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Fri April 24 2009, 7:30PM AEST GMT+10Fri: Brisbane Broncos 40 d. Parramatta Eels 8 at
Suncorp Stadium, Castlemaine Street, Milton, Brisbane (QLD)Crowd: 30,887
Fri April 24 2009, 7:30PM AEST GMT+10Fri: South Sydney Rabbitohs 32 d. Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 26 at
ANZ Stadium (Sydney), Homebush Bay, Sydney (NSW)Crowd: 11,208
Sat April 25 2009, 3:00PM AEST GMT+10Sat: Sydney Roosters 0 l. St George Illawarra Dragons 29 at
Sydney Football Stadium, Driver Ave, Moore Park, Sydney (NSW)Crowd: 28,926
Sat April 25 2009, 5:30PM AEST GMT+10Sat: Melbourne Storm 14 drew New Zealand Warriors 14 at
Olympic Park, Melbourne (VIC)Crowd: 15,200
Sat April 25 2009, 7:30PM AEST GMT+10Sat: North Queensland Cowboys 26 d. Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 12 at
Dairy Farmers Stadium, Kirwan, Townsville (QLD)Crowd: 16,153
Sun April 26 2009, 2:00PM AEST GMT+10Sun: Canberra Raiders 20 l. Bulldogs 30 at
Canberra Stadium, Bruce, Canberra (ACT)Crowd: 10,240
Sun April 26 2009, 3:00PM AEST GMT+10Sun: Wests Tigers 26 d. Newcastle Knights 24 at
Campbelltown Stadium, Leumeah, Sydney (NSW)Crowd: 17,898
Mon April 27 2009, 7:00PM AEST GMT+10Mon: Penrith Panthers 34 d. Gold Coast Titans 20 at
Penrith Stadium, Mulgoa Road, Penrith, Sydney (NSW)Crowd: 9,769
Sun April 26, 2009
Source: www.warriors.co.nzBig defensive numbers are nothing new to Vodafone Warriors workaholic back rower Micheal Luck.
He has topped the NRL's most tackles category in each of the last two seasons, 957 in 2008 and 959 in 2007.
But the just-turned 27-year-old went to new levels in the Vodafone Warriors' thrilling 14-14 Anzac Day draw with Melbourne at Olympic Park tonight (Saturday).
By halftime he had already made 29 tackles, well on track to better his average per game so far in 2009 of 43.
But in the following 50 minutes (the second half plus the 10-minute golden point period), he blew everything out of the water making a further 45 - a phenomenal 74 for the match. Not only that, Luck missed just one tackle and had no ineffectives.
That leaves Luck with 289 tackles in just six matches this year, having missed one with injury (an average of a fraction more than 48 tackles a match to date).
He's not at the top of the list, though. Leading everyone so far this year is one of Luck's rivals tonight, Melbourne loose forward Dallas Johnson.
He wasn't far behind Luck at Olympic Park with 64 tackles, taking him past 350 having played all seven matches so far this season.
Micheal Luck: Storm v Warriors Stats PageSun April 26, 2009
Source: www.warriors.co.nzThe Vodafone Warriors and Melbourne took a point each after they played out a 14-14 draw in a rugged golden point thriller in today's Anzac Day NRL clash at Olympic Park.
Down 6-14 soon after halftime when Storm centre Will Chambers scored, the Vodafone Warriors muscled their way back into the game with unconverted tries to Manu Vatuvei (55th minute) and Patrick Ah Van (63rd minute) to lock it up 14-14.
In the final stanza neither side could find a winner via the field goal route ensuring the Vodafone Warriors would head to golden point extra time for the second weekend running (after their 17-16 win against the Roosters last Sunday).
More field goal attempts failed from both sides until the final 30 seconds of the second period. A poor pass to Stacey Jones prevented him taking the snap shot. The ball bobbled in front of him, he re-gathered and shifted left to Lance Hohaia who potted what might have been the winning one-pointer.
Referee Tony Archer called on video referee Tim Mander, who viewed several angles before ruling Jones had knocked on and rubbing out the field goal.
So the Vodafone Warriors had to settle for their second golden point draw following on from the 31-31 result against the Sydney Roosters in 2007. It was just the sixth draw in 42 golden point matches since the sudden-death formula was introduced in 2003. The last instance was 12-12 draw between Penrith and Brisbane last year.
The result lifted Melbourne and the Vodafone Warriors to seven points, still ranked seventh and eighth on the NRL points table.
After scoring twice tonight Vatuvei needs just one more try bring up 50 in the NRL. He has one of the best strike rates in the competition, his 49 tries so far coming in just 79 games. In his last 21 NRL matches he has now scored 20 tries.
This was one of the most gruelling confrontations in the competition's history as the two sides made more than 800 tackles between them in 90 minutes, Melbourne with 413 and the Vodafone Warriors with 400. It rounded off an energy-sapping six days for the Storm after an equally heavy defensive workload against Wests Tigers last Monday night when they totalled 410 tackles in an 80-minute contest.
It was also a match high on quality all round despite poor weather. Melbourne failed to complete just five sets all night, finishing with 39 from 44 (89%) while the Vodafone Warriors were only marginally inferior with 36 from 44 (82%). Most impressive was the output in the second half and the 10-minute period of extra time when the Storm completed 23 of 24 sets (96%) and the Vodafone Warriors 23 of 25 (92%).
The Vodafone Warriors had any number of exceptional contributors besides the astonishing Micheal Luck with his 74 tackles (see other story). With the ball, seven players topped 100 metres - Steve Price with 200 from 23 runs, Vatuvei 178 from 16 (and a game-high three line breaks), Lance Hohaia 157 from 21 (plus a game-high 12 tackle breaks), Sam Rapira 148 from 17, Russell Packer 134 from 13, Jerome Ropati
125 from 18 and Simon Mannering 107 from 22. Melbourne also had seven 100 metres plus players including Kiwi props Jeff Lima (189) and Adam Blair (161).
With the match drawn the specially-struck 'Spirit of Anzac' Medal was awarded to a player from each side, the two coaches Craig Bellamy and Ivan Cleary singling out performers who "typified courage and comradeship, traits personified by soldiers who have and continue to fight for Australia and New Zealand".
As it happened the medals were awarded to New Zealanders in both instances - World Cup-winning Kiwi props Rapira and Blair.
The Vodafone Warriors return home on Sunday before flying back to Australia next Saturday for their round eight clash against front-running St George Illawarra - a 29-0 winner against the Sydney Roosters today - in Wollongong the following day (Sunday, May 3). That will be the last match for the Vodafone Warriors before the first of their two byes in round nine.
Match details:
At Olympic Park, Melbourne
Melbourne Storm 14 (Steve Turner, Billy Slater, Will Chambers tries; Cameron Smith conversion).
Vodafone Warriors 14 (Manu Vatuvei 2, Patrick Ah Van tries; Denan Kemp penalty).
Halftime: 10-6 Storm.
Referees: Tony Archer and Matt Cecchin.
Crowd: 15,200.
Round 7
Melbourne Storm 14 drew New Zealand Warriors 14
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