Midweek Madness - David Mead's one handed pick-up try in the NRL
If you've followed RD over the years, you'll know that it's very rare for Rugby League to be posted on here. Occasionally though, we'll come across a brilliant piece of skill that is cross-code transferable, and therefore needs to be shared.
This is one of those occasions, so as much as you might dislike the code of League for whatever reason, if this were scored in normal rugby, it would be a sensational try. It wasn't scored in Union though, it was scored in the NRL in Australia, but we'll give it the credit it deserves anyway, as it's a fantastic piece of skill by young David Mead of the Gold Coast Titans.
Following a cross-kick from Scott Prince that looked to have gone too far, Mead simply reached down and scooped it up on the half-volley as the ball miraculously stuck to his hand, before he reeled it in and dived over for the try.
"I think it was a bit flukey, to be honest. I saw it and I thought it hit the line, but I'm pretty happy about scoring it. It just stuck. I don't know how, but I'm glad it did," Mead said later.
Titans assistant coach Steve Murphy said that he's the type of player who is capable of pulling off those bits of skill. "I can’t believe he caught that ball. It was just one of those freak things, those amazing things. He’s got those in him, Dave," said Murphy.
It was his second try of the night and a brilliant effort that quite simply needs to be seen by sports fans around the world, whether you're into League or not.
Time: 02:13
This is one of those occasions, so as much as you might dislike the code of League for whatever reason, if this were scored in normal rugby, it would be a sensational try. It wasn't scored in Union though, it was scored in the NRL in Australia, but we'll give it the credit it deserves anyway, as it's a fantastic piece of skill by young David Mead of the Gold Coast Titans.
Following a cross-kick from Scott Prince that looked to have gone too far, Mead simply reached down and scooped it up on the half-volley as the ball miraculously stuck to his hand, before he reeled it in and dived over for the try.
"I think it was a bit flukey, to be honest. I saw it and I thought it hit the line, but I'm pretty happy about scoring it. It just stuck. I don't know how, but I'm glad it did," Mead said later.
Titans assistant coach Steve Murphy said that he's the type of player who is capable of pulling off those bits of skill. "I can’t believe he caught that ball. It was just one of those freak things, those amazing things. He’s got those in him, Dave," said Murphy.
It was his second try of the night and a brilliant effort that quite simply needs to be seen by sports fans around the world, whether you're into League or not.
Time: 02:13
Share | Tweet |
64 Comments:
Good hand skills, but from my point of view the ball bounced almost directly to his hand. Prety surprising thoug.
By Anonymous, at August 10, 2011 5:18 pm
as an American, my first love of the codes was NRL. I NEVER have a problem with showing rugby league on here.
By jdawg, at August 10, 2011 5:22 pm
Man i hate nrl, living in Aus would be so much better if i didnt have to see it everywhere i went.
Please no more, even if the skills are good.
By Anonymous, at August 10, 2011 5:26 pm
OMG BRIAN O'DRISCOLL DID IT FIRST!
By Anonymous, at August 10, 2011 5:36 pm
got to love the refs face more then anything
By HwA, at August 10, 2011 5:40 pm
At 20 secs the ref says that it's an outstanding pick-up!!
By kevin, at August 10, 2011 6:29 pm
good rescue of a poor kick
By Anonymous, at August 10, 2011 6:33 pm
Let's just keep watching that. Classic.
As the site is called "RugbyDump" and not "UnionDump" it is always great to see the most magical bits of League too.
Thanks RD. I'll be trying to put my wingers in for a few of those this coming season although we are all useless and I can't kick to save my life so it may make the Friday funnies rather than the highlights. :)
By Anonymous, at August 10, 2011 7:28 pm
I dont come here to watch league trash
By Anonymous, at August 10, 2011 7:56 pm
then fuck off and watch clips on youtube you trolling cunt
By Anonymous, at August 10, 2011 8:05 pm
he just gamble it. great kill though
By rooney, at August 10, 2011 8:12 pm
I agree with "Anonymous" - it's called "RugbyDump", which includes both codes.
I wouldn't have an issue with league highlights as well as union.
Thanks RD!
