Hillites,
Delighted to be able to count myself among the denizens of the Leichhardt Oval hill on Monday night.
An what a game of ruby league it was, at still the best viewing ground in all of Sydney since 1907!
Just a crying shame that it’s only used for three games a year.
Refreshingly old fashioned to spend a night out with like minded people on one of the last of the great mounds in the known universe.
Also, one of the last football grounds in the world where you can actually get a hot pie and an ice cold beer [Carlton Draught in cans for a fiver; none of this mucking about with the plastic cup rubbish, and as a result no beer queues all night at The Scoreboard Bar.]
Everyone on the hill was more or less on their feet for the entire second half, a screamin’ and a yelling’, a hootin’ and a hollerin’ as the Mighty Tiges ran in seven second half tries – for a total of ten – count ‘em – ten tries!
[Don’t think I’ve ever seen the Tigers score 54 points at Leichhardt Oval, although I do distinctly remember a 52-0 score line against South Sydney many years ago now. The day a lunatic Souths fan got up on the narrow ledge around the scoreboard and began loudly haranguing the crowd below. Only fell off after he’d managed to weather the storm of being pelted with thousands of empty beer cans].
Hoddo managed to get on the scoresheet in his 200th, but remarkably the Lawrence toddler was not among the scorers, after having scored a try in every game he’s played this year.
They just weren’t using his wing that much, on account of they didn’t have to.
Everyone lost count of who was scoring anyway and where they were coming from, as the Tigers steamrolled the hapless Cowboys and just seemed to barge over the line at will.
Even the scorers couldn’t keep up, and according to one, Robbie Farah never even shaped up for a place kick all night, while some other scorers say otherwise!
What a coup for the club’s marketing department.
Hoddo’s 200th [nice touch that the club printed up thousands of Hoddo masks to distribute to the crowd, which were put to a variety of creative uses] the annual Laurie Nicholls [a bloke seven years dead and still very fondly remembered] tribute night, and a crowd only a couple of thousand short of a full house, and then 54-10!
It doesn’t get any better than that for the fans.
Good to see that SC Sheens on interview after the game [again in the fetching pink shirt and pinstripe charcoal suit jacket] insisted that there was virtually nothing to be learnt from the win:
“now let’s be realistic, the Cowboys were well underdone, they were nowhere near their best side, Thurston obviously played injured, so we’re not kidding ourselves, but while saying that, you’ve still gotta put ‘em away…they were in front of us, and we needed to win, and win well, and we did.”
Excellent to see Benji Marshall back on the paddock after his long recovery from his dodgy injured shoulder; coming back at just the right time of the season.
But I don’t know about the wisdom of playing him at half back, when you’ve got a perfectly good half back in Johnny Morris who now finds himself playing in the centres.
A few trademark jinks and offloads from Benji and we were on the scoreboard early, and it was really game over by half time.
On the Norm “Latchem” Robinson stand hung a large banner that simply read:
"JESUS WEPT
BENJI STEPPED”
Next thing they will be taking a leaf out of the Geelong book and start calling him “the Pontiff”
On his 200th game, it might be worth reflecting for a few moments on the career of The Great Hoddo
There is a helluva lot to like about Brett Hogdson.
You don’t play 200 first grade games and play for New South Wales unless you are any good.
There’s the apocryphal story of the bloke turning up to training at Western Suburbs for the first time.
“a weedy little kid who thought he could play rugby league”
The first thing he did was wander over to the incumbent first grade full back and enquire from him when he might be considering retirement.
The only problem was that the incumbent first grade full back took him seriously!
All the skills.
Victoria Cross style bravery in defence, to the extent of being foolhardy, almost to the point of lunacy; even if it does mean having your face reconstructed with titanium plates in the most recent instance
Loves nothing more than being bashed from pillar to post while running the ball out of defence after fielding a ball in the in-goal.
Just loves it.
Safe as houses under the high ball, and you could probably count the number of grubbers into the in-goal that he hasn’t rounded up on the fingers of one hand.
Not much in the way of a jink and a step but certainly does have that priceless gift possessed by all the great full backs – the ability to insert himself into the attacking line at precisely the right instant and brush off a defender, put in a searching little run [he has a fantastic turn of speed over 20 yards], and offload to one of his wingers with one man to beat, or take on his opposing number man-on-man, and score himself.
A part time goal kicker, to be sure, but one who nonetheless would have put more over the black dot than ones he’d sprayed away from the posts.
Unlike other Balmain full-backs I could name [but won’t, you know who they are]; not a hint of malice in his play; he’s never been one to play the game filthy.
I’d be very surprised if he’s even been hauled before the Judiciary of a Tuesday night.
As identified by SC Sheens, a good leader of men, and that doesn’t mean that you have to be a traffic cop.
More involves being able to pick the body language of your team mates and putting a word in there, a pat on the head here.
Also, by all reports, a great club man who does the right thing by the sponsors, and as far as I can remember, his personal life has never been mentioned in the press.
And a fine rugby league brain apparently, who works in close concert with SC Sheens on the plans for the set plays.
A legendary stylist, who doesn’t appear to have been born with any particular brilliance, but has over time, perfected his art.
All in all, an ornament to the game.
WESTS TIGERS 54 Tries: Harrison (2), Tuiaki, Morris, Hodgson, Heighington, Fitzhenry, Farah, Galea, Halatau.
Goals: Hodgson (3), Marshall (3), Farah (1).
NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS 10 Tries: Smith, Bartlett. Goals: Thurston (1).
At Leichhardt Oval.
Crowd: 17,101.
OR:
WESTS TIGERS 54 Tries: Harrison (2), Tuiaki, Morris, Hodgson, Heighington, Fitzhenry, Farah, Galea, Halatau.
Goals: Hodgson (4), Marshall (3).
NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS 10 Tries: Smith, Bartlett. Goals: Thurston (1).
At Leichhardt Oval.
Cowd: 17,101.
Talk about another case of needing to put a side away.
The Swans performance was clinical, if nothing else.
Keeping in touch with the eight and a nice percentage booster.
Nice to see BBB Hall dominant against some hapless opposition.
A classic goal when he managed to bust out of about four tackles using his strength and imposing physique, found himself just out side the goal square, turned on a five cent piece, and bang!
Snapped it through the big ones.
The Goodes train had a good one and is hopefully at last tuning up for the pointy end, but poor ol’ Magic looks more and more like a passenger every week.
Rhino Keefe had another blinder, while C.Bolton, McVeigh, and Kirk put in their usual sound performances.
Richmond just goes to show you what happens when you field a team that is too small, too slow and too weak – even for a bunch of creaking veterans.
Jeez, you wouldn’t want to be one of those Tigers fans, unless you enjoy suffering!
SYDNEY: 4.3 9.5 16.7 21.12 (138). Goals: Hall 6, Davis 4, Schneider 3, O'Keefe 2, Everitt 2, Bevan, J. Bolton, Jolly, Schmidt.
RICHMOND: 3.2 6.7 9.9 10.12 (72). Goals: Brown 3, Hughes 2, Edwards, Krakouer, Moore, Pettifer, Riewoldt
At Sydney Cricket Ground.
Crowd: 23,199.
