RESULTS:
SAINTS 16 lost to
MELBOURNE
20
Tries:
Trent Barrett
Amos Roberts
Andrew Hart
Goals:
Nathan Blacklock 1/2
Wayne Bartrim 1/1 |
Tries:
Brad Watts 2
Marcus Bai
Matt Orford
Goals:
Lavea 2/3 |
CROWD: 9,480
MATCH
REPORT:
SAINT LOSE 20-16
WIN Stadium, Sat 3 March 2001: The Dragon's bad
form continues with back to back losses. In a rain affected match, Saints
went down to the Melbourne Storm, 20-16 after leading 16-10 in front of
just under 10,000 spectators. The half time score was in favour of Saints,
12-10.
Saints self destructed as they made countless
unforced errors often dropping the ball cold when in an attacking position.
The anticipated return of Paul McGregor was a feature
of the match.
FULL MATCH REPORT:
It was exactly one year to the day when Saints were slaughtered
by Melbourne 70-10 in what was a black day for the Dragons. Saints have
since thrashed Melbourne 50-4 (June 2000) but the anniversary was not lost
of the Dragons players who mentioned it on more than one occasion during
the week's training sessions. The player at the centre of the controversy
in 2000, Anthony Mundine was on hand in the Grand Stand to watch his old
team run around in the Saturday night match.
The turnout, below 10,000 was dampened by the drizzly,
almost Melbourne like conditions.
The kick off was preceded for a moments silence in honour
of Sir Donald Bradman who passed away last Sunday.. |
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BY THE CLOCK:
7 min: Melb penalty goal. Saints strip
ball in 2 man tackle, right in front. Lavea kicks. Melb 2-nil.
21 min: Trent Barrett scores after taking a long
ball from Willie Peters who is at scrum base. Barrett ran through a gap
from 10 metres out to score under the posts. Wayne Bartrim converts. Saints
6-2.
27 min: Marcus Bai scores in corner for Melb.
Saints
6 - Melb 6.
33 min: Following a series of Saints' errors,
Melb's Brad Watts scores in opposite corner This frustrates supporters
who were witnessing a Saints team that was getting on top but made costly
handling and defensive errors. Melb 10-6. |
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36 min: Barrett puts the ball on a string and grubbers
into in-goal for Amos Roberts who scores next to the uprights. Blacklock
converts. Saints 12-10. HALF TIME
50 min: After some possession, Saints
score with Andrew Hart making a barnstorming 15 metre run to the line,
going straight through the backline defenders. Saints 16-10.
57 min: Melb are successful in slowing down the
play the ball and stifle further Dragon raids. In reply, Melb score when
Brad Watts is sent through by Matt Geyer. One can only wonder what was
going through the minds of the cover defenders including Trent Barrett
who elected to protest after being badly checked by Geyer rather than pressuring
the ball carrier who was unopposed as he crossed out wide and then ran
infield to score under the posts. Melbourne 16 - Saints 16.
62 min: Melb's Aaron Moule recklessly head highs
Saints forward, Luke Bailey. Bailey gets right back up but Moule is on
report and will face suspension. |
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72 min: Melb get a repeat set on the Dragon's line
after Amos Roberts fumbles a grubber. Moments later Matt Orford steps through
some tired defence and scores. the easy conversion is missed. Melb 20-16
Saints had their chances in the dying minutes
but as was the case all day, they couldn't hang onto the ball and knocked
on 3 more times effectively killing off their opportunities.
Paul McGregor's return to first grade Rugby League was
successful. Understandably, he lacked match fitness but reason best known
to others, he was a run on player with Mark Gasnier being relegated to
the bench. On all counts, this defies logic. We can only assume that the
powers in charge had their reasons.
Sadly, this will go down as another match which should
have been won. Melb did nothing special. In fact, their kicking game was
lousy. As was the case in round 2, Saints gave the opposition a sniff and
just faded away in the final 20 minutes. It must be clear to all NRL teams
now that even when behind, there's a good chance of victory against a Saints
team which doesn't the ability to play for the full 80 minutes. FULLTIME |
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SOTV
BEST PLAYERS:
Andrew Hart (3pts) Was tireless in defence in
the first half and made numerous hit ups. Scored a great try in the 2nd
half. Was one of the few players on the field who didn't knock on or giveaway
possession.
Willie Peters (2pts) Worked hard to get the back
line going forward. Was often frustrated by Barrett who tried too hard
on the night. Always backing up. Gave us hope in the last few minutes when
he was in the clear with only the fullback to beat. He kick ahead for his
flying winger, Blacklock. Melb fullback batted the ball dead and perhaps
the better option would have been to draw the fullback and pass to Blacklock
who was unmarked. Only real blemish on an otherwise top effort.
Jamie Ainscough (1pt) Hardest working outside
back. His returns were spot on and respected the ball more than most.
REF
REPORT:
Tony Archer made a bucket
load of mistakes but generally kept the match flowing without prejudice.
Both the ref and the touchie got it wrong when Amos Roberts
was 'tackled into touch'. He was in fact dragged into touch and actually
got a pass away in any case. There were other blatant errors including
Amos Roberts being called offside when he was behind the kicker and another
when Melb's Marcus Bai took the ball from fullback Matt Geyer after a bomb.
The ball landed in Matt Geyer's arms but then dislodged and was accepted
by Marcus Bai who was in front of his fullback ie offside. The ref also
missed another incident when Amos Roberts took out the fullback thereby
regaining possession for Saints from a bomb.
The main gripe was the ref's inability to take notice
of the play the ball area with players being held down and 2nd and 3rd
tacklers coming in late. As far as we could tell, there was only one penalty
for this and that was when it was obvious to all. Mostly, it was a 3rd
player who would come in late and lay on top of the pile thereby slowing
down the play considerably. This was frustrating to watch and the feeling
is that it would have been appropriate to use the sin bin. Unfortunately
the ref seemed oblivious to it all.
For the most part, Tony Archer kept the two teams apart
and didn't blow the whistle unnecessarily. Not once did he penalise a team
for being offside at the kickoff even though both teams usually had players
breaking the rules here. A little different from last week and a point
which exposes the inconsistency in refereeing and in particular the dangers
of one referee having a personal vendetta on one particular rule (see Ref
report round 2).
Penalties: Saints 7 - Melb 4
Overall Ref Rating: 6 out of 10.
MATCH
PICS:
A moments silence for the Don
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Paul McGregor gets an early welcome
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Jamie Ainscough returns the ball
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Nathan Blacklock
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Barrett finds a gap, leaving Junior Langi in his wake
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Trent checks for cover defenders
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2 angles of Barrett scoring
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Amos Roberts in the clear as Craig Smith looks on
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Amos scores
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Moule is on report for this high shot on Luke Bailey
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McGregor attracting plenty of attention
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Andrew Hart breaks through
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...and scores
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