State of Origin 2 at Suncorp Stadium was a blowout, the Maroons far too good as they raced to a comprehensive 30-0
victory to level the 2008 series at 1-1.
Queensland were on the board after just 7 minutes, and it was an entertaining first try. Picking up the ball on his own
20m line, Greg Inglis shrugged off attempted tackles from Mark Gasnier and Steve Turner as he charged forward,
before passing off to Darius Boyd who continued the run and scored under the posts. And on 20 minutes, Inglis made
another run before again setting up Boyd for the Maroons’ second try.
The Blues’ play was punctuated with far too many errors and penalties. Twice in the last 10 minutes before the break,
silly penalties created openings for Johnathan Thurston to add goals and by half time the lead had blown out to 16-0.
The Blues had created few attacking options, had few scoring chances and had capitalised on none of them. Lopsided
error and penalty counts told the story of an Origin match that was going entirely the way of the home side.
Another penalty goal early in the second half extended the Queensland lead; and shortly afterwards Darius Boyd was
denied his hat-trick by a forward pass ruling. But it hardly mattered, as the 64th minute saw Ben Hannant crash over.
The video referee looked over and over again before throwing the decision back to referee Tony Archer, who awarded
the try which put the result beyond doubt. And two minutes later, Scott Prince put up a bomb, which Israel Folau chased
down to score in the corner. Johnathan Thurston was unstoppable with the boot, and despite the tight angle had no
trouble in putting the goal over to bring his tally for the night to 7 from 7.
With Queensland leading 30-0, the game was safe and the series was back on level terms. In the final seconds,
Karmichael Hunt was unsuccessful with a field goal attempt, but it was close to the only blemish on what had been a
great night for Queensland and once of NSW’s most dismal moments in their Origin history.
Queensland Origin 30 def New South Wales Origin 0
Queensland : Tries – D Boyd 2, B Hannant, I Folau. Goals – J Thurston 7/7. Field Goals – K Hunt 0/1.
New South Wales : Tries – Nil. Goals – Nil.
Referee – T Archer. Crowd – 52,416 at Suncorp Stadium.
The opening club game for the round was on Friday 13th, but the Roosters had no fears of black cats crossing their
path as they maintained their chase for the ladder leadership with a comfortable 32-12 win over Penrith at the Sydney
Football Stadium.
Penrith started brightly, and after just 3 minutes had the opening try. Brad Tighe dived in the corner and referee Sean
Hampstead decided to award the try without going upstairs; a move that replays showed was a mistake as Tighe on
the replays looked to have been short of the line. But on 10 minutes, James Aubusson crashed over to score under the
posts, and when Fitzgibbon converted the Roosters had the lead.
Quick-fire tries to Mark O’Meley and Anthony Minichiello gave the Roosters the ascendancy before a strong solo effort
by Luke Rooney reduced the margin to 16-12 at the break. But after half time the Panthers never looked a chance to
score again. Poor discipline by the Panthers in the second half resulted in a lopsided penalty count, which in turn led to
a weight of possession that inevitably led to a scoring blowout. The Roosters would score the only three tries of the
second half, putting the game beyond doubt and maintaining their momentum for a charge at the ladder leadership.
But it will be a nervous wait for the Panthers to determine whether they can remain in the top 8.
Sydney Roosters 32 def Penrith Panthers 12
Roosters : Tries – B Anasta, J Aubusson, B Grose, S Kenny-Dowall, A Minichiello, M O’Meley. Goals – C Fitzgibbon 4/6.
Panthers : Tries – L Rooney, B Tighe. Goals – S Rodney 2/2, B Tighe 0/1.
Referee – S Hampstead. Crowd – 9,724 at Sydney Football Stadium.
victory to level the 2008 series at 1-1.
Queensland were on the board after just 7 minutes, and it was an entertaining first try. Picking up the ball on his own
20m line, Greg Inglis shrugged off attempted tackles from Mark Gasnier and Steve Turner as he charged forward,
before passing off to Darius Boyd who continued the run and scored under the posts. And on 20 minutes, Inglis made
another run before again setting up Boyd for the Maroons’ second try.
