Ugly Storm change behind fresh NRL furore; why Madge must tell Broncos duo to look in mirror — Paul Crawley

If you remember correctly, the game had never been as ugly as it was at different stages in the 15 or so years that followed.

The game’s most successful teams increasingly went out to slow it down to the point where wrestling became arguably the biggest on-field blight in rugby league history.

Fans complaining of huge scorelines now also need to remind themselves how frustrating it was watching teams try to choke each other out of the contest.

Right now I feel as though I’m in the minority, but I would rather watch the footy played today — blowouts included — as opposed to what it was before the set restart came into existence.

Yes, on occasions the crackdown this year has gone over the top.

And the refs do need to take player fatigue into account when finding a comfortable balance.

But again, it almost always goes back to teams pushing the boundaries to gain an unfair advantage when these ruck infringements are blown.

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A good example was the first half in the Storm/Dragons game on the weekend where the Storm gave up a stack of six agains.

I’m not picking on the Storm here because they are not alone.

But it was as obvious that the Storm were trying to get as many defenders into as many tackles as they could to slow down the ruck against the Dragons.

On occasions they pushed it too far, and they paid the price for it.

Again, it’s not just the Storm doing this because every team is out there to see what they can get away with, the Storm just have a knack of doing it better than the opposition.

But I’ll keep going back to the point, do we want the referee to just ignore it and let the game go back to where it was when the wrestle dominated?

Or is it up to the coaches to also adjust their tactics to comply with how the NRL wants the game played today?

In a perfect world I would take the rule book back to how the game was played in the early to mid-1990s when I thought rugby league was at its best.

For mine, the 1994 season was the pinnacle of how the game should be played.

But we will never get back to that because teams are coached so differently today, with so much more emphasis on ruck control.

If coaches had their way they’d make every ruck as slow as possible when they’re defending, and whinge about how slow it was when they had the ball.

While I don’t agree with every change that has been made under the current administration, all the complaining about the overuse of the six again won’t convince me that the game is poorer because of it.

WHY MADGE NEEDS TO GET WALSH AND MAM IN FRONT OF A MIRROR

Never thought I’d say this.

But Michael Maguire should encourage Reece Walsh and Ezra Mam to spend time this week looking in the mirror ahead of the Broncos blockbuster game against the Storm.

Not to flex their muscles or admire their looks.

But to see if they can spot the problem with their attitude.

Because what the Broncos’ two flashiest players dished up defensively at critical times in the 40-32 loss to Parramatta was just not good enough.

And it seems that attitude is reflected throughout almost the entire Broncos’ squad right now.

In his return to the starting team, Mam was a turnstile on the left edge against the Eels, missing seven tackles.

Maybe Maguire was right starting Mam off the bench against the Panthers.

Yet you go back and look at some of Mam’s defensive efforts in the grand final and he was phenomenal.

So that tells us Mam is not a bad defender.

And the players always say that defence is all about attitude.

Meanwhile, Walsh’s attention to detail also let him down badly.

He dropped one bomb that led to a Parramatta try.

But as Cooper Cronk said in Fox League commentary when Jonah Pezet clinched the win with a try in the 79th minute: “Reece Walsh was nowhere to be seen. He’s clocked off, he’s finished for the night.”

It was inexcusable.

Especially when you think back to some of Walsh’s defensive plays in the grand final, that were equally as crucial as what he did with the ball in hand.

Before the season kicked off Walsh vowed he was ready to return “better, faster and stronger” following his finish to last season: “I think that is the mindset I have had this preseason is just trying to get better in those small areas and build that foundation out to be as strong as I can leading into a long year.”

Yet in the two games so far Walsh has been nowhere near the player who won last year’s Clive Churchill Medal.

If the Broncos turn up to Melbourne with the same lacklustre attitude their premiership defence could be over before it even got going.

Don’t forget the Storm annihilated the Eels 52-4 in the opening round.

Factor in the Broncos have not won in Melbourne for 10 years.

And having given up the grand final lead will just give the Storm added motivation.

For all the criticism of Maguire supposedly training the players too hard over the summer, it dead set looks like Madge didn’t train them hard enough.

Or is their sluggishness the result of being over-cooked in the summer?

If the players want us to believe the coach is not the problem, and Madge wasn’t the reason Payne Haas wanted out, then it’s time they took accountability for their performances.

FROM AC/DC TO ALEX JOHNSTON

Outside of grand final and State of Origin celebrations, I can’t remember a rugby league moment in my lifetime that has even got close to the wonderful scenes at Allianz Stadium that followed Alex Johnston’s record breaking try on Friday night.

And while Wayne Bennett was obviously upset after the game that the stoppage took away the momentum of the match, this was a moment in the game’s history that will be reflected upon for decades to come.

To put it in perspective, go back to the year Ken Irvine retired in 1973 and think of some of the momentous moments of that year.

I did a quick Google search over the weekend and was blown away by the memories.

