Round 5 vs Souths

[getsmarty]

NRL 2018: Dragons beat Rabbitohs in Kogarah thriller to remain undefeated
NRL Premiership

• April 6, 2018 11:34pm
• John Dean@johndean_
• Source: FOX SPORTS

Euan Aitken celebrates a try against the Rabbitohs. Picture: Brett CostelloSource: News Corp Australia
ST GEORGE Illawarra have kept their unbeaten start to the season intact after overcoming a gallant South Sydney outfit 16-12 at Jubilee Oval on Friday night.

The Dragons were in control for much of the game, and at 16-6 with eight minutes remaining, looked to be home and hosed.

But two costly errors from interchange forward Luciano Leilua threatened to stop the Red V making it five straight wins.

Gypsy's desperate defence

0:39
Leilua was injected into the game during the 61st minute and produced an unnecessary offload in his own half which ended up leading to a late Rabbitohs’ fightback.

First Cody Walker sliced through to narrow the margin in the 72nd minute, before a rogue arm from Leilua in the following set gave the visitors six more tackles and they took full advantage with Greg Inglis setting up the grandstand finish.

Leilua’s spot on the bench is one of the only contentious positions in the Dragons’ top 17, with the side having remained virtually unchanged since the start of the season.

The likes of Hame Sele and Jacob Host continue to wait in the wings and could be given a chance if Paul McGregor decides to make minor changes.

Euan Aitken scores a try. Picture: Brett CostelloSource: News Corp Australia
But in the end, the Dragons were able to weather the late onslaught to give milestone man Jason Nightingale a win in his 250th NRL game in front of 16,709 fans.

The home side had all the ball in the opening 40 minutes, and after three denied tries to winger Nene Macdonald, were only able to go into the break leading 8-2.

They were first on the scoreboard via a penalty goal in the third minute and had a whopping 70 per cent of possession over the next 20 minutes with the Rabbitohs’ defence doing extremely well to hang on.

But the Bunnies cracked when Euan Aitken showed up Inglis to score.

Another penalty goal put the Dragons up 8-0 in the 24th minute.

Bunker's big obstruction call

0:34
It was going all the Dragons’ way and they looked to have extended their lead seven minutes before halftime only to have Macdonald denied due to obstruction.

On-field referee Gavin Badger sent the play up as try, but Tariq Sims — who was one of the Dragons’ best in defence — was ruled to have made contact with Adam Reynolds.

The Rabbitohs’ execution continued to hurt them and when a John Sutton pass went to ground, Ben Hunt scooped up the ball and passed Matt Dufty who raced away to score.

A Gareth Widdop penalty goal in the 53rd minute was the last scoring play from the Dragons, because the Rabbitohs came home with a wet sail only to fall agonisingly short.

ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA 16 (E Aitken M Dufty tries G Widdop 4 goals) bt SOUTH SYDNEY 12 (G Inglis C Walker tries A Doueihi A Reynolds goals) at UOW Jubilee Oval. Referee: Gavin Badger, Peter Gough. Crowd: 16,709.


https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nr...g/news-story/1446c64d0e93316ba1ce3ba900c01f9a

 

[Crush]

We should have kept Cook, it was foolish to let him go. He would've been great in a hooker rotation and now proves he can do 80min. I hope Robson can be as effective. McInnes is doing a great job but has not shown any spark in attack for a while. Instead of persisting with Rein and buying Havilli, we would have been better off keeping Cook.

What a mess

 

[Crush]

Great to get the win, but we did not play as well as we have in earlier rounds.
I really believe we were dudded at least 1 try and Souths were given a number of repeat sets on our line from dubious calls.
More importantly we stood up to the momentum swing by Souths, helped along by the tsunami of the refs whistle...
I’m sure in previous years we would have lost that game..

I actually think we just came up against a stronger opposition than the other 4 games. Souths played really tough footy which is a credit to them and an even bigger credit to us for getting the 2 points.

 

[getsmarty]

I actually think we just came up against a stronger opposition than the other 4 games. Souths played really tough footy which is a credit to them and an even bigger credit to us for getting the 2 points.

