Tim Mander you cheat!

[Fairleigh Good!]

To quote Andy Farrell, "I have never seen anything like this, all the calls have gone their way!"

Mander didn't give GB a chance, he was as biased as it is possible to be. Is he seriously suggesting that the Roos were NOT OFFSIDE ONCE? They did not concede any penalties what so ever in the second half.

This is surely the last game of international league he can be allowed near. The decisions he made destroyed the match and the series. The arrogant b@stard goes to the screen when the Roos player quite clearly grounds it a yard over the line, yet for the 'try' to Fitzgibbon he decides he's seen enough, when there was far more doubt about it than the ones he did go to the screen for.

He set out from the start to penalise GB for everything he could possibly get away with, he succeeded. There were some awful decisions, ones that seriously make you wonder whether he was being impartial. One thing that really wound me up was the marker defence from Australia, which who were often stood hip to hip, and the blatant offsides. I would love to see the stats about the average distance he took them back. The holding down was also attrocious from Webcke in particular yet he isn't allowed to be penalised under NRL rules is he?

The killer one though was the decision to give the scrum to Australia before Kimmorley's drop goal. The chasers were ALL OFFSIDE yet he searches as hard as possible to find a reason to give the call Australia's way. Even after ignoring the blatant offsides the first touch came from the Australian hand onto Horne's.

Why can we not have impartial referees for Test matches? There is a French ref knocking about that did several games in the World Cup who is excellent. Why do we have to watch idiots like Mander strive for insanity. How the GB players kept their cool I'll never know.

 

[Jimbo]

No argument from me. If Mander is now the #1 ref in the NRL, it shows how much trouble our game is in.

I guess we can only hope that Bill Harrigan becomes ref's coach sometime soon.

 

[Anonymous]

Extremely well said. Whilst Great Britain and Ireland could and should have won the test anyway, this is no excuse for Mander's total mediocrity. Having said that GB were very lucky in regards to Radlinksi's try which baffled me.

GB&I are getting there, both games I thought they were the better team. They just need to learn to take the chaces they create, ala the australians.

 

[AuckMel]

Well that didn't take long.

As for the refs, blame yourselves. If Australia and Great Britain didn't want to have everything their own way, then other refs might actually get a chance to develop.

 

[Anonymous]

Well that didn't take long.

As for the refs, blame yourselves. If Australia and Great Britain didn't want to have everything their own way, then other refs might actually get a chance to develop.

It's hardly Fairleigh's fault...

 

[Fairleigh Good!]

Extremely well said. Whilst Great Britain and Ireland could and should have won the test anyway, this is no excuse for Mander's total mediocrity. Having said that GB were very lucky in regards to Radlinksi's try which baffled me.

GB&I are getting there, both games I thought they were the better team. They just need to learn to take the chaces they create, ala the australians.

Good on you for not trampling me for my passion-filled outburst. It proves that International league is not dead yet when it hurts as much as this.

I thought Rad's try was okay-ish. He was quite clearly ahead of Deacon's body, but as he jumped to kick the ball his foot and the ball were roughly level with Radlinski.

I just hope we now see the future of GBRL play against Australia next week. Burrow must get on the field next week, along with the likes of Gleeson, Reardon and Sculthorpe. It surely time to hang up the shirts of Connolly, McDermott, Forshaw etc.

The 3rd Test sold out this week if my information is correct, I just hope people turn up.

 

[AuckMel]

Well that didn't take long.

As for the refs, blame yourselves. If Australia and Great Britain didn't want to have everything their own way, then other refs might actually get a chance to develop.

It's hardly Fairleigh's fault...

Whether it's his fault or not, Fairleigh's post was highly predictable.

Watching the game through neutral eyes, I thought Mander had a much better game than I thought he would.

IMO, GB blew it. It was there for the taking, but they just weren't up to it.

 

[nqboy]

Tim Mander you cheat, Fairleigh Good, you goose. It wasn't Mander's fault GB didn't take their chances, they just weren't mentally tough enough when things weren't going their way.

 

[Anonymous]

Some of me was barracking for the poms

It's unfortunate for them to be down 2-0, had a few bounces of the ball and decisions gone their way towards the end of each match they may have been up 2-0. Alas it wasn't to be. Hopefully as you said they do bring in some of the young guns.

I do believe the future looks bright for GB&I though. One question - how are the british halve stocks? Whilst Deacon does go well enough, I feel that's where Australia had the edge today with Kimmorley outstanding and lockyer playing his usual role (I know he's not a half, but hell he plays like one).

You keep those passion filled outbursts going mate, it's passion that makes our game the greatest of all

 

[Anonymous]

Tim Mander you cheat, Fairleigh Good, you goose. It wasn't Mander's fault GB didn't take their chances, they just weren't mentally tough enough when things weren't going their way.

You gotta be kidding. They were under the pump the whole second half and kept fighting. They just didn't have the legs to get there.

I agree GB&I didn't take their chances, but as I said, this does not excuse Mander's total ineptitude.

 

[Mr Angry]

He provided with the quote of the match 'Oops sorry it's Kevin, Kevin' - with the Ref's in OZ now trying to name players by names rather than numbers, he got it wrong and appologised, how can he watch the 10ms when he is trying to remember names?
Poor Job, no doubt and I am with Jimbo, it is of grave concern is now number 1 ref.
In saying all that GB threw it away.

 

[Balmainia]

last test was heart attack material from a bias aussie view, this one altho behind (I only saw 2nd half - damn time diff) I was comfortable and never felt worried

was it cos Mander was bias? maybe

GB played well. Aus hasn't in both tests I've seen

but I'm more inclined to agree with the aussie sports commentary team GB have developed a losing culture - now I don't mean that in a bad way, its just that they're so used to losing to oz (apparently even with that lead) that its a habit that's hard to break tho they are trying.

and yeah refs should be from neutral countries.

