Thursday, 4 October 2018

2018 NRL POST SEASON WRAP UP

Cooper Cronk plays with broken scapula as Sydney Roosters win NRL grand final over Melbourne

ABC Grandstand


PHOTO: Yeaaaah Braaaaah! Pre-season Favourites the Sydney Roosters out perform defending premiers the Melbourne Storm in the final battle of 2018.

Cooper Cronk has played the NRL grand final with a broken scapula to help inspire the Sydney Roosters to a 21-6 win over the Melbourne Storm, who farewelled Billy Slater on a losing note.

Cronk was only confirmed as a definite starter against his former club a bit over an hour before kick-off at Sydney's Olympic stadium following a week of speculation about his injured shoulder, however the extent of the injury was revealed after the Roosters claimed victory.

"He (Cronk) actually broke his scapula. That will go down in history. That is a big performance from him," Roosters co-captain Boyd Cordner told Channel Nine.

"He was touch and go right up until game time. We had to come up with a game plan to protect him as much as possible, and we executed that."

The effort of Cronk, who sustained the injury in the Roosters' win over South Sydney last weekend, conjured up memories of John Sattler's heroic performance when he captained the Rabbitohs to victory in the 1970 grand final with a broken jaw.

Cronk, who became the first player in 45 years to win consecutive premierships at different clubs, was limited to orchestrating the team's attack as he battled through the pain and he also craftily hid himself against a Storm attack that struggled to target him.

He was hit heavily after his first two kicks, first by Joe Stimson and then by former teammate Cameron Smith. But both bombs resulted in a repeat sets that led to the opening tries.

He missed none of his eight tackles in a courageous effort before bowing out of the match with two minutes to go.

The 34-year-old could barely lift his left arm, let alone pass, kick or tackle, yet it was the Storm that were immobilised by a rampant and meticulous Roosters attack.

The Roosters were on top of the Storm early in the grand final, scoring tries through Daniel Tupou and Latrell Mitchell inside the opening 15 minutes, while a third to Joseph Manu late in the first half established an 18-0 lead at the break.

The Storm did not get on the scoreboard until the 62nd minute through a Josh Addo-Carr try but it was too late for the defending premiers to lay a glove on their opponents.

The Roosters added a field goal through Clive Churchill Medal winner Luke Keary and a late penalty goal from Mitchell to ice the victory in front of 82,688 spectators.

It is the Roosters' first premiership since 2013 and second under coach Trent Robinson, while the Storm's loss dampened Slater's final match before he heads into retirement.

With Cronk unable to pass longer than a metre, Keary and Tedesco shone.

An early Mitchell penalty goal gave the Roosters first points, but Keary set up the first try with a long ball for Tupou in the eighth minute.

Keary was also involved for the second, sending an early ball for Mitchell to swat aside Will Chambers and claim first points in their anticipated battle.

While the Roosters were pinpoint with their ball-use, the Storm were uncharacteristically wasteful with theirs.

And the Roosters made them pay, like when Jake Friend took off from Asofa-Solomona's error and it resulted in Cameron Munster being binned for a professional foul.


It was the first grand final sin-binning since Terry Lamb was given a rest for Canterbury against Manly in 1995.

The killer blow came just minutes before the break, when Tedesco caught the Storm napping on a short side move for Manu to score in the corner.

Down three tries midway through the second half, the Storm got one back when Addo-Carr intercepted a Keary pass and raced 85 metres to score.

But the Keary one-pointer finished off the contest, before Munster was also marched to the sin-bin a second time as Cronk was substituted from the field.

Sydney Roosters 21 (Tupou, Mitchell, Manu tries) defeat Melbourne Storm 6 (Addo-Carr try)



In his 7th season running in this great Tipping Competition (first entering in 2012), CC's Tigers (Clancy Conrad) has claimed his first ever NRL Tipping Championship with a nail biting 1 point win over Danz (Dan Forgesson). Danz only slipped into 2nd spot with 2 weeks left to go but unfortunately couldn't rescue back his lead that he had been holding for 15 weeks prior.
villagers (Liam Karatau) claimed 3rd spot a further 3 points back.

In the Lowest Margin side comp, Brayden (Brayden Marsden) 318 & CamtheTiger (Cam Willis) 315 will share the $100 prize after it was discovered that the margin penalty wasn't punishable enough for a No Tip. A new rule will be introduced to the Lowest Margin Side Competition in season 2019.

