Monday, 7 October 2019

2019 POST SEASON WRAP UP

Sydney Roosters' NRL grand final win over Canberra Raiders marred by controversial refereeing decisions

ABC Grandstand


PHOTO: BACK TO BACK! Defending Champions the Sydney Roosters fight out a tough Grand Final victory over the Canberra Raiders to be the first team since 1992-93 to win back to back Premierships in a Unified Competition.

Some dubious refereeing decisions in the second half of a thrilling grand final have stolen some of the spotlight in the Roosters' 14-8 win over Canberra to become the first team since 1993 to win back-to-back NRL premierships.

The Roosters matched the Brisbane Broncos' '92-'93 double — the last time a side won successive grand finals in a unified Australian rugby league competition, then the NSWRL — but this year's decider was not without controversy.

The tense grand final was tied until the 72nd minute, when James Tedesco finished off a long-range effort to give his side the victory, but it came on the back of a bizarre sequence of events at the other end of the field.

With the Raiders attacking at 8-8, referee Ben Cummins called for a repeat set of six and Jack Wighton, who won the Clive Churchill medal in a losing side, took the tackle, only to be called on to hand the ball over.


PHOTO: Referee Ben Cummins could be seen calling for six again but his call was reversed without the Raiders noticing.

The Canberra players were baffled and clearly unhappy, but that displeasure turned to fury when Daniel Tupou immediately broke down the left wing and put Tedesco over for the deciding try.

Despite the controversy, the often irascible Canberra coach, Ricky Stuart, said the first thing he did at ground level after the game was approach the four on-field officials to congratulate them on their efforts.

"No-one goes out there to make mistakes. They've got tough jobs," he said.

"I'd like you to think it was a wonderful grand final.

"If it is the wrong call … there's not a referee that would go out there and try to make a mistake. If it is wrong, I hope it's not the spotlight of this evening."

It was an unfortunate way for the game to finish, considering the sensational 80 minutes of football that the teams put on display.


PHOTO: Jared Waerea-Hargreaves of the Roosters is tackled by Iosia Soliola of the Raiders.

The Raiders' stingy defence was a major feature of their run to the grand final, but it took just six minutes for the defending champions to penetrate the green wall.

After Boyd Cordner almost crossed on the left, the Roosters forced a dropout and reloaded for a fresh set, with 20-year-old rookie Sam Verrills dancing through the defence from dummy half.

Through the first quarter of the game, the underdog Raiders had looked slightly overwhelmed by the moment — making silly errors and giving away a penalty to allow Latrell Mitchell to push the lead to 8-0 — but the second 20 minutes of the game belonged to the Green Machine.

Once they got some possession, five-eighth Jack Wighton took his turn in control of the game. He made some incisive runs and shouldered most of the kicking load, one of which even forced a mistake from Dally M medallist James Tedesco.

This time, the Raiders did not panic when given a chance close to the line and some fancy footwork by Wighton saw him wrong-foot Cordner, blow past Angus Crichton and touch down on the half-hour mark.


PHOTO: Jack Wighton was the Raiders' best and has the Clive Churchill Medal to prove it.

The scores remained at 8-6 until the break thanks to an exceptional defensive passage by inspirational Canberra captain Jarrod Croker, who rushed from his position on the other side of the field to stop a rampaging Mitchell before charging to the other side to mop up after a Joseph Manu knock-on forced by Wighton.

Then, 10 minutes after the break, came the game's first refereeing flashpoint.

The Raiders were on the rampage, with star prop Josh Papalii leading the way, and he was right under the posts revving up for another charge.

John Bateman floated across the field and popped a pass to him, but Roosters half Cooper Cronk saw him coming and, knowing he was giving up some 20-30 kilograms, tried to hit him early. Unfortunately he hit him a split-second too early and prevented Papalii from getting a play on the ball.

The referees sent the incident to the video referee for a potential penalty try and professional foul. After a review, the former was ruled out, but Cronk was sent for a 10-minute rest for the latter.

"He can't go to the bin," Cordner pleaded with referee Ben Cummins, but the retiring star was on his way to the sidelines in his ninth grand final.

The penalty goal was potted to level the scores and the Raiders did cross through Jordan Rapana in the final seconds of Cronk's time off the field, but a poor decision by Joey Leilua saw him force the final pass forward, allowing the Roosters to make it through the first 20 minutes of the half having conceded just two points.

As reward for their defensive toils, a high shot on Luke Keary gave Mitchell a chance to put his team in front with the boot. But his kick was hooked and left the scores tied.

That put the Raiders on the charge once again and they appeared to have received a chance to reload when Tedesco was ruled to have knocked on as he tried to gather a Raiders bomb.

Referee Cummins was again the centre of attention as he waved his hand above his head, clearly signalled six more tackles. Wighton took the tackle, assuming he would be allowed to get up and play the ball, but he was called upon to hand the ball over.

