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…
After a terrible start to the 2011 Super League season, Salford Reds fans had already had enough. They knew they needed a new coach and they wanted Shaun McRae sacked. Anyone that saw Shaun McRae appear on Sky Sports Super League coverage the night after the Reds had been utterly thrashed by St Helens must…
In the wake of Kyle Eastmonds announced defection to Rugby Union at the end of the Super League season there have been a number of very interesting reactions. Calls to raise the Super League salary cap, to pay Super League players more money, to form a players unions, central contracts, expansion, contraction…..everyone has an opinion!…
I was just like you ya know. Knock me down with a feather, Todd Carney was caught drink driving? Really? THAT Todd Carney? Todd Carney, yes that one, blew a Blood Alcohol reading of 0.05. That is the very limit of what you can have with a full license, but Carney only has a provisional…
In Newcastle, its not about what you know, its about who you know. The Newcastle Knights have been run for a very long time on the basis of just keeping everyone happy. Forget professionalism, forget winning, forget accountability….none of that matters. Just as long as everyone iust having a good time and they can all…
If you read this web site on a regular basis, you know what I think about the state of the Newcastle Knights. They are a glorified pub team. The place is run for the enjoyment of the players and who cares about things like professionalism or accountability. In steps Nathan Tinkler, who is very rich,…
Remember last week when I said everyone in Brisbane was going batshit crazy? Well it seems the fun hasn’t stopped yet! Ivan Henjak was sensationally fired last night a few weeks out from the kickoff to the 2011 season. He will be replaced by assistant coach Anthony Griffin, who has only been given a deal…
Reports today in the Sydney Morning Herald and Daily Telegraph have linked a number of high profile managers with the Melbourne Storm salary cap scandal. It has been alleged that managers signed off on two different documents, an official NRL contract, and a second contract that gave their clients, the players, the added extras that…
The last 10 years have been a very interesting time in Australian sport. Over the last ten years we have seen Rugby Union, Boxing and AFL all covet star power of Rugby League players. Rugby Union was the first. Flushed with funds from its new found professionalism, it was a sport that was very much…
Last year the AFL made a decision that to them, Israel Folau was worth $1.5 million dollars a year. This made him the richest player in AFL history, and he had never played the game, at any level. Not even as a kid. This week, Kyle Eastmond has made the decision to take a big…
The Leeds Rhinos have made some very strong statements in regards to the treatment of Rugby League Players by the UK Border Agency. After winger Weller Hauraki finally had his visa granted, Leeds were obviously upset by how long the process took. He missed last weeks game against the Bradford Bulls. This prompted Leeds Rhinos…
First off let me say this. I don’t have a horse in this race. I wrote last month about The Split Between The AMNRL and USARL. I can honestly see both sides of the argument. I don’t think the USARL has been formed out of greed, and I do believe the AMNRL has the best interests…
Yesterday the Gold Coast Titans gave the ultimate show of support to their coach John Cartwright. You can not fault the job he has done since the Titans entered the NRL a few years ago. They were competitive in their first season and over the last two years they have proven to be one of…
The NRL All Stars have defeated the Indigenous All Stars 28-12 with Josh Dugan being named the Preston Campbell medal winner as the man of the match. It was a game played at a really high intensity, just about every player looked sharp and while there were a few bumps, bruises and some blood spilt,…
The RFL recently said that it would look to take the Challenge Cup off of free to air television and to a pay tv channel such as ESPN if the BBC did now come up with a decent offer in the next round of negotiations for the rights to broadcast the games longest running competition….
The complete financial meltdown of the Wakefield Trinity Wildcats should be the catalyst for a complete overhaul of the way Rugby League in Great Britain is run. The sad news is, it won’t be. By going into administrations before the season kickoff, and then receivership after the first round of the competition, the Wildcats have…
Well the NRL All Stars game is played this weekend and I’ve got to say, I’m not feeling it. I think with the drawn out process that happens in regards to voting for players over the course of about three months, only to have many players pull out with injury, it just has lost me…
Nothing signals the start of a Super League season better than a round of derby games played in a city that doesn’t have a Super League clubs of its own. Yes, its that time of the year again, its Millennium Magic! Born from the days when the Challenge Cup went on the road and fans…
If your city was flooded for a week, you’d probably go a little bat shit crazy too. Thats the only way I can rationalize what has been happening in the Brisbane Rugby League scene recently with all sorts of things happening that make no sense at all. The randomness, the bitter feuds, the weird stories,…
He had only just arrived back in Australia after being delayed by “Visa Problems” but it didn’t take long for Brian Carney to throw in the towel and retire from Rugby League all together. Carney cited a loss of passion for his sudden retirement and to his credit he said he didn’t want to just…
I’d heard the talk, heard the rumours, but it wasn’t until yesterday that things came together in regards to the split within the game of Rugby League in the United States. In one corner you have the games traditional governing body, the AMNRL, run by David Nui. In the other corner, the newly formed USARL…
News that the Wakefield Wildcats need £500,000 by the end of January to ensure the survival of the club was confronting, and yet not a shock to Rugby League community. Over the last few years we have seen clubs at every level of the game in such financial peril that many have not survived. Where…
I remember talking to a former Super League club coach a number of years ago and he said to me that during the off season, you’d be amazing at home much weight some players can pack on. In fact, even during the course of a couple of weeks on the sidelines through injury, a player…
There is a lot of talk right now that the Rugby Football League are looking to establish an All Star Game between the English test team and a selection of players from Super League clubs. It would be very easy to suggest that the RFL have looked at the All Star Game in Australia held…
So what is a Rugby League World Cup supposed to be about? It’s an interesting question and one that could have a thousands different answers. For me a Rugby League World Cup has always been about the countries I don’t normally get to see. In fact, in any international competitions we have in our game,…
So what is a Rugby League World Cup supposed to be about? It’s an interesting question and one that could have a thousands different answers. For me a Rugby League World Cup has always been about the countries I don’t normally get to see. In fact, in any international competitions we have in our game,…
I am a big supporter of the salary cap because quite simply, when the salary cap is working, every supporter can go into any given season knowing their team could be winning the Grand Final in 8 months time. The salary cap has two basic functions in Rugby League. The first function is to limit…
So in the recent 2013 Rugby League World Cup launch, in Salford, the qualification process was announced and it had the two or three people that turned up to the launch scratching their heads. There is one spot in the World Cup open to what they are calling an “Atlantic Qualifier”. In real terms, this…
Ben Giles is an English Rugby League journo who writes for Code 13 Rugby League. Now, I’ve got no truck with Ben, however, he has written about how Code 13 went about doing their nominations for the “Golden Boot” awards, and I can’t let it slide, I have to say something. For years, even before the Andrew…
I’ve written many times before about the shambles that is the Newcastle Knights, club whom it seems only exists for the enjoyment of the playing roster. We’ve seen in the past player revolts because certain players have not been retained. Its amazing to think that only a few years ago the playing roster went berserk…