20-all

[Willow]

Souths have retained the Charity Shield in a 20-all thriller.
Saints led 12-4 at half time.

 

[imported_SaintDoc]

Well this is no detailed match report or anything, but I will include some of my thoughts.
I thought the forwards played well, especially in the first half. I was impressed in particular by Kite and Donnelly in the second row, and Ryles and Bailey up front. Riddell did some good things, however fell off some important tackles. I didn't particularly notice Smith that much - which i guess means he didnt do too much wrong!
For the backs, Trent was outstanding. Willie and he had a good night on the boot with some pin-point accurate kicks. Hookey got involved and Reece Simmonds was impressive when on.
I think Farrar's decision to rest Trent at the end of the game was a good one and showed some vision (i.e. looking at the big picture).
Discipline could be a problem, with the penalties something like 7-1 against us at one stage. Although I guess we were reffed by "home team" Simpkins, so time will tell. There were definately a few stupid penalties given away.
Ball handling wasn't the best, but that will come. I was glad to see we were looking to create things - and whilst it didn't always pay off, it was encouraging.
Defence was fairly solid, considering the fatigue factor of being the first match of the season. There was some good scrambling at times, and we nearly held them scoreless for 40 minutes. Nearly.
All in all I'm fairly happy. I rate that performance about a 6.5/10
Congratulations to the first division boys getting up in their game 16-8.
I'll post some more thoughts later after I lie awake in bed giving the game a good think about!

 

[Willow]

The penalties were 8-1 and had it not been a trial I think Simpkins would be copping a fair serve. He seemed to stop refereeing altogether in the last 10 minutes but thats ok. Souths fought back and good luck to them.

The worrying factor is that Saints had control of the match by half time and let it slip away in the second half. There was a particularly soft try scored as Souths winger, Brent Grose pushed the forwards aside to get over the line.

Rugby League News: <dl>Souths retain Shield in 20-all thriller
Saturday, 16 February, 2002 http://www.sportsunlimited-online.com South Sydney have made a dramatic return to Rugby League in a 20-all thriller against St George tonight. A packed house of 37,000 people were on hand to welcome the Rabbitohs back into the big league with a standing ovation. It was Souths' first game back since 1999. In the 78th minute, South Sydney winger, Scott McLean scored out wide to level the scores and had the opportunity to win the match but was unsuccessful with his conversion attempt. Initially, both sides went through the motions with the Dragons slowly gaining control of the ruck. They posted first points in the 32nd minute thanks to a Jason Ryles grubber kick which was pounced on by new signing, Brent Kite. Saints went further ahead when Lee Hookey made history by being the only player to score for both Souths and St George in the Charity Shield event. Souths struck back 60 seconds from half time when Andrew King touched down out wide. At half time it was 12-4 in favour of the Dragons who had the better part of the field position and probably should have been further ahead. The second half opened with the traditional dust-up as South Sydney forward, Andrew Hart reacted to some special treatment from his ex-team mates. Souths got the penalty and McLean added the two points to put his team just a converted try behind. Despite the high profile of the event, this was a trial match and it was often marred with poor handling from both sides. The loose play, however, was offset by some enterprising football from both sides wide of the ruck. A try in the 51st minute to second rower, Lance Thompson who was standing on the right flank was indicative of the free flowing nature of the game. Souths hit back four minutes later with winger, Brent Grose pushing past some soft defence to score next to the uprights. Soon after, Nathan Blacklock ran onto a Trent Barrett cross-field kick and raced over to score. That made it 20-12 with 20 minutes to go. But Souths were far from finished and fought back to score after Grose took advantage of an overlap to send fullback, Wade McKinnon over to score. With 15 minutes to go, Saints were hanging onto a four point lead. The Rabbitohs, with a mountain of possession attacked in waves and McLean eventually scored out wide with only two minutes to go. The unconverted try forced a draw and Souths retained the Charity Shield, having won the last such encounter in 1999. South Sydney Rabbitohs 20 (Andrew King, Brent Grose, Wade KcKinnon, Scott McLean tries. Scott McLean 2/5 goals)
St George Illawarra Dragons 20 (Brent Kite, Lee Hookey, Lance Thompson, Nathan Blacklock tries. Riddell 2/3, Gorrell 0/1 goals)
Referee: Paul Simpkins
Penalties: Souths 8-1
Crowd: 37,000 Pics soon Join a discussion
Legends World of Sport: Rugby League section, Dragons section
Front Row Forums: </dl>

 

[imported_Roopy4246]

The best news out of this game is that Souths have a good looking side. I especially liked the way their forwards went, and Craigie looks very good as their major playmaker.
Souths won't be easybeats, and that's a bloody good thing.