By Denzil, at August 10, 2011 10:01 pm
Haters gonna hate.
Superb reflexes!! great try. Doesn't matter if anyone did it first you BOD lovers. Sheesh.
agree with HwA and Anon 7:28
By Stubby, at August 10, 2011 10:18 pm
I don't like League -like, at all- but you've got to say that was good skill. The bounce was perfect though...
I think it's okay to upload classic bits of League, maybe the State of Origin, rare skills... but definitely not highlights and tackles as often as union ones, not even close.
Cheers!
By Juggernauter, at August 10, 2011 10:20 pm
incredible............ best one handed pickup i've ever seen and i've seen many.
By Anonymous, at August 10, 2011 10:37 pm
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
By Anonymous, at August 10, 2011 11:10 pm
The only downside to that vid is the constant use of slo-mo in the replays. At full speed that is one of the most incredible try's ever
By Rich, at August 10, 2011 11:27 pm
That's awesome... who cares what code... its a rugby ball and great hands... does anything else matter
By Anonymous, at August 10, 2011 11:54 pm
That was great, but I'm not quite as enthused as the commentators, maybe it's due to the element of luck involved. Anyway, I'd love to see good bits from our stop start friends playing the other code. Cheers RD.
By Bryn, at August 11, 2011 12:39 am
I'd love to see some more digital rugby from the new zealanders! :p mmm yum yum...
By Anonymous, at August 11, 2011 1:10 am
That's Australian rugby league. What does it have to do with New Zealanders? idiot.
By Anonymous, at August 11, 2011 1:24 am
Great try, amazing pick up.
And league is awesome.
I wish they showed more of it on here.
The only problem is the whingers who have a cry out of some weird idiotic reflexive hate of rugby league.
By Anonymous, at August 11, 2011 1:25 am
Not a fan of League, but a rugby ball's a rugby ball, and picking up one-handed, in full stride, is pretty damn hard. I never manage to do it, so I've developed this unique skill of pretending to do it and then kicking the ball instead. It's all fine in theory, except that at my level of licensed amateur rugby, called "leisure rugby" or "rugby loisir" in its original wording, it's hands only and no kicks.
By moddeur, at August 11, 2011 1:41 am
I also don't like RL, but that was awesome!!!!
By Anonymous, at August 11, 2011 1:59 am
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
By Anonymous, at August 11, 2011 3:10 am
Anyone else seeing Digby Ioane trying out a new dance move in the picture there?
By red, at August 11, 2011 4:00 am
Not much of a RL fan, HOWEVER, Union could learn something in the way of post try celebration. Rather subdued compared to some of the hugging and lovefests we've grown accustomed to in Union. RD, please feel free to post any code post try non-celebrations. I've grown tired of Union try validation celebrations.
By Anonymous, at August 11, 2011 6:10 am
Of course there is luck involved, if not shit like this would happen everyday and it wouldn't show up on RD. The confluence luck, skill and intent leads to magic.
Sports awesome-ness is sports awesomen-ness. I'd happily watch stuff like this all day, be it league, rugby, football, cricket, golf or womens' beach volleyball.
By RememberTheMer, at August 11, 2011 6:37 am
Anonymous said...Union could learn something in the way of post try celebration. Rather subdued compared to some of the hugging and lovefests we've grown accustomed to in Union.
You obviously don't watch much League.
By Andy, at August 11, 2011 7:25 am
^ Andy
This celebration had an air of the "Fuck me, did just I do that?" about it.
By RememberTheMer, at August 11, 2011 7:55 am
Yeah, sometimes they celebrate wildly, somtimes they don't.
Depends on the player and situation I guess.
Frankly I don't understand what the fuss is all about either way. Who cares how they celebrate? What does it matter? And why does it bother people so much to see them happy about scoring?
It's jsut a weird thing to get annoyed by.
By N, at August 11, 2011 8:00 am
I am with RememberTheMer on this - I could watch great skill from any sport, including Women's beach volleyball.
Actually, come to think of it, especially women's beach volleyball. Hell, poor skill in women's beach volleyball is still awesome to watch!
By Anonymous, at August 11, 2011 9:34 am
^Anon
With beach volleyball, the luck I have in mind is lucky for me. The players not so much.
