The Melbourne Storm will never recover from losing Brett Kimmorley. It is one of the funny, ongoing themes in Rugby League. A new season begins and it is clear that the Melbourne Storm and its incredible 20+ year run of success looks like its about to end. Its at this point I head to an…
Craig Bellamy has constructed his lofty reputation by producing country club lobster from Burger King yield. The Storm maestro has a sharp eye for the discarded, neglected and misunderstood orphans of the rugby league streets. He spots them through the cold night sky and takes them in with a base contract and a hug before…
With the 2014 season about to begin the supporters of 16 National Rugby League clubs have hearts filled with hope and minds filled with dreams. Right now, anyone can win the Grand Final. Basically, everyone is too bloody happy for my liking! I could have written a normal season preview but there are only about…
Daniel Nichols continues his series of season reviews. Today, the Melbourne Storm are in the firing line! Finished: 3rd Predicted: 3rd Fan Prediction: Top 3 Where It Went Right: Another year, another run deep into the finals. Doom and gloom was forecast after the salary cap penalties were forced upon the Melbourne side, however those…
From South Africa to Wembley Stadium, England’s 2013 Rugby League World Cup buildup and results were interesting to say the least. The Rugby Football League invested a lot of time, money and effort to make sure that England got the best preparation for the 2013 World Cup. No team that has come before had a…
North Queensland Cowboys halfback Johnathan Thurston has accused the National Rugby League of widespread collusion in an effort to have an all-Sydney Grand Final. Thurstons claims came after the Cowboys had their season finish on the back of a disgraceful refereeing mistake that saw the Cronulla Sharks score a try on the 7th tackle in…
The Melbourne Storm are currently looking towards the future and tonight we will see a glimpse of that. The Storm will have youngster Ben Hampton making his NRL debut at five-eighth against the Gold Coast Titans tonight. With current Storm five-eighth Gareth Widdop leaving the club at seasons end to join the St George/Illawarra Dragons,…
It fair to say that at this point of the season, we know enough about every team in the National Rugby League to be able to make some pretty good educated guesses on where teams will finish the season. When I look back at my 2013 National Rugby League Season Preview, I feel like I…
It is very rare that a terrible coach can manage to win a Premiership. It does happen from time to time (Hello Michael Hagan) but for the most part, the best coaches normally share the spoils. With the NRL salary cap strictly policed and teams not recruiting youngsters from all over the place, the biggest…
This week we have seen a media backlash against the game in regards to access to players and coaches. In some ways it is understandable. I’ve talked before about the almost paranoid stance the game takes to the media at times, mostly driven by coaches. A lot has been written about Darius Boyd over this…
Monday night saw the banality of the universe maintained with another two competition points to the Melbourne Storm, a result which took the club to a record-equalling 13th consecutive win. Yes siree, 2013 so far has been enterprise as usual for Craig Bellamy and his cartel of systemised androids. Death, taxes, yada yada yada. Like…
My good friend The Mole is reporting that Craig Bellamy will reject a massive offer from the St George/Illawarra Dragons and re-sign a long term deal with the Melbourne Storm that is likely to see him finish his career with the club. In a chance to quote The Mole, he tweeted: “BREAKING: Moley can reveal…
The New Zealand Warriors are expected to announce that Matthew Elliott will coach the club for two seasons starting from 2013. This is a disastrous decision that will cost the club players, sponsors and fans. It is a decision that will lead to the complete erosion of any advantages that the Warriors have built over many years of hard…
If the 2012 season showed us anything it was that a great coach is worth their weight in gold to any club. With top coaches now commanding million dollar salaries, clubs are more than aware that a top coach controls the entire destiny of a club. A coaches performance can make or break a club, not just…
The Melbourne Storm are the 2012 Premiers after defeating the Canterbury Bulldogs 14-4. The Storm came into the Grand Final in great form and simply looked to be playing on a completely different level to the Bulldogs. In a game that was dominated by brilliant coaching by from both sides, the execution the Storm showed in attack…
So here we are, Grand Final week and in a few days time lives will be changed. As a fan this whole week reminds me of 2003 when my Penrith Panthers made the Grand Final. I was never nervous at all, just confident.I enjoyed that entire season and I wouldn’t change a single thing about…
Two battle-dusty sheriffs stand at opposite ends of the ANZ corral in the Wild West, wearily upright among piles of the steaming fallen as the only remaining gunslingers from a drawn-out bloody battle carried out over 1 score and 6 rounds. And a couple of finals. Both wear an engulfing tattoo of strain on their…
I can understand why New Zealand Warriors fans are a bit worried right now. After watching another disasterous season with a disasterous coach at the helm and knowing they actually have a very good lineup that can go places with the right leadership, they keep hearing some worrying names being tossed in their direction. The…
The Sydney Roosters have announced that Catalan Dragons coach Trent Robinson join the club starting next season on what is a three year deal. Robinson was previously an assistant coach under Brian Smith in 2010 and linked up with the Catalan Dragons in 2011. He has done OK with the Dragons and his ability to…
The Sydney Roosters have announced that they have “parted ways” with Brian Smith today. This doesn’t come as a surprise after the season the Roosters had. I always got the feeling it was going to end this way for Smith. He was brought in to try and fix the club and rid them of a…
As a Penrith Panthers fan, I didn’t want to see Cooper Cronk leave the Melbourne Storm. Having been talent scouted by the Storm, developed, given his first grade debut and blossomed into a super star of the game at the club, I thought it would have been tragic to see Cronk leave the Storm and…
The Wests Tigers come into the 2012 season as Premiership favorites. They had made a number of big moves in the off season and many felt that they would kick on and go all the way this year after falling just short the last few seasons. Things don’t always follow the script. After starting the…
It is one of the questions I have been asked the most over the last few days. With the financial crisis in Super League seeing three of the competitions 14 clubs fall over in the last 12 months, people realize that something has to give, and it is probably the ability of Super League to…
Well its that time of the year again when Santa going on the worlds largest break and enter spree. We don’t mind it because he leaves presents. Now, Santa spends all year making a list. Then, he checks it twice. He want to find out who’s naughty and who is nice. Personally, I think the…
So the Dally M’s were held last night and before I list the results, I need to get something off my chest. I’m not real sure how relevant the Dally M’s are any more. First of all, this is an award that has recently been won by Todd Carney and Matt Orford, but has never…
The second game of the 2011 State Of Origin series will be a game that I remember for a very long time. It is everything I love about sport. Witnessing a champion side face off against a team full of desire. An amazing contest. Reaching that point in the game when, both teams had proven…
I’m not going to talk about how good of a player Darren Lockyer was. If you have eyes in your head, you could see what he did. You don’t need me to talk about how good he was! Last season there was a lot of talk that the Brisbane Broncos wanted to groom Lockyer to…
If you wanted to see why the Melbourne Storm are the best Rugby League club in the world, you just had to be watching the television on Saturday afternoon. It started with their Under 20’s team. The Melbourne Storm is the team to play for if you are a youngster looking to make a name…
How could I describe the soul crushing exercise that is following a club coached by Matthew Elliott? Let me put it this way… I would quite happily watch Penrith get off to a win less start to the season, getting thrashed in every game, having no chance of making the finals and losing players to…
The Melbourne Storm are in the almost impossible situation where by they have to shed hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of player contracts, that they are 100% committed to having to pay, in order to be under the salary cap for the start of the 2011 NRL season. The Storm tend to have a…