Uncool Dad’s Bunnies TV Round 18 Recap
Round 18 is done and dusted and it was a particularly enjoyable one for me. Of course, the mighty Rabbitohs got up in a massive performance in Auckland. I’m also on holidays so I got to watch plenty of footy and cricket as well as catch up with some friends. What more could you want? Let’s have a look at Round 18 where we saw some great clashes along with absolute drubbings. It really looks as if the season is starting to catch up with a few teams in a big way. As always, I’ve covered all the games with an extended look at the mighty Souths victory….
Sharks v Dragons
To kick off the round on Thursday we had the struggling St George-Illawarra come up against Cronulla who were fresh off a bye and a big win against the Dogs. This game played out just as everyone expected it to with the Sharkies racking up 52 to the Dragons’ 16. It was a similar Dragons performance to their match against NZ last round where they competed early on but got blown out in the end. The only difference being was this week they were probably worse.
They offered no resistance to Cronulla and some of the tries being let in were pretty embarrassing. St George-Illawarra find themselves in a terrible situation with players wanting to leave, an interim coach and no morale whatsoever. It’s ugly stuff for their fans. Another easy kill for the Sharks and they have Wests next week…
Warriors v Rabbitohs
The first game of a blockbuster Friday slate of matches was the big clash between the high-flying Warriors and the misfiring Rabbitohs. The Friday 6pm slot is an awkward time for us Aussies but it’s peak time for the Kiwis and Mt Smart was absolutely rocking despite the bucketing rain.
Both sides were up for the contest early and the brutal forward battle which would last for the whole 80 minutes began in the middle. The Warriors had all the ball early courtesy of 5 consecutive penalties. Fair enough, there were a few careless high shots that slipped up in the tackle but a couple of the other penalites were questionable. This is a habit of referee Klein to give these calls which are 50/50 at best but are so crucial and costly to teams trying their utmost to compete. Luckily, it didn’t matter too much as the Rabbitohs acted out coach Demetriou’s theme of ‘resilience’ to perfection. Sure, there was a Warriors try early but after that it was pretty much all Souths.
A great winger’s try to AJ levelled the scores and a fantastic four pointer to a very determined Cam Murray put us in front. You could see our forwards getting on top in the middle and really winning that awesome battle of the big men. My favourite try of the match came not long after half time with a magical kick under pressure from Cody which found AJ for his second try. After a pretty dismal match last week, this really was a masterful display from our gun five-eighth.
Rabbitohs Brilliance
Cody had plenty of mates in the high performance stakes though with every single Rabbitoh performing brilliantly. Blake Taaffe had his best game for ages, getting back to that form of late 2021. Ring in centres Kennar and Milne were outstanding. Richie had some really nice touches whilst Taane had some fantastic carries and hits. On some of his hit-ups I kept thinking it was Moale but it was Taane knocking over Kiwis for fun! Ilias was back to his best after a disappointing couple of games, regaining that confident look.
And what about Tyrone Munro? What a debut! Everything about him was so classy, he never looked out of place at all. Scoring a try of his own from a great Lachy kick and setting up Taaffe for the final try were just some of the highlights of an excellent first match. Exciting times for Rabbitohs fans, his debut reminding me of two others in Johnston’s and Merritt’s. I hope I haven’t gone off too early with young Tyrone but it was hard not to be thrilled by his performance.
Forwards Were Heroes
For me though our forwards were the heroes of this amazing effort. Every player from 8 to 17 was fighting till the death and were the difference in getting over the tough Warriors. That forward performance that we were so proud of from earlier in the season was well and truly back on Friday night. What a turnaround in form for Souths? It really was a win for the ages and the Bunnies faithful have not stopped smiling since. We now have the Dogs next week at home, then a bye followed by the hopeful return of Latrell, Jai and Campbell. Bring on next Saturday!