By RememberTheMer, at August 11, 2011 9:39 am
Agreed "N". What's there to care about?
As long as its not disrespectful or belittling of their opponents. E.g. as an AB fan I loved Sivivatu scoring against the Lions but could have done without him then planting the ball on Shane Williams head. That was classless.
By Anonymous, at August 11, 2011 9:54 am
I'm not in the "celebrations are wrong" crowd, but I think I understand their point. Rugby is a true team sport, and unless you score an individual-effort try, you're not expected to celebrate as if you, the try-scorer, are more important than anyone else in the team at that given moment in time.
By moddeur, at August 11, 2011 11:38 am
"That is the try of century"
lol easy easy my lord, take some distance :)
that said, A fantastic and very lucky pick-up, i love the player's astonished reaction
By Colombes, at August 11, 2011 11:44 am
Unbelievable skill. Any one of us can try that 500 times (I myself even 5000 times) and it won't happen.
Good stuff, RD!
By Guy, at August 11, 2011 11:54 am
I just don't see how being happy is disrespectful to the team, Modduer.
It's just people being happy they scored. There's nothing more to it than that. It's fine, surely.
By N, at August 11, 2011 11:59 am
cheers RD, can we please get a lot more quality mungoball clips, it seems the NRL is full of extravagant bits of skill that fans of both codes should appreciate.
By Anonymous, at August 11, 2011 12:01 pm
@N
I think you're right, and anyhow I don't mind it really, as long as it's not over-the-top, as in taking your shirt off and jumping into the crowd, like footballers do (I recall they invented an offense for taking your shirt off in football just to deal with that, or so I think).
By moddeur, at August 11, 2011 12:32 pm
i'd be happy to see more league on RD. A lot of people don't realise but union owes a lot to league, one only has to look at the number of ex league defence coaches in union nowadays, the impact that some (not all) league players have had when switching codes and not to forget the clash of the codes from the past.
By Anonymous, at August 11, 2011 4:52 pm
i think there should be more clips of league on here tbh! give us more big hits more vids more enjoyment. you have to to love league but you can admire the big hits n some of the more skillful tries and plays, more league more variety! beautyy of a try too
By Anonymous, at August 11, 2011 4:58 pm
If you show more league the maybe there will be less hand-wringing about the evils of failing to wrap in the tackle.
By RememberTheMer, at August 11, 2011 5:09 pm
For all the league bashers out there I'd love to see Matt Banahan pull off a similar play.
By Anonymous, at August 11, 2011 5:35 pm
that was awesome.
Lived in Aus for 3 years and tried my best to get into NRL, it just didn't happen, incredibly boring and one dimensional game.
By Anonymous, at August 11, 2011 6:20 pm
How could you not like RL? I grew up playing both. Its almost identical to RU, but no rucks and no pushing in the scrum. Im guessing the RL haters all play in the tight 5.
As a back I loved playing league. Theres so much room and you dont have to worry about going to ground and securing the ball, just run as hard as you can. Much respect for RL.
Thanks RD.
By BMan, at August 11, 2011 11:51 pm
Another great RL try from the weekend:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B88zh1yLEuE
By BMan, at August 11, 2011 11:54 pm
Forget tries, what about James Segeyaro monster kamikaze hit the other week
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxGTb4X33V8
Massive effort from someone his size, albeit very illegal in Rugby lol
By Anonymous, at August 12, 2011 12:05 am
i like this bit of contact http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yc36YVrN584
as for rl if you look at some of josh charnley's last few tries, such as the one against warrington in the challenge up, you'll see local lads have toe!
By Anonymous, at August 12, 2011 12:29 am
This is one of my favorite clips about league.
The battle of the front rowers, O'meley and Gibbs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkrY3d1kvoE&feature=feedrec_grec_index
O'meley wins in the end.
It's one of the cool things about league, two players can have a one-on-one running battle during a game.
By N, at August 12, 2011 1:04 am
Being from the US, Union is pretty much the only rugby I've ever seen here, so League is not really an option. Also, I'm not sure I've got enough bolts loose to play it...seems like you've got to be at least a little bit insane to play a game with that many body checks.
