|
Should Super League introduce golden point extra-time? Unsavoury scenes for Salford and a binmans NRL debut also feature... 20 years of Super LeagueIt is exactly 20 years ago since almost 18,000 supporters attended the first ever Super League game between Paris St Germain and Sheffield Eagles. The switch to summer rugby started in style as Arnaud Cervellos brace clinched a famous victory for the Parisians. Leeds Rhinos chief executive Gary Hetherington looks back over 20 years of Super League That was about as good as it got for Paris, who finished second bottom of the Super League I table and dissolved in May 1997, but the competition itself has gone from strength to strength.The sport now enjoys more spectators and viewers on TV, said Leeds Rhinos chief executive Gary Hetherington, who was in charge of Sheffield Eagles for that opening game in Paris.There has been a big transformation both in the way the game is played and how it is seen by spectators, and all of those changes have been for the good. Phil Clarke brings you his top five Super League tries from round seven Of course, 20 years ago people were dreaming about Super League being played in Madrid and Barcelona and a whole range of European cities. That has never materialised and the Paris club only lasted two years, but they have been replaced by Catalans Dragons, who are one of the strongest clubs in the competition.The creation of Super League 20 years ago brought a lot of uncertainty to the game. Established clubs like Widnes, Hull and Hull KR werent part of the competition but they are now.The traditional clubs very much make up the Super League and the Championship is a very vibrant competition, as well as the community game below that. There has been a lot of advances in the sport and we have now got a lot of stability and structure, and a platform to move forward.Tune into Sky Sports 1 HD at 10.15pm on Tuesday March 29 for a special programme celebrating 20 years of Super League.Unsavoury scenes Watch the moment Salfords rugby league players stepped in to break up crowd violence during their win at Huddersfield It is a shame that Super Leagues 20th anniversary has been overshadowed by the trouble that marred Salfords victory at Huddersfield.Shortly after the Devils had beaten the Giants 26-24, photographs emerged on social media of some of Salfords players appearing to fight some of their own supporters in the away end of the ground.Pictures on Twitter showed winger Justin Carney and centre Junior Sau involved in heated exchanges, with one particular photo showing New Zealander Sau appearing to restrain a fan on the ground. Have a look at Barrie and Terrys favourite hits from Super Leagues Easter fixtures Marwan Koukash claims a child was hospitalised during the incident and although Salford issued a statement of apology, the owner has promised the strongest possible action against anyone found to have caused trouble.The minority who caused the trouble, who I called thugs, will not be associated with our club or the sport, he said.We will make sure they never attend a rugby league game again.Smith slams schedule Tony Smith criticised the Easter weekend double-header claiming it leaves teams unprepared We were treated to 93 tries across the two rounds of Easter fixtures in Super League but the quick turnaround between games continues to divide opinion.Warrington head coach Tony Smith is not a fan. He believes two games in four days is unfair on players and the competition.Smiths Wolves side went in to the weekend unbeaten, their best start to a league campaign for 66 years, before opening up a two point lead at the top of the table with a Good Friday win over the Widnes Vikings. Speaking ahead of their Easter Monday clash with Hull FC, in which his side slipped to a dramatic 26-24 defeat against Hull, Smith voiced his opinions on the schedule stating that it left teams with no time to adequately prepare for the matches.Well watch some video of Hull but in terms of tactics and honing in specifically on things about Hull, you cant really do that he said. Thats why you often get poor-quality games on Mondays. You just cant do the preparation. The players cant lift themselves. Warringtons unbeaten start to the season was ended by Hull FC on Easter Monday We have got to get to the stage - and we say this every year - where we all decide we are going to have a home game this year and away the next year over Easter.When we do that, I think our players will survive better and we probably wont get as many injuries after the Easter period.Binman makes Roosters bow Garbage collector Eloni Vunakece made his Roosters debut on Saturday Trent Robinson called on a binman in a bid to end Sydney Roosters rubbish start to the season.Eloni Vunakece, who works full-time as a garbage collector, came