The NRL Sopranos: It has been 25 years since the greatest show in television history kicked off when The Sopranos started its incredible run.
To celebrate, here are the NRL equivalents of some notable characters:
- Tony – Peter V’Landys: The boss who nearly always gets what he wants.
- Carmela – Luke Brooks: Stuck for so long in a loveless marriage. No idea what was going on around him.
- Melfi – Daly Cherry-Evans: The game’s intellectual who does not shirk the tough stuff.
- Sil – Cameron Murray: Reliable and ruthless and ever-dependable.
- Christopher – Victor Radley: Has ability and is widely loved but sees red too often.
- Junior – Jared Waerea-Hargreaves: The old school strongman who still garners respect.
- Paulie – Kieran Foran: Always there but has been a long time since we’ve seen a contribution.
- Big Pussy – Lachlan Ilias: A bad decision-maker who got knocked off very quickly.
- AJ Soprano – Kyle Flanagan: Living off the success of both a loving but probably disappointed father.
- Adriana – Latrell Mitchell: Once a hot star whose mouth finds trouble in the end.
- Bobby Bacala – Brad Fittler : Well-meaning but completely harmless without a killer instinct.
- Ralphie – Cody Walker: Unforgettable player who is completely unhinged when things go wrong.
The Day of the Dog: Saturday proved a critical day for both Canterbury and the Wests Tigers with the two struggling clubs both enjoying very rare wins and both coming in front of adoring crowds at their suburban homes.
The Bulldogs had been showing plenty of grit in their games this season and the points finally came against a hapless Titans team that has a ‘wooden spoon coming’ ticket in its fortune cookie.
The Tigers kicked off Benji Marshall’s first season with a stunning win that was testament to his willingness to make changes quickly, an astute offload-heavy game plan that forced the big Sharks park to deal with a lot of second-phase play and a regime that is bringing stability.
Not to mention, they did it in front of a packed Leichhardt.
Neither the Bulldogs or Tigers are contending for finals this season but both will take plenty of heart at the improvement being shown.
Chris Butler Has No Idea: Chris Butler has no business being a referee, he has no business sitting in The Bunker, he has no idea.
His decision to disallow a try to Tolutau Koula was utterly moronic. Luca Moretti had stopped trying to defend, he had given up.
Anyone who has any understanding of the game knew it but Butler, of course, did not.
There is an obstruction rule rightly (and usually correctly interpreted in fairness) that a lead runner cannot impede a defender from attempting to make a tackle or defend an attacking player.
It is not a rule designed to be a get out of jail free card for lazy inside defenders who had given up chasing and Butler clearly could not see the difference.
No official since Henry Perenara has looked more confused, has such little understanding of the game or is bamboozled by subtly more than Butler.
He spoiled a great game.
We Witnessed History: We may never see a more inept wing battle than we saw on Sunday afternoon when Jaxson Paulo and Morgan Harper squared off in what was a Hulk v Andre The Giant at Wrestlemania III moment for the Greatest Game of All.
They spent 80 minutes charging off their wing and failing to shut down plays, Harper looking confused and Paulo looking like he didn’t give a damn what was happening.
The Double Movement is Dead: The double movement rule is dead.
Make no mistake, when Ashley Klein decided that Mitch Kenny did not make a second movement to score, he officially killed it.
The double movement rule has always been one officiated poorly but often skews against the attacking player.
It is great that a better process is in place now (watching at full speed) but it is utterly abhorrent that egregious and obvious double movements are allowed to stand.
Betting Close Calls: This week’s close calls were as beautiful or as brutal as your betting account tells you:
● Canberra failed to cover the start by a ½ point or cover the start by a ½ point depending on when you bet, no doubt giving you strong views on Jamal Fogarty’s kicking.
● Those who took +8.5 the Dragons looked very healthy when the Saints led 18-4 before fading horrifically.
● Bettors on Melbourne could get +1.5 with the Knights sneakily covering the small number.
