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Message: [QUOTE="Big Pete, post: 2697032, member: 1899"] Great post. I remember only tuning in part-way through that game for whatever reason. I must have been out that evening, and didn't think of anything of that game. I think after we lost to the Sharks in Week 1, I assumed that was the Broncos for the season, not realising they had a second chance. It was pretty uplifting to put a score on the Dragons but I was filthy with one of the tries Blacklock scored. I caught the game a few years back and the thing that struck me was the ability of the backline. As bad as Kelly would become, I thought he was redeemable in 2001. Couldn't defend to save himself (neither could Walker) but certainly had some toe on him. Unfortunately, haven't had a chance to watch through old games. Closest I came to doing so was when I was digging through my collection and stumbled on the R6 2006 Good Friday clash between the Roosters. Only watched a half of it, but it reminded me of how annoying Gus was as a commentator and how it kicked off a new-phase of Brisbane attack. Losing Ennis really hurt the Broncos creativity around the ruck, meaning Lockyer had to be smarter about his kicking game. Which meant he would just kick it to Mellers in the corner, over and over and over again before it got to the Roosters. The only interesting aspect of the first half was the try to Amos Roberts, which the 9 commentary dubbed a mirror image of the Bott try some 12 months prior. Unsure if I agree but it was well worked and goes to show how good Mini once was. As I said, I'm not really into old games and if anything find myself catching up on games I missed. The last game I caught was the Sharks/Cows game. An interesting match as far as the Cows being unable to meet the Sharks finals intensity. I've got to give Cronulla plenty of credit this year. I thought Round 5, they were goners but the emergence of Bird has really saved them. That's why he'd be my pick for Rookie of the Year. Sure, Taukeiaho is amazing and a contender for the best bench player in the game, but he didn't have anywhere near the amount of responsibility Bird has. Plus, Bird's skill just puts him on another level. The kid shouldn't even be playing five eighth, yet he'd be right up there in terms of 2015 is concerned. He was great, but he had plenty of support as well. I thought Michael Gordon really turned back the clock here. He's been largely quiet since 2013, Gordon, but I don't know if it was because he was going up against Coote AKA the guy who forced him out of Penrith or what it was but he was great here. Set up a try and then scored a really important try after half-time by running at JT and beating the tackle of Lowe. I thought that was great and honestly, from there it appeared as if the Sharks were going to roll all over the top of the Cowboys before the referees started finding penalties. In fairness, most were probably deserved, but the 'strip' call was a real 50/50 and if play was able to continue, the score is probably 24-0 Sharks with 30 left to play. Instead, Cows get a few lucky calls (and non-calls), score 12 points, make a game of it until JT stuffed up one of his kicks and Beale scores the try the Sharks should have been allowed to score. Must say, Beale hasn't done a lot for me this season, but I'd consider him a good buy on the basis that he isn't a liability and he's replaced Ayshford who was terrible for the Sharks last year. There was a lot of controversy over Gal's 'ref the game evenly' comment. I guess it could be read into and interpreted as the referees being rigged, but you'd be digging a little bit to get there. Should it have been charged? Yes, but I disagree with Vossy that it was deserving of a sin-bin. I don't know what the rule is as far as Morgan's knock-on kick, but it shouldn't be allowed. Cronulla have been an interesting side to watch post-Bird selection. For mine, they just seem to have all the fundamentals down and they have a few gifted players in Holmes, Bird, Fifita, Lewis, Graham & Gal who can get things going, while Ennis leads them around the field extremely well. I honestly wouldn't have an issue with Ennis being selected Hooker of the Year. He's been the key for Cronulla and if he's injured, Cronulla are doing their best to avoid another spoon. Cows are still too inconsistent for my liking. At times, they play with great intensity. Others, it doesn't seem like they're awake, their timing sucks and they're struggling to make ground. I think their pack was found out somewhat in this game. Hannant & Cooper both tried really hard, but couldn't say the same thing about the rest. Tamou in particular... Oh god Tamou. So, JT throws this awesome inside ball to Tamou and he's through. The only player in his way is Gordon, and he isn't exactly front on either so he should score 5m out for sure. Except he doesn't. Gordon drags him down with one of the most desperate tackles I've seen. Great effort by Gordon, but a player of Tamou's size should really break the tackle. That was him for the night though, either picking poor lines for his dummy-half, running sideways and not really fighting in the tackle. To be fair, I don't think anyone played well. The Sharks barely gave them an opportunity too, and they weren't able to overcome that. Apart of the problem also was their inability to build pressure. They had a few attacking opportunities in the first half but squandered them with errors or poor kicks. If Coote didn't have a better second, I'd swear it was the worst game I'd seen him play for the Cows. As it stands, the jury is out. So a tough one to judge the Cows on. I'll be interested to see how they respond against Souths tomorrow night. I think they'll make a better account of themselves with Scott back but I really hope for their sake Taumalolo steps it up. He really needs to pull the trigger, otherwise the Cows may need to wait till 2016 to be a shot. Oh, also want to give a shout out to Asiata. I think he's been really underrated off the bench for the Cows. He's been outplaying Taumalolo for sometime now. [/QUOTE]

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