The Grapple: 26 July 2018:  

Time	Segment
6.05-6.12pm     6.12-6.18pm	Segment 1 (a): ·       Interview Noosa 1st grade coach Ron Greentree  and preview game against Caboolture on Sunday Segment 1 (b): Local rugby league: ·       SCGRFL, Brisbane, ISC and women’s
6.18-6.22	Music/ads
6.22-6.38	Segment 2: NRL: ·       Review round 19 ·       News/snippets
6.38-6.42	Music/ads
6.42-6.58	Segment 3: Greg McCallum- our resident NRL expert former 1st grade referee and English Super League boss ·       Preview English RL final competition round  ·       NRL-preview round 20
6.58	Sign off

 

Segment 1 (a): Introduction:

Big program as usual tonight as we analyse, dissect and bisect all the major rugby league news stories, grapple with the top issues from the week, joined by Macca at 6.40 to preview the final round of the English RL and round 20 of the NRL- presume the bunker will rate a mention there somewhere but to kick-off tonight’s program it’s a warm welcome to Ron Greentree, coach of the Noosa Pirates 1^st grade team as they prepare for their clash against the Caboolture Snakes at Caboolture in the SCGRFL Vantage Homes Cup round 18 game on Sunday

 

Segment 1 (b):  Local rugby league:

SCGRFL: Vantage Homes Division 1 Cup: Round 17

• Noosa lost 46-0 to Beerwah last weekend-5 tries in 2^nd half but only 1 conversion from 9 tries scored
• Kawana 46 d Nambour 18- only 16-12 at half-time to Kawana- Khan Ahwang- 18 points for Kawana
• Caloundra 14 lost to Maroochydore 26 but Caloundra led 14-12 early in 2^nd half; Jake Ainsworth double for Swans and Robert Barwick double and goals for Caloundra 
• Gympie unable to field a team for the match against Caboolture

 

POS	TEAM	P	W	D	L	FF	FA	B	F	A	PD	PTS
1	Beerwah	17	15	0	2	0	0	0	540	268	272	62
2	Caboolture	17	13	0	4	1	0	0	546	226	320	56
3	Maroochydore	17	13	0	4	0	0	0	478	304	174	56
4	Nambour	17	10	0	7	1	0	0	398	278	120	47
5	Kawana	17	9	0	8	0	0	0	460	312	148	44
6	Caloundra	17	5	0	12	0	0	0	298	444	-146	32
7	Gympie	17	2	0	15	0	2	0	230	716	-486	21
8	Noosa	17	1	0	16	0	0	0	234	636	-402	20

 

Round 18: Beerwah/Kawana, Gympie/Maroochydore, Caloundra/Nambour and Caboolture/Noosa

 

Div 2 A: Wins to Maroochydore, Kawana, Coolum 40-18 over Bribie and Stanley River in a 2 point thriller d Mary Valley Stags 26-24 after Stags led 24-8 -10 minutes into 2^nd half

 

Div 2B: Wins to Maroochydore over Yandina 28-14, Kilcoy and Beachmere 12-10 over Palmwoods  

U/18 Div 1: Kawana still well on top of the ladder in both 18’s

U/18 Div 2:

 

SCGRFL women:

Semis last Sunday at Kawana for the 5 teams: Caboolture 9 d South Burnett 8 in golden point with fg to Latisha Hoek; Nambour 14 d Noosa 10 - 3 tries to 2, also in extra time; Kawana bye as they finished top of the ladder

 

Week 2 this weekend sees Caboolture v Kawana and South Burnett v Nambour –Noosa gone. GF will be played on Sunday August 12 at the Sunshine Coast Stadium. This should be a huge day, with it being the Falcons last home game for the season, and also Women in League round, with the Council organising a “Celebrating Women in Sport” function at the Stadium from 1.30pm – 5.30pm on the day as part of the event. The Falcons are hosting Easts in Under 20’s and Cup, with the GF currently scheduled to follow Cup, kicking off at 3.45pm

 

Brisbane Rugby League:

Round 15 last weekend: Diehards lost 38-12 to Panthers- 7 tries to 2, Dolphins 46 d Tigers 10- 8 tries and 7 goals and Magpies 8 lost to Seagulls 10

