Saints v Roosters Rnd 16(2000)

Round 16
Saturday 7.30pm
21st MAY
Saints v
Roosters
Venue: SFS
Saints on TV 2000

Match Preview
& Team

Match
Report & Results

TV / Video Capture

This Weeks

Sound File

Scrapbook

Referee Rating

PREVIEW: Saints go up against the Roosters this Saturday night at the SFS. The Dragons of recent have been putting in a Jeckle and Hyde performance and the fans are wondering which way to look. What can you say about a team which gets thrashed by 46 points one week, turns it around by winning by 54 the following week (I read somewhere that this 100 point turnaround in 7 days has never happened before), only to put in lacklustre performance the very next week? The performance against Parramatta created some heated household discussion with some older family members suggesting that a few of the team should be sent back to the under 15s. Although this exaggeration may seem a little unfair, it's true to say that Saints have had to dig deep into their playing ranks over the last few weeks and this week - the team once again featuring new or rarely seen players called up from 1st division. This creates the double edged sword of raw energy vs inexperience. It's clear that the current Saints line up has plenty of ability but are they up to playing in the big time?

The question: Can Saints keep up 80 minutes of committed attack and even more in defence?
The answer: As long as the spirit is true, yes.

The stats are interesting. Both teams are without players because of the State of Origin. Roosters are without their main play makers, Brad Fittler & Adrian Lam. Additionally, they are without Bryan Fletcher and late mail is that Matt Sing has been called up to Origin as well. Sydney City have only won 3 out of 15 when Fittler is not there. Dragons are weaker in the centres with Jamie Ainscough & Shaun Timmins both playing for NSW and Mark Gasnier is out for the season. Head to head, the teams have played 4 times with the Dragons winning all 4. History aside, the teams are currently equal in attack but Saints have a defensive record which is a little poorer.

Luke Bailey is back from injury. Wayne Bartrim is back from suspension, hopefully the wiser. I'm tipping a big match from Barto who currently sits on 992 career points (43 tries, 410 goals) - he only needs 8 more points to hit 1000 and become only the 3rd forward to do so.
The highest point scoring forward is David Furner (Canberra) on 1184 pts followed by Bernie Purcell (Wests & Souths) on 1152 pts.
Lets get set to raise the roof once he hits the magical 1000 !! GO BARTO !!

This should be a top match with plenty of stand offs across the park. Saints are going to rip 'em to shreds in the halves with the 'Ws', Wing and Wood no match for the 'Bs', Barrett and Branighan.

Dragons by 13.

FOOTY TAB:
ROOSTERS: 0.5 start

ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA DRAGONS TEAMS SYDNEY CITY
ROOSTERS

Luke Patten Nathan Blacklock Lee Hookey Jason Hooper Amos Roberts Trent Barrett Luke Branighan Luke Bailey Nathan Brown(c) Corey Pearson Darren Treacy Andrew Hart Wayne Bartrim Res:

Terry Lamey Chris Leikvoll Jamie Fitzgerald Lee Murphy

1 2

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Res: 14 15 16 17

Luke Phillips Shannon Hegarty Ryan Cross Matt Sing* Robert Miles Craig Wing Nathan Wood Ian Rubin Simon Bonetti Scott Logan Luke Ricketson(c) Craig Fitzgibbon Darren Burns Res: Andrew Lomu Dallas Hood David Solomona

Julian Bailey

*Matt Sing late withdrawal (Origin)

Match Conditions: Night match, cool & dry, little wind.
Attendance: 13, 285

POST MATCH SUMMARY:
HALF TIME:
Saints 0 - Roosters 24

FULL TIME:
Saints 24 - Roosters 32

SAINTS killed them in the 2nd half but simply had too big a lead to chase down. The half time vs full time scores tells most of the tale.

The Dragons may have won if not for some very dodgy rulings from the ref which were compounded by some all too familiar defensive lapses.
What the heck, we lost again!
Trent Barrett was great and so was Nathan Brown. Wayne Bartrim kicked his way to 1000 career points and as far as we could see he didn't get into any strife ~ congratulations Barto on both fronts.

