Centenary Test
Australian Kangaroos 28 d. New Zealand Kiwis 12

2008 International Test Matches Index [Draw] [Player Stats]

Location: International > Nations > First Grade Competition: International Test Matches

Centenary Test Player Rankings
Sat May 10, 2008
Centenary Test Player Rankings.

AUSTRALIA
1. Billy Slater - 7.5
Pulled off some great tackles close to the line. Was dangerous every time he touched the ball in the first half, but did struggle to make an impact in the second half.

2. Israel Falou - 7
Tremendous under the high ball. Always proved difficult to tackle when taking the ball forward. Rarely makes a mistake.

3. Mark Gasnier - 7
Looks dangerous when the ball is in his hand, and always makes easy metres when running from dummy half. Probably was a bit selfish on a couple of occasions in attack, and was exposed in defence a few times in the second half.

4. Justin Hodges - 6.5
A fairly subdued game from him. Still did the job required, but perhaps is not 100% fit at the moment.

5. Greg Inglis - 7.5
Spectacular effort to lay on the first try. Presented with limited opportunities in attack, but did make one nice run in broken play. Is pretty much wasted on the wing, but it is hard to find a spot for him elsewhere.

6. Greg Bird - 7
Played like another backrower rather than a traditional five-eighth, which is not surprising really. Did what he had to do.

7. Johnathon Thurston - 7
Rarely threatened the line, but set up a couple of tries through pin-point kicks. Given the nature of the game was not required to stand-out. Perhaps was troubled by the much publicised ankle injury.

8. Brent Kite - 7
Still find it hard to see what is so great about him. Sure he does the hit-ups and makes the tackles, but doesn't appear to be any better at it that a lot of other front-rowers. Seems to spend an awful lot of time on the bench in most matches.

9. Cam Smith - 8
Another professional performance. Would have to be close to the best player in the game at the moment. Gives the team so much composure from dummy half. Pretty much does it all.

10. Petero Civoniceva - 7.5
Kept taking the hard yards at every opportunity. A no-nonsense footballer who seems to be getting better with age.

11. Paul Gallen - 7
Solid debut without being outstanding. Got through a ton of defence, and only managed to give away one penalty from a lazy high shot.

12. Ryan Hoffman - 7
Consistent performance. A player who gets the job done with a minimum of fuss

13. Mick Crocker - 7
Always gives 100%. Put on a couple of nice shots in defence, and was always looking to get involved.

14. Carl Webb - 6.5
Given limited game time, but made some solid runs while out there. Still not convinced that he is an International player yet.

15. Willie Mason - 6.5
Honestly thought it was a pretty quiet performance from him. Usually steps up in these matches, but did not appear to find his rhythm. Was not afforded much game time, so this probably contributed to my judgement.

16. Anthony Tupou - 6.5
Busy in defence, but was not given many opportunities with the ball. Mainly from the lack of possession the Kangaroos received in the second half.

17. Kurt Gidley - 6
Really rate him as a player, but is pretty much wasted on the bench. Only saw action in the last quarter of the match.

NEW ZEALAND
1. Brent Webb - 6
Couple of dropped balls early in the game didn't help. Looked to get involved in attack, but struggled to make an impact. The Kangaroos did not give him much space all night.

2. Jason Nightingale - 6.5
Tried hard in everything he did. Was constantly peppered by the Australian kicking game. Got into space a couple of times.

3. Setaimata Sa - 6.5
Put on a couple of nice shots in defence. Was not afforded many opportunities with the ball, so had to be content with a fair bit of dummy half running.

4. Iosia Soliola - 6.5
Like Sa, had to do a fair bit of dummy half running. Scored a good try which showed what he is capable of. Was exposed a few times in defence though.

5. Sam Perrett - 7
Made a couple of handy runs, and always seems like a handful. Was exposed a couple of times by precision kicks, but all in all I thought he had a good game and thoroughly deserved his try right at the end.

6. Lance Hohaia - 5.5
Was very busy in defence, but struggled to provide any spark in attack. Did not seem to combine at all well with his halves partner. I will give him the benefit of the doubt due to the late call-up he received.

7. Thomas Leuluai - 5
Gave the Kiwis no direction in attack. Always appears to take the ball standing still rather than on the move, giving the defence plenty of time to shut off his options. The Kiwis would have been better served by putting Halatau into hooker, Luke into halfback, and then putting Leuluai on a plane back to England.