The Blues’ play was punctuated with far too many errors and penalties. Twice in the last 10 minutes before the break,
silly penalties created openings for Johnathan Thurston to add goals and by half time the lead had blown out to 16-0.
The Blues had created few attacking options, had few scoring chances and had capitalised on none of them. Lopsided
error and penalty counts told the story of an Origin match that was going entirely the way of the home side.
Another penalty goal early in the second half extended the Queensland lead; and shortly afterwards Darius Boyd was
denied his hat-trick by a forward pass ruling. But it hardly mattered, as the 64th minute saw Ben Hannant crash over.
The video referee looked over and over again before throwing the decision back to referee Tony Archer, who awarded
the try which put the result beyond doubt. And two minutes later, Scott Prince put up a bomb, which Israel Folau chased
down to score in the corner. Johnathan Thurston was unstoppable with the boot, and despite the tight angle had no
trouble in putting the goal over to bring his tally for the night to 7 from 7.
With Queensland leading 30-0, the game was safe and the series was back on level terms. In the final seconds,
Karmichael Hunt was unsuccessful with a field goal attempt, but it was close to the only blemish on what had been a
great night for Queensland and once of NSW’s most dismal moments in their Origin history.
Queensland Origin 30 def New South Wales Origin 0
Queensland : Tries – D Boyd 2, B Hannant, I Folau. Goals – J Thurston 7/7. Field Goals – K Hunt 0/1.
New South Wales : Tries – Nil. Goals – Nil.
Referee – T Archer. Crowd – 52,416 at Suncorp Stadium.
The opening club game for the round was on Friday 13th, but the Roosters had no fears of black cats crossing their
path as they maintained their chase for the ladder leadership with a comfortable 32-12 win over Penrith at the Sydney
Football Stadium.
Penrith started brightly, and after just 3 minutes had the opening try. Brad Tighe dived in the corner and referee Sean
Hampstead decided to award the try without going upstairs; a move that replays showed was a mistake as Tighe on
the replays looked to have been short of the line. But on 10 minutes, James Aubusson crashed over to score under the
posts, and when Fitzgibbon converted the Roosters had the lead.
Quick-fire tries to Mark O’Meley and Anthony Minichiello gave the Roosters the ascendancy before a strong solo effort
by Luke Rooney reduced the margin to 16-12 at the break. But after half time the Panthers never looked a chance to
score again. Poor discipline by the Panthers in the second half resulted in a lopsided penalty count, which in turn led to
a weight of possession that inevitably led to a scoring blowout. The Roosters would score the only three tries of the
second half, putting the game beyond doubt and maintaining their momentum for a charge at the ladder leadership.
But it will be a nervous wait for the Panthers to determine whether they can remain in the top 8.
Sydney Roosters 32 def Penrith Panthers 12
Roosters : Tries – B Anasta, J Aubusson, B Grose, S Kenny-Dowall, A Minichiello, M O’Meley. Goals – C Fitzgibbon 4/6.
Panthers : Tries – L Rooney, B Tighe. Goals – S Rodney 2/2, B Tighe 0/1.
Referee – S Hampstead. Crowd – 9,724 at Sydney Football Stadium.
Cronulla recorded their third win on the trot, sending the Warriors’ season into further disarray when the Sharks took
out a comfortable 24-8 victory in bitterly cold conditions at Toyota Park on Saturday evening.
The Sharks made the early attacking, and had two tries disallowed by the video ref. But it took 29 minutes before
they finally got a score on the board. It came when Brett Seymour after the 5th tackle launched a grubber, which
David Simmons chased to score in the corner. The conversion attempt was unsuccessful; and 3 minutes later the
Warriors had scored against the run of play. Lance Hohaia fired off a brilliant offload to Jerome Ropati, and Ropati
found room to run in and score. The conversion, and a penalty goal on the stroke of half time, gave the Warriors an 8-
4 lead at the break.
