Well its here, the Rugby League World Cup Final and the chance for one nation to claim it is the undisputed World Champions. Australia have held that mantle for three decades, and while New Zealand managed to win the 2005 Tri Nations Final, this is the only game you can win and claim to be…
New Zealand has won a great test match beating England 32-22 and booking a place in the 2008 World Cup Final. It was a fantastic game to watch and at time it looked like either team might win the game, but the Kiwi’s always seemed to have something in reserve. England probably played their best…
Its mind blowing to me that a nation that claims to be the second best in the Rugby League World, but who has not beaten the best in the world for 30 years, can honestly think its doing things right and is just down on its luck. As an outsider, its hard to know how…
Samoa has easily beaten a very poor French team by a scoreline of 42-10. The game marked Tony Puletua’s last game at Penrith Football Stadium as he captained the Samoan team to an easy win. Samoa will have to wonder what might have been. They went from eying a place in the semi finals to…
Australia beat Papua New Guinea 46-6 up in Townsville tonight in a game that marked the end of the Test career of PNG legend Stanley Gene. PNG fought hard all game and did themselves proud. They managed to keep the Kangaroo’s close then England did just last week. Its amazing, after watching every game in…
One thing a World Cup does is open the eyes of certain people that forget that the game isn’t just played in Sydney and Yorkshire. Unfortunately for Rugby League, these ignorant types are usually the people running the game. As the World Cup gets to the business end of the competition and teams finish their…
Tonga have thrashed Scotland 48-0 in Rockhampton and ended their World Cup rankings match in style. It all seemed too little too late for Tonga who played better than they did through the rest of the tournament but it should be remembered Scotland were coming off the back of a short preperation. Its obvious that…
New Zealand have easily accounted for England in the last of their pool matches, winning 36-24. Now, before you read on keep in mind that these two teams will play again next week in the World Cup Semi Final, and this game had no baring on the competition, so both teams tried a few things….
He had walked out on, and quit on more club and national sides then I even care to imagine, and all along the way it was self interest and ego that guided his decisions. So it is stunning to read the news that Stacey Jones has AGAIN decided to un-retire and sign a one year…
Scotland beat Fiji 18-16 with a last minute try to give the bravehearts their first World Cup win ever. Scotland played ok, but Fiji were horrible! You have to wonder if the short turn around both Samoa and Fiji had was a major reason both teams lost against opposition most expacted them to be way…
Ireland has claimed one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history, downing Samoa 34-16, claiming the top place in the group and booking a playoff with the winner of Group B for the right to play Australia in the World Cup Semi Finals. Ireland were outstanding and improved on their impressive performance against Tonga…
Australia have secured the top spot in Group A with a crushing 52-4 win over England. As usual England come out playing physically and they were helped along when Australia played terribly for about ten minutes. However from that point on it was all one way traffic and to be honest, England were lucky a…
Fiji have easily beaten France 42-6 in the worst game I have ever seen a French side play. They just were not in the contest from the first minute as they lacked intensity and offered nothing in attack. Fiji meanwhile were what you’d expect, they always play well at the World Cup, but they really…
New Zealand have belted Papua New Guinea 48-6 in a game that really tied off a lot of lose ends in this World Cup. Many were looking at this contest as a marker towards how England will fare tomorrow night against Australia, and the signs were not good for Pommy fans. While PNG didn’t play…
Samoa has beaten Tonga 20-12 in the most important match of the World Cup so far. The win means Samoa is now in the box seat to claim the top of the group and look on track to play Australia in the World Cup semi finals. Forget all of that though, this game was a…
This is the footage I know some of our friends in the UK may not have seen yet. This is the moment the “Welcome To Australia” game between the Australian Aboriginal Dream Time Team faced off with the New Zealand Maori. This ended up being a great contest in which the Aboriginal side won 34-26…
I’ve upset some people (Poms) by saying that France will contend for Australia’s crowd as World Champions before England ever do, and after watching their win over Scotland (I know…I’m late!) just yesterday I have to say my opinions have only been reinforced. Scotland played pretty well, much better than they did in the qualifiers….
After watching the New Zealand Maori Haka being challenge by the Aboriginal war dance and seeing both proud teams look like they may come to blows before the game started, you could help but be pumped up ahead of the Australia vs New Zealand match. Unfortunantly I didn’t get to see the Aboriginal Dream Time…
Well I have talked up Tonga in the leadup to the World Cup based in their amazing lineup, however Tonga showed that it doesn’t matter how good your players are if you play rubbish as a team. Ireland played smater and out coached Tonga and almost came away with a massive upset win. Going into…
Game one of the 2008 Rugby League World Cup has been run and won and already England have been left wondering how it has all gone wrong. Yes they won their match against PNG by a scoreline of 32-22, but if we are all honest with ourselves, PNG should have won that game. The Kumuls…
I can’t believe it, the World Cup is about to kick off!!! I’ll be doing previews of every game during the World Cup and here are the first three games to watch over the weekend. Obviously all the attention will be on Australia vs New Zealand but the way the competition is set up, every…
The Cronulla Sharks announced a few weeks ago that they would play one game a year for the next three years in Adelaide. The move was seen as a move by the NRL to get a small foothold in Adelaide ahead of possible expansion and a chance for the Sharks to make some much needed…
Michael Hagan jumped before he was pushed today, calling a surprise press conference to announce he had quit as Parramatta Eels coach due to family reasons. Hagan narrowly avoided the sack this year after a disasterous season coaching the Eels, and heading into 2009 the Parramatta board had already given him a deadline to avoid…
Well the Broncos have found themselves in the shit again, this time after halfback peter Wallace was arrested at a pub. You have to wonder what it will take for some of these players to realise they have to pull their heads in. I’ve come to the point where I think maybe we need set…
Its funny how some players and the people around them believe they have zero accountability for their own actions. Facing numerous charges and a restraining order against his girl friend, Greg Bird has flown to the United States (Where his girlfrend lives) and friend have said that he now wants to join the Sydney Roosters….
When the Super Group was announced there were many different reactions. Some said PNG was hard done by, and its hard to disagree. England immeditaly felt confident, Australia said the group would be there while New Zealand was too busying falling to pieces to care. The Super Grouping works really well for the Rugby League…
Sometimes its a moral dilemma being an Australian. Before the World Cup I said that I didn’t want Karmichael Hunt, Darius Boyd or Sam Thaiday anywhere near the Australian World Cup Side. This was based on the fact that they had legal problems hanging over their heads and they liked engaging in sexual activities in…
Its without doubt the easiest group in the World Cup but that doesn’t mean there is a lack of quality in Group B. We all know the French an play some good football while the Fijians are a sit everyone has underestimated. As for Scotland, well, they are probably the worst side in the World…
All the profits from the 2008 Rugby League World Cup will go into a fund to develope Rugby League around the world. On top of this there is $2,000,000 in prize money on offer that will be spread across all ten World Cup teams depending on where they finish the tournament. This is all fantastic…
And here we go! This is the first in a series of general World Cup previews. I’ll be taking you through the teams, showing some of my favoured lineups and telling you what to watch out for. The first preview is Group C. While Group A is the Super Group, Group C would have to…