{"id":291545,"date":"2023-04-30T21:32:49","date_gmt":"2023-04-30T21:32:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=291545"},"modified":"2023-04-30T21:58:53","modified_gmt":"2023-04-30T21:58:53","slug":"sneaky-sheens-ploy-behind-tigers-stunning-upset","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=291545","title":{"rendered":"'Sneaky' Sheens ploy behind Tigers' stunning upset"},"content":{"rendered":"

A sneaky Tim Sheens<\/a> trick paved the way for the Tigers' stunning 12-8 defeat of premiers Penrith<\/a> on Saturday night.<\/p>\n

Sheens instructed his forwards to cover their wrists with loads and loads of strapping tape – something he learned from coaching in England in recent years.<\/p>\n

The ploy keeps the hands relatively dry in wet conditions – and the weather in Bathurst was shocking on Saturday night.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Piastri cruelled by horrible luck in dramatic race<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> 'Hard to watch': Joey blasts Knights after woeful loss<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> 'Come out here': Ref's extraordinary call-out of Dogs firebrand<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

The move worked a treat, with the Tigers completing at a remarkable rate of over 90 per cent despite monsoonal rain and a wet track.<\/p>\n

It proved the difference between the teams, with the Panthers unable to match the Tigers in ball control.<\/p>\n

The Tigers hunted as a pack and took on the premiers up front.<\/p>\n

David Klemmer<\/a> ran for 209 metres and Isaiah Papali'i (106m), Alex Twal (173m), Stefano Utoikamanu (133m) and Joe Ofahengaue (119m) were also prominent.<\/p>\n

Api Koroisau<\/a> came of age as a skipper against his former club, terrorising the Panthers around the rucks with his dummyhalf work as the Tigers produced the best ambush for many years.<\/p>\n

Tough road ahead for Walker<\/h2>\n

The Joey Manu-Luke Keary halfback combination looks here to stay for the Roosters – and that's bad news for talented youngster Sam Walker.<\/p>\n

Roosters coach Trent Robinson created something of a storm when he dropped Walker for the Anzac Day clash with the Dragons, moving the versatile Manu into the halves.<\/p>\n

But the Roosters have won back-to-back games with the pair in the playmaking roles and their styles seem to complement each other well.<\/p>\n

Keary is all about lovely hands and a smart kicking game, while Manu is a powerhouse ball runner and rugged defender.<\/p>\n

Walker will doubtless get another chance down the track – but he may have to be patient judging by how well Keary and Manu went in the 14-0 shutout of the Warriors yesterday.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\"Butcher<\/p>\n

Fifita fires<\/h2>\n

David Fifita is an enigma, no doubt about it – a match-winner on his day but a player often criticised for going missing in big games.<\/p>\n

But against the strong Manly pack at Brookvale on Saturday night, Fifita was on his angry pills – and led his team to an upset win.<\/p>\n

The big man ran for 166 metres – more than any Titans forward – and scored one try and created another.<\/p>\n

On their day, the Titans can match any team in the NRL and with Fifita leading the way, they inflicted Manly's first home loss of the year in emphatic style.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\"Gun<\/p>\n

Sticky's masterstroke<\/h2>\n

Sebastian Kris' emergence as a top class fullback has proved a godsend for Ricky Stuart's Raiders in 2023.<\/p>\n

With the consistent Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad quitting the club for the Warriors over the summer and his replacement Xavier Savage missing the early rounds through injury, Stuart needed to find a fullback in a hurry.<\/p>\n

He decided to gamble on specialist winger\/centre Kris – and it has been a masterstroke.<\/p>\n

Kris has been returning Dylan Edwards-like running metres, averaging over 150 a game and returning a mammoth 247 in the golden point win over the Dolphins on Saturday afternoon.<\/p>\n

Kris notched a try as well and saved several dangerous situation in defence in another fine all-round display.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\"Stuart<\/p>\n

Graham set for Blues call-up<\/h2>\n

Campbell Graham has given Blues coach Brad Fittler no choice – he must be the first centre picked for Origin One.<\/p>\n

The long-striding Souths star was outstanding in the Rabbitohs' 32-6 demolition of Brisbane, scoring three tries and setting up another.<\/p>\n

Graham now has eight tries in eight games this season and is playing the best football of his career in the red-hot Bunnies backline.<\/p>\n

No centre in the NRL has scored as many – and Graham has also been outstanding in defence, saving tries with last-ditch tackles.<\/p>\n

Graham played for Australia in the World Cup and looked very comfortable in the green and gold – now it's time to blood him in Origin football against the Maroons.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\"Graham<\/p>\n

Makatoa shines for Parramatta<\/h2>\n

What a performance from Makahesi Makatoa coming off the bench for the Eels against the Knights on Friday night.<\/p>\n

The big guy started from the bench, played just 42 minutes in the middle, yet ran for a massive 194 metres – the most by any forward on the field in Parra's impressive 43-12 win.<\/p>\n

With Reagan Campbell-Gillard missing, Brad Arthur was looking for some of his lesser lights to stand up – and Makatoa did that and then some.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\"NRL<\/p>\n

Alarm bells at Newcastle<\/h2>\n

Kalyn Ponga is one of the most exciting and dynamic players in the NRL – but clearly something has gone wrong.<\/p>\n

His two games back from injury have resulted in two losses for the Knights, who suddenly find themselves out of the top eight.<\/p>\n

Alarm bells rang for me when he started last week's comeback game against the Cowboys from the bench – almost an admission from the club that his HIA issues were still a problem.<\/p>\n

Then against the Eels last Friday night, he played the 80 minutes at five-eighth – and was well off his game.<\/p>\n

Ponga had little impact in attack, made 11 tackles and missed 10 – including several that led to tries.<\/p>\n

It leaves coach Adam O'Brien with a dilemma – and if I was him, I'd shift Ponga back to fullback where he has played some sensational football in recent years.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\"NRL<\/p>\n

Sharks make it three straight<\/h2>\n

After a bit of a patchy start to the season, the Sharks are finding form with three straight wins and Nicho Hynes in sparkling form.<\/p>\n

And he can thank the Sharks' workmanlike pack for laying the platform for his current purple patch.<\/p>\n

Five Sharks forwards – Braden Hamlin-Uele, Jack Williams, Teig Wilton, Cameron McInnes and Royce Hunt – ran for over 100 metres as the Sharks decimated the Cowboys 44-6 on Thursday night.<\/p>\n

Hamlin-Uele, in career-best form, led the way with 159 metres and got the Sharks on the front foot, enabling the backs to run riot.<\/p>\n

It was all over by halftime – the Cowboys missed 23 tackles in the opening 40 minutes and look a shadow of the team that took the NRL by storm last year.<\/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> clicking here<\/strong><\/em><\/a>!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A sneaky Tim Sheens trick paved the way for the Tigers' stunning 12-8 defeat of premiers Penrith on Saturday night. Sheens instructed his forwards to […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":291547,"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\/291545"}],"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=291545"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291545\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":291551,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291545\/revisions\/291551"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/291547"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=291545"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=291545"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=291545"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}