Saints v Brisbane Rnd 24(2000)

Round 24
Sunday 16 July
2.30pm
Saints v
Brisbane
Venue: WIN Stadium
Saints on TV 2000

Match Preview
& Team

Match
Report & Results

TV / Video Capture

This Weeks

Sound File

Scrapbook

Referee Rating

PREVIEW: 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.
The running of the gauntlet begins on Sunday as we take on the comp leaders, Brisbane.
With Shaun Timmins still out of the starting lineup and the recent hammering from last weekend, it would be a courageous punter who would put money on the Dragons this weekend.
Looking at the stats only makes things worse. We have record of 1 win out of 3 against the ref this year (Mark Oaten). Brisbane have won the last 2 matches head to head including a 34-18 pasting at ANZ last April. Saints have one of the worse for and against records I've ever had the displeasure to witness while Brisbane's record this year is the envy of the competition.
But the late mail is good. Craig Smith, after being KO'd by Butterfield (exonerated because the RL like him so much) a few weeks back has been slowly getting back to form. Expect a big one from Smithy. Also, the likes of Barrett, Hookey and Blacklock are sure to ignite the backline again after being embarrassed by an enthusiastic opposition in round 23. Brisbane will try to bomb Amos off the park but this will back fire and Roberts will make more than one bust when returning the ball.
Forever the optimist and the Dragons forever.
SAINTS BY 6

Curtain raisers: First Division 12.45pm; Jersey Flegg 11.15pm

Television: Channel 9 - Delayed telecast commences at 4.00pm; Fox Sports 2 - Delayed telecast commences at 7.35pm; Optus Channel 13 - C7 Sport - Delayed telecast commences at 9.30pm

FOOTY TAB:
Saints: bigstart

ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA DRAGONS TEAMS BRISBANE BRONCOS

REF: Mark Oaten

Amos Roberts Nathan Blacklock Jason Hooper Lee Murphy Lee Hookey Trent Barrett Luke Branighan Luke Bailey Nathan Brown(c) Craig Smith(c) 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

Darren Lockyer Lote Tuqiri Tonie Carroll Michael De Vere Wendell Sailor Ben Ikin Kevin Walters(c) Shane Webcke Luke Priddis Dane Carlaw Gorden Tallis Brad Thorn Kevin Campion Res: Shane Walker Ashley Harrison Michael Hancock Brad Meyers Carl Webb Chris Walker

Teams changes:
There were a number of late changes. Darren Treacy was reported to be out after damaging his foot in a lawn mower!
Luke Branighan was dropped and was a star in the 1st division.
Daniel Heckenberg makes return to first grade.
Newcomer, Justin Smith comes into the team on the bench.
Ben Hornby ran on in the centres and Jason Hooper ran on at half back.
The teams at kick off:

Match Conditions:

Attendance: 14,184
MATCH REPORT:
SAINTS 14 defeated by QLD UNITED 44 Everytime we play Brisbane the warning goes out that they will punish any team that gives them too much possession but for some reason, we saved our worse handling and worse defence for the chess pieces from Queensland United.
With a strong breeze at their backs, the Dragons went to an early 6-nil lead after having to defend against a Broncos outfit who came close to scoring on 2 occasions. The good work was undone when Brisbane levelled up after Saints gave away possession from the next kick off.
Both teams exchanged points in the first half and it looked a close thing. But Brisbane were far too good in the 2nd half against a Saints outfit who were unable to make an impression.
The Dragons defence was pretty ordinary but credit has to be given to the Broncos who were playing to win and forced Saints' hand on a number of occasions.
Nathan Brown never gave up and I dread to think what the scoreline would have been if Brownie wasn't there.
The media has now written off Saints for 2000. Even if we win the next 2 matches, we require a superior for and against if we want to scrape into the top 8. I tell you now that the Dragons' for against for 2000 is one of the worse in the NRL.
The only other chance we have if Cronulla and Tigers decide to fall over in the next 2 weeks. Saints are on 22 points and are 2 points behind Cronulla and Wests Tigers who are equal 8th on 24 points.
I've always maintained that when you start relying on other teams to lose in order to make the semis that you don't really deserve to be a contender. However, having said that, here is the run home for the teams on the tight rope: THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE
(Rounds 25 & 26)

SAINTS	CRONULLA	TIGERS
v Canterbury (A)	v Parramatta (H)	v Newcastle (H)
v Parramatta (H)	v Penrith (A)	v Melbourne (H)

Yes, that's right folks, we require Cronulla and the Tigers to lose their next 2 matches and for the Dragons to win and win again. If we lose, it's a case of 'THAT'S ALL FOLKS'.
For the record, I will be tipping against Cronulla and Tigers in the tipping comp for the next fortnight in the hope that this may have some bearing on the results.

Saints Best
3- Brown , 2- C. Smith, 1- Bartrim

1st Division: Saints 62 - Wests 12

10 min: Hookey try. Bartrim right sideline goal. Saints 6 - Bris 0
13 min: Meyers try. DeVere goal. Saints 6 - Bris 6
17 min: Blacklock try. Bartrim left sideline goal. Saints 12 - Bris 6 20 min: DeVere try, goal. Saints 12 - Bris 12
29 min: Bartrim goal. Saints 14 - Bris 12
32 min: DeVere goal. Saints 14 - Bris 14
38 min: Tuqiri try. DeVere goal. Saints 14 - Bris 20
HALF TIME
48 min: Priddis try. DeVere goal. Saints 14 - Bris 26
56 min: Sailor try. DeVere goal. Saints 14 - Bris 32
63 min: DeVere try, goal. Saints 14 - Bris 38
76 min: Hancock try. DeVere goal. Saints 14 - Bris 44
FULL TIME

