composure.

 

[Lambretta]

had this been a tigers dragons game...id guarantee close to a sellout. those games in the previously two years have had an amazing atmosphere.

but then again i cant blame that the cowboys supporters wouldnt be able to make it.

So what you're saying is the combined support power of two well supported Sydney clubs is greater than one lesser supported club?

That's a bold statement to make.

There were about 100 Cowboys fans there last night - Manly had to carry the remainder. Almost 17,000 of them crossed the bridge to the East.

In 2010 there was a final between the Roosters AND Penrith = two Sydney teams and their combined supporters were about the same as the Manly game last night. OK - so there might have been a bit more as Penrith brought about 1,000 supporters rather than 100 supporters.

The VAST majority of Manly fans DID attend the game last night. If they'd been playing the Tigers or the Dragons or the Roosters or Souths or the Bulldogs the ground would have been at bursting point. It's hardly Manly's fault that they had to play a team that brought no support.

If that game had been played at Brookvale there probably would have been another 3,000 in the ground and a further 2,000 to 3,000 locked out. That hardly justifies all the criticism of Manly.

 

[Lambretta]

Regarding the refereeing - the on field stuff I don't have a problem with. Their eyes can't be everywhere and the Cowboys scored a try off the back of a strip on Manly. Yes it was unfair on Manly, but sometimes you try your luck and get away with things.

The TV cameras can cover a lot more angles than a pair of eyes and if the player knows his body is obscuring things they're going to try their luck.

The refs get more right that wrong and I can live with these things being missed.

Now for the video referees. The first "dodgy" try was one of those calls that could have gone either way. The scorer initially grounded the ball short, but momentum carried him into the end goal. A defender dislodged the ball from his grasp, but it never touched the ground and he regained control and put it down in the end goal. However at the same time he grounded it his feet probably went into touch.

The decision was really hard and there wasn't conclusive evidence one way or the other - however logic dictated to me that there was a higher probability of it being a no try than a try. Probably 65% not try vs 35% try. But the rules state that if you haven't got a f**king clue then give advantage to the attacking team.

I reckon the rules have f**ked the right decision there - but that's not the fault of the video referees.


As for the second try - if Foran says he didn't touch it - then he's a lying prick. That was a beach volleyball spike he did there and would have got him an Olympic medal in that sport. The fact was that three video angles clearly showed him to hit the ball with force. A knock on wasn't even in dispute. It was a knock on by Manly 10,000,000 times out of 10,000,000. The fact that the referees had any "doubt" over who touched it was a f**king disgrace to the sport and Clarke and the other f**k face should be stood down permanently. End of conversation.

The Cowboys were very unlucky and if I were a Manly fan I'd be feeling a little bit dirty on the inside and rather bloody guilty after cheering that victory last night.

 

[firechild]

Bring it on !...Manly can bring the niggle and the refs with them but Storm will show composure.

I hope they show as much composure as they did on 5th October 2008.

 

[Armageddon.]

It's unbelievable how shit refs can be