Saints v Eagles Rnd 17 (2000)

Round 17 Sunday
May 28
Saints v
Northern Eagles
Venue: SFS kickoff: 2.30pm
Saints on TV 2000

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PREVIEW: A few emails are saying that we are finished for 2000...I can't blame them. But I can't believe them.
Sunday represents as big a match as we could imagine.
Lose this one... and write us off !
The Eagles are in worse condition than the Dragons.
I can't see us losing and the introduction of Amos Roberts at fullback should prove to be a great coaching decision.
With Barrett and Brown in great form, I expect the Dragons to thrash the North Shore.
Saints by 30.

FOOTY TAB:
Northern Eagles: 9 .5 start

ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA DRAGONS TEAMS NORTHERN
EAGLES

Amos Roberts Nathan Blacklock Jamie Ainscough Sean Timmins* Lee Hookey Trent Barrett Luke Branighan Luke Bailey Nathan Brown(c) Chris Leikvoll Darren Treacy Andrew Hart Wayne Bartrim Res:

Terry Lamey Colin Ward Jamie Fitzgerald Jason Hooper

1 2

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

Andrew King Brendon Reeves Albert Torrens Nigel Roy Joshua Smith Michael Buettner Matt Orford Josh Stuart Geoff Toovey Paul Stringer Steve Menzies Adam Muir Daniel Gartner Res: Owen Cunningham Jamie Goddard Steve Trindall

Dragan Durdevic

Teams subject to late changes *Timmins out. Replaced by Lee Murphy.
Hooper ran on at half back with Branighan on the bench.

Match Conditions: Swirling SFS wind in favour of Eagles first half. Temp 13C

Attendance: 7,693
MATCH SUMMARY: Saints went down again and didn't deserve to be on the same pitch as the ball boys today. Dragons' players fumbled and fell their way to to an embarrassing loss against very ordinary opposition. We witnessed several bombed tries in an all round team performance which was littered with woeful attack and often pathetic defence.
At one point and with only a few minutes to go, Saints could have pulled off an unlikely victory. Only 4 points down and with open paddock as far as the eye could see, Ainscough, playing in his 200th first grade game put the ball to ground.
However, if the ball had stuck, I would still report that Saints did not deserve to win.
This was typical of the day as was the try by the Eagles in the final moments which was let in courtesy of evaporating and spiritless defence. The scoreline flattered the Manly connection.
The ref report, when done, will no doubt lay the boot into Oaten who at best barely adequate as dozens of offside plays went without notice.
In a match that never really got off the ground, there will be some controversy resulting from a Dragons protest at half time. The Northern Eagles were found to have 14 men on the field just before the break. All things being equal, they are certain to lose their 2 points.*
Saints have won only two of their last seven starts.
With just 9 rounds 'til the semis, things are looking grim.

*poste script: the Eagles received a fine only. see Scrap Book below.

