Five things learnt from TRL round 9
RUGBY LEAGUE: Round nine of the TRL Premiership had a little bit of everything, with blockbuster games, penalty goals at the death and a new competition leader.
Here are the five talking points after another thrilling round of rugby league. ARE WATTLES THE NEW FAVOURITES?
There is a lot to like about the Wattles Warriors and the make-up of their team for 2018.
They added another string to their bow with a solid victory in their rivalry game against Warwick, booking a Madsen Rasmussen spot in the process.
The impressive thing about Saturday night was their ability to shoot out of the blocks to an early lead, and fended off the challenge in the early stages of the second half when the lead dropped back to just four. HIGHFIELDS THE REAL DEAL
We were waiting for the Eagles to claim a huge scalp in the competition after going down to fellow top-five teams Warwick and Wattles by two and four points respectively.
Their win over Valleys, keeping in mind they are the first team in 2018 to claim that honour, will have them on top of the world, and gives them serious Madsen Rasmussen claims.
The acquisition of Denzel Burns is exciting for the league, and will have fans at Kuhls Rd rocking.
BIG GAMES LIVE UP TO HYPE
If you had a dollar for every time a big game in rugby league failed to deliver on the pre-game hype, the tax man would be asking serious questions.
There was no such issue with the TRL’s super Saturday at the weekend, with a pair of cracking contests.
Wattles and Warwick played with plenty of passion with the game not put away until the last stretch, while Highfields staged a terrific comeback to down Valleys.
FRINGE TEAMS PRODUCE
Gatton knew they had to make good of their win over Dalby in round eight, and they did just that with an easy win against Brothers.
The same could be said for Pittsworth, winning their sec- ond in a row after defeating
Oakey.
The pair of wins puts the two sides on eight competition points, just two behind Warwick who sit in fifth place. TRL’S UNLUCKIEST TEAM?
For and against doesn’t tell the whole picture, but for Goondiwindi who currently sit in 9th spot with one win from eight games, it says a lot.
The Boars’ points differential currently sits at -43. For comparison, Oakey (3-5) has a for and against of -93, and Brothers, who are also at 1-7, are at -236.
Gundy went down with a last ditch penalty goal at Dalby at the weekend, and aside from a poor showing against Pittsworth, have been in every contest this year.