News that covers Rugby League in Australia.
Before the excuses starts let me just say that I’m not a big fan of excuses. Excuses are for people that have failed and that want to come up with some sort of fantasy scenario where they didn’t fail and they were actually successful. When you start making excuses in Rugby League, you basically are…
David Smith has resigned from his position as NRL CEO after three years. An official announcement will be made later on today. The loss of Smith from the NRL’s administration is a blow to the game. Smith joined the NRL three years ago and before he had even officially started the job he was dealing…
Veteran sports journalist Mike Gibson has passed away at the age of 75. Gibson, a very well respected journalist, was known for heading up Channel 9’s Wide World of Sport, and later, The Back Page. He was known for giving reasoned, straight forward opinions and having the ability to look past PR spin and rubbish…
The NSWRL held its awards night last night that is basically the NSWRL’s version of the Dally M Awards. Various awards for NSWRL ran competitions were handed out, and among these awards were those given to New South Wales State Of Origin players for their outstanding performances during the 2015 State Of Origin series. Those…
Fairfax Media is reporting that Nathan Brown will be the next coach of the Newcastle Knights. I’m not sure how I feel about this appointment. While there is a lack of top class coaching talent out there Brown seems to have been one who had a couple of chances to show he could be a…
More than ever before Rugby League finds itself in a battle for peoples time and entertainment dollar. Some people tend to get drawn into the old idea that Rugby League is in competition with other sports for your attention. This simply overlooks the fact that we are all people that are easily distracted by other…
Its a pretty simple question…. If Foxtel were to drop their NRL coverage completely, would you cancel your Foxtel subscription? Vote in the poll below and we will see how the numbers stack up:
Will this season ever end? When the terms of the new Free To Air broadcasting deal were announced I was really disappointed. The NRL basically locked itself into the same season schedule it has right now for a further five years, and I absolutely hate the current season schedule! You could cut an entire month…
It was the most predictable story heading into the 2015 season. At what point would we see the headline “Taylor vs Farah”? To say that the Wests Tigers are a badly run club is an understatement. They are a basketcase. Now to be fair to the Wests Tigers, they have plenty of company. Most clubs…
Who makes up your mind about whether the NRL is doing a good job of running the game? You’re probably a stubborn person that right now is thinking “I do League Freak! No one else is going to make my decisions for me!”. Think about it though, where do you get your information from to…
I know what you are thinking. Who the hell is Stan and what does he have to do with Rugby League? Stan is one of about half a dozen digital content distribution services now established in Australia. For $10 a month you can watch any number of movies or television shows. Its very similar to…
Lets not get too far ahead of ourselves just now. Jarryd Hayne did very well in his first pre season match for the San Francisco 49ers but he still has a long way to go. It was important for him to show the club he had raw athletic talent, and he more than did that….
I love Rugby League because it is an uncompromising collision sport that is difficult to play. It isn’t the sport for everyone. Only a certain type of person wants to play a sport where you receive the ball and have 13 other people looking to drag you to the ground. When you play a collision…
It would be very easy to look at the NRL’s newly announced broadcasting deal with Channel 9 and be blinded by the figures. Channel 9 currently pays $90 million per year to broadcast 3 NRL matches per round, as well as the finals series, and representative fixtures. The newly announced deal that kicks off in…
A bizarre display of gymnastics from New Zealand Warriors’ veteran hooker, Nathan Friend, has captured the imagination of sports fans worldwide. Friend defied his age (34) to pull off an audacious piece of skill during the Warriors’ 28-14 victory over the Melbourne Storm when leaping to claim a Chad Townsend bomb near the defensive line….
It would be very easy to sit back and suggest that what we are seeing happen to the Parramatta Eels right now is the result of terrible management of a club that has been a bit of a basket case for close on 30 years. That would be missing the much bigger picture though. In…
Manly’s Treatment Of Toovey Is A Disgrace The treatment of Geoff Toovey by the Manly Sea Eagles is a disgrace. When you consider the constant infighting at board level Toovey has had to deal with during his time as the Sea Eagles head coach, the injury list he has managed, the loss of talent he…
It is one of the most worn out phrases in the game. You don’t read about the good things that players and club do, you only hear about the bad things. Today is not one of those days. Let me share with you my story and maybe you’ll understand why Canterbury are not only my…
You hear it all the time. Rugby League players are just greedy. They just want to get as much money as possible and don’t care about the consequences of their actions. Let me tell you right now, players have NOTHING on Rugby League clubs who have proven they will happily watch the game being torn…
Like most people, I was pretty disappointed with the crowd the Cronulla Sharks drew at home on the weekend. It was perfect weather for Sunday night football, it was the season kickoff after a few brutal years of off field drama, there were new signings getting their first run for the team, and the Sharks…
Mitchell Moses was very lucky to remain on the field after this high tackle on William Zillman in the Wests Tigers win over the Good Coast Titans on Saturday night. Take a look at the footage and make your own mind up as to whether it was a send off offence or not: Personally I…
It’s official, Daly Cherry-Evans has signed a four year deal to join the Gold Coast Titans from 2016. The deal runs for two years, with an extra two year option in Cherry-Evans favour on the back end of the deal. That is most likely in place with an eye on the new broadcasting deal. Should…
For those who missed it, earlier today the AFL released its 2015 fixture list, announcing the scrapping of Sunday and Monday evening games, and the introduction of more Saturday afternoon football. For years and years, clubs and fans alike, have been calling on the NRL to scrap Monday Night football in favour of a permanent…
Another end-of-season, another round of clubs fines for breaching the salary cap. This time it was Sea Eagles, Knights, Roosters, Tiger and Tigers named as offenders. The breaches date back to the 2013 season, and the Titans aside, seem like minor offenses at worst. For instance the Tigers over spent on their Holden Cup cap,…
I can’t think of too many other sports in the entire world that sees top of the line players depart at the peak of their careers to pursue “dreams” of doing other things. Rugby League should be very proud of the fact that it produces world class athletes that can even consider switching to other…
First of all let me say that it is a very brave decision for a player on well over $1 million a year to walk away from all that money to chase any dream. Jarryd Hayne obviously has a real drive to try his hand at becoming an NFL player and if he feels that…
NRL CEO David Smith has made some interesting statements in the aftermath of news that Jarryd Hayne would be leaving the NRL to pursue his dream to play in the NRL. Smith has explained that he was in contact with Hayne’s management as late as last night and was willing to do what ever it…
Hands up if you thought at the start of 2014 that Blake Austin would be a sought after recruit and that a club’s fans would celebrate upon signing him? Anyone with their hand up needs to be called in for questioning, because you’re telling fibs. Austin began the year not only behind Braith Anasta for…
By now I’m sure you have all heard the massive news this morning that NRL superstar, and current Dally M medalist Jarryd Hayne has announced he is headed to the USA to try his hand in the NFL. Sighting the fact that he felt he had ‘done it all’ in the NRL, one of the…
For all the good in Rugby League, the big hits, the length of the field tries, the emotion, one aspect of the game that needs urgent attention is the rule that says players signed before round 10 can simply change their mind at any time. When a player ‘signs’ with another club prior to the…