Sport Today

* Friday, March 7th 1997

   PERTH 22 def NORTH QUEENSLAND 20 at Stockland Stadium, Townsville
          Perth: Tries - Flemming 2, Doyle, Fritz
                 Goals - Ryan 3
          North Queensland: Tries - Ferris, Roberts, Ahmat
                            Goals - Phillips 4
          Referee: T Mander
          Attendance: 15,745

        I've already said my bit elsewhere on the one incident out of this
match that I'd like to comment on. Apart from that the match was an
absolute cracker to watch live and easily the best to come out of SL so
far. As for the Cowboys, after this match and last year's effort against
Souths I'm really starting to wonder if Cowboy leads are worth the
scoreboards they're displayed on.

* Saturday, March 8th 1997

   AUCKLAND 18 def HUNTER 14 at Ericcson Stadium, Auckland
          Auckland: Tries - Hoppe 2, Eru
                    Goals - Ridge 3
          Hunter: Tries - Marquet, Thompson, T Iro
                  Goals - Zizti
          Referee: B Grant
          Attendance: 20,300

        From the highlights I saw on the tele I have serious doubts about
the accuracy of that crowd figure (as I have about every Warriors figure
I've ever seen). That said, the Warriors must be breathing a sign of
relief that as many people stuck by them as what did.

* Sunday, March 9th 1997

   PENRITH 33 def CANBERRA 20 at Bruce Stadium, Canberra
          Penrith: Tries - Gower 2, Carter 2, Jorgenson, Hinson
                   Goals - Alexander 4
                   Field Goals - Alexander
          Canberra: Tries - Nadruku, Priddis, ***y, Kennedy
                    Goals - Furner 2
          Referee: G Annesley
          Attendance: 10,849

        And the question everyone is asking - what's happened to the
Raiders? My answer - nothing much. Canberra have become famous for their
late charges towards the finals and I don't see any real reason why this
season should be different. They have started a bit slower than usual but
if I was a finals contender come late July I'd be taking a couple good
looks over my shoulder. There will probably be one mighty angry green
machine roaring up the table looking to once again silence the perennial
critics that always creep out of the woodwork.

   BRISBANE 28 def ADELAIDE 12 at ANZ Stadium, Brisbane
          Brisbane: Tries - Sailor 3, Renouf, Lockyer, Walters
                    Goals - Lockyer 2
          Adelaide: Tries - Maybon, McKenzie
                    Goals - Wrigley 2
          Referee: S Clark
          Attendance: 16,279

        Nothing of any real note came out of this match. I suppose the
best we can say is Adelaide did well not to be thrashed by more and to
actually win the second half 6-4. Apart from that just your standard RL
match - not particularly bad but nothing spectacular. One quick comment
about the Fox Sports coverage - a vast improvement. They've turned the ref
down but not off as I was suggesting last week and they've found the
switch for the crowd effects microphone. The commentators can now talk as
much as they like without being drowned out by the ref and despite the
small crowd it actually sounded like there were more than the 42,000 that
turned up last week.

* Monday, March 10th 1997

   CRONULLA 13 def CANTERBURY 12 at Belmore Sports Ground
          Canterbury: Tries - Haumono
                      Goals - Halligan 4
          Cronulla: Tries - Davidson, McKenna
                    Goals - Rogers 2
                    Field Goals - Healey
          Referee: B Harrigan
          Attendance: 14,490

        I think Fatty Vautin's comment said it pretty well, "oh good
game of football this one" (high praise indeed). And even with a bit of
sloppy play it was pretty good. End to end stuff with plenty of good
backline play as the ball was strung from sideline to sideline. The new
steal the ball and kickoff rules defintely made their mark in this match.
Within a matter of minutes Cronulla were able to turn an 8-0 deficit into
a 12-0 lead - firstly from a ball stolen from the Canterbury fullback
while returning the it from his own line, and then from a Canterbury
mistake in the set while returning the kickoff.

* Points Table - After two rounds...

                   W  D  L   PF  PA Pts
 BRISBANE          2  -  -   42  14   4
 PENRITH           2  -  -   63  40   4
 CRONULLA          2  -  -   39  16   4
 NORTH QUEENSLAND  1  -  1   44  38   2
 CANTERBURY        1  -  1   32  29   2
 Perth             1  -  1   42  50   2
 Auckland          1  -  1   20  28   2
 Hunter            -  -  2   30  38   0
 Adelaide          -  -  2   28  52   0
 Canberra          -  -  2   24  59   0

        Just one quick note on the points table - I have absolutely no
idea how AAP (I assume it was AAP as both the Australian and the
Townsville Bulletin made the same mistake) worked out Canberra's for and
against. Their table said that the Raiders had scored 37 points and
conceded 46 and as a result had them placed ahead of the Rams. If anyone
can see where I've gone wrong then please tell me but I've double checked
my figures and I'm sure they're correct.

Catchya round, Leigh

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* Leigh T. Gillespie                  *    "It takes leather balls      *
* Phone - Australia (077) 791219      *     to play Rugby!"             *

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

In article <Pine.OSF.3.93.970310011303.23616A-

How many season tickets do they sell?

Regards
Steve Morris

Jim
--
James J Smith             |                   The Vault
Faculty of Engineering    | http://www.dot.net.au/~drey/jimsmith/ausindex.htm
Newcastle University      |    Australian rugby league records and history

        " A tackled player's momentum carries him into the opponents'
        in-goal where he grounds the ball even if the ball first touched
        the ground in the field of play but provided when the ball crosses
        the goal-line the attacking player was not in touch or touch-in-
        goal or on or over the dead-ball-line. The try is awarded where
        the ball first crosses into the in-goal area."

That's as close as the rulebook gets to talking about double movements. It
makes no specific mention of a double movement being a penalty offence.
But IMO from the above and the section on what contitutes a tackle one
could imply that a player whose momentum does *not* carry them over the
line but insteads advances it by reaching out would be guilty of moving
the ball off the mark (hence the accepted penalty for double movements).
As I said above I believe that regardless of whether he advanced the ball
or not with his arm his momentum took him over the line and therefore it
was a fair try.

Ain't it great to be finally talking about the game on the field? :-)

Catchya round, Leigh

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* Leigh T. Gillespie                  *    "It takes leather balls      *
* Phone - Australia (077) 791219      *     to play Rugby!"             *

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Thanks for another top effort, Leigh.