NRL 2018
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Warriors' chances of beating the Storm at Mt Smart on Sunday take a hit with Blake Green out of the line up with an injury. Replaced by Mason Lino.
VODAFONE WARRIORS
1 ROGER TUIVASA-SHECK (c)
2 DAVID FUSITU’A
3 GERARD BEALE
4 SOLOMONE KATA
5 KEN MAUMALO
18 MASON LINO
7 SHAUN JOHNSON
8 JAMES GAVET
9 ISSAC LUKE
10 AGNATIUS PAASI
11 ISAIAH PAPALI’I
12 SIMON MANNERING
13 ADAM BLAIR
Interchange:
14 JAZZ TEVAGA
15 CHRIS SATAE
16 JOSEPH VUNA
20 KARL LAWTON
21 BUNTY AFOA
22 ANTHONY GELLING -
If Lino and SJ can agree on who will steer the ship that could be a cracking combo.
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@sneakdefreak wowsers. That’s a straight red card in rugby.
Love the verbal spray just as much as the hit. -
@sneakdefreak i have masturbated to that.
Twice.
Fuck you farah you diving cat, that wasn't even high
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You get six weeks for a yo mamma joke in union these days. What's the sanction for calling someone a fluffybunny? I'm sure Farah was very offended by that and we simply can't have that kind of language in the workplace. Because you know, a rugby field is just the same as any workplace...
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@rancid-schnitzel Well Sam Burgess hasn't been cited by the match officials after the game as he was technically stating a fact.
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@sneakdefreak said in NRL 2018:
@rancid-schnitzel Well Sam Burgess hasn't been cited by the match officials after the game as he was technically stating a fact.
Seems the NRL match officials are infinitely more sensible than the dickheads running union.
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Back from Mt Smart after a 12-6 loss to the Melbourne Storm. Not happy but not disappointed either....
Hometown disadvantage: In a tight tussle like this, to win a team needs to either pull off a miracle play or get the blow of the whistle. Melbourne got the blow of the whistle all night long, even when Cam Smith appeared to punch Ken Maumalo in the face (a knock on was called and Melbourne got the ball back). Those little calls were what ultimately won Melbourne the game.
No Luke?: Another deciding factor was Isaac Luke exiting halfway through the second half. I was at the game so didn't know if it was an injury or not (I guessed it was) but that meant the Warriors were without a player who could make a big play in the middle of the park in the final 10 minutes of the game.
The real MVP: Cam Smith for the Storm and Gerard Beale for the Warriors. Beale was causing issues for Josh Addo-Carr and Curtis Scott throughout the match on defence and offence. Beale also did an awesome body slam on Billy Slater. Cam Smith was Cam Smith.
What about the other guys?: The Melbourne Storm are the New England Patriots of the NRL, just like the New England Patriots are the Melbourne Storm of the NFL. Their roster (besides Smith, Slater, Bromwich and Munster) comprises of journeymen, NSW Cup players, castoffs and rookies yet you're always scared of the Storm. It's the nuances which they do so well, many of which are borderline cheating. Lying in the ruck area when the opposition are on attack, being a few metres offside each play-the-ball but not enough for the refs to call it, they do all the little things so well. God I hate them.
Best moment of the game: Billy Slater getting cut in half by (I think )Tuivasa-Sheck. Slater went to pass, got smashed, appeared to cop a fist to the nuts and the ball went sailing into the middle section of the grandstand while Billy's balls probably went up into his midsection too.
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@raznomore Can't argue that. Everytime Kata got the ball you knew he was going to run it himself which means the Storm knew that too. He's the Warriors version of J-Man Washington from Any Given Sunday.
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It's official. The NRL brass see the Warriors(& Titans)as a lesser to rival NRL teams.
Gerard Sutton has been "demoted" for a blunder from the previous round and will now officiate the Warriors & Titans game. It has been officially referred to as a lesser profile game.
