Saints v Penrith Rnd 23(2000)

Round 23
Saturday
8th July
7.30pm
Saints v
Penrith
Venue: Panthers
Saints on TV 2000

Match Preview
& Team

Match
Report & Results

TV / Video Capture

This Weeks

Sound File

Scrapbook

Referee Rating

PREVIEW: There's no doubt that good defence at crucial moments have seen Saints home in the matches that count. It's also no doubt that we have lost a number of games because of lapses in concentration and poor tackling at times when the opposition really didn't deserve such breaks. I can think of a number of matches this year which we never should have lost.
The Dragons are all but gone should they lose this weekend and that gives us reason for optimism. The teams that do best coming into the semis are the teams which have had to walk the tight rope week after week...it hardens their defensive line.
And it's defence that we rely on most.
I'm convinced that Saints will beat Penrith by employing the three 'T's: Tackle, Tackle, Tackle.
The big talking point is the call up of Ben Hornby who comes onto the bench to replace Jason Hooper who has been named in the run on side to replace the injured Jamie Ainscough who is out for the season (ruptured bicep tendon). Saints have lost an enormous amount of talent in the backline this year. Its a credit to the club's depth that they can continually blood new players who more often than not come up trumps against their more experienced opponents.
Ben Hornby is an Illawarra junior who has been outstanding at fullback and centre in 1st division this year.
Penrith are coming off a loss and have named a team which looks to be at full strength. Ryan Girdler looks to be the danger man and you can expect stupid Steve Carter to do everything he can to start a dust up with his mouth.
Saints have a team which at first glance looks like a bunch of young lads but the truth is they come with speed to burn. Lee Hookey is really hitting form and Jason Hooper will relish his opportunity running on in the centres. The forwards have been tremendous in recent weeks and we expect a big one this week from Craig Smith and an even bigger match from Jason Ryles who returns from suspension.
As always, Saints supporters should show up in force. Those who want to go to the game should check out what the Dragon Army is up to at the Jubilee Avenue web site. (see links & chat).
SAINTS BY 13

ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA DRAGONS TEAMS PENRITH PANTHERS

REF: Bill Harrigan

Amos Roberts Nathan Blacklock Jason Hooper Lee Murphy Lee Hookey Trent Barrett Luke Branighan Luke Bailey Nathan Brown(c) Craig Smith Terry Lamey Andrew Hart Wayne Bartrim Res:

Darren Treacy Jason Ryles Ben Hornby Wes Patten . .

1 2

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Res: 14 15 16 17 18 19

Peter Jorgensen Robbie Beckett

Ryan Girdler Shane Elford Chris Hicks Steve Carter Matt Rodwell Carl MacNamara Craig Gower Craig Greenhill Tony Puletua Matt Adamson John Cross Res: Mark Geyer Jody Gall Ned Catic David Woods Brad Drew Scott Sattler

(2 to be omitted from Penrith team)

LATE CHANGES:
Steve Carter OUT
Craig Gower OUT

TV TEAMS:

Match Conditions: dry, cool. Light breeze favours Penrith 1st half.
Attendance: 19,330
MATCH SUMMARY: Saints looked to be well in the match at only 2-nil down after half an hour of tackling. Penrith, having had over 70% of the ball were unable to breach the Dragon's line and looked to be frustrated by the solid defence. But then the flood gates opened and at half time we were down by 20-nil.
The 2nd half began with a great forward raid by Saints but soon after, Penrith were in again and that was the ball game. What followed was a series of baffling ref (Bill) decisions plus a number of very poor options by the Dragons' defenders. Penrith made easy ground up the middle of the ruck as our forwards were being slowly trampled underfoot afterwhich, their three quarters had little trouble carving up our backline.
A number of Saints' players were often missing in action and some were showing their inexperience.
Best players included Nathan Brown, Wayne Bartrim (knocked out near fulltime) and Craig Smith who were never far from the action and Trent Barrett who tried hard all day despite having to defend wide of the ruck in place of his outside men.
When Saints finally did get some ball, they scored a couple of good tries...but it was all too little, too late.
The old adage, 'you can't win the game without the football' couldn't have been better illustrated.
With 3 rounds to go, Saints now have to rely on the results from other matches to stand a chance of making the semis this year.
Matches to come: v Brisbane (H), v Canterbury (A), v Parra (H).

