Long sufferers,
After a strange, weird, bizarre, and quite frankly very disappointing Test cricket season, the footy has crept up on us with barely any warning. The pre-season hoop-la normally reaches fever pitch this time of year as the back 12 pages of the papers obsess over who in, who's out, and who's up who and for what. Things have been oddly quiet as folks really don't know what to make of anything in these times of plague; everything remains a day-to-day proposition, let alone making far flung predictions who will win the Grand Final in September - which seems like an epoch away, and probably is.
So one day recently
found myself leafing through the various rugby league rags, and
in the official National Rugby League fish-wrap there were 12
pundits who were asked for their predictions on where the
various teams might end up on the Premiership ladder at the end
of the season. Only one of these so-called experts put the
Mighty Balmain Tigers in the final top eight. One out of a dozen
people who allege they know what they're talking about. Oh no,
don't tell me, not another long, cold, bitter winter of
discontent? All anybody seems to say about the Tiges chances is
it's been ten years now since they last made the finals and the
long-suffering fans have had it up to here. Can they break the
decade old hoodoo? Can they unexpectedly rocket up the ladder?
Can they give rusted-on supporters a break? The consensus of
opinion is, ah, no, not this time, amigos. Shit.
It seems like coach Mr Magoo has been busy in the off-season with the Football Dept. recruiting left, right and centre. However, you can imagine my surprise to learn that they've shelled out for a new Captain, to replace The Great Benji Marshall who, at age 35, has now left the club for a second time in yet other stupid, silly, easily resolved dispute over money, to become a bench warmer and some kind of "whisperer" over at South Sydney. Be that as it may, it's a serious admission about the lack of leadership in the club if they have to buy in a new skipper in the form of James Tamou. He's played 263 games for the Cowboys and the Panthers, and played the last of his 14 Origin games for NSW five years ago. No shortage of experience there, but at 31 years old he's in the twilight of his career and there's not much on paper that says he's born leader - he skippered the losing Penrith grand final side last year. Mmmm. Five new recruits made their debuts in Round One...and what a motley crew they are. James Roberts is the quintessential journeyman having played for no less than five clubs - this is his sixth - since 2011, but has only played 150 games, so must be injury prone or not good enough. The others were unwanted. Balmain pulled a right swiftie to steal Daine Laurie from Penrith, where he was the third-rated full back and couldn't get a game. Brisbane couldn't wait to get rid of Joe Ofahengaue, a hundred gamer with two Origin appearance to his credit, but he was released from the last two years of his contract to come to the Tiges, while the 19-year-old Tukimihia Simpkins was also let go by the Cowboys.
Balmain have never had
much luck with marquee players (Josh Reynolds has been shoved out the back door without so much as a sausage
after two dreadful seasons and has pissed off to England), and it seems that this year's
recruits were largely unwanted elsewhere, so were snapped up for
a song by the Tiges, who are technically broker than broke with
no leagues club and survive on cash handouts from the NRL and
the magnanimous support of wealthy patrons who have nothing
better to spend their clams on. The Western Suburbs side of the
"joint venture" appears to have all but disappeared. But money
is still too tight to mention, and despite the so-called salary
cap, if your mob is not cashed up to the hilt, they have little
hope. None of this augers well for the eternal pesssimist. After the superstars, the lesser ranked players will go
anywhere just to make a quid after they took a savage Covid
haircut on their bloated stipends last year.
So given all of the above, the new look outfit actually acquitted themselves rather well in the season pipe-opener against the Raiders - who are being widely tipped as likely Grand Finalists. (No crowd restrictions in the ACT, so they had a goodly number of non-socially distant fans in the stands gobbing on each other). It was no shellacking. Balmain put on some very effective defensive drills in the first half to keep the score at 6-6 at the break, but lost the plot early in the second half and the Fat Lady started singing. The forward pack has the potential to develop into a formidable unit, while there are plenty of points in the back line with proven try scorers. But the diehards have been saying exactly that for a decade and more, and it hasn't helped. At least the Tiges run into some crack teams in the first four rounds to get their act together and test themselves against some quality outfits before hopefully devouring much easier meat as the season rolls on. Everyone will know soon enough.
CANBERRA RAIDERS 30. Tries: Rapana (2), James, Young, Nicoll-Klokstad. Goals: Williams (5).
WESTS TIGERS 12. Tries: Liddle, Nofoaluma. Goals: Brooks (2).
At Canberra Stadium.
Crowd: 15,680.
