Mariners lose on the night... but still go through to ACL knock out stages!!!

Despite losing 3-0 to Japan's Kashiwa Reysol in Gosford tonight the Mariners are still going through to the knock out stage of the ACL for the first time in their history.  Thanks has to go to Suwon who despite having nothing to play for held on to draw 2-2 with Guizhou Renhe.  Guizhou needed to win that game to overtake Mariners in the league.  See below for the final table and stay tuned for more updates as the ACL progresses.

Image: ACL Table [Source: http://www.the-afc.com/en/acl-2013-fixtures.html]

- Scott Copland

All the best Western Sydney Wanderers!

Westerm Sydney Wanderers have released three players since they big lose at last grand final side , they moving on and look ahead to the next season's A-League Asian Campaign. wow, seems like they looking for a big solid back.

Coach Tony Popovic has made it clear, he will try the best of he can to make the best improevement next season. The former soccero has shown on Tuesday he will not shy away from making decision to cut players who has not shown their stunniong 2012/13 debut A- League campaign.  Forward Dino Kresinger has defened Tarel Elrich and midfielder Rocky Visconte which played in the Wanderer;s has loss to Central Coasr earlier this monthe in 2-0.

Wanderers chief executive Lyall Gorman thanked the player's excellent contribution at the first season.  Gorman said on Tuesday to the players: "  The inaugural season for the Western Sydney Wanderers has been an amazing journey for the players, coaching staff, club, partners and fans. Dino, Tarek, Joey and Rocky were all part of this journey and all played an integral part in the success of the club and winning the Premiers Plate in this historic season."

They still show their strong wants to Dino, Tarek, Rocky and Joey. They said they will always open the door for them and shown the strong appriciatnt to their contribution.

Kresinger, who developed a cult following at the fledgling club and scored in the Wanderers' 2-0 semi-final win over defending champions Brisbane Roar, played 25 of the Wanderers' 29 games and scored two goals.

Sources : http://wwos.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=8650891

All the best Wanderers!!!
- Cathy

Can the Mariners make it to the last 16 in the ACL?

After an amazing 3 days... winning the A-League Grand Final victory on Sunday night, hoping on a plane to Korea on Monday morning (hungover) and then beating  Suwon Bluewings - one of the best teams in the K-League on Tuesday night (whilst jet-lagged and still hungover) the Mariners have somehow set themselves up with a great chance to progress to the next stage of the Asian Champions League competition.

 

 Image: ACL Logo [Source: http://profile.ak.fbcdn.net/hprofile-ak-snc6/276840_152840578119175_1398815655_q.jpg]

A win tonight against Japan's mighty Kashiwa Reysol in Gosford would be enough to ensure that the Central Coast Mariners become only the third Australian team to make it to the final 16 stage of the competition.  Kick off is Tue 30th April, 8:30pm AEST at BlueTongue Stadium if you want to get along to cheer on the boys!

- Scott Copland

Round 7 - A Much Needed Win

With two teams who were tipped to make the eight, who are both underperforming this was going to be an important game for both teams, perhaps a kick start to their season. Thankfully the Bulldogs won, but more of a loss for the sharks than a win for the Bulldogs. 4 completely bombed tries in the game, their error count was shockingly high and as a result completions incredibly low.

Todd Carney’s return really seemed to lift the Sharks, despite their inability to complete tries, he looked good all game. Possibly fired up for the possibility of missing out on origin? He set up a break down the wing, but a shocking pass led to a knock on. Hodkinson also played well at Halfback for the Bulldogs, setting up Perret on the wing with a beautifully placed bomb for the first try of the match. Then on the other wing, Beau Ryan and his Lewis were on a break but Ryan was up too far and Lewis just threw it over the sideline. Shocking stuff, that was their second try gone begging.

Shortly after Ennis put in a grubber that rebounded off a Shark’s player, ended up with Barba who offloaded for Mitch Brown to score one of the easiest tries of his career. Halftime score 12-2 to the Bulldogs. Just after half time Lewis and (Wade) Graham combined to score a try, and a halfway decent one at that. 10 minutes later another botched try, Paul Gallen drops the ball when he only had Barba to beat, 3 metres out from the line. I’ve never been so glad I don’t support the sharks.

Then the Dogs went into score their third, Mitch Brown was unmarked on the outside and all it took was a quick play the ball and two passes to send him in to score. What also looked like a sure try from Cronulla, two on one on Perett’s wing, but instead Perett plucked it out of the air and went in to score. Final Score 24-8.

