Prop in the (Irish) Sea: Finals Week 2

 

Pleased to report that the Prop is alive and well. He has departed Ireland after having his customary swim in the Irish Sea. He spent Saturday at the race meeting at Leopardstown as a special guest of legendary Irish trainer, Aiden O’Brien. Unfortunately, that did not help him as he reported a losing day.

 

Prop and the Councillor head out into the Irish Sea at 6.30am

 

He headed across the Sea to the valleys of Wales and delivered an impromptu lecture to the former local Welsh miners titled ‘Coal mining in the Central highlands of QLD, the open cut method’. By all reports it was very well received.

 

 

 
L to R: S Evans, Prop, J Davies, N Williams, G Price, J Jones, R Morgan. The lads are apparently keen to visit CQ for some crabs and coal.

 

The Courier Mail this week, like everybody else in the media, have been completely ‘Brainwalshed’. Michael Ennis has been – he mentioned the name Walsh 7 times before the Broncos first try. At that point I stopped counting. More on that man Walsh later, of course.

 

Week 1 Review

Storm v Bulldogs. A brutal, physical encounter. Both teams pushed all their chips in to try and secure the win. As the game progressed you sensed that the loser might pay a heavy price for the loss. Unfortunately for the Bulldogs it was them. A Kikau pass found Warbrick who went the distance to seal a tight victory. The loss of Crichton is obviously massive and they must regroup quickly. The only positive was the standard of the game, particularly defensively, which was far superior to the other top four clash (discounting all the drama).

Warriors v Penrith: Another hard-fought game which was closer than the final score indicated. The Warriors went into the fight with one arm tied behind their back but gave a great account of themselves. Again, luck went against them with a freakish bounce favouring the Panthers and an obvious forward pass being overlooked to all but seal the game. A predictable victory but hats off to the Warriors.

Sharks v Roosters: The boys from Endeavour/Caltex/Ronson field were simply too good on the night for the disappointing Roosters. Trindall was very good and they would appear to have a chance next week.

Canberra v Broncos: Sunday, for me, began with watching the ‘Fight of the Century’ from that great Cathedral of Rugby League, Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. I consider myself fortunate that, in my early sixties, I have seen approximately 20 ‘Fights of the Century’. It finished right on time to cross to that local, country parish church of Rugby League, GIO stadium. The game is now considered a classic but it did not start out that way. To use a boxing analogy, it looked more like the once a year, local fight night at the Globe Hotel than a ‘Fight of the century’. It was error ridden, the defence was poor, and it looked like two lower ranked teams slugging it out. I don’t think I can add much more that has not already been said. Last week I posed the question, would we see ‘virtuoso Walsh’ or ‘scatterbrain Walsh’. Well, we saw both. If you haven’t seen what transpired, go and watch it. Canberra blew it completely and are more at fault than the Broncos were great. As I mentioned earlier, the other top four clash was a lot better, quality wise.

The ‘Man from Bremer River’ reported that Reece only suffered one possible game ending/season ending/life threatening injury during the match. It happened when the son of the mule contacted his leg when attempting the game-tying field goal at the end of normal time. Fortunately for Reece, he was able to recover quickly and take the resultant penalty goal.

 

Week 2 Preview

Week Two is always a great week. Two teams on a high after a great win and two teams on a down after a loss. I cannot remember a year where the losers are coming off such a big mental and physical letdown as this year. Will the Raiders and the Dogs be able to bounce back? Honestly, I do not know.

Canberra v Cronullargh:  My mind goes straight to the Qualifying Final of 2016 when the Sharks upset the Raiders on their home deck en route to their first premiership. Could they repeat the dose? Yes, they have shown something not generally associated with the Sharks recently, consistency. Normally, I would go against them, thinking they are due to throw in a bad one. I think the PTSD from last week may be too much to overcome for the Raiders. Sharks for me.

Canterbury v Penrith: The words I keep hearing this week about the Panthers are, rested, refreshed, full strength. The words I am hearing about the Bulldogs are, injured, beat up, confused (about their line up). I think everything points to a Penrith victory. I hope I am wrong but there seems to be a sense of inevitability about them now. Penrith to win.

 

Odd Fact/Stat: The headbutt, aka ‘The Liverpool kiss’, has been in the news this week. Former GB forward Cliff Watson, who famously headbutted Australian forward Jim Morgan in the Brisbane Test of 1970, holds the distinction of being the only British player sent off twice in Test matches v Australia. Watson went on to play 39 games for Cronulla, including the 1973 Grand Final against Manly, generally regarded as the most brutal grand final ever.

 

You gotta love Footy.

 

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