off the bench against Manly on Saturday for his NRL bow.The 28-year-old Fiji international became one of the oldest players to make their first-grade debut, gaining 60 metres from five carries and making 15 tackles during his 26 minutes of action.It is pretty crazy when you think about it, said team-mate Dylan Napa. He goes to work as a garbo, gets up at quarter to four and goes to work then comes to training at nine, does his own warm up and slots right in. Then he will go to his night shift and do the same.Unfortunately for the Roosters, Vunakece was unable to prevent them from suffering a fourth successive defeat. They outscored the Sea Eagles by four tries to three but 10 points from the boot of Jamie Lyon saw Manly run out 22-20 victors.Golden point drama Anthony Milford leads the celebrations after kicking the winning field goal against the Cowboys Almost five months after their memorable Grand Final clash, North Queensland Cowboys and Brisbane Broncos were at it again on Friday as they served up another golden point thriller.Johnathan Thurston looked to have broken Brisbane hearts yet again when he crossed in the corner during overtime, but the try was ruled out for a knock-on in what has been the most controversial decision made by the video bunker so far.Anthony Milford slotted a 40-metre drop goal with seconds remaining in the first period to exact a small degree of revenge for the Broncos.Golden point has proved a hit in the NRL, producing some dramatic finishes. Should Super League follow suit?Change in fortunes Tom Gilmore cannot prevent Warrington winger Tom Lineham from scoring a try The action-packed Easter weekend saw a change in fortunes for the teams at both ends of the Super League table.After a superb start to their campaign, one that even drew comparisons with the story of Premier League front-runners Leicester City, Widnes fell to successive defeats against Warrington and St Helens, handing the top spot over to the Wolves, while also being leapfrogged by Wigan.At the other end of the table, Wakefield completed the Easter double over fellow strugglers Huddersfield and reigning champions Leeds to lift themselves off the basement and in to ninth, leaving the Giants languishing in bottom spot.Chris Chester could not have asked for a better start to his tenure as Wildcats coach and he will hope to build on those victories when Salford visit Belle Vue on Saturday, live on Sky Sports. Have your say by giving us your comments below if viewing on skysports.com. Alternatively, tweet us @SkySportsRL Also See: WATCH: Top five tries WATCH: Baz and Tezs big hits! Super League turns 20 Salford owner wants life bans . PETERSBURG, Fla. . No. 13-seeded John Isner and No. 21 Philipp Kohlschreiber were among six players who dropped out of the tournament on Tuesday, joining No. 12 seed Tommy Haas and two other players who withdrew on Monday. . Nigeria beat surprise package Ethiopia 2-0 in the second leg of their playoff for a comfortable 4-1 aggregate victory. Victor Moses converted a 20th-minute penalty after an Ethiopian handball, and Victor Obinna made certain of Nigerias place in Brazil with his powerful free kick in the 82nd at UJ Esuene Stadium. . Patrice Bergeron and Daniel Paille scored 20 seconds apart a few minutes after Stamkos was taken off the ice on a stretcher with a broken right leg, and the Bruins beat the Lightning 3-0 on Monday afternoon. . -- Bobby Ryan helped the U.PITTSFORD, N.Y. -- Adam Scott began the final major of the year with a tee shot deep into the trees. He ended the opening round of the PGA Championship by having to gouge out of deep rough. It was the golf in between that was some of the best he has ever played, even for an Australian with a green jacket. Showing that hes not satisfied as only being a Masters champion, Scott ran off five straight birdies early in his round Thursday on soft and vulnerable Oak Hill, and a 15-foot par putt at the end gave him a 5-under 65 and a share of the lead with Jim Furyk. "Probably the best run Ive ever had," Scott said of his five straight birdies. "I just hit really nice shots and didnt leave myself too much work. You have to take advantage of that if youre feeling that. It was a dream start after kind of a nervous first couple of holes." David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., an alternate until a week ago, had a 66 in the morning. Also at 66 was Lee Westwood, who had his best score ever in the PGA and offered evidence that there was no hangover from losing a 54-hole lead in the British Open last month. It felt like an easy start to so many others. Oak Hill has such a strong reputation that it has yielded only 10 scores under par over 72 holes in five previous major championships. The last time the PGA Championship was held on this Donald