Entry 10. 12th November 2010
Four weeks of tough Rugby League action comes to a close in Brisbane tomorrow when the Four Nations final will be played at Suncorp Stadium.
It would be fair to say that Australia owe New Zealand after the Kiwis won the 2008 World Cup with a superb performance in the final. I get the feeling that the Australians have been simmering about that for two years and they will be keen to back up last year's 46-16 Elland Road defeat of England and win their second Four Nations crown on the bounce.
There is no doubting that the Aussies will be confident as well, afterall they did win at Eden Park last week to send the majority of the 44,000 crowd home very unhappy.
For Australia there is no Petero Civoniceva with some speculation suggesting that the big man will not get the opportunity to pull on a Green and Gold jumper again however we must remember the likes of Stephen Price and Reuben Wiki who both carried on pulling on the international uniform.
Billy Slater, Willie Tonga, Luke Lewis and Darren Lockyer all return to the Kangaroos line up with Nate Miles on the bench.
Such is the changing culture of the Australian side that only four of the seventeen played in the 2008 World Cup final while in comparison, New Zealand still call on ten of their number from that fateful day.
Another old face to return for Australia is Darren Lockyer and the veteran halfback still holds the key in my view. This will be his 54th test and what is more he reclaims the captain's armband.
The Australian team annouced is:
Billy Slater
Brett Morris
Brent Tate
Willie Tonga
Lote Tuqiri
D. Lockyer (c)
Cooper Cronk
Matthew Scott
Cameron Smith
David Shillington
Luke Lewis
Sam Thaiday
Paul Gallen
While the bench is expected to see Myles, Gidley, Learoyd-Lars and Watmough.
In comparison, the Kiwis still look strong but they will be hoping to get Marshall as involved as possible. I also think Lance Hohaia is a useful player and he always plays well, particularly against England. Gregg Eastwood has put behind him some patchy form for Leeds and has been stepped up the the front row while Thomas Leuluai continues ahead of Isaac Luke at hooker. With no Frank Pritchard due to injury, Kiwi's boss Stephen Kearney has named another big bench.
Here is the NZ squad.
Lance Hohaia
J. Nightingale
S. Kenny-Dowall
Junior Sa'u
Sam Perrett
Benji Marshall (c)
Nathan Fien
Greg Eastwood
Thomas Leuluai
Adam Blair
Bronson Harrison
Simon Mannering
Jeremy Smith
Interchange (from): Issac Luke, Ben Matulino, Frank-Paul Nuuausala, Sam McKendry, Sika Manu, Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, Lewis Brown
I think we are in for a cracker - let's just hope it's better than last week, and a different result!
Showing posts with label Previews. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Previews. Show all posts
Friday, 12 November 2010
Saturday, 18 September 2010
SL PREVIEW - THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS BUT THEY HAVE TO BEAT WARRINGTON
Huddersfield Giants haven't beaten Warrington in three attempts this season and in order to upset the applecart and upset the expected top four party, that is exactly what they need to do.
At the Galpharm in February, Warrington won through narrowly - 14-10 before an outstanding performance in the Challenge Cup saw a demolition job. It was expected to be a close game, afterall the two clubs got to the 2009 final but it turned into anything but with Warrington winning by 60-4. The worrying thing for the Giants is that cutting edge centre Chris Bridge is back, and in form.
The England international scored five tries against the Giants in May and since returning to the Wolves first team panel he has scored 3 tries and 6 goals in two games. This has come after he was tipped not to play again this term after an injury sustained in June against Leeds.
The last time the teams met was at the Halliwell Jones Stadium and once again, Warrington had the upper hand winning 36-20.
Tries on that day for the Wolves came from Paul Wood, Chris Riley, Adrian Morley, Bridge, Chris Hicks (2) and Matt King while Bridge also weighed in with four goals. Huddersfield registered tries by Luke Robinson, Jomahl Lolesi, and Leroy Cudjoe (2) with Brett Hodgson booting a couple of goals.
Brett Hodgson is looking to continue the Giants recent form, which took an upturn after coach Nathan Brown performed a U-turn and opted to stay at the Galpharm for the rest of his contract after earlier saying that he was going to return to Australia.
The experienced fullback, who enjoyed a lengthy NRL career with Wests Tigers and picked up the Man-of-Steel award last year, will take up a two year contract with the Wolves in November but until then he is fully committed to the Giants.
Huddersfield have some usefl players. Wingers Leroy Cudjoe and David Hodgson have scored 23 and 25 tries respectively while at halfback there is an embarrassment of riches with Kevin Brown, Luke Robinson and Danny Brough all taking on the roles at various times this season. Robinson is a tough character who has also worked a lot at hooker this season with former Workington Town number nine Shaun Lunt. Lunt has bagged himself 11 tries while in a solid pack David Fa'alogo, Larne Patrick, Lee Gilmour, Andy Raleigh, Eorl Crabtree and Darrell Griffin have all made an impact with Keith Mason looking to do likewise if he can force his way into selection having served his three match ban for an incident at Wigan.
Warrington are perhaps even more explosive.