The Sharks received a penalty and Luke Covell took the 2 points in the opening minute of the second half. The score
was 8-6 to the Warriors, and that’s how it stayed for the next 20 minutes. Both sides created opportunities, but
neither were able to capitalise. But finally on the hour the Sharks broke the deadlock, Simmons pouncing on a bomb
from Brett Kimmorley to score the Sharks’ second try and give the home side the lead.
But in the last 10 minutes the Sharks took control. Tries to Luke Covell and Ben Pomeroy made the Sharks
comfortably ahead, and the final score was 24-8. The result keeps the Sharks well clear in the top 8, but the
Warriors now find themselves 2 games out of the 8 and with a poor for and against are up against it in their quest for
a finals berth.
Cronulla Sharks 24 def New Zealand Warriors 8
Sharks : Tries – D Simmons 2, L Covell, B Pomeroy. Goals – L Covell 4/6.
Warriors : Tries – J Ropati. Goals – L Hohaia 2/2.
Referee – B Cummins. Crowd – 9,023 at Toyota Park.
Canberra kept their slim finals hopes alive, overcoming a visibly fatigued Brisbane side to record a 34-16 win at
Canberra Stadiium on Sunday afternoon.
It took just 2 minutes for the Raiders to get on the scoreboard, Terry Campese going wide and finding a gap to
score. And on 7 minutes, Joel Monaghan ran 70 metres to score. Todd Carney converted both tries, and it was a
flying start with the Raiders already 12-0 ahead.
Brisbane, with several players backing up from Wednesday’s Origin match, struggled to get into the game, and were
forced to defend as a string of penalties and a succession of drop-outs kept the Raiders in possession. And finally
after 25 minute, Alan Tongue set up Troy Thompson for another try. And more was to come before the break, with
debutant Justin Carney recording a double to put the Raiders 28-0 ahead at the break.
The Broncos got on the board three minutes after the break, Joel Moon pouncing on a bomb to score. But five
minutes later, Colin Best found plenty of room to move and strolled through the gaping hole in the Brisbane defence
to put the result beyond doubt. And although the Broncos scored two late tries to salvage some respectability from
the game, it was a comfortable Canberra victory that leaves them still with a slight sniff of a finals chance.
Canberra Raiders 34 def Brisbane Broncos 16
Raiders : Tries – J Carney 2, C Best, T Campese, J Monaghan, T Thompson. Goals – T Carney 5/6.
Broncos : Tries – J Moon, C Parker, S Perry. Goals – C Parker 2/3.
Referee – J Robinson. Crowd – 11,157 at Canberra Stadium.
A blockbuster Sunday afternoon crowd was on hand at ANZ Stadium as Wests Tigers hosted Parramatta, but the
home crowd would go home disappointed after the Eels turned on their best form to demolish the Tigers 44-6.
In wet conditions, the Tigers were hampered by injuries to Beau Ryan, Ben Te’o and Danny Galea; restricting their
interchange options. Meanwhile, the Eels were able to rotate fresh legs and rest players in the heavy conditions.
Four Parramatta tries before the break got the Eels off to a flying start, and with Luke Burt landing the conversions
from all angles the Eels raced away to a 24-0 lead at half time. Captain Nathan Hindmarsh led the way, scoring two
first half tries and setting up Krisnan Inu for another.
The Tigers came out swinging after half time, and a try to Chris Lawrence briefly raised hopes in the Tigers’ camp
that they could work their way back into the contest. But an intercept by Joel Reddy and a 50m run quickly snuffed out
those hopes and ensured the Eels would race to a runaway victory.
After an indifferent start to the season, the Eels with this result move ahead of Wests Tigers on for and against; and
now find themselves within striking distance of the top 8.
Parramatta Eels 44 def Wests Tigers 6
Eels : Tries – N Hindmarsh 2, L Burt, J Cordoba, K Inu, M Keating, J Reddy, J Tautai. Goals – L Burt 6/8.
Tigers : Tries – C Lawrence. Goals – B Hodgson 1/1.
Referee – T Archer. Crowd – 22,107 at ANZ Stadium.
Newcastle continued North Queensland’s dismal season when the Knights returned home from Townsville with the
points after a 30-18 win over the Cowboys on Monday night.
