News that covers Rugby League in Australia.
My good friend The Mole is reporting that Craig Bellamy will reject a massive offer from the St George/Illawarra Dragons and re-sign a long term deal with the Melbourne Storm that is likely to see him finish his career with the club. In a chance to quote The Mole, he tweeted: “BREAKING: Moley can reveal…
The Penrith Panthers have released Michael Jennings from his contract in a move that has allowed the New South Wales State Of Origin center to sign for the Sydney Roosters on a four year deal. This is a great move for Jennings and the Sydney Roosters. During his entire career at the Panthers Jennings played…
Update Feb 28, 2013: Premier Sports To Carry NRL Coverage Across The UK Update Mar 07 2013: New Zealand NRL Television Rights Announced Update Mar 08 2013: You can watch NRL games from overseas by clicking this link! The NRL has announced that they have signed off on an international broadcasting deal that will ensure…
There will be a number of rule changes that will come into effect for the 2013 NRL season. Their announcement has come at a strange time but then again, with the way the ARLC is making decisions, you can’t be all that surprised. From the NRL official web site the new rules are: Benefit Of The…
Its not too often I post Youtube videos on the site but I had to show this one off! This Billy Slater Trubute video was put together by a Twitter follower of mine called Andrea. Andrea is a massive Billy Slater fan and her Twitter user name is actually @SlaterLover. You can follow here on…
The 2013 NRL season is going to be an interesting one to watch simply for the fact that the game finally has enough money to do things it hasn’t been able to do in well over a decade. How this changes the way the games administrators make decisions is anyone guess right now. Will we…
The financial problems facing Newcastle Knights owner Nathan Tinkler have come back to hit both the Newcastle Knights and Newcastle Jets, with the Australian Tax Office moving to have both clubs wound up. The Sydney Daily Telegraph is reporting that the Hunter Sports Group, which owns the Knights and the Jets, Newcastle’s A League soccer club, have…
When Israel Folau reached out to the Parramatta Eels and told them he wanted to come back and play Rugby League for them, it put a number of different elements onto an eventual collision course that ironically would see Folau decide to turn his back on Rugby League once again, Folau’s decision to turn his back on one of…
You don’t know him, I don’t know him, but Dave Smith just stepped into the highest profile sports administration job in Australia. Having watched the press conference announcing David Smith as the new NRL CEO a few things came out of it for me. Firstly, Smith, a Welshman based in Sydney in his role in…
The Penrith Panthers have been rumoured to be after him for nearly a year, and he has been photographed taking a tour of the Canterbury Bulldogs training facilities. At the end of all of this, Johnathan Thurston is expected to become the NRL’s first $1 million dollar a year player. There is no doubt at…
For the last two weeks Rugby League fans have been promised that the NRL Draw would be released “Tomorrow”. We have all waited patiently, all looking forward to see the make up of the season and finally having the luxury of being able to play trips to away games well in advance. We are all…
When you cross the white line and onto the playing surface of a Rugby League field, the risk level rises. Rugby League is a tough sport and there are about a million ways to get injured playing the game. When you take the field, you know the risks, and you accept them. When you become…
Thanks to funding from the New South Wales government, Sydney will host two games in next years State Of Origin series with Brisbane hosting the other match. Over the last few years the NRL has been pushing for more funding to host these games. Ironically it was Victoria’s willingness to pay to host matches that…
What type of journalist would call George Piggins up and allow him to spew his ridiculously opinions completely unchallenged? As Russell Crowe stands down as an owner of the South Sydney Rabbitohs, having saved the clubs from financial oblivion, George Piggins took just hours to try and lay the boot in. He claimed that Crowe…
Russell Crowe has made the decision to sell his controlling interest in the South Sydney Rabbitohs to focus more on his family. When Russell Crowe and Peter Holmes a Court took over the South Sydney Rabbitohs the clubs was a mess. On the field they were not worthy of a place in first grade. Off…
Rugby League simply does not play star players what they are worth to the game. With the NRL’s salary cap used to keep costs down, keep clubs financially viable and give us a competition that is as even as any competition in world sport, it is difficult to find way in this system to reward…
The Daily Telegraph in Sydney is reporting that Benji Marshall will ask for an immediate release from his contract with the Wests Tigers to take up a deal to play Rugby Union in Japan. This was always going to happen in the wake of the move by the Sydney Roosters to sign Sonny Bill Williams…
I have just sat down and watch the press conference in Sydney in which the Sydney Roosters announced that they had signed Sonny Bill Williams to a one year deal. The contract has yet to be forwarded to the National Rugby League and there is some concern about the way it come about, with no…
Note: This deal fell through after the NRL salary cap auditor could not give the Eels a ruling on Folau’s true value under the cap. After waiting a while, Folau chose to sign with the Australian Rugby Union. Israel Folau has quit the AFL and will return to Rugby League. Brent Read of The Australian…
Scott Prince will be playing for the Brisbane Broncos next season after securing a release from the Gold Coast Titans. Prince’s contract is for two years and its is an interesting signing by the Broncos because they have Peter Wallace and Corey Norman who play in the halves for them last season. I’ve said a…
For well over a decade now the game of Rugby League in Australia has been crying out for a strategic plan. Something that the game can work towards to give fans, players and various investors in the sport something they can look forward to. Basically the game needed to build towards something, and so today…
Mick Potter has finally been announced as the next coach of the Wests Tigers after ridiculous amounts of speculation by the media. There were no less than three other coaches who were “signed and sealed” according to some journos, and none of them were Mick Potter. Potter has had stints at the Catalan Dragons, St…
The South Sydney Rabbitohs have announced that they will take on Papua New Guinea in their Return To Redfern clash at Redfern Oval on Saturday 9 February next year. It it one of three pre season games they will play including a game the following week against the Knights in Gosford and of course the…
I always find it interesting to look at crowd numbers in Australia sports because they are influenced by so many different variables. One thing I have never been able to understand is the way Rugby League in Australia looks at crowd numbers, and more specifically, growing those crowd numbers. Considering that Rugby League in Australia is…
Benji Marshall is one of about 5 people within Rugby League today that can win a game all on his own. Forget how his team is playing, forget how far ahead the opposition is, when Benji Marshall is at his best he is simply unstoppable. The 2012 season has been a pretty average one for…
The New Zealand Warriors are expected to announce that Matthew Elliott will coach the club for two seasons starting from 2013. This is a disastrous decision that will cost the club players, sponsors and fans. It is a decision that will lead to the complete erosion of any advantages that the Warriors have built over many years of hard…
Well the club seasons on both sides of the world are over, and with no Four Nations to look forward to, I think it is fair to say that the silly season is already upon us. I know, I know, we have some internationals still to play in Europe, but still, lets not ruin a…
If the 2012 season showed us anything it was that a great coach is worth their weight in gold to any club. With top coaches now commanding million dollar salaries, clubs are more than aware that a top coach controls the entire destiny of a club. A coaches performance can make or break a club, not just…
You always have to watch these media types, they will give you one side of the story, but leave out the other. Earlier this season the NRL put out a set of guidelines that teams needed to follow that outlines how much time NRL players and coaches should spend being available to the media and…
The Melbourne Storm are the 2012 Premiers after defeating the Canterbury Bulldogs 14-4. The Storm came into the Grand Final in great form and simply looked to be playing on a completely different level to the Bulldogs. In a game that was dominated by brilliant coaching by from both sides, the execution the Storm showed in attack…