{"id":74789,"date":"2025-06-02T13:43:24","date_gmt":"2025-06-02T03:43:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/?p=74789"},"modified":"2025-06-04T15:08:41","modified_gmt":"2025-06-04T05:08:41","slug":"from-the-couch-nrl-round-13-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/2025\/06\/from-the-couch-nrl-round-13-2\/","title":{"rendered":"From The Couch: NRL Round 13"},"content":{"rendered":"

And So Passed The Worst Origin Ever Played: <\/span><\/b>Last Wednesday\u2019s State of Origin opener was flat. <\/span><\/p>\n

It was tepid, it was uninspiring, it was a lukewarm weak tea at a strip club when you wanted to pop the Moet. <\/span><\/p>\n

It was the most un-State of Origin match this author can remember, a match that felt more like a middling late-season NRL match than a battle that was once deservedly regarded as the fiercest in league. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

New South Wales, from the opening kick, deserved the victory as <\/span>they decimated the Maroons. <\/span><\/p>\n

It was clear that Craig Bellamy had developed the game plan as it was beat them through the middle with size and aggression and then expose the flaws in the two wingers to score. In the end, the final score flattered Queensland – New South Wales were entitled to win that match by 40. <\/span><\/p>\n

It was a complete smash-job.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Bellamy as the actual tactician makes a significant difference to the Blues – unsurprisingly – and now Daley can just coast along as a glorified cheerleader with the best seat in the house. <\/span><\/p>\n

The team may not have been optimised for game one but the only changes for game two will be health related with Keaon Koloamatangi likely to come in for Mitch Barnett. <\/span><\/p>\n

Daley never made changes when they were losing so he certainly won\u2019t off a win.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The real interest comes on the Queensland side of the coin and what they can do to get back into the series. <\/span><\/p>\n

There is no doubt that the entire spine played between awful and career-worst, the undersized forwards got smashed and the bench, which made little sense to begin with, proved a complete crux. <\/span><\/p>\n

It was a poor showing all round led by Billy Slater, who has gone from chosen one two years ago to at the crossroads. <\/span><\/p>\n

He cannot afford to get his team or his tactics wrong for Perth. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Phil Gould said that Queensland \u201ccannot select their way out of this\u201d. <\/span><\/p>\n

They may not be able to select their way to victory but they can certainly select their way to a more competitive showing.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The first two ports of call: Corey Horsburgh needs to be selected and a phone call to Josh Papalii begging him to come out of representative retirement needs to be made,the Maroons need size and aggression. <\/span><\/p>\n

The next decision is an easy one: Valentine Holmes should never be considered for State of Origin ever again. <\/span><\/p>\n

He has been washed for a long time, Selwyn Cobbo is available and has done a job before. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There has been much speculation that Daly Cherry-Evans needs moving on but he was Queensland\u2019s best spine player the other night. <\/span><\/p>\n

Nobody is entitled to anything but with the series on the line, Cherry-Evans is a far more reliable bet than Tom Dearden to get the job done. <\/span><\/p>\n

If any spine member needs to go it is Kalyn Ponga. <\/span><\/p>\n

His sideways crabbing and poor returns are endemic of the form he has been in at club level all season. <\/span><\/p>\n

It would not be the worst call to shift Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow to the No.1 and bring in an AJ Bimson or a Phillip Sami or a Jaxon Purdue to play centre. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The other change that is critical is to play a bench hooker, NSW sought to nullify Grant by running at him all night and it worked. <\/span><\/p>\n

Reed Mahoney lacks discipline but his niggle will get the Maroons going. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Queensland spirit has been built on sticking fat but they desperately need wholesale changes for game two.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Newcastle Need A Complete Overhaul: <\/span><\/b>The Newcastle Knights cannot continue on the path they are on. <\/span><\/p>\n

In wrestling parlance, they are killing the town, Newcastle was once the crown jewel in Australian Rugby League with the Hunter producing eight of the greatest 100 players in the history of Australian Rugby League including Andrew Johns, Clive Churchill and Wally Prigg. <\/span><\/p>\n

It long supported one of the strongest local competitions in the country and has long drawn prodigious crowds, even when the Rugby League was less than spectacular. <\/span><\/p>\n

