News that covers Rugby League in Australia.
Think of this as a conspiracy theory that has a lot of pieces that fit very neatly into place… I wrote yesterday about Mal Meninga’s Ignorant Rant against everyone and everything from New South Wales. His article titled Queensland’s triumph a victory over the dirty rats of Origin was full of venom, and its got him in a lot…
You have to wonder what planet Mal Meninga is living on. Fresh off of winning a record sixth straight State Of Origin series at Queensland coach, Meninga went on a bizarre rant in his newspaper column titled Queensland’s triumph a victory over the dirty rats of Origin It was nothing short of a tirade directed at…
Queensland has wrapped up its 6th straight State Of Origin series win with a 34-24 win over New South Wales. Lets face it, the scoreline flattered New South Wales. I’ve never seen an opening half an hour to any Origin match like the one I saw in this game. Things just went Queenslands way. The…
On Sky Sports Radio this morning Peter Peters has revealed that there is unrest among the Penrith Panthers playing group. Players are said to be unhappy with the way Steve Georgallis was overlooked for the Panthers coaching position, with Ivan Cleary signed to coach the Panthers from the beginning of next season. This isn’t the…
Earlier this year the Gold Coast Titans announced that they had signed their coach, John Cartwright, to a five year contract extension that would see him coach the team until some time just after the ice caps have melted and we all live in under water cities. It was a move that raised a lot…
The New Zealand Warriors have called a press conference for Wednesday where it is expected that they will announce that Ivan Cleary will leave the club at the end of the 2011 season and take up the vacant coaching role at the Penrith Panthers next year. When people asked me who I wanted to coach…
Phil Gould was named the Penrith Panthers “general manager” with much fanfare a number of weeks ago. Soon after his appointment, Matthew Elliott was told he would no be the clubs coach beyond this season and the clubs CEO decided to “retire”. Then things went quiet… That all changed yesterday when Gould must have decided…
The second game of the 2011 State Of Origin series will be a game that I remember for a very long time. It is everything I love about sport. Witnessing a champion side face off against a team full of desire. An amazing contest. Reaching that point in the game when, both teams had proven…
We have passion! We’ve got the passion! Its about emotion! I’m passionate and emotional! The greatest sporting performances I have seen in my lifetime all come from cold, emotionless performances in which there was no wasted energy on emotion until the contest was well and truly over. I tend to think the New South Wales…
There is a lot of talk today about the Cronulla Sharks, with some wanting them axed from the competition. The first team I ever remember supporting was the Cronulla Sharks. My first favorite player was a young bloke they called “ET”. My first jersey, as a four year old, was a little Sharks jersey. I’m…
As Queensland crossed for their first try of the opening State Of Origin game after just five minutes, it was easy to worry that New South Wales were going to be on the wrong end of a big scoreline. Considering that for the next 20 minutes of the match, Queensland dominated possession and field position,…
I’ve waited to write this article until both New South Wales and Queensland had announced their State Of Origin lineups. I think its funny that we still see NSW selecting their team ahead of QLD. I guess it comes back to the fact that the administrators of our game have been just about non existent…
The Penrith Panthers needed someone who knew Rugby League. They needed someone that knew the club needed rebuilt at all levels. They needed a guiding hand, and yet, they also needed someone who wasn’t worried about results at first, they just needed to re-establish the club. To make things right again. It doesn’t matter what…
Well, we’ve had City vs Country and a lot of club games to gauge the form of a potential New South Wales State Of origin lineup…so now…its time. I think it is fair to say the the lineup we thought we would see at the season of the season is very different from the lineup…
How many halfbacks in the NRL right now can take the game by the scruff of the neck and drag his team kicking and screaming to victory? Chris Sandow has just signed a $550,000 a year deal to play for the Parramatta Eels, and good luck to the young bloke. Sandow is someone that plays…
Optimism is the most important emotion for a sporting fan. Without it, supporting a team is a soul destroying process. You can have optimism no matter where you sit on the ladder. The team in first place give their fans hope that they can go on and win the title. The team at the bottom…
Today has been a glorious day in the history of Penrith Rugby League club, for today, we have finally, officially, got rid of Matthew Elliott as coach of the Penrith Panthers. Elliott was told on Tuesday morning that he would not have his contract renewed at the end of the year. Not long after, the…
How many chances should you give a person? Nothing in life is ever black and white. As much as we wish we could, you can’t put the behavior of people into nice, neat little boxes. Everything is a degree of something, and therefore, when it comes to giving someone another chance, everything comes into consideration….
I always felt as though Wayne Bennett left the Brisbane Broncos is a fairly average position. Basically when he left, the club needed to completely rebuild itself. It’s highest paid player was getting on and would never be around once the youngsters kicked on. Thats not Bennett’s fault, that’s just how Rugby League works. The…
South Sydney hooker Issac Luke had a bit of a situation on his hands recently. For what ever reason, he had a falling out with his player agent, and that meant that he had to put his upcoming contract negotiations on hold for quite some time. Luke is the current New Zealand test hooker, he…
I’m not going to talk about how good of a player Darren Lockyer was. If you have eyes in your head, you could see what he did. You don’t need me to talk about how good he was! Last season there was a lot of talk that the Brisbane Broncos wanted to groom Lockyer to…
In three years time Jamal Idris will be 23 years old. That is a year younger than Greg Inglis is right now. He will be playing in a Bulldogs side that will have been together for a number of years and grown as a premiership force as a result. He will have earned a number…
I wasn’t going to write this. This web site has always been one that a general fan of the game can come to a feel like they will get a taste of all the flavors our game has to offer. I might be a Panthers fan, but you don’t come to this site and get…
If you wanted to see why the Melbourne Storm are the best Rugby League club in the world, you just had to be watching the television on Saturday afternoon. It started with their Under 20’s team. The Melbourne Storm is the team to play for if you are a youngster looking to make a name…
The start of a new Rugby League season brings expectations. Everyone starts with the same number of wins, the same number of losses, no baggage and for the most part, injury free. The first few weeks of a season don’t make or break a campaign, but they are telling. You can see who has come…
If you head down to my local McDonald’s with ten of your mates, find a Kiwi bloke and start racially abusing him, you better expect to get punched in the face. Do me a favour though… If that is how you get your kicks, and you do end up being punched in the mouth while…
How could I describe the soul crushing exercise that is following a club coached by Matthew Elliott? Let me put it this way… I would quite happily watch Penrith get off to a win less start to the season, getting thrashed in every game, having no chance of making the finals and losing players to…
I was just like you ya know. Knock me down with a feather, Todd Carney was caught drink driving? Really? THAT Todd Carney? Todd Carney, yes that one, blew a Blood Alcohol reading of 0.05. That is the very limit of what you can have with a full license, but Carney only has a provisional…
In Newcastle, its not about what you know, its about who you know. The Newcastle Knights have been run for a very long time on the basis of just keeping everyone happy. Forget professionalism, forget winning, forget accountability….none of that matters. Just as long as everyone iust having a good time and they can all…
If you read this web site on a regular basis, you know what I think about the state of the Newcastle Knights. They are a glorified pub team. The place is run for the enjoyment of the players and who cares about things like professionalism or accountability. In steps Nathan Tinkler, who is very rich,…