Author: 18th Man

Finals spots up for grabs, debut hat tricks and the wooden spoon settled, all that and more in this week’s Weekend Wrap.
Continue reading “Round 25 – Weekend Wrap” →

With just two rounds left in 2015, the race for spots in the Top 8 is heating up. North Queensland charged into first place after defeating the Warriors in Auckland on Saturday. They took top spot after the 15^th-placed Dragons upset the ladder leading Panthers on Thursday night. On Friday night, the Bulldogs defeated the Rabbitohs by two points, who look odds on to take out the wooden spoon. A big win by the Tigers over the Sharks on Saturday afternoon saw them leap the Raiders and Warriors on the ladder, while Brisbane further separated the top 3 from the rest of the pack with an 8-point win over the Roosters. Manly jumped into the top 4 with a last minute win over the Eels, and Newcastle are just one point out of the top 8 after a win over Melbourne on Monday.

Continue reading “Round 24 – Weekend Wrap” →

The Weekend Wrap is back! Unless you’re one of the 4 people who remember it, in 2013 when I started the site, I would post a weekly wrap up of the past round of NYC and look ahead to that weekend’s TV games and cover a few other things. If you’re one of the 11 or 12 people who regularly check the site, you would also know I am quite lazy and the column stopped later that year. But like everyone’s’ favourite Rooster Blake Ferguson, its back (in pog form) for its own #redemption story.

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Going around the grounds and North Queensland held off a very fast finishing South Sydney side on Thursday, as they continue to put pressure on ladder leader’s Penrith. Brisbane beat the Dragons on Friday night, with Ashley Taylor scoring a bunch of points. There were 4 games on Saturday, with the Tigers decimating the Knights in the Foxtel game, Cronulla came back from 28-4 down to draw with Melbourne 28-all, Penrith regained top spot and lead by a point after defeating the Warriors and the Roosters picked up a victory over the Eels to move into the top four. On Sunday’s Foxtel game, Manly easily disposed of Canberra and later that afternoon the Titans’ broke a two game losing streak with a two point win over the Dogs.

Record Breaker
North Queensland’s Gideon Gela-Mosby broke the record for most tries in a season on Thursday after scoring twice in the Cowboys’ 44-30 win over South Sydney. The explosive winger from Cairns took his season tally to 31, beating Jake Mullaney’s record of 29 and Ben Barba’s regular season record of 28. A few weeks ago on Twitter, I foolishly wondered if he could be the first player to reach 30 tries in a year. Forget 30. With 3 regular season games and the Cowboys looking to go deep into the finals, Gela-Mosby could hit 40. With the Holden Cup looking to be on the way out, this looks like a record that will never be broken. Congratulations Gideon!

Terrific Tom
If you’ve even remotely been following rugby league this year (or watched a Channel 9 game recently), you should know how talented Tom Trbojevic is. While his form in first grade has been good, he has been near unstoppable in the NYC this season. He had a try, 4 try assists and 306 running metres in Manly’s win on Sunday. When he has played Holden Cup this year the Sea Eagles have 7 wins, 1 loss and 1 draw. Without him? 3 wins, 2 draws and 7 losses. As long as Trbojevic is playing fullback, Manly are a chance at making a serious run at the title.

Kalyn Killing It
There’s a slew of outstanding young fullbacks running around the NYC and in the last few week’s we’ve seen another one emerge. North Queensland’s Kalyn Ponga was dubbed “the most talented 15-year old in Australia” two years ago and now he might just be the most talented 17-year old. He even caught the eye of immortal Andrew Johns with his hat trick display against Souths on Thursday. In 4 NYC games, the two-time U15 Australian Schoolboy has scored 6 tries, is averaging 175m a game, and has 4 line breaks and 25 tackles busts. Oh yeah, and he also overcame a life-threatening brain infection earlier this year.

Hat Trick Weekend
As everyone knows a lot of tries are scored every weekend in the Holden Cup, but this weekend we had 7 hat tricks across the round. Cowboys’ fullback Kalyn Ponga started us off with a triple on Thursday. On Saturday, Cronulla’s Brad Deitz and Melbourne’s Tony Tumusa bagged 3 each in their side’s remarkable 28-all draw. Later that day Roosters’ team mates Latrell Mitchell and Connor Watson also crossed 3 times each. To finish off the round, Manly’s Addison Demetriou and the Titans’ Greg Leleisiuao recorded hat tricks on Sunday to end the weekend. 7 hat tricks in 4 days.