POS	TEAM	P	W	L	FF	FG	D	B	For	Agst	PD	PTS	%
1	Panthers	15	10	4	0	0	1	0	376	309	67	36	121.68
2	Dolphins	15	9	4	0	0	2	0	381	290	91	35	131.38
3	Seagulls	15	8	5	0	0	2	0	326	278	48	33	117.27
4	Diehards	15	6	7	0	0	2	0	293	341	-48	29	85.92
5	Tigers	15	4	10	0	0	1	0	376	335	41	24	112.24
6	Magpies	15	4	11	0	0	0	0	225	424	-199	23	53.07

Round 16: Dolphins/Magpies, Diehards/Tigers and Panthers/Seagulls

Reserve grade: Wynnum on top by 2 points from Beenleigh

Wins to Wynnum, Easts by 2 over St Brendan’s and Rochedale over Logan with a bye for Capalaba who still lead the u/21 competition from Wynnum and Easts

Round 19 ISC was the Get in the Game Country Week:

Goondiwindi – Redcliffe Dolphins 16 d Easts Tigers 14

Maryborough –Burleigh Bears 24 d CQ Capras 14 – Capras

Bowen – Sunshine Coast Falcons 40 d Mackay Cutters 18

Cooktown – Northern Pride 34 Ipswich Jets 24

Normanton – Souths Logan Magpies lost to Wynnum Manly Seagulls 22-10

Hughenden – Tweed Heads Seagulls 12 lost to Townsville Blackhawks 62

Lae – PNG Hunters 32 d Norths Devils 10

1	Townsville Blackhawks	18	13	0	5	1	475	251	224	28
2	Redcliffe Dolphins	18	13	0	5	1	489	311	178	28
3	Burleigh Bears	18	12	0	6	1	461	353	108	26
4	Northern Pride	18	11	0	7	1	382	341	41	24
5	Norths Devils	18	10	0	8	1	415	403	12	22
6	Souths Logan Magpies	18	9	0	9	1	454	393	61	20
7	Easts Tigers	18	9	0	9	1	420	363	57	20
8	Sunshine Coast Falcons	18	9	0	9	1	352	321	31	20
9	PNG Hunters	18	9	0	9	1	322	330	-8	20
10	Ipswich Jets	18	8	0	10	1	391	405	-14	18
11	Tweed Heads Seagulls	18	8	0	10	1	345	498	-153	18
12	Wynnum Manly Seagulls	18	7	0	11	1	363	461	-98	16
13	Central Queensland Capras	18	5	0	13	1	272	423	-151	12
14	Mackay Cutters	18	3	0	15	1	290	578	-288	8

 

2018 Intrust Super Cup Draw-Round 20
28th	Sunshine Coast Falcons 8th	Northern Pride 4th	Harvey Bay	6.00pm
Sat 28th	Redcliffe Dolphins 2nd	Ipswich Jets 10th	Dolphin Stadium	6.00pm
Sat 28th	Wynnum Manly Seagulls	CQ Capras	BMD Kougari Oval	7.00pm
Sun 29th	Norths Devils 5th	Easts Tigers 7th	Bishop Park	2.00pm
Sun 29th	Tweed Heads Seagulls	Mackay Cutters	Piggabeen Sports Complex	2.00pm
Sun 29th	PNG Hunters 9th	Burleigh Bears 3rd	National Football Stadium	3.00pm
Sun 29th	Souths Logan 6th Magpies	Townsville Blackhawks 1st	Davies Park	3.00pm

SEQ Women’s:-last competition

• Div 1: Round 15- Souths d Toowoomba, Easts 16 lost Burleigh 18 and Ipswich 38 d Panthers 14
• Semis: Burleigh v Brothers and Easts v Panthers 

POS	TEAM	P	W	L	FF	FG	D	B	For	Agst	PD	PTS	%
1	Burleigh	16	12	3	0	0	1	0	394	168	226	41	234.52
2	Brothers Ipswich	16	10	6	0	0	0	0	352	206	146	36	170.87
3	Easts Tigers	16	10	6	0	0	0	0	318	212	106	36	150.00
4	West Brisbane Panthers	16	7	8	0	0	1	0	288	272	16	31	105.88
5	Souths Magpies	16	6	8	0	0	2	0	332	298	34	30	111.41
6	Toowoomba	16	1	15	0	0	0	0	142	670	-528	18	21.19

 

• Div 2: Caboolture lost 16-12 to Murri Taipans- so Caboolture finished 5^th and not in semis; Murri Taipans minor premiers while in Div 3 Mt Gravatt finished top by 1 point from Ormeau. Good luck to all teams in the semis this weekend in Div 2 and 3.  

