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Anasta puts Williams in his place
Wednesday, April 25, 2007 - 7:36 PM
Braith Anasta said "loudmouth" St George Illawarra counterpart Richie Williams belonged in reserve grade after the young Dragon failed to back up his pre-match talk on the field in the Anzac Day clash.
Anasta was left irate by comments in the press in which Williams, who played just his sixth first grade game at Aussie Stadium on Wednesday, claimed the former NSW Origin star was passed his best.
The Sydney Roosters pivot answered in the best possible fashion as he engineered his side's first victory of the season and 1000th overall - an 18-4 win over the Dragons - before letting fly at Williams.
"For someone who's done absolutely nothing in the game I think it's a pretty big call," said Anasta, who was involved in a running verbal battle with Williams throughout the match.
"I think his performance today showed who he is as a person and I think he'll probably be back in reserve grade next week where he belongs."
Reserve grade isn't somewhere Anasta will be going anytime soon after putting in a performance which would have made NSW selectors sit up and take notice.
After keeping their jousting strictly verbal, the rival five-eighths engaged in some push and shove just before halftime as they waited for a scrum to pack.
But it was Anasta with the last laugh after he ran around the 20-year-old to set up the match-winning try for winger Shaun Kenny-Dowall in the 50th minute.
"I just said 'are you going to do anything or are you just going to pass the ball' - and then he passed the ball," Anasta said.
"He wanted to talk the talk and didn't want to walk the walk.
"It's garbage - you're preparing yourself for a game and you got everyone telling you about some bloke who's played a couple of games trying to criticise me and then he turns up and plays like that - it just fires you up even more.
"It fired the team up - he did a good job for us today Richie Williams.
"It's a pity for his teammates having to put up with that - they would have been fired up for the match, they're all great blokes turning up to play football and your teammates a loudmouth like that, it doesn't help."
The Dragons kept Williams away from the media as they wallowed in the sheds after their most disappointing performance of the season, the frustration clearly evident on coach Nathan Brown's face.
Brown said he would address Williams about his attitude in the coming days - something he has already had to do this year after the livewire No.6 made a gesture to Gold Coast fullback Preston Campbell as he scored one of his two tries in his debut against the Titans.
"It wouldn't matter if Richie had played five games or 500 games - I have spoken to him once before and I'll talk to him again that he's maybe best off showing a bit more respect to opposition sides and players," Brown said.
"It doesn't matter how good you are - you could be Brad Fittler or Richie Williams - I don't think that's the way to go through it.
"I think people that encourage him or are close to him that may be able to have some influence on him, probably the best help (they can give) him is by educating him that a lot of those things come back to bite you."
Brown said he wouldn't necessarily drop Williams for next Friday's game against Penrith, but given his poor showing and the likely availability of Mathew Head, his days in the top grade may be numbered for the short term.
Anasta puts Williams in his place
Wednesday, April 25, 2007 - 7:36 PM
Braith Anasta said "loudmouth" St George Illawarra counterpart Richie Williams belonged in reserve grade after the young Dragon failed to back up his pre-match talk on the field in the Anzac Day clash.
Anasta was left irate by comments in the press in which Williams, who played just his sixth first grade game at Aussie Stadium on Wednesday, claimed the former NSW Origin star was passed his best.
The Sydney Roosters pivot answered in the best possible fashion as he engineered his side's first victory of the season and 1000th overall - an 18-4 win over the Dragons - before letting fly at Williams.
"For someone who's done absolutely nothing in the game I think it's a pretty big call," said Anasta, who was involved in a running verbal battle with Williams throughout the match.
"I think his performance today showed who he is as a person and I think he'll probably be back in reserve grade next week where he belongs."
Reserve grade isn't somewhere Anasta will be going anytime soon after putting in a performance which would have made NSW selectors sit up and take notice.
After keeping their jousting strictly verbal, the rival five-eighths engaged in some push and shove just before halftime as they waited for a scrum to pack.
But it was Anasta with the last laugh after he ran around the 20-year-old to set up the match-winning try for winger Shaun Kenny-Dowall in the 50th minute.
"I just said 'are you going to do anything or are you just going to pass the ball' - and then he passed the ball," Anasta said.
"He wanted to talk the talk and didn't want to walk the walk.
"It's garbage - you're preparing yourself for a game and you got everyone telling you about some bloke who's played a couple of games trying to criticise me and then he turns up and plays like that - it just fires you up even more.
"It fired the team up - he did a good job for us today Richie Williams.
"It's a pity for his teammates having to put up with that - they would have been fired up for the match, they're all great blokes turning up to play football and your teammates a loudmouth like that, it doesn't help."
The Dragons kept Williams away from the media as they wallowed in the sheds after their most disappointing performance of the season, the frustration clearly evident on coach Nathan Brown's face.
Brown said he would address Williams about his attitude in the coming days - something he has already had to do this year after the livewire No.6 made a gesture to Gold Coast fullback Preston Campbell as he scored one of his two tries in his debut against the Titans.
"It wouldn't matter if Richie had played five games or 500 games - I have spoken to him once before and I'll talk to him again that he's maybe best off showing a bit more respect to opposition sides and players," Brown said.
"It doesn't matter how good you are - you could be Brad Fittler or Richie Williams - I don't think that's the way to go through it.
"I think people that encourage him or are close to him that may be able to have some influence on him, probably the best help (they can give) him is by educating him that a lot of those things come back to bite you."
Brown said he wouldn't necessarily drop Williams for next Friday's game against Penrith, but given his poor showing and the likely availability of Mathew Head, his days in the top grade may be numbered for the short term.
