The Bulldogs Brass Have No Idea What They Are Doing: After the Trent Barrett debacle, everyone who had any kind of fondness for the Bulldogs – from Margot Robbie to your less-than-honourable scribe – drank the kool-aid. We believed that Gus could play saviour, even if it was unpalatable to listen to him. We believed that what happened at Penrith had something to do with him. We believed that Cameron Ciraldo could come in and make an immediate impact, particularly on the defensive side of the ball. We believed that after years of salary cap hell that when the slate got blank again the club would be astute, particular and move forward with some semblance of a plan. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.
Anyone who has listened to Gould long enough knows he likes to run his mouth in public. That is fine. But his public persona – even though I’m blocked on Twitter and refuse to watch Nine – has become increasingly unhinged and, in the words of Souths CEO Blake Solly, “tiresome”. He likes to take credit for Penrith but he sacked Ivan Cleary and with it almost lost Nathan Cleary while he brought in Anthony Griffin, among other things. He is a master at buying time but he clearly has not plan for the Bulldogs other than “let’s try and get things from Penrith”.
Ciraldo might be a good head coach. It is looking a lot less likely now than it was 12 months back, particularly now he is standing in contrast with his former assistant Andrew Webster. There have been injury troubles at the Bulldogs this year, no risk, but the club is conceding 31.29 points per game – only four teams across the last decade have conceded more than 30 points per game. He went out of his way to make Hayze Perham a fullback. He continues to play Corey Waddell and other underperformers.
Recruitment and retention has not only been appalling but utterly nonsensical. Karl Oloapu was recruited as the next great half and is now being declared as a lock. Viliame Kikau and Reed Mahoney have been busts or close to. Ryan Sutton can;t even get a game he has gone that bad. Toby Sexton was recruited midseason – and is doing absolutely nothing. Reserve graders Blake Taafe and Jaeman Salmon are being paid like first graders. The most egregious of all though has been the decision to let talented local youngster Jake Averillo go.
The Bulldogs are cast. All hope is lost.
It was like some horrible crime committed in a dungeon, all unseen and unheeded, buried out of sight and of memory.
The NRLW is Absolutely Airborne: There were plenty of critics who thought the NRLW expanding to 10 teams so quickly was a bad idea. They were wrong – majorly wrong. The NRLW is airborne, a remarkable showcase of the most talented female Rugby League players in the world. Anyone who has seen the aggression of Jayme Fressard, the power running of Isabelle Kelly, the speed of Tamika Upton, the elusiveness of Leianne Tufuga, the tackle busting of Evania Pelite, the straight lines of Mele Hufanaga, the workrate of Georgia Hale or dominance through the middle of Sara Togatuki knows just how awesome this league is. Talks of further expansion, a dedicated magic round and an extended season are all warranted.
Kasey Badger Should Never Be Allowed in The Bunker Again: The NRL cannot say they weren’t warned. Once again they have been bitten by the absolute disgrace that is Kasey Badger when she awarded a try to Leo Thompson that was clearly dropped. This was a day after Lachlan Ilias had a try taken off him that was likely fairly grounded but showed some shift. The Thompson try has been clearly disallowed almost entirely under the period of The Bunker yet this idiot goes rogue and allows it. She has no business being in there. She has absolutely no skills to be there other than the fact she was an on-field referee. If the NRL persists on The Bunker reviewing every decision, they need to move quickly to separation and segregation where The Bunker is filled by specialists with no history in officiating and hopefully none of the pettiness and ridiculous views of the game that come with it.
Ricky Gets Wound Up: It is not hard to wind Ricky Stuart up. He is in a permanent state of anger. And he has been given plenty in this column. But critics of his 81-second press conference are off the mark. Unlike Wayne Bennett the week prior, Stuart was at least respectful.
Kicking Duel Makes a Stunning Half-Comeback: Credit goes to Manly for pulling off some complete lair in their attempt to stun Penrith on Thursday night. Even their wild game plan surely didn’t include an attempt to induce a kicking duel though with Reuben Garrick going completely off script by returning a kick with a kick on the first tackle. Dylan Edwards was having none of it – he scooped it up, scooted 20 metres and sent his winger across for a try.
