Talk is cheap, promises mean nothing, and the only team who will claim to have got the job done in season 2017 will be the one that lifts the premiership trophy over their heads on Grand Final day. A few teams should be looking at this season as being a bit of a turning point….
The World Club series was played over the weekend and both Super League clubs beat their NRL counterparts pretty easily. As always, and no matter what the result is, the analysis of the series and of the Australian game has been hyperbolic, ridiculous and ill informed, especially on behalf of the English media. Would you…
English Rugby League is dying. If you have been reading my web site for any length of time you knew that years ago. I was the first to write about the financial implosion and mass death of clubs that sadly eventuated. I wrote about Rugby Union swamping the game in its so called heartlands when…
When ever I read about a concept that I initially hate the sound of, I stop reacting. I stop reacting and start to actually think about things from the other side of the argument. News today that the NRL is starting to openly talk about moving the Newcastle Knights, a club they own, to Ipswich…
Over the last number of years social media has become a fantastic platform for clubs to deal directly with their own supporter bases, bypassing the traditional media outlets to speak straight to the paying customers. It took a while for NRL clubs to fully grasp the reach they could have on social media, but now…
After an incredible year that saw the Cronulla Sharks break their long standing premiership drought, the team is back again and looking to become the first true reigning premiers since the Brisbane Broncos of 1992-1993. Ironically, the first opponent of the 2017 season for the Cronulla Sharks will be the Brisbane Broncos. Both teams are…
You are not a Rugby League supporter, you are the supporter of an NRL club. You don’t care about the sport of Rugby League, all you care about if how well your NRL club performs this season. You will not enjoy any Rugby League match your watch this year except for those involving the club…
Channel 9 is reporting that the St George/Illawarra Dragons have signed Brisbane Broncos halfback Ben Hunt to a 6 year deal worth over $1 million per season starting from 2018. If those are the actual figures on his contract, that is an outrageous amount of money. Good luck to Hunt if it is true, but…
Ben Hunt is off contract and is looking to get the best deal he can. If that means moving from the Brisbane Broncos, he will move. Hunt would tell his manager to get the best deal available for him. He would mention clubs he would enjoy playing for, some he would not want to play…
NRL clubs have made a move to oust Australian Rugby League Commission Chairman John Grant after Grant, along with NRL CEO Todd Greenberg, promised clubs a funding bonus, and then backpedaled on that promise due to other areas of the game needed the money more. The clubs not only want Grant removed, they also want…
Did anyone really enjoy the 2016 Rugby League Four Nations competition? We had Australia playing just one really good half of football in the entire tournament, New Zealand not turning up at all, England being England, all round terrible while pretending they are still highly relevant to the international game, and a fake Scottish team…
The Gold Coast Titans joined the NRL in 2007 at a time when Rugby League was still recovering from the Super League War. At the time the game was terribly underfunded with terrible broadcasting deals in place and a lack of corporate infrastructure holding the game back in a big way. As we head into…
In the past I have been critical of the “Women In League” movement by the National Rugby League simply because I think it too focused on having high profile media events and morning teas and it didn’t really focus on, you know, women who actually play Rugby League and those who are involved in Rugby…
There is no greater honour than representing your nation. That is what they keep trying to tell us anyway. The passion of playing for your country, joining together as a team representing an entire nation who…oh hang on, I’ve got a better offer elsewhere. I’m off. Do your best without me. I might even play…
South Sydney Rabbitohs forward Sam Burgess has been named the captain of the English Rugby League team heading into the 2016 Rugby League Four Nations. Burgess appointment is sure to raise a few eyebrows in England, after all he still is associated with a failed English Rugby Union World Cup run where is was made…
A couple of years ago a great idea was put forward to enter a Fijian team into the NSW Cup lower grade competition. The basic idea was to have a Fijian club in the NSW state cup competition that mirrors the PNG Hunters involvement in the Queensland Cup. The depth of talent Fiji produces in…
It is one of the sport’s greatest pleasures to sit and compare players. Whether the players play in the same league or even played during the same period is of very little importance. This is part of the entertainment that is a sport. Long after the final whistle has been blown or the game’s authorities…
I always find it a little strange when I see that Rugby League is called upon once again to right all the wrongs in society. The NRL is a sporting competition that features a narrow band of young men within society between the ages of around 17 to 35, whose financial status varies considerably, but…
News Ltd is reporting that a listening device has been found in the New Zealand All Blacks Rugby Union team hotel. The device was reportedly found under a chair, it was reported to the hotel and then the police. The Australian Rugby Union was always informed and predictably they denied any involvement in placing the…
Paul Kent of the Daily Telegraph is reporting that Kieran Foran is looking to join the New Zealand Warriors on a one year deal. The move would probably be a good one for Foran when you consider the troubles he has reportedly had this last year or so that led to his eventual release by…
It wasn’t that long ago that Rugby League was a really ambitious sport that was willing to take itself to the world and dare them to not enjoy the game. Unfortunately that sense of adventure Rugby League once had died off during The Super League War, and it was replaced with cynicism and conservative thinking….
As a huge James Tedesco fan I was really saddened to see him injured on the weekend. He is such an exciting player to watch and to see him taken from the field with a broken jaw was terrible. A broken jaw is one of those extra rotten injuries. Players that have suffered a broken…
Usain Bolt has won his third gold medal in the Olympic 100 meters finals today with a time of 9.80. Bolt beat American Justin Gatling who ran a time of 9.89 and Canadian Andrew De Grasse who ran a time of 9.91. Bolt got out of the blocks slow and needed to come home strong…
Penrith Panthers CEO Corey Payne has parted ways with the club in a move that has come completely out of the blue. Payne was only appointed to the role in April. He barely had enough time to unpack his belongings in his office before he has to pack it all up again! On cue, Panthers…
The NRL has ruled out playing a preliminary final at GIO Stadium in Canberra stating that under the current finals format any teams based in Sydney, Newcastle, Wollongong and Canberra MUST play their preliminary finals at their ANZ Stadium at Homebush or Allianz Stadium in Sydney. This ridiculous ruling means that if results go a…
Penrith Panthers fullback Matt Moylan is off contract at the end of the 2017 season, and while media outlets turned a nothing comment from Moylan into the headline “Penrith Panthers’ star Matt Moylan to test NRL free agency in 2017“, it did make me think about the big decision that will need to be made by…
Last year was a great one for rugby fans, especially those in the UK: England hosted the 2015 Rugby World Cup. As many of you might have expected, New Zealand walked away with the Cup (again), with the All Blacks beating the Australian national team 34 to 17. The haka makes all the difference, methinks….
There are few things better than a great boxing match, but every so often boxing throws up a gruesome moment that you find hard to forget. Well strap in ladies and gentlemen, I’m about to shatter your soul! Here are the top 20 most gruesome moments in boxing. A warning, this video isn’t for the…
There is nothing better than watching two fighters go going toe-to-toe, but every so often a fighter throws a cheap shot and it can completely change a fight! Mike Tyson biting off Evander Holyfield’s ear gets a run, you have to have that, Ortiz vs Mayweather is also in there, as is Andrew Golota giving…
Heading into the 2016 season, I’d take Greg Inglis over any fullback in the world. I consider Inglis to be the best fullback in the game for the last few years, especially since Billy Slater started to suffer injuries and started to lose a step or two. Now, I think James Tedesco is the best…