[Mick Ennis the captain of the Bulldogs on Sunday Afternoon. Source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/image/4656056-3x2-940x627.jpg]

The game saw a slight (note the use of the word slight) return to form for Tony Williams. He made his first line break of the season (gasp!) and some pretty solid metres. Onya T-Rex. And next week marks the return of James Graham and the possibility of Sam Kasiano. This dynamic duo was what really put the Bulldogs a notch above the rest last season, and hopefully they come out guns blazing. Kasiano might not be fit but let’s hope to god it’s not a repeat of his early 2012 season. I’ve heard Keating was able to return this week but the coach decided to ensure he was fit. On the back of Hodkinson’s performance, I’d really like to see him play instead of Keating. Sure he did shocking vs. the Roosters, but almost everyone did really.

I’m also wondering if both Graham and Kasiano return who would be dropped, the bench as it stands is Finucane, Halatau, Tim Browne and Pritchard, although Pritchard was moved into the starting squad and Jackson to the bench at the last minute. I’m going to assume they’d drop Browne and Halatau, Halatau almost for sure but Browne has been playing well. It’ll be interesting to see where Hasler takes it. And I’m about to say what I’ve been saying for what seems like forever now, this should allow Tony Williams to play less minutes and be more dynamic when he is on the field.

Next Friday at ANZ Bulldogs vs. Tigers, if we can’t win that then there’s something really wrong. They’ve got about 7 injuries and no halves that have first grade experience (off the top of my head, anyway). Stay tuned anyway, the post should come on Saturday night. Watch this space!

 - Daniel Arthur

Central Coast Mariners are the 2013 A-League CHAMPIONS!!!!

Okay so as this happened yesterday it could be regarded as old news but I and a lot of CCM fans were partying after such a great win - and it probably wouldn't have been safe for me to be in charge of a keyboard.  Anyway back to the story...

Much has been talked about the Western Sydney Wanderers and their maiden season - and rightly so, they have come from literally nowhere to claim the minor premiership after stringing together 13 unanswered victories.  However whilst much of the media was talking about how the Wanderers were looking for a fairytale ending, I think the real fairytale was for the Mariners to win.

They are after all the smallest team in the competition who despite punching above their weight have three times previously been beaten finalist - with an unfortunate reputation for choking after managing to loose that grand final against Brisbane despite being 2-0 up with 2 minutes to go.  They have been in such financial strife again this year that the coach dug into his own pockets to help players pay their mortgages and groceries when there was a delay in getting paid.  They play week in week out against teams with much bigger budgets and marquee players.  Yet against that back drop they have again managed to exceed any reasonable expectation from even the most optimistic supporters.  Without taking anything away from WSW and what they have achieved, I believe this is more deserving of the title "fairytale ending".

The match itself is still a bit of a blur to me.  The two goals came courtesy of two of our more experienced players, Daniel McBreen (36 yrs old) and Patrick Zwaanswijk (38 yrs old) but as always it really was a team effort and some great defending that saw the Mariners win this game.

Despite putting to bed that awful "Central Choke Mariners" title and finally getting the win the Mariners players will not be able to fully celebrate for a while yet due to their hectic playing schedule.  After they finished up the final on Sunday night, they had to get on a plane early on Monday morning to Korea where they will be playing in the Asian Champions League on Tuesday night.

Gosford Council have announced that they are looking to have a day of celebration for the players soon though so we'll bring you details of that here... in case you want to come along and join the celebrations.  We'll also follow their progress in the ACL now the A-league season is over.

Come on you Mariners!!!

- Scott Copland

A very happy day for the Central Coast Mariners

Yes folks, the Central Coast Mariners have done it again.  On Sunday night in front of over 10 thousand fans at Bluetongue Stadium, the Central Coast Mariners beat Melbourne Victory 1-0 to secure a place in the A-league grand final against the Western Sydney Wanderers.  The stunning goal came courtesy of Daniel McBreen again (who did you expect... he was this seasons A-League Golden Boot winner).

Image: Daniel McBreen [Source: http://resources2.news.com.au/images/2012/11/16/1226509/871950-daniel-mcbreen.jpg]

This will be the fourth Grand Final appearance for the Mariners, which is impressive when you realise that there have only ever been 8 finals in the A-leagues short history.  Unfortunately they have not been able to take their chances to date.  Hopefully this will be their time.

There are promising signs.  The Mariners have had a great season, yet again scoring more than 50 points in the season (the only team to have done this in 3 successive campaigns).  The win against Melbourne Victory was also the first time anyone has beaten a team coached by Ange Postecoglou in the finals series (up until last night he'd never lost a game in any of his previous 7 finals games).  So it sounds easy then. 

