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Fitting farewell Canberra says goodbye to Daley with win
Posted: Sunday July 09, 2000 11:28 AM
SYDNEY (Reuters) -- Canberra raced to second on the Australian National Rugby League (NRL) ladder on Sunday as they said farewell to champion flyhalf Laurie Daley with a 40-12 win over Sydney City in Canberra. Daley, 30, a former Australian captain and 21-test veteran, is retiring this year and Sunday's match was the Raiders' last home game for the season. Amid plenty of hype, the match was also an emotional send-off for Canberra's Brett Mullins and David Furner, both former Australian test representatives who are heading to England after this NRL season. Mullins scored twice, Furner kicked six goals from seven attempts and club captain Daley played an inspirational role in the win, although he narrowly failed to score a try, missed a field goal and was unsuccessful with a conversion attempt. Earlier, Daley choked back tears as he ran on to the field through a guard of honor of hundreds of children wearing the Raiders' green jerseys. "I went to talk to the boys just as I was running down and I started crying," Daley said after the match. Competition leaders Brisbane beat Northern Eagles 32-22 on Sunday to remain undefeated in Brisbane this year. Canberra, Sydney City and Penrith are all on 26 points with three rounds remaining, eight points (four wins) behind Brisbane. Newcastle, Melbourne and Parramatta are in fifth, sixth and seventh places respectively, all on 25 points. A two-try burst by Queensland State of Origin center Paul Bowman sealed bottom side North Queensland's 38-26 win over Wests Tigers in Townsville on Sunday. Newcastle lost 22-18 to Parramatta in Sydney on Friday night before the defeated coach Warren Ryan used his after-match news conference to protest about two head-high tackles on his fullback Adam MacDougall, saying they warranted send-offs. Penrith and Australian test center Ryan Girdler, with 18 points including one try, passed Greg Alexander's club record of 1,104 points as the Panthers crushed St.George-Illawarra 42-12 in Sydney on Saturday. Australian and Melbourne coach Chris Anderson said the announcement this week by test halfback Brett Kimmorley that he was leaving the club next year to play with the Northern Eagles had damaged team unity. Anderson was speaking after the sixth-placed Storm had been upset by the struggling Bulldogs 31-22 in Melbourne on Saturday. The Bulldogs dedicated their win to former club chief executive Peter Moore who died during the week. The eighth-placed Sharks remain in contention for a top-four berth after a 22-12 victory in Sydney over Auckland on Saturday.
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
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