FULL MATCH REPORT: The Dragons started the match the stronger of the two teams with the Eagles defence looking soft up the middle. Saints were making plenty of yards from dummy half with Wayne Bartrim and Nathan Brown causing most of the damage.
6 min: Saints have an excellent opportunity to score after Brown puts Bartrim into a half gap. Nathan Blacklock gets involved and keeps the defence guessing - the Eagles' line is disorganised as a result and Saints are only a few metres out with tackles in hand.. Then Jamie Ainscough sends a long floating pass in an attempt to open up an overlap to the right side. Unfortunately, the pass is too high and 15 metres too far back. The ball goes to ground and although Saints regather, it is obvious that the opportunity has passed. On the last tackle, the Eagles are caught in goal after a Trent Barrett chip. Saints get a penalty for repeated offside play by the Eagles, the ref was playing advantage. A penalty goal by Bartrim results.
Score: Saints 2 - Eagles 0
8 min: Eagles make a break up the middle. Menzies has no support and this is against the run of play. The final tackle sees a kick which goes wrong for the Eagles and Saints regain possession deep in their own half. Eagles lose Michael Buettner, injured.
9 min: Ainscough makes a break down the left flank and forces a pass. The ball hits the grass and the ref deems it to be a knock on.
13 min: Saints are making ground up the middle of the ruck with good go forward. Ainscough throws a pass which is at best absurd. Eagles have the ball.
17 min: Saints are penalised for stripping the ball and Eagles' Brendon Reeves kicks the goal. Score: 2 - all
19 min: Saints put on a beaut backline movement which sees Trent Barrett offloading to Andrew Hart who looked certain to go over if not for some last ditched defence. Saints get the ball from an an attempted grubber and they have six more tackles. The defence is shot to bits.
20 min: Jamie Fitzgerald from dummy half sends the ball quickly into the backline. Saints have an overlap on the right flank and all Lee Hookey has to do is pass the ball to Blacklock. Unbelievably, he runs into the tackle and then attempts a flick pass, his second of the day. The ball goes behind Blacklock and into touch. Although Blacklock over-ran the ball, it is clear that quicker hands (and less fancy stuff) from Hookey would have resulted in a try in the corner. This would have been a deep lance into the Eagles armour and the Dragons would have kicked on from here. Instead, they looked deflated and paid the penalty a five minutes later.
25 min: Eagles get a penalty near the Saints line. They have extra confidence now and take the tap. Joshua Smith scores out wide as Murphy is found wanting in defence. The conversion misses. Score: Saints 2 - Eagles 6
35 min: Saints look rudderless as Ainscough grubbers the ball 40 m out and straight to the opposition effectively handing over possession.
36 min: Saints get the ball back and are only 10 metres out before they drop the ball. Numerous players are very slow to react and they lose possession.
37 min: Saints chips forward through Brown , 40 m out. Blacklock almost drags the ball in and would have been away. Instead Eagles pick it up and return it with interest. Menzies and Reeves combine and Reeves would have scored if not for a desperate tackle from front rower, Luke Bailey who actually chases Reeves down. It all goes for naught as Eagles get a nothing penalty and go back on the attack. Just before half time, the phantom siren is heard. Eagles finish the stronger but are held out by a tired Dragons' defence.

HALF TIME: SAINTS 2 - EAGLES 6

44 min: The Eagles attack from 40m out and the Dragons have left their tackling abilities in the sheds with Bartrim opening a gap for Menzies to score. Conversion misses.
Score: Saints 2 - Eagles 10
47 min: Jamie Ainscough knocks on at dummy half, 2 m out from the Saints' tryline. Fortunately, Ward dives on a loose pass and Saints get the ball back a few moments later.
52 min: Saints put a good defensive effort to hold the Eagles in their own half.
53 min: Nathan Brown is put into gap some 40 m out by Lee Murphy. It is the first line break of the match for the Dragons. Brown passes back to Murphy who is tackled 10 m out. In the next play (4th tackle), Ainscough kicks into the in-goal and Saints will get the ball back from a line drop out. However, Ainscough had a brain explosion here as there was 2 man overlap to his right and a try has been bombed. I can't understand this. Ainscough looked and the outside men had a hand up, but he kicked.
54 min: Saints are attacking the line and are looking pretty lame with players stopping in the tackle and really looking for someone else to do the work. Finally, Brown chips into the in goal and Blacklock runs through to score. Barto converts. Score: Saints 8 - Eagles 10
56 min: Saints followed up up some spirited play which ended in a knock on. It seems that they are team of fit and starts and lacking control.
59 min: Saints have been pinned down and are 60 m away from the Eagles tryline on the last tackle. Barrett feigns to kicks and then runs through a huge gap brought on courtesy of an Eagles defensive line which has been offside for some time. He runs it for 20m and finds Murphy who does well to pull in an overhead pass. Lee Murphy runs it another 20 m and now Saints are only 20 m out with the cover defence coming in from all quarters. With Ainscough on the outside and Treacy on the inside, things are moving at light speed pace; Murphy elects to pass inside to Treacy who caught in a pincer movement of defence. To his credit, the ball is kept alive when from 10m out he passes the ball blind over the back of his head. It's still the last tackle and Barrett swoops on the ball and appears to be tackled but manages a pass to Jason Hooper who probably could have scored himself but decided to pass to a an unmarked Brown. However, the ball is deflected off an Eagles player only 2m out and it is Blacklock who collects the ball on the rebound and he is immediately claimed by a defender. Blacklock, with only a split second of time, pops the ball back to Bartrim who makes a desperate pass which is jumped on by the Eagles. If could been the try of the season. The Eagles' defence hanging on by the skin of their teeth.
60 min: Saints again have the ball and another chance but are unable to capitalise. For some reason, they put up a bomb when a grubber or putting it through the hands were better options. Possession is lost.
61 min: Saints have the ball back yet again and are still having a go. It is unfortunate that the ref calls the 3rd stoppage in 3 minutes for blood bins - all Eagles. I know this is part of the game nowadays but it really took the wind out of our sails.
64 min: Lee Murphy fumbles behind own tryline and this gives the Eagles a shot at scoring. From the drop out, Saints just appear to be going through the motions.
69 min: Eagles make easy yards up the middle and score an 80 m try with Orford touching down under the posts. Score: Saints 8 - Eagles 16
72 min: Things are desperate and Saints play a good passage of football going the length of the field in one set and forcing a line drop out thanks to a Jamie Ainscough kick into the in goal.
74 min: Saints score out wide. Lee Murphy showing good finishing skills off a long Ainscough pass. Bartos' kick hits the uprights and misses. Score: Saints 12 - Eagles 16
77 min: In one final throw of the dice, Ainscough puts Roberts into a gap who then passes back inside to Ainscough. With little defence coming across in cover and plenty of support from Roberts, Murphy, Branighan and Bartrim all looming alongside, it looked like we were gong to pull this one out of the fire. But true to form, Ainscough couldn't hang onto the ball and possession went back to the Eagles.
79 min: Eagles are made to look good as Durdevic slips under a woeful attempt at tackle by Bartrim and he scores. The try is converted. Final score: Saints 12 - Eagles 22