Challenge Cup Classic: History was made on Saturday night when the Leigh Leopards claimed their first trophy in 41 years and their first Challenge Cup in 52 when Lachlan Lam slotted a golden point field goal to cruel Hull KR in the first Challenge Cup final not to include any of the big four teams – Saints, Wigan, Leeds and Warrington – have not played in the decider since 1986. It has been a remarkable rebirth for Leigh – founded in 1878 and in the Championship last season – with the Leopards now Cup winners and sitting second on the Super League ladder. There is no bigger story in Rugby League this year.
Willie M Team of the Week: This week’s team of dullards, dopes and dumbasses:
1.Jordan Rapana (Can)
2.Bailey Simonsson (Par)
3.Will Penisini (Par)
4.Ethan Strange (Can)
5.Blake Wilson (Bul)
6.Kieran Foran (GC)
7.Toby Sexton (Bul)
8.Tevita Pangai Jnr (Bul)
9.Joey Lussick (Par)
10.Joseph Tapine (Can)
11.Viliame Kikau (Bul)
12.Andrew Davey (Par)
13.Luke Thompson (Bul)
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14.Adrian Trevilyan (Can)
15.Isaac Liu (GC)
16.Keano Kini (GC)
17.Brendan Hands (Par)
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2023 Field Goal Update – 34: The lack of field goals in recent weeks has been utterly disgraceful.
Fun Fact #1: Jarrod Croker will retire 1066 points clear of second on the all-time Raiders point-scoring list – David Furner.
Fun Fact #2: Jarrod Croker joins John Sutton, Aiden Tolman, Mitch Aubusson and John Morris as the only 300-gamers not to play either Origin or international football.
Fun Fact #3: The top two Raiders tryscorers are both Crokers – but not related.
Betting Market of the Week: Over/Under on when we will see the next attempt at a kicking duel:
$501: Before the 2099 season
$1.01: After the 2099 season/Never again
Rumour Mill: Payne Haas will almost certainly move on from the Broncos with more than money playing a role as the devout muslim is keen for a move to Sydney. Adrian Lam’s incredible coaching performance at Leigh has thrown him well into the mix for the next NRL coaching cycle with the Sea Eagles, Knights, Bulldogs and Eels all in the mix. Jarome Luai looks increasingly likely to stay with Penrith on a reduced deal.There is plenty of suspicion surrounding some NRL stats markets at the moment.
The Coaching Crosshairs: In what shapes as one of the most laughable decisions one could possibly imagine, the gutless NSWRL are set to extend Brad Fittler’s contract to lead the Blues team. That is despite losing three of the last four series as a heavy favourite on the back of some of the most inane tactical and selection decisions you could ever imagine. They could reprise Mr Squiggle and he would be better suited to the role. Dave Trodden and the NSWRL board should resign in shame, leave the state immediately and seek refugee status in some AFL state nobody cares about. Fittler not only lost – he played a key role in the losing. He showed he was not up to the role time and time again. To recall him will be to hand the Maroons another series.
Moronic Coaching Decision of the Week: Brad Arthur’s persistence in using Ryan Matterson off the bench has to be one of the dumbest possible uses for him. Matterson is among the Eels’ highest paid and their most talented. He can play middle, edge or even in the halves yet is consistently used off the bench so the likes of Andrew Davey and Bryce Cartwright can chew up minutes and miss tackles. Matterson has started off the bench in 8 of the last 11 games – with the Eels going 3-5 in that run.He has played sub-58 minutes in six of those. The Eels are 3-1 when Matterson has played 80-plus minutes.
Watch It: There has not been much to crow about for Bulldogs fans this year so let’s go back to 1995 when the club had players who ran hard and actually cared and this wonderful Robert Relf solo run that landed him one of his 10 tries in Canterbury colours. Watch it here.
