England has named a weakened, second string 20 man squad ahead of their exhibition match against the “Exiles” side in the International Origin match set for the 12th of June at Warrington. The side will not include England best players including Sam Burges, Luke Burgess, George Burgess, James Graham, Gareth Widdop, Jack Reed and Chris…
Confirmed: Its is now official, Craig Gower will join the Newcastle Knights for the remainder of the season. Daily Telegraph journalist Dean Richie has tweeted that current London Broncos halfback Craig Gower is “almost certain” to join the Newcastle Knights within the next few days. This news comes just days after it was revealed that…
It is the eve of Game 1 in the 2013 Rugby League State of Origin series. Dubbed as the most anticipated series ever – which is what it is labeled as every year. New South Wales have the double home ground advantage at ANZ Stadium this year as the Queensland juggernaut look to make it…
The first game of the 2013 Origin Series is almost upon us. Betting agencies have the odds at an almost 50/50 split and the experts are just as equally divided in trying to pick a winner. Queensland are trying to win an unprecedented 8th straight Origin series whilst NSW are trying to regain that winning…
It was a low key Monday Night Football Game. An under strength Brisbane Broncos side hosted the last played New Zealand Warriors in a game that I honestly didn’t watch all that closely. I actually missed the kickoff to the game because I was firing up my laptop to work on this web site. Not…
At some point we could see NRL clubs heading into the 2014 season with a heap of salary cap space to spare and no one to spend that money on. When clubs get to that point they have two options. They can use that spare salary cap space to give advance payments future signings, or,…
It is that time of year again. The time where every Rugby League fan declares themselves blue or maroon(apparently pronounced maroan… don’t get me started…) The time of year where friends turn to bitter enemies. Where you are suddenly the biggest fan of players you would normally detest simply because of the colour jersey they…
Canterbury Bulldogs fullback Ben Barba has been charged by the NRL Match Review Committee with Grade 1 Dangerous Contact – Unnecessary Use of Knees. Barba will avoid suspension if he decides to take the early guilty please. If he chooses to fight the charge and loses, he would face a one match suspension. Barba was…
Penrith Panthers halfback Luke Walsh could find himself playing for Super League club St Helens as early as this season. News that the St George/Illawarra Dragons may be willing to release half Jamie Soward early from his contract to join the Penrith Panthers this season could open the door for Walsh to also leave early….
Do the Newcastle Knights look like a team coached by someone earning well over $1 million per year? I look at the Newcastle Knights and I don’t see any value for money coming from Wayne Bennett and what he is doing at the club. I don’t see them doing anything special. I don’t see a…
The 2013 State Of Origin series will reach the largest potential global audience in series history, with overseas networks covering the series as well as games being streamed over the internet. In Australia the match will be covered live by Channel 9, WIN and NBN networks. In New Zealand the game will be shown live…
When Penrith Panthers fans were sold the dream of signing Johnathan Thurston things were looking pretty good! I wasn’t sold on signing Thurston, I think he was demanding too much money and is too old to be investing that much salary cap space into, but there is no doubt he would have got the job…
On Friday night as the video referee was called upon, I knew Bulldogs fans would be very unhappy with the decision that was about to be made. We were either going to see Ben Barba awarded a sensational, game ending try, or we were going to see the Dragons awarded a penalty within the Bulldogs…
As much as I hate to say it and as much as I love them, I think it’s the best option for the North Queensland Cowboy to release Dallas Johnson, Matthew Bowen & Glenn Hall at seasons end. It’s no secret we have an ageing roster, the old legs in the squad is partly the…
We have a new web site sponsor! Gimko.com.au is a market place for Buying and Selling Trading cards. You can sign up to Gimko and list your cards on there for just 5 cents each! Right now Gimko is running a deal especially for LeagueFreak.com readers! If you sign up to Gimko and use the code…
I am a NSW Blues fan in the State of Origin. Correction, I am a frustrated NSW Blues fan in the State of Origin. You see, as we haven’t won a series since 2005, my frustrations have slowly but surely built to the surface. What was once a babbling underground brook is now a raging…
“I’m not defending what he said, but…” JUST STOP TALKING, ALL OF YOU. So the AFL’s Indigenous Round has been a dismal failure. It’s timed to coincide with Reconciliation Week, to honour the contribution of Aboriginal players to AFL. Make no mistake, Aussie Rules is their game. We all know what happened, let’s get to…
With reports circulating that English prop Gareth Hock is about to pull out of his deal with the Parramatta Eels, two questions come to mind: 1) Why do players sign for clubs before they are genuinely committed? 2) What’s the point of signing a contract if you can just back out of it later? Earlier…
When outgoing Chief Executive Officer Todd Greenberg announced he was leaving his post as Top Dog at the Canterbury Bulldogs to join David Smith’s senior executive team at NRL Head Office, members, fans and the NRL community all wondered who could possibly replace him. Greenberg joined the club in 2008 at a time when the…
South Sydneys John Sutton and Canterburys Josh Reynolds have been called into the New South Wales Blues squad, with a decision to be made later this week on which player will replace injured utility player Kurt Gidley. Sutton’s size and ability to play in the back row would mean New South Wales is going for…
There were good games, close games, a few bludgers, controversy, and big crowd numbers that were able to be posted. To the bean counters at the Rugby Football League, it had everything you need to throw together a nice little press release that you can send out to the few media outlets that still care…
Queensland has named its team for the opening game of the 2013 State Of Origin series with a few interestings selections in their side. Mal Meninga was never going to move away from a backline that has won the bulk of the last seven series, but the Maroons forward rotation looks a little different with…
Last night League Freak suggested taking an entire round of games to New Zealand, an idea taken from the Super League Magic Weekend. A very good idea indeed to create extra interest across the Tasman. After Sunday’s game in Mudgee I’d suggest taking an entire round of games to the bush so to speak. By…
Update: Kurt Gidley will miss the entire State Of Origin series. He has been replayed by Josh Reynolds for game one. New South Wales has named its team for Game 1 of the 2013 State Of Origin series. This is the first team named by new NSW coach Laurie Daley as the Blues stare down…
It is the worst case scenario and something that can not be tolerated by the Rugby Football League With scores tied up between Hull FC and Hull KR in their Magic Weekend derby game and just seconds remaining on the clock, Hull FC put a bomb up from just within their own half of the…
This weekend see’s Super League clubs take an entire round of games to one stadium, Etihad Stadium, home of Manchester City. The concept was born as a way to try and open up expansion markets in Wales and Scotland. The Rugby Football League would take over a major stadium for one weekend and put on…
Today the Wests Tigers faithful are rejoicing in the fact that their team has finally located a pulse. It may be waterlogged, but it’s beating. The process wasn’t pretty, but last night at Leichhardt Oval they eventually emerged from the mud wrestle on top of the Cowboys in a sodden contest that involved some fortuitous…
I’ve thought about writing this Saturday Night but it was not until now that I decided to go ahead due to the sensitive nature of the topic. Last weekend the NRL put on its Women In League round. Teams wore pink, charities were given much needed publicity and thousands upon thousands of dollars were raised…
When an NRL club signs a highly paid player to a long term contract, they are taking a risk. It doesn’t matter who that player is or what they have done in the past, committing so much money to one player and hoping that he is still performing at a high level at the end of that deal is…
The Sydney Morning Herald is reporting that Penrith Panthers prop Mose Masoe will join St Helens in 2014. Masoe, who joined the Panthers in the off season from the Sydney Roosters, is one of the biggest players in the game today and a player I rate fairly highly. he has good mobility for a big…