FULL MATCH REPORT:

Saints started the match at a blistering pace and came close to scoring twice. They had an opportunity to open the scoring when awarded a penalty right in front of the Roosters' posts but elected to tap. As it turned out, this was an unwise decision because for the rest of the first half, Saints saw very little of the ball.
8 min: Craig Fitzgibbon penalty goal for Roosters. Score: Saints 0 - Roosters 2
The Roosters make a break (Phillips) from the re-start and Saints find themselves on the back foot - desperate defence ultimately holding Sydney City out.
10 min: Saints recovered well and Luke Branighan puts in a 40 - 20 kick to put Saints on the attack. In the following set, Jason Hooper dives over the try line only to be called back by the ref who ruled that an earlier pass went forward.
14 min: Saints have only had 30% of the ball and finding it difficult to stay on side. They withstand another raid but are penalised for a late tackle. The kick attempt from Fitzgibbon goes wide.
17 min: Quite simply, the Dragons are seeing very little of the ball and the Roosters are getting ample possession from ref decisions. Sydney City's Phillips, while running it on the last, makes a break up the middle of the ruck easily running past some woeful and tired looking defence. They score a try (Ricketson) and convert. Score: Score: Saints 0 - Roosters 8
20 min: Amos Roberts makes a fine break down the left side and links up with Nathan Blacklock who seems to be the only one who comes across in support. Unfortunately the pass hits the deck. It is a simple handling error. In the following set, Syd City make some easy yards with some simple ruck play. They send up a bomb which is brilliantly handled by Luke Patten. Wingers, Roberts and Blacklock take on the Roosters' forwards to try and get us out of trouble. Our forwards are at half pace. It looks bad.
25 min: Saints have the ball and are throwing it around close to the Syd City tryline. Barrett and Lee Hookey combine and send Corey Pearson bursting forward. The defence of the Roosters is top class here and Saints are denied. On the last tackle, Branighan chips an attempted grubber into the in-goal but it is caught on the full by a defender who is deemed to be behind the tryline (see ref report). Syd City get a 20m re-start and the wind has been taken out the Dragons' sails.
26 min: Syd City gain the length of the field in one set of six and are unable to score and penalised due a double movement. Saints defenders are in disarray with one slipping over. This is a let off.
28 min: Amazingly, Saints are still only down 8 nil. The Syd City forwards look to be in control with ex-Saint and local Wollongong lad, Craig Fitzgibbon causing a fair share of damage (I knew we should have hung on to that guy). Saints get a new set of six but solid defence and stupid panic play see them throw it away as the ball is passed into touch on half way and on the first tackle. Nathan Blacklock shakes his head in disbelief as the ball evaporates a metre in front of him.
30 min: Syd City score a try (Cross) after a bomb is seemingly uncontested by any Saints defenders. The try scorer has an easy stroll to the line as the defence is woefully flat footed. The conversion from Phillips is successful and the flood gates have opened.
Score: Saints 0 - Roosters 14
32 min: With less than 30% of the ball so far, Saints are called on to defend again. Hooper is caught in goal after a bad call by the ref (see ref report). The drop out is 55m on the fly and the defensive line is straight but the Syd City attack makes ample ground and on the 4th tackle, they find themselves only 10 m out from the Saints' line.
34 min: Roosters score try (Logan) after Luke Phillips sets it up with 'genius pass' - slo-mo replay reveals it to be forward (see ref report). Try converted by Fitzgibbons.
Score: Saints 0 - Roosters 20
37 min: Luke Patten with all the time in the world, fields a kick in his own in-goal. For reasons best known to himself, he decides to run cross ways and is tackled behind the tryline. Use your feet Luke, go forward! Poor defence follows and Syd City score (Wing). Easy conversion misses.
Half time couldn't come quick enough for a Dragons' team who only saw 26% of the ball in the first half. Score: Saints 0 - Roosters 24

HALF TIME

Saints begin the 2nd half in the knowledge that they only held the ball for 9 minutes in the 1st half. Given that stat, we shouldn't be so hard on them, especially considering the way the Syd City team seemed to be handed possession by a half wit excuse for a referee. The main fact is that we lost the first half because of second-rate defence around the ruck and an inability to hold the ball when it counted most. For the next 40 minutes, we feel confident that the boys will chalk up some tries and slowly peg back the lead.

43 min: Saints are penalised for off side but quickly regain possession when Syd City don't find touch. Wayne Bartrim makes a good break up the middle. Barrett then grubbers into the in-goal and Saints force a line drop out. All in all, its a good start to the 2nd half.
45 min: Saints score their first try of the night. After some fine lead up from the forwards, Barrett puts in a grubber and Nathan Brown pounces. Brownie is seen yelling at his troops (according to my lip reading): 'That's one, we need 4 more!' Barto converts. Score: Saints 6 - Roosters 24
55 min: Saints score again admidst action aplenty. From 40 metres out, Bartrim is sent into a gap. It's a powerful run and he steps around a number of would-be defenders. Roosters fullback, Phillips attempts to trip the side stepping Barto but play goes on. With the cover converging, Bartrim finds Barrett who scores mid way between touch and goal. It's a bloody good try. Conversion is OK...we look at the score board... this is a come back!
Score: Saints 12 - Roosters 24
60 min: Roosters penalty goal. Big call from the ref and touchie. Score: Saints 12 - Roosters 26
62 min: Roosters score converted try. Score: Saints 12 - Roosters 32
65 min: Brownie puts up a low level bomb. Saints best player of the year, Trent Barrett swoops and scores. A tiny bit of good fortune seeps the way of the Dragons. Conversion OK.
Score: Saints 18 - Roosters 32
78 min: Saints score a beaut try out wide with Amos Roberts touching down. Wayne Bartrim pops the conversion from the side line to give hm a personal tally of 1000 career points (well done) - the third greatest point scoring forward in Aust RL history.
Score: Saints 24 - Roosters 32

