Sports Prophet

Maybe so, but it doesn’t change my opinion, the short drop out as far as I am concerned is a far lower percentage play than kicking long and defending and I wouldn’t be deploying the tactic unless it was near on essential my team required possession, most likely due to the fact my team is losing and there is little time remaining in the match.

I’m not going to go through the whole debate about whether this is a deliberate knock on or an attempt to take possession, but, whichever camp you are in, most of us agree, that action should not be penalised.

An alternate scenario with no gamesmanship involved is where a team scores a try with minimal time left to tie the game and the conversion brings the score within 6 or even less points. It happened with the Tigers this very weekend and they had to rush the kick and subsequently missed the kick. I would like to think once the try has been awarded, the clock stops until the match restarts with a kick off, allowing teams a suitable opportunity to convert that try without time ticking away slowly denying another scoring opportunity.

I heard it called a seven tackle set in that scenario. I disagree, a “seven tackle set” would be referring to the number of potential tackles allowed within a specific set of tackles, immaterial of what the tackle numbers a referee may be referring them as.

I e got no problem with that. Pass it out of reach of a defender. It’s competitive play for a ball which is in the air. Any attempt to attack or gather it (whatever your opinion on accidental or not) should be penalised. It goes against the fabric of contesting for the ball.

Sounds like Dolphins should’ve played that one a bit more local then?

NRL crowds have definitely hit a mid season lull. Dolphins v Sea Eagles 14,059 @ Suncorp - showing signs of fatigue and novelty wearing off Panthers v Bulldogs 21,525 @ Panthers another great crowd for Penrith Eels v Broncos 17,393 @ CommBank is pretty underwhelming for a supposed powerhouse club who are definitely underperforming Tigers v Knights 10,107 @ Scully Park is a sell out for a game taken to the country Dragons v Bunnies 7,517 @ Jubilee is a deplorable derby day crowd Storm v Sharks 18,670 @ AAMI is a fail for a Saturday night top of the table clash Roosters v Warriors 17,517 @ Allianz is a below average crowd as well Titans v Cowboys 12,125 @ Cbus is another perfect crowd for all those GC fans who like to have space around them Two well attended matches out of eight I would say there.

Anywhere I can see a replay of it? What time in the match was it?

Spoken like a true pedant!

yeah, I didn’t think it required explaining, but apparently so.

I wouldn’t argue with that at all. Best position it has been in ever.

Google Maps how long public transport from Cronulla to Allianz Stadium is and then consider how many NRL fans in Sydney who would consistently take up that long a journey to watch their team at “home”. The 25%-33% journey time from Essendon to Docklands would be far more acceptable. Shark Park is in dire need of improvements. It’s a relic stuck in the 70s. I think capacity gets back up to about 16k when works are completed which is barely ok, but hospitality ammenities are woeful.

How do you know that?

I think Wade Graham at his peak demonstrated how valuable a ball playing forward can be. Sharks remained top of the table by beating Melbourne last night and they had Cam McG as ball playing forward filling in for a late Nicho Hynes scratching.

I reckon it’s much more than the 55 minutes I remember reading about a decade ago. Not so lucky