http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=144157
The King's Wrap
Wednesday September 13, 2006
By Wally Lewis
National Nine News
Sports presenter
Friday night
7.30pm, Knights (4th) vs Sea Eagles (5th), at Energy Australia Stadium, Newcastle.
Have you ever seen a team crash like Manly did last Friday night in Newcastle? Right from the kick-off it appeared as though favouritism was to be of little value in this finals series, with Knights key man Andrew Johns struggling to regain form after his return from suspension. The home side were further battered by a serious knee injury to fullback David Seage in the sixth minute and Test forward Steve Simpson forced from the field minutes later with a shoulder problem.
Try scoring machine Brett Stewart opened for the Sea Eagles after cleverly angling his charge onto a Matt Orford ball, before winger Michael Robertson snatched a Danny Buderus pass to race 80 metres and stretch the margin to 12, which remained the gap until halftime. As I predicted in my ninemsn preview last week, the Knights' biggest bonus was referee Sean Hampstead, and for Newcastle to win, all they had to do is ensure conditions "got a little hot under the collar". Hampstead is regarded by many current and former players as the whistleblower least able to keep control of a game in tight situations.
Trailing by 12, there was a little bit of aggression following the return to the field and after handing the Knights two or three back to back penalties, the keystone cop then sent two players to the sin-bin for an offence that wouldn't have raised an eyebrow in a junior rugby league game. With the front line of Manly's defence now containing just nine men (one missing in the sin-bin, one at fullback, and two based at marker) Johns confidently attacked and soon crossed to get the Knights back into the game. But a freakish piece of athleticism from Manly winger Michael Robertson helped Steve Matai hush the crowd, before Matt Orford's clanger from touch once again sent the Sea Eagles soaring at 18-6. Strangely Manly's ball control crumbled almost immediately upon the restart, with the 60-minute mark seeing the beginning of the Knights' charge. While Johns had no trouble targeting Manly's right side defence to assist their next two tries, referee Hampstead inexplicably missed Danny Buderus dislodging the ball from Ben Kennedy's grip in the final minutes, before five-eighth Jarrod Mullen slotted a one pointer to put Newcastle in front.
In a decision that defied belief and perhaps had a bearing on the final outcome of the match, Newcastle's Danny Buderus remained on the field despite committing a dangerous spear tackle. Referee Hampstead can be clearly heard on the match audio to video boss Bill Harrigan relaying a message of "I think it's a send-off Billy". Whether it was Harrigan or pressure that forced Mr Bean to change his mind is unknown.
Perhaps the touch judge had told his Mum to watch for him "on telly" that night because he made more than a couple of visits to the centre. The constant treks must have made him weary and hampered the touchie's recollection of facts. His report to Hampstead was for Kennedy objecting to the dangerous spear tackle. Said the touchy, "We've got this incident here, but then this player (Kennedy) has got involved in that, and he has run in and "
At this stage Kennedy angrily objected by saying, "run in, I was right beside it!" Hampstead intervened with "Hey, hey, hey," before the touchie continued saying, "No, he has run in and escalated it (the brawl)."
To make the touch judge look even more foolish, replays showed Kennedy was standing just half a metre away at the time of the incident, and he grabbed Buderus in protest immediately following the spear tackle. At no stage did Kennedy throw a punch.
After sending Kennedy to the sin-bin for 10 minutes, Hampstead's credibility as a referee suffered even greater damage when he meekly turned around to Buderus and said, "Right Danny, you've upended him, you're on report". The man who started the whole thing walked away almost scot-free despite a shocking spear tackle, while Manly's chances of securing a late win were severely reduced with their skipper gone for the night. And they wonder why there is so little respect for the league officials in today's game.
Manly halfback Matt Orford had a chance to secure a late win in the 78th minute, but an angled penalty goal attempt from almost 40 metres out drifted wide. Poor ball control also reduced the Sea Eagles chances making it even tougher to win, before a couple of bewildering decisions from the men in the middle didn't improve their chances. Knights 25 d Sea Eagles 18.
