Michael LETT [
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Wed May 23, 2012
by Matt Manukia
Source: www.aucklandvulcans.co.nzThe Auckland Vulcans completed a combination of wins over the top two teams when they snatched a tough 12-10 victory from the champion Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs at Birkenhead Memorial Park, on Saturday.
Having previously disposed of the second placed Windsor Wolves and their State of Origin star in the previous round, this week the Vulcans went about dethroning the competition leaders who struggled to a 28 all draw against Illawarra in their last outing.
This was the first time the two sides had met since the 2011 grand final which ended in heartbreak for the Vulcans. With the electric Glen Fisiiahi playing first grade and playmaking maestro Pita Godinet also travelling with the Warriors as the 18th man, the underpowered home side faced an uphill battle to avenge their grand final woes.
With so much hype surrounding the fixture, the Vulcans fans would have been keen to see this one start with a bang, and it did. Unfortunately that 'bang' came in the form of referee Daniel Caddy awarding the Bulldogs with their first try shortly after the opening whistle.
Working off the back of some excellent work by Canterbury-Bankstown's big men, Captain Trent Cutler received the ball on the fourth tackle ten metres out from the line. The crafty halfback showed his ability to attack the line with a brilliant effort which saw him slip through the defensive line to score. Cutler converted his try to take a 6-0 lead after just two minutes.
The try from Cutler put a damper on the enthusiastic crowd; however the Vulcans weren't going to take it lying down and gave their supporters something to cheer about when they produced the equalizer seven minutes later.
The Aucklanders worked hard on completing their sets and were rewarded with good field position, which they used to advance down the right side. Now 25 metres out from the Bulldogs' line the anticipated sequence of events was another complete set with a kick on the final, but this time was different.
Speaking to his players earlier coach Ricky Henry challenged his men to 'stand up,' take the initiative and lead by example, without the likes of Godinet and Fisiiahi. This obviously struck a chord with winger Leni Sulusi, who took his took his opportunity in two hands, literally, as he scooped out of dummy half and ran the remaining 25 metres to score a vital try. The trusty boot of Dylan Collier added an equally important conversion to level the match at six all in the ninth minute.
An evenly contested battle took place over the next 25 minutes, with both teams fighting for every inch of field position. After a few minor scares for both teams, the Vulcans looked set to break the deadlock as Rusty Bristow and Trent Bishop burrowed their way to within a metre of the line.
After failing to capitalize on the kick at the last tackle the Bulldogs scooped up the ball and the ever-looming threat of Michael Lett turned very real as he burst 50 metres up field, only to be stopped by some last gasp defence. The nightmare was far from over as the dogs quickly made their way inside the Vulcans' 20 metre line and were then awarded a penalty.
Although the Vulcans' defence had stood firm for most of the half, inviting the Bulldogs to an extra set so close to the line was always going to be suicide. After four tackles Lett was able to finish of his earlier run by leaping one metre from dummy half to score near the posts in the 38th minute. The failed conversion turned out to be a crucial one, still at this point the Vulcans urgently needed to improve their discipline and defence.
As the second half began, dense cloud cast a grim shadow over the match and those without an umbrella quickly made friends with those who had taken heed of the weekend's forecast. Wet weather took its toll on handling ability and both teams showed frustration when packing down for multiple scrums.
Canterbury-Bankstown winger Ratu Tagive came agonisingly close to scoring but was ruled to have knocked on in the process. Otherwise in a back-and-forth period of around 30 minutes, a few players worth mentioning were the Vulcans' Manu Ma'u and Steve Waetford who worked tirelessly throughout the match. Ma'u provided some much needed go-forward along with other tackle busters Matagi, Palavi and Ta'ai, while Waetford conquered the challenge of defusing kick after kick from the back. The entire Vulcans side put their hands up when they were forced to defend for long periods due to a barrage of penalties.
As the clock ticked over into the final ten minute, the Vulcans turned up the intensity and the falling rain only made for bigger explosions as the forwards collided. Canterbury matched the passion of their rivals with solid gains up the middle, unfortunately ball security eventually let the visitors down and a loose play the ball at the 73rd minute would eventually lead to their demise.
The Vulcans fed the scrum and set a course for glory beginning at the halfway mark. Maturity, leadership and control is what was asked of the team and that's exactly what coach Henry got as his side progressed down the field. Manu Ma'u led the way into the 20 metre line and played the ball for what would be the back breaker.
Playing the game from the five-eight position, Krisnan Inu received the ball and elected to chip-and-chase ten metres to the right of the posts. What looked to be a risky option was obviously well thought-out by Inu who collected the rolling bounce and dived in unopposed for the score as the Birkenhead grandstand erupted.
Lining up his most important conversion of the season so far, Collier took his time then landed the final blow which the Bulldogs would not recover from in the three minutes remaining in the match.
The win sees the Vulcans gain enough points to take fifth place on the points table; however points differential leaves them in seventh. The Bulldogs vacate the top spot to make way for the North Sydney Bears who will face the Vulcans in three weeks time at North Sydney Oval.
Auckland Vulcans 12 (Inu, Sulusi tries; Collier 2 goals)
Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs 10 (Cutler, Lett tries; Cutler 1 goal)
Half Time 10-6 Bulldogs
Other Results:
North Sydney Bears 25 vs Newcastle Knights 24
Illawarra Cutters 17 vs Newtown Jets 32
Balmain Ryde Eastwood Tigers 24 vs Wentworthville Magpies 18
Mounties 50 vs Western Suburbs Magpies 6
Windsor Wolves 46 vs Cronulla Sharks 18
Manly Sea Eagles Bye
www.aucklandvulcans.co.nzTue March 27, 2012
by Glen Dwyer
Source: www.newtownjets.comNewtown's youthful VB NSW Cup team was given a harsh lesson in the realities of modern Rugby League last Saturday. On a day that was meant to celebrate the reopening of the Jets' refurbished Henson Park headquarters, defending premiers Canterbury-Bankstown handed out a 54-10 belting to the inexperienced Blues line-up. On a perfect autumn day and with Federal Minister and Member for Grayndler Anthony Albanese MP the principal guest, the Jets made a reasonable contest of the first half but were blown away in the game's third quarter.