Saints had a few good players but too many were a disappointment. It seemed that after 20 minutes, most were ready to go home. As Saints continue the endless search for a fullback of merit, Amos Roberts was nothing to write home about. He fell into tackles when all we wanted was determined running. Lamey and Leikvoll were worse. Big men should power forward. They should NEVER submit to the opponent's tackle. Ainscough made a mistake every ten minutes and looked a bit battle weary.
The only players I can give positive mention to are Bailey, Blacklock, Brown and Barrett. At least they had a go and hung in there for more than half the match.

As for the rest...well, maybe you think you tried, but you didn't try hard enough. Putting in a one minute effort every ten minutes and playing for only 8 minutes in total does not constitute having a go. All it means is that today, you are a bunch of losers.

FULL TIME SCORE: Saints 12 - Eagles 22

Saints Best
3-Bailey , 2-Blacklock, 1-Barrett

Stats:

Possession: Saints 47% - Eagles 53%
Completions: Saints 62% - Eagles 82%
Handling Errors: Saints 14 - Eagles 6
Line breaks: Saints 3 - Eagles 6
Offloads: Saints 13 - Eagles 21
Missed tackles: Saints 21 - Eagles 13

Nathan Blacklock leaping high and running it out

Luke Bailey copping a high one	Andrew Hart towering
Trent Barrett offloading and a try looks on the cards but no luck this time.	Blacklock trying to find Jason Hooper in support
Jamie Fitzgerald on the burst

Prop Andrew Hart chasing down outside back Brendon Reeves

HALF TIME STATS

Colin Ward about to pack down

Nathan Brown in the clear

Deep back line, Tingha chases a Brown grubber and scores. The successful conversion cranks the ballboy's neck back.

THE NEAR TRY EXPERIENCE IN THE 59th MINUTE...
...IT'S THE LAST TACKLE AND BEGINS 40m OUT FROM SAINTS' LINE...

...Barrett feigns a kick and runs...

	...looking for support...
...ball is popped over to Lee Murphy who runs...
...then onto Darren Treacy	who passes the ball over his head...
..to Blacklock who sends a diving pass to Hooper who might score from here.	He can almost touch the tryline but is forced to pass...

...and the ball deflects to Barto who passes back to the defence.
So close yet so far.

Luke Bailey, again.

Murphy takes a long pass from Ainscough

Lee Murphy does well to score and the game is not over yet.

The ball goes to ground again and Ainscough can only look at the open ground ahead. That's the ball game.

