Warriors Soldier Through on ANZAC Day Game

The Warriors have just put through the gutsiest performance seen in their 2011 campaign, taking out the Melbourne Storm 18-14 at AAMI Park in Melbourne.

The near-sellout crowd of 20,000+ Melbourne supporters was never enough as the Warriors got big meters with their sets, racking up multiple 70m+ gains consecutively which gave them at one point a 18-6 lead.

However it was their defensive efforts that kept the Storm from rolling over them with their usual speedy attack on the outside, with Matt Duffie unable to cross the line once and (as a very happy Warriors' supporter's crowd would love) Billy Slater being shut down every time he had the ball in hand by one of the big lads from the Warrior's forward pack.

This may be the thing that will ignite the season for the Auckland side, now with a 3-4 record entering round 8. This upcoming Sunday in Auckland they face a Penrith Panthers side who were embarrassed in their game over the Easter Weekend, so this gives the Warriors a great chance to go back-to-back for the second time this season.

Injuries are unknown as the game has just been completed, however the Warriors No5 Inu was seen limping around the field and seemed to find running a tad awkward. 


Has Ivan the Great held onto his job for another week?

FRIDAY NIGHT FOOTY RECAP: Manly flop, Broncos flare

Friday night Footy brought two great games, both having the same kick off time so it was a brutal change between channels over and over again to get the action unfolding.

The Broncos came up against a seemingly average Wests Tigers, with the halftime score being 25-9. Even the great Lockyer got across the line for four points with the Broncs ending up taking yet another game out for a final scoreline of 31-18. This keeps them at the top of the table with 12 points and only one loss.

At Brookvale Oval, Manly and Penrith had a tussle that some thought it would go all the way of the Sea Eagles with the near 14 point scoreline difference at times in the game in their favor. However, the game got very tight in the last 10 minutes with three converted tries scored, two for the Panthers. However the final score was 22-16 for the Eagles to take successive home victories.

Soward- Just Kick it, Tosser

The dominance of the St George-Ilawarra Dragons in the NRL has given their entire squad a swagger that is deserving a massive head high hit when they march on the pitch.

Obviously, every defending premiership winning team has the right to have this sort of walk going on, Melbourne did it every breathing minute of the day and night until they should have been thrown out of the competition altogether after scamming the entire sporting code for premierships and world titles.

But one bloke just takes it too far. Jaime Soward.

This bloke is the guy entrusted to take the tee and slot the extra two points for the defending champs. But as you will find from the below video, its a grade A joke when he starts his preparations for the kick. Most just step back, take a deep breath, ignore the crowd and slot it. But this is just beyond ridiculous. I believe he took Johnny Wilkonson's little pose before he took a kick to heart too much and just took this one step too far.

Soward, you are now up on par on my League hate-list with Billy Slater (who doesnt want to give him the biffo).

Kick the ball you tosser.

Warriors Name Lineup for Huge Game

Ivan Cleary has hopefully listed the right team this round, with the Warriors having a $1000 AUD fine for Ivan the Great (SPOILER: SARCASM ALERT) changing the team over and over right before kickoff.


Below is the team for the game v Melbourne Storm

VODAFONE WARRIORS v MELBOURNE STORM

AAMI Park, Melbourne
7.00pm, Monday, April 25

VODAFONE WARRIORS

1 LANCE HOHAIA
2 BILL TUPOU
3 LEWIS BROWN
4 SIMON MANNERING (c)
5 KRISNAN INU
6 JAMES MALONEY
7 BRETT SEYMOUR
8 SAM RAPIRA
9 AARON HEREMAIA
10 JACOB LILLYMAN
11 FELETI MATEO
12 ELIJAH TAYLOR
13 MICHEAL LUCK
Interchange:
14 ALEHANA MARA
15 JEREMY LATIMORE
16 BEN MATULINO
17 UKUMA TA’AI
20 RUSSELL PACKER

COACH: IVAN CLEARY

TU MEKE!

The main thing is that big man Ukuma Ta'ai is back on the starting lineup, he is extremely devastating with the ball in hand- having one of the highest line-break counts in the entire team. Brett Seymour is back from playing in the Vulcans for three rounds, where he led them to three straight victories. 


HISTORY: 
Played 26; Melbourne 13, Warriors 11, drawn 2. The Storm have won five of the past eight games between the sides, although the Warriors won the last encounter 13-6 at Mt Smart Stadium last year. They are yet to play at AAMI Park.

