Saints v Newcastle Rnd21(2000)

Round 21
Sunday 21 June
2.30pm
Saints v
Newcastle Knights
Venue: SFS
Saints on TV 2000

Match Preview
& Team

Match
Report & Results

TV / Video Capture

This Weeks

Sound File

Scrapbook

Referee Rating

PREVIEW: This Sunday, Saints are feeling the heat once again. Apparently, we need to win 4 or 5 of the last 6 matches on offer in order to have a chance of making the semis. This is a tall order considering the upcoming opposition:
Newcastle (Home), Canberra (Away), Penrith (Away), Brisbane (Home), Canterbury (Away), Parra (Home).
The way I figure it, we MUST win all these games and that means getting as much support as possible to each of these games.
There's no doubt that the team is capable of beating Newcastle at the SFS this weekend, having won the round 8 encounter in similar circumstances when the Dragons were battling to keep in touch.
However, a massive downside to this weekend is the announcement that Bill is to be the ref. We hope that the ref factor will not have a play in this match.
As for the line up, Saints are without Treacy and Timmins is still out. Its a pretty strong team with Jason Ryles earning another bench spot after a strong showing in a losing team last Sunday. Newcastle look strong as well. This should be a fantastic game. The key is in the halves. Trent Barrett, by his standards, had a quiet match last Sunday and I expect him to lift as he lines up against the Johns Bros.
Saints by 4

FOOTY TAB:
Saints: 4 .5 start

REFEREE: BILL HARRIGAN

TEAMS ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA DRAGONS:
Amos Roberts, Nathan Blacklock, Jamie Ainscough, Lee Murphy, Lee Hookey, Trent Barrett, Luke Branighan, Wayne Bartrim, Andrew Hart, Terry Lamey, Craig Smith (c), Nathan Brown (c), Luke Bailey.
Reserves: Jason Ryles, Colin Ward, Jason Hooper, Wes Patten.
NEWCASTLE KNIGHTS:
Adam MacDougall, Timana Tahu, Mathew Gidley, Mark Hughes, Lenny Beckett, Mathew Johns, Andrew Johns, Bill Peden, Sean Rudder, David Fairleigh, Clinton O'Brien, Danny Buderus, Tony Butterfield.
Reserves: S. Simpson, P. Rauhihi, M. Parsons, G. Grief.

Teams subject to late changes:

