NRL large PAUL GALLEN volition look connected Nine's 100% FOOTY tonight, debating rugby league's hottest topics alongside Phil Gould and James Bracey. Tune successful from 9.40pm AEST, arsenic they interruption down each the large issues pursuing the opening week of finals!
It's official. Wayne Bennett is an implicit master.
I truly wanted the expansive last to beryllium a rematch of past year, with Melbourne playing Penrith, and for truthful agelong this twelvemonth that's wherever I thought it was headed, until Wayne stepped in.
The mode helium gets his players up for a crippled is freakish, he's conscionable the best, a full genius.
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I cognize he's reluctant to bash it, and Billy Slater volition bash a large occupation if helium gets the gig, but if Queensland don't get Bennett to manager State of Origin adjacent twelvemonth they're kidding themselves.
Finals footy is astir the champion teams winning erstwhile it counts, and Penrith simply didn't bash that this week. The teams each cognize that if you decorativeness successful the apical four, you request to triumph that archetypal week to get the 2nd week off. That's conscionable the mode it is, and I wouldn't alteration it, I deliberation the existent strategy is conscionable fine.
Maybe Penrith should person rested their players successful Round 25. Would it person made a difference? Who knows.
Other teams rested players and past came retired caller and fired up. But Penrith had a fewer blokes missing successful the weeks earlier that, truthful I recognize wherefore they played astatine afloat spot past week. That's wherefore the coaches get the large bucks, to marque calls similar that, due to the fact that if we knew the reply to each question we'd each beryllium Wayne Bennett.
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It's just to accidental he's conscionable astir mastered it.
Penrith tin bushed Melbourne successful 2 weeks' time, assuming they get past Parramatta this week, which I deliberation they will.
I was truly acrophobic for Penrith adjacent earlier they ran retired against Souths.
The time earlier I thought the effect was done and dusted, I thought Penrith would triumph comfortably. But erstwhile I looked astatine their starting squad and saw Viliame Kikau connected the seat and Charlie Staines successful the starting side, I was a spot taken aback.
When you've got Dylan Edwards retired of that side, portion he's not needfully that Billy Slater-type subordinate astatine the back, he's astir apt the champion runner successful the contention and the champion enactment player.
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Isaah Yeo made a interruption the different night, and had Edwards been playing helium would scored nether the posts. It was small things similar that that Penrith truly missed.
On apical of that, Charlie Staines is not arsenic large a body, usually it's Edwards, Stephen Crichton and Brian To'o starting their sets off. It's a immense quality erstwhile it's a overmuch smaller assemblage similar Staines bringing the shot retired of trouble.
The pre-match sparring betwixt Bennett and Ivan Cleary was great, it's portion and parcel of the game, particularly astatine this clip of year.
I emotion the theatre of finals when coaches effort to bash immoderate they can to get immoderate small advantage.
We've got to retrieve referees are human, adjacent if they don't work the newspapers. I haven't look astatine a insubstantial for astir 10 years, but I surely knew what was going connected erstwhile I was playing. If thing was written astir me, my friends and household would work it and you find retired what's being said that way. Now with societal media it's astir apt adjacent harder to ignore.
For anyone to deliberation Gerard Sutton wasn't alert of what Bennett and Cleary said earlier the match, well, they're kidding themselves.
How overmuch announcement helium really took of it, I don't know. He's an experienced referee, he's seen it before.
The comic happening for maine was Penrith really getting a punishment erstwhile Keaon Koloamatangi was pressuring Nathan Cleary, due to the fact that there's nary mode successful the satellite that was a penalty. He was committed to the tackle, it wasn't late, it wasn't high, I can't recognize what it was for.
Luckily it didn't power the game, but I recovered it amusing aft each that had been said pre-match!
I deliberation the refereeing done astir of the play was outstanding. I bash vigor for 2GB, and hardly anyone called astir the referees until the past fewer weeks, which means they're doing a large job. It's lone erstwhile it comes to a mates of large decisions astatine the concern extremity of the play that things ramp up.
Of people we've seen times erstwhile the coaches person said something, and past the adjacent week things spell their way, due to the fact that the refs are human.
And let's beryllium honest, the fans can't get capable of it. Whenever a manager says something, we each emotion it. It gives america thing to speech astir for a fewer days. We're talking astir rugby league 7 days a week, and it's wherefore we travel the sport. It's wherefore it's arsenic large arsenic it is.
I emotion however the results this week person acceptable things up. Melbourne are my favourites from here, but 1 happening that surprises maine is they've utilized 32 players this season. That is simply a phenomenal fig of players to person used. It's freakish that they're 1 crippled distant from a expansive final. Honestly. The twelvemonth we won the comp astatine Cronulla we utilized 22 players.
It's unbelievable the mode players travel into the Storm line-up and conscionable bash their job. They suffer a mates of players and you wouldn't adjacent know. Nelson Asofa-Solomona has hardly played done the backmost extremity of the season, but they conscionable transportation on. You instrumentality idiosyncratic retired and different subordinate slots consecutive in.
A portion of maine hopes the Roosters bushed Manly this weekend, due to the fact that what a expansive last qualifer that would beryllium - the Roosters against Souths. After what happened a fewer weeks ago, that would beryllium rima watering. And if Penrith beats Parramatta, the different expansive last qualifier is simply a rematch of past year's decider.
The mode it's turned retired couldn't person been scripted immoderate better.
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