The Australian Socceroos 2014 World Cup squad has been named with 30 players in the preliminary squad that will then be trimmed to the final 23 man squad that will take part in the World Cup in Brazil. The squad represents a bit of a changing of the guard for Australian soccer with the average…
When the New Zealand Warriors lost Ivan Cleary to the Penrith Panthers because they didn’t want to commit to him long term it was a terrible mistake. As a replacement the Warriors signed Brian McClennan who didn’t even see out his first season at the club before being replaced by interim coach Tony Iro. The…
You’ve got to hand it to Marwan Koukash, he is a very fast learner! Having bought pretty much a logo and team colours when he purchased the Salford Reds Marwan Koukash took a few weeks to look over the clubs before he made some major changes. He go rid of the coach and brought in…
The Daily Telegraph claims it has proof that the Canterbury Bulldogs were negotiating with Des Hasler to leave the Many Sea Eagles with a year left to run on his contract, and that the club was willing to pay for any legal costs an early exit from the club would leave him with. Why any…
The Sydney Morning Herald is reporting that five of the current Cronulla Sharks squad will be sent show cause letters by ASADA that will basically force them to fight against a possible drugs suspension. With a number if the original 17 players that ASADA had focused on having moved on to other clubs and in…
The Sydney Morning Herald is reporting that ASADA is ready to hand show cause letters to up to 17 players from the 2011 Cronulla Sharks team. There is the possibility that this process will begin as early as this week. These show cause letters would not mean players would automatically receive bans. They will however…
It is with a very heavy heart that I write that Reg Gasnier has passed away. Words can’t explain what an amazing player Gasnier was. That his impact on the game spans generations, and yet he retired at the age of 28, shows how brightly his star shone on the game of Rugby League and…
News Limited journalist James Hooper is reporting that the New Zealand Warriors have made a massive offer to Manly Sea Eagles centre Steve Matai. He is reporting that the deal is worth $2.5 million over 4 years. The Warriors have been splashing the cash recently, their huge deal to get Sam Tomkins from Wigan was…
It is pretty clear that Karmichael Hunt is looking to return to the NRL in 2015 and right now it looks like the Gold Coast Titans are favoured to sign him just ahead of the Brisbane Broncos. Hunt’s manager took less than 48 hours to toss his clients name up in the media after the…
I know State Of Origin is the crown jewel of Rugby League and I am an avid New South Welshman myself, but I do feel that it is killing the international game of Rugby League. Say for example you give Anthony Milford a choice to play for Samoa or QLD and Australia, there are so…
Things didn’t go to plan in Perpignan as Salford suffered their 7th defeat In 11 Super League games at the hands of the Catalan Dragons. The Dragons victory was influenced by young full back Morgan Escaré. Escaré scored his first of three tries the first minute, with Daryl Millard adding a second try six minutes…
After one of the most public, overplayed, over covered contract negotiations, former Wests Tigers superstar Benji Marshall has signed for … the dollars. The name of the club, The Dragons for the record, almost seems irrelevant. After all but agreeing to join former teammates Beau Ryan, Bryce Gibbs and the rest of the Tigershark clan…
The spotlight is on the Grima’s capital challenge. London Broncos and Tony Rea have parted company after 12 straight defeats in all competitions. Finding themselves without a home and having to contend with what amounted to a mass exodus of first team players at the end of last season, it appeared that Super League may…
Round 11 saw Bradford Bulls come up from the bottom spot of the Super League table, a close win for Huddersfield Giants and a surprisingly easy win for the Rhinos. St Helens vs London Broncos The Thursday night game saw St Helens, as expected, win this game by a fair margin on the score-board, but…
I would stop writing about this sort of thing if Mal Meninga would just chill out, look how many series he has won as the Queensland Maroons coach, and started enjoying life a little rather than being so angry about things. In the latest round of “Things Mal Said” Mal Meninga has claimed that New…
The National Rugby League has released details about the long overdue salary cap overhaul that will bring the salary cap rules up to speed with the current pressures that clubs and players all face today. A lot of the changes that are being made are really just to clear up some grey areas of the…
The Oxford Dictionary describes delusion as the following: “An idiosyncratic belief or impression maintained despite being contradicted by reality or rational argument, typically as a symptom of mental disorder” Leeds Rhinos forward Jamie Peacock has described Leeds Rhinos fullback Zak Hardaker as the following: “Defensively, there is not a better full-back in the world” “His…
Benji Marshall’s future remains up in the air after Canberra Raiders became the latest team to insist they were not about to sign the 29-year-old former Wests Tigers star. Marshall is looking for a new NRL team after enduring an ill-fated stint in rugby union, featuring in only six matches for Auckland Blues before deciding…
Imagine the headlines… New South Wales selects Sonny Bill Williams in game one of the 2014 State Of Origin series. I think the entire country would go into a meltdown. International eligibility rules state that after a World Cup, the most important international tournament we have, every single player is allowed to switch nations. I…
Since making his first grade debut in 2008 with the Canterbury Bulldogs Jamal Idris has been haunted by one word. Potential. Idris has played for three different clubs over the course of his career and showed huge potential at all of them. This potential saw Idris play representative football in his first season, a trend…
One of the big things that came out of the 2013 Rugby League World Cup was the clear message that supporters of the game were giving administrators. Give us more international Rugby League. Heading into this weekend, plenty of people were saying the Australia vs New Zealand test match was a waste of time. Even…
Passion is a powerful emotion, but it does not give you the right to slander a mans reputation. Earlier this week Paul Kent made some comments that I didn’t agree with at all. I’m going to post exactly what he said so there can be no confusion. “I tell you, the NRL needs to go…
There a great article posted on the Fox Sports web site that show a total of 48 players have either been suspended or injured coming out of the last round of NRL games. Its a great read and really shows that players and clubs have completely brushed this representative round of football in a dramatic…
No one seems happy with the way international Rugby League is being run right now. The eligibility rules are completely ridiculous and need changed, the scheduling of games is terrible, one off test matches give erratic results and too many one sided contest, basically no one likes the way anything is being run. The only…
I always find it funny when some Rugby League supporters believe they are more important than others. That just because they occupy a patch of dirt in a certain area they are more entitled to be listened to the games administrators. I am a Penrith Panthers supporter that lives in Penrith. I’m a New South…
In my entire lifetime I have only ever seen the Australian Rugby League team played really poorly once. In the 2005 Tri Nations final Australia were terrible against New Zealand. They lost the game 24-0 and in that they lost their first series of any kind since 1978. In every other game and series I…
Stephen Kearney has named his lineup ahead of New Zealand’s clash with Australia in the 2014 Trans-Tasman test match. There are a few interesting selections with Issac John secure the five-eighth role and Roger Tuivasa-Sheck named on the wing rather than at fullback: 2014 New Zealand Kiwi’s Lineup 1. Peta Hiku 2. Roger Tuivasa-Sheck 3….
Earning a representative jersey of any colour should be the proudest moment of a players career. It should be acknowledgement of the fact that a player has reached a new level in their game and that their ability has been recognized by entering a rare club of talented players that get the chance to play…
It takes a big person to admit they got something wrong, and finally, after a number of years, Brian Waldron has apologized for the long term, systematic abuse of the NRL salary cap that led to the Melbourne Storm being stripped of two NRL titles. Geez, thanks Brian. You’re a real sport! It is interesting…
You know the funny part about the City vs Country contest? You can be from Newcastle, Canberra or Wollongong, and with a straight face talk about how proud you are to be a country boy. City vs Country is the most irrelevant contest in Rugby League. It is a game that no longer holds any…