Hmmm lets see... all that stands between the Mariners and the title that has eluded them, are the Western Sydney Wanderers - who have surpassed even the wildest of expectations in what has been a phenomenally successful maiden season.  Already WSW have pipped the Mariners to the Premiers Plate and they will be doing everything possible to ensure that they take out the double.  It's going to be a interesting final!!!  Watch this space...

- Scott Copland

Round 6: A Sad Day for the Bulldogs

A depressing day for any Bulldogs fan, 38-nil. Against the bloody Roosters, too. It was a much hyped game, having Sonny Bill Williams face the team he left so controversially in 2008. His first touch sadly was a try assist which was a nice play, but as a loyal doggies fan, just made me hate him more. A penalty goal from right in front left the Roosters 8-0 at half time. 7 minutes into the second half Sonny Bill scores a try on his right wing, adding further insult to injury and really shutting the crowd up.

Tony Williams yet again failed to do anything useful in the whole game, dropping the ball while reaching for the try line. Not even 2 minutes later, Mortimer went over to score the Rooster’s third (irony much?).  Poor defence by the bulldogs on their try line let Sonny Bill crash over to score his second (I may have switched the TV off at this point). A nice kick a few minutes later got Maloney over the line, and the same story happened with Jennings a few minutes after that.

Sonny Bill after scoring his first try in the corner [Source: http://resources3.news.com.au/images/2013/04/12/1226619/485735-sonny-bill.jpg ]

I’ve probably said this in every blog post so far but we need our big forwards back. The vision that Kasiano and Graham provide is invaluable to the Bulldogs. Kris Keating was also out, and he’s not the best of players, but his replacement Hodkinson didn’t play well at all. Inu is also still out for the stupid tackle on Inglis and Benny Barba really wasn’t there on the night, passing to the wingers for kick returns, he just seemed uninterested to me.

And back to Tony Williams. What a waste of money he proved to be, I don’t really like calling specific players out every week, but when you cost a reported $650,000 a season you should be doing a LOT more than he is currently. I understand he’s not an 80 minute player, and he's had to play for the full 80, but really, he’s lazy in defence and he’s run so little ball compared to other big named second rowers it’s an absolute joke. Hopefully the fact he didn't get selected for Australia will fire him up for the next match. I have mixed feelings about dropping him to NSW cup though… His natural replacement would be Alaalatoa, who isn't really up to Tony William’s standard.

Hoping we can best Cronulla next round, bottom of the table isn’t a good feeling. Copping it at work something shocking.

-   Daniel Arthur

Follow us on twitter! @isys100group10

PS: No post for representative round next week, i'll be out partying :)

NRL SuperCoach

Supercoach is an online competition that has been running for a few years; it’s basically a fantasy Football league. You get a $5,000,000 salary cap and choose your players. It’s a nice way to enjoy the NRL, depending on how they do in game they score points and your total points are tallied up and used in head-to-head matchups with other players of the game.

You choose a total for 25 players and choose a 17 man line-up week to week. It’s not all as simple as it sounds though; you have to take into account injuries, suspensions, byes and players who aren’t playing that week due to representative commitments. Players’ values go up or down depending on their week to week performances, choosing rookies who will play well and go up in value is a good way to increase the net worth of your team and then selling them off to buy the greats of the game to further increase your points per week.

Although there are some problems, the way easily score points are putting in all of the game’s greats and choosing decent, cheap rookies to play alongside them. Most teams have Farah, Cronk, Thurston, Inglis, Merrin and Smith, then surround them with rookie players. The interchange is also slightly flawed, in a typical game of NRL you’d have mostly forwards on the interchange, but in Supercoach it’s not limited, you can put a fullback, two wingers and a centre if you really wanted too.

Even with its flaws, it’s a nice way to pit your favourite players against your friends’ favourite players in private leagues or against completely random in public leagues. You can even win money for being the first overall, or first in each round. Link: http://nrlfantasy.dailytelegraph.com.au/.

- Daniel Arthur

An overview of a team in NRL Supercoach [source: http://nrlfantasy.dailytelegraph.com.au/global_2013/news/nrl/common/indexField.jpg ]

Rooster has the highest record against Parramatta within a big win

Sydney rugby Rooster has creates a new record within 50-0 to win over Parramatta in its home. Roosters have stamped themselves within a higher mark.

Sonny Bill William and Michael Jennings both given their best for the roosters in the game by bagged a hat trick as the hosts ran into nine unanswered 4 pointers.

James Maloney has good as always by kicking seven goals as the rooster held team and continues his successive after last week he beats Brisbane at 8-0.

 Jared Waera –Hargreaves has given the exciting teasing kick to the Parramatta team at after 12 minutes of the games begin get the ball from Parramatta winger Vai Tautai fumbled before Williams assed his second of the season.