And the Referee's boss just came out and stated that the Macdonald try should have been a try...Souths got the 50/50 calls.

 

[Life's Good]

Not you the forum

What would the forum know!

 

[Dennis Papaioannou]

It was good to get a win against a tough talented team without Hunt or Widdop being in the top 3 players on the night, we have that up our sleeves.

Definitely a good win considering McDonald's obstruction no try which was a ridiculous decision.
My concern was the second half fade and the inability to put Souths away.
The turnaround in possession was unbelievable and we could have easily lost that game at the death like last year. We were fortunate the way things panned out.
I am also surprised that Hunt did not run the ball at all.
Did a solid job organizing but hardly ran himself which made as a little predictable.
Our kicking game was a bit ordinary.
I thought Sims was outstanding in another good performance by our pack of forwards but we did not dominate the Souths pack like we have others.
Inadvertently, we have strengthened the back row with Thompson's departure with Sims more than compensating and adding a bit of mongrel at the same time.
Souths never stopped competing all night.
On that performance they are capable of making the finals for sure.

 

[Dennis Papaioannou]

I wish the refs wold stand firm on this but it depends what Greenberg is saying to the refs boss, I think the stamp down on it has gone

Struck up a discussion about Cecchin's display last week on this forum where the 33 penalties he blew were all about policing the rules.
The reason it was justified was because serial offenders Cronulla and Melbourne were playing.
Well the edict from the NRL has been touted and implemented and the refs are blowing more penalties as they scrutinize the rules more closely.
Only one problem which is the single biggest blight on the game every single season for as long as I remember.
THERE IS NO CONSISTENCY!!
That applies from game to game and ref to ref.
That should be the focus of the NRL.
Fans just want to have decisions which make sense and are more or less reliable.
McDonalds no try last night was yet another example of what I'm talking about.

 

[getsmarty]

WATCH: Bunker denies Dragons' Nene Macdonald a try for obstruction
LEAGUE
April 7, 2018 12:51am EDT April 6, 2018 7:22am EDT Commentators and fans have been left seething after Dragons winger Nene Macdonald was denied a try with the bunker ruling obstruction in controversial circumstances.

Daniel Ramus


Published on Apr. 6, 2018 | Updated on Apr. 7, 2018

Commentators and fans have been left seething after Dragons winger Nene Macdonald was denied a try with the bunker ruling obstruction in controversial circumstances.


Macdonald appeared to have scored with his third attempt at the 32nd minute of St George Illawarra's clash with South Sydney at Jubilee Oval, after he was earlier denied tries in succession after being held up and then having the ball stripped from his grasp when he was close to the line.

But after repeated looks at the vision, the bunker ruled that Adam Reynolds was denied an opportunity to tackle Macdonald after Tariq Sims made contact with him in the lead-up.


"There's no problem at all there with Sims," Ennis said.

"Boy oh boy."

Fellow commentator Brett Kimmorley agreed with Ennis.

"It is a try, every day, that I have just seen," Kimmorley added.

"Tariq Sims is allowed to run a decoy, and he stops one step ahead of where Gareth Widdop gets to.

"It's a try, silly decision, Nene disappointed."

Fans shared the frustrations of commentators, taking to Twitter to air their grievances over the decision.

Why do I even bother watching @NRL every game is a joke #NRL #NRLDragonsSouths

— ÐξЯ†УÐØĠ (@Dertydog_Games) April 6, 2018
Don't agree with the obstruction ruling but the pass was forward anyway. #NRLDragonsSouths

— JWH ran 41 metres against Cowboys (@TheEroticGamer) April 6, 2018
Still seething. That obstruction call was dumb, try for Nene for sure. #redv #NRLDragonsSouths

— Steph ツ (@stephpetz) April 6, 2018
Reynolds was not obstructed at all. Made poor defensive read but still had a chance to tackle MacDonald. Where was the obstruction Badge?? #NRLDragonsSouths

— Adam Bagnall (@adambagnall86) April 6, 2018
Euan Aitken scored the only try of the first half for the Dragons, beating Greg Inglis one-on-one to get over in the 19th minute.