FULL TIME

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SCRAP BOOK
Sydney Morning Herald Tuesday, May 30, 2000

Phantom siren is Eagles' saviour

By BRAD WALTER and STEVE MASCORD

Strike another one up to the phantom siren.

            The anonymous St George Illawarra supporter who has made a habit
                 of disrupting matches this season with his impersonations of a
                 National Rugby League siren struck again at Sydney Football Stadium
                 on Sunday - and he may have saved the Northern Eagles two
                 competition points.

                 The latest incident occurred about 30 seconds before half-time, the
                 same period of the match in which the Eagles had 14 players on the
                 field.

                 NRL officials yesterday investigated the breach and ruled that the
                 Eagles had a case to answer, but decided to impose a fine, believed
                 to be $100 for every second the extra player was on the field, rather
                 than deduct two competition points from their 22-12 win over the
                 Dragons.

                 Their reasoning for the change in approach to that taken when North
                 Queensland miscalculated the number of players they fielded during
                 their round-four defeat of Parramatta was that Eagles utility Brendan
                 Reeves was on the field for only 10 seconds before the error was
                 rectified.

                 Just who first detected the Eagles error remains unclear - NRL
                 interchange official Martin Ryan, Dragons co-coach Andrew Farrar
                 and the Eagles' Frank Ponissi all apparently alerted each other at the
                 same time.

                 According to NRL director of football Graham Annesley, Reeves did
                 not participate in play after returning from the eastern side of
                 Sydney Football Stadium, where he had gone to adjust a dislodged
                 boot. Assuming he was injured, the Eagles had already sent on Jamie
                 Goddard as a replacement - sparking scenes of near hysteria on the
                 opposite sideline when Reeves ran back onto the field.

                 "This is clearly a very different situation from the incident with the
                 Cowboys earlier this year," Annesley said. "In the Cowboys match, a
                 player was on the field for several minutes and actively participated
                 in the defensive line at a crucial time in the game."

                 Reeves left the field again within two tackles after concerned
                 teammates and officials began yelling at him to get off, but by then
                 the Eagles were already down to 13 players - winger Brett Grogan
                 having walked off believing he'd heard the half-time siren.

                 "If it had have been allowed to go on much longer, it could have
                 changed the situation but the moment it happened we just got Brett
                 Grogan off because he was the closest player to the sideline," Eagles
                 media officer Peter Peters said. "But he'd already come from the field
                 of his own volition ... there was lots of confusion, and with the
                 phantom siren, I think he thought it was half-time, so suddenly we
                 went from 14 players to 12."

                 It was the fourth Dragons match this year on which the phantom
                 siren has had an impact, the most serious being when referee Sean
                 Hampstead called a halt to the first half 17 seconds early in the
                 March 12 clash with Wests Tigers at WIN Stadium.

He struck again, at the SFS, on April 4 against Canberra and on April
23 against Penrith.

                 Cowboys chief executive Rabieh Krayem was far from impressed with
                 Annesley's explanation of the more lenient penalty imposed on the
                 Eagles.

"It was made very clear to us. [If] you had 14 players on the field,
you were going to lose the two points," Krayem said.

                 "In our case, we always thought if the [NRL] official on the day had
                 acted straight away when Parramatta brought it to their attention,
                 the incident would have been over in 20 seconds.

                 "But when we went through the appeals process, it was pointed out
                 very clearly to us that it was the club's responsibility and also that
                 14 men was unacceptable and the punishment for having 14 men on
                 the field was two points.

                 "The rules ... say you can't have 14 men on the field. We did, we lost
                 two points and in [Northern Eagles'] case, they had 14 men on the
                 field and they get the fine."

                 NRL chief executive David Moffett said such incidents were likely to
                 occur on fewer occasions when the number of interchanges was
                 limited to 12 next season.

                 "Because of the sheer number of changes taking place at the
                 moment, clubs themselves are having trouble keeping track and seem
                 prepared to interchange for almost any reason," Moffett said.

