NRL great PAUL GALLEN will appear on Nine’s 100% FOOTY every Monday night of the NRL season, debating rugby league’s hottest topics alongside Phil Gould and James Bracey. Tune in tonight at 10:30pm (AEDT) following a bumper Round Two!
Souths are reportedly angry after vision emerged of Brandon Smith supposedly mocking Latrell Mitchell after the Storm beat the Rabbitohs.
Seriously, there was nothing in it, that’s Brandon Smith, he’s a cheeky bugger and I’ve got no issue with it to be honest. Whether it was mocking or not I’m not sure. But that’s the type of guy that Brandon is, he’s a bit of a character.
We assume it was aimed at Latrell, but it’s just part of the game, I don’t know what the fuss is about.
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Players have an opinion on something and then as soon as they express that opinion people start jumping up and down and carrying on. All that does is make the players go into their shell and next time they just say ‘Yes sir, No sir’ and trot out every cliche in the book. What happens then? Everyone complains that there’s no personality!
You can’t win.
It’s especially hard in a team sport. As soon as someone does something different, they’re criticised. So they step back into line and then everyone complains there’s no characters in the game.
You need characters. Take it for what it is. If he is taking the mickey out of Latrell, well let Latrell get him next time they play. It’s a bit of banter, if it generates some interest in the game and it’s not offensive then I’ve got no issue at all.
I doubt Latrell would even care. It’s fun to watch. He can remind Smith of it next time they play.
SHOULD MANLY FANS BE WORRIED ABOUT TURBO?
My Wide World of Sports colleague Billy Slater said on Billy’s Breakdown this week how Luke Keary had made a telling admission after the Roosters beat Manly, revealing just how much effort teams are putting in to shut down Tom Trbojevic.
Sure, Manly are 0-2 but let’s not forget they were 0-4 last year and ended up one win away from a grand final appearance, so it’s hardly panic stations just yet.
I said last year that I thought part of Manly’s problems early on was a lack of match fitness, because they’re such a big team. Their forward pack is huge, I think they need three or four weeks of running under their belts to get match hardened.
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The big difference this year, as everyone is pointing out, is that Trbojevic was absent at the start of 2021, and he’s been relatively quiet in both of this year’s losses.
Let me say from the beginning, it will be nearly impossible for Trbojevic to have another season like he did last year. The level he was at last year was incredible.
He’ll still be a major player in the competition, of that there is no doubt, and he’ll be a huge force within the Manly side.
His form last year was spectacular, but let’s not forget that he’s been a genuine superstar for a number of years. Last year didn’t come out of the blue. He’s been a New South Wales and Australian player for a while.
While he may not have the same number of line-breaks or tries as he did in 2021, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t remain among the game’s elite.
We probably expect a bit too much from players like him. We expect him to repeat the brilliance from last year, but you’ve got to remember he’s now up against opposition sides that will mark him even more than closely than ever before, and it’s not as though he was given free reign in the past.
His opponents will want to get to him, to restrict the time he has in space, there’s a whole lot more to it this year.
Tommy is a great player, anyone who says otherwise after two weeks is kidding themselves, let’s judge him over the course of the season, not because of two losses against two very strong teams.
There’s been some talk that the change to the six again rule might have had an impact on the quality of Turbo’s play, but I can’t agree with that.
The six again rule has only changed from within your own 40 metre zone. While there’s no doubt it will slow the game down a little bit, I think it can also give the attacking side an advantage.
You’re kicking the ball 20-30 metres downfield, in fact we saw on the weekend a couple that were 40-50 metres downfield. That’s like three or four free tackles, you’d rather take tackle one from a position inside the opposition’s half.
It might slow the game down a little bit, which stops the forwards from getting too tired, but I don’t think it’s a significant change in that respect, so I wouldn’t be reading too much into it.
Let’s not forget Manly have played last year’s premiers in Penrith, and the Roosters, who I’ve tipped to make this year’s grand final. It’s not like the Sea Eagles have had an easy start to the year. There’s no disgrace in being 0-2 after those two matches, let’s see how things shake out after a couple of months before you start putting a red pen through any team. If I’m a Manly supporter I’m not concerned just yet.
WHY BAZ WAS RIGHT TO BLOW UP
I saw Bulldogs coach Trent Barrett blowing up over a try that was awarded to Herbie Farnworth in yesterday’s match, saying that maybe he should coach his players to lay down if they think there’s been an obstruction.
I thought Trent had a case – to me it probably wasn’t a try. The way the rules are written I thought it shouldn’t have been awarded. Farnworth went at the outside shoulder of the defender and made contact, it was minimal contact, but the rules are the rules.
You’ve got to get it right, and the Broncos didn’t get it right. I don’t think we need to have any discretion in this case, it should be black and white.
That’s the way it’s worked for a while, if they run at the outside shoulder of the defending player and make any sort of contact it’s been pulled back.
From that point of view I understand Trent’s frustration.
It’s fair enough for the club to ask the question, because every two points is vital. The Bulldogs could have been 2-0 to start the season.
I said a couple of weeks ago the Bulldogs wouldn’t be anywhere near the top eight, and I haven’t changed that opinion. They’ve improved on last year, without a doubt, but they’ve had a decent draw to start the season, playing the Cowboys and Broncos. I’ve still got the Bulldogs finishing in the bottom five somewhere.
The biggest positive is that they’re competitive this year. They’ve got a forward pack that can match it with most teams, and I thought their new signing Matt Burton was pretty good against Brisbane.
It’s going to be a very different year for Burton, he’s come from a side where he played in the centres with the New South Wales halfback directing the team around the park, and now all of a sudden he’s got to be the leader of the team. It’s a big change for him.
His kicking game is one of the best in the competition, and it looks like his running game has improved as well. I’ve been impressed.
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