TO: NZRL Staff, Districts and Affiliates and Board FROM: Cushla Dawson DATE: 24 August 2009 RE: Media Summary Tuesday 18 August to Monday 24 August 2009 Broken ‘Tank’ blow for Kiwis: The Kiwis and Wests Tigers have been dealt a hammer blow with the season- ending injury to blockbusting wing Taniela Tuiaki. The league's top tryscorer had been in line for a place in the Kiwis' Four Nations touring party for the tournament also featuring the Kangaroos, French and Great Britain in England and France later this season. Bulls regain league cup: Raucous cheers broke out around the dressing room as the Canterbury Bulls celebrated co-coach Dave Perkins' 50th birthday by regaining the Rugby League Cup. The Bulls beat arch-rival Auckland 32-30 in Christchurch yesterday to kick off their National Provincial Premiership (NPP) campaign. Pressure builds for Kiwi boys: While several Kiwi players in the NRL are showing good form in the leadup to the naming of the Four Nations squad, the injury toll is also rising. As Kiwis coach, I've been pretty happy with the recent performances of many New Zealand players in the NRL. My side the Storm played Newcastle last Monday night and while the loss was painful, the silver lining if you want to call it that was that two guys pushing for New Zealand honours Zeb Taia and Junior Sau had excellent games. Bartercard National Provincial Premiership kicks off. NZRL chief executive Jim Doyle today confirmed that Bartercard continues to be a cornerstone partner of the national game. “This is now the 10th consecutive year that Bartercard has been the major sponsor of the national competition, which demonstrates their strong commitment to our game” says Doyle. NZRL and Sky Television announce long term partnership: The New Zealand Rugby League and Sky Television today announced they had signed a four-year contract, one of the longest in the NZRL’s history. Chief executive Jim Doyle said the NZRL was delighted terms had been reached on such a significant broadcasting agreement. Tigers Rugby League looking to the future: Dannevirke Tigers Rugby League Club has officially signed on to the Club Assist programme run by Sport Manawatu. The Tigers have a lot of involvement with the community and want to ensure that they are a strong viable club that can be part of the local sports scene long-term. Broken ‘Tank’ blow for Kiwis The Kiwis and Wests Tigers have been dealt a hammer blow with the season-ending injury to blockbusting wing Taniela Tuiaki. The league's top tryscorer had been in line for a place in the Kiwis' Four Nations touring party for the tournament also featuring the Kangaroos, French and Great Britain in England and France later this season. But "The Tank" will not play again this year after breaking his leg in the Tigers' 18-26 loss to the Eels in a thriller at the Sydney Football Stadium on Friday night. Kiwis coach Steve Kearney, writing in his Sunday News column, was sympathetic about the big wing's plight. "I really feel sorry for Taniela because I know he has worked extremely hard to get himself into a position where he is challenging for a test jumper and he'll be very disappointed with this setback." A crowd of almost 35,000 was treated to some stunning technical play from both sides with Benji Marshall brilliant for the Tigers and Jarryd Hayne shining for the Eels with a stunning kick and chase for the final try of the game three minutes from time. Parramatta captain Nathan Cayless, the world cup-winning Kiwis skipper, has revealed a no-holds-barred mid- season meeting between the players was the turning point in a season that has seen the Eels go from wooden spoon candidates to premiership contenders. It was impossible to think the Eels would be anywhere near the finals back in round 12 when a struggling Cronulla side ended a run of nine successive defeats with a 13-10 win at a freezing Parramatta Stadium, leaving the Eels third-last on the ladder. And Cayless said that game was the moment when the players felt something had to be done to stop their season spiralling out of control. "After the Cronulla game we had a chat as a team and said we have to do everything we could to improve," Cayless said. "We didn't want to go to the bottom of the table which is where we were heading. "And after that meeting we went up to Newcastle and got a good win and we have picked up momentum from then and it is a credit all of the players and the staff to be where we are now." The Eels chalked up their sixth successive victory