THIS. IS . FUCKED.
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@raznomore said in NRL 2018:
It's official. The NRL brass see the Warriors(& Titans)as a lesser to rival NRL teams.
Gerard Sutton has been "demoted" for a blunder from the previous round and will now officiate the Warriors & Titans game. It has been officially referred to as a lesser profile game.
THIS. IS . FUCKED.
The fix has always been in.
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@raznomore said in NRL 2018:
It's official. The NRL brass see the Warriors(& Titans)as a lesser to rival NRL teams.
Gerard Sutton has been "demoted" for a blunder from the previous round and will now officiate the Warriors & Titans game. It has been officially referred to as a lesser profile game.
THIS. IS . FUCKED.
and this surprises you why?
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@mariner4life far from surprise. It only confirms a long held concern
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@raznomore said in NRL 2018:
It's official. The NRL brass see the Warriors(& Titans)as a lesser to rival NRL teams.
Gerard Sutton has been "demoted" for a blunder from the previous round and will now officiate the Warriors & Titans game. It has been officially referred to as a lesser profile game.
THIS. IS . FUCKED.
Shows you the bubble in which the NRL HQ lives in. The CEO is getting henpicked by the Sydney media so, in a desperate attempt to get them off his back while keeping matesy with the Sutton family, the NRL pushes the problem onto two non-Sydney teams.
In fairness Gerard Sutton is a decent ref compared to the moron that is Adam Gee so I'm not toooo upset by this decision but the NRL HQ needs to be brought out of its bubble. Oh and maybe fire Todd Greenburg.
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@sneakdefreak said in NRL 2018:
Back from Mt Smart after a 12-6 loss to the Melbourne Storm. Not happy but not disappointed either....
Hometown disadvantage: In a tight tussle like this, to win a team needs to either pull off a miracle play or get the blow of the whistle. Melbourne got the blow of the whistle all night long, even when Cam Smith appeared to punch Ken Maumalo in the face (a knock on was called and Melbourne got the ball back). Those little calls were what ultimately won Melbourne the game.
Watched bits and pieces of this - I think the bandwagon has been driving up and down my road!
That call on Maumalo/Smith was an absolute fucking travesty, unless there's some rule in league that Cam Smith can do no wrong.
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@sneakdefreak said in NRL 2018:
Back from Mt Smart after a 12-6 loss to the Melbourne Storm. Not happy but not disappointed either....
Hometown disadvantage: In a tight tussle like this, to win a team needs to either pull off a miracle play or get the blow of the whistle. Melbourne got the blow of the whistle all night long, even when Cam Smith appeared to punch Ken Maumalo in the face (a knock on was called and Melbourne got the ball back). Those little calls were what ultimately won Melbourne the game.
Watched bits and pieces of this - I think the bandwagon has been driving up and down my road!
That call on Maumalo/Smith was an absolute fucking travesty, unless there's some rule in league that Cam Smith can do no wrong.
there kinda is. Star players get away with fucking heaps that regular guys don't.
Cam Smith is in interesting time. Now he's retired from rep footy he's just Melbourne's captain. And for some reason the Sydney media is on a mission to destroy his legacy. They weren't this blatant about it when he was captain of Queensland. But suddenly, Sydney journos are starting to make stupid statements about his "standing in the game".
On the refs, the NRL is looking like a fucking joke. Yes the Raiders were on the end of a bad one on the weekend, but playing to the whistle might also have helped. The touchie putting his flag up is not, however, the reason they aren't playing finals, no matter how much Ricky blows up. This comes back to our discussion on the rugby TMO thread. The NRL refs actually get shit as spot on as they possibly can, and blatant errors are few and far between. If the endless panel shows of former players and "respected journos" didn't continually crap on about every single little decision from Sunday evening until about Wednesday, the deadshit fans would fill up forums with crap about bias and conspiracies. That's without the coaches blaming refs rather than their own shortcomings.
