Stephen Crichton Must Play Fullback
Stephen Crichton may well be the best centre in the world but when a team has no creativity in the halves, a coaching staff that is unable to game plan up getting an individual the ball and are paying said player spine money, that player must be fullback.
Crichton was purchased from Penrith to play fullback.
He was made captain.
Yet was picked to play centre, all to accommodate reserve-grade quality Blake Taafe.
Crichton touched the ball eight times – and most of those touches were when completely cramped.
He is an elite player and Ciraldo and the clown show in charge of Canterbury need to put him the No.1 and then work around that.
The NRL Has a Penchant for Idiocy #1
Officiating is hard, there is no doubt about that.
In saying that, being in The Bunker is not.
So it really stands out when one person continually embarasses the game with utterly ridiculous decisions that send fans into the red.
Kasey Badger’s continued appointment to The Bunker is obscene.
The NRL could put an octopus, a lump of wood and a random number generator in there and that combination would make fewer mistakes.
Her decision to award a penalty try to the Cowboys when none of the Cowboys, the Dolphins, the officials, the fans or the callers considered it to even be in play highlight all that is wrong with her: she thinks she is smarter than everyone.
This kind of decision is not new to her, it is a common occurance.
The NRL is a billion-dollar business and it cannot put rank amateurs who flagrantly disregard the rules into The Bunker.
The NRL Has a Penchant For Idiocy #2
The NRL has moved to hide the identity of those who vote for the Dally M Medal after some significant embarrassments the last few years.
Clearly the move to anonymity is doing an excellent job at protecting idiots.
The panel is made up of former players and clearly at least one former player has zero idea about Rugby League when he awarded Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow a point for one of the all-time shockers on Sunday.
Tabuai-Fidow was horrific.
He conceded one completely unforgivable try when he tried to trap a kick.
He blew another by putting in an insane kick rather than either backing his pace or drawing and passing.
He let bombs bounce and was generally awful.
Yet this unnamed judge saw fit to give him a point, in the process completely devaluing an award that has already lost most of its value because of the obscene process.
It is a sad state of affairs when we look back fondly on Buzz and Chippy giving out the points.
2024 Field Goal Update – 1
The Chad broke the duck for field goal lovers with a shot on the stroke of halftime that Warren Smith declared had missed – thanks Fox NRL for making them call from the studio – but went in.
For those who like a little bit of Ric Flair, the field goal ensured the final total was 61 points, a boon for those who bet the 61+ when they enjoy an overs bet.
It was Townsend’s 18th career field goal, putting him in a tie for third among active players behind only Daly Cherry-Evans and Adam Reynolds.
Fun Fact #1: Craig Bellamy is in charge of Melbourne for the 22nd straight season – surpassing Wayne Bennett’s 21 in charge of Brisbane.
Fun Fact #2: Coaches who have coached a single club for 10+ years consecutively and the number of premierships they won over that period.
● Craig Bellamy (Melbourne – 22 years – 5 premierships)
● Wayne Bennett (Brisbane – 21 years – 6 premierships)
● Trent Robinson (Sydney Roosters – 12 years – 3 premierships)
● Steve Folkes (Canterbury – 11 years – 1 premiership)
● Brad Arthur (Parramatta – 11 years – 0 premierships)
● Ricky Stuart (Canberra – 11 years – 0 premierships)
● Tim Sheens (Tigers – 10 years – 1 premiership)
● Brian Smith (Parramatta – 10 years – 0 premierships)
Fun Fact #3: Coaches with 200+ premiership games and a win record of 49.5% or worse:
● Nathan Brown (41.1%)
● Matthew Elliott (45.7%)
● Neil Henry (43.5%)
● Michael Maguire (48.9%)
● Don Furner (44.5%)
Willie M Team of the Week – Round 1: This week’s team of dunces, dunderheads and dummies:
1.Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow (NQ)
2.Jaxson Paulo (Man)
3.Tesi Niu (Dol)
4.Brian Kelly (GC)
5.Dallin Watene-Zelezniak (NZ)
6. Tom Chester (GC)
7.Lachlan Ilias (Sou)
8. Oregon Kaufusi (Cro)
9. Phoenix Crossland (New)
10. Poasa Faamasauli (Bul)
11.Jackson Ford (NZ)
12.Viliame Kikau (Bul)
13.Jaeman Salmon (Bul)
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14.Jack Hetherington (New)
15.Samuel Hughes (Bul)
16.Jacob Host (Sou)
17.Martin Taupau (Bri)
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Coach: Cameron Ciraldo
Betting Market of the Week: The next NRL appointment to the Dally M Medal voting panel:
- $2.25: Paris Hilton $1.80: Stevie Wonder $1.25: Helen Keller
Rumour Mill: Zac Lomax is reportedly livid with his move to the wing and is looking at ways to force himself out of the club.
Coach Shane Flanagan is known for his stubbornness though and is unlikely to release him this season.
Talk of any club being interested in Kurtley Beale is laughable – not even poorly run clubs like the Bulldogs or Dragons would show any interest in a 35yo rugby union player with no history in the game and a closet full of skeletons.
The Coaching Crosshairs: The hottest rumour doing the rounds is that Wayne Bennett is being lined up to replace Brad Arthur at Parramatta.
Arthur has done a sound job at the Eels but the fact is this is his 11th season at the helm and the Eels have no premierships, one Grand Final appearance and a 4-8 finals record.
Bennett is, obviously, no long-term solution so parachuting him into a club that is close with enough talent on the roster is a plan that could bear fruit.
Souths, of course, will likely pursue him
Moronic Coaching Decision of the Week: There were some idiotic selection decisions made in Round 1 but putting Jaeman Salmon into the starting lock position and then playing him 80 minutes gives Cameron Ciraldo the gong this week.
Salmon, who Ricky Stuart famously labelled a “weak-gutted dog”, managed to run for 41 metres while giving away two moronic penalties, dropping the ball once and missing two tackles which led directly to tries.
Salmon was a questionable signing who was thrust into a role he had no right to play.
He was then shifted to play in the centres when Josh Addo-Carr was mercifully taken off after being forced to play over 30 minutes with a potential broken collarbone.
Ciraldo has been labelled a genius by the media but he is looking more and more like a dunce every week.
Watch It: Paul Carige set the standard for horrific individual performances with his all-time howler back in the 1998 preliminary final against Canterbury.
In a horrific showing, Carige lost his mind, making some of the most brain-numbing mistakes ever seen on a Rugby League field.
Sometimes – maybe once, maybe twice a season – we are blessed with a performance so bad, so unbelievably horrific that it evokes the image of Carige.
Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow managed to pull off such a performance against the Cowboys.
With great relish, here is the Carige game in all its glory.