FULL MATCH REPORT:

4 min: Ref rules Saints offside. Penalty goal Penrith. Score: Saints 0 - Penrith 2
5 min: Penrith get 2nd penalty and go on the attack. After 6 tackles, Saints hold them out and Penrith kick into in-goal. Blacklock bats the ball dead. Line drop out. (6 tackles).
8 min: Possession: Penrith 77%. Time in own half: Saints 71%. Penrith with another set attack Saints' line. On the 4th tackle and close to the line, Penrith get six again after Saints are ruled to have touched the ball (10 tackles).
9 min: Penrith get another set of six on the 4th when ref rules that Saints knock on (14 tackles).
10 min: Penrith run at the Saints lines for 4 tackles before losing possession. In the last 5 minutes, Saints have completed 18 tackles and held Penrith out. Saints get relieving penalty when Penrith player strips ball.
12 min: Saints complete a set and Penrith regain possession after kick and ruck it out for 2 tackles. A penalty in Penrith's favour puts them back on the attack near the Dragon's line. After 4 tackles. Penrith lose possession. In the last 7 minutes, Saints have completed 24 tackles to Penrith's 6. Most of the play has been within the Dragon's 20 m line. Possession after 12 min: Penrith 72%.
13 min: A big raid from Penrith is repelled by desperate defence and Saints get ball back. They put in in ordinary set and are looking tired. On the last, it's Bailey who puts in the kick while still in his own half. The kick is what you would expect from a front rower and Penrith should get good field position. Penrith lose the ball on the first tackle and for the first time in the match, Saints find themselves in a good attacking position. Unfortunately, ref penalises Saints for play the ball infringement which everyone seemed to miss - on replay it is revealed to be a petty ruling which reeks of over - intervention from the whistle blower.
19 min: Saints get their first repeat set of six after Barrett grubbers into the in-goal.
21 min: With a trickle of ball going their way, Saints look dangerous but Lee Murphy kicks the ball into touch when it should have been sent in-field. Possession is handed back to the Panthers. Dragons forwards are looking tired and they are called upon to defend again.
25 min: It has become a tight match with only 2 point scored so far. The Dragons look as if they have weathered the storm. Penrith put in a deft kick towards Blacklock's corner and Tingha puts on a heart stopper by flicking the ball off the ground towards his own try line and finds Amos Roberts on the line who puts on a step and then another, and then another. This is the best run of the match and although Amos looks done for, he still steps around a gang of defenders and keeps going forward. Eventually, Roberts is pulled down 39 m out from the Penrith line and the defence looks rattled by this 61m run.
A moment later, Brown passes forward to Treacy who is pulled up by the ref. The tryline beckons as the pass from Treacy to Branighan would have seen Luke score next to the sticks...but it's just not our night. The ref makes a bird of it by penalising the Dragons once again when Barto makes an innocuous 2nd tackle.
26 min: Back in possession now, Penrith have the right side stacked and look set to score. A Blacklock intercept attempt goes to ground and instead of running all the way, Blacklock will have to be satisfied with just stopping the Penrith charge. More possession to the Panthers from the scrum.
28 min: Under huge pressure, the Saints line cracks. A big gap appearing when Murphy misreads the play and rushes up. Others try to fill the hole but the line is breached and Penrith score 10m in from touch. Girdler conversion successful. Score: Saints 0 - Penrith 8
31 min: Wes Patten gets up on a step ladder and touches the back of Matt Adamson's neck. The ref penalises Wes and Penrith get more possession and field position. Less than a minute later, Penrith get a piggy back penalty as the ref rules that Saints were laying on the player too long....
32 min: Penrith score and convert. Score: Saints 0 - Penrith 14
37 min: Ben Hornby gets his first touch after being called on a few minutes earlier.
38 min: Penrith score after getting around Roberts who is on the wing (for some reason) and then standing up Blacklock, who is at fullback (for some reason). Last week we also saw the coach switching these players and both times without profit.