THE FINAL NRL TIPPING CHAMPIONSHIP TABLE 2018

RANKTIPPERTOTAL SCORETOTAL MARGIN
1CC's Tigers157322
2Danz156327
3villagers153330
4Mutty151362
5Feet Little149346
6HBgirl148352
7Redv4me147329
8linknz147334
9Western Bronco147340
10Ness147356
11Scotty_too_hotty147388
12Balmainadrian146408
13mickeytheboot145322
14Luceman145334
15NZ Tiger145342
16Scotsta145382
17howgreathuarts145402
18Kiwi_Misty144350
19kazgriffo144357
20chook144390
21BT Ross144411
22Warmess144421
23Brayden143318
24Mr Busy143348
25BLO1142341
26PandL142390
27Keno141332
28Heathos141351
29Alfie141358
30BIGW140417
31Burnside_NZ139375
32NO1QPRNZ138335
33AuntyDollar138349
34Queenie138383
35The Ghost137348
36Lainey137373
37Kurax07137375
38NUIHARD13137425
39Camthetiger136315
40Bearass135387
41Melz134340
42Storky134355
43killswitch134372
44NZTiger Jnr133376
45The Uppercuts132377
46sava4131344
47Cracklesack131392
48Logz15130495
49Ash129410
50Bina129472
51kyehudz127392
52TigerRyan126395
53NapzGurl126414
54jall091124318
55ErinC123334
56falvey122420
57Stormies_Fan116398
58boogs_nz116400
59Yo Mama99326
60Huds8797620
61Tiger Time96346
62FUNKDAWG87324
63Scott36cf85387
64Aiden83338

For the first time in Bonus Pools history (since it's interception in 2009) where 1st, 2nd & 3rd placed winners didn't claim their Bonus Pool.

Congratulations to the following Tipsters who have won their Pool and collected $100nz in the process;

POOL A: Mickeytheboot 190 (322)
POOL B: Redv4me - 192 (329)
POOL C: Kiwi_Misty - 196 (350)
POOL D: Brayden - 184 (318)
POOL E: Queenie - 189 (383)

FINALS POOLS TABLES 2018

POOL APointsMarginBonusTOTAL
Mickeytheboot14532245190
Storky13435544178
Luceman14533431176
Mr Busy14334831174
NZ Tiger14534225170
Kyehudz12739239166
Kazgriffo14435718162
Bina12947231160
Keno14133215156
Killswitch13437215149
Cracklesack13139210141
Boogs_nz11640010126
FUNKDAWG873241097
POOL BPointsMarginBonusTOTAL
Redv4me14732945192
Howgreathuarts14540235180
Mutty15136225176
Linknz14733420167
Scotty_too_hotty14738819166
BIGW14041725165
Camthetiger13631525161
NZTiger Jnr13337625158
NO1QPRNZ13833519157
The Ghost13734820157
NapzGurl12641430156
Logz1513049524154
Tiger Time9634644140
POOL CPointsMarginBonusTOTAL
Kiwi_Misty14435052196
Danz15632729185
Western Bronco14734030177
Alfie14135836177
Heathos14135134175
Lainey13737335172
Villagers15333016169
AuntyDollar13834931169
Sava413134430161
Melz13434016150
Kurax0713737511148
Huds879762025122
Aiden833381396
POOL DPointsMarginBonusTOTAL
Brayden14331841184
Feet Little14934621170
Burnside_NZ13937530169
PandL14239026168
HBgirl14835216164
Warmess14442119163
NUIHARD1313742520157
Bearass13538719154
Jall09112431819143
Stormies_Fan11639819135
ErinC12333411134
Yo Mama9932620119
POOL EPointsMarginBonusTOTAL
Queenie13838351189
BT Ross14441140184
CC's Tigers15732220177
Balmainadrian14640830176
Ash12941045174
Chook14439027171
TigerRyan12639545171
Scotsta14538220165
Ness14735616163
The Uppercuts13237726158
BLO114234115157
Falvey12242031153
Scott36cf8538740125


PRIZE WINNERS 2018 (Congrats again!)



1st: CC's Tigers (Clancy Conrad) - $700
2nd: Danz (Dan Forgesson) $200
Lowest Margin Share & POOL D: Brayden (Brayden Marsden) - $150
3rd: villagers (Liam Karatau) - $100
POOL A: Mickeytheboot (Jared Francois) - $100
POOL B: Redv4me (Hamish Willis) - $100
POOL C: Kiwi_Misty (Misty Davis) - $100
POOL E: Queenie (Keith Wilston) - $100
Lowest Margin Share: CamtheTiger (Cam Willis) - $50

*Prizes are in NZ Dollars

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