Roosters Fire Up And Maroons Feel The Blues

By HeBeGeeBee on June 16, 2011 in Other

A short bye round provided us with only five regular premiership games this round, which started with a surprise upset by the Titans over an Origin affected Dragons outfit. Brisbane and Canberra provided a nail-biter with only one point separating the two teams, and the Storm and Roosters conjured a bit of fire in the cauldron in Melbourne on Monday night.

NEW SOUTH WALES 18 – QUEENSLAND 8

Special Report – Well the NSW Blues found an extra gear and stepped up the intensity they showed in spurts in the first game to lock up the series at one apiece. Queensland managed to grab first points with a penalty goal and followed it up with a burst over the line from Cameron Smith to push the score out to 8-0. With over 81,000 fans in attendance the atmosphere was palpable and credit is due to the diligence of New South Wales fans who attended the second game in the wild and woolly weather. Down 8-0, some Mitchell Pearce brilliance in the form of a perfectly placed chip kick saw Luke Lewis score and drag the deficit back to just two points. After the break, debutant William Hopoate scored a body-bending try in the corner to get the Blues into a 12-8 lead and the they never let up from there. A try to Anthony ‘The Count’ Minichiello in the 77th minute sealed the victory for the Blues and set up a thrilling third game decider in Brisbane in two weeks. All eyes will be glued to the screens to see if this year’s New South Wales team can break the Maroon run of the last five series…

RABBITOHS – BYE

Other teams with the bye include the Bulldogs, Panthers, Eels, Sharks and Knights.

Next Round – RABBITOHS vs. TITANS (17/06 at 7:35PM at ANZ Stadium)

STORM 21 – ROOSTERS 4

To say the Storm were affected by Origin would be a massive understatement as they went into the match without skipper Cameron Smith, Billy Slater, Cooper Cronk and Dane Nielsen, all away on Origin duty with Queensland. The Roosters on the other hand were also down a few good men in the form of Mitchell Pearce, Nate Myles and Anthony Minichiello. The game was a bit of a firecracker with tempers rising and exploding throughout the match, but the always-efficient Storm found the upper hand on the scoreboard and almost single-handedly destroyed the Eastern Suburbs fans hopes of a finals finish for the Tri-Colours. Not much to celebrate out of this game but at least the Roosters are guaranteed the two points next week due to the bye.

Next Round – ROOSTERS Bye

DRAGONS 14 – TITANS 28

Once again Origin played a big part in this result with the cellar-dweller Titans grabbing an upset win over the Dragons. Alex McKinnon was the star in this game scoring two of the Dragons’ three tries, but it still wasn’t enough to match the Titans’ five try haul. Scott Prince, who has been unusually quiet this year, also bagged a double. Even though the Dragons had the lead at the break, the result swung the other way to pull the Gold Coast team up from the bottom of the ladder.

SEA EAGLES 24 – COWBOYS 4

Manly continued their run towards September with another comprehensive win over a Jonathan Thurston-less Cowboys. Manly posted two quick tries early in the half but neither team crossed the chalk again during the first forty minutes. The second half saw Manly again score twice and the Cowboys grabbed their only points of the game through Ashley Graham. Brett Stewart’s return to game time and form continued and he scored yet another try, bringing his total to 56 tries from 58 appearances at Brookvale.

BRONCOS 25 – RAIDERS 24

The Bronco’s controlled this match for 60 minutes but ended up even at the full time siren after they let in four quick Green Machine tries in succession. Down 24-nil, the Raiders looked absolutely no chance of getting back into the game but a quick double to Josh Papalii gave them the momentum they needed. Jarrod Crocker got the scores back to level after a flurry of tries in ten minutes and gave the Raiders an opportunity to win it in ‘Golden Point’, but their hopes were quickly dashed when Peter Wallace kicked a tricky field goal only minutes into extra time.

WARRIORS 22 – TIGERS 26

The only teams unaffected by Origin put on a performance worthy of Sunday afternoon game. The Tigers started off the scoring through Blake Ayshford but for the next fifty minutes they went missing. The Warriors piled on five tries and had a commanding lead going into the final twenty minutes before a late surge from an inspired Wests Tigers brought about yet another race to the finish. Four quick tries were scored by Wade McKinnon, Beau Ryan and two from superstar Benji Marshall to steal victory from a Warriors team that probably deserved the win more.