We was robbed
The Bunnies were denied two points against Brisbane after some ordinary officiating. Anthony Milford knocked on as he slotted the winning field goal and then Tautua Moga’s dubious try was awarded, after Milford offloaded after he was tackled, when it shouldn’t have been. All in all the bunker had a shocker and Souths coach Michael Maguire did well to hold his tongue somewhat in the post-match press conference. The Broncos should count their lucky stars after that one.
Sledge on
Manly pipped the Raiders in golden point in controversial fashion in the nation’s capital on Friday. It was a niggly, close game that threatened to boil over on several occasions. Sea Eagles centre Dylan Walker had a running battle with most of the Canberra side and generally, he had an off-day with the boot.
In the 76th minute the outside back had the chance to win the game for Manly but his conversion sailed wide. That followed an earlier shot he missed when the score was tied at 14-14. Then in extra time, Walker was back with another shot at glory. The Raiders incessantly sledged Walker as he lined up the kick and were clearly inside the 10 metres of required space. But the former Souths man sensationally nailed this 39-metre kick, with the ball bouncing over off the post, to make he and his Manly teammates delirious. In a fiery and at times grubby encounter, Walker and the boys from Brookvale had the last laugh. It’s going to be fun the next time these two teams meet.
Ivan the magnificent
Off the field, the Tigers have imploded with the news that their trio of stars James Tedesco, Aaron Woods and Mitchell Moses are all leaving the club at the end of this season. It’s another kick in the teeth for a club that has reeled from crisis to crisis, who knifed Robbie Farah and then sacked Jason Taylor. But on the field, at least since Ivan Cleary’s arrival, the Tigers are now kicking goals. The joint-venture took it to the Bulldogs on Saturday and came away with a last-minute 18-12 victory. Wests came from behind and sealed the result when Luke Brooks’ kick deflected off Josh Jackson into Kevin Naiqama’s arms to score the match-winner. Cleary is two wins from three games since taking over, showing there may be some light at the end of the tunnel.
Hayne Plane
Jarryd Hayne has had a nightmare on and off the park in 2017, dealing with injury and countless stories in the media about a falling out with Gold Coast coach Neil Henry and his future. But regardless, the fullback can still do the business on the field and he did that in style against the Sharks. The Titans stunned Cronulla with a late fightback to win 16-12. Hayne was handy and had 109 metres and one try assist in his return to NRL action.
But the man who stole most of the attention was little known forward Leivaha Pulu. In 34 minutes off the bench he ran for 82 metres, making 13 tackles and one line break. Most importantly the long-haired Kiwi grabbed two tries in the final 13 minutes to save Gold Coast’s bacon. It was just reward for the 27-year old who has been in the game for some time but only made his NRL debut last year. Pulu’s hard work, which has included stints for the Tigers Under-20s, Western Suburbs in the NSW Cup, the Windsor Wolves, the Wyong Roos and French Elite One club Lezignan Sangliers, is finally starting to pay off after joining the Titans at the end of 2015. Pulu is one who will savour his time in first-grade after battling for nearly a decade to get there.