 

Segment 2: NRL: Review round 19

Date	Home	Away
Thu. Jul 19	Eels 14	Bulldogs 8
Fri. Jul 20	Sharks 28	Raiders 24
Fri. Jul 20	Broncos 50	Panthers 18
Sat. Jul 21	Knights 30	Titans 24
Sat. Jul 21	Tigers 22	Rabbitohs 6
Sat. Jul 21	Cowboys 10	Dragons 24
Sun. Jul 22	Warriors 6	Storm 12
Sun. Jul 22	Sea Eagles 24	Roosters 56

 

Ladder

1		1	Storm	18	28	13	0	5	1	412	272	140	6 - 2	7 - 3	5 - 0	Rabbitohs	$4.00
2		2	Dragons	18	28	13	0	5	1	441	316	125	9 - 1	4 - 4	3 - 2	Warriors	$7.50
3		3	Rabbitohs	18	28	13	0	5	1	431	307	124	6 - 2	7 - 3	3 - 1	Storm	$5.50
4		4	Roosters	18	26	12	0	6	1	398	263	135	6 - 3	6 - 3	3 - 1	Cowboys	$4.50
5		5	Sharks	18	26	12	0	6	1	364	318	46	6 - 3	6 - 3	3 - 1	Sea Eagles	$9.00
6		6	Panthers	18	24	11	0	7	1	382	318	64	7 - 3	4 - 4	1 - 4	Raiders	$11.00
7		7	Broncos	18	24	11	0	7	1	384	378	6	6 - 3	5 - 4	4 - 1	Bulldogs	$15.00
8		8	Warriors	18	24	11	0	7	1	340	336	4	4 - 5	7 - 2	2 - 3	Dragons	$23.00
9		9	Wests Tigers	18	20	9	0	9	1	284	317	-33	6 - 4	3 - 5	2 - 2	Knights	$51.00
10		10	Raiders	18	18	8	0	10	1	448	390	58	5 - 4	3 - 6	3 - 2	Panthers	$151.00
11		11	Knights	18	18	8	0	10	1	330	468	-138	4 - 6	4 - 4	2 - 2	Wests Tigers	$251.00
12		12	Titans	18	14	6	0	12	1	332	451	-119	3 - 5	3 - 7	2 - 3	Eels	$2001.00
13		13	Sea Eagles	18	12	5	0	13	1	355	444	-89	3 - 6	2 - 7	1 - 3	Sharks	$2501.00
14		14	Bulldogs	18	10	4	0	14	1	287	374	-87	2 - 6	2 - 8	1 - 4	Broncos	$1501.00
15		15	Cowboys	18	10	4	0	14	1	285	387	-102	2 - 7	2 - 7	0 - 4	Roosters	$1501.00
16		16	Eels	18	10	4	0	14	1	266	400	-134	4 - 5	0 - 9	1 - 3	Titans	$1501.00

 

NRL: News/snippets:

• Another week another retirement with North Queensland winger Antonio Winterstein saying unbearable knee pain is behind his decision to retire from the NRL with immediate effect. The 30-year-old announced the end of his 213-game NRL career with 166 of those for the Cowboys after he joined them from Brisbane prior to the 2011 season. Winterstein was part of North Queensland's 2015 premiership side and played nine Test matches for Samoa.
• Wayne Bennett admits it "remains to be seen" whether he stays on as Brisbane coach. The Broncos mentor - off contract next year – is urging the Brisbane board to decide his future after reports this week claimed he was a "dead man walking" with the Broncos board apparently looking at other options including South Sydney coach Anthony Seibold.
• Rugby league bad boy John Hopoate has been suspended by the NSWRL after pleading guilty to striking in a park football match on the weekend. 44-year old Hopoate carries the ignominious record for being the most suspended player in NRL history. Footage of the incident emerged shows Hopoate, playing for the Narraweena Hawks, punching one opponent and threatening others in what was his first game for the club in the Manly District Junior Rugby League competition. Hopoate only lasted three-and-a-half minutes before being sent from the field. "I said I'd bash him on the field but what's wrong with that?" Hopoate later said.
• The Sydney Roosters have announced the signing of veteran winger Brett Morris on a two-year deal to commence next season. The 31-year-old Morris will come over from the Canterbury Bulldogs where he has played 62 games since joining the club back in 2015.
• JOHNATHAN Thurston has won just about every accolade in the game, but he’ll be hoping his North Queensland Cowboys don’t end up joining a small club that no team would want to be a member of. The Cowboys currently sit in 15th on the ladder, on 10 competition points with Canterbury-Bankstown (14th) and Parramatta (16th). They face the very real prospect of becoming just the sixth team to finish grand finalists one year and wooden spooners the next. It’s an unwanted honour that was last achieved by Melbourne in 2010 when they were sanctioned for salary cap rorting and had all their competition points stripped. It remains the only instance a grand finalist has finished last in the following season since compulsory grand finals were introduced in 1954. But before that, you have to go back to Wests who were the 1952 premiers before coming last in 1953 — they did the same in 1932-33. The only others include University (runners up in 1926, wooden spooners 1927) and Canterbury in 1942-43.
• PNG star Amelia Kuk is the latest player to join the Brisbane Broncos women’s team. Kuk is the first female Papua New Guinean player to sign an NRL contract for the upcoming women's premiership in September. Meanwhile, the Dragons and Roosters are expected to finalise their squads in the coming week with announcements imminent. The women's NRL premiership will be played as a double-header during the men's final series. Kuk will play against her Orchids team-mates in a trial before the Brisbane-Manly NRL match at Suncorp Stadium on 2^nd September which will be the first ever game for Brisbane’s NRL Women's team and the farewell for Sam Thaiday who will play his last ever home match at Suncorp Stadium.

