Berkeley_Eagle
Current Status: 24/7 Manly Fan
Dragons 24-12 Bulldogs
Roosters 16-12 Tigers
Eels 18-10 Panthers
Storm 32-24 Knights
Roosters 16-12 Tigers
Eels 18-10 Panthers
Storm 32-24 Knights
PARRAMATTA 18 PENRITH 10
PARRAMATTA star Jarryd Hayne could face an anxious few days after he was put on report last night for a tackle that left Penrith's Shane Elford dazed.
Playing five-eighth for half the game, Hayne scored two tries, while regular No6 Feleti Mateo produced a five-star performance at lock.
The efforts of Hayne and Mateo stood out for the Eels, who are two wins out of two under new coach Daniel Anderson.
Hayne showed glimpses of the form that saw him represent NSW two years ago. Despite spending only half the game at five-eighth before returning to his more familiar role at fullback, he produced the decisive play when he raced 80m to seal the win.
Eels coach Daniel Anderson said his side's win, while scrappy at times, was still encouraging.
\"I thought we just battled and we had to. I think we showed some little signs in the game that we've made some progress, even since last week when most of the big boys didn't play,'' Anderson said.
\"We've still got areas that we can work on, which is important.''
Panthers coach Matthew Elliott was pleased with his side's effort in defence.
\"We did some really good stuff and showed some intent defensively, obviously in attack, we've got some work to do.''
Penrith coach Matthew Elliott will need plenty of improvement if he is to start the season well and ultimately save his job.
It was a timid affair early as both sides experimented with new halves combinations.
The Eels coach wouldn't have been too thrilled to see Fuifui Moimoi and Weller Hauraki putting in last-tackle kicks from consecutive sets.
Hayne scored the Eels' opening try after 22 minutes when he barged his way through three defenders from dummy-half.
Four minutes later, Parramatta were in again thanks to Brett Finch and Krisnan Inu.
Finch's angled grubber was fumbled in-goal by Penrith centre Brad Tighe and Inu was on hand to dive on the loose ball.
Penrith struggled to find their rhythm for much of the first half, but young five-eighth Wade Graham finally got the ball rolling after 35 minutes with a superb short-ball for Tim Grant.
Grant found Luke Lewis on the inside and although his last pass was knocked down, Michael Jennings pounced on the scraps to open his side's account.
Penrith closed the gap to two when Jarrod Sammut picked up a loose ball and out-paced Hayne in a 70m dash to the line.
Fulltime
PARRAMATTA 18 (J Hayne 2 K Inu tries L Burt 3 goals) bt PENRITH 10 (M Jennings J Sammut tries M Gordon goal) at CUA Stadium, Penrith. Referees: J Maxwell A Devich. Crowd: 5,783.
ST GEORGE 24 BULLDOGS 12
WAYNE Bennett has put the grunt back into St George Illawarra.
The Dragons continued their impressive pre-season form with a four-tries-to-two victory over the new-look Bulldogs, who were strong in their first run under new coach Kevin Moore.
Bennett appears to have put a stamp on the Dragons that Nathan Brown was unable to achieve, getting the red and whites to grind out close contests by defending for each other and play simple, structured football.
They did it last night in Wollongong against a Bulldogs outfit that unveiled a raft of new signings.
Standing in the gymnasium under WIN Stadium, where the club's new motto states \"there are no short cuts to long-term success'', Bennett spoke about the Dragons learning to roll up their sleeves for 80 minutes.
\"We certainly realise that it's one of our achilles heels and we do want to reverse that a little bit,'' Bennett said.
\"We're certainly getting the idea about it. We're far from perfect at it. Good footy teams do that. We have to do that and we want to be a good football team.
\"I like the way in the first half we lost a bit of momentum and fell behind and then we fought our way back into the game.
\"Canterbury have probably recruited as well as anyone in the competition, and I think they'll be formidable.''
Despite the loss, there is plenty of optimism for last year's wooden-spooners.
The new recruits have brought stability, direction and structure, leaving their new coach impressed.
\"I thought all of the new guys were outstanding for our first hit out,'' Moore said.
\"I thought Mick (Ennis) and Noddy (Brett Kimmorley) were really good, Mick Hodgson's work rate was tremendous and David Stagg's defence was great as well.''
For the Dragons, last night's halves pairing of Mathew Head and Jamie Soward provided solid direction and some flashy touches.
Having overcome a chronic knee injury, which required two reconstructions, Head has trained the full season and looks in good nick.
Head first laid on a flat ball for Matt Cooper to score before snatching an intercept from Ben Hannant and finding Jason Nightingale, who raced 75m for a 12-6 lead.
\"I had two knee reconstructions back to back and they're not the easiest thing to come back on. It's great to be back at the club I always wanted to play at,'' Head said.
But Bennett has a welcome selection headache in where to fit Ben Hornby. Five-eighth or fullback appear the most likely options.
Darius Boyd played fullback last night before Brett Morris was trialled there in the second half.
The new-look Bulldogs were sharp early with halfback Kimmorley and hooker Ennis guiding the side in impressive fashion.
Josh Morris set up the first try against his former club with a strong run from 10m out before popping a pass to winger Matt Utai.
The remodelled Dragons engine room looks to have plenty of grunt, with the injection of Jeremy Smith, Neville Costigan and Michael Weyman complementing Justin Poore, Dean Young and Ben Creagh.
Smith is tipped to start the year at lock, with Creagh and Costigan in the second row.
The jury remains out on the Luke Priddis experiment at hooker.
