There are many well documented ASRL rivalries, but few go as far back as the healthy rivalry that exists between the high flying Gold Coast Crusade and perennial underachievers, the Northern Cannons. Whether in the form of the now defunct Manly and North Sydney, or under their new incarnation, the Cannons have made a fine tradition of going down to Gold Coast in the big one before the grand final. Would the same occur this year? Eighty minutes of football would soon say.
Gold Coast Crusade Northern Cannons
1 Brent Webb 1 Mat Rogers
2 Shaun Briscoe 2 Trent Pariah
3 Tommy O'Reilly 3 Michael De Vere
4 Matthew Gidley 4 Chev Walker
5 Luke Rooney 5 Brett Dallas
6 Scott Hill 6 Jason Hooper
7 Matt Orford 7 Frederick Michalak ©
8 Paul King 8 Mark O'Meley
9 Danny Buderus 9 Brody Raines
10 Joel Clinton 10 Edward Hoartshire
11 Ali Lauitiiti 11 George Smith
12 Vinnie Anderson 12 Dean Young
13 Andy Farrel © 13 Ashley Harrison
++Interchange
14 Steve Simpson 14 Brent Kite
15 Sione Faumunia 15 Awen Guttenbeil
16 Karl Pratt 16 David Lyons
17 Carl Webb 17 Paul Wellens
Play got underway with both sides looking pumped up and ready for a close fought battle, but the fans on hand couldn’t have wished for a more sensational beginning to the clash. The Crusade seemed to have scored first points in the 2nd minute of play when Matthew Gidley picked up where he left off against Sydney to rampage through the Cannons defence and offload to the support of Shaun Briscoe, only to have the try disallowed for double movement. The Cannons hit right back with a length of the field set of six, highlighted by a big Dean Young bust, which likewise ended in the video referee calling the play illegal. This time the Cannons were disarmed by the shepherding rule, with the eventual scorer (Brett Dallas) ruled to have used Mark O’Meley as a shield to avoid the defence. The fourth minute saw the video referee utilised once more, this time called in when a scrappy set of six from the Cannons somehow ended with Mark O’Meley grubbering ahead. Amazingly, the Crusade failed to disarm the situation, and Brett Dallas crossed again to claim his second possible try in as many minutes. Once again the video referee found fault, however, and replays showed Dallas had grounded the ball just a second after it had touched the chalk.
If the opening five minutes of play didn’t convince the crowd of the intensity of both sides, they had it well and truly proven to them as the game continued. Whilst both sides were scrappy in wet conditions, the fans were given plenty to watch as both sides produced some memorable passages of wet weather football. With such a frantic opening, it was inevitable points would come early, and Northern landed the first telling blow of the match when they crossed through Trent Pariah in the 9th minute. The gifted young goal-kicking winger backed up a rampaging run from Mark O’Meley, scored, and then converted to make it 6-0 in favour of the Cannons. Following the game’s opening try, however, both sides began to fall prey to a combination of over-enthusiasm and the slippery conditions that a steady rainfall created. Whilst the Crusade made several dangerous breaks during this period, the poor handling continually ensured that the Cannons wouldn’t leak points at the rate they perhaps could have. Still, with the run of possession and field position, the Crusade were always going to score – and did just that when Ali Lauititi and Matthew Gidley combined to score a devastating seventy six metre try. Andy Farrell duly added the extras, and after twenty one minutes, the scores were locked at 6 apiece.
The poor handling from both sides continued, but it took Northern just seven minutes to respond to the Crusade’s first try of the match, Mat Rogers doing the work on his own to put his side back in the lead. Rogers made the initial fifty metre bust to put his side on the attack, and two tackles later, chased through his own grubbing kick to score a vital finals’ try. Pariah continued to be in form with the boot, and with ten minutes of the half remaining, the Cannons held a 12-6 lead.
The try visibly lifted the Cannons, and only the Crusade’s table-topping defence enabled them to hold out Northern, whose attacking plays were being ably lead by Mat Rogers, Jason Hooper, and Trent Pariah. The Crusade had an ideal chance to hit back on the stroke of halftime when Matt Orford hefted a spiralling bomb into the Cannons’ in goal, but Rooney was beaten to the punch by Rogers, and halftime sounded with the Crusade trailing by six.
HALFTIME: Gold Coast 6 trail Northern 12
If Chris Walker-Bush was hoping his halftime instructions to the Crusade worked, he was given almost immediate confirmation when, after an Edward Hoartshire knock-on after just thirty seconds of play- the Crusade put together a good attacking set of six which saw Matthew Gidley put Andy Farrell in for the potentially equalising try. Farrell converted his own try to level scores at 12 all, and after just seventy seconds of play, the game was back in the balance. The try should have lifted the Crusade’s confidence and control, having been in every major semi final since 2001/2002, but instead the side continued to play the same brand of scrappy football that had seen them go into the halftime break behind. The 50th minute saw Shaun Briscoe go close to putting the Crusade into the lead for the first time in the match, before Brett Dallas almost put Northern back into the lead when he made a huge sideline run and offloaded inside to Frederick Michalak. Only a desperation tackle from Brent Webb, forcing Michalak into touch just short of the line, prevented the try.
