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Saints On TV
RUGBY LEAGUE FOOTBALL: TV PICS,
RESULTS, REPORTSST GEORGE ILLAWARRA DRAGONS |
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REPORT |
PLAYERS |
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TV PICS |
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PREVIEW:
SAINTS v PENRITH Sydney Football Stadium, Saturday 28 July 2001: With just 6 rounds of football to go before the semis, Saints must win at least 3 more matches if they are to have a chance to qualify. The round 21 match against Penrith is of paramount importance. Next month, Saints face a tough run and although we back the lads to win every match, it has to be said Parramatta, Brisbane, Newcastle, Roosters and Canterbury represent a more than a few challenges. For some reason, we have managed to gain the the services of referee, Shayne Hayne for 2 weeks running. Still a relative unknown, Shayne Hayne made a number of baffling calls last weekend. Last time these 2 teams met was in round 8 when Saints piled on the points to thrash the Panthers by 42-14. This time, the cellar dwellers have nothing to lose and have shown recently that can win matches after defeating the Roosters last weekend 26-16. Alternatively, Saints are coming off a humiliating loss last week to the Cowboys by 34-10. Todays Illawarra Mercury reports Penrith's, Craig Gower as saying to Trent Barrett that the Panthers are 'pumped up' to 'knock over' the Dragons. Barrett repeated this in print and hopefully, this might provide Saints with enough motivation to roll these mountain men on Saturday night. Head-to-Head (1998-2001): Played 5, St George Illawarra 3 wins, Penrith 2 OUR TIP: SAINTS BY 24 STOP PRESS: Cronulla have defeated the Roosters 22-14 in Friday night's match. A win to the Dragons will see Saints move up the ladder into outright 6th position. |
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RESULTS: SAINTS 28 (McGregor 2, C. Smith, Ward, Gasnier tries. Riddell 2/2, Bartrim 2/4 goals) PENRITH 6 (Elford try. Hicks 1/2 goals)
MATCH REPORT (SUMMARY):
Despite this, Saints handled the conditions better and put on some exciting displays of attacking 'dry weather' football. Penrith on the other hand had a game which was marred by poor handling and poor kicking. Before the match both Girdler and Rooney pulled out and that coupled with the fact that they are firming as wooden spooners does a lot to explain the final scoreline. For Saints, Barrett was outstanding and Ainscough put in another strong performance. Craig Smith was the pick of the forwards. Match highlights included 2 tries to McGregor as well as rare tries to forwards Craig Smith and Colin Ward. Mark Gasnier also crossed for a 4 pointer. The win places Saints in outright 6th position but we face the prospect of a tough run home. (Parramatta, Brisbane, Newcastle, Roosters, Canterbury) MATCH
REPORT (BY THE CLOCK):
SOTV BEST PLAYERS: Trent Barrett (3pts) Craig Smith (2pts) Jamie Ainscough (1pt) Not far away: Mark Riddell, Jason Ryles, Paul McGregor, Jason Hooper (tackling machine), Amos Roberts. 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)
For full list of all the year's sound files - click here MATCH & CROWD PICS: 
The team thanks the supporters for braving the elements
REF REPORT: Shayne Hayne put in a better performance this week but still made a series of fundamental errors. At times he was petty while other time he just completely missed the obvious. He was mostly ignoring the offside play but the weather was taking it's toll on all and it's possible that the ref was giving the players just a little more slack so we're willing to overlook this. He missed a number of forward passes including one which led to a Saints try. He also missed at least 2 knock ons (one to each team). He penalised both teams once each for being in front of the kick off but let it go at other times. He penalised Gasnier for not being square when playing the ball and yet allowed both sides to walk off the mark when playing the ball. He penalised the Saints pack for breaking too early and yet let it go when the Panthers did the same thing. Just too inconsistent. He seems to have a tendency to give penalties in blocks, that is, he favours teams at different times in the match and it's not unusual to see him give consecutive penalties to each team. If a team gets 3 or 4 penalties in a row. It's almost certain that the opposite team will get the same consideration later in the match. This is just his style and we believe it's not being done in any deliberate manner. If Hayne concentrated more on the play and less on minor infringements, there's a chance that he might even become a good ref. The juries' still out on Shayne Hayne. Penalties: In something of rare statistic, Saints finished in front on the penalty count, 8-6 Overall ref rating 3 out of 10.
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[ Team 2001 ] [ Draw 2001 ] |
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