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Sam Tomkins of the Warriors
Sam Tomkins has shown signs he is adjusting to the NRL. Photograph: Renee McKay/Getty Images Photograph: Renee McKay/Getty Images
Sam Tomkins has shown signs he is adjusting to the NRL. Photograph: Renee McKay/Getty Images Photograph: Renee McKay/Getty Images

NRL: what we learned this weekend

This article is more than 9 years old

The NRL's secret bunker gets a boost; English players impressed; Rabbitohs are getting there; and Raiders like free-to-air

It could be time for the bunker

The NRL spared us the sight of a nude Paul Green perambulating in protest down Pitt St when it admitted over the weekend that a match-changing try awarded to Manly during Good Friday Night Football should not have been awarded. But in keeping with its response to St George Illawarra following the Dragons’ loss to Melbourne after the siren last round, the NRL didn’t go quite so far as to apologise to the Cowboys, or indeed say, ‘You know what? You guys have the two points!’ Cowboys chief executive Peter Jourdain, cataloguing a growing list of grievances, hopes to prise an explanation out of an NRL heavyweight or two if indeed they can be convinced to travel to Townsville and potentially run a gauntlet of angry North Queenslanders in blue singlets holding flaming bushels of sugar cane and lager bombs made from cane toads force fed XXXX.

In the meantime, we remain baffled as to how video referees can continue to make obvious errors despite the advantage of endless replays, and access to the NRL’s high-tech “freeze frame” technology. And if the problem is the person and not the technology how will this change if the NRL adopts the National Football League’s video review system – located in a “bunker” according to News Ltd – in order for a higher echelon of video referee to rule and overrule many more (but, crucially, not all) errors or indiscretion they pick up? Hard to say, although the idea of an actual bunker must look appealing to the NRL at the moment.

Sam Tomkins is getting there

Former Super League star Sam Tomkins has hardly set the NRL alight since his high profile, big money off-season switch from one set of Warriors to another. The Warriors’ disjointed form line – and the temporary misplacement of Shaun Johnson’s zipadeedooda – hasn’t helped in this regard, nor has the expectation he’s placed on his own shoulders that he’s somehow representing Super League every time he plays in the NRL. But there are signs that he’s finding his feet and he had one of his better games in the New Zealand Warriors’ 20-10 loss to the Dragons on Saturday night. He’s still getting monstered in the tackle (imagine a whippet being set upon by rottweilers) but he looked to get his hands on the ball more often than he has been, and as such he scored an excellent try after a trademark rapier run off the shoulder of a team-mate. It should give him some confidence. Of course he wasn’t the only Englishman on show in the Warriors-Dragons clash. The wonderful Gareth Widdop was there, although he overplayed his hand on this occasion, trying to force the issue it appeared. And then there was Dragons prop Mike Cooper (ex-Warrington Wolves), who scored a big-man-coming-through style try. He continues to impress and surprise Dragons fans who by and large would have know next to nothing about Cooper prior to his signing.

South Sydney are edging closer

While the Bulldogs continue to make the point that they are a team that knows how to win the close ones (their 15-14 win over Souths on Friday night was the third game in succession they’ve won by a late field-goal), the Rabbitohs, after a slow start to the season, are starting to look more like the side that threatened to break their long premiership drought last year. Even without Ben Te’o, George Burgess, and Isaac Luke, and even after losing four players to injury in the first half, the Rabbitohs were in the tough, entertaining contest right to the last, and there was an intensity to their game I don’t think we’ve seen since the opening round win against the Roosters. In this respect, Sam Burgess led the way, charging into the Bulldogs’ defensive line without even a hint of self-preservation. There are still areas the Bunnies need to work on, however. Adam Reynolds, John Sutton and the outside backs are lacking a cutting edge, and the halves’ decision making late in the tackle count could be better (four times Souths were tackled on the last). And in the final minutes Souths pushed the ball left when a field goal attempt early in the tackle count looked a more prudent option and may have won them the game. A loss, yes, but not all is lost.

Do not adjust your set: the Raiders are on TV

You’re more likely to see sheepdog trials on free-to-air television than the Canberra Raiders (whereas we see more of the Brisbane Broncos than their own mothers) but on Sunday afternoon the Raiders made Channel Nine’s delayed telecast and they celebrated by coming from nowhere to pip the Melbourne Storm in the 79th minute, with Josh Papalii and Jarrod Croker playing influential – if not, heroic – roles. The thrilling 24-22 win came just a few days after Raiders chief executive Don Furner said his club would fight any moves by Nine to scrap fixed scheduling (something Nine would like to do because as it stands they can’t cherry pick form teams and blockbuster match-ups when they arise), and for that reason couldn’t have been timed better. Still, best that Raiders fans without pay TV recorded the game. Prior to Sunday, the last time they won a free-to-air home game was September 2012.

The Knights that go up and down

One of Wayne Bennett’s most valuable skills as a coach has been to instill consistency of performance in his teams, win or lose. At the Broncos, at the Dragons, rarely did his teams get flogged, even when their execution let them down. If you were going to beat them, you’d have to earn your win. As such he’ll be disappointed with Newcastle’s up and down start to the season. Not so much the five losses from seven starts but the fact that three of those losses – including Friday’s 32-6 loss to an impressive Brisbane Broncos at home – have been by 22+ points. No doubt the Alex McKinnon injury has taken a toll on team morale, as has, perhaps, the uncertainty created by the financial solidity of Nathan Tinkler’s Hunter Sports Group (which owns the Knights), but if the Knights are going to challenge this year they’ll need to be up to push their opponents hard in every contest. And they need their stars to fire. On too many occasions this year they’ve look old, creatively bereft and behind the times.

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