on Friday and are the in-form team leading into the final two weeks of the season. THE METRE-EATERS of the NRL are suddenly on a hunger strike. St George Illawarra's 2009 premiership drive has hit a speed bump with their first back-to-back defeat of the year, a 2-12 loss to Brisbane at WIN Stadium in Wollongong on Friday night jeopardising their minor premiership chances. And just as it was in the 24-12 defeat in Canberra last week, the Dragons lost their go-forward against the Broncos, making just 1197m. It was their second worst yardage gain this year, following the 1211m in Canberra, and well down on their season average of 1452m. Centre Matt Cooper says the Dragons are finding it difficult getting out of their own half, not even a favourable 8- 4 penalty count helping them get momentum against a defiant Brisbane side. "We just didn't get any field position," said Cooper. "Their line speed was great and we were struggling to get out of our half. "That was probably a major issue for us so we have to look at that. "We're still on top of the table, but you don't want to be going into the semis with losses under your belt." The loss has put the Dragons' once vice-like grip on the minor premiership in danger, with the Bulldogs capable of drawing level on 36 competition points when they meet the Sydney Roosters tomorrow night. With the Dragons facing the more difficult run to the finals with South Sydney (away) and Parramatta (home) in the final two weeks the red and whites need to rediscover their winning form quickly. But there is no panic in the camp. Cooper says if anything the back-to-back losses will only make the Dragons hungrier for the ultimate success at the end of the year. AAP (Source: Sunday Star-Times, 23 August 2009) Bulls regain league cup Raucous cheers broke out around the dressing room as the Canterbury Bulls celebrated co-coach Dave Perkins' 50th birthday by regaining the Rugby League Cup. The Bulls beat arch-rival Auckland 32-30 in Christchurch yesterday to kick off their National Provincial Premiership (NPP) campaign. However, they caused a few flutters for their fans as Auckland amassed 16 unanswered points in a frenetic final quarter at Rugby League Park. The northerners hammered at the red-and-black line in the dying seconds, but Suaia Matagi's pushed pass brushed Shaun Metcalf's fingertips and the knock-on gave the Bulls a grateful reprieve. Perkins said the Bulls were "pretty proud" to wrest back the venerable trophy after losing it to Auckland in last year's provincial grand final. "We spoke about that during the week with some of the older guys speaking to the new guys about how much it meant." He praised rookie props Leo To'omalatai and Alex Todd who "worked hard through the middle". Todd almost created a try with a barnstorming bust that left Auckland fullback Albert Short sprawled on the deck before he was assisted from the field. Lively wing Junior Salevao scored a slick try in the first spell and bristled with aggression on attack and saved a certain try with a bone-rattling hit in the second spell. The Bulls survived a slow start that saw them concede a soft try to Auckland dummy half Vince Fatu. For the next 50 minutes, they had the visitors under the cosh, constructing some clever tries as they clinically completed their tackle sets. Hooker Nathan Sherlock captaining Canterbury for the first time in place of flu-stricken skipper Jonny Limmer was as artful as ever on attack. His inside passes created havoc in the Auckland ranks. Big Chris Bamford crashed over as he expertly ran onto a Sherlock special. Centre Craig Smith pushed off a defender to score and Sherlock loomed up in support of Jonny Aranga for the Bulls' fourth try to set up a 22-4 lead. However, chunky Auckland interchange forward Jesse Ioapo scored either side of halftime to spark a mini- comeback. The Bulls seemed safe after Smith scored his second try and industrious second rower James Baxendale batted away a tackler and sprinted for the line for a 32-14 lead after 53 minutes. It was one-way traffic thereafter as Rick McCamish and Alfred Williams hit back for Auckland and former Cantabrian Shaun Metcalf dashed 65 metres to score after intercepting a Josh Reuben pass. Aaron Woodhouse's goal cut the deficit to two points and made for a nervous finish. Auckland lost the ball in a lunge for the line. The Bulls were down to one fit reserve, but Tonga Mounga limped back on despite a knee injury and almost scored from his own deft grubber kick.