So bad is the state of their team now though that fans are booing the club they once loved so much because the team has been virtually uncompetitive now for a quarter-century. <\/span><\/p>\n

The Adam O\u2019Brien experiment has not worked despite his ridiculous number of backdoor finals, the club needs change and it needs it now. <\/span><\/p>\n

Phil Gardner needs to go now – not at the end of the season as is planned and Peter Parr should not be his replacement. <\/span><\/p>\n

O\u2019Brien needs to be sacked and the roster needs to be torn apart, starting with the release of Kalyn Ponga. <\/span><\/p>\n

The Knights need to find a hard-nosed coach – Willie Peters or Brad Arthur – and build some pride back into a team that has been allowed to wither through the inaction of powerbrokers and the ineptitude of the head coach. <\/span><\/p>\n

What has gone on at Newcastle for two decades has been a stain on the game and one that needs immediate fixing. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Worst Decision of the Year: <\/span><\/b>Chris Butler almost exclusively owns the Top 10 of this list and after seeing primary rival in ineptitude Kasey Badger cost the Titans any chance of victory by mistaking the outside of a ball carrier playing the ball as \u201cthe ruck\u201d and said he could reach a new low for an utterly imbecilic call when he disallowed a late first half try too Simi Sisagi. <\/span><\/p>\n

It is really hard to actually pinpoint what was most heinous about it: his disregard of process, his lack of understanding of the rules or the blatantly obvious attempt to find a reason to disallow a try because he did not like one element he was not allowed to overturn another element. <\/span><\/p>\n

In almost every instance, offside is the first thing cleared or looked at off a kick, this went through the entire way with the only issue being a one-handed pass that was line ball. <\/span><\/p>\n

Butler all of a sudden reverted to the initial kick and found that Owen Pattie was offside.<\/span><\/p>\n

Which would have been fine if found initially. <\/span><\/p>\n

Found in the order it was found, highly dubious but not incorrect. <\/span><\/p>\n

What was completely unacceptable was the inane ruling that Pattie\u2019s offside preceded the holdback of kicker Simi Sisagi, who could have ran Pattie onside. <\/span><\/p>\n

Pattie is not in fact offside until he is in the 10 and a player was prevented from running him offside, but the Roosters somehow get the penalty and score. <\/span><\/p>\n

It is an embarrassment of the highest order that he is not only allowed in The Bunker but consistently gets three games a week and was rewarded with Origin I duties. <\/span><\/p>\n

Accountability does not exist, hope does not exist. The NRL did, in the words of Anton Chigurh, \u201csomewhere made a choice \u2026 all followed to this\u201d. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Willie M Team of the Week: <\/span><\/b>This week\u2019s team of the poor and the putrid: <\/span><\/p>\n

1.Jesse Arthars (Bri)<\/span>
\n2.Alofiana Khan-Pereira (GC)<\/span>
\n3.Isaas Tass (Sou)<\/span>
\n4.Kyle McCarthy (New)<\/span>
\n5.Fletcher Hunt (New)<\/span>
\n6.Ezra Mam (Bri)<\/span>
\n7.Tyson Gamble (New)<\/span>
\n8.Tevita Tatola (Sou)<\/span>
\n9.Benaiah Ioelu (Roo)<\/span>
\n10.Lindsay Collins (Roo)<\/span>
\n11.Xavier Willison (Bri)<\/span>
\n12.Tallis Duncan (Sou)<\/span>
\n13.Kobe Hetherington (Bri)<\/span>
\n\u2014———————<\/span>
\n14.Brodie Jones (New)<\/span>
\n15.Tony Sukkar (Tig)<\/span>
\n16.Corey Jensen (Bri)<\/span>
\n17.Davvy Moale (Sou)<\/span>
\n\u2014———————–<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