HALF TIME SCORE: Saints 0 - Penrith 20

STAT: Metres gained 1st half; Saints 458m - Penrith 915m

41 min: Saints start the 2nd half well with back to back sets and are playing to win. However, we're sent back to our own 30m line after a Penrith line drop out goes 70m
43 min: Penrith score converted try following an easy break. Roberts at last line of defence is stood up and ineffective.
Score: Saints 0 - Penrith 26
51 min: Girdler crosses out wide. Conversion misses. Score: Saints 0 - Penrith 30
55 min: Penrith make further ground down their right flank as the Dragon's defence opens up again out wide on their left side. Penrith are held out but get more possession from a line drop out.
57 min: The ref penalises Ryles right in front of the posts for rubbing his forearm into the tackled man's face. This is in retaliation to Ryles being punched in the same tackle and there is really nothing going here. The ref in his wisdom gives Penrith a further 2 points. The kick gives Girdler a career total of 1106 point which is a Penrith club record. Score: Saints 0 - Penrith 32
62 min: Saints get consecutive sets and attack the Penrith line on both sides of the ruck with Bartrim injecting himself into the play. A Barrett pass puts Treacy through a gap and he scores on the right side of the posts. Barto converts. Score: Saints 6 - Penrith 32
65 min: Ben Hornby shows a fine turn of pace when he makes a break of 30 metres and almost gets to the half way line. Unfortunately, he loses the ball in the tackle. Saints have to defend and the fatigue is clearly evident when Bartrim quite simply hasn't got the energy to get off the tackled player. It's pretty tragic to see this and the ref has no choice but to penalise him, not that Bill needed much of an invitation. Penrith score out wide a few tackles later. The conversion attempt hits the posts and goes in. Score: Saints 6 - Penrith 38
67 min: Penrith score again after some flimsy defence, once again down the Penrith right flank. Hooper and Hornby making it easy for the home team. Saints have the numbers here but it's terrible defence all round with only Wes Patten and Jason Ryles doing any tackling as Penrith pass at will on their way to the tryline. Score: Saints 6 - Penrith 42
73 min: Nathan Blacklock is put into a gap by Andrew Hart. Tingha makes a great run but is held down by Rodwell who denies Saints a try scoring chance. The ref sends Rodwell to the sin bin and we get our 3rd penalty of the match.
74 min: Barrett and Brown combine to set up a trade mark try. This is a simple and well rehearsed move which has resulted in points on more than one occasion this season. Barrett grubbers and Brown races through, touching down inches before the dead ball line. the conversion from in front goes through. Score: Saints 12 - Penrith 42
76 min: Wayne Bartrim is knocked out when he cops an elbow from Mark Geyer who on replay appears to line Barto up.

The final upshot of this match is a simple one. Saints were outclassed in the centres and although we can blame some of the forwards for dropping off in the tackling department, it's fair to say that they were suffering from lack of possession. For my money, the forwards tackled their hearts out and still found some to set up things up when we did get the ball. Its a credit to the team that they held Penrith out for the first 30 minutes despite being in their opponent's half only 2 times. As for some of the backs, they were seriously depleted with many good players missing but the fact is, they forgot how to tackle.
With the big injury list finally taking it's toll it's beginning to look as if we've run our race. But we're not done yet and I'm looking forward to the return of Timmins and the upcoming match against this year's minor premiers, Brisbane, next Sunday at WIN.

FULL TIME: SAINTS 12 - PENRITH 42
(SAINTS LOSE IN ALL 3 GRADES)
Saints Best
3-Brown , 2-Bartrim, 1-Barrett

Stats:

Blacklock's heart stopping flick pass	Roberts takes the pass and steps away

Amos leaves a bucket load of defenders in his wake

Lamey, Bailey and Hart drive Geyer back

David Waite looks on

Trent Barrett sets up Treacy
Darren Treacy crosses for Saints' first

Ben Hornby making a break
Team talk after Penrith go in again	Blacklock counter attacks

Nathan Brown scores

Barto finds something ro smile about

A minute later he is KO'd

THIS WEEKS SOUND FILE
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Andrew Farrar interviewed by Russell Fairfax
before the kick off.

