Uncool Dad’s NRL Round 8 Recap
I know there’s still games to go in Round 8 but I wanted to stay with tradition and get the Recap out on a Sunday. I’m sure no one reading this on Bunnies TV is too concerned about what happens in the Roosters or Storm games anyway! Here’s my look at the matches so far this week with an extended look at Thursday’s special win for our guys. I’m still on a high and I hope you were there to witness it, it truly was an amazing night! Plenty of other great action went on in Round 8, let’s have a look at what went on.
Thursday
Round 8 kicked off with the 2021 grand final replay with Penrith taking on Souths at Accor. An impressive Thursday night crowd was there to watch the blockbuster, despite the poor time slot and some rain about. Souths had learnt from previous games and actually started fast. This is an essential thing against Penrith. If you don’t, everyone knows you’re locked in your half all night.
After some great play and forward momentum, Damien Cook crossed over for the Bunnies. The signs were good but as almost obligatory at a Souths/Penrith game – Crichton scored with a minute to go till the break. The scores see-sawed after half-time until after a few bad errors, we found ourselves down 18-10.
It looked as if it was going to be yet another close loss where the effort was there but the execution wasn’t quite good enough. Not this time… Latrell crashed over after receiving a nice Ilias bomb. Then, with a minute to go, that awesome feeling of Rugby League exhilaration absolutely exploded for the Rabbitoh faithful.
No Better Feeling
After some very classy lead up work by Walker and Johnston, Isaiah Tass ran around 30 metres to score. I’ve said this before but there’s no better feeling when your team can win like this. Here I was again, surrounded by friends, my son and my extended family of Souths members surfing the wave of footy ecstasy. The Rabbitohs had finally beaten the Panthers in amazing circumstances. Where else would you want to be but here? It’s only 2 points but it was special. Let’s hope it’s the first of many against them.
There was even a bit of karma for us Bunnies as a Penrith supporter had annoyingly found her way into the Souths members section. Typical of Panthers fans’ style of late, she was up on her feet giving it to us all as her team got in front. She was nowhere to be seen at the end… She’d disappeared quicker than Isaiah had disappeared down that sideline to score!
Let’s watch the highlights one more time..
Friday
For game 2 of the round we were off to Darwin for a Parramatta home game against the Broncos. I’m all for expanding the game but I think the Eels gave away a lot of advantage to their opposition by not playing this one at Commbank. Anyway, Parra came out flat and Brisbane shot out to a big lead. The Eels approached the first half the same way I’m approaching work tomorrow – with zero enthusiasm. Parra staged a bit of a comeback on the back of a few Brisbane errors but the damage was done.
Saturday
With the two matches scheduled for ANZAC Day, Super Saturday was reduced by one game. The first one had been robbed of a bit of interest with the Doggies being decimated by injury. Still, the effort was there and they didn’t end up losing by much. They were even within striking distance on a few occasions.
The Barrett era Dogs would have rolled over and got flogged plus they would have scored no points. The 2023 Canterbury side are a different breed and the signs are good for the future. The Sharkies were never really in any trouble here but may need to improve their general play when against a full-strength side,
The second game was an evenly matched affair on paper and this was how it panned out. The Cowboys were desperate and finally put it all together to grab a tight win over the Knights. It could have gone either way but I’m sure they’ll be happy with the 2 points. Newcastle were a bit unlucky and will be boosted by the return of Ponga who got through the game drama-free.
Sunday
The endless series of Queensland derbies continued – this time it was Dolphins v Titans in the sun at Suncorp. Gold Coast shot away to a huge lead being up 26-0 at one stage and it looked as if the Dolphins bubble had finally burst. Had all the injury and pressure of the opening rounds taken its toll? No…. You can never underestimate a Bennett coached side. Whatever he said to them worked miracles and they came out and won 28-26. The Dolphins never looked like losing once they got a couple of tries. The Titans were left to think what could have or even should have been.
The final game took us to Campbelltown where Manly took on the winless Wests Tigers. Manly, still on a high after last week’s win against Melbourne, were doing it easily. They took off to a 12-0 lead and things looked grim for the Tiges. The rain pelted down which would have at least given the Wests fans an excuse to leave. Hopefully they didn’t as their team stormed back into contention finding the lead with around 10 minutes to go. Unfortunately, poor errors and direction cost them again and the Sea-Eagles were able to grab the win. Manly were flat but it was a better effort from the Tigers. Surely a win isn’t far away?
Of course, two matches to go on Tuesday and then we only have to wait till Thursday till it all starts again. You’ve got to love that! Join me next week for Uncool Dad’s Round 9 Recap on Bunnies TV where we’ll get on the NRL rollercoaster again for another week of awesome footy.
Uncool Dad’s NRL Round 8 Recap.
By Greg Allan for Bunnies TV.
Add comment