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The NRL ladder would look very different if teams could close out games like Melbourne Storm
Paul Kent, The Daily Telegraph
June 27, 2017 6:00pm
Subscriber only
CRAIG Bellamy nearly burst a valve Saturday night. It nearly happened after Daniel Tupou narrowed the score to 24-18 when just seven minutes was left and then it nearly happened again when Brodie Croft, kicking for the corner, put it dead instead.
Bellamy got up from his chair and everything inside him constricted a little.
Then it happened again when Blake Ferguson went over with a minute left to give the Roosters the chance to level the game.
Which they did. And which they then won in golden point.
Squeezed somewhere in between was an opportunity for Croft, the emerging star, to go for a golden point field goal that would have won the game.
The best teams have great game management and Croft, so young into his career, could be at no better club than Melbourne to learn to close out a game.
All the great ones have the ability.
Melbourne have the heavyweight title, with Cameron Smith, Cooper Cronk and Billy Slater. Johnathan Thurston ranks second to nobody.
It is how we measure the great ones.
Darren Lockyer and Andrew Johns were the same.
The Raiders looked set to bank two competition three weeks back when they led Penrith 20-12 — a two-score margin — with just two minutes left in the game. They could fall over from here, you figured, and still couldn’t lose.
The Raiders were left to fossick through the remnants of losing the unlosable game, though.
And it was not so much what happened after the try that got Penrith close, as before it.
Game management, simple errors, refereeing mistakes, there are 40 different ways the momentum can shift in a game that have a permanent effect on the result.
And while late is easier to identify, it can also happen earlier.
Nathan Brown had to suffer through 40 minutes of second-half football that was cruel and inhuman on Sunday. If he was a dog you would have called in the RSPCA.
The Knights led 28-10 at halftime against a St George Illawarra team struggling for form and ripe to be beaten.
Then the tries came ... 28-16, 28-22, 28-28 and finally 28-32.
During the commentary it emerged that of the past 10 games when the Knights have led at halftime they have failed to defend that lead nine times.
So I am wondering how in this age of game management and small decisions seemingly have such an effect on results how the competition might look if everybody had a Cameron Smith or a Johnathan Thurston running at the controls.
A first-half leader made up entirely of teams that were able to get to a lead and maintain the advantage sees the Knights in the top eight.
This ladder suffers a little Melbourne Cup syndrome, racing to be first past the post on the first go round, forgetting it is a two-mile event.
The Warriors, those other heartbreakers, would also be a significant mover as well on such a ladder, climbing from 10th where they are now to fourth.
The big change in the ladder comes in the tight games.
A one-score ladder, turning the six point or less losses into wins, would have Canterbury fans even more frustrated can see just how close they could be.
The Bulldogs are currently 13th on the table but if they better managed the tight games, turning the one-score losses (six points or less) into wins, the Bulldogs would be third.
In this alternative ladder Canberra, with three golden point losses and two more close losses, would lead the competition with 11 wins. The Panthers would be fourth.
It sheds new light on how costly the seemingly innocuous decisions can be.
When Jack Wighton kicked to the corner after 77 minutes against Penrith, Nick Cotric chased and nearly scored but, instead, knocked the ball on in-goal.
The Raiders didn’t need an attacking kick. They led by eight with just over two minutes left and nobody would really care if they won by eight or 14.
All they needed to do was run out the clock. So put it into touch, burn time with a scrum. There would simply have been no time for the Panthers to score twice.
Instead, Penrith got a seven-tackle restart from the 20m and they marched upfield and Corey Harawira-Naera scored to make a game of it.
They had just enough time left for Tyrone Peachey to break hearts.
It is pure fantasy. These tables are nothing but made up possibilities.
But it is a glimpse of what is possible for some and an opportunity to appreciate the good of others.
The true ladder leaders, like Melbourne, know where the winning post is.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...m/news-story/2f1761512722cd6329db731042f85d41
Paul Kent, The Daily Telegraph
June 27, 2017 6:00pm
Subscriber only
CRAIG Bellamy nearly burst a valve Saturday night. It nearly happened after Daniel Tupou narrowed the score to 24-18 when just seven minutes was left and then it nearly happened again when Brodie Croft, kicking for the corner, put it dead instead.
Bellamy got up from his chair and everything inside him constricted a little.
Then it happened again when Blake Ferguson went over with a minute left to give the Roosters the chance to level the game.
Which they did. And which they then won in golden point.
Squeezed somewhere in between was an opportunity for Croft, the emerging star, to go for a golden point field goal that would have won the game.
The best teams have great game management and Croft, so young into his career, could be at no better club than Melbourne to learn to close out a game.
All the great ones have the ability.
Melbourne have the heavyweight title, with Cameron Smith, Cooper Cronk and Billy Slater. Johnathan Thurston ranks second to nobody.
It is how we measure the great ones.
Darren Lockyer and Andrew Johns were the same.
The Raiders looked set to bank two competition three weeks back when they led Penrith 20-12 — a two-score margin — with just two minutes left in the game. They could fall over from here, you figured, and still couldn’t lose.
The Raiders were left to fossick through the remnants of losing the unlosable game, though.
And it was not so much what happened after the try that got Penrith close, as before it.
Game management, simple errors, refereeing mistakes, there are 40 different ways the momentum can shift in a game that have a permanent effect on the result.
And while late is easier to identify, it can also happen earlier.
Nathan Brown had to suffer through 40 minutes of second-half football that was cruel and inhuman on Sunday. If he was a dog you would have called in the RSPCA.
The Knights led 28-10 at halftime against a St George Illawarra team struggling for form and ripe to be beaten.
Then the tries came ... 28-16, 28-22, 28-28 and finally 28-32.
During the commentary it emerged that of the past 10 games when the Knights have led at halftime they have failed to defend that lead nine times.
So I am wondering how in this age of game management and small decisions seemingly have such an effect on results how the competition might look if everybody had a Cameron Smith or a Johnathan Thurston running at the controls.
A first-half leader made up entirely of teams that were able to get to a lead and maintain the advantage sees the Knights in the top eight.
This ladder suffers a little Melbourne Cup syndrome, racing to be first past the post on the first go round, forgetting it is a two-mile event.
The Warriors, those other heartbreakers, would also be a significant mover as well on such a ladder, climbing from 10th where they are now to fourth.
The big change in the ladder comes in the tight games.
A one-score ladder, turning the six point or less losses into wins, would have Canterbury fans even more frustrated can see just how close they could be.
The Bulldogs are currently 13th on the table but if they better managed the tight games, turning the one-score losses (six points or less) into wins, the Bulldogs would be third.
In this alternative ladder Canberra, with three golden point losses and two more close losses, would lead the competition with 11 wins. The Panthers would be fourth.
It sheds new light on how costly the seemingly innocuous decisions can be.
When Jack Wighton kicked to the corner after 77 minutes against Penrith, Nick Cotric chased and nearly scored but, instead, knocked the ball on in-goal.
The Raiders didn’t need an attacking kick. They led by eight with just over two minutes left and nobody would really care if they won by eight or 14.
All they needed to do was run out the clock. So put it into touch, burn time with a scrum. There would simply have been no time for the Panthers to score twice.
Instead, Penrith got a seven-tackle restart from the 20m and they marched upfield and Corey Harawira-Naera scored to make a game of it.
They had just enough time left for Tyrone Peachey to break hearts.
It is pure fantasy. These tables are nothing but made up possibilities.
But it is a glimpse of what is possible for some and an opportunity to appreciate the good of others.
The true ladder leaders, like Melbourne, know where the winning post is.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...m/news-story/2f1761512722cd6329db731042f85d41