They include AC/DC playing their first Sydney gig, the opening of the Sydney Opera House, and Arthur Beetson becoming Australia’s first Indigenous sporting captain.

It was also the year the United States withdrew from Vietnam, the World Trade Centre opened, he top album was Pink Floyd’s classic, The Dark Side of the Moon, while it was also the year iconic rock band Kiss was formed.

In 50 years from now the kids that stormed the field will be telling their grandkids of the day Alex Johnston rewrote rugby league history.

And those images of the thousands flocking the ground will be as special as they are today.

What they won’t be talking about is how the game was held up for 15 minutes and how that swung momentum the Roosters’ way.

WHERE’S THE RESPECT FOR AUSTRALIA’S PM

Still on that game and if a report in the Sydney Morning Herald is correct that a Roosters official tried to prevent Prime Minister Anthony Albanese getting in a public lift reserved for coaches shortly after Johnston scored his historic try, that is just so petty it’s beyond a joke.

The SMH report revealed claims of a flashpoint between Albanese’s security and the Roosters as the PM tried to make his way down to the field to join the celebrations.

It alleged one Roosters official said to the Albanese, “this is only for the coaches”, to which Albanese’s minder pointed out, “this is the Prime Minister”.

Fair dinkum, everyone knows the Prime Minister is a mad Rabbitohs fan.

But surely the clubs could/should put their bad blood to the side to show some respect for Australia’s Prime Minister, regardless of who you vote for.

DCE AND TEDDY TURN BACK THE CLOCK

It was great to see Daly Cherry-Evans recover from his forgettable opening game for the Chooks to show he’s still got some footy left in the old legs yet.

That deft grubber from the 37-year-old to set up the match-clinching try for fellow veteran James Tedesco summed up class and composure under pressure of both these champions.

STORM WON’T MISS PAPENHUYZEN

What about this young Storm sensation Sua Fa’alogo.

They way the 20-year-old cut the Sharks to shreds with three rapid-fire second half tries just showed why the Storm didn’t seem too concerned about losing Ryan Papenhuyzen.

Can’t wait to see Fa’alogo go head-to-head with Walsh this week.

SEA EAGLES SHOULD BE EMBARRASSED

It was awful seeing Newcastle captain Kalyn Ponga and star recruit Dylan Brown forced off injured in the big win over Manly.

In their absence the Knights still held on for a courageous win against the odds.

Meanwhile, Manly’s terrible performance will only heap more pressure on Anthony Seibold after back-to-back losses at home to start the season.

The Sea Eagles now have the bye before taking on the Roosters (again at home) in round four.

While Manly showed some fight in the golden points loss to the Raiders, what they delivered this round was just embarrassing.

Let’s hope for the Knights’ sake Ponga and Brown can get back on the field sooner rather than later because a strong Newcastle is always great for rugby league.

You can already see the change in attitude new coach Justin Holbrook has brought with him.

BENJI’S TIGERS CREATE FLASHBACKS OF 2005

The Tigers have set their benchmark for the season _ and it delivered flashbacks of 2005.

It was terrific watching the Tigers tear the Cowboys apart in front of a packed Leichhardt crowd.

With Jarome Luai and Api Koroisau leading the way, Benji had them playing a fantastic brand of footy that was just fun to watch.

But now we know they have a team capable of challenging for a finals spot for the first time since 2012, they need to go out and get the job done.

The Tigers take on Souths this round.

While the loss sets the stage for a huge home game in Townsville next Sunday night when the Cowboys host the Titans.

Like the Seibold situation at Manly, you wouldn’t think Todd Payten could afford too many more embarrassing defeats.

CLEARY TAKES SHARKS HALVES BACK TO SCHOOL

Didn’t Nathan Cleary take Cronulla’s halves to school in Penrith’s emphatic 26-6 victory.

With all the talk after the Sharks’ round one win over the Titans that Nicho Hynes and Braidon Trindall were back with a point to prove this year, Cleary made his own statement.

After two rounds it’s no wonder the Panthers are the premiership favourites.

As you’d expect Isaah Yeo, Dylan Edwards and Brian To’o were all tremendous, as was pretty much every Panther on the field.

And I’m loving what we’re seeing from young Casey McLean who looks ready to challenge for his own spot among the game’s truly elite centres.

WEBSTER HAS WARRIORS FIRING

Andrew Webster is doing an outstanding job with the Warriors.

After taking down the Roosters in round one, now they have accounted for the Raiders 40-6.

And that was after losing Kurt Capewell during warm up and then Chanel Harris-Tavita to concussion early in the game.

Remember the Warriors are still missing Luke Metcalf and Mitch Barnett.

But in their absence Tanah Boyd is in career-best form, while James Fisher-Harris just showed again what a tough and follow-me leader he is.

Like a few other teams, the Raiders were their own worst enemies with their poor discipline and that will need to improve when they take on the Bulldogs fresh off the bye.