Then, just when it was most needed, the Roosters' electric backline found the space they had struggled to locate for most of the match, going from Keary to Mitchell to Tupou to Tedesco for a game-winning 60-metre effort.

SYDNEY ROOSTERS (14)
Tries: Sam Verrills, James Tedesco
Conversions: Latrell Mitchell (2/2)
Penalty Goals: Latrell Mitchell (1/3)

CANBERRA RAIDERS (8)
Tries: Jack Wighton
Conversions: Jarrod Croker (1/1)
Penalty Goals: Jarrod Croker (1/1)

Venue: ANZ Stadium
Crowd: 82922
Halftime Score: Sydney Roosters 8 Canberra Raiders 6

Linknz has finished on 169 points to win his 2nd Tipping Championship Title in 3 years, to go along side the title he won in 2017. It's been an impressive run of Top 20 placings for Link Abrams, who, since the competition transitioned to the Footytips site in 2012, has finished in the Top 20 seven times in the past eight seasons - 9th (2012), 6th (2013), 35th (2014), 17th (2015), 10th (2016), Champion (2017), 8th (2018) and Champion (2019).

PandL, who fought tooth in nail for first spot for most of the season, finishes a respectable 2nd on 165 points, but also claiming the Lowest Margin Prize for the season with an impressive 256 margin score.

Luceman, finished on 162 points to claim 3rd spot.

THE FINAL NRL TIPPING CHAMPIONSHIP TABLE 2019

RANK
TIPPER
TOTAL SCORE
TOTAL MARGIN
1
linknz
169
299
2
PandL
165
256
3
Luceman
162
283
4
Scotsta
160
302
5
BT Ross
159
318
6
Armidale Rabbit
158
309
7
Jason B
157
347
8
Ash
155
296
9
Staks
155
306
10
Scotty_too_hotty
155
320
11
Heathos
154
294
12
Kiwi_Misty
154
302
13
Deano
153
321
14
Elle b
152
376
15
Western Bronco
151
292
16
killswitch
151
302
17
Alfie
150
290
18
NZ Tiger Jnr
150
291
19
billIAM
150
332
20
Brett jorgy
150
346
21
falvey
149
283
22
GlenS
149
354
23
Stevefromoz(2009 Champion)
149
364
24
Wagga Tigers
149
372
25
The Ghost
148
278
26
Phellps
148
308
27
rooly2
147
309
28
Mutty
147
313
29
Redv4me
147
342
30
Oma-rabati
146
308
31
Camthetiger
146
323
32
Lainey
145
270
33
Aiden
144
266
34
TigerRyan
144
284
35
Pedro67
144
320
36
The Real Chris Hemsworth
144
322
37
kazgriffo
144
331
38
mickeytheboot
143
274
39
CC's Tigers
143
282
40
Ness
143
372
41
Keno
142
310
42
Dragons
142
354
43
Danz
141
297
44
MAllen
141
318
45
mike
141
328
46
Queenie
140
279
47
Bauldy
140
302
48
Properossi
140
329
49
NUIHARD13
140
332
50
sava4
140
348
51
howgreathuarts
140
365
52
kyehudz
140
393
53
Balmainadrian
139
306
54
Melz
138
268
55
steve24
138
294
56
boogs_nz
138
315
57
HBgirl
138
320
58
Scott36cf
138
325
59
Stormies_Fan
138
339
60
NZ Tiger
137
313
61
NO1QPRNZ
136
370
62
Cracklesack
135
310
63
muzzzdoggg
135
356
64
The Uppercuts
134
296
65
Bearass
134
336
66
Warmess
132
340
67
villagers
130
280
68
logz12
130
1023
69
FROGGO
129
382
70
NapzGurl
124
338
71
Yo Mama
122
384
72
Hape Hard
121
312
73
wanabeatthebros
109
340
74
Huds87
99
430
75
Feet Little
96
328
76
Dallas68
94
353
77
Nickgleeson
85
336
78
MMT
42
309



In the Bonus Pools Tables, most Pools were decided on Grand Final Day with the Roosters victory allowing a couple of Tipsters to claim the final 10 Bonus Predictions Points and jump the previous week leaders.

See how you went in your 2019 Predictions HERE: https://nztigersnrltipping.blogspot.com/p/everyones-predictions.html

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

POOL A: Staks - 190 (306)
POOL B: PandL - 190 (256)
POOL C: Kiwi_Misty - 189 (302)
POOL D: NZ Tiger - 181 (313)
POOL E: Scotsta - 186 (302)
POOL F: Linknz - 203 (299)

FINALS POOLS TABLES 2019

POOL A
Points
Margin
Bonus
TOTAL
Overall Ladder Position
Staks
155
306
35
190
9
billIAM
150
332
34
184
19
Wagga Tigers
149
372
29
178
24
Ness
143
372
34
177
40
Ash
155
296
20
175
8
Alfie
150
290
24
174
17
Cracklesack
135
310
39
174
62
NZ Tiger Jnr
150
291
20
170
18
Balmainadrian
139
306
29
168
53
steve24
138
294
29
167
55
HBgirl
138
320
25
163
57
Keno
142
310
15
157
41
Dallas68
94
353
30
124
76






