Dragons Plead for a Second Chance
SYDNEY—Senior St George Illawarra players have pleaded with coach Nathan Brown to shelve the axe and give the side which lost to Wests Tigers yesterday an opportunity to atone for their abysmal performance.
Brown vowed to make changes following the 24-16 NRL season-opening loss at the Sydney Football Stadium, a display he described as the most disgraceful he had witnessed in his 17 years as a player and coach at the Dragons.
But veteran centre Matt Cooper and utility Ben Hornby both called on Brown to show faith in the players who let him down yesterday, claiming the entire playing group was desperate to make amends when they take on the Gold Coast at WIN Stadium on Monday night.
"It was just a case of too much dropped ball in the first 20 minutes," Cooper said.
"I don't know if changing blokes after one game (is the answer), we only got beat by eight points, it's not the end of the world, it's only round one."
Asked if he thought the same 17 deserved a second chance, Hornby said: "That probably wouldn't be a bad idea, blokes are obviously taking it pretty hard and they'd get a chance to go out there on Monday and prove we can do the job.
"The team was disappointed, it's never an individual's fault.
"We just never got rolling to be honest, we just dropped too much ball and defended for most of the first half so it made it difficult at the back end of the game as well."
Despite the pleas of his players, Brown is faced with one of the biggest calls of his coaching career when it comes to naming his squad tomorrow.
The Dragons have a full squad to choose from so injuries cannot be used as an excuse and Brown knows if his side produces another inept display against the Titans on Easter Monday he could be bidding an early farewell to 2008.
The club has already made it clear they are putting together a preliminary list of candidates for the coaching position for next year and beyond and Brown needs to mastermind a dramatic turnaround to save his job.
Cooper denied the scrutiny surrounding Brown's position impacted on how the Dragons played against the Tigers.
"I don't think it's putting pressure on us, I've been here for a long time now and it seems to be the same story every year that we're under pressure," Cooper said.
"I don't think that had anything to do with our loss yesterday and the way we started."
Tigers Brace for Life Without Benji, Again
SYDNEY—Wests Tigers coach Tim Sheens will this week prepare for yet another extended period without Benji Marshall after the star playmaker's horror injury run continued in their 24-16 upset NRL win over St George Illawarra.
Marshall could miss anywhere between six and 12 weeks after injuring his left knee in just the third minute at the Sydney Football Stadium, in what looked like a regulation play.
Club doctors initially feared Marshall had damaged his anterior cruciate ligament and would require season-ending surgery.
But they now believe it is his posterior crucial ligament, which will not require surgery, with scans on Tuesday to confirm the full extent of the injury.
Sheens is no stranger to life without Marshall, with the five-eighth missing large chunks of the past two seasons and undergoing shoulder surgery five times.
But the coach must decide this week weather to rush new recruit Matthew Head back from his off-season shoulder surgery recovery or take a punt on rookie utility Tim Moltzen, who impressed in the role today and scored a try on debut.
"That critical role, whoever's going to play there, whatever decision I make is probably going to be a permanent decision for a while with Marshall out for a while I would think," Sheens said.
"Matthew Head is an option for us with (halfback) John (Morris) being able to play at six and Tim (Moltzen) is still an option.
"I'm not keen to rush Matt in just because of this but obviously it is a consideration, it has to be."
Regardless of who Sheens decides to use in the role, he would take plenty of encouragement from the way the Tigers performed without Marshall today.
The Tigers raced away to a 24-4 lead just after halftime and withstood a semi-revival form the Dragons.
First-half tries to Liam Fulton, Chris Lawrence and Robbie Farah set up an 18-4 halftime lead while rookie Moltzen grabbed a try on debut after halftime when he pounced on a clever Farah grubber.
The 19-year-old Junior Kangaroos representative put his hand up to fill in for his Kiwi teammate if called upon.
"I'm no Benji Marshall but I will try and learn and get out there and do my best," Moltzen said.
"I would be happy to try and fill his shoes."
Marshall practically ruled himself out of representing New Zealand in the centenary Test against Australia at the SCG on May 9.
"Probably not, my main goal is to just get back on the field for the Tigers," Marshall said.
The loss for the Dragons, who managed their three tries through Mark Gasnier, Jamie Soward and Kirk Reynoldson, is sure to put more pressure on embattled coach Nathan Brown.
And he was seething of his side's performances after the match.
"As a whole performance, I've never been as disappointed in some people at the club since I've been coaching and even playing here to be honest," he said.
"We came here today having had a good pre-season ... to watch our first 15-20 minutes today I've never been as disappointed."
Lockyer a Class Above
BRISBANE—A secret plan to ease returning star Darren Lockyer off the bench for the first time in 12 years has reaped the best possible dividend for the Broncos, the home side thrashing Penrith 48-12 at Suncorp Stadium.
The champion five-eighth, who hadn't played since rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament in round 18 last year, enjoyed a raucous welcome from the 31,250-strong crowd when he joined the game after 20 minutes.
And what a difference he made.
Up just 8-6 when he came on the field, the 30-year-old proved to be the key as the Broncos laid on 40 points in the next hour.
Lockyer scored a try, kicked a 40-20 and found his magical passing game in a polished all-round display.
It was revealed after the match that Lockyer and coach Wayne Bennett hatched a plan during the week to start David Stagg at pivot, keeping the playmaker under wraps for the first quarter.
The last time Lockyer came off the bench was a semi-final against Cronulla back in 1996.
"I was pretty nervous actually," said Lockyer, a step off the pace for a few minutes before growing in confidence with each touch.
"You always have those doubts in the back of your mind but once you get the football in your hand or you make that first tackle it's second nature after that.
"I'm more pleased with the performance of the guys."
Lockyer had learned a valuable lesson after breaking his foot in the 2005 Tri Nations series, returning prematurely for the first match of the the next season only to play poorly.
"The coach thought it was best I came off the bench and looking back it was probably the best way to do it," Lockyer said.
The win wasn't totally painless for the Broncos though with new prop Joel Clinton facing a month on the sideline after suffering an anterior cruciate strain.
Goal kicking second-rower Corey Parker has been booked for scans after hurting his posterior cruciate which has him in doubt for Good Friday night's clash with the Roosters in Sydney.
Clinton couldn't come out for the second half while Parker -- who broke the club's goal kicking record shared by Lockyer and Michael De Vere with a perfect 10 from 10 performance - hurt his knee scoring Brisbane's final try in the 69th minute.
Brisbane's forwards were outsized by a monster Panthers pack led by former Bronco prop Petero Civoniceva but they held firm up the middle and used the ball impressively in attack.
St George Illawarra recruit Ashton Sims added some defensive sting with some big shoulder hits while Ben Hannant's opening tackle on Civoniceva set the scene for Brisbane's aggressive defence.
Former Penrith utility Peter Wallace was an instant success at halfback for the home team, who handled the pressure of not having Lockyer by his side for the opening 20 minutes.
Panthers coach Matthew Elliott admitted to being "a little shocked" by the way his side played, or didn't play.
"I certainly didn't see it coming," said a candid Elliott, offering no excuses.
"It didn't reflect how we prepared.
"I'm disappointed, not shattered, but there's a whole lot of things we have to do better before next week."
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