Canterbury led 22-6 at halftime but a lost scoring opportunity right on the siren might have given Newtown some momentum to take into the second half. The Bulldogs are certainly setting the benchmark for the 2012 VB NSW Cup, having dished out hidings to all of their opponents so far in this year's competition. Jets centre Peni Tagive scored midway through the first half and winger Adam Henry scored early in the second session, after having lost the ball over the line on the stroke of halftime. Front-rower Andrew Pearn was the Jets' standout player on a day when several of this year's youngsters learned some lessons about consistency of performance and personal application.
The Jets coaching staff acknowledged they have plenty of work to do, but pointed out that several players had turned on first-class performances the previous Saturday against the then-unbeaten Cronulla Sharks. Footballers don't lose their natural abilities and learned skills in the space of a week, but their individual attitudes and levels of mental toughness can fluctuate. The Jets had their share of misfortune with injuries to cult front-rower Ryan Verlinden and five-eighth Jack Littlejohn that no doubt disrupted the team's cohesion in the first half. Poor defensive decisions on Newtown's edges had resulted in several runaway tries to the Bulldogs, including one exceptional effort where the ball passed through at least eight pairs of hands. As Jets coach Greg Matterson remarked "there's no doubting the attacking potential of this Canterbury side, but we succeeded in making them look like world beaters".
The Newtown Jets are back at Henson Park again on Saturday, 31st March 2012 when they meet the 2011 beaten grand finalists, the flamboyant Auckland Vulcans. This fifth round VB NSW Cup fixture will commence at 3.00pm.
NSWRL VB NSW Cup - Round 4
Saturday, 24th March 2012
Henson Park
Newtown v Canterbury-Bankstown
Kick-off time was 3.00pm
Canterbury-Bankstown 54: Michael Lett 4, Mitch Brown, Ray Moujalli, Josh Jackson, Luke MacDougall, Brett Lane, Kris Keating tries; Trent Cutler 7 goals
defeated
Newtown 10: Peni Tagive, Adam Henry tries; Mark Kheirallah goal
Half-Time: Canterbury led 22-6
Referee: Robert Bowen
Touch Judges: Zbigniew Przeklasa-Adamski, Richard Daizli
Weather: Sunny, fine, mild
Playing surface: Very good
Newtown Team: 1 Ben Loxley 2 Daniel Tupou, 5 Adam Henry 3 Peni Tagive, 14 TauTau Moga 6 Jack Littlejohn, 7 Mark Kheirallah 13 Ahmad Ellaz 17 Ryan Verlinden, 12 Bosden 23 Mose Masoe, 10 Khalid Deeb 9 Anthony Mitchell. Subs: 8 Isaac Liu, 15 Kurt Kara, 18 Glenn Dumbrell, 21 Andrew Pearn, 22 Sam Latu.
Canterbury-Bankstown Team: Michael Lett, Luke MacDougall, Mitch Brown, Brett Lane, Ratu Tagive, Kris Keating, Trent Cutler, Harlan Alaalatoa, Josh Jackson, Jake Foster, Tim Browne, Shane Pumipi, Martin Taupau. Subs: Jake Finn, Moujalli, Kose Lelei, Junior Roqica, Josh Gill.
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 2011 NRL Telstra Premiership
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs
3 games; 2 tries, 8 points.
[View] Round 8 [29 Apr 11] L 12-20 v Broncos (A). [WG] 4 Pts; 1t
[View] Round 10 [13 May 11] L 10-15 v Dragons (H). [WG] 4 Pts; 1t
[View] Round 15 [19 Jun 11] L 10-26 v Cronulla (H). [WG]
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2010 NRL Telstra Premiership
St George Illawarra Dragons
3 games; [View] Round 9 [08 May 10] L 6-24 v Sea Eagles (A). [WG]
[View] Round 11 [23 May 10] L 14-22 v Raiders (H). [WG]
[View] Round 17 [05 Jul 10] L 8-12 v Panthers (H). [WG]
======================================================================================================
2009 NRL Telstra Premiership
St George Illawarra Dragons
2 games; 2 tries, 8 points.
[View] Round 12 [29 May 09] W 38-10 v Panthers (H). [CT] 4 Pts; 1t
[View] Round 18 [12 Jul 09] W 48-18 v Sea Eagles (H). [WG] 4 Pts; 1t
======================================================================================================
2008 NRL Telstra Premiership
St George Illawarra Dragons
3 games; 2 tries, 8 points.
[View] Round 6 [19 Apr 08] L 18-30 v Bulldogs (A). [WG]
[View] Round 10 [17 May 08] W 36-12 v Storm (H). [WG] 4 Pts; 1t
[View] Round 16 [28 Jun 08] W 26-22 v Gold Coast (A). [WG] 4 Pts; 1t
======================================================================================================
2006 NRL Telstra Premiership
Sydney Roosters
======================================================================================================
2005 NRL Telstra Premiership
Sydney Roosters
3 games; [View] Round 15 [17 Jun 05] L 10-16 v Sharks (A). [BE]
[View] Round 17 [02 Jul 05] W 28-14 v Knights (A). [WG]
[View] Round 22 [07 Aug 05] L 28-30 v Panthers (H). [CT]
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Lett, Michael
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