Round 24’s Televised Games
Cronulla v Wests Tigers – Remondis Stadium – Saturday, August 22
10:30am – FOX Sports 1
An important game for both sides as Cronulla, 4 points out of the top 8, are looking to close the gap, while the Tigers are 8^th on 24 points and control their own destiny. The Tigers will be backing up off a huge win, with five-eighth Te Maire Martin in a great form. Cronulla drew with Melbourne last start and haven’t won at home since Round 9. On the other hand, the Tigers last away win came in Round 5.

Gold Coast v Canberra – Cbus Super Stadium – Sunday, August 23
11:30am – FOX Sports 1
After copping 3 hammerings in the last 4 rounds (a combined score of 72-222), Canberra are still in the 8 and will need a very strong performance against the Titans to show they deserve to be there. The Titans are currently 14^th and their finals hopes are all but over, but despite their spot on the ladder they have a side with some exciting young talent who are capable of pulling off the upset win at home.

Team of the Week
Like in the Weekend Wraps of old, I will post a team of the week. As it’s impossible to watch every Holden Cup game of the round, the team will be pretty much chosen statistically.

1. Tom Trbojevic (MAN) [1 try, 306m, 4 try assists, 16 tackle busts, 6 line breaks, 2 line break assists]
2. Gideon Gela-Mosby (NQL) [2 tries, 204m, 6 tackle busts, 1 offloads, 2 line breaks]
3. Addison Demetriou (MAN) [3 tries, 234m, 10 tackle busts, 1 line break]
4. Brent Naden (PEN) [1 try, 238m, 1 try assist, 5 tackle busts, 1 line break assist]
5. Tony Tumusa (MEL) [3 tries, 221m, 7 tackle busts, 5 offload, 4 line breaks, 1 line break assist]
6. Connor Watson (SYD) [3 tries, 77m, 2 try assists, 2 tackle busts, 2 line breaks, 1 line break assist]
7. Bradley Deitz (CRO) [3 tries, 114m, 1 try assist, 4 tackle busts, 23 tackles, 2 line breaks, 1 line break assist]
8. Alec Susino (CRO) [201m, 4 tackle busts, 17 tackles, 3 offloads]
9. Joey Lussick (SYD) [1 try, 26m, 1 try assist, 1 tackle busts, 33 tackles, 1 line break, 1 line break assist]
10. JJ Felise (WST) [1 try, 280m, 7 tackle busts, 17 tackles, 1 line break assist]
11. Matthew Woods (WST) [7 goals, 162m, 1 tackle bust, 25 tackles, 2 offloads]
12. Rhys Duke (GLD) [136m, 5 tackle busts, 28 tackles, 1 offload, 1 line break]
13. Luke Bateman (CAN) [225m, 2 try assist, 1 tackle bust, 28 tackles, 2 line break assists]

14. Te Maire Martin (WST) [86m, 5 try assist, 4 line break assists]
15. Latrell Mitchell (SYD) [3 tries, 139m, 15 tackle busts, 2 line breaks]
16. Kalyn Ponga (NQL) [3 tries, 188m, 1 try assist, 6 tackle busts, 2 line breaks, 1 line break assist]
17. Junior Tatola (WST) [186m, 2 tackle busts, 19 tackles, 2 offloads]

Random Player of the Week
Jason Baitieri Parramatta 2008-2009 (28 games, 5 tries, 1 goal, 22 points)
French-born son of former first grade player Tas Batieri, Jason played junior rugby league for the Hills Bulls in Sydney. An Australian Schoolboy in 2007, Baitieri spent two seasons with the Eels’ NYC side and won their player of the year award in 2009. In 2010, he moved to the Roosters, where he played 1 NRL game. In 2011 he returned to France, joining his current team the Catalans Dragons. Baitieri is a French international having played 12 games for the Les Chanticleers.

That’s it for this week. Going forward these wraps will be up about a day or two after the last game of the round is played. If you’re heading to a game this weekend, get their early and enjoy the Holden Cup.