Dragons captain Gareth Widdop added penalty goals in the first and 23rd minutes of the match, while Adam Reynolds secured first points for the Rabbitohs with a penalty kick right on half-time, as the home side took an 8-2 lead to the break.

St George Illawarra extended their advantage in the second half, with Matthew Dufty going in for a try at the 43rd minute that was converted by Widdop.

A third penalty goal to Widdop at the 52nd minute saw the Dragons shoot out to a comfortable 16-2 lead.

But the Rabbitohs fought back, with Cody Walker scoring at the 71st minute and Inglis at the 73rd minute to reduce the margin to just four points and set up a thrilling finish.

However, the Dragons held on to win 16-12, remaining undefeated from their opening five games of the season to stay on top of the ladder.

http://www.nospam47.com/au/league/n...-kimmorley-nrl-2018/rfocur4wqhjy1j4569781uyeb

 

[ouryears]

West tigers beating storm twice in 4 weeks......unbelievable.

Slater was sarcastic as hell when radio spoke with him, trying to play it down, the sod

To think we could have gotten Cleary

 

[saintzrule]

West tigers beating storm twice in 4 weeks......unbelievable.

Slater was sarcastic as hell when radio spoke with him, trying to play it down, the sod

To think we could have gotten Cleary

Melbourne need to learn some new party tricks, the old ones don't work!

 

[blacksafake]

And the Referee's boss just came out and stated that the Macdonald try should have been a try...Souths got the 50/50 calls.

Well there’s a shock re bunker getting it wrong. Seriously they have no idea

 

[Frank Facer]

Definitely a good win considering McDonald's obstruction no try which was a ridiculous decision.
My concern was the second half fade and the inability to put Souths away.
The turnaround in possession was unbelievable and we could have easily lost that game at the death like last year. We were fortunate the way things panned out.
I am also surprised that Hunt did not run the ball at all.
Did a solid job organizing but hardly ran himself which made as a little predictable.
Our kicking game was a bit ordinary.
I thought Sims was outstanding in another good performance by our pack of forwards but we did not dominate the Souths pack like we have others.
Inadvertently, we have strengthened the back row with Thompson's departure with Sims more than compensating and adding a bit of mongrel at the same time.
Souths never stopped competing all night.
On that performance they are capable of making the finals for sure.

I agree that Simms is playing better than Thompson was.

 

[to_ddeath]

And the Referee's boss just came out and stated that the Macdonald try should have been a try...Souths got the 50/50 calls.

TBH am getting a little bit sick of these announcements post-match, has a Groundhog day ring to it. Just get it right on the night FFS.

#puntpatten

 

[Saint_JimmyG]

Was Luke Pattern the video referee?

 

[Datramp]

And the Referee's boss just came out and stated that the Macdonald try should have been a try...Souths got the 50/50 calls.

Luckily Sims showed Reynolds what true contact is later in the game.

 

[This Year?]

Did you really call Badger a merkin or did the site edit your post? lol

The site edited the c word to merkin.

 

[Dorothy the Winowhore]

Was Luke Pattern the video referee?

Steve Chiddy.. ...or something like that

 

[dragonssamy61]

Was Luke Pattern the video referee?

Steve chiddy but Even worse pattern is the head video ref nowdays.
He has the final say on all games.

 

[ouryears]

You know we must have played ok when the rabbitoh forum are celebrating their teams showing against us even though they lost.

I am not begrudging them, they put on a decent showing, but we did too and we got yhe points.

Add six to the score too.

22-12

 

[ALSGI]

You know we must have played ok when the rabbitoh forum are celebrating their teams showing against us even though they lost.

I am not begrudging them, they put on a decent showing, but we did too and we got yhe points.

Add six to the score too.

22-12

Round 10 with SamB on their roster will be an even better win for us, hopefully with Host in place of LL and Lomax playing on the wing for someone that I wont mention.