Crawls: Brutal Dragons reality Flanno sacking can’t mask; how Madge made mockery of Broncos rumours

What to make of the Bulldogs so far this season – contenders or pretenders?

It’s fair to say after seven rounds the jury is well and truly out.

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After opening the season with back-to-back wins over the Dragons and Raiders, the Dogs fell in consecutive games to the Knights and Rabbitohs.

Then they turned up to score the upset of the season over the previously unbeaten Panthers last round, where the Dogs absolutely mauled Nathan Cleary.

But just when we thought the halves combination of Lachlan Galvin and Matt Burton had finally gelled, this week the Dogs were sent home with their tails between their legs after copping a 38-20 reality check by an injury-ravaged Parramatta, themselves missing about $4 million in salary cap value.

This is the same Eels side who lost their last three games and were booed off the ground after last round’s loss to the lowly Titans.

How do we make sense of some of the shock results we’ve seen so far this season?

It’s easy.

As every coach from under 8s right through to first grade ever said: If you run harder and tackle harder than the opposition, you make your own luck.

Which is exactly what the Eels did.

Up front veteran prop Junior Paulo clocked up 17 runs for 156m.

In comparison, rival front rowers Sam Hughes (12 for 84m) and Leo Thompson (10 for 66m) were left in the 32-year-old Paulo’s wake.

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Jacob Preston was the only other forward on the field who broke 100m (15 runs for 144m), while Viliame Kikau had six runs for 32m.

The Eels halves Mitchell Moses and the rejuvenated Ronald Volkman also took a points victory over Galvin and Burton.

Volkman looked like Shaun Johnson as he stepped his way through for a scintillating solo try when there appeared to be nothing doing.

Josh Addo-Carr was another who turned back the clock, coming up with some huge plays in attack and defence (what about the hit when the Fox absolutely nailed Josh Curran), while young fill-in fullback Joash Papalii was tremendous against his former club.

As were both Eels centres Will Penisini and young Artaz Nanva, right through to rookie Saxon Pryke off the bench.

It’s probably no coincidence this came as a group of Parramatta’s 1986 premiership winning team was on hand to celebrate the 40th year anniversary of their grinding 4-2 grand final victory over the Bulldogs.

Maybe Jason Ryles needs to get the legends back more often to remind the current generation that rugby league remains a very simple game.

Meanwhile, Cameron Ciraldo was asked post match if the Dogs got carried away with their own hype after last week’s win over the Panthers.

“I’d like to think not, but that’s certainly what it looked like,” Ciraldo said.

Coincidently, that was the knock on the Eels after so many tipped them to play finals this year, but they started like bludgers.

It will be interesting to see how the Dogs respond against the depleted reigning champs the Broncos on Friday night at Suncorp.

Meanwhile, the Eels are away to another old rival the Sea Eagles who have won three on the trot under Kieran Foran since Anthony Seibold was sacked.

Good luck with your footy tips this weekend.

RABBITOHS EXPOSE DRAGONS’ ROSTER CRISIS

The Dragons brand was made famous for winning 11 straight premierships.

But after slumping to 11 straight defeats under Shane Flanagan, I don’t think anyone seriously expects St George Illawarra to immediately turn its season around under a new coach like Manly has done under Kieran Foran.

That’s because the roster Flanagan will leave behind is just so badly bent out of shape it could take years to fix.

You only had to watch the ease in which Latrell Mitchell tore apart the Dragons’ right edge, and humiliated Val Holmes in the process, to understand the magnitude of their troubles.

This is a player Flanagan brought to the club to add experience, leadership and flair on a deal worth in the vicinity of $1 million-a-season. What makes it worse is 30-year-old Holmes still has another year remaining on his deal.

The Dragons also have Clint Gutherson, 31, for another season on a reported $900,000 _ yet they are now chasing Scott Drinkwater, 28, to play fullback on $1 million-a-season over three years.

Factor in the frustration fans would have felt watching Jaydn Su’A get sent off for his ugly high shot on Cameron Murray that has Su’A facing a three-match ban even if he takes the early guilty plea.

This of course came a week after Su’a told the club he would not be taking up an option to stay at the Dragons next year.

Maybe this was Su’A’s way of telling the Dragons he wants to go immediately.

LATRELL’S NASTY CHEAP SHOTS CAN’T CONTINUE

Now to Latrell’s latest brain explosion.

Rugby league is a tough enough sport without allowing the risk of serious injury due to nasty cheap shots.

And not even Latrell’s incredible four-try haul should hide that ugly incident involving Daniel Atkinson _ when Latrell dangerously rag-dolled his lightweight opponent into the goal posts.

