The good, the bad and the ugly from the NRL weekend: The 7-Tackle Set

Sydney’s perennial losers are back, baby. Well, not the Wests Tigers quite yet, but St George Illawarra and Canterbury – maybe.

This was the best weekend for two of the biggest names in the game in years and years: the Bulldogs and Dragons both pulled off statement wins over the Raiders and Storm respectively.

Let’s not forget Penrith, though, who are now just one win off the top. Ominous doesn’t cover the half of it.

They face the current leaders, Melbourne, in two weeks. That should be a belter, as should the meeting of the Dragons and Doggies this weekend coming.

But before that – let’s look back once more at the NRL weekend.

A good week for…

The Bulldogs, who are very much contenders now.

Their win over Canberra was like watching a playoff game as far as intensity went, and getting the two points not only underlined just how far Canterbury have come under Cameron Ciraldo but also knocked the Raiders back a peg in the race for the eight.

This edition of the Bulldogs is all about grit – to use their parlance, it’s more Dogs of War than The Entertainers.

The entertainment part might let them down against the very elite because it’s hard to see them scoring enough points to trouble a Penrith or Melbourne, but that’s not really this year’s problem. For a side that hasn’t played finals in a million years, that’s what matters.

For what it’s worth, too, they should move heaven and earth to play any meaningful match at Belmore Sports Ground.

Their spiritual home was rocking on Sunday, with a team walk from the Leagues Club ratcheting up the atmosphere beforehand, a sold out stadium inside and then partying in the streets afterwards.

A bad week for..

Defending, which was merely optional for the first four games with a 48-30, a 30-20, a 40-34 and a 46-18 before St George Illawarra upset the Storm in Melbourne.

Thursday night’s starter between the Tigers and Cowboys at Leichhardt Oval was the worst of the lot, a game truly lacking in intensity.

Modern rugby league is often compared to touch footy, quite unfairly, but there have been games of tick and pass with more grit than this.

The Tigers were probably creditable in defeat given they lost Justin Olam to a send off with half an hour to go and are playing for pride alone at this stage. They ship points all the time, but at least put some on.

It was less promising for North Queensland. Despite the victory, the manner of the game confirmed the Cowboys as a deeply unserious team that won’t go anywhere unless they learn to tackle.

The Broncos will get their own corner of shame and the Roosters v Dolphins clash was ludicrous, though at least in the funny sense rather than the dross on show at Leichhardt Oval.

Standout

Shane Flanagan and the Dragons. They were joint favourites for the spoon at the start of the year and their incoming coach, in just about his first media appearance of the season, told fans that essentially winning didn’t matter.

His point was that improvement was the message, and that results would always be second to that. Improve, however, and you might win a game or two – as the Dragons did down in Melbourne.

It wasn’t a classic – Flannoball rarely is – but he’s made a career out of not caring one iota about aesthetics. His best teams are all about toughness and waiting for opponents to make mistakes.

Normally the Storm are the masters at that sort of footy, but St George Illawarra beat them at their own game on Saturday night.

For what it’s worth, the Dragons lost all the key indicators that usually predict victory, with few total sets, fewer metres and fewer line breaks. They won anyway. Flanno won’t care.

Washout

It has to be Kevin Walters, who has become the second successive coach to lose to Penrith in a Grand Final and then fail to make the playoffs the next year.

Mathematically the Broncos aren’t out of it but morally they’re miles off, having copped a thrashing from the Titans in a game they actually lead 12-0.

They’ve also lost Payne Haas and potentially Ezra Mam to season-ending injuries, which they might as well allow them to have surgery on seen as the season is basically over.

We’ve spoken in the past about the unrest behind the scenes in Brisbane, with both main assistants – Lee Briers and John Cartwright – leaving at the end of the year.

The Broncos went into camp on the Gold Coast ahead of the match, despite it being an hour’s drive down the road, in an attempt to galvanise the team. It didn’t work.

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Everyone is talking about..

Suburban grounds.

We got Leichhardt on Thursday for a lovely game of touch football, Shark Park on Saturday night and both Penrith Park and Belmore on Sunday. The sun shone, the hills were packed and people loved it.

There’s a huge clamour in some parts to move games to bigger stadiums whenever the sold out signs go up, and it’s back in force this week with tickets for the crunch clash between the Dragons and Bulldogs at Kogarah Oval already exhausted by Monday.

But these grounds, these game, those atmospheres: that’s rugby league’s USP. It’s true in Canterbury, Castleford, Carcassonne and Christchurch. You might get more into Stadium Australia, but it’ll be nowhere near as good.

But nobody mentions…the Olympic drama on Saturday – no, not in Paris, but Ville de Marrick, where at Henson Park, home of the Newtown Jets, no less than four of the Greek team from the last Rugby League World Cup took part.

The Jets fielded Siteni Taukamo and Billy Magoulias – who combined for that famous try at Doncaster – while their opponents, South Sydney’s NSW Cup team, had Peter Mamouzelos and Billy Tsikrikas, now returned from the Super League.

‘The Galloping Greek’, as Magoulias is sometimes known, mightn’t have made it in Warrington but he served up a classically mercurial performance here, chipping and chasing, flicking offloads and generally doing things that coaches have told him not to do for years but which keep the punters coming back to watch him play.

For the record, the Jets won comfortably after a swift start from the Bunnies, but that wasn’t the point. In the Sydney winter sun, there was nowhere better to be.

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Forward pass

It’s hard to look past another moving day next Saturday.

The aforementioned Dragons-Bulldogs clash is all set up for the evening kick-off, with free to air broadcaster Nine even muscling in away from their regular programming to cover it.

Yes, the Bulldogs’ charge to the finals and the Dragons’ hope of staying in the race is more important than the Olympics to the Sydney TV market. Long may it continue. As it’s the late game, you’ll get a watchable time in the UK too, and it’s heavily advised.

Prior to that, Canberra’s hopes of a top eight finish will be all but over if they can’t beat Manly, who travel to the capital for the 3pm start after a week off with the bye.

Should the Sea Eagles win – and they did last year after a Tommy Trbojevic masterclass – they’re looking good for a home final at Brookvale Oval, if not even a late charge at the top four.

In between, the Broncos fight for their season one last time with a XXXX Derby up in Townsville.

The Cowboys flatter to deceive at times but are well within the race for the eight. It’s a good day to plonk yourself in front of the telly and watch it all unfold – unless you’re lucky enough to have a ticket to Kogarah.

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