The Football (all sorts) Thread

[Bartrim]

I could say the same if an injury had have occurred to all but 6 NSW players: Gidley, Galloway, Lewis, Mannah, Uate, Gasnier.

And Bobby, I know what you mean, my missus is a one eyed biased blues supporter but even she couldn't back a team with that many thugs and grubs in it. I think if Lewis hadn't have been fit/selected she wouldnt have watched a game all series.
And you must have been a little happy that the tigers finally got a player in the series at long last!

So whowere your player of the match for game 3, and your player of the series? I cant go past Smith for the series, and I would have given player of the match to Slater, as Thiaday roughing up Gidley was lucky to not give a penalty.

Yeah thats pretty much the only 6 NSW players I liked. I'm not a fan of Gasnier but I like the fact he had enough respect to applaud Lockyer when he ran out onto the field (and he was the only New South Welshman) to do so.

Yes Scott it was good to see Galloway play... even if it was a cameo. Someone must of told Stuart that Keithy doesn't play for the Sharks anymore.
Stuart: "Wait he plays for the Tigers?!?!?! Get him off the field!"

I probably give player of the match to Slater or Thaiday.

[Sharky]

i am a passionate NSW man but man did qld snuff them out in that first 30 minutes...

archer had a great game for qld too.. making up penalties like he usually does..not that qld really needed them but i dont know why he got "recalled" for origin three he is not the best ref in the game...

i admire locky too it is good to see him get the send off he did.. and thurstons injury made me cringe.... i know what that feels like...

NSW had nothing in the halves and centres gallen stewart mannah all had solid games up front mini had a shocker.... i though galloway would of had more of an impact when he came on and was a shame he didnt get more game time to proove it....

you know qld has just as many thugs n grubs in the side as nsw does you know but you need them in origin....

[GoktimusPrime]

I have zero interest in this sport, but 1AZRAEL1 wanted to watch it so we had it on last night while he, his partner, Deceptic_Optic and I were playing Transformers Monopoly at my place last night... and wow... NSW totally kept getting pwned (as Deceptic was getting pwned in Monopoly ). It was a painful 80 minutes to watch (even as background viewing)

you know qld has just as many thugs n grubs in the side as nsw does you know but you need them in origin....

I find that a big turn off. Surely grown men can resolve their conflicts in ways other than physical violence. Especially if this sport is being promoted as a family-friendly event. (>_>) I saw one biff that didn't even attract any kind of penalty -- look kids, your role models can get in a fight with NO consequences for their actions!

[Prowl]

You're a good sport aren't you? Piss off.

I am just a guy who speaks what he thinks. If more people spoke their mind the world would be a better place.

I don't retract what I said as I think Thurston is a complete cat I think the same of Cam Smith, Sam Thaiday & Billy Slater. May not be good sportsmanship but I could care less.

As for QLD I give credit where due & they are a great team with genuine classy players like Civo & Locky who both deserved to go out on a high note. NSW tried hard but a team does not deserve to win when it will not pick position players & play a fullback in the centres etc. That is why QLD have been so successful because they play players in their correct position & stick with thie selections.

QLD played perfect football in the first 40 & NSW did themselves no favours with some of their plays particulary their 5th tackle options. The scoreline flattered NSW but there are positives the blues can take from the series.

[Prowl]

thurstons injury made me cringe.... i know what that feels like...

I know all too well myself. That said I dislike Thurston & was happy to see him get stretchered off.

I saw one biff that didn't even attract any kind of penalty -- look kids, your role models can get in a fight with NO consequences for their actions!

These guys are not role models they are professional athletes in a contact sport. If kids need role models (they certainly do) they should be looking no further than their family as family sets the example for the development of a child & their moral compass.

[Bartrim]

Moltzen to Dragons next year. Sad to see him go but I can't blame him. I rate him over Lui. But every cloud has a silver lining. Tigers are rumoured to sign Josh Dugan. As long as he doesn't spit his dummy that could be quite potent

[i_amtrunks]

Moltzen to Dragons next year. Sad to see him go but I can't blame him. I rate him over Lui. But every cloud has a silver lining. Tigers are rumoured to sign Josh Dugan. As long as he doesn't spit his dummy that could be quite potent

I'd be more worried about Dugan staying healthy, his track record is not good. The Tigers should never have to buy a backline player with the juniors they have coming through the ranks (same with St George, Penrith and the Knights).