2024 Field Goal Update – 4: A devastating weekend for feverish field goal exponents with not a single one kicked.
Fun Fact #1: South Sydney’s left side has conceded 10 tries this season, the worst defensive unit in the NRL ahead of the Dragons’ right edge
Fun Fact #2: The hottest tryscoring units in the NRL this season are the right edges of the Roosters and Cowboys, with eight tries apiece.
Fun Fact #3: The Titans have scored just one try in two games this season.
Willie M Team of the Week – Round 3: This week’s team of clowns, crooks and creeps:
1.Latrell Mitchell (Sou)
2.Morgan Harper (Par)
3.Jack Bird (Dra)
4.Brian Kelly (GC)
5.Jaxson Paulo (Man)
6.Cody Walker (Sou)
7.Tanah Boyd (GC)
8.Oregon Kaufusi (Cro)
9.Billy Walters (Bri)
10.Fletcher Baker (Bri)
11.Brendan Piakura (Bri)
12.Raymond Faitala-Mariner (Dra)
13.Tom Eisenhuth (Dra)
—————————————-
14.Isaac Liu (GC)
15.Billy Burns (Cro)
16.Keenan Palasia (GC)
17.Tom Burgess (Sou)
—————————————-
Coach: Jason Demetriou (Sou)
Betting Market of the Week: The chances of a Tevita Pangai Jnr reunion with the Broncos ending well:
- $501: A Happy Ending
- $1.01: Disappointment, despair, frustration and selfishness leads to his quick “moving on”
Rumour Mill: Lindsay Collins is reportedly nearing a deal with the Roosters that will keep him at the club for at least four more years.
Bluster from Dean Ritchie that Scott Fulton has not been leaking to him is nonsense with Ritchie known for his close relationship with Bob Fulton and has pushed positive stories on Scott and his sister Kristy in recent years.
Leo Thompson’s brother Tyrone Thompson is reportedly considering defecting from rugby union.
The Coaching Crosshairs: Jason Demetriou is fast running out of time at South Sydney despite his ridiculous press conference claims that Souths were close to turning things around.
They have now won just four of their last 16 games and there are clearly significant and long-running issues at the club, to say little of the injury toll, the lack of a sustainable halfback solution and a team that is struggling with the speed of the game.
There can be bitching and moaning about the impact Latrell and Cody have over Souths but the simple facts are they are two of Souths’ most talented players and the club is absolutely tied to them.
It is the job of the coach to not only get those two focused and playing within a sustainable game plan but to get the rest of the team on board.
This clearly is not happening and take what you will from Josh Mansour’s podcast, there is clearly a communication issue.
While Lachlan Ilias has been playing awfully, the circumstances around his dropping sent a terrible message.
In an ideal world, Souths would let Demetriou see out the season and then bring Wayne Bennett back, but the start to the season though may not make that possible.
Demetriou is under the gun and will struggle to survive if the Bunnies go down to the Bulldogs on Good Friday.
Moronic Coaching Decision of the Week: After being exposed with an idiotic bench makeup in Round 1 that lacked any player with an ability to play on an edge, one would think Kevin Walters would not run the same unnecessary risk again in 2024… wrong!
Walters did it again in Round 3 and it cost the Broncos any chance of victory.
When Reece Walsh went down to an accidental head clash, a reshuffle was required and it went abhorrently.
Jordan Riki was forced to play in the centres, with Fletcher Baker shifted into the backrow after starting the game at prop.
Four middles filled the bench: Martin Taupau and Xavier Willison who are out-and-out props, Kobe Hetherington who is a slow workhorse and hooker Tyson Smoothy.
His bench selection has been incredibly poor this year.
Watch It: One of the great cult heroes in Rugby League history is Papua New Guinean legend Stanley Gene.
Gene played halfback that day and remarkably enjoyed a career where he played over 18 games in five different positions.
Such is the mystery around the legend that for many years his age was not known and it is suspected he played into his late 40s.
Watch him in his finest hour, scoring a hat-trick for Hull KR at Wembley against Hunslet in the 1997 Silk Cut Plate Final.