It produced the same effect Jason Ryles losing the ball to Ruben Wiki

It produced the same effect, Jason Ryles losing the ball to Ruben Wiki in a tackle. From that the Kiwis took the lead thanks to Nigel Vagana’s wonderful one-handed pass to Brent Webb.Wiki undid all that good work when he gave away a penalty on the last tackle of a set. Trailing at the interval, the Kangaroos showed why they are the favourites for the tournament but they suffered a major blow when Lockyer departed the field with suspected damaged ribs.
In wet, windy conditions, similar to those in which they drew with Australia in Auckland last week, New Zealand adopted similar tactics, going for big hits from the start. Australia’s captain, Darren Lockyer, inspired them to a Tri-Nations victory over New Zealand at the second attempt, but they had to lift their game in the second half at a packed Loftus Road. And that means having Adrian Morley on the pitch and not in the dressing room.. It’s just a matter of stepping up to international level and I think they can handle that.”If they are to do so and produce the sort of performances that can beat the Kangaroos and Kiwis, they will need the guidance of the players who have proved they can do it. “Players like Ryan Bailey and Danny Ward have always had the talent.

Among those for whom he must set a lead are six players from his old club, Leeds, several of whom were only just starting to make their mark when he was lured by the bright lights of Sydney. “We’re not intimidated by either side.”If those brave words are to be matched by action, Morley, now one of the senior players in the squad, must set the right example. “I think we can beat them both,” he says, as thoughts turn to next Saturday’s meeting with Australia at the City of Manchester Stadium. “I would love to find out if I could handle that sort of game, but not if it meant giving up playing for Great Britain.”Five minutes in the company of Adrian Morley would show anyone just how motivated he is for this tournament, especially after seeing Australia and New Zealand in action already. Although he is in the process of applying for Australian residency, he is adamant that will never get in the way of playing for the country of his birth.There have been suggestions that he could go the whole hog, qualify for citizenship and even play in the State of Origin series – the sort of blood-and-thunder event he would relish. He was also banned from driving after getting bored waiting for a taxi and jumping in his car when he was, by his own admission, “full of drink”.

It was a particularly embarrassing gaffe at the end of a Test series sponsored by the government’s anti-drink driving campaign and another reason why he has promised to be on his best behaviour this time.For all his celebrity in Australia, where he enjoys a beach-side lifestyle and the sort of profile unknown in league here, playing for Great Britain remains a major priority for Morley. “But it’s quite hard if you get a bit of a reputation and it’s a bit more strict in Australia. It’s also getting to the stage there where if you get hit you stay down, which is taking the sportsmanship out of the game.”Morley’s indiscretions on his last trip home were not confined to the field of play. He has served three suspensions this year, two of them for high tackles on the current Australian half-backs, Craig Gower and Brett Kimmorley.”There’s been nothing malicious,” he says.

It is not easy being Adrian Morley and staying on the right side of the law, however. It is part of his role as an intimidator that he goes in to make big hits around the height that the ball is carried. “You’re coached to tackle around there and you only have to be a little bit high to catch them and be in trouble.”His record in Australia this season is not one of a player who has always steered the right side of that line. I just sat in the dressing room sulking and feeling sorry for myself and I pretty much blamed myself for the result.”It all means that the former Leeds second-rower goes into this new tournament feeling that he owes his country and his team-mates something this time. I wanted to put a big hit in for the boys, to get everyone going, but I got a bit too excited.”Morley’s high tackle on Robbie Kearns saw him dispatched to the dressing room in a haze of self-reproach “It was a nightmare I just thought I had let everyone down. “You’ve got to be psyched up, but I won’t be going bananas like last year. For this time last year, just 12 seconds into the Ashes series, Morley was sent off after his very first tackle, so setting off a pattern of misadventure which turned a series that could and should have been won into a 3-0 defeat for which he still holds himself largely responsible.
“I learned a lesson the hard way last season and it won’t happen again this year,” promises Morley, the Sydney Roosters forward who is the one British player facing the best in the southern hemisphere on a weekly basis.

When Adrian Morley makes his first tackle of the Gillette Tri-Nations series, British rugby league – providing that it passes off without major incident – will breathe a huge sigh of relief. It is the first time in a long time, however, that so many teams have been prepared to put aside their own best interests to act in those of a troubled sport, and the proposals have met with widespread approval among non-racing members of the F1 fraternity Now it rests with Todt.. But the significance lies in the agreement of nine of the 10 teams, and there will be a lot of horse trading in the days to come.Up until yesterday afternoon things were looking bleak in a paddock in which three of the teams are in need of life support, but it remains to be seen whether the darkest hour really did come before a new dawn. Even the threat that he could end up being portrayed as the man who refused to agree to proposals that could have saved two of the oldest races on the calendar is unlikely to move him.As with many things in F1, today’s dramatic proposal may turn out to be yesterday’s chimera. Todt is not a man for turning, nor squandering the advantage Ferrari have so assiduously built over 10 years.