Blade said:
Dragons hooker Mark Riddell piloted the ball between the posts from over 40 metres out following a dubious offside penalty from referee Tim Mander.
I' didn't see the game. How much of the above statement from
Sportal is correct?
Even Brisbane's Sunday Mail (well known for bias to anything Broncos), had no problem with the rulings. To be honest I expected there to be a series of excuses... but even though the paper gave very little credit to the efforts of Saints, it does looks like the Brissie press are being relatively gracious in defeat... for a change.
All they could talk about was how the Broncos have hit
'an all time low.'
In his column today, Trevor Gilmeister said it like it was and imo, has the right attitude in regards to this match. Regardless of what else is said, the words of this former Bronco are far superior to any ref blaming. Indeed, he is on a dfferent planet when compared to how the Gummy Sharks handle losing a game.
Gilmeister opened his column by describing it as:
'the worst defeat in the club's history.'
He gave credit to St George and re-quoted Nathan Brown when he described Saints as
"a reserve grade team with a couple of big names thrown in."
Gilmeister said:
"When you have 12 players with State of Origin or Test experience and you lose to a reserve grade team with two Origin players thrown in, something is very wrong.
"Remember how everyone carried on when the 'Baby Broncos' beat the Wests Tigers last year?
"Great effort, sure, but that team still had some guys like Scott Prince, Brad Meyers, and Stuart Kelly in there to pad out the numbers... everyone was elated when the Broncos got up that night but the Dragons' win was a much better victory than what the Baby Broncos did at Campbelltown.
"When you look at the magnitude of the game and compare the level of experience between the 2002 Tigers and the 2003 Broncos, those young Dragons should walk away from this season with their heads held high.
"It is no comparison. The Dragons' win far outweighs the Baby Broncos' win."