FULL TIME SCORE: SAINTS 24 - ROOSTERS 32

Saints Best
3- Barrett, 2-Brown, 1-Bartrim

Stats:

Match Statistics (thanks to SMH) NATHAN BROWN: 41 TACKLES !!

                 TOP TACKLERS
             Nathan Brown (Dragons) 41, Andrew Hart (Dragons) 35, Luke Bailey
                 (Dragons) 35, Corey Pearson (Dragons) 29, Luke Ricketson (Roosters)
                 27, Simon Bonetti (Roosters) 25, Craig Wing (Roosters) 24, Craig
                 Fitzgibbon (Roosters) 23, Darren Burns (Roosters) 23, Wayne Bartrim
                 (Dragons) 21.

                 MOST HIT-UPS
                 Corey Pearson (Dragons) 15, Luke Bailey (Dragons) 14, C. Fitzgibbon
                 (Roosters) 13, Scott Logan (Roosters) 13, Dallas Hood (Roosters) 12,
                 Luke Ricketson (Roosters) 12, Darren Burns (Roosters) 11, Darren
                 Treacy (Dragons) 11, Chris Leikvoll (Dragons) 7, Wayne Bartrim
                 (Dragons) 6.

                 COMPLETION RATES
                 Roosters - 29/35 (83%)
                 Dragons - 32/37 (86%)

                 TIME IN POSSESSION
                 Roosters - 52%
                 Dragons - 48%

                 MISSED TACKLES
                 Roosters - 27
                 Dragons - 28

                 LINE BREAKS
                 Roosters - 7
                 Dragons - 5

                 ERRORS
                 Roosters - 7
                 Dragons - 5

Syd City's Phillips is tackled...

...he gets ups and everyone expects him to play the ball...

...we can't believe it when he passes the ball and the the ref allows play to continue.

Amos Roberts in the clear

Looking on in disbelief as the 1st half score blows out

Half time and Brownie looks shell shocked.

Saints get penalised for being 'offside'

Luke Bailey is taken high by Phillips. No ref action.

Attempted trip on Wayne Bartrim by Phillips who can do no wrong according to the ref.

Barto bursts through

Barrett kicks, Brown pounces. Saints score their first and Brownie yells 'thats one, we need four more!'

Trent Barrett scores in the 55th minute. Its 24 -12 and Saints are looking the goods.

Barto busts 'em open again...

Brown kicks, Barrett scores but time is running out.

Lee Hookey finding space

Barrett breaks through...

Amos Roberts scores out wide just before fulltime

Barto kicks his 1000th career point from the sideline.

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SCRAP BOOK: from the Sun Herald (Syd) 21 May 2000.

BALL'S UP:
Despite being crushed in the first half, the Dragons fought back, but ran out of time.
Picture: SIMON ALEKNA

REFEREE & TOUCH JUDGES & VID REF

REFEREE: Sean Hampstead

Total Referee or Touch Judge errors = 13
Errors in favour of Saints = 3
Errors in favour of Roosters = 10
Penalty Count: Saints - Roosters (TBA)
Comments:
Hampstead must have heard a whisper that he is considered by many to be a bit of a wimp. For some reason, he decided that this was the match where he would show the world how tough he is and he started the proceedings in belligerent form. In the opening moments he was handing out penalties left, right and centre at a rate one penalty per minute. After 5 minutes he had given 5 penalties (Easts 3, Saints 2) for trivial infringements and this was frustrating for everyone.

9 min: Branighan is ruled to kick a forty twenty. Replays show that he had his foot on the 40 metre line. Ref asks for assistance from the vid ref who is unable to roll the tape back. Error favours Saints.
10 min: Hampstead's first big blunder. Saints should have been awarded a try but the ref rules that one of the backline passes went forward. He does this without video consultation. The man making the pass, Branighan was knocked back after releasing the ball and a Roosters' arm appeared to deflect the ball.. Regardless of this, the pass was flat. This decision is one of the worse kind of blatant errors a ref can make and it sets the tone for the rest of the night. Error favours Roosters.