2025 Field Goal Update – 7: <\/span><\/b>No field goals this week despite Nathan Cleary attempting a delightful meaningless field goal in the dying minutes of the Panthers win over the Eels.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Fun Fact #1: <\/span><\/b>Alex Johnston has become just the second player in premiership history to score 200 tries and is the first to do so for a single club. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Fun Fact #2:<\/span><\/b> Alex Johnston has 15 career hat-tricks – one short of Ken Irvine\u2019s record of 16.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Fun Fact #3: <\/span><\/b>Alex Johnston has scored double digits tries against all bar five teams: Dolphins, Cronulla, Canberra, St George Illawarra and Brisbane.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Rumour Mill: <\/span><\/b>Despite public reports that Canterbury paid just $180,000 as a transfer fee to the Wests Tigers for the services of Lachlan Galvin, there is speculation that the number was significantly higher with the Laundy family believed to have topped it up to close to the $500,000. <\/span><\/p>\n

There is expected to be a huge departure from Red Hill if Michael Maguire remains coach. <\/span><\/p>\n

Kotoni Staggs is expected to sign with Manly, Payne Haas is being shopped around with the Roosters right in the frame for his services while Cory Paix will sign with the Cowboys.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Moronic Coaching Decision of the Week: <\/span><\/b>Michael Maguire\u2019s decision to play Jesse Arthars at fullback when Arthars has been killing it on the wing and Selwyn Cobbo is in the team is moronic beyond comprehension and shows that Maguire and his chief assistant Trent Barrett are either out of ideas or had none to start with. <\/span><\/p>\n

Cobbo has long been touted as a fullback, he wants to play fullback. <\/span><\/p>\n

Prior to this season when given a chance at fullback yet he gets switched out for a veteran who has never played the position in the NRL. <\/span><\/p>\n

It was incomprehensible that a team with so much talent would have a coach pull such an idiotic stunt. <\/span><\/p>\n

The tide of public sentiment has already turned on Maguire and we have seen how that has gone in recent years with Seibold and Walters. <\/span><\/p>\n

Maguire is a one-trick pony, it works at rep level. <\/span><\/p>\n

He could and should make that his go just as Mal Meninga did because he is going to be driven out of Brisbane like the devil in an exorcism. <\/span><\/p>\n

The Broncos have made a bigger mess of their club than Bonnie Blue does a set of high thread bedsheets. <\/span><\/p>\n

Maguire is the third straight terrible hire, they are on the verge of losing their best players and Australia\u2019s richest club just sits on its hands doing nothing. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Coaching Crosshairs: <\/span><\/b>If reports are true that Mal Meninga is currently finalising a deal to become the inaugural Perth Bears coach, the NRL has set the club up for failure. <\/span><\/p>\n

Meninga, of course, is a legend of the game, an Immortal who was as feared as he was beloved as a player. <\/span><\/p>\n

He does not deserve to be disrespected, but he is on the verge of taking a job he is not qualified for and one that will put the newest franchise in the league at a significant disadvantage. <\/span><\/p>\n

Despite recent claims that he has his finger on the pulse and has been involved with clubs – being involved with the Titans is nothing to crow about – coaching rep teams, particularly the national side, is not coaching at club level. <\/span><\/p>\n

One need only look at the aforementioned Michael Maguire to see the difference. <\/span><\/p>\n

The coach is the most important figure at a club – and it is not because he is a big name who can draw attention. <\/span><\/p>\n

It is because he understands the many moving pieces that operate within a club in a job that does not stop. <\/span><\/p>\n

Unlike rep coaching where the best players assemble for a short period of time, club football is a year-round gig with players of all different calibres. <\/span><\/p>\n

Meninga has not coached at club level since 2001 and when Perth comes in, that will be 26 years. <\/span><\/p>\n

A return to club coaching after so long would be unprecedented. <\/span><\/p>\n

When Tim Sheens returned to the Tigers after a decade out of the NRL, he was rightly viewed as a dinosaur who had lost touch. <\/span><\/p>\n

Even if Meninga is being installed as merely a figurehead surrounded by talented assistants, it is a setup for disaster. <\/span><\/p>\n

The Bears should bring Meninga in but let him consult. <\/span><\/p>\n

Putting him up as a head coach though is one of the most moronic things the NRL could do.\u00a0 <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Watch It: <\/span><\/b>This masterpiece from Chris Butler is worth watching again and again and again for those who are driven by anger, from the ridiculous decision to award the opening try to the rugby convert when he clearly knocked it on to the obscene process that overturned the Raiders second try. Watch the highlights here.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n