In addition to Bridge, Chris Hicks, Chris Riley and Matt King have all claimed 20 or more tries this season and even if they can be contained, Ryan Atkins could cause untild problems. The brains trust will probably lie with Michael Monaghan and Lee Briers after Richie Myler failed to recover in time from his turned ankle and the Wolves pack is among the best in Super League with Morley, Ben Westwood and Ben Harrison all very consistent while Paul Wood and David Solomona really add to the team from the bench.
All in all it looks like another interesting game in prospect.
Although bookmakers are tipping a Warrington win, we only have to look back a month for what was the Giants result of the season - an 18-16 defeat of Wigan in their own back yard! That in itself offers caution.
At the Galpharm in February, Warrington won through narrowly - 14-10 before an outstanding performance in the Challenge Cup saw a demolition job. It was expected to be a close game, afterall the two clubs got to the 2009 final but it turned into anything but with Warrington winning by 60-4. The worrying thing for the Giants is that cutting edge centre Chris Bridge is back, and in form.
The England international scored five tries against the Giants in May and since returning to the Wolves first team panel he has scored 3 tries and 6 goals in two games. This has come after he was tipped not to play again this term after an injury sustained in June against Leeds.
The last time the teams met was at the Halliwell Jones Stadium and once again, Warrington had the upper hand winning 36-20.
Tries on that day for the Wolves came from Paul Wood, Chris Riley, Adrian Morley, Bridge, Chris Hicks (2) and Matt King while Bridge also weighed in with four goals. Huddersfield registered tries by Luke Robinson, Jomahl Lolesi, and Leroy Cudjoe (2) with Brett Hodgson booting a couple of goals.
Brett Hodgson is looking to continue the Giants recent form, which took an upturn after coach Nathan Brown performed a U-turn and opted to stay at the Galpharm for the rest of his contract after earlier saying that he was going to return to Australia.
The experienced fullback, who enjoyed a lengthy NRL career with Wests Tigers and picked up the Man-of-Steel award last year, will take up a two year contract with the Wolves in November but until then he is fully committed to the Giants.
Huddersfield have some usefl players. Wingers Leroy Cudjoe and David Hodgson have scored 23 and 25 tries respectively while at halfback there is an embarrassment of riches with Kevin Brown, Luke Robinson and Danny Brough all taking on the roles at various times this season. Robinson is a tough character who has also worked a lot at hooker this season with former Workington Town number nine Shaun Lunt. Lunt has bagged himself 11 tries while in a solid pack David Fa'alogo, Larne Patrick, Lee Gilmour, Andy Raleigh, Eorl Crabtree and Darrell Griffin have all made an impact with Keith Mason looking to do likewise if he can force his way into selection having served his three match ban for an incident at Wigan.
Warrington are perhaps even more explosive.
In addition to Bridge, Chris Hicks, Chris Riley and Matt King have all claimed 20 or more tries this season and even if they can be contained, Ryan Atkins could cause untild problems. The brains trust will probably lie with Michael Monaghan and Lee Briers after Richie Myler failed to recover in time from his turned ankle and the Wolves pack is among the best in Super League with Morley, Ben Westwood and Ben Harrison all very consistent while Paul Wood and David Solomona really add to the team from the bench.
All in all it looks like another interesting game in prospect.
Although bookmakers are tipping a Warrington win, we only have to look back a month for what was the Giants result of the season - an 18-16 defeat of Wigan in their own back yard! That in itself offers caution.
Friday, 17 September 2010
SL Preview: Wigan v Hull KR
Like the Highlander films "There can be only one" as Wigan take on Hull Kingston Rovers at the DW Stadium tonight.
This has the potential to be a good game with Wigan still smarting from their narrow defeat to Leeds and Rovers cock-a-hoop at beating their neighbours last week.
I feel that both packs are fairly evenly matched with Clint Newton in pretty good form for the visitors while Ben Galea worked himself to a stand-still last week. The occasions I have seen Rhys Lovegrove this season he too has impressed while Michael Vella is another right up there in the performance rankings at Craven Park.
Last week I felt Ben Fisher had an excellent game. His distribution was crisp and his workrate tremendous - 44 tackles being credited to him in the League Express. Shaun Briscoe will return to the scene of his first professional club, as will Liam Colbon. Ben Cockayne also had a superb game for Rovers. He is a player that can really get under the skin of the opposition but a look at his stats just shows how much he added to the Robins against their arch local rivals. He made 23 tackles, took the ball in 16 times and made 138 metres.
Another former Wigan player is Michael Dobson and when he plays well, Rovers excel. Last week was one of his good days, and what a day! His field kicking was excellent and he banged four goals over too.
It could be a battle of the little big men and I wonder whether Michael Maguire will move Man-of-Steel nominations Sam Tomkins and Pat Richards?
Tomkins has done a good job at fullback and has something of the Darren Lockyer about him, which can only be good for England's hopes in the end of season Four Nations but I wonder whether due to injury to Paul Deacon he will move up to the halves to partner Thomas Leuluai.
Wigan will be dangerous, make no bones about it. Martin Gleeson and George Carmont are both shrewd operators in the centre while the likes of Richards and Darrell Goulding have finished off chances and half chances all season.