 

[Tutt Army]

I thought it was a bit of a dull scrappy game until about the last ten, you could tell it was a trial and the first hit-out for many of the boys.

Was it just me or did the Saints not really care if they won or lost?? There seemed to be so many changes in the team line up throughout the night. I dont think we had the same line up for more than two sets in the second half??

 

[imported_Saint_Benny1]

Heres my thoughts
Was impressed with Peters and Hookey from the old boys
And Kite and Donnelly from the new guys
No one in First Division apart from Stapleton looked up to first grade footy!

 

[Dog]

Well, I think whoever stood in front of all the cameras at the SF... oops, I mean Aussie Stadium must have been wearing very black shirts AND had the ability to stop my computer turning on as well as the lights. That's right, the Central Coast copped the brunt of the storm (you're lucky it stopped at Wyong roopy), and the power went out in my zone at - you guessed it, 8:15pm. So (seeing as it was the only station I could get) I had to resort listening to Hadley and his kooks call the game. Good work Souths. Next time, Mother Nature is going to be involved in a domestic if she ain't careful.

Also congrats to Melbourne and Parramatta on their trial wins last night.

Dog

 

[El Duque]

Neither side looked that impressive but it was only a trial.

Saints should've flogged them but they dropped too much ball.

 

[pepe]

saints looked very impressive in parts,they looked a class above the battling rabbitohs when they kept possesion of the ball,as for the bunnies they'll be lucky to win more than 6 games for the year just like the good old days.

pepe

 

[imported_ss20]

Thems fighting words Pepe. We shall see as the year goes on.

 

[Cronulla_Mania]

Geez, i dunno if being at the ground makes it any different, but i was more impressed with the Souths back than their forwards. McKinnon did some good things, the wingers were very solid and Stanley did more then impress me. Craigie was a bit of a worry.As for the forwards (where i thought there strength would lie), Stringer looked tardy and out of shape. Grief was solid, Muir and Death did their usual thing and i hardly noticed Fitzgerald or Hart. In the 2nds, Souths had a really good Fijian looking player. I didnt catch his name, as for some unexplainable reason big league didnt list all the grades. The game was sloppy overall, but still a bloody good feeling to be at. Everyone there left happy, and from what i saw, only 1-2 people were kicked out.

It was just good to see. And to have 37,000 at the game was a tremendous effort. It absolutely pelted down for a fair portion of 2nd division, and a fair bit of the crowd rolled in late. Also was surprised at the number of saints fans there, it was good to see though. And to give a standing ovation to the 1965 gf players was a great touch. The old guys really seemed to enjoy being appreciated again.

Fatty got the boo for the night when he miskicked the footy as part of a promotion. It was hilarious. Also said g'day to Gus before the game, little did we know he was going to be a touchy! Even to see a little bit of biffo was a good thing, especially for the charity shield...

Overall, it was a bloody good night, and cant wait to get tickets to the first round at the SCG

Moffo.

 

[Edwahu]

Mckinnon was my man of the match. He looks to be all class.
It wouldnt surprise me to see him a bit closer to the action when Owen Craigie drops off towards the end of the year as he is bound to do. Craigie was useless untill everyone else slowed down to his pace.

Been a Raiders fan I was happy to see Brent Kite go well but I reckon he couldve been turned into a decent center for us based on last nights effort.

 

[imported_Gorilla]

It brought a tear to my eye to see the old saints going around.
Souths played their grand final for this and the next three years. They were ordinary and only got on top of StGIll when the 2nd grade players were on.
Kicking game was really poor and Leikvoll was a stand out.........................
Goz