Ross design in 2003, there were only 12 rounds under par on the first day. But with overnight rain, humid conditions and a 71-minute delay for storms in the afternoon, Thursday might be as easy as it gets. Scott and Furyk had plenty of company, two of 35 players who broke par. Tiger Woods was not among them. The worlds No. 1 player made only two birdies despite playing in the still of the morning, and he watched his round fall apart with a bogey on par-5 fourth and a double bogey on his final hole when his flop shot out of a deep rough floated into a bunker. Woods had a 71, not a bad start at Oak Hill, except on this day. "The round realistically could have been under par easily," Woods said. Furyk, who won his lone major at the U.S. Open in 2003 at Olympia Fields, has gone nearly three years since his last win at the Tour Championship to capture the FedEx Cup and win PGA Tour player of the year. Still fresh are the four close calls from a year ago, including the U.S. Open. He was as steady as Scott, rarely putting himself in trouble until the end of the round. Furyk missed the fairway to the right and had to pitch out because of thick rough and trees blocking his way to the green. That led to his only bogey, but still his lowest first-round score in 19 appearances at the PGA Championship. "Usually disappointed with ending the day on a bogey," Furyk said. "But you know, 65, PGA, is not so bad." There were no record scores at Oak Hill despite the soft conditions, just a lot of low rounds. "If you dont hit it in the fairways, then you wont score well," Westwood said. "These guys are good. There are a lot of good players playing in the tournament. Somebody is going to hit it straight, and somebody is going to shoot a good scoree.dddddddddddd" Scott certainly didnt start out that way. He had to pitch out from the trees on No. 1, but managed to get up-and-down from about 85 yards in front of the green, and after two more pars, he began his big run of birdies. "Just got on a bit of a roll and hit a few shots close," Scott said. "I didnt have too much putting to do. Youve got to take advantage when it happens, because it doesnt happen too much in the majors. Nothing to complain about in 65." He felt similar to the opening round at Royal Lytham & St. Annes last year in the British Open, when he flirted with a 63 and had to settle for a course record-tying 64. Scott was on pace to tie the Oak Hill record for majors when he birdied the 14th, but he three-putted two holes later for bogey and was pleased to walk away with par on the 18th. "I felt good out there today," he said. "I felt like I could swing freely and I was hitting all the shots that I wanted to hit. When you get something going for you in a major, sometimes you have got to be not afraid to get out of your own way and let go. I did that at Lytham, and I did that here for 10 or 11 holes." Just last month at Muirfield, the 31-year-old Australian had the outright lead on the back nine in the British Open until he made four straight bogeys and couldnt keep up with Phil Mickelson and his great finish. Even so, it was evident that Scott was serious about adding more majors to that green jacket he won at Augusta National in April. "I put a lot into my game the last two years with a focus on the big tournaments," Scott said. "Everyone around me has had the same focus, as well. We come here to do business." Even Rory McIlroy got in on the act. The defending champion, at the end of a major season that has been a major disappointment, came out firing with three birdies on the opening four holes and made the turn in 32 until back-to-back bogeys. He wound up with a 69. A resurgent Paul Casey was in the group at 67, while U.S. Open champion Justin Rose, British Open runner-up Henrik Stenson and the ageless Miguel Angel Jimenez were among 11 players at 68. Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Sask., had an even par 70. Mickelson wound up with the same score as Woods, only they arrived at 71 much differently. Woods had only two birdies. Mickelson shot 71 despite two double bogeys, including one on the 18th hole. On the par-5 fourth hole, he hooked his tee shot out-of-bounds and nearly lost the next tee shot in the same place. "The first four holes was like a shock to my system," Mickelson said. "Hitting it out-of-bounds on 4 ... out-of-bounds is not even in play. So I got off to a terrible start. I was actually under par for a little while, but that took a lot of fight. And unfortunately, Im in a position where if I hit a low round tomorrow, I can get back in it." He headed straight to the practice range, even summoning coach Butch Harmon down from the Sky Sports television booth. Asked when he finished his work if he was worried about his game, Mickelson replied, "Not now. I was." ' ' '
|