Leuluai himself is the only British based player to be selected in the squad so far announced by New Zealand for the Four Nations and he has matured into an even better player whether at halfback of hooker. Stuart Fielden and Andy Coley give the Warriors good go-forward while Liam Farrell has been this years Super League bolter. Farrell started the season on the fringes of the Wigan first team and was farmed out to Widnes on a dual contract. There he excelled and ever since being recalled by the Warriors he has appeared more in the first team than the Under-20s. He is learning all the time from people like Sean O'Loughlin who deserves all the press heading his way this season.
The scene is set - let's hope it's a good game and not the wash out we witnessed at the same ground earlier this year when Wigan found it all too easy on their way to a 32-6 win.
This has the potential to be a good game with Wigan still smarting from their narrow defeat to Leeds and Rovers cock-a-hoop at beating their neighbours last week.
I feel that both packs are fairly evenly matched with Clint Newton in pretty good form for the visitors while Ben Galea worked himself to a stand-still last week. The occasions I have seen Rhys Lovegrove this season he too has impressed while Michael Vella is another right up there in the performance rankings at Craven Park.
Last week I felt Ben Fisher had an excellent game. His distribution was crisp and his workrate tremendous - 44 tackles being credited to him in the League Express. Shaun Briscoe will return to the scene of his first professional club, as will Liam Colbon. Ben Cockayne also had a superb game for Rovers. He is a player that can really get under the skin of the opposition but a look at his stats just shows how much he added to the Robins against their arch local rivals. He made 23 tackles, took the ball in 16 times and made 138 metres.
Another former Wigan player is Michael Dobson and when he plays well, Rovers excel. Last week was one of his good days, and what a day! His field kicking was excellent and he banged four goals over too.
It could be a battle of the little big men and I wonder whether Michael Maguire will move Man-of-Steel nominations Sam Tomkins and Pat Richards?
Tomkins has done a good job at fullback and has something of the Darren Lockyer about him, which can only be good for England's hopes in the end of season Four Nations but I wonder whether due to injury to Paul Deacon he will move up to the halves to partner Thomas Leuluai.
Wigan will be dangerous, make no bones about it. Martin Gleeson and George Carmont are both shrewd operators in the centre while the likes of Richards and Darrell Goulding have finished off chances and half chances all season.
Leuluai himself is the only British based player to be selected in the squad so far announced by New Zealand for the Four Nations and he has matured into an even better player whether at halfback of hooker. Stuart Fielden and Andy Coley give the Warriors good go-forward while Liam Farrell has been this years Super League bolter. Farrell started the season on the fringes of the Wigan first team and was farmed out to Widnes on a dual contract. There he excelled and ever since being recalled by the Warriors he has appeared more in the first team than the Under-20s. He is learning all the time from people like Sean O'Loughlin who deserves all the press heading his way this season.
The scene is set - let's hope it's a good game and not the wash out we witnessed at the same ground earlier this year when Wigan found it all too easy on their way to a 32-6 win.
Sunday, 14 March 2010
Robbie Paul to step into unknown
Centurions skipper Robbie Paul is waiting in anticipation, having not had the opportunity to play at Cougar Park during his illustrious career.
"It sounds crazy but I've never played there before." He said. "I can't help but think I'm not going to be too well received there either because of their local connections with Bradford and me being known for my time with Bradford Bulls for so long."
"Keighley were quite successful last year and have gone from strength to strength on the field in the recent past."
Paul continued, "It's a nice little challenge for us because we know how to play at home. We've spent a lot of time in our stadium and we are very familiar with those surroundings. One of the big problems that we had last year was consistencey away from home. We did a good job at Dewsbury last week and that is what we want to grow from. These are new challenges, playing away from home, playing in different environments where supporters can ride the referees a little bit more. It can be taxing and you've got to approach it the right way."
"Keighley is a town in the heartlands of rugby league. It has also produced some great Super League players in the past as well, Richard Moore is a perfect example, he's had a bit of success with the Bulls and Wakefield Trinity."
John Duffy returns to the side after missing last weekend's cup win over Cumbrian amateurs Wath Brow Hornets while Ricky Bibey continues his comeback trail.
"It sounds crazy but I've never played there before." He said. "I can't help but think I'm not going to be too well received there either because of their local connections with Bradford and me being known for my time with Bradford Bulls for so long."
"Keighley were quite successful last year and have gone from strength to strength on the field in the recent past."
Paul continued, "It's a nice little challenge for us because we know how to play at home. We've spent a lot of time in our stadium and we are very familiar with those surroundings. One of the big problems that we had last year was consistencey away from home. We did a good job at Dewsbury last week and that is what we want to grow from. These are new challenges, playing away from home, playing in different environments where supporters can ride the referees a little bit more. It can be taxing and you've got to approach it the right way."
"Keighley is a town in the heartlands of rugby league. It has also produced some great Super League players in the past as well, Richard Moore is a perfect example, he's had a bit of success with the Bulls and Wakefield Trinity."
John Duffy returns to the side after missing last weekend's cup win over Cumbrian amateurs Wath Brow Hornets while Ricky Bibey continues his comeback trail.
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