The King's Wrap
Wednesday September 13, 2006
By Wally Lewis
National Nine News
Sports presenter
Friday night
7.30pm, Knights (4th) vs Sea Eagles (5th), at Energy Australia Stadium, Newcastle.
Have you ever seen a team crash like Manly did last Friday night in Newcastle? Right from the kick-off it appeared as though favouritism was to be of little value in this finals series, with Knights key man Andrew Johns struggling to regain form after his return from suspension. The home side were further battered by a serious knee injury to fullback David Seage in the sixth minute and Test forward Steve Simpson forced from the field minutes later with a shoulder problem.
Try scoring machine Brett Stewart opened for the Sea Eagles after cleverly angling his charge onto a Matt Orford ball, before winger Michael Robertson snatched a Danny Buderus pass to race 80 metres and stretch the margin to 12, which remained the gap until halftime. As I predicted in my ninemsn preview last week, the Knights' biggest bonus was referee Sean Hampstead, and for Newcastle to win, all they had to do is ensure conditions "got a little hot under the collar". Hampstead is regarded by many current and former players as the whistleblower least able to keep control of a game in tight situations.
Trailing by 12, there was a little bit of aggression following the return to the field and after handing the Knights two or three back to back penalties, the keystone cop then sent two players to the sin-bin for an offence that wouldn't have raised an eyebrow in a junior rugby league game. With the front line of Manly's defence now containing just nine men (one missing in the sin-bin, one at fullback, and two based at marker) Johns confidently attacked and soon crossed to get the Knights back into the game. But a freakish piece of athleticism from Manly winger Michael Robertson helped Steve Matai hush the crowd, before Matt Orford's clanger from touch once again sent the Sea Eagles soaring at 18-6. Strangely Manly's ball control crumbled almost immediately upon the restart, with the 60-minute mark seeing the beginning of the Knights' charge. While Johns had no trouble targeting Manly's right side defence to assist their next two tries, referee Hampstead inexplicably missed Danny Buderus dislodging the ball from Ben Kennedy's grip in the final minutes, before five-eighth Jarrod Mullen slotted a one pointer to put Newcastle in front.
In a decision that defied belief and perhaps had a bearing on the final outcome of the match, Newcastle's Danny Buderus remained on the field despite committing a dangerous spear tackle. Referee Hampstead can be clearly heard on the match audio to video boss Bill Harrigan relaying a message of "I think it's a send-off Billy". Whether it was Harrigan or pressure that forced Mr Bean to change his mind is unknown.
Perhaps the touch judge had told his Mum to watch for him "on telly" that night because he made more than a couple of visits to the centre. The constant treks must have made him weary and hampered the touchie's recollection of facts. His report to Hampstead was for Kennedy objecting to the dangerous spear tackle. Said the touchy, "We've got this incident here, but then this player (Kennedy) has got involved in that, and he has run in and "
At this stage Kennedy angrily objected by saying, "run in, I was right beside it!" Hampstead intervened with "Hey, hey, hey," before the touchie continued saying, "No, he has run in and escalated it (the brawl)."
To make the touch judge look even more foolish, replays showed Kennedy was standing just half a metre away at the time of the incident, and he grabbed Buderus in protest immediately following the spear tackle. At no stage did Kennedy throw a punch.
After sending Kennedy to the sin-bin for 10 minutes, Hampstead's credibility as a referee suffered even greater damage when he meekly turned around to Buderus and said, "Right Danny, you've upended him, you're on report". The man who started the whole thing walked away almost scot-free despite a shocking spear tackle, while Manly's chances of securing a late win were severely reduced with their skipper gone for the night. And they wonder why there is so little respect for the league officials in today's game.
Manly halfback Matt Orford had a chance to secure a late win in the 78th minute, but an angled penalty goal attempt from almost 40 metres out drifted wide. Poor ball control also reduced the Sea Eagles chances making it even tougher to win, before a couple of bewildering decisions from the men in the middle didn't improve their chances. Knights 25 d Sea Eagles 18.