POOL B
Points
Margin
Bonus
TOTAL
Overall Ladder Position
PandL
165
256
25
190
2
TigerRyan
144
284
44
188
34
Scotty_too_hotty
155
320
30
185
10
BT Ross
159
318
25
184
5
Kazgriffo
144
331
35
179
37
Jason B
157
347
20
177
7
Lainey
145
270
30
175
32
Dragons
142
354
30
172
42
Stevefromoz(2009 Champion)
149
364
20
169
23
Oma-Rabati
146
308
20
166
30
Howgreathuarts
140
365
20
160
51
NO1QPRNZ
136
370
21
157
61
Hape Hard
121
312
35
156
72






POOL C
Points
Margin
Bonus
TOTAL
Overall Ladder Position
Kiwi_Misty
154
302
35
189
12
Killswitch
151
302
35
186
16
Luceman
162
283
20
182
3
Mutty
147
313
35
182
28
Mickeytheboot
143
274
30
173
38
Scott36cf
138
325
35
173
58
Elle B
152
376
21
173
14
Deano
153
321
15
168
13
Villagers
130
280
35
165
67
Bauldy
140
302
25
165
47
Warmess
132
340
29
161
66
Bearass
134
336
20
154
65
NapzGurl
124
338
15
139
70






POOL D
Points
Margin
Bonus
TOTAL
Overall Ladder Position
NZ Tiger
137
313
44
181
60
Pedro67
144
320
36
180
35
The Ghost
148
278
31
179
25
Falvey
149
283
25
174
21
Armidale Rabbit
158
309
14
172
6
Mike
141
328
29
170
45
GlenS
149
354
21
170
22
Camthetiger
146
323
20
166
31
Queenie
140
279
25
165
46
danz
141
297
20
161
43
MAllen
141
318
20
161
44
Huds87
99
430
41
140
74
Feet Little
96
328
30
126
75






POOL E
Points
Margin
Bonus
TOTAL
Overall Ladder Position
Scotsta
160
302
26
186
4
Phellps
148
308
36
184
26
Sava4
140
348
30
170
50
Aiden
144
266
25
169
33
Kyehudz
140
393
29
169
52
Western Bronco
151
292
15
166
15
Brett jorgy
150
346
15
165
20
Muzzzdoggg
135
356
29
164
63
FROGGO
129
382
35
164
69
The Real Chris Hemsworth
144
322
19
163
36
Redv4me
147
342
14
161
29
The Uppercuts
134
296
24
158
64
Nickgleeson
85
336
14
99
77






POOL F
Points
Margin
Bonus
TOTAL
Overall Ladder Position
Linknz
169
299
34
203
1
Heathos
154
294
25
179
11
CC's Tigers
143
282
34
177
39
Properossi
140
329
35
175
48
NUIHARD13
140
332
30
170
49
Melz
138
268
30
168
54
Rooly2
147
309
15
162
27
Stormies_Fan
138
339
19
157
59
Boogs_nz
138
315
15
153
56
Yo Mama
122
384
22
144
71
Wanabeatthebros
109
340
24
133
73
Logz12
130
1023
3
133
68
MMT
42
309
9
51
78






Winner of Pool Decided by TOTAL then if equal, Margin then if equal, Overall Ladder Position








Bonus Points Added





Min. Premiership (10) - Melbourne Storm





Wooden Spoon (10) - Gold Coast Titans





Top 8 (1 each) - Melbourne Storm, Sydney Roosters, South Sydney Rabbitohs, Canberra Raiders, Parramatta Eels, Manly Sea Eagles, Cronulla Sharks, Brisbane Broncos




















Preliminary Finalists (5 each) - Melbourne Storm, Sydney Roosters, South Sydney Rabbitohs, Canberra Raiders















Grand Finalists (5 each) - Sydney Roosters, Canberra Raiders















2019 Premiers (10 points) - Sydney Roosters










PRIZE WINNERS 2019 (Congrats again!)

TOTAL POOL - $1870 (AUD)

CHAMPIONSHIP - linknz - $1000 (1st $900 + $100 POOL F) 
2ND - PandL - $380 (2nd $180 + $100 POOL C + $100 Lowest Margin 2019)
3RD - Luceman - $90 (3rd $90)

OTHER POOLS WINNERS ($100 EACH)

POOL A - Staks
POOL C - Kiwi_Misty
POOL D - NZ Tiger
POOL E - Scotsta

Prize winners, please EMAIL ME with bank account details!

Please note that prizes are in AUD and due to Prize Money sitting in both NZ and AU bank accounts, both conversion rates & international transfer fees will calculated & charged through an online money transfer service. Please allow 5-7 Working Days for some prize pay outs. Thanks for your patience & Congrats again!

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