There was not much entertainment on show in the NRL season opener between the Eels and the Broncos. The Broncos methodically ground away at the Eels to come away with a 17-4 win against an Eels team that was desperately missing the influence of a halfback. The game made headlines for what happened in the…
Well the 2016 season is nearly here and I thought this might be the right time to talk about what you can look forward to here on LeagueFreak.com. You can look forward to more articles over the course of the Rugby League season than I put out in 2015. I don’t plan on just pushing…
Mitchell Pearce has been suspended for 8 matches and finned $125,000 for his behaviour on Australia Day which has been the subject of so many headlines. The fine is the largest in Australian Rugby League history, and which $50,000 of that fine is suspended, I still think it is way over the top. I think…
Fairfax Media is reporting that 70 doctors and health experts are calling for a ban on tackling in school “Rugby” games. The Association for Physical Education noted that tackling is where most injuries occur. “The majority of all injuries occur during contact or collision, such as the tackle and the scrum,” they said in their…
The Houston Rockets have come to an agreement to buy out guard Ty Lawson, ending his short lived and disappointing time at the club. The Rockets traded for the troubled Lawson heading into the 2015-16 season and looked to be getting him at a bargain basement price. However, Lawsons style of play did not fit…
ARLC Chairman John Grant has blocked any hopes John Hopoate has of coaching the Manly Sea Eagles SG Ball team any time soon. Hopoate’s legal team has threatened to take the matter to court arguing that it is the NSWRL that has juristiction over the SG Ball competition and not the NRL. They asked the…
Channel 9 is reporting that the NRL is furious at the Sydney Roosters for the way they have handled Mitchell Pearce since his return to Australia from rehab. Pearce has participated in a number of media interviews since his return and to be fair to Pearce, he seems to have been very open and honest…
The 2016 NRL season is here! I want to know who my readers think will be NRL Premiers by the end of the season. You can select your own team if you like or you can select a different club. It is totally up to you! So…VOTE: FYI, if you selected a team other than…
There are few teams in the National Rugby League that suffer from the weight of expectation that the Parramatta Eels carry every single season. While the Eels have come close on a couple of occasions, they have never been able to recapture the glory days of the 1980’s that saw the club become one of…
NRL Womens Adviser Catharine Lumby believes that Mitchell Pearce’s behaviour is unacceptable that and he should not be allowed to play in the NRL ever again. Now before everyone loses their minds it must be stated that Catharine Lumby is allowed to hold this opinion. We are all allowed to hold different opinions on what…
Sydney Roosters player Shaun Kenny-Dowall has been found not guilty of charges that included assault, damaging property, stalking and using a carriage service to offend. The charges were brought against Kenny-Dowall in July 2015 after allegations were leveled against him by his ex partner. Magistrate Gregory Grogin found Kenny-Dowall not guilty on all charges. This…
There is nothing better than turning up to an NRL game only to find yourself being preached at because you are in the middle of another theme round. Theme rounds are a pain and rarely have anything to do with Rugby League itself. So why doesn’t the NRL have theme rounds that actually celebrate parts…
This week on League By The Fireplace the boys make some bold predictions heading into the 2016 NRL season with the use of a time machine and what ever substance you can get rehab from in Thailand. To listen to the podcast simply CLICK HERE I’ll be featuring League By The Fireplace’s podcasts on the…
Wouldn’t it be fantastic if once in a while you could turn up to a game of Rugby League and the major focus of the event you have turned up to was Rugby League? I don’t know about you but I am sick to death with every single round of the Rugby League season needing…
The Sydney Morning Herald today has revealed that the NRL spent $101,095,000 on marketing in 2015. This is obviously a massive blowout and it has seen the NRL start to move people on from its front offices because you simply can not justify spending that much on marketing. That got me thinking, what could the…
When you’ve spent ten years talking about your desire to bring NRL football back to North Sydney and the Central Coast, it becomes a bit awkward when you then decide that you want to control an NRL club on the Gold Coast. That is the scenario in play today as the North Sydney Bears, or…
Fijian born Parramatta Eels winger Semi Radradra has made it know that he would like to represent Australia after becoming an Australian citizen. That is great news. Australia is a really good Rugby League nation to play for. It pays its test players more money than any other test playing nation and tends to win…
It is official: Barring any unforeseen circumstances, Sam Burgess will take to the field on Saturday after being named as part of the South Sydney Rabbitohs second row for their game against the Gold Coast Titans. Much has been made of the return of Sam Burgess from England where he spent a year playing rugby…
In 2015, the NRL was graced with an all-Queensland final that pitted the Brisbane Broncos against the North Queensland Cowboys. The Cowboys had fought intense battles throughout the season with their star player Johnathan Thurston leading the team to NRL glory. While there is no clear-cut favourite, the NRL betting odds should favour these top…
With the NRL All Star game coming up there is a lot of talk that the NRL may be looking to cut the event to help ease the workload on players. The NRL All Star Game is very important for the Indigenous All Star, that is something that can not be overlooked at all. It…
I really enjoy watching the Auckland Nines every year. I think it is a perfect way to get the Rugby League season as a whole under way, and it is a great promotional tool for the game in New Zealand which I believe doesn’t get enough help from the NRL to grow. I would personally…
Super League returns tonight with what we expect to be a cracking opening game. In its 21st season, the teams will be playing once again for that elusive Grand Final trophy but can Leeds be stopped? Here we preview the opening round fixtures: Leeds vs Warrington (Thursday 4th February, 8pm, Sky Sports 2) The champions…
News this week that Wayne Bennett was contemplating an offer to coach the England Rugby League team came as a bit of a surprise to most. The RFL has long held an outdated view that England should be coached by someone who was based in the UK, something that has had a devastating effect on…
Should Mitchell Pearce be sacked by the Sydney Roosters and deregistered by the National Rugby League? I tend to think a fine and suspension is enough in this case with a warning that one more incident will be the end of his NRL career, but a lot of people feel that is not enough. So…
Sydney Roosters halfback Mitchell Pearce is in a lot of trouble right now after video emerged of him highly intoxicated at a private party. During the video Pearce admits to pissing on the couch of the person that owns the home, before briefly simulating a sex act with her Poodle (Ironically a little bit of…
Last season saw Leeds Rhinos enjoy tremendous success in the world of rugby league, claiming a highly impressive treble – the League Winner’s Shield, the Challenge Cup and the Grand Final Trophy. They are fully expected to be right in the hunt for honours again this year, but there are challengers determined that they won’t…
Warrington Wolves are one of the most prestigious rugby league sides in the United Kingdom and Tony Smith’s men will be quietly confident of success in 2016. After a disappointing 2015 campaign, many have questioned Warrington’s decision to allow the likes of Joel Monaghan, Richie Myler and Chris Bridge to leave club in the offseason…
Anthony Mundine has told The Locker Room Podcast that he believes he was a very similar player to Johnathan Thurston, but more explosive. Mundine said “Thurston was very similar to me but way slower”. He went on to add “I think I had twin turbos. If he had twin turbos he’d be very similar to…
As the National Rugby League continues to negotiate its next broadcasting agreement news has emerged that Fox Sports wants to shake up the current broadcasting schedule by adding an early Friday Night match at 6pm AEST and buying Channel 9’s Saturday Night Game, giving Fox Sports its “Super Saturday” back while moving Channel 9’s match…
Are you a Rugby League fan, or are you just a fan of your club? Do you want to see the best talent in the world on show every weekend in the NRL, or do you only care that your team wins and very little else matters to you? Personally, I’m a Rugby League fan…