Neck and neck battle ... the Eagles' Albert Torrens tackles Dragon Jamie Ainscough in the match at the SFS. Picture: CRAIG GOLDING

REFEREE & TOUCH JUDGES & VID REF

REFEREE: MARK OATEN
FULL REPORT

Total Referee or Touch Judge errors = 12
Errors in favour of Saints = 2
Errors in favour of Eagles = 10
Penalty Count: Saints 3 - Eagles 6
Comments:
The referee saw only 1 infringement from the Eagles in the opening few minutes and it wasn't until very late in the match that he decided to penalise the Eagles a 2nd time. Saints also were granted a 3rd penalty by a gracious but inept referee Oaten.
I lost count of the amount of hold downs and offside play which was ignored by the ref. It became annoying as Saints players were constantly denied a quick play the ball but were often penalised for lesser infringements. Apart from his constant ineptitude to keep the teams onside, Mark Oaten also made some more obvious and blatant errors which gave the crowd something to yell about - these are listed below. The only saving face for the ref is that his decisions were not crucial as the result was governed by the greater ineptitude shown by Saints who threw away opportunities galore.

4 min: Saints knock on after a Hookey flick pass is put down by Blacklock. The ref says it went backwards but he must have been looking the other way. Error favours Saints.
9 min: Ainscough passes ball which is deflected off a Eagles player. The ref calls it back for a knock on which is incorrect. Error favours Eagles
12 min: Saints' Colin Ward is penalised for stripping the ball but the Eagles player has just lost control. The penalty goal attempt misses. Error favours Eagles.
17 min: Saints' Darren Treacy is penalised for stripping the ball but the Eagles player has just lost control. This time the penalty goal is successful. Error favours Eagles

In the 24th minute, Jason Hooper is penalised for a late tackle of the kicker. This is totally inconsistent with what we see every week and the crowd were right to sigh with dismay at this decision. The ref may have been within his rights to give the penalty but Hooper barely had time to pull out and the action had no influence on the game. We only ask for consistency. Surely this penalty is a spoiler. The result was try to the Eagles which is a heavy price to pay for the whim of a referee.

29 min: Saints' Hooper knocks the ball forward and Fitzgerald knocks it back. Fitzgerald is in front of Hooper and ref just calls knock on when it should have been Eagles' penalty. Error favours Saints.
36 min: Eagles knock on, Blacklock picks up the ball and runs into broken play. The ref calls him back to play the knock on. A scrum is ordered with a Saints' feed. The Eagles' line is now set. Error favours Eagles.

In the 37th - 44th minutes: Eagles are on the attack and Murphy is deemed to hold down a player. If not for Eagles' players appealing to the ref, it would have been let go. For the life of me, I cannot understand why Saints did not appeal on the many occasions when the same thing happened earlier, and later in the match. Murphy acted illegally, but he was quickly up and out of the way and this decision is hopelessly inconsistent Its just before half time and the penalties favour Eagles 5 to 1. The second half began in similar fashion with a selective offside penalty (they call it playing advantage) to the Eagles to push it on to a count of 6 to 1. The Eagles score on the back of the ref's opinion which is clearly of the belief that the Eagles have only made one error in over 40 minutes of football.

48 min: The offside play from the Eagles reaches new heights. Saints are pinned down in front of their own tryline and trying to get downfield. Incredibly, the ref ignores blatant offside play. Although this has been common place, on this occasion it warrants error rating.
Errors favour Eagles.
57 min: Saints once again being pinned down by repeated offside play deep in their own half. The outrage is bellowing across the ground. Ref ineptitude favours Eagles.
62 min: Blacklock, while running it out is tackled twice and hit in the head by the second tackler's forearm. Ref, touch judge error favours Eagles.
62 min: Steven Menzies is only 5 m back and tackles a Saints player. Ref error favours Eagles.
62 min: Ditto. Menzies does a carbon copy. The commentary is saying how good the defence is but the Saints players are running right at the offside Menzies. They should be bellowing at the ref but they just accept it. Shocking disrespect for the 10 m and the penalty count is heavily against the Dragons. Ref blatant disregard favours Eagles.
76 min: In the vital last minutes of the match and with the scores only 4 points apart, the ref calls knock on against Saints in a ball which appears to go back. We let this go without rating because it's one of those rulings which depends on the ref's viewpoint. However, 30 seconds later, an Eagles player loses the ball forward and one of his supports even appears to grab the ball in an offside position. At the very least it was a knock on but was let go at a crucial moment of the match. Error favours Eagles.
Overall rating: 3 / 10

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