I guess this can confirm that Sheens is having a semi cleanout at the tigers, which makes sense, they have had a fairly consistant team for the past few seasons and have not achieved results that they should have (then again most teams that on paper should have been competing for top 4 spots for 2-4 seasons, have not fared well.)

Should be interesting to see how the Cowboys fare for the next 6 or so weeks without Thurston, and if the Titans, Easts and Parra start blooding young players in preperation for 2012, since their 2011 seasons are already over.

[i_amtrunks]

I'm not an eels or Tigers fan, but that was a pretty lucky game for the Eels.

They played some pretty ordinary, lazy and boring football, got alot of asssitance from terrible officiating, and happened to walk away with a win thanks in part to the bad umpiring decisions, and because the Tigers managed to shoot themselves in the foot a good half a dozen or more times.

Every second pass Hayne threw went forward, and he only got called for two of them. The biggest forward pass came after a good break by Burt (glad he is back at fullback, he is a superior defensive fullback to Hayne, and is nowhere near as lazy as Hayne), the pass went 6 metres forward and led directly to the game sealing try.

The tigers will not be a top 8 squad until they get better players in the number 1 and 7 jerseys, Lui has too many brain explosions to be handling the ball as often as he does, and his kicking game is comparible to Gordon Tallis's. McKinnon can not be the best #1 option for the Tigers, he is iffy under the high ball, lacks speed and decisiveness in attack.

Eels were very lucky tonight, I hope the luck turns around and bites them big time later this season, if the eels, roosters and dogs all miss the finals, it will be to the betterment of the NRL.

[Bartrim]

I'm not an eels or Tigers fan, but that was a pretty lucky game for the Eels.

They played some pretty ordinary, lazy and boring football, got alot of asssitance from terrible officiating, and happened to walk away with a win thanks in part to the bad umpiring decisions, and because the Tigers managed to shoot themselves in the foot a good half a dozen or more times.

Every second pass Hayne threw went forward, and he only got called for two of them. The biggest forward pass came after a good break by Burt (glad he is back at fullback, he is a superior defensive fullback to Hayne, and is nowhere near as lazy as Hayne), the pass went 6 metres forward and led directly to the game sealing try.

The tigers will not be a top 8 squad until they get better players in the number 1 and 7 jerseys, Lui has too many brain explosions to be handling the ball as often as he does, and his kicking game is comparible to Gordon Tallis's. McKinnon can not be the best #1 option for the Tigers, he is iffy under the high ball, lacks speed and decisiveness in attack.

Eels were very lucky tonight, I hope the luck turns around and bites them big time later this season, if the eels, roosters and dogs all miss the finals, it will be to the betterment of the NRL.

I think there was some decension amongst the ranks in the Tigers... that probably didn't help.

I think it might finally be time to bring young Jake Mullaney up to first grade. He is a champion fullback who while in the under 20's went to the Ben Barba school of defence. He has been given a couple of years in NSW cup and seeing him in their last televised match he has definitely improved. Either him or Sean Meaney. He has had a couple of first grade games and looks the goods to me and in warm ups he was 18th man. Both ahve spent time at 5/8 so they have proven to be compitent playmakers.

The Tigers deserved to lose...but not by that much. Can someone explain how a flick pass can go forward when the NRL interpretation states that the ball must travel forward out of the hands. This is the only problem with the 2 refs. They have to blood refs who aren't ready

[Prowl]

This is the only problem with the 2 refs. They have to blood refs who aren't ready

I agree. They need one referee purely to watch the ruck/play the ball & one to watch the 10. Or in simple terms a offensive referee & a defensive referee. That combined with the linesmen should remove the need for the video referee.

Problem is that the referees are so f**king spineless they rarely back themselves to make a decision. How many times do you see Maxwell, Hayne or Tony F**king Archer right in front of the play especially in tryscoring situations & they refer it to the video so they don't have to make a hard decision. Then it is slowed down to be looked at frame by frame & it seems that they look for a reason to deny rather than award a try.

The other problem is that they have about 4 really top flight referees (F**king Archer, Hayne, Maxwell & Badger) the rest make up the numbers but they had to be brought along fast & it will take at least another season before they are true 1st grade standard.

My single biggest issue is that the referees boss is the biggest showpony the game has seen & his poor influence is rubbing off on the officials.