Possession: Saints 43% - Brisbane 57%
Completions: Saints 76% - Brisbane 77%
Handling Errors: Saints 9 - Brisbane 7
Line breaks: Saints 6 - Brisbane 9
Offloads: Saints 21 - Brisbane 14
Missed tackles: Saints 32 - Brisbane 23

Fulltime

Luke Bailey	Andrew Hart
Ben Hornby	Daniel Heckenberg
Justin Smith, 1st grade debut	Justin, not impressed by Sailor

Amos Roberts defuses a bomb	Nathan Brown takes kick tap and he's away.
Trent Barrett sees an overlap and sends the ball wide	Lee Hookey receives the pass
Hookey scores the first try

Blacklock makes a clean break but has to look out for the Broncos' trainer...	The trainer actually slows up and looks to be a hindrance. Blacklock actually steps in-field from here before heading back towards the corner
Tingha steps and has the tryline in his sights	Never in doubt. The Comps leading try scorer notches up #21.
Wayne Bartrim kicks the perfect side line conversion

Late in the match
Lee Hookey making a break down the flank

Hookey in the clear again - 12 metres out.
This should have been a try but Hookey didn't back
himself and stepped in-field

Nathan Brown holds up the ball and stops a try.
Brownie tackled his heart out and was always trying to make things happen when Saints got the ball.

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SCRAP BOOK
FROM THE GOLD COAST WEEKEND BULLETIN, JULY 15, 2000
It's not often Wes gets much press so we are giving this Queensland article a run here.
The patronising and often negative viewpoint of the writer does not represent the opinion of 'Saints On TV'.

Rugby League journeyman and former Gold Coast Charger Wes Patten is finding favour with the powers that be at St George Illawarra with significant contributions off the bench.

WES Patten is small-
and he hasn't grown
much since he was rejected from a South Sydney junior representative side.
But despite his dimin-
utive stature he's proved to be a larger than life character in the world of rugby league.
From Souths, to the Balmain Tigers, the Gold Coast Chargers, Souths again and now St George Illawarra, the 26-year-old Patten has generated the good, the bad and the ugly during his career.
In fact he's probably better known for off-field incidents than those on the field following indecent assault charges against him and racial vilification claims.
But love him or loathe him, Patten is proving to be a stayer in the cut - throat world of rugby league, and he has seemingly made his mark with the Dragons in his last seven , matches after being re-signed to the first division earlier this season.
His input off the bench in the closing weeks of the NRL premiership could well have a bearing on the Dragons' premiership aspirations and the skills are vital if the Dragons are to beat Brisbane tomorrow.
The man once described by former Gold Coast Chargers coach Phil Economidis as 'the worst' rugby league player he has ever coached has found favour in the Dragons ranks after being thrown a lifeline following the demise of Souths.

"I tried to get a start after the Chargers fin- ished but nobody took me aboard and I played for Newtown in the Metropolitan Cup," said Patten yesterday.
"Then 'Choc' (Mundine) spoke to a few people at the Dragons and I offered to play for no money and they gave me some hope of getting back to the top level again.
"I'm back again. I'm in the process of signing a two year deal with the Dragons so I'm really happy."
Patten's topsy-turvey history culminated with a controversial year in 1997 when he was forced to contend with a sexual assault charge while he was guiding the Chargers to their first ever finals series. He was found not guilty.
The same year he was awarded $25,000 for the humiliation he suffered after a racial slur by police officers was televised on national television a few years earlier.
In 1998 Patten teamed up with former Canter- bury player Solomon Haumono to claim he had been racially vilified on the field - backing up the same claims by the controversial Anthony Mundine.
His elusive brilliance on the field at halfback earned him the name General Patten as he guided the Chargers to an historic finals spot during in (sic) 1997. He even had a local fan club.
Dropped and promoted in a love-hate relationship with Economidis, Patten also had the nickname of 'Where's' Patten because of his tendency to go walkabout.

From the Gold Coast Bulletin Mon July 17
Excerpt from Mark Coyne's Monday Column

The result all but ends the Dragon's hopes of playing in the finals.
I still think they can win their last two games, but it is going to take a hell of a lot of other results to go their way to sneak in.
They need the Sharks and Tigers to lose their remaining games and try to sneak in by winning both of their games.

The Dragons have really paid the price for a mounting injury list which now includes Jamie Ainscough, Lance Thompson, and Shaun Timmins, not to mention the mid-season loss of Anthony Mundine.
Brisbane look like they may lose prop Shane Webcke for a few weeks which would be a blow, but I still think they deserve to be raging favourites.

REFEREE & TOUCH JUDGES & VID REF

REFEREE: MARK OATEN

Total Referee or Touch Judge errors = 6
Errors in favour of Saints = 3
Errors in favour of Brisbane = 3
Penalty Count: Saints 10 - Brisbane 7
Comments:
Mark Oaten put in a good performance. One of the best I've seen from refs this year. That's not saying much.
Early in the match he was inconsistent with the play the ball rulings and allowed Brisbane more latitude with the 10 metres. However, as the match went on, he became more consistent and did a fair job of keeping out of the way. I also think that he did a good job to keep his cool as a players tried on a bit of intimidation, Brisbane players being the worse offenders. Toni Carroll was seen to tell the ref to f**k off and got away with it. Bill's ego would never had allowed that.
Oaten made a number of minor errors, 6 was the final count and these were evenly spread. Also, I do believe that this is the first time this year that the Dragons won the penalty count.
Overall rating: 7½ / 10

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