Round 25
South Sydney Rabbitohs 12 l. Sydney Roosters 26

2007 NRL Telstra Premiership Index [Table] [Draw] [Player Stats] [Club Headlines]

Location: Aus_NZ > National > First Grade Competition: NRL Telstra Premiership

Cummins upstages awesome Roosters and woeful Rabbitohs
Sun September 2, 2007
Referee Ben Cummins has put the Finals spotlight firmly on the match officials after an inept performance as the Roosters produced a great performance to put a huge dent in Souths hopes for the Finals.

Souths had qualified for their first Finals series in 18 years following Newcastle's upset victory over the inconsistent Wests Tigers, but the Roosters showed the Rabbitohs up in many areas where again the big match stage at Telstra Stadium got the better of them. The previous time Souths attracted a home crowd of over 30,000 at Telstra Stadium they were firmly belted 34-10 by the Bulldogs and last night the Roosters handed out similar punishment where at one stage they led 26-0.

Next week the Rabbitohs face Manly at Brookvale Oval where they have to win at all costs to survive in the competition whereas victory would have seen the Bulldogs come 7th and good form heading into the Finals.

The most pleasing aspect from a Roosters point of view was their defence and how they withstood and stopped many Rabbitohs inroads at their try line and that will give coach Brad Fittler plenty of confidence planning their new season in the coming weeks.

Craig Wing and Joel Monaghan departed the Roosters in fine style. Monaghan who heads to his former club Canberra next season scored the opening try, nearly finished off with a sensational try at the end and saved two tries with excellent last ditch desperation in defence. Wing showed what a true professional he is on the field where he showed no sentiment or favours to his new team-mates for the next season where he was dazzling at both hooker and halfback and scored a brilliant individual try.

The Roosters excellent performance has been over shadowed by the incompentence of Cummins in the final stages of the match and in some ways it was hilarious to watch due to the result not being in doubt. However, if the game was close than it wouldn't been so funny as it was scary to say the least.

Cummins failed to take any serious action following an incident where David Fa'alogo punched Braith Anasta after the play the ball in an incident that saw Jaiman Lowe sent off and suspended earlier in the season. Fa'alogo received 10 minutes in the sin bin for his actions, but the Roosters were penalised for the 'grapple' tackle by Anasta. Roosters captain Craig Fitzgibbon rightly questioned the decision where he said that he is free to punch anyone once they have received the penalty and Anasta said to Cummins that he was off his head. The comments from Anasta and Fitzgibbon showed how little respect Cummins got from the players and how much he was out of his depth.

Not long after there was an incident between Anasta and Jeremy Smith where Anasta received 10 minutes for the punch and nothing happened to Smith with the Roosters again being penalised.

Refereeing in the game today has hit rock bottom where the appointments of the match officials on Tuesday afternoon for the opening week of the Finals is going to be more eagerly awaited by the sides involved than whether which players are going to be selected or not. Rugby League is a game for the players, but unfortunately the deeds of the players aren't the deciding factor with referees taking centre stage.

The problem with Cummins wasn't his actual performance, but the fact he lost complete control of the game and became flustered as the game wore on. Whilst glaring mistakes happen on a weekly basis, what happened last night has only seriously happened twice this year. Shayne Hayne in the Sharks v Bulldogs match lost it completely when he refused to taken action when Kane Cleal had his jaw smashed, forced Hazem El Masri to take a conversion attempt 10m wider than where it was scored, failure to take any form of action on a potential Bulldogs penalty try and a woefully one-sided penalty count.

Both the incident's with Anasta highlighted how wide the gap is between the levels of professionalism for the players and referees.

In a recent poll on Rleague.com, only 9% of voters believed referees "Rarely" or "Never" have an influence on games, further supporting the calls from coaches for refereeing standards to be looked at. In fact, 62% of voters believed that "Often" or "Too Often" best described the frequency with which they influenced games.

There was overwhelming support for more full-time referees - 94% of voters agreeing that there should be more.

And there was substantial support for more than one central referee - 41% of voters thought there should be more than one with the common alternative being two referees (35% of all voters and 85% of voters who said "yes" to mutliple central referees).

Ultimately, it appears pretty clear that the public think something has to be done to shake up the refereeing system in place for the NRL.

Fortunately for Cummins that he failed to figure prominently in the Worst Referee question as Hayne won that with 24% of the vote.

Back to the game and the two teams, the Roosters finish the season on a high and the Rabbitohs can look forward to their first Finals appearance since 1989, but they need to get back to the drawing board and bounce back to prove they can handle the big stage.


Rabbitohs player reunion this Saturday evening
Fri August 31, 2007
Source: www.souths.com.au

The South Sydney Rabbitohs will be holding their annual player reunion this Saturday evening at Telstra Stadium for the round 25 NRL clash against the Sydney Roosters.

In a turnout befitting the importance of the occasion, more than 100 former Rabbitohs players will be attending the Legends Room at Telstra Stadium as the Club aims to qualify for the finals for the first time since 1989.

South Sydney Chief Executive Shane Richardson said the presence of so many former players who have contributed so much to the Club would add to the significance of the game.

"This Club has such a proud history and as we attempt to write another chapter it is only fitting that these players who have given so much to the Club are there to share in what is one of the Rabbitohs most important games in recent memory," Richardson said.

"In my 20-year association with rugby league there are few times when I have seen such hype, excitement and anticipation associated with a game. Everywhere I go people want to talk about the game. And having past players there will only add to the sense of the occasion. I hope they have a great day. I'm sure there will be plenty of stories of past deeds and hopefully on the field the boys can add to those."

The game has attracted huge corporate interest with the Rabbitohs taking more than 1500 bookings for corporate hospitality.

"It's not just on the field but off the field where the Club is moving on in leaps and bounds and that is a tribute to everyone involved with the South Sydney Rabbitohs," Richardson said. The Club and Telstra Stadium are encouraging fans to pre-purchase tickets for Saturday's game to avoid expected queues.

Save time and money by pre-purchasing your match ticket from Ticketek outlets, by calling 132 849 or by visiting the Ticketek website at www.ticketek.com.au.


News sent by: www.souths.com.au

Thu August 30, 2007
• Pre-purchase tickets for the Rabbitohs vs Roosters game
  
Tue August 28, 2007
• Talanoa named as replacement for Merritt
  
Tue August 28, 2007
• Cherrington named 18th man as Roosters remain unchanged
  

Advanced Search