Two incredible NRL smash-ups in less than 24 hours totalling 140 points to nil. NSW State of Origin selections that were such a shock they even trumped previous shock Blues picks.
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And now the Rugby League Players Association and the NRL in the stand-off to end all stand-offs.
To borrow the words from a song by one of the great Aussie bands of years gone by, Boom Crash Opera (google them, youngsters, they're still kicking around), these here are crazy times (in the great and always giving game of rugby league).
Solutions? Geez, now you're making it tough. I mean, if the greatest minds in the greatest game of all are having problems fixing this stuff, then what do you expect me to do? But we can only try.
As if league doesn't give enough (and we all know it does), last Saturday night's 74-0 win by North Queensland over Wests Tigers in Townsville was followed by Newcastle dismantling the Bulldogs 66-0 at Homebush on Sunday afternoon.
Which defeat was worthy of the greater loathing? Sunday's, even though it was by eight points less.
The 15th-placed Bulldogs were butchered at home by the 14th-placed Knights, for God's sake!
This was not a battle of the giants. It was a battle of the battlers and the least you could've reasonably expected was a contest.
So how did it get so one-sided? I don't know, except to say the Bulldogs need more good players, less injuries to the good players they do have and greater commitment. We know 666 is the number of the beast. I don't know what 66 is, but it obviously isn't good.
Newcastle also had a Ponga, as in Kalyn, which the Bulldogs could've done with. When he's not battling concussions we know he can be electric.
They also had a Bradman, as in Best. He didn't score a century, but he scored three tries which is probably the league equivalent of one.
Cameron Ciraldo was supposed to be the next big thing in coaching, so much so that the Bulldogs gave him a five-year contract. That's like from here to eternity in the great game, given that a week's a long time in it and sometimes even a day. Maybe he still is (the next big thing). Bulldogs fans had better hope so. The Great Augustus (aka Phil Gould) is the big boss of all football at the Doggies and he emerged to front a media conference after Sunday's shellacking. Gus, with that wonderfully expressionless approach of his, took some bullets for the coach, expounded a few theories and bought a bit of time. It was a classic rugby league response in the face of a fire.
Now, can I say shit show? It's one of my favourite expressions from the TV series Succession. When I read this story published in the newspaper, if I see asterisks replacing letters I'll know the answer is no. But, either way, the Tigers are a shit show.
At least the Tigers were playing on the road and against a team that made the preliminary finals last year and is in the race to make the finals again this year.
But if the fish does indeed rot from the head, plus winning starts in the front office - and on Monday, no less - then what is doing in Tiger-town? Well, for a start, Justin Pascoe has done a sensational job in surviving as the club CEO through all of those years of poor results from the team.
He's taken more shots from critics than Arnie ate bullets in The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgment Day combined, but he's still there. You've got to admire that level of resilience. Lee Hagipantelis is sticking on pretty well as chairman, too.
You've got Sheensy, Benji and Robbie preparing the team. It's all on track, right? No? Then blow it up and start again, because I've got no other suggestions.
What can I say? Get back to basics.
- Prichard
State of Origin III at Homebush on Wednesday night will surely be Brad Fittler's final match as NSW coach. Even if the Blues manufactured a win there, it should mean nothing. Two series losses in a row and three in the last four years are the only results that matter.
Fittler finally cut Jarome Luai at five-eighth, but brought in 33-year-old Cody Walker, who hasn't exactly excelled in his previous Origin games. Still no Nicho Hynes in sight. It's a weird-looking bench as well.
And, even allowing for his undoubted ability, it was a shock to see Best make the centres ahead of other contenders. I mentioned his three-try effort against the Bulldogs was like the league equivalent of a cricketing century, but, in this case, against dubious opposition.
Like if Australia were playing Bahrain or Mozambique, which I've just checked and found are associate members of the International Cricket Council.
There's plenty of time for the NSWRL to find a new coach. League loves to trump itself with news that is more shocking than the last bit of shocking news and so it emerged that negotiations between the RLPA and the NRL had broken down yet again and that in response the RLPA had instructed its members to boycott media interviews on match days.
What can I say? Get back to basics. Put those charged with the responsibility of finalising an agreement in a room, maybe with a moderator they both (hopefully) agree on, order a stack of Johnny's Pizza and a couple of slabs of sponsor's beer and refuse to let them out until a deal is done.
It's been dragging on for so long now I don't know what else to say.