You could tell straight away Latrell regretted his actions.

Though that still doesn’t excuse what happened.

Latrell was also lucky to get away with another dangerous incident in the Good Friday win over the Bulldogs when the giant centre dived into the back of the legs of an unsuspecting Connor Tracey behind the dead ball line.

At some point someone needs to pull Latrell into line or he will end up causing a serious injury to an innocent victim.

DUFTY’S RETURN HAUNTS DRAGONS

What about the comeback effort of Matt Dufty.

His first NRL game since the left the Bulldogs in 2022, and Dufty clocked up 23 runs for a phenomenal 307m that included a try, seven tackle busts, a linebreak and throw in 74 post contact metres.

Fair to say Wayne Bennett pulled the right rein putting the former Dragon at fullback and keeping Latrell in the centres to replace the injured Jye Gray.

MADGE PROVES BRONCOS AREN’T A DIVIDED CLUB

So much for all the talk at the start of the season that the Broncos were a divided club under Michael Maguire.

The 21-20 win over the in-form Tigers surely goes down as one of the bravest in the club’s proud history.

Right up with the famous win by the ‘Baby Broncos’ back in 2002 at Campbelltown that put a young Craig Bellamy on the coaching map.

In the absence of nine players including Reece Walsh, Ben Hunt and Pat Carrigan, the Broncos also had to deal with injuries to Payne Haas (knee) and Jesse Arthurs (calf), while Kotoni Staggs (foot) was also struggling.

But the ageless Adam Reynolds, himself returning from a groin injury, showed what a champion playmaker he still is as he guided the Broncos home in a nail-biter.

Maguire also deserves huge praise for the way he has kept this team on track despite the mounting injuries and obstacles this season.

Going right back to pre-season and Haas’ decision to sign with Souths after talk they were again pushed too hard over the summer, to the explosive departure of defence coach Ben Te’o, there has been constant speculation about Madge’s super intense attitude wearing thin on the players.

Yet they continue to turn up and play for him, showing why they remain a force this year despite currently sitting ninth on the ladder.

There’s no doubt it’s going test the Broncos being without Haas and Walsh for an extended period heading into State of Origin.

But I think we’ve seen enough already to know they will be in thick of it come the big end of season games.

TIGERS WILL BOUNCE BACK

As for Benji’s Tigers, it wasn’t effort or talent that let them down.

It was mistakes at crucial times that was their undoing.

I really felt sorry for the young powerhouse Heamasi Makasini who had a really tough night.

But he will come back bigger and stronger for the experience.

As Benji said after the game, the Tigers will learn plenty from this defeat.

I can’t wait to see how they bounce back against the rejuvenated Raiders on Thursday night at Leichhardt.

What a game that promises to be.

MANLY WELL PLACED TO COVER TURBO INJURY

As sad as it was to see Tom Trbojevic limp from the field with another hamstring injury that will rule Turbo out for between six to eight weeks, the fact is Manly has never been in a better position to deal with the loss of their superstar fullback.

That’s because Tolutau Koula is an exceptional replacement.

Koula was electric in the 38-6 thumping of the Cowboys after taking over from Turbo, finishing with 17 runs for 212m.

It’s unbelievable that under Foran the Sea Eagles are now sitting sixth on the ladder.

DRINKWATER SHOCKER HIGHLIGHTS WHY NRL NEEDS A TRADE WINDOW

Just when you thought Todd Payten would be closing in on a new contract, the Cowboys dished up one of the worst performances we’ve seen from any NRL team in years.

Coming on the back of four straight wins, it was almost unbelievable how poorly they played.

And no one illustrated the Cowboys’ form slide more than Scott Drinkwater who had a shocker after being in the headlines throughout last week when linked to the Dragons.

There’s no doubt all the talk distracted Drinkwater in what turned out to be a disaster of a 150th milestone appearance for the Cowboys.

For mine, it’s just further proof of why the NRL must introduce a trade window at the end of the season to deal with these matters.

It again highlights the negative impact mid-season contract negotiations can have on players, clubs and most of all fans.

HOPOATE TRY GIVEAWAY A BAD LOOK

Not that it mattered to the result.

But it was a poor look when Lehi Hopoate gifted Brandon Wakeham a try that should have been Hopoate’s hattrick.

With all the betting going on in the game today, this is the sort of thing that is so open to manipulation.

I’m certainly not saying that was the case here.

But the NRL needs to warn players why it still can’t be tolerated regardless of seemingly innocent intentions.