Storm v Panthers
The second game of a big Friday of footy was two of the NRL’s heavyweights going at it in Melbourne and Penrith. The match was being played at Marvel Stadium due to the upcoming soccer World Cup. It wouldn’t have been a great fan experience there given the size of the playing field and maybe the Storm lost a bit of advantage because of this?
Storm led early after a Grant try and a dubious one from big Nelson. After that though it was all Panthers. They probably have been a bit more consistent than Melbourne overall this season and it showed here. Jack Cogger is doing a fine job at half in place of Cleary and Penrith really haven’t missed a beat since his injury. As much as I hate to say it, they may have even got better.
Raiders v Titans
The first game of Super Saturday looked a very close one on paper and this is exactly what happened. Mind you, almost every match the Raiders play is a close one! This really was anyone’s match with both sides having periods of dominance. A couple of controversial decisions probably didn’t help things but I think Canberra were probably better overall.
The Raiders pretty much led throughout but as they never like to do anything easily, they kept letting the Gold Coast back into the game. This culminated in a 78th minute try to big Tino to give the home fans their predictable nervous final moments that they can probably set their watch to. The Raiders prevailed though to get another win and are travelling well despite a poor for and against. The Titans couldn’t match last week’s effort but are also in contention for a Top 8 spot.
Cowboys v Tigers
Revenge factor is a strong form pointer to consider when making your tips in the NRL but North Queensland took it to new extremes. The red hot Cowboys annihilated the hapless Tigers here to the tune of 74-0. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a score or margin this big in decades of watching rugby league..
The Cowboys scored tries at will and whenever Wests had a chance, they just handed it over. This must be absolutely shocking for their fans and the question has to be asked where they go from here? I’ve seen some savage floggings as a Souths fan but even at our worst, we were never this bad…
There’s no answers that I can see but after the recent efforts of the Dragons and the Tigers it’s pretty clear that mergers just don’t work…
Broncos v Dolphins
The final match of Super Saturday was a very entertaining one played at another odd venue in the Gabba. After some revolting results of late, the Dolphins were really up for the fight. They were unlucky not to win but the class of Brisbane was just enough to get them over the line. A bit of Cobbo magic and the relentlessness of Haas and Carrigan in the middle was probably the difference in a tight contest.
Broncos have a bye to look forward to next week whilst Wayne’s boys have an interesting tussle against the Titans booked.
Bulldogs v Knights
Tigers or Dragons worst performed team of the week? “Hold my beer” say the Bulldogs… I couldn’t believe my eyes as Newcastle ran in try after try against a seriously poor Canterbury. I know every team has a bad day but the Bulldogs made Newcastle look like the Kangaroos today. A completely listless performance from Canterbury at home against a team they should have been looking to beat. It was no surprise that the Doggies fans gave their team a booing at Accor today. A lot of them were probably thinking back to the glory days of Trent Barrett when they only used to lose by 40…
Sea-Eagles v Roosters
No blowouts in the final match of Round 18 as both Manly and the Roosters treated this like a sudden death semi. Whilst it wasn’t of course, whoever lost was going to find it hard to play finals as they would slip further down in the reckoning. Both sides gave their all in a defensive clash that went against the trend of the one-sided matches that had featured so far. They traded tries until Manly finally got the winning 4 pointer after a sustained period on the Chooks’ line. A real tough clash to end what was a pretty crazy round! Both sides have a bye next week but then face the Cowboys (Manly) and Storm (Roosters). It doesn’t get any easier…
Join me next week for Uncool Dad’s Round 19 Recap on Bunnies TV. It’s a shortened 5 game round with Origin coming up on the following Wednesday. Most importantly though, Souths are playing and we’ll no doubt be looking to build on our fine win against a bruised Doggies side looking to make amends for today’s horror show. See you out at Accor for our last Sydney game for a while. Make sure you get out to the game to support our mighty Rabbitohs!
Uncool Dad’s Bunnies TV Round 18 Recap.
By Greg Allan
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