In the 14th minute Darren Treacy is penalised and put on report for a late tackle in what looked like a nothing incident. This time it is a touch judge report and its looks like every one wants to get in on the act. For some reason, the ref and touchie have forgotten that this a tough game and that includes tackling. The penalty is correct albeit trivial.
poste script: The charges against Treacy were later dismissed out of hand

17 min: Saints are on a roll and need to get a quick play the ball. Blacklock is denied getting up and is tackled a 2nd time. The ref ignores this which is sharp contrast to his previous 'crack down' attitude. Inconsistency in favour of Roosters.
25 min: Branighan attempts a grubber into the Syd City in-goal. A defender catches the ball on the full and has half his body in the field of play. The ref says he caught the ball behind the goal line and orders a 20 m re-start. It should have been a 1 metre re-start where the player was tackled. The reality is that the Saints chasers let the defender go after hearing the whistle and they were a good chance of pinning him down behind the goal line. In a match where Saints have had little possession, it would have been great to get a back to back set. Error favours Roosters.
26 min: Roosters' player (Wing) is held back by Saints player eight in front of touch judge. Error favours Saints.
32 min: Syd City player (Phillips) is tackled. He gets up and passes the ball. No penalty - ref allows play to continue! Dragons defenders are already running back onside and can't believe that it's play on. This is as big a blunder that a ref can make. Everybody saw this... and I do mean everybody! I could hear someone in the crowd yelling 'who did you back ref?' (no, it wasn't me, but it could have been). No touch judge sticking his nose in and the ref has lost the plot. To make matters worse, the ref was heard to call 'play it' ... What a disgrace! What a sham! Syd City get the ball back scoring a few moments later and the match has been won and lost. Monumental error favours Roosters.
34 min: Syd City score but the final pass is forward. Sorry folks, this is not a disgruntled fan talking, well actually it is a very disgruntled fan talking but with good reason. We viewed this replay frame by frame and from various angles. The last pass from Phillips to Logan was forward, make that blatantly forward. Hampstead sinks to new depths. Error favours Roosters.
43 min: Ref has Saints back a good 13 metres and penalises them for being less than a metre in front. This is nit picking but we have become used to that from refs. One of the problems we have with this is that Hampstead must feel that Saints were offside too much in the first half (they defended for a good half hour) so he has made the decision to keep up the tough guy image, but that's just a personal opinion. The actual error comes from the ref's inability to grasp the basic laws of mathematics. Error favours Roosters.
46 min: Luke Bailey cops a high shot to the adams apple. Last time I checked this was illegal. Everyone saw it. Luke Bailey, to his credit got straight back up, but was surprised to see no action. No penalty. No report. Ref inadequacy favours Roosters.
52 min: Saints kick into the Roosters in-goal. the ball comes to a complete stop but the Roosters player uses the current rule of putting a foot into touch and rakes the ball dead with his arm. The ref says that the ball was still rolling but it wasn't. Regarding rule changes: Lets get rid of this one. If the ref is having an off day, it's easy to get this one wrong. Error favours Roosters.

The turning point occurred in the 60th minute - unfortunately it was decided by the touch judge. Jason Hooper was penalised for taking out a Roosters chaser. The Saints and Syd City player seemed to simply collide but the touch judge ran on and a penalty goal to Sydney resulted. Just when Saints were back on track and gaining momentum, the Roosters receive a much needed 2 pointer. This ridiculous decision represented the end of the revival. I really hate it when a contest is decided by the village idiot. This same alleged idiot showed several indiscretions earlier in the match when he used selective rulings to favour the Roosters. One can only wonder how long it will take before one of these glorified public servants (no offence intended) are dragged before a magistrate on corruption charges. Roosters score soon after from a forward pass in the 62 min to wrap up the match. Overall series of stuff ups favour Roosters.

64 min: On Saints 10 m line. Something of a weird decision against Roosters for kicking the ball in the play the ball area while Saints are in possession. Can't work this one out. No infringement. Looks like a square up. Ruling favours Saints.
68 min: Jamie Fitzgerald boots forward for Saints and a Syd City's Luke Phillips plays at the ball, kicking it into touch. Incredibly, the ref consults the touch judge who reckons 'he didn't play at it' - the only thing wrong with this ruling is that the ref and touch judge were busy at the time thinking about their sins of the past. It's a miserable and lazy effort. Error favours Roosters.

In a match that was played in good spirit and ended with players embracing each other, I am at a loss as to why the ref and touch judges decided to destroy this game by employing an over interpretation of the rules. At the end of the day it was clear that the refs were out of line and are going through a period of 'look at me '... In the next few weeks, the status quo will return. This could have been a close match and the stage was set for a grand stand finish. Sadly, the ref and touch judges stuffed it up and the final moments were an anti-climax.

We'll give the ref and his cohorts ½ point for showing up on time plus ½ point for having the presence of mind to put their shorts on.
Overall rating: 1 / 10

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