News that covers Rugby League in Australia.
Today it has been announced that the Sydney Cricket Ground will be upgraded with funding from the Australian Federal Government of $50 million, the NSW State Government tipping in $86 million and the SGC Trust itself spending $50 million as well. This will see the venues capacity boosted from 45,758 to 48,000. Wait, what? That…
So yet again Rugby League is talking about a “super secret meeting” that happened over a coffee in public. The story is that Sonny Bill Williams met with the Sydney Roosters chairman Nick Politis and Channel Nine supremo David Gyngell at “secluded” Circular Quay to all but finalize a return to the NRL for the…
Watch me start off simplifying this and then making it much more complicated as we go along. NRL clubs currently receive a grant from the NRL every year. This is basically their share of the current broadcasting deal. The NRL is looking to get clubs to sign an agreement that says that next year, they…
Twitter is an incredible resource that is like a gold mine for anyone that knows how to use it properly. Personally, Twitter had been amazing for my web site. It is a completely open forum that allows me to contact a large user base of people who are interested in Rugby League. I can send…
Today on Twitter I mentioned once again that I believe the Cronulla Sharks should relocate to Brisbane. I point to the way they have struggled over their entire history financially and the way they are squeezed into a small area of Sydney with no room to grown. In Brisbane they would be one of just…
The Australian Aboriginals Vs NRL All Stars game is a great concept that ticks so many boxes. Its a fantastic focus for the kickoff to the Rugby League season. It has great fan interaction as people can vote for who they want to play in both sides online. It is a game that can be…
For the majority of the history of Australian Rugby League, New South Wales versus Queensland representative matches were a test of the relative current player pool in those two states. If you were an Australian living in New South Wales, you played for the Blues. If you lived in Queensland, you played for the Maroons….
Just days after the announcement that James Maloney would not be re-signing with the New Zealand Warriors at the completing of his contract in 2012 comes word that the halfback has signed a three year deal with the Sydney Roosters from 2013. Maloney is a good buy for the Roosters and will partner Mitchell Pearce…
If you follow me on Twitter, you will know that this is something that I have brought up a few times and I am not happy about. As of today, the Penrith Panthers do not have a captain, CEO or a major sponsor. Earlier this week The Daily Telegraph looks at the latter in an…
The Manly Sea Eagles are the 2001 National Rugby League Premiers after a dominant display in their Grand Final showdown with the New Zealand Warriors. I was going for the New Zealand Warriors in this match and they looked pretty good early on. In fact, the first 30 minutes of the match reminded me a…
Grand Finals are life changing experiences. For players, it is about that life long goal they have always had to reach the great pinnacle of the sport. It is a chance to live a childhood dream. For coaches, it is about going over everything a million times in their heads. As their team walks out…
So here we are, the last weekend of big NRL games for the season. I say the last weekend of big games for a reason. Next week, next week is more than a big game. Next week will be life changing. We are now down to four teams and I have to say, I liked…
It is like something out of a comedy sketch. For some reason in this country, sporting competitions see their major game entertainment as some type of pissing contest. Its almost as though the actual entertainment value of an act is not really of any relevance, its more the size of the name that the act…
It was the outcome I expected, and yet, I still feel as though this hasn’t fully played out yet. After getting a low altitude chopper ride down from Brisbane to Sydney yesterday to avoid issues with air pressure that can be an issue with his injury, Darren Lockyer has this morning ruled himself out of…
West Tigers halfback Robert Lui has been charged with an alleged assault. Police turned up to Lui’s home to find his 21 year old girlfriend with a swollen face. You may remember that in September last year Lui was also charge with assaulting his girlfriend, who was pregnant at the time with his child, just after…
It was a fantastic week of Rugby League and one that will be remembered for some time. The Warriors vs Tigers game was fantastic. The Broncos vs Dragons game was even better! There were so many great stories as a backdrop to these games as well. It is what makes this time of the year…
This is when the NRL Finals series get really good! If you win this week, you are one week away from playing for a place in the Grand Final. If you lose, you leave the country. There are a lot of story lines to follow for this weekends two games. Can the West Tigers keep…
David Gallop has the toughest job in sport. He is the leading figure in a sport he is not the leading figure in. He is an administrator who only took up the job as NRL CEO until the powers that be found someone who could take up the role over on a longer term basis….
It was a very interesting first week of the NRL finals and we saw a clear divide between teams in all four games. The top two teams won their matches and get a week off. The bottom two teams are done for the season. That is how it was supposed to be! So lets have…
What a difference a year makes. This time last year Todd Carney was riding high after the best season of his career. He talked about the way he had turned his life around, how he had seen the error of his ways and how he would never let his his team mates, his friend and…
Last season felt like most of the competition was in transition and only a couple of teams were really primed for a real shot at the title. This season we have a number of different clubs ready to roll. The Storm are looking for redemption. The Dragons are looking to prove it wasn’t just a…
Rugby League at its highest level is a male dominated industry. You only have to go back ten years and anything from female journalists to female board members were just about unheard of! Thankfully, times are changing, to the point where we have even moved on from the forced, token female presence. Now we are…
So the Dally M’s were held last night and before I list the results, I need to get something off my chest. I’m not real sure how relevant the Dally M’s are any more. First of all, this is an award that has recently been won by Todd Carney and Matt Orford, but has never…
Jack Reed is like a gift from the Rugby League Gods. Reed is a 23 year old center for the Brisbane Broncos. This time last year, he didn’t think he had much of a career ahead of him as far as Rugby League went. Perseverance paid off though and today he is a top performer…
Rugby League is the only sport I know of where events that happen in and around the game can all be linked to its ultimate demise. Such was the case in the fallout of Friday nights brawl between the Melbourne Storm and the Manly Sea Eagles. The first fight was not bad, but nothing spectacular….
The other day I sat down to watch a press conference in Brazil where the UFC were promotion their first big event in the biggest country in South America. UFC President Dana White said that it had been a long time coming, and would mark the start of regular events in Brazil, which provides some…
Imagine being a St George/Illawarra player over the last few seasons. You are trying your guts out but its plainly obvious that you don’t have what it takes to win a Premiership. Hell, for nearly a decade the club has been there or there abouts, and they always fall short. So much so that the…
No doubt you have all read about the blowup this week by Phil Gould after some squiggles he wrote on a piece of paper at a recent meeting between all NRL club CEO’s and Chairman was “leaked” to the media. Gould felt like it was a personal attack on him by “someone” at the NRL…
You have to wonder where a club is at when, after a number of terrible performances, they feel like the best thing to do is to have everyone stop drinking alcohol for the next two weeks to try and lift their game. Imagine in your work place if things were going well and the prevailing…
When the Parramatta Eels went out in the last off season and signed Carl Webb, Paul Whatuira, Chris Walker, Chris Hicks and Reni Maitua off the scrap heap, I was certain it was all going to work out just fine for them. I was certain that by signing all of these player who were in…