Five Metre Gap: Rd 20 Wrap
Like the way of the five metre gap in defence, looking at the points you may have missed from round 20 of the National Rugby League.
The Roosters charge towards the finals, they registered a 12th win for the season on Friday night, is coming on an unlikely run of winning the penalty count. Even a recently as earlier this month when Fairfax highlighted the fact the Roosters rarely get over seven penalties in the game it was continuing to be a talking point amongst the Eastern Suburbs faithful. So what happened next? The third-placed outfit won a penalty count for the fourth game on the trot as Trent Robinson’s side beat the Wests Tigers 33-8 at ANZ Stadium at the weekend. The Tricolours also won the infringement factor 12-5. This comes after the following penalty count wins in recent weeks, 6-4 v Warriors, 7-6 v Penrith and 7-3 v Gold Coast. The least comprehensive of those wins on the scoreboard was a 20-10 victory over the Titans. This is good news for the Roosters getting a rhythm in attack. So who in your NRLCEO competition drafted Blake Ferguson and/or Daniel Tupou? They might have a good few weeks coming up.
With Andrew Fifita facing time on the sidelines for his abuse of junior match officials the Sharks, despite sitting in sixth-spot after an 18-16 win over Canterbury face an uphill battle in the forward department but the weekend might provide a window for their next steps in the forward pack. The most-used bench player on Sunday, Chris Heighington made 20 tackles and for his 21 runs gained 170 metres, in 45 minutes on the park he shapes as a logical replacement in the starting line-up in round 21. Fifita himself played 53 minutes as a starter against the Bulldogs but the change could be significant as it may also mean the two other bench forwards (Jayson Bukuya and Matt Prior at Belmore) start or play longer minutes.
The lose of Shaun Johnson has seemingly struck the final blow to the Warriors realistic finals hopes, even though they are a top eight side now. In the first half Andrew McFadden’s unit completed 82% of their sets (14/17), missed 12 tackles and made only four errors. Johnson was injured in the act of scoring with 15 to go in the half and things went bad from then. In the second stanza the Warriors missed 13 tackles, so a similar number to the first half, but eight errors meant the completion rate dropped away to 61 % for 11 of 18 completions. The home side were looking to push more passes chasing the game in the second half after Jorge Taufua scored four minutes in to give Manly the lead for the second time in the game. Without Ryan Hoffman to bring strong edge defence and Manu Vatuvei to get them going at the start of sets out of their own end the Warriors lacked any real defensive or attacking zeal.
Parramatta bowed out of contention in Monday night’s encounter when Jason Taumalolo scored his second try for the evening, the 60th minute four-pointer was the first of five tries late in the game for the home side. However it could have been different had the Eels had another potent attacking option. Down 16-4 the Eels ran a set after a penalty to near the Cowboys line but when new first-choice halfback Luke Kelly was caught with the ball on the last it fell to Joseph Paulo to launch a bomb. For all his benefits the USA international isn’t a fearsome kicker close to the line and the Cowboys defused the bomb easily. In the subsequent set Johnathan Thurston let rip a 40/20 kick before Kiwis forward Taumalolo crossed for the first of five tries in 20 minutes later in the next set. One can’t blame Kelly or Paulo for the try and those that followed but an extra recognized playmaker may have put the pressure on better in that set with 22 minutes to go and give the Eels and chance to draw within a converted try
Finally with Rick Stone sacked as Knights coach it’s worth noting the 48 year-old’s comments about senior players not stepping up for the side may have merit. 33 year-old skipper Kurt Gidley missed five tackles in their 52-6 defeat at the hands of the Rabbitohs this weekend. That’s not the most and halfback Tyrone Roberts, 24, has missed 12 tackles in the last two defeats combined but it’s not exactly benchmark stuff from the former Origin utility. By way of comparison between skipper’s who feature in the halves, North Queensland’s Thurston has missed two tackles in the last two weeks.
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Hamish Neal
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