The deal has been done and the budget is now set, so where does Rugby League go from here? For well over a decade Rugby League in Australia was just trying to survive. It wasn’t that the game wasn’t growing, it simply come down to the fact that clubs at first were spending way beyond…
The Australian Rugby League Commission has today announced that the broadcasting rights for Rugby League in Australia have been retained by Channel 9 and Fox Sports Australia. The deal will run over five years and is worth $1.025 billion dollars. $100 million dollars of that is advertising on Channel 9 and Fox Sports. This deal…
Ben Hornby has announced that he will retire at seasons end in a move that will hopefully allow the Dragons to go into a fully fledged rebuilding mode. In recent seasons I think Hornby has been a liability to the Dragons on the field. Playing in the halves, he lacked creativity, his kicking game was…
Brian McClennan has been sacked by the New Zealand Warriors effective immediately with assistant coach Tony Iro taking over the head coaching role for the teams remaining two games of the 2012 season. That McClennan couldn’t even see out his first season as the clubs head coach says a lot. McClennan stepped into the spotlight…
Hi again. After a bit of positive feedback on the first article, I’m here again to rant. This week we have the so-called ‘Captain’s Challenge’. Whilst I understand that most players/coaches/fans have not been happy with the standard of refereeing this year (or for a number of years it should be said), this initiative will…
Over the last few months the South Sydney Rabbitohs have had a good run of form, and it led a lot of their fans to ask me if I rated them as a true Grand Final contender. The whole time I said I wanted to wait and see how they went against one of the…
With Ricky Stuart making the decision that he would stand down from his post as New South Wales coach we have seen a lot of maneuvering among potential replacements over the last few days. Brad Fittler, Laurie Daley and Trent Barrett have all be mentioned at the top of everyone’s list of candidates along with…
Let me start off by saying I love rugby league. Love it so much that it leaves me wanting to tear out another handful of hair or kick the nearest small child sometimes. This week, it’s the judiciary that needs our help. Like many things these days, the NRL judiciary system has become over-complicated to…
Yesterday the RFL announced that it would be ending its naming rights deal with Stobart that saw them give away one of their biggest assets for stickers on trucks. It is interesting to look at the reaction to the news and the way some people have tried to defend the deal or revise their previous…
Last weekend the Penrith Panthers beat the Cronulla Sharks 21-20 in extra time. Both teams were missing a whole host of players and while the Sharks sit many places above the Panthers on the ladder, this contest looked to be evened out by a number of factors, the biggest of which was the Sharks poor…
Luke Lewis asked the Penrith Panthers for a release from the final two years of a lucrative contract. At the time many reasons were given, but I was one of the very few people that mentioned that the move would allow Lewis to capitalize on the remaining years of his playing career. A lot of…
After the resignation of Stephen Kearney this week, the Daily Telegraph as well as Fox Sports are reporting that Ricky Stuart will coach the Parramatta Eels from the beginning of next season in a move that all but certainly ends his reign as New South Wales State Of Origin coach. I tend to think this…
There’s a reason players from all over the world are flocking to online casinos. When you enter the world of gambling online you soon realise that besides being in a position to possibly win millions, you’re also part of a society of people who enjoy playing the most fun games you can find anywhere on the…
The Sydney Morning Herald is today reporting that news A League soccer clubs the West Sydney Wanderers and the FFA have plans to make changes to Parramatta Stadium during game days. Among the changes they want to make are to temorarily re-name the stands at the ground and to cover the statue of Eels legend Ray Price….
Luke Lewis has asked for, and received an early release from his contract at the Penrith Panthers sighting a desire for a new challenge at another club. Lewis is a local junior and has played for the Panthers for 11 years. He was stripped of the club captaincy earlier this year in a move that…
Queensland has wrapped up its 7th straight State Of Origin series with a thrilling 21-20 win at Lang Park. A field goal from 45 meters out by Cooper Cronk ended up being all that separated the two sides in a win that see’s Fijian born Petero Civoniceva retire as the most capped forward in Origin…
The Administrator in charge of the Bradford Bulls has made members of the clubs front office and coaching staff redundant today, including head coach Michael Potter. Assistant coach Francis Cummins is the only member of the coaching staff left to prepare the squad for their next Super League game. What a mess. It is a…
Last month ARLC Chairman John Grant was asked about the ridiculous situation in the State Of Origin series that saw both Queensland and New South Wales actively recruiting players who were not born and raised in Australia. His reply was pathetic and limp wristed. “I don’t think the State of Origin rules are going to…
The Western Australia Rugby League has announced that the name they will use for their National Rugby League expansion team will be the West Coast Pirates. Previously the Western Australia Rugby League had used the name Western Reds, Perth Reds, then WA Reds, but obviously they decided to go in a different direction for their…
A player moves from one club to another during the middle of the NRL season and predictably, the media runs around telling everyone that the sky is falling. The same old reactionary bullshit we have come to expect over the years. Then they wonder why they are all getting sacked! I personally have no problems…
Yesterday Fairfax media announced major changed to their newspaper business that will see the media company focus more on digital media. This will see them change the format of their broadsheet paper into a smaller, tabloid style of paper and will see around 1,800 employees made redundant. From a business point of view, this is…
If you needed any evidence as to why British Rugby League is written off, ignored or laughed about by outsiders, the England vs Exiles “International Origin” match would be pretty much all you needed to see. Played in front of a tiny, barely interested crowd, England managed to beat an Exiles team made up of…
In front of over 83,000 screaming New South Wales supporters the Blues have defeated the Maroons 16-12 to level up the State Of Origin series 1-1. It was an unsettled start to the game with both sides looking nervous. New South Wales settled first through and early on had the best of the chances, although…
We are heading into a must win, possibly series deciding game two of the State Of Origin series, and you know what the big talking point is? Whinging. Both Mal Meninga and Ricky Stuart have carried on like a couple of fucking idiots. Neither one is better than the other. Between the planet sized chip…
Australia has State Of Origin. Oh, that was just a stand alone statement. That has nothing to do with these bloody ridiculous “International Origin” games the RFL have come up with because, if their eyes, this shithouse English side is too goo to play against the likes of say France or Wales. As Ian Golden…
The Rugby Football League should be on the phone right now to David Gallop and offering him the role as RFL Chairman along with a sizable contract. During David Gallops time in charge of the NRL he always pushed three major idea’s and never wavered on their importance. Gallop resisted calls to raise the salary…
In what is being described as a “mutual decision” made in conjunction with the Australian Rugby League Commission, David Gallop has decided to stand down as the CEO of the NRL only 4 months into a four year contract. I think it was time. David Gallop took over, reluctantly, as the NRL CEO in 2002…
At the beginning of the year the Penrith Panthers were a club looking to reinvent itself. It needed to happen, they needed to draw a line in the sand and put an era of complete and utter failure firmly in the rear view mirror. One of the major moved forward was that the club announced…
So the NRL Referees have used Brad Fittler to get around their bosses, Bill Harrigan and Stuart Raper, to contact NRL CEO David Gallop and tell him they no longer have confidence in Harrigan and Raper. Hmmm… Firstly, what is David Gallop doing even sitting down at that meeting. Aside from the fact that Brad…
Game one of the 2012 State Of Origin series was a very interesting game for a number of reasons. I personally didn’t think it was the highest quality game, I think neither side played at their best, but both probably learned a lot from that first game and I think both teams will be thinking…