 

Segment 3: Macca

The Bunker and other matters:

• Todd Greenberg has rejected Canberra coach Ricky Stuart's claims there are too many voices in the NRL referees' ears, declaring the league's bunker will not be going anywhere. But the frustrated NRL chief executive vowed to ensure the match officials at the centre of Friday night's controversial clash between Cronulla and the Raiders would pay for their errors.

English Rugby League:

·       Challenge Cup semi finals on 5th August 2018: St Helens v Catalans and Warrington v Leeds; Final Saturday 25th August 2018

·       This weekend- last competition round before splitting into the Super 8’s- this is where teams are split into smaller divisions of 8 based on their positions on the tables of the Super League, Championship and League 1. Teams finishing in the top 8 go on to play 7 more games each, to compete for a place in the play-offs, and all retain a place in Super League for the next season. Teams finishing in the bottom four (9-12) will compete alongside the top 4 teams from the Championship, in "The Qualifiers" Super 8 group. These teams will reset their season standings and also play 7 extra games each, as they attempt to earn a place in the following year's Super League competition.

1		St Helens				22	20	2		0	699		286	413		40
2		Wigan Warriors				22	15	7		0	548		325	223		30
3		Warrington Wolves				22	14	7		1	519		396	123		29
4		Castleford Tigers				22	14	7		1	515		456	59		29
5		Hull FC				22	11	11		0	518		524	-6		22
6		Wakefield Trinity				22	10	11		1	553		466	87		21
7		Catalans Dragons				22	10	11		1	468		506	-38		21
8		Huddersfield Giants				22	10	11		1	387		601	-214		21
9		Leeds Rhinos				22	8	12		2	419		489	-70		18
10		Hull Kingston Rovers				22	7	14		1	456		566	-110		15
11		Salford Red Devils				22	6	16		0	346		575	-229		12
12		Widnes Vikings				22	3	19		0	363		601	-238		6
1	Toronto	22	20	1	1	854			344			510			41
2	Toulouse	22	15	1	6	856			420			436			31
3	London	22	15	1	6	835			417			418			31
4	Halifax	22	15	1	6	605			410			195			31

• The Wolfpack, who won the second-tier Championship, are now within sight of fulfilling their ambition to climb from League One last season to Super League within three years

NRL: Preview round 20:

Date	Home	Away	Venue	Time
Thu. Jul 26	Broncos	Sharks	Suncorp Stadium	7:50pm
Fri. Jul 27	Cowboys	Knights	1300SMILES Stadium	6:00pm
Fri. Jul 27	Bulldogs	Tigers	ANZ Stadium	7:50pm
Sat. Jul 28	Sea Eagles	Panthers	Lottoland	3:00pm
Sat. Jul 28	Rabbitohs	Eels	ANZ Stadium	5:30pm
Sat. Jul 28	Storm	Raiders	AAMI Park	7:30pm
Sun. Jul 29	Titans	Warriors	Cbus Super Stadium	2:00pm
Sun. Jul 29	Roosters	Dragons	Allianz Stadium	4:10pm