384 Kb .WAV file

SCRAP BOOK

Not this week

REFEREE & TOUCH JUDGES & VID REF

REFEREE: BILL HARRIGAN

Total Referee or Touch Judge errors = 13
Errors in favour of Saints = 3
Errors in favour of Penrith = 10
Penalty Count: Saints 4 - Penrith 10
Blatant errors :
8 min: Saints are ruled to play at ball and touch it giving Penrith another set of six. Incorrect ruling. Error favours Penrith.
9 min: Penrith player mistimes his run and knocks ball forward. The ball goes to ground and Saints while trying to fall on the ball, fumble it backwards. The ref rules Saints knock on, no Penrith knock on. Error favours Penrith.
12 min: Geyer is driven back and loses ball while trying to pass it. ref rules it was stripped and gives Penrith their 3rd penalty. (Penalty count 12 min: Penrith 3-1). Error favours Penrith.
15 min: Jason Ryles is penalised for not playing ball correctly. He has Penrith players lying all over him and this is the first opportunity of the match for the Dragons who have been pinned down for the entirety of the match so far. The ref is clearly unsighted and standing 10 m front on to the incident. Perhaps, he got a call. Either way, it was the wrong decision.
(Penalty count 15 min: Penrith 4-1) Error favours Penrith.
18 min: Penrith penalised for marker not standing square. Ref must have been measuring this by the micrometre 'cause the marker looked OK. (Penalty count 18 min: Penrith 4-2) Error favours Saints.

By this stage of the proceedings it has become apparent that Bill is keen to blow the whistle. This flies in the face of Bill's 'non-intervention' reputation. In less than 20 minutes, he has given 6 penalties and made 5 blatant errors.

24 min: Blacklock is held down and is pushed down again. No penalty. Blatantly inconsistent. The ref is lauded by the commentators for penalising Saints for a less obvious incident a few minutes later when Saints were gaining the ascendancy (see 25th min of match report). Error favours Penrith.
34 min: Defenders (Lamey, Bailey & Hart) from the Dragons put on a good drive and force the Penrith ball carrier (Geyer) back 5, than 10 metres. The drive continues and the Penrith player is in danger of being pushed back some 20m. This is a wonderful piece of defensive work but for some reason, the ref calls out 'held' and the defenders stop their drive. According to the laws of the game, the ref is incorrect. It was up to to the ball carrier's team mates to assist, not the ref. Blatant error and act of bias favours Penrith.
35 min: Ref misses Saints player's hand in the play the ball area and calls knock on against Penrith. Error favours Saints.
36 min: Barrett puts up bomb. Girdler takes out Hookey right in front of touch judge. No action taken as ball is fumbled by Penrith player and Saints appear to be one man short. Error favours Penrith.
42 min: Penrith player rolls ball back in play the ball and never puts a foot on it. This is in full view of ref and touchie who choose to let it go despite having penalised Saints for the same. Error favours Penrith.

For the next 5 minutes, Saints struggle to get out of their own half as Penrith continually play offside and will not square up in the marker area. Incredibly, the next penalty goes in favour of Penrith when some outside Dragon defenders are marginally offside. The ref is clearly selective regarding infringements and the penalty count against Saints is mammoth. Penalty count: Saints 2 - Penrith 8

50 min: Barrett has ball stripped in a one on one tackle - ball is clearly knocked out of his grasp by the Penrith player in a forward direction. That is, it's knock on. The Penrith player falls on the ball. The ref yells out 'one on one, Penrith ball!' - surely if the ref acknowledges the strip. Then he must call knock on. A similar incident earlier in the match went against the Dragons. Error favours Penrith.

64min: Penalty count: Saints 3 - Penrith 10

67 min: Ref calls a ball knocked back when the Penrith player clearly knocked on. Penrith score less than a minute later. Error favours Penrith.
73 min: Blacklock appears to knock on while being tackled. Missed by ref. Error favours Saints.

Overall rating: 2 / 10

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