Legends of League - The Qld Floods Fundraiser Match

This match was played last night with the purpose of raising more money for the victims of the devastating Queensland floods two weeks ago.

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/legends-give-brutal-best-to-raise-funds-20110127-1a74g.html

The brainchild of former NSW Origin 'bad boy' Mark Geyer - the match was organised within 9 days, was played in front of a near capacity Parramtta Stadium and had raised over $380k by full-time.

The general atmosphere of this match was one of 'coming together for a common cause', a revisiting of some of the great clashes between the two States - not to forget some unfinished business between particular players. Some of the players actually wore 'cans' and were miked up during quieter periods of play enabling some classic banter between the commentary box and the field of play. The commentry itself was broadcast over the loudspeaker system and on several occasions the crowd erupted in hysterics at some of the 'comments' and classic banter.

Make no mistake though. These old legends were far from being non-competitive. In fact, it could be said that at least a handful of them would still be competitive in the current NRL. The pace was fast (at least for 3 and a half quarters of 15 mins), the ball skills were still there and some of the hits were quite brutal. Geyer and Lewis (sideline commentary) even re-enacted their famous 'nose-to-nose disagreement' with Bill Harrigan 'attempting to cool things down'.

I was very impressed with players like Adrian Lam, Robbie O'Davis (both still very quick!), Big Mal (still able to offload with 4 tacklers hanging off him), Kerrod Walters (genius), Terry Lamb, Cliff Lyons (saved an almost certain try by batting the ball over the dead ball line), Wishart (dashing ever so close down the side lines), Nathan Blacklock and David Peachey (each scored a try), Gary Belcher and Kevin Campion (can still make a decent hit), Willie Carne, Sam Backo, Paul Sironen, and my old mate 'Spud' - Mark Carroll, who still has that massive chip on his shoulder (which is good to see!)

Of the recently retired players - Gordon Tallis (man of the match?), Wendell Sailor (he loves that camera), Brad Fittler, 'Brandy' Alexander and Andrew Symonds (yes, the cricketer!) all had good games.

After racing away to a 20-4 lead, the Maroons took their foot off the pedal and allowed the Blues back into the match with a few late tries - the last one assisted by Harrigan which led to a 'minor altercation' under the goalposts in the closing seconds.

Final score: Queensland 20 : 16 NSW

Liner.
Nice to hear about Queensland and New South Wales coming together to raise funds for the flood relief,what made it seem more real was your comment about a minor bit of 'Biff' at the end. Still QLD V NSW.

Great.

Yeah Ecky,

It wouldn't be state of origin without a bit of the biff.

A small correction to my last post - it was Kerrod Walters, not his brother Kev.

There's another match coming our way soon at Skilled Park on the Gold Coast on Saturday, February 12.
Should be a another cracker of a match!


NRL ALL STARS:
Josh Dugan Canberra Raiders
Akuila Uate Newcastle Knights
Michael Jennings Penrith Panthers
Jamie Lyon Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles
Brett Morris St George Illawarra Dragons
Darren Lockyer (c) Brisbane Broncos
Benji Marshall Wests Tigers
Ben Hannant Brisbane Broncos
Cameron Smith Melbourne Storm
Matthew Scott North Queensland Cowboys
Nathan Hindmarsh Parramatta Eels
Gareth Ellis Wests Tigers
Paul Gallen Cronulla Sharks
Dave Taylor South Sydney Rabbitohs
Ashley Harrison Gold Coast Titans
Feleti Mateo New Zealand Warriors
Shaun Kenny-Dowall Sydney Roosters
Michael Ennis Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs
Petero Civoniceva Penrith Panthers
Kurt Gidley Newcastle Knights

INDIGENOUS ALL STARS:
Preston Campbell (c) Gold Coast Titans
Nathan Merritt South Sydney Rabbitohs
Willie Tonga North Queensland Cowboys
Greg Inglis South Sydney Rabbitohs
Jharal Yow Yeh Brisbane Broncos
Scott Prince Gold Coast Titans
Johnathan Thurston North Queensland Cowboys
Tom Learoyd-Lahrs Canberra Raiders
Travis Waddell Canberra Raiders
George Rose Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles
Sam Thaiday Brisbane Broncos
Jamal Idris Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs
Greg Bird Gold Coast Titans
Ben Barba Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs
Jamie Soward St George Illawarra Dragons
Carl Webb Parramatta Eels
Cory Paterson Newcastle Knights
Joel Thompson Canberra Raiders
Ryan James Gold Coast Titans
Matt Bowen North Queensland Cowboys

The NRL All Stars have made a good start against the Indigenous All Stars.

Currently 22-6 at half time. Skilled Park looks pretty full.

I really like Rugby League, i know i am a rugby man but i do like the game.

Its good to see some money being raised for the victems. Australia has had one hell of a fight with mother nature this year.

Yeah, it was a crazy summer here Billy - floods, cyclones and fires.

The final score was 28-12 to the NRL All Stars. Josh Dugan was named man of the match.

Tonight it's the Charity Shield - St George-Illawarra v South Sydney.

Next Friday the Super 15 rugby kicks off. Waratahs v Rebels should be interesting. Richie McCaw out for 6 weeks with an injury. I'm looking forward to the new season.

Here's a post match review of the All Stars match. This was only the second year - last year it was 16-12 to the Indigenous All Stars.

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/nrl-stars-shine-on-night-of-big-hits-20110212-1aric.html

It was almost as if everytime i turned on the news something else was hitting Australia, i really felt for you guys.

For a few days it was continuous live coverage here Billy - it was like other news didn't exist. Things are a lot calmer now but we're not out of the woods just yet.

The final score for the Charity Shield was Saints 32 : Rabbitohs 10

I think this years World Club Challenge will be a good one.

Loads of my Aussie friends have sent me vid of the floods in Qld, it was unbelievable.