Match Conditions: Cool, dry, light SFS breeze
Attendance: 13,270
POST MATCH SUMMARY:
HALF TIME SCORE: SAINTS 26 - NEWCASTLE 6
1st half HIGHLIIGHTS
David Waite has stood down as head coach, Andrew Farrar now head coach.
Saints are thrashing Newcastle.
Craig Smith knocked out.
Luke Bailey destroying the Newcastle pack.
Blacklock scores 95 m solo intercept try just before half time and Barto converts it from the sideline !!!!
FULLTIME RESULTS AT FULLTIME
FULLTIME:
SAINTS 36 - NEWCASTLE 24 Saints played a tremendous first half, defending well and grafting out a well earned lead of 20 points. This should have been enough to seal a run-away victory. The fact is, Newcastle were far from done with and they ran in 4 easy tries in the 2nd half. They almost went on with it but were denied a try when ref Bill got in the way of the Dragons' defence which resulted in a decision by the vid ref to signal 'no try'.
Saints became lacklustre in defence and the kicking game (from kick off and last tackle) was well below par.
To their credit, they came back and held out a determined opposition.
A try to Lee Hookey put Saints back in the driver's seat and Blacklock put it beyond doubt with yet another try with less than 10 minutes to go.
Craig Smith never returned after being concussed in the first 5 minutes of the match. Luke Bailey, Terry Lamey and Colin Ward really stood up today in what can be only described as a very tough encounter. FULL MATCH REPORT: The big news of the week was Newcastle's re-signing of Andrews Johns for the next 4 years. Then there were the press releases, some received on match day that David Waite has stood down as Dragons' head-coach, paving the way for Andrew Farrar. Some reports say Waite is overseas and will be coming back to assist Farrar within the next few weeks. Other reports say that he will not be seen again and has permanently stood down. Whatever happens, it will be up to David Waite who has acted like the perfect gentlemen throughout this current ordeal. It comes as no surprise to learn that he stood aside with style. David Waite can sleep well at night content with the knowledge that he always tried to do the right thing.
So the stage was set: the Newcastle camp cock-a-hoop and the Dragons camp once again embroiled in controversy. Given the year that Saints have had, the lounge room forum quickly came to the conclusion that we were going to rip the Knights to shreds...
Highlights:
3 min: Craig Smith is concussed after a stiff arm to the head from Butterfield. The ref is unsighted and Smith is replaced. The TV commentary plays it down but this looks like a pre-match instruction. This is a big set back. Smith sat out the rest of the match.
5 min: Newcastle look ordinary in attack and Saints look hot. Despite some heavy defence from the visitors, Trent Barrett works his magic, 25m out from the Knights' line with a great 'round the corner' pass to Ryles (looking better every week) who goes through the gap. Branighan in support takes the ball and with some work to do, stands up MacDougall and plants the ball down for Saints' first try. Barto has little trouble with the conversion. Score: Saints 6 - Newcastle 0
14 min: Newcastle score try (Buderus), converted (Johns) after sustained pressure. Score: Saints 6 - Newcastle 6
23 min: Barrett has the ball 35 out from Saints' line. It's the last tackle and the Newcastle defence has been pinning Saints down for some time. On this occasion, they come up too quick. Barrett steps and puts in a chip off the right outside of his right boot. This confuses MacDougall at fullback. Barrett regathers and finds open space. He draws the cover and passes to Jason Hooper who scores unopposed next to the uprights. Tingha converts. (Sound file of this try, see below) Score: Saints 12 - Newcastle 6
26 min: 40m metres from Newcastle tryline. Roberts is put into a huge gap via an inside pass from Ainscough. Amos runs through a shocked defensive line and then stands up MacDougall with a wonderful side step. With still plenty of work to do, Roberts stretches out and scores next to the posts. Barto converts.
Score: Saints 18 - Newcastle 6
32 min: Bartrim 35m penalty goal. Score: Saints 20 - Newcastle 6
38 min: Newcastle getting consecutive sets. The Dragons' defence looks set to be breached and an overlap on Blacklock's wing develops. Tingha forgets about defending and goes for the intercept. He burgles the ball and runs 95m to score out wide. Ref Harrigan arrives a minute later to award the try. Barto converts from the sideline. Score: Saints 26 - Newcastle 6

HALF TIME

42 min: Lee Hookey fails to clean up a rolling ball and MacDougall scores a gift try. Conversion misses.
Score: Saints 26 - Newcastle 10
46 min: Buderus scores for Newcastle after a Gidley kick through. Conversion misses. Score: Saints 26 - Newcastle 14
51 min: Beckett scores out wide for the Knights. Conversion misses. Saints are dropping off and nodding off. The kicks in general play are 2nd rate and Saints are handing easy possession to their opponents.
Score: Saints 26 - Newcastle 18
55min: Grief scores for the Knights, getting through some soft defence 10m out from the line. Saints can't buy the ball. Conversion hits uprights and goes in. Score: Saints 26 - Newcastle 24
59 min: Newcastle appear to score but the ref impedes a Saints defender (Barrett). The ref 'coaches' the vid ref and the ruling is for no try. A scrum is ordered with Newcastle feed. Newcastle win scrum and during a backline movement, pass the ball into touch. This is a huge let off for Saints who were on the ropes.
63 min: Saints strike back deep in their own half with a redeeming try to Lee Hookey. A backline passing sequence finds Hookey out wide who makes his break from half way brushing aside a number of would-be defenders (Beckett, Peden and MacDougall) to score mid way between the posts and touch. Barto misses an easy one. Score: Saints 30 - Newcastle 24 (TURNING POINT)
68 min: On the back of some determined attacking raids, the Knights get across the line but Rauhihi has knocked on over the line. Commentary suggests that he 'promoted' the ball but this is not basketball, the Newcastle player knocked it on. This would be the last opportunity for the Knights as Saints are now kicking better and seem to have their minds back on the job. The players from both teams are looking tired and a few Newcastle players are showing their frustration.
76 min: Trent Barrett (who else?) holds the ball up and runs through the tired Newcastle line making a fine break from half way. In typical fashion, he draws them in and looks for support. None other than Nathan Blacklock is there to put the clincher on the match with a try under the sticks. Barto converts and it's a wrap.
Score: Saints 36 - Newcastle 24
80 min: Newcastle start a dust up and it quickly peters outs.