8. Roy Asotasi - N/A
Went off early with a head-knock and never returned.

9. Issac Luke - 7
Next to Williams, was probably the Kiwis best. Was dangerous as always in attack, and would have scored a fantastic try early on if not for a last ditch tackle by Slater. Was exposed a couple of times in defence on the fringes. Spent too much time on the bench.

10. Nathan Cayless - 7
Always put his hand up to take the hard yards. Gets the job done, but was not as effective as perhaps he once was. Suffered a little from the early loss of front row partner Asotasi.

11. Sonny Bill Williams - 8.5
Head and shoulders above most of his team-mates. Slowly worked his way into the game, and in the second half become the focal point of attack. Handled the ball at every opportunity, and was always looking to create something for his outside men with his ability to get an offload away. Could not have done much more.

12. Simon Mannering - 7
Very consistent player. The type of player that every Coach would like to have in their team.

13. David Fa'alogo - 6
Never seemed to get involved enough. Has the ability to breaks tackles, but rarely threatened with the ball last night.

14. Jeremy Smith - 6
Honestly cannot remember much about his game. Saw him kick a nice conversion, but that was about it.

15. Dene Halatau - 6.5
Did a couple of nice things out of dummy-half, and the Kiwis appeared most dangerous when he was working in tandem with Luke.

16. Adam Blair - 6.5
Probably spent longer on the field than initially planned due to the injury to Asotasi. Always a willing runner, but struggled to make any in-roads through the Australian defence.

17. Frank Pritchard - 6.5
For a guy his size, should be doing a lot more damage in attack and defence. Maybe Bennett and Kearney can figure out how to coax this out of him.

Guy That Sang The New Zealand National Anthem - 8
Pretty much the only thing Sonny Bill didn't do for the Kiwis.

Haka - 8
Early on, looked like the only thing they practised together all week.


Australia win Centenary Test after early onslaught
Sat May 10, 2008
Australia have cruised to an easy 28-12 victory against New Zealand, who to their credit managed to be competitive for the final 60 minutes of the Centenary Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

An impressive crowd of 34,571 turned up to the grand old lady in the biggest International crowd in Sydney since 1992 when Australia hosted Great Britain at the SFS.

It was feared the Sydney public would boycott the Test with Australia except two hiccups in 1987 and 2005 have been uncontested as the champions of Rugby League since the early 1970's and last year's 58-0 result did plenty of damage to the game in New Zealand.

An excellent sale of tickets and walk up crowd saw the SCG packed to near capacity and nightmares of a repeat of 58-0 was on the card with the Australians scoring 22 points in as many minutes.

Mark Gasnier scored two early tries with the first one a result of freakish work by Greg Inglis where he managed to keep a kick in the field of play leaping far beyond the dead ball line in an effort that would see him win a Gold Medal at the long and high jump events should he turn his hand to the Olympic Games later this year.

Two pathetically soft tries up the middle to debutant Paul Gallen and captain Cam Smith put Australia up 22-0 and anything was on the card.

The Kiwis lifted their performance heading into half-time and managed to keep Australia at bay, but couldn't convert the pressure they applied into points despite the outstanding efforts of Sonny Bill Williams.

New Zealand had to be first to score in the second half and a flick pass from Williams saw Iosia Soliola in space and he beat several defenders to score a fine try. Jeremy Smith converted from a difficult position to reduce the margin to 16 points.

Australia put the match beyond reasonable doubt when Johnathan Thurston produced the perfect cross field chip kick to land perfectly for Justin Hodges who passed out to Israel Folau for the try. Thurston landed his 4th goal from five attempts for Australia to lead 28-12.

Sam Perrett scored in the final minute to push the Kiwis score into double figures and Isaac Luke landed a great goal to make the full-time score 28-12 in Australia's favour.

The opening 20 minutes lost it for the Kiwis and they have plenty of work to do heading into the World Cup later this year. One player they'll be hoping will be there come October/November is Williams as his efforts single handedly reduced the margin from 58 points last year to just 16 points this time around. Williams was amazing for the entire 80 minutes and was the standout performer on the field.

Australia played better as a team and the settled representative and club combinations was extremely telling in the opening exchanges. Smith was the best of a good bunch for Australia making 43 tackles up the middle and controlling the rucks nicely.

Fri May 9, 2008
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Thu May 8, 2008
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Thu May 8, 2008
• SCG Trust awards Life Membership to nine League legends
  
Thu May 8, 2008
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Wed May 7, 2008
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Mon May 5, 2008
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