I still love watching clips of it, though. The ball handling and tactical kicking is definitely a bit better in League by the looks of it.
Anyway, a question I've got that maybe you lot who've played League might know - why do the tacklers always seem to mess with the player after the tackle? A little shove, or an elbow, or something...they never just release and reset for defense. And the tackled player himself always seems to wriggle or something, which just seems like a waste of energy.
Is all that just to keep a competitive edge and mindset?
By mike, at August 12, 2011 3:55 am
^Mike
Its kind of tradition, just the way things are done. Like the catcher abusing the hitter. Like most traditions, it was also stronger in the past.
By Anonymous, at August 12, 2011 4:41 am
There's more to it than that.
The reason they wrestle after the tackle is to slow down the play the ball.
Basically in league, when you get tackled, the ruck isn't contested like in union, you simpyl stand up and ruck the ball back(just basically put the ball on the ground and knock it back with your foot).
What players try to do is get tackled, then jump up and play the ball as fast as possible, to get their attack going fast, and to be running at a backpedalling defence.
So what defenders try to do is slow the play the ball down. They do this by trying to wrestle the tackled player onto his back and slow him down from standing and playing the ball. In fact, every single NRL (Australian league, the best league comp in the world) team employs and works with wrestling and ju-jitsu coaches. Many of the players actually practice ju-jitsu as part of their training, and some have blue or brown belts in ju-jitsu.
They say that the game is won or lost in the ruck in the NRL.
So while it is also to rough the guy up after abig hit, the rough stuff after the tackle is mainly to slow down the play the ball.
By N, at August 12, 2011 6:49 am
Right, that's what I figured.
But is it not illegal to do that in League - to slow down the ball? Or is it, but it's just so ubiquitous that refs tend to let it go, so long as it's not gratuitous and excessive?
By mike, at August 12, 2011 6:53 am
^^ Mike
What the tacklers do is hold the ball carrier down so that their defensive line can get back 10m and set the line for the next play. However, holding the player down for too long is a penalty. If the defensive line isnt set and the runner plays the ball quickly, his team will most probably get front foot ball. Front foot ball is very dangerous.
By BMan, at August 12, 2011 6:55 am
A great tribute to one of the bruisers in league, Fui Fui Moi Moi :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tLybVHUUwM
By Anonymous, at August 12, 2011 7:02 am
Mike, yeah, it is illegal to hold them down for too long, or to go too far and drop an elbow on their head or whatever.
It's kind of up to the ref how long he's going to let them hold the guy down, or how much rough stuff he allows, so it's never entirley clear what is and isn't illegal (kind of like rucks in union).
What's interesting is that players are now using MMA holds and chokes on players, and it's causing a bit of consternation in the game, about what is and isn't allowable.
By N, at August 12, 2011 7:04 am
There's also the "dominant" tackle, after a dominant tackle the ref allows you to lay down on the tackled man a little longer, kind of a reward for your good work.
The reason people kick out when being wrestled on the floor is basically a way of saying "Come on ref, he's all over me". If players just led there without moving the ref is more inclined to not blow the penalty.
Like N said though it's subjective. Some games and refs promote really quick play the ball, while others don't. Likewise some teams wrestle more than others. Similar to how in Rugby some refs are hard on players not releasing quickly, while others allow a bit more leniency.
By Anonymous, at August 12, 2011 7:46 am
nice moi moi clip but i raise you England's own Sam Burgess, sit down Fui Fui
By Anonymous, at August 12, 2011 10:26 am
and the aforementioned clip
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFV6G0QKF3E
apologies for the music, not my choosing.
By Anonymous, at August 12, 2011 10:28 am
Amazing, Thanks RD!!
By Anonymous, at August 14, 2011 9:53 am
Whats the bet the video referee had that decided by the first time :P
By Anonymous, at August 14, 2011 10:42 am
incredible and superb.....excellent tackle.
Adam
By zip codes by city, at August 16, 2011 2:11 pm
Well spam bot Adam, I suggest you learn the game before getting programmed to spam something you know nowt about...
By Anonymous, at August 16, 2011 9:17 pm
Post a Comment
<< Home