Both sides continued to exchange promising passages of play as the game wound towards it three quarter mark, but like it had been all game, it was Northern who went the distance when, after a penalty for offside, Chev Walker was able to dance his way across the line through some feeble defence to score his side’s third try of the match. Pariah again proved faultless with the boot, and the Crusade’s inability to score back to back tries continued to haunt them – trailing 18-12 with twenty minutes of play remaining. The Gold Coast’s defence continued to be the highlight of the clash, but in offence they offered next to nothing, their sets constantly ending in either a dropped ball or a poor kick.
As the game wound towards its finish, there was something in the air, something that a partisan Sydney crowd latched onto. The Crusade’s ‘invincible’ aura just wasn’t there, and whilst the wet conditions could be blamed, the Cannons’ backline could take a lot of the credit due to their damaging sideline runs and their good pressure. For the Crusade, only Matthew Gidley was producing much of value, perhaps sensing that this game would be his last in the Crusade colours. The game’s scrappiness continued, but as the final five minutes came around, it was clear that the Crusade just didn’t have that miraculous equaliser in them. Perhaps fittingly, the Cannons put the final nail in Gold Coast’s coffin with a try just twenty seconds from full time- Trent Pariah capping off a marvellous game with his second try of the match, taking his points haul to sixteen. Fulltime sounded, and a dejected Crusade outfit tramped back to the sheds whilst Cannons’ players embraced in the pouring rain. After some seven years of frustration, Sydney would be represented in the grand final for the first time since Manly vs. Brisbane in 2000. The Cannons would go in to face the winner of Wellington and Central Coast, but either way, they would enter as fan favourites.
FULLTIME
Gold Coast Crusade 12
Matthew Gidley
Andy Farrell
Farrell 2/2
Lost to
Northern Cannons 24
Trent Pariah 2
Chev Walker
Mat Rogers
Pariah 4/4
PoM Points
Brett Dallas………….3
Trent Pariah………….2
Matthew Gidley……...1
At the conclusion of the Gold Coast V Northern Semi Final match today, an irate and drunken George Carmont released the following statement through his publiscist and mother, Beryl Carmont.
"Me (George) and me mum and all the little carmont-natics out there know why Gold Coast Blew it today. Cause he held me, (me baby Georgey) back!Well good riddance i say! I know that i will have a big future at Adelaide where i'm confident i will get a starting spot and even teach a few lessons to other centres such as Stirling Mortlock and Ma'a Nonu. I am quitely confident that Coach McElroy might even name me captain so that i can lead the Attitude to their maiden title next year and destroy the spirit of Chris....Walker....Bush!!!!"
Coach McElroy was unavailable for comment.
Go Norths!
Northern Cannons coach Dr. Kermit Krockett Q.C. was cornered after that game, the reporters as always eager to hear what the eccentric coach had to say.
"I think it's rather about time that we had a little bit of good luck, and that that egocentric prawn Walker-Bush got some of the stick's other end. I'm very pleased with the way that the lads handled the game and forced errors out of a Gold Coast outfit that had been relatively flawless all year. I'm going to take money out of our accupunture fund and get them all a Vietnamese massage," he declared before continuing insincerely, "My most abject apologies to the Crusade. No holy grail to be found this time, chaps."
When asked what he had planned for next week he replied, "Well, we've not been eliminated by the Gold Coast for once and if Wellington win then hopefully we won't be eliminated by them again. The Central Coast Falcons would have a haggis' hope at a caber tossing tournament should they win this week."
He waved away all other questions with a deliberate flourish and moved off to join his warriors in the sheds.
As the Northern Cannons' players continued to circle the stadium, we caught up with Crusade coach Chris Walker-Bush.
Int: Chris, the Cannons really got the monkey off their back against you tonight. Where was the game won and lost?
CWB: I could wax lyrical about them wanting it more, but that's crap, and you know it. Simply put, we put together a poor performance and the Cannons were good enough to capitalise.
Int: What's happening for next season?
CWB: We've recruited a very strong side, perhaps even stronger than this year's. I'd be disappointed if we finished any lower than the top four- but obviously we'll be aiming for another minor premiership.
Int: Can Northern go all the way?
CWB: Well, they've beaten the best, so they're in a good position to go on and win it. Central Coast and Wellington are both world class sides though, and it'll come down to who is better prepared on the day.
Int: Looking forward to the off-season?
CWB: Of course. We've had a longer than usual season, winning the Bob Fulton Cup meant we played a few more pre-season games than we'd anticipated.
Int: Good luck next year, Chris Walker-Bush
CWB: Thanks. You too
