{"id":113809,"date":"2021-08-08T22:00:32","date_gmt":"2021-08-08T22:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=113809"},"modified":"2021-08-08T22:58:26","modified_gmt":"2021-08-08T22:58:26","slug":"flyers-have-try-scoring-record-under-siege","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=113809","title":{"rendered":"Flyers have try-scoring record under siege"},"content":{"rendered":"

FLYERS RACING TOWARDS TRY RECORD<\/strong><\/h2>\n

One of the oldest try-scoring records in the modern game is under siege as we head towards the climax of the season.<\/p>\n

Wonder-kid Phil Blake bagged 27 tries for Manly back in 1983, the most tries in a single season since the 1950s.<\/p>\n

Many thought that Blake's stunning tally may never be bettered in the defence-based modern era, but times have changed under the NRL's new rules.<\/p>\n

Souths<\/a> flyer Alex Johnston , currently out injured, is within touching distance of Blake with 24 tries on the Rabbitohs' deadly left edge.<\/p>\n

And Storm superstar Josh Addo-Carr (21) and Manly duo Jason Saab (19) and Tom Trbojevic (18) are also hot on Blake's trail.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

PEARCE IS NEWCASTLE'S SHINING KNIGHT<\/strong><\/h2>\n

He may not have the flair of Tommy Turbo or Nathan Cleary, but there is no doubt that Mitchell Pearce is Newcastle's make-or-break man.<\/p>\n

Pearce played just his seventh game of an injury-plagued season against the Broncos on Thursday night, but showed his class to steer the Knights home<\/a> in a scrappy affair.<\/p>\n

Pearce scored a try, set up another and made four tackle breaks and 20 tackles in a fine all-round display.<\/p>\n

With Pearce in the team, the Knights are batting at a 71 per cent win rate, as compared to just 44 per cent without him.<\/p>\n

Sadly, the match proved a tale of two halves – Brodie Croft, who I wrote last week was set to be cut loose by the Broncos, was hooked with 20 minutes to play in what may have been his final game for Brisbane.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

PNG STAR MAY SNAP-UP DALLY M GONG<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Not many Papua New Guinea players have won Dally M Awards down the years, but I'm tipping one this season.<\/p>\n

Justin Olam, born in Chimbu Province, has been outstanding week-in, week-out for the Storm.<\/p>\n

A powerhouse runner in attack and pocket dynamo in defence, Olam has become one of the most feared centres in the NRL and may well win Centre of the Year.<\/p>\n

He bagged a try double in the hard-fought win over Manly on Saturday night and will be a key man in Craig Bellamy's battle plan for the finals.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

BULLDOG SHAPES AS STORM'S NEXT REBOOTED STAR<\/strong><\/h2>\n

How good will Nick Meaney be at the Storm next season?<\/p>\n

The tall fullback has had a fine season in a struggling Bulldogs side this season, scoring seven tries, mostly playing fullback.<\/p>\n

His four-pointer against the Tigers on Sunday<\/a>, which he started and finished, was a ripper.<\/p>\n

On the end of the Storm backline next season, replacing Josh Addo-Carr, I'll be surprised if he doesn't triple that tally.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

DUFTY'S X-FACTOR MISSING FOR DISMAL DRAGONS<\/strong><\/h2>\n

With Ben Hunt gone for the season, the Dragons needed to roll the dice and select the unpredictable Matt Dufty in Friday night's shocker<\/a> against the Raiders.<\/p>\n

We all know Dufty has some flaws in his game but he also has pace, flair and creativity – and all three were sadly lacking in the loss to the Raiders with Hunt missing.<\/p>\n

It will be interesting to see if coach Anthony Griffin goes to Dufty this week after four straight losses – but then the Dragons are up against the Storm, in a game that could put the final nail in their finals coffin.<\/p>\n

\"NRL<\/p>\n

RABBITOHS ICON WAS BAFFLED BY MODERN KICKERS<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Around 30 years ago, I visited former Souths great Eric Simms in his modest Redfern apartment to do a story about life since his retirement.<\/p>\n

We spoke about many things but the one line that stuck with me forever was his views on the new – at that time – around-the-corner soccer-style kicking technique that had come into fashion.<\/p>\n

Simms – and just about every other Aussie goalkicker since 1908 at that time – was an old-fashioned "toe poker"; yet still managed to score more than 1800 points in a distinguished career.<\/p>\n

"I just don't know how they do it," Simms told me with a wry smile several times. "I tried it once \u2026 the ball just dribbled along the ground."<\/p>\n

So it's ironic that Simms' point-scoring record at Souths finally fell last weekend to Adam Reynolds, an around-the-corner style kicker.<\/p>\n

Sadly, Simms, who now lives in a nursing home, was totally unaware of the record.<\/p>\n

He has severe dementia and according to his loved ones, barely remembers even playing football.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

NEW HEADGEARED HERO FOR WARRIORS<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The Warriors have exceeded expectations in recent weeks and one of the big reasons for that is the form of unheralded forward Josh Curran.<\/p>\n

Headgeared Curran was superb as the Warriors put a huge dent in Cronulla's finals hopes with an upset 18-16 win<\/a> on Saturday afternoon.<\/p>\n

Curran ran for more than 100 metres, set up a vital try for Reece Walsh and made 35 tackles, including a couple of try-savers.<\/p>\n

The 22-year-old, who played one game for the Roosters before joining the Warriors, has come on in leaps and bounds this season and is now a key man in the Warriors' line-up.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0clicking here!<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FLYERS RACING TOWARDS TRY RECORD One of the oldest try-scoring records in the modern game is under siege as we head towards the climax of […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113809"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=113809"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113809\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":113811,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113809\/revisions\/113811"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=113809"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=113809"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=113809"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}