It was the Cowboys’ seventh loss on the trot, and like so many of the others the Cowboys had been in a position
where they could have won. The Knights had the better of the first half to lead 18-4 at the break; but the Cowboys
fought back with a penalty goal to Johnathan Thurston and a double to Ben Farrar to level the scores at 18-18 with
12 minutes to go.
But with the game in the balance, it was the Knights who stepped up and lifted their intensity when the game was
there to be won. Jarrod Mullen restored Newcastle’s lead, strolling through some tired North Queensland defence to
score. And in the final minute, Kurt Gidley, returning to the side after an injury layoff, found the North Queensland line
to put the icing on the cake.
The result sees Newcastle only out of the top 8 on percentage, and with strong hopes of being a part of the playoff
action. But the news isn’t so good for North Queensland, their 7th straight loss leaving them stranded in 15th place,
their season slipping away.
Newcastle Knights 30 def North Queensland Cowboys 18
Knights : Tries – K Gidley 2, M Hilder, C Houston, J Mullen. Goals – K Gidley 5/6.
Cowboys : Tries – B Farrar 2, M Bartlett. Goals – J Thurston 3/4.
Referee – S Hayne. Crowd – 14,234 at Dairy Farmers Stadium.
out a comfortable 24-8 victory in bitterly cold conditions at Toyota Park on Saturday evening.
The Sharks made the early attacking, and had two tries disallowed by the video ref. But it took 29 minutes before
they finally got a score on the board. It came when Brett Seymour after the 5th tackle launched a grubber, which
David Simmons chased to score in the corner. The conversion attempt was unsuccessful; and 3 minutes later the
Warriors had scored against the run of play. Lance Hohaia fired off a brilliant offload to Jerome Ropati, and Ropati
found room to run in and score. The conversion, and a penalty goal on the stroke of half time, gave the Warriors an 8-
4 lead at the break.
The Sharks received a penalty and Luke Covell took the 2 points in the opening minute of the second half. The score
was 8-6 to the Warriors, and that’s how it stayed for the next 20 minutes. Both sides created opportunities, but
neither were able to capitalise. But finally on the hour the Sharks broke the deadlock, Simmons pouncing on a bomb
from Brett Kimmorley to score the Sharks’ second try and give the home side the lead.
But in the last 10 minutes the Sharks took control. Tries to Luke Covell and Ben Pomeroy made the Sharks
comfortably ahead, and the final score was 24-8. The result keeps the Sharks well clear in the top 8, but the
Warriors now find themselves 2 games out of the 8 and with a poor for and against are up against it in their quest for
a finals berth.
Cronulla Sharks 24 def New Zealand Warriors 8
Sharks : Tries – D Simmons 2, L Covell, B Pomeroy. Goals – L Covell 4/6.
Warriors : Tries – J Ropati. Goals – L Hohaia 2/2.
Referee – B Cummins. Crowd – 9,023 at Toyota Park.
Canberra kept their slim finals hopes alive, overcoming a visibly fatigued Brisbane side to record a 34-16 win at
Canberra Stadiium on Sunday afternoon.
It took just 2 minutes for the Raiders to get on the scoreboard, Terry Campese going wide and finding a gap to
score. And on 7 minutes, Joel Monaghan ran 70 metres to score. Todd Carney converted both tries, and it was a
flying start with the Raiders already 12-0 ahead.
Brisbane, with several players backing up from Wednesday’s Origin match, struggled to get into the game, and were
forced to defend as a string of penalties and a succession of drop-outs kept the Raiders in possession. And finally
after 25 minute, Alan Tongue set up Troy Thompson for another try. And more was to come before the break, with
debutant Justin Carney recording a double to put the Raiders 28-0 ahead at the break.
The Broncos got on the board three minutes after the break, Joel Moon pouncing on a bomb to score. But five
minutes later, Colin Best found plenty of room to move and strolled through the gaping hole in the Brisbane defence
to put the result beyond doubt. And although the Broncos scored two late tries to salvage some respectability from
the game, it was a comfortable Canberra victory that leaves them still with a slight sniff of a finals chance.