RAIDERS SURVIVE BIG RED’S LATEST BRAIN FADE

Ricky Stuart did well to contain himself after Corey Horsburgh’s latest brain fade in Canberra’s 26-22 win over Melbourne.

Stuart was captured on the dressing room cameras having a quick chat with Horsburgh as he entered the sheds at halftime.

Given the circumstances, you wouldn’t have blamed the coach for putting one on the big bopper’s chin after Horsburgh was penalised while in possession for giving the ref a gobful.

Horsburgh was blowing up at the Storm’s go-slow tactics in the ruck.

But giving away a penalty while in possession is just as dumb as it gets.

At that point the Raiders were ahead 12-0 before the Storm raced in 16 unanswered points.

While that was the Raiders’ best performance of the season, until the likes of Horsburgh get their discipline in check it will continue to come against Canberra.

There was still a lot to like with Simi Sasagi having another blinder, while the two Ethans, Strange and Sanders, are really starting to find their grove.

Hudson Young also had another huge game.

But Young’s two-match suspension for a high shot on Sua Faalogo will hurt the Raiders coming up against the Tigers.

STORM CAN’T WIN THE COMP

As for the Storm, five losses in a row pretty much puts a line through them challenging for the top four this season.

And history shows if you don’t make the top four you don’t win the comp.

Even though the Panthers were last after 12 rounds last year, I can’t see the Storm coming back from here.

As for what’s going wrong with Melbourne, if Craig Bellamy can’t work that out, I’m not going to pretend I have the answers.

But I will say this: I don’t remember seeing Cameron Munster and Harry Grant ever look so frustrated, or completely out of answers.

With Origin around the corner, it is only going to make it harder on Melbourne to fight back when Munster and Grant are away on Queensland duties.

TEDDY CONTINUES TO TURN BACK THE CLOCK

You have to hand it to James Tedesco.

At 33, Teddy continues to turn back the clock.

The reigning Dally M Medal clocked up 24 runs for 223m in the Roosters’ 38-24 comeback win over the Newcastle Knights.

If Laurie Daley was picking his NSW team today there is no debate who plays fullback if Tedesco puts his hand up for the job.

That’s not saying incumbent Dylan Edwards hasn’t started the season in good form.

But right now, Teddy is on another level.

Another player who will be hard for the Blues to ignore is Mark Nawaqanitawase who finished with 22 runs for 198m including two tries.

This was a performance that showed huge belief from the Roosters to fight back from trailing 24-12 at the break.

I said last week the Roosters were doing well to stay under the radar so far this season.

I get the feeling the Roosters could really do a job on the Dragons on Anzac Day.

PANTHERS’ UNSUNG HERO WON’T BE EASILY REPLACED

Don’t underestimate the loss of Mitch Kenny for the Panthers.

The tough-as-nails hooker will be sidelined for up to three months after suffering a fractured leg in the nail-biting 23-22 win over the Dolphins.

It was the result of a so-called hip drop from Kodi Nikorima, although there was any intent whatsoever from the Dolphins playmaker to injure his opponent.

Overall, it was a gutsy effort from both teams in hot and humid conditions up in Darwin.

In the end it was the class and composure of Nathan Cleary that got the Panthers home with a late field goal.

But the loss of Kenny could be massive as the weeks roll on.

This bloke might not attract the attention of Cleary, Isaah Yeo and Edwards, but his service from dummy half is second to none.

While Freddy Lussick is a capable replacement, Kenny is as underrated as they get.

FLYING PANTHER CONTINUES HIS TRYSCORING FEAST

That’s now 16 tries in seven games for the flying Panther, Tom Jenkins.

To think this bloke couldn’t crack it at Newcastle when the Knights were legless.

The way Jenkins is playing, he’s another Panther who wouldn’t look out of place in a sky blue jumper.

WEBSTER HAS WARRIORS HUMMING

Another side not getting the attention they deserve are the Warriors.

But now sitting second on the ladder, Andrew Webster certainly has them humming.

The Warriors raced to big lead before the Titans put on some late points to make the 28-20 scoreline at least look respectable.

But make no mistake, the Warriors were in cruise control for the most part and never looked in any real danger.

The halves Tanah Boyd and Chanel Harris-Tavita were again terrific, while it’s worth pointing out Jackson Ford finished with a massive 24 runs for 210m.

I know NSW have a stack of forwards with bigger reputations fighting for a spot this year, but Ford’s form will be hard to ignore.

Mitch Barnett also clocked up 17 runs for 148m in his early return from a broken thumb.