Tautai;s defensive frailties were again exposed by Pearce that he has prepared for Tuivasa-Sheck  with a well weighted kick to not break his scoring duck.

Rooster’s coach Trend Robinson has presented his confidences at the beginning, but said that he was not expecting the good performance like this at the end of the game.

References:

http://au.sports.yahoo.com/news/article/-/16484963/roosters-chalk-up-record-parramatta-win/

-Cathy(Wenqi) Yang

Manchester United breaks record 25th win

After the game of Sunderland 0:1 Manchester United on March 30, 2013. Manchester United gets closer to 20th English title. They win 25 out of their first 30 games, set the best record in Premier League. If they win the remaining eight games they will reach 101 points, beating Chelsea’s record of 95.

 

Image: Sunderland defender Titus Bramble (C) deflects Robin Van Persie's shot into his own net for the winning goal. Source:http://sports.nationalpost.com/2013/03/30/sunderland-own-goal-gives-manchester-united-record-25th-win/

Manager of Manchester United, Alex Ferguson said, ‘If we win four more games, we should get the trophy.’

- Shiu Heng Tong (Wilson)

Final A-League standings - 2012-2013 season

After another weekend of great footy the normal season has come to an end and the Ladder positions have been finalised.  Congratulations to Western Sydney Wanderers for winning the Premiership in their first season.

Don't worry though, the end of the season marks the start of the finals series so you won't miss your footy fix just yet.  WSW (1st place) and the Central Coast Mariners (2nd place) can now look forward to playing semi-finals at home whilst Melbourne Victory and Adelaide United host Perth Glory and Brisbane Roar respectively in the knock out stages.

Here's how the final table looks.

Image: A-League Ladder [Source: http://www.foxsports.com.au/football/a-league]

- Scott Copland

Round 4 – The Return of Ben Barba

Ben Barba returned to football after reported off-field issues: alleged gambling and personal problems after the breakdown of his relationship with his childhood sweetheart. Sadly the reigning Dally M medallist had a quiet return to rugby league, no ridiculous length of the field tries, just a solid game with him scoring a try in the dying minutes. They were up against the Rabbitohs on Good Friday. It also marked the return of Frank Pritchard who had been out with a groin injury, who had an equally quiet game, starting from the bench.

He was keen to get the ball, and right off the kick off Josh (not Adam, don’t get confused) Reynolds passed it straight to him. He almost looked as if he was going to break through 2 player with a beautiful dummy but it wasn't to be.

Image: Ben Barba running onto the field on Good Friday [source: http://www.zimbio.com/pictures/-k4vS9MVlm4/Bulldogs+v+Rabbitohs/ozqqVb_ab1t]

The Doggies were deep in Rabbits territory in the 13^th minute when Josh Reynolds bombed it, and 6 more tackles were awarded. They didn't even need one, after going from one wing to the other; Tony Williams got a beautiful offload out to put Mitch Brown over the line.

Adam Reynolds’ kicking game earned the Rabbits 3 repeat sets, eventually George Burgess crashing over the line, mostly from sloppy play from Tony Williams, what a great investment he was /sarcasm. A Roy Asotasi hit on Mike Ennis sent him off the field, concussed and it never helps to have your captain injured.

A smart piece of play from Inglis gave Merrit space on the outside off a Reynolds kick, with him going over for the Rabbits second. What a season he’s been having, 7^th try. Crazy stuff. Mostly due to Adam Reynold’s kicking game, but nonetheless a good season beginning for him.

Krisnan Inu was left on report after a dangerous tackle on Greg Inglis who landed on the point of his head. It was pretty funny, because no one likes Greg Inglis (let’s be honest) but it could see a 4 week ban, making him miss the ANZAC test for New Zealand and leaving another gaping hole in the Bulldogs line up.

A beautiful offload from Merritt left Goodwin with some space who went over to score the Bunnies third. A field goal from Adam Reynolds sealed the deal, but the Doggies were the ones to have the final say after a kick in the dying minutes sent Barba to score, a nice confidence booster in his returning NRL game. We’ll see how next week goes, with or without Inu.

I would REALLY like to see the Bulldogs with their full strength side, with two forwards still out in Kasiano and James Graham and the possibility (well, probability) of Inu being suspended, the Bulldogs will have a rough start to the season. I’d also like to see Tony Williams play less minutes because quite frankly he’s done nothing and got incredibly lazy in defence; I’d like to see him get those rests and show some of the form he had at Manly, he's on a reported $650,000 a year and he's NOT playing well at all. Seasons aren’t won in March, though and the Bulldogs will show why they’re the reigning minor premiers in the weeks to come.

Final Score Bulldogs 12, Rabbitohs 17.

- Daniel Arthur

GO THE DOGGIES