Canberra Raiders 34 def Brisbane Broncos 16
Raiders : Tries – J Carney 2, C Best, T Campese, J Monaghan, T Thompson. Goals – T Carney 5/6.
Broncos : Tries – J Moon, C Parker, S Perry. Goals – C Parker 2/3.
Referee – J Robinson. Crowd – 11,157 at Canberra Stadium.
A blockbuster Sunday afternoon crowd was on hand at ANZ Stadium as Wests Tigers hosted Parramatta, but the
home crowd would go home disappointed after the Eels turned on their best form to demolish the Tigers 44-6.
In wet conditions, the Tigers were hampered by injuries to Beau Ryan, Ben Te’o and Danny Galea; restricting their
interchange options. Meanwhile, the Eels were able to rotate fresh legs and rest players in the heavy conditions.
Four Parramatta tries before the break got the Eels off to a flying start, and with Luke Burt landing the conversions
from all angles the Eels raced away to a 24-0 lead at half time. Captain Nathan Hindmarsh led the way, scoring two
first half tries and setting up Krisnan Inu for another.
The Tigers came out swinging after half time, and a try to Chris Lawrence briefly raised hopes in the Tigers’ camp
that they could work their way back into the contest. But an intercept by Joel Reddy and a 50m run quickly snuffed out
those hopes and ensured the Eels would race to a runaway victory.
After an indifferent start to the season, the Eels with this result move ahead of Wests Tigers on for and against; and
now find themselves within striking distance of the top 8.
Parramatta Eels 44 def Wests Tigers 6
Eels : Tries – N Hindmarsh 2, L Burt, J Cordoba, K Inu, M Keating, J Reddy, J Tautai. Goals – L Burt 6/8.
Tigers : Tries – C Lawrence. Goals – B Hodgson 1/1.
Referee – T Archer. Crowd – 22,107 at ANZ Stadium.
Newcastle continued North Queensland’s dismal season when the Knights returned home from Townsville with the
points after a 30-18 win over the Cowboys on Monday night.
It was the Cowboys’ seventh loss on the trot, and like so many of the others the Cowboys had been in a position
where they could have won. The Knights had the better of the first half to lead 18-4 at the break; but the Cowboys
fought back with a penalty goal to Johnathan Thurston and a double to Ben Farrar to level the scores at 18-18 with
12 minutes to go.
But with the game in the balance, it was the Knights who stepped up and lifted their intensity when the game was
there to be won. Jarrod Mullen restored Newcastle’s lead, strolling through some tired North Queensland defence to
score. And in the final minute, Kurt Gidley, returning to the side after an injury layoff, found the North Queensland line
to put the icing on the cake.
The result sees Newcastle only out of the top 8 on percentage, and with strong hopes of being a part of the playoff
action. But the news isn’t so good for North Queensland, their 7th straight loss leaving them stranded in 15th place,
their season slipping away.
Newcastle Knights 30 def North Queensland Cowboys 18
Knights : Tries – K Gidley 2, M Hilder, C Houston, J Mullen. Goals – K Gidley 5/6.
Cowboys : Tries – B Farrar 2, M Bartlett. Goals – J Thurston 3/4.
Referee – S Hayne. Crowd – 14,234 at Dairy Farmers Stadium.
| ROUND 15 FIXTURES: (All times shown are Sydney time) Friday 20th June Brisbane v Wests Tigers (7:30pm, Suncorp Stadium) St George-Illawarra v Penrith (7:30pm, ANZ Stadium) Saturday 21st June Bulldogs v Canberra (5:30pm, ANZ Stadium) Melbourne v North Queensland (7:30pm, Olympic Park) Sunday 22nd June New Zealand Warriors v Manly (12:00pm, Mt Smart Stadium) Newcastle v Sydney Roosters (2:00pm, Energy Australia Stadium) Cronulla v Parramatta (3:00pm, Toyota Stadium) Monday 23rd June South Sydney v Gold Coast (7:00pm, ANZ Stadium) |
|
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
