Cameron Ciraldo is a Man of Grace and Decency: Cameron Ciraldo could not have been more graceful, composed or measured after Canterbury’s heartbreaking defeat on Sunday afternoon.
Luckily you author is none of those things and has no problem eviscerating Grant Atkins and Ashley Klein for a game officiated so poorly it is hard to believe this is accepted as okay by a league that portrays itself to be professional.
The decision to award Ethan Bullemor a try was abhorrent, Grant Atkins was right in line with a pass so forward it would as soon as ask you to the bathroom for a quickie than inquire as to your health.
That followed a contest for a bomb that involved plenty of bobbling and is nearly always called back as a knock on, which it clearly was, except this time Klein figures he is smarter than everyone else.
There should have been a professional foul sin bin against Josh Aloiai for taking out Matt Burton on a kick chase but the Bulldogs did not receive a penalty, Daly Cherry-Evans was not penalised or sin binned for instigating a brawl.
There were plenty of reasons Canterbury lost on Sunday, Reed Mahoney worked hard but his lack of sense hurt so much, Jaeman Salmon was a debacle up the middle and Jeral Skelton made some key errors including not sticking to his man on the first try.
There was a complete lack of organisation in the final minutes when looking for a long field goal, but it was not helped at all though by a disgraceful officiating performance.
Gee Up: Adam Gee not being named amongst the four best referees tells us everything we need to know about the mafia running Rugby League officiating.
Those on the inside have done all they can to marginalise Gee since his sensational performance in last year’s Grand Final.
He was never meant to get the game but in a massive shock, Ashley Klein was dumped for an inept performance in the semi between the Roosters and the Storm.
Gee took a markedly different approach to Klein and Sutton prior – he tried to stay out of the way. Klein, Sutton and those in charge of officials like to see referees front and centre.
Not selecting Gee for the first week of the finals shows how pathetically small-minded, petty and out-of-touch those in charge of refereeing are.
Adam Gee is the new Matt Cecchin, let’s hope something is done before he is driven from the game too.
Gagai Has To Go: If Newcastle plan on actually advancing beyond their fringe Top 8 status then Dane Gagai has to go.
One of the greatest misconceptions is that Gagai remains a top quality centre and should be paid as same, something the Knights have certainly fallen for by giving him a contract extension.
While there is no doubt Kalyn Ponga should have gone inside to Tyson Gamble, Dane Gagai should have caught the ball and put Newcastle into the second round of the finals, he dropped it.
He played a similarly key role in allowing the Blues to win back the Origin shield with a very poor effort in a decisive try.
At this point in his career, he is a defensive liability who misses more tackles than any centre not named Brian Kelly while managing just eight tries.
Aside from dropping the ball on Saturday night he missed six tackles on 14 made.
The Knights have no choice but to punt him.
The New Marty: Cronulla were cast about three seconds into their final with the Storm just as the Bulldogs were cast in the 1994 Grand Final when Martin Bellas dropped the kickoff.
Will Kennedy’s error was completely egregious, an absolute bush league play to be so far out of position off the initial kickoff.
Kennedy wasn’t the only reason the Sharks lost but the team just never recovered from such a diabolical start.
If 2024 NRL Clubs Were Friday Night Lights Characters:
Melbourne Storm – Eric Taylor – Reliable winners
Penrith Panthers – Smash Williams – Talk the talk, walk the walk
Sydney Roosters – Buddy Garrity – Car dealerships and dicey recruiting
Cronulla Sharks – Luke Cafferty – Try hard but not enough class for the step up
North Queensland Cowboys – Tim Riggins – Ability but wildly inconsistent
Canterbury Bulldogs – Vince Howard – Thrived against all odds
Manly Sea Eagles – Lyla Garrity – Tend to look good but don’t really deliver
Newcastle Knights – Julie Taylor – Vanilla and incredibly dull to watch
Canberra Raiders – Mac MacGill – Destined to never be on top
Dolphins – Tami Taylor – Voice of reason and widely beloved
St George Illawarra Dragons – Matt Saracen – Toiler who overachieved
Brisbane Broncos – JD McCoy – Loud, bombastic, lose when it matters
New Zealand Warriors – Landry Clarke – How did he play/Warriors make Top 4
Gold Coast Titans – Hastings Ruckle – Totally forgettable
Parramatta Eels – Grandma Saracen – Seen better days
South Sydney Rabbitohs – Mindy Riggins – Partying and carefree
Wests Tigers – Cheryl Sproles – A complete mess that keeps repeating mistakes
2024 Field Goal Update – 27: While the only field goal of the first weekend of the finals meant little to the outcome of the Storm-Sharks clash with Ryan Papenhuyzen’s one-pointer late extending the Storm’s win from 36-10 to 37-10.
Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on what side of the 46.5 total line you were on, it was either the greatest meaningful meaningless field goal ever kicked or the most heinous beat you will ever have, a live castration with a blunt knife and only a Wallabies game for sedation.
- Fun Fact #1: Luke Brooks won his first finals game 4039 days after debuting – Lehi Hopoate won his first finals game 115 days after his first match.
- Fun Fact #2: In Graham Anneseley’s five years in charge of the Titans the club finished 14th, 14th, 8th, 15th and 14th. They went 44-75-1.
- Fun Fact #3: NRL viewership on Fox averaged 483,000 viewers per match, completely outstripping the AFL with 393,000 per game.
Betting Market of the Week: Will Ashley Klein choose to see obvious knock-ons this week:
- $1.90: Yes
- $1.90: No
Rumour Mill: Josh Addo-Carr is expected to leave Canterbury soon. Despite the orchestration that he stood himself down and was not guilty of failing a drugs test while driving “looking for a mobile phone charger”.
Addo-Carr missed nine games last year and 11 games this season with varying ailments.
He has lost some speed and the Bulldogs have some promising young outside backs coming through, having tired of Addo-Carr’s antics, the club will take the opportunity to move him on.
The Coaching Crosshairs: Keep a keen eye out for Hull KR coach Willie Peters with the former South Sydney and St George Illawarra halfback doing a sensational job in Super League.
Super League is nearly impossible to win, only four teams have ever won the title and St Helens, Wigan and Leeds have shared every title since 2006.
Yet Peters has Hull KR, who have been a yo-yo team from The Championship and have never seriously challenged for the title, a win off first and absolutely capable of beating Wigan.
KR have the best defence and best attack and he should be attracting serious interest from next season for any vacant jobs with the Cowboys likely a great fit for him, as would the Eels if Ryles implodes early, which is a very real possibility.
Moronic Coaching Decision of the Week: Trent Robinson’s decision to start Nat Butcher at prop was no act of genius and there is an argument to be made that Craig Fitzgibbon should have started Daniel Atkinson but it is hard to go past Cameron Ciraldo’s persistence with Jaeman Salmon.
The Bulldogs were 1-5 when Salmon started at lock this year while they were 5-3 when Josh Curran started yet Salmon started and played an obscene 53 minutes that included seven missed tackles that featured an utterly pathetic attempt on Tom Trbojevic when he ran through the middle to set up the decisive try for Tolu Koula.
Those who have watched the Bulldogs closely all season have predicted that Salmon would cost the club in a key moment, he absolutely did.
Ciraldo’s blindness to him needs to be addressed before the start of 2025.
Watch It: The 1995 Grand Final was, on a personal level, my favourite day as a Canterbury fan, it was magnificent.
The biggest underdogs in Grand Final history caused the greatest of upsets, becoming the only team to win the premiership in the Top 8 era from outside the Top 4.
On that day the Bulldogs received a fair amount of assistance from referee Eddie Ward that day, scoring a try of what may have been a forward pass and another on what may have been the seventh tackle.
After Sunday’s stitch-up of Canterbury from Grant Atkins and Ashley Klein, the clubs can now be considered even. Watch the 1995 GF highlights here.