Although this match finished with a question mark over the refereeing. There is no doubt that Newcastle didn't deserve to win. The Dragons consistently forced the Knights back and this often forced an error - the Knights dropping heaps of ball and guilty of 13 errors to Saints' 4. Ultimately, Saints came back and held out their opponents. In the end it was the Dragons who ran away with it, scoring the last 2 tries. In the final minutes, they put in some spirited defence in a classic tough game of football.

FULL TIME: SAINTS WIN 36 -24

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

Stats:
Saints 36 (Blacklock 2, Roberts, Hookey, Branighan, Hooper tries. Bartrim 5/6, Blacklock 1/1 goals)
Newcastle 24 (Buderus 2, MacDougall, Beckett, Grief tries. A. Johns 2/5 goals)

A minute's silence for Jack Lindwall

O'Brien loses the shirt off his back	Barrett setting things up
round the corner to Ryles	Ryles sees Branighan
Branighan sees the tryline	Saints score their first of the day

Farrar in the box seat
Ward offloading	and again
Ward on the burst

Barrett chips ahead	and regathers
Hooper in the clear

Jason Hooper scores his 9th try for 2000

Amos Roberts, tryline bound	Blacklock's intercept
and away he goes...
	Tingha scores just before the break

HALF TIME

Lee Hookey runs in to score...

Barrett again finds a gap	Blacklock scores his 2nd
...and celebrates

Saints seal the match just before full time.

SOUND FILES
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Click on the speaker to hear
Trent Barrett set up Hooper's try in the 21st minute

744 Kb .WAV file

SCRAP BOOK
From The Daily Telegraph (Syd) Mon 26 June:

Up and over...Dragons wingers Nathan Blacklock performs his trademark backflip after scoring the match-clinching try against Newcastle at the SFS yesterday.

Picture: PHIL HILLYARD

DALLY M PROGRESS SCORE AFTER ROUND 21
TRENT BARRETT LEADS THE FIELD:

QUOTES OF THE DAY:

"I felt a lot better when I put the ball down for the try, I can tell you" - Lee Hookey

"It was the first bit of luck we've had for a long time in close games" - Nathan Brown

"I definitely interfered with Barrett" - Bill Harrigan

"The Waite incident had little influence on late betting. The big plunge was earlier in the week with plenty of support going the way of the Knights following the announcement that Harrigan was to be the referee" - Bookmaker 'spokesperson'

REFEREE & TOUCH JUDGES & VID REF

REFEREE:
BILL HARRIGAN

Total Referee or Touch Judge errors = Too many minor errors. Major errors = 8
Errors in favour of Saints = 3
Errors in favour of Newcastle = 5
Penalty Count: Saints 3 - Newcastle 4
Comments:
This was Bill's 301st appearance as a first grade ref and as always, he made sure that one way or another he would get his name in the papers. Throughout the match, Bill was unable to detect poor marker play. Players were constantly guilty of not standing square and they knew that there was no chance of being penalised. Also, Bill was inconsistent with the 10 metres. But what can you expect from a ref who should have been pensioned off 2 years ago.
One thing that should be of serious concern for the NRL is Bill's lack of awareness of high and cheap shots. He missed almost all of them.
In short, Bill made too many minor errors for us to properly count and we were resigned in the end to countng only the major errors.
The evitable controversy came in the 2nd half when Bill acted as a foil, getting in the way and 'possibly' impeding the Dragons' defence. Bill in his discussions with the vid ref insisted that he was in the way and wanted confirmation of this. The try was disallowed and Knights' fans were fuming. This try would have put Newcastle ahead. A major error from a man who is supposed to be the game's top ref. The problem is, he makes major errors all the time. On this ocassion, he worked the vid ref over in an effort to cover up his own inepitude. The fact is, he was just too slow to get out of the way.
According to our mail, Bill has been given a rap over the knuckles by the NRL. Its our advice that he is sent the following note:
Memo to Bill: hand in your whistle and find a desk job.
This was a bad match for Bill. He gets one point for showing up.
Overall rating: 1 / 10

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