While there is no questioning the 2003 Clive Churchill Medal winner's credentials, the Dragons didn't seem to have as much time to create in attack with him at dummy-half.
For Kimmorley, Ennis, Hannant, Stagg, Michael Hodgson and Yileen Gordon it was the first outing in blue and white and they will be better for the run.
TRIAL MATCH
Fulltime
ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA 24 (M Cooper J Nightingale R Thorby J Clarke tries J Soward 4 goals) bt BULLDOGS 12 (M Utai B Barba tries H El Masri M Ennis goals) at WIN Stadium. Crowd: 7,628.
MELBOURNE 32 NEWCASTLE 24
NEWCASTLE can't take a trick. A week after losing winger Cooper Vuna, the Knights' star recruit Isaac De Gois suffered a suspected broken collarbone against the Melbourne Storm.
The hooker, signed from Cronulla to cover the departure of Knights legend Danny Buderus, left the field in the 36th minute of another painful trial loss for Brian Smith's men.
De Gois went in to make a regulation tackle but was left on the ground clutching his left shoulder.
He was taken away for X-rays last night in Melbourne, with club doctor Peter McGeoch fearing De Gois would have an extended stint on the sidelines.
\"Our doctor suspects it's a broken collarbone, so all we can do is hope for the best,'' Knights football manager Warren Smiles said.
\"He's gone off for X-rays and we just have to wait and see.''
There were no such worries for the Storm, with youngster Willie Isa staking a claim for Israel Folau's centre spot.
The 20-year-old, who is a Penrith junior, would be behind Joe Tomane and Will Chambers in the pecking order.
But Isa scored two tries in a nine-minute period to underline his potential.
Should Chambers, who has been battling a knee injury, fail to come up for next week's trial against Brisbane in Caloundra then Isa could well win a start for the season-opener.
Melbourne led by 26 points before two late tries gave the Knights some respectability.
The home team hit the ground running, scoring six tries in the opening 30 minutes. Storm prop Jeff Lima opened the scoring in the fifth minute, bullocking his way over from close range.
Isa then scored the first of his two tries, with Greg Inglis putting him into open space. Ryan Hoffman then went over two minutes later and it looked like being a horror night for the visitors.
When Isa scored his second try, converted by skipper Cameron Smith, the Storm led 22-0.
It took a Storm mistake to give the Knights a chance, and they took advantage with a try from Cameron Ciradlo. Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy then replaced most of his pack and the Knights finally gained some momentum, crossing for their second try.
But it didn't take long for normal order to be restored, with Inglis bowling over Knights hooker George Ndaira to score the Storm's fifth try.
Anthony Quinn was next to cross out wide, after an Inglis pass, three minutes later, making the score 32-6.
With such a big lead, the home team dropped concentration and Knights winger Akuila Uate crossed for the Knights third try to complete a thrilling first half.
Muddling was the only way to describe the second half, with coaches taking the opportunity to blood many of their up-and-coming players. Dropped balls and missed tackles from both sides made the second half as forgettable as the first was memorable.
But Bellamy especially would have been happy to escape with game time for his stars _ and no injuries.
MELBOURNE 32 (W Isa 2, J Lima, R Hoffman, G Inglis, A Quinn tries; C Smith 4 goals) NEWCASTLE 24 (C Ciraldo, L Walsh, A Uate, K Lulia, Z Taia tries; G Ndaira, S Dureau goals).
SYDNEY ROOSTERS 16 WESTS TIGERS 12
WESTS Tigers star Benji Marshall last night slammed claims he would not see out the season after his side was narrowly beaten by the Roosters.
After revealing that Andrew Johns had sought him out to help his transition to halfback, Marshall broke his silence after revelations the NRL would stop him from playing rugby union in Japan next off-season.
\"I have tried to put it all to the side,'' Marshall said.
\"I will just try to let my manager deal with it. I will just leave it behind me and wait for a decision. You know, I shouldn't have said anything, but Gallop has come out. I will just play.''
After a mixed night for Marshall that coach team Tim Sheens labelled a \"massive improvement'' on last week, the Kiwi Test star laughed off claims he should forego playing in Japan because he is injury prone.
\"I feel great,'' he said.
\"I only had four weeks off this year and I came back to training keener than ever. My body is fine. I have a couple of big weights boys getting stuck into me in the gym and I am feeling strong.
\"I am sitting in at 89kg and it is a good weight. I feel fast and strong.''
Marshall revealed playmaking great Johns was helping him with his new life as a No7.
\"Joey has been teaching me a few things,'' Marshall said.
\"It has been great. He knows his stuff. He came to us and asked to help. Apparently he was admirer of mine and it was pretty flattering he wanted to help me.''
Anthony Minichiello provided the brilliance in attack that got the Roosters home after last week's heavy loss to St George Illawarra, proving his resilience after chronic back problems.
\"He never stops surprising me,'' Roosters coach Brad Fittler said.
\"He made some great runs, got to some dangerous kicks. I was a bit worried how he would handle the confrontation, but he was great. He looked confident.
\"There has been a lot of talk about him, but he just went out there and did his job.''
For the Tigers, English import Gareth Ellis was a stand-out.
Fulltime
SYDNEY ROOSTERS 16 (M Aubusson M Pearce A Minichiello tries C Fitzgibbon B Anasta goals) bt WESTS TIGERS 12 (S Gallant W Mataka tries B Marshall 2 goals) at Sydney Football Stadium. Referees: T Archer P Haines. Crowd: 8,716.