 

[Fairleigh Good!]

Some of me was barracking for the poms

It's unfortunate for them to be down 2-0, had a few bounces of the ball and decisions gone their way towards the end of each match they may have been up 2-0. Alas it wasn't to be. Hopefully as you said they do bring in some of the young guns.

I do believe the future looks bright for GB&I though. One question - how are the british halve stocks? Whilst Deacon does go well enough, I feel that's where Australia had the edge today with Kimmorley outstanding and lockyer playing his usual role (I know he's not a half, but hell he plays like one).

You keep those passion filled outbursts going mate, it's passion that makes our game the greatest of all

I don't think they are too bad. For me Lee Briers has been a gem that we have wasted. He played for Wales against Australia in the World Cup and for 60 minutes with Keiron Cunningham and co providing support he had us all dreaming... He hasn't played against them since and doesn't even get into the GB squads which is scandalous for mine.

Of the youngsters Leeds seem to have the aces. Rob Burrow is the 3ft 4 scrum half that gave the Roos problems for England 'A'. I don't know if he's the one to lead the team, but he should certainly at least be on the bench. Him running at Mason, Kearns, Webcke etc late on would be a great tactic.

Danny McGuire is another Leed's product that must surely be given his nod sooner rather than later. A superb prospect.

Aside from those two we have Chris Thorman who is going to play in the NRL next season. I've seen a few good touches from him, and I'm sure he'll learn from his time at Parramatta.

Wigan's Luke Robinson is also allegedly one for the future, and is a genetic clone of Andy Gregory if you remember him. He plays for Wigan though so it is against my religion to suggest he should play for GB.

 

[Alan Shore]

The penalty count was 8-3 in favour of the Roos by the way. Just goes to show how bad the NRL will be without Harrigan next year.

I also think a few changes should be made to GB. Move Schulthorpe to Lock, Farrell back to the second row, Morley to prop, punt McDermott and bring up Burrow on the bench and Thorman at 5/8th. Andy Lynch is suppose to be good as well.

 

[Anon]

"Who said international rugby league was dead?"

As long as we keep sending a third string Australian sides to play test matches this might be the case. What was the score when we played the Poms & Kiwis with a close to full strength team? 50+ wins

 

[Fairleigh Good!]

"Who said international rugby league was dead?"

As long as we keep sending a third string Australian sides to play test matches this might be the case. What was the score when we played the Poms & Kiwis with a close to full strength team? 50+ wins

True, but what was the score when the Roos last sent their academy level players over? How many times has that ever happened? Not once!

Super League in the UK has made a massive difference and the gap between it and the NRL is certainly closing. There are now at least 5 teams in with a genuine shout for the titles, and the decent players are spread around more. If the progress we have made since Super League started continues then we should be able to see GB playing competitive internationals against Australia in Australia before too long. We're obviously not there yet, but it will come, hopefully.

Shutting up shop and forgetting about internationals is not the right thing to do. GB can only improve by playing against Australia and New Zealand.

 

[Mr Angry]

If the progress we have made since Super League started continues then we should be able to see GB playing competitive internationals against Australia in Australia before too long. We're obviously not there yet, but it will come, hopefully.

Shutting up shop and forgetting about internationals is not the right thing to do. GB can only improve by playing against Australia and New Zealand.

Agreed, sending more English guys play in the NRL will help too. I would like to see, a young english players path like this

shows promise-23 plays ESL, and establishes a name
24-26 plays NRL, makes it or not
26- retirement, plays ESL passing on tips to the young ones

Lets face it, Australia and NZ play in the same league, England have there own and are a step behind the other two - the other way round in soccer - all our good younin's go off to europe.
Once the standard of player quality equals out, coming to OZ will not be necessary.

More backpacking, tea drinking, Queen huggers wanted - as long as we can send 'em home ;-)

 

[rlgamer.cjb.net]

if you think mander was bad just look at that english ref from the first test. He was so shit he kept getting in the way of the ball, he didnt even have 5 metres between the teams plus he was slow in his decision making. Plus he was so shit he could be biased because he couldnt keep up with the game in the start.
Mander wasnt perfect i think he was against australia more as the first great britain try was clearly from a huge forward pass than the second try came about from a player being offside by about 1/2 metre. And look there are touch judges and video refs its not manders fault Great Britain(ireland and england) cant even put a team on the field that can beat a c grade Australian attack with shitty kimmorley on the field.

 

[aqua_duck]

I think GB needs to give its youngsters more of a go, Connolly is rubbish and got outplayed by a hooker playing in the centres, Richard Horne needs to be played in his right position, and Radlinski, well I nearly choked on my weetbix a few months back when some poms were comparing him to Lockyer, he is rubbish. The forwards, Peacock didn't impress me, I expected a Ben Kennedy-like player but he fell well short.
Terry Newton, if he is the best hooker GB have to offer than maybe International league is in trouble, he'd struggle to find a team in the NRL, our 5th, and 6th choice rakes would be of better quality. Though on the bright side I was thoroughly impressed with keith Senior, Brian Carney and Paul Deacon.

 

[Razor]

As long as we keep sending a third string Australian sides to play test matches this might be the case. What was the score when we played the Poms & Kiwis with a close to full strength team? 50+ wins

Sides always have players injured.

This series GB are without Leon Pryce, Chev Walker, and Lee Breers who all would have certainly been in the side. Cunningham could have been in the side but hasn't been as good this year. Also a couple of other possibles.

Australia is missing Barret, Johns, Kennedy, and Bailey who would have certainly been in the side. And a couple of other possibles.

So GB 3 definites out; Australia 4 definities.

And 2001 Australia had close to a full strength side and lost the first match.