Tahu HUGE Hit... Yet Another Notch In His Belt

Last weekend I was watching the Panthers v Storm and this was something that just made everybody- including the commentators- go OOHHHHHHHHH

Check out the video I posted on YouTube straight after it happened

Carney- Should He Get Chucked From the Game Altogether?

Bugger

Todd Carney has been a character that has been in trouble for years through his incredible career in the NRL. The 2010 Daly M Medalist has recently just been stood down indefinitely after he was found to have been possibly drinking whilst he was supposed to be dry because of his attendance to AA Meetings. He is also under a 12-month good behavior bond from his current charges, on the 26th of February 2011 it was reported that Carney will be facing a low-range drink driving charge.

It was from these charges that he was given an ultimatum by NRL Chief Executive that this was his last chance, any further issues with the troubled star and he would be excluded from the sport for good. Now that these revelations have come about, Carney will re-appear in court no doubt to see what his fate will be.

This brings up the debate that has been rife in Rugby League for many years, the behavior of the players at many times can be rowdy, abusive and even law breaking. Many-a-player has been suspended or excluded completely from the sport. Some nightclubs in hot areas in Australia have at times gone to extensive lengths to exclude all professional League players from being allowed on their premises.

Kings Cross

Such steps made the NRL put a very hard line on players and their behavior. Clubs have rules in regards to alcohol consumption where they are not allowed to consume the drink for a certain period of time before their upcoming match that weekend, they also have imposed various curfews when teams are on tour at grounds other than their own.

However with the current dramas that have been brought on by Todd Carney, should these restrictions be more? Should teams that employ these professional players- remember, this is their profession, not a game- for hundreds of thousands of dollars, be put on a leash for the entire season?

Surely if the players were given a zero tolerance on their contract, yet given some sort of good behavior bonus every so often when they perform well that would allow them to consume alcohol and relax a little- this could be something that would be very beneficial to the players and the clubs alike. Clubs will no longer have to put up with players like Todd Carney wasting their money and time.

Todd Carney is an exceptional player, there is no doubting this, but it is the younger generation that look up to these sorts of men, they are subjected to looking at what seems to be another child that cannot seem to understand that he has had far too many chances from the highest echelons of his sport.


The name Todd Carney will no longer again be on any team starting list.

Cleary's Last Chance

The Warriors have been giving their fans the usual rollercoaster season that many are used to in their 2011 NRL season thus far.

Yet much flack has been coming from the media of late in regards to Ivan Cleary and his abilities to coach such a wildfire team as the Warriors. It is nothing new that the Warriors are very unpredictable, punters have made and lost fortunes on them, I myself have a thin head of hair- I will thank Ivan for this.

I was on the phone just a few moments ago to a close friend whom lives in Northern Queensland now. He says over the weeks that some NRL games, many of them Warriors games, are not shown on TV in Australia, which would obviously frustrate the many ex-pats over the ditch.

The obvious bias in Australia towards the only Kiwi team in the competition is frustration at its best. Referee's seem to do the craziest things when the Warriors are in sticky situations.

Tony Archer

My grandfather was on the NZRLU board back in the day, he was also a selector for the Kiwi's along with other things. But one of his best achievements was that he was a first-class referee based at the old Balmain Tigers club. When New Zealand players/ teams were involved it was something that opened the eyes of the referee's association. So I recently phoned up Errol, my grandfather, to ask him for a quote as to what was done with NZ teams and players in the Australian competition. He told me to think back to conversations we had about this exact thing when he said "We were all told to be bias against the Kiwi blokes, there is absolutely no doubt about that. I am not sure if this is a practice that continues today in the NRL, however when I watch games I see it happening all the time."

This is something that disgusts me. And as the Warriors line up against competition-power-cheaters the Melbourne Storm on Monday night on Melbourne's home turf at AAMI Park, this is something I will be looking at to keep Cleary's neck off the chopping block. The Warriors need to hold up impenetrable defense otherwise the Storm will easily put 13+ on them.

"I had no idea..."

The team list is something that the Warriors have had trouble with. Injuries and a coach that has really no idea what he is doing about the selections of his starting squad. In the last round, the Warriors were fined $1000AUD for changing the lineup at the last second- or that is how the NRL saw it. Jeremy Latimore was not supposed to be on the run-on team list, however he took the pitch instead of Russell Packer in their fixture against the Manly Sea Eagles over the weekend.

In reply, Cleary said "I had no idea why Russell was on the team list"..

Not only is this guy a poor coach, he is a total twit as well.

Bain's Prediction: Melbourne by 1-12 (unfortunately, but we can all dream of a Warriors win!)