|
Saints On TV
RUGBY LEAGUE FOOTBALL: TV PICS,
RESULTS, REPORTSST GEORGE ILLAWARRA DRAGONS |
|
[ Team 2001 ] [ Draw 2001 ] |
TEAMSPREVIEW RESULTSMATCH REPORT BEST PLAYERS SOUND FILES PICSREF REPORT
| SOTV
PREVIEW:
BARRETT STILL IN DOUBT Paul McGregor's 150th game It's not the first time that the Dragons have been present at League's special events. Rugby League under lights, drawn Grand Finals, matches interstate and venue launches often seem to have the red vee being honoured as Rugby League's first team. But once the ceremonies are done with, Saints have to get down to the serious business of overcoming a desperate Raiders team. Despite having some star players missing, Canberra will make the going tough for Saints who are boasting a near full strength side. Last week, it was announced that Canberra will be without Jason Croker, Mark McLinden and Ken Nagas. This week, Nagas is back but the final team has yet to settle. Saints are without Willie Peters (shoulder injury) but his position is well filled by Keiran Kerr who showed plenty of class against the Warriors last round. Latest news (at time of writing) is that we may be without Trent Barrett who is still struggling to recover from the same calf injury which saw him miss last Sunday's Origin match. His availabilty is subject to a fitness test. The big news is the return of Craig Smith who returns after six weeks suspension. Smith's recent announcement that he will not be with Saints in 2002 didn't stop coach Andrew Farrar rushing the star prop back into the top side. Congratulations to Paul McGregor on his 150th game. It's also worth noting that this is the first game of the premiership since South Sydney won their court case to be re-admitted back into the League. Unfortunately, we have for some reason inherited Bill Harrigan as ref again for the 5th time this season. We can expect the usual caning from Bill who must be seething after copping criticism in last Sunday's Origin encounter. In 4 matches this year, we have lost 3 and won 1 under Bill. This equals the 2000 record where we only had the pleasure of Bill's company 4 times in the entire season. One can only wonder the reasons why we have to endure this menace so many times in one year. This round's 'top match' is Newcastle v Brisbane and one expected Bill to be at Marathon Stadium. Some say he has been given this match because of it's status as #10,000. Who knows? All I know is we drew the short straw in the ref raffle. In any case, Saints will just have to perform above expectations and it's unlikely that Bill can rain on the match. The real dampener on proceedings is likely to come from the skies with an early weather forecast that predicts wind, rain and cold. Good footy weather! HEAD TO HEAD: 2001: Raiders 32-22; 2000: Saints 30-20, Saints 24-18; 1999: Saints 44 - 2. OUR TIP: Saints by 13 |
|
RESULTS: SAINTS 44(Hooper 2, Ainscough 2, Kerr, Barrett, Gasnier, Hookey tries. Bartrim 4/5, Riddell 2/3 goals) CANBERRA 12(Finch 2 tries. Schifcofske 2/2 goals) Possession: Canberra 54%
Referee: Bill Harrigan
MATCH REPORT (SUMMARY): SAINTS 44 SLAUGHTER CANBERRA 12 In Rugby League's 10,000th game, the Dragons have wasted the Raiders by 8 tries to 2. Canberra's 2001 hopes
MATCH
REPORT (BY THE CLOCK):
SOTV BEST PLAYERS: Jason Hooper (3pts) Topped the tackle count with 39 tackles and scored 2 tries to boot Lance Thompson (2pts) Worked tirelessly in defence and in attack with 27 tackles and 21 hit ups Nathan Blacklock (1pt) Stopped at least 2 tries (or more) with some miraculous defence while filling in at fullback. Set up the Gasnier try with some dazzling stuff down the sideline Not far away: Mark Riddell, Mark Gasnier, Trent Barrett, Keiran Kerr and Craig Smith. Click
here for SOTV 2001 best player tally
THIS WEEKS SOUND FILES: (HINT: best way to download sound files is to right click on pic and use 'save link' or 'save target' option, then save WAV file to desktop or folder of choice)   WAV
(456 Kb) Click on the pic to hear TRENT BARRETT
talking about why he plays Rugby League (with backing from Fat Boy Slim)
For full list of all the year's sound files - click here MATCH & CROWD PICS: 
REF REPORT: It was a strange match for Bill. In the first half he seemed determined to behave himself and adhere to 10,000th game honour which he had obviously wrangled for himself. In the 2nd half however, he soon slipped into old ways and on more than one ocassion was heard asking for clarification on certain issues. The worrying comment "Thanks mate, I didn't see that" was further testimony to Bill's failing eyes. Overall rating: 3 out of 10.
|
|
[ Team 2001 ] [ Draw 2001 ] |
