Returning to the scene of his greatest finals heartache may be tough, but Wayne Bennett’s Suncorp Stadium rendezvous pales in comparison to the week from hell the St George Illawarra coach previously endured.
Bennett’s Dragons will on Saturday night be out to avoid being the first NRL minor premiers to suffer a “straight sets” finals exit since the introduction of the McIntyre system when they meet Brisbane in a sudden-death semi-final.
But, describing the build-up to last weekend’s qualifying final loss to Parramatta as “the toughest week’s coaching I’ve been in for …

A RECORD $4 million-plus has been tipped for a Cabarita waterfront home as vendors line up their fresh spring auction listings.

The prestige Parramatta River listing would break the suburb’s potentially shortlived $3.8 million record set in July.
Despite the headlines about the weak property market in the top price range, agents have continued to set record prices across Sydney.
A Connells Point waterfront house has been sold for a record $3 million, days after a $2.5 million top bid at its August auction.
”There were five registered bidders, with two subsequently putting …

IT’S ALL or nothing for Parramatta tonight. Having come this far after looking bewitched, bothered and bewildered halfway through the season, nothing short of winning the premiership is going to satisfy their appetite.

Their engine in the forwards, second-rower Nathan Hindmarsh, made it clear before training yesterday that if they lost tonight, or next weekend, or in the grand final, they wouldn’t be able to console themselves with thoughts like ”we did pretty well in the end, considering”.
Asked if it would be a huge disappointment if they didn’t win it from …

Thick fog has left ferry passengers on the Parramatta River stranded, forcing commuters to find another way to work this morning.

The fog has now lifted but before it did, it also caused delays at Sydney Airport.
Fifteen international flights had to be diverted to Brisbane and Melbourne while some domestic flights arrived late.
Rod Gilmore from Sydney Airport says there will still be delays throughout the morning.
“So things are back to normal in terms of operations, but obviously there will be impacts particularly to the domestic networks through the morning,” he …

As a seasoned tipster, The Adjudicator knows the only certainties in life are death, taxes and the Dragons losing in the finals.

It makes you wonder, then, what made me think they’d beat Parramatta on Sunday. Maybe, like everyone else, their first-place finish and their 37-0 flogging of the Eels the previous week blinded me to their unrivalled choking ability in September.
Unfortunately, the start of the finals didn’t agree with The Adjudicator, either. Some might consider two from four acceptable at this time of year. But I’m a perfectionist and it just …