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globalrugbyleague - Sun, 01 Apr 2007 00:15:00 GMTSouth Sydney sensation Nathan Merritt sent an ominous warning to all of his try scoring rivals during his side’s 26-16 win over Cronulla at Toyota Park.
Last year’s leading try scorer bagged another double set of four-pointers for a second consecutive week and could end up leading that category once again after only 3 rounds.
The first came in the 17th minute when the former Sharks star ran through an overlap to score in the left corner. His double then arrived 19 minutes later when he ran 80 metres to touchdown.
The magic behind Merritt’s success however may not be as obvious as the experts would like to think.
While the technical answer behind his success lies in his running game and support work, there is another source behind it.
The answer was in fact revealed after the Rabbitohs 31-6 win over the Eels last weekend.
“He told me during the warm-up he changed where he was sitting in the dressing room and he changed his boots,” Rabbitohs five-eighth Jeremy Smith said last week.
“He’s gone back to the boots that he was wearing last year, so I think that might be the key.
“We just make sure he’s always got them on him.”
The victory over the Sharks afforded South Sydney to record three wins in a row for the first time since 1972, leaving last year’s wooden spoon titleholders near the top of the NRL ladder.
Another former Cronulla legend also returned home in style when David Peachey scored the first try of the night to give South Sydney a 4-0 lead after only 7 minutes of play.
It wasn’t entirely a friendly homecoming either for Peachey who got entangled in some heat with Sharks lock Greg Bird after delivering a hit-up on five-eighth Brett Kearney that could be felt all the way back to Sylvania.
Merritt was next then followed by Daniel Irvine who finished off a gallant piece of lead-up play involving a break up the middle by co-Captain Peter Cusack and some support from Peachey.
Up 16-0 after only 20 minutes of action, the game looked headed for a big scoreline until Sharks winger Luke Covell snatched a ball from the air off a Kimmorley kick to score down the left.
Down 20-4 at half-time following a long range try to Merritt in the 36th minute, the Sharks briefly showed glimpses of a better contest when Issac De Gois scrambled over for a try.
Luke Covell converted but it was not enough to give South Sydney the shakes with David Kidwell touching down himself soon thereafter to extend the lead out to 26-10.
Denied a try by the video hreferee 15 minutes earlier, the Sharks to their credit never gave up and snatched a consolation try in the 78th minute to lock a 10-point loss into the record books.
SOUTHS 26 (N Merritt 2, D Peachey, D Irvine, D Kidwell tries; J Williams 3 goals) def SHARKS 16 (L Covell, I De Gois, F Anderson tries; L Covell 2 goals) at Shark Park, Saturday 31st March 2007. Penalties: 5-5. Line Drop Outs: Sharks 1-0 Video Ref Referrals: Sharks 2-1.
GRL’s Fixture Favourites:
1.Nathan Merritt 2.
2.Daniel Irvine 2 points
3.David Peachey 1 point - Read More, Here
Last year’s leading try scorer bagged another double set of four-pointers for a second consecutive week and could end up leading that category once again after only 3 rounds.
The first came in the 17th minute when the former Sharks star ran through an overlap to score in the left corner. His double then arrived 19 minutes later when he ran 80 metres to touchdown.
The magic behind Merritt’s success however may not be as obvious as the experts would like to think.
While the technical answer behind his success lies in his running game and support work, there is another source behind it.
The answer was in fact revealed after the Rabbitohs 31-6 win over the Eels last weekend.
“He told me during the warm-up he changed where he was sitting in the dressing room and he changed his boots,” Rabbitohs five-eighth Jeremy Smith said last week.
“He’s gone back to the boots that he was wearing last year, so I think that might be the key.
“We just make sure he’s always got them on him.”
The victory over the Sharks afforded South Sydney to record three wins in a row for the first time since 1972, leaving last year’s wooden spoon titleholders near the top of the NRL ladder.
Another former Cronulla legend also returned home in style when David Peachey scored the first try of the night to give South Sydney a 4-0 lead after only 7 minutes of play.
It wasn’t entirely a friendly homecoming either for Peachey who got entangled in some heat with Sharks lock Greg Bird after delivering a hit-up on five-eighth Brett Kearney that could be felt all the way back to Sylvania.
Merritt was next then followed by Daniel Irvine who finished off a gallant piece of lead-up play involving a break up the middle by co-Captain Peter Cusack and some support from Peachey.
Up 16-0 after only 20 minutes of action, the game looked headed for a big scoreline until Sharks winger Luke Covell snatched a ball from the air off a Kimmorley kick to score down the left.
Down 20-4 at half-time following a long range try to Merritt in the 36th minute, the Sharks briefly showed glimpses of a better contest when Issac De Gois scrambled over for a try.
Luke Covell converted but it was not enough to give South Sydney the shakes with David Kidwell touching down himself soon thereafter to extend the lead out to 26-10.
Denied a try by the video hreferee 15 minutes earlier, the Sharks to their credit never gave up and snatched a consolation try in the 78th minute to lock a 10-point loss into the record books.
SOUTHS 26 (N Merritt 2, D Peachey, D Irvine, D Kidwell tries; J Williams 3 goals) def SHARKS 16 (L Covell, I De Gois, F Anderson tries; L Covell 2 goals) at Shark Park, Saturday 31st March 2007. Penalties: 5-5. Line Drop Outs: Sharks 1-0 Video Ref Referrals: Sharks 2-1.
GRL’s Fixture Favourites:
1.Nathan Merritt 2.
2.Daniel Irvine 2 points
3.David Peachey 1 point - Read More, Here