News that covers Rugby League in Australia.
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,…
Remember last week when I said everyone in Brisbane was going batshit crazy? Well it seems the fun hasn’t stopped yet! Ivan Henjak was sensationally fired last night a few weeks out from the kickoff to the 2011 season. He will be replaced by assistant coach Anthony Griffin, who has only been given a deal…
Reports today in the Sydney Morning Herald and Daily Telegraph have linked a number of high profile managers with the Melbourne Storm salary cap scandal. It has been alleged that managers signed off on two different documents, an official NRL contract, and a second contract that gave their clients, the players, the added extras that…
Yesterday the Gold Coast Titans gave the ultimate show of support to their coach John Cartwright. You can not fault the job he has done since the Titans entered the NRL a few years ago. They were competitive in their first season and over the last two years they have proven to be one of…
The NRL All Stars have defeated the Indigenous All Stars 28-12 with Josh Dugan being named the Preston Campbell medal winner as the man of the match. It was a game played at a really high intensity, just about every player looked sharp and while there were a few bumps, bruises and some blood spilt,…
Well the NRL All Stars game is played this weekend and I’ve got to say, I’m not feeling it. I think with the drawn out process that happens in regards to voting for players over the course of about three months, only to have many players pull out with injury, it just has lost me…
If your city was flooded for a week, you’d probably go a little bat shit crazy too. Thats the only way I can rationalize what has been happening in the Brisbane Rugby League scene recently with all sorts of things happening that make no sense at all. The randomness, the bitter feuds, the weird stories,…
He had only just arrived back in Australia after being delayed by “Visa Problems” but it didn’t take long for Brian Carney to throw in the towel and retire from Rugby League all together. Carney cited a loss of passion for his sudden retirement and to his credit he said he didn’t want to just…
I remember talking to a former Super League club coach a number of years ago and he said to me that during the off season, you’d be amazing at home much weight some players can pack on. In fact, even during the course of a couple of weeks on the sidelines through injury, a player…
I am a big supporter of the salary cap because quite simply, when the salary cap is working, every supporter can go into any given season knowing their team could be winning the Grand Final in 8 months time. The salary cap has two basic functions in Rugby League. The first function is to limit…
I’ve written many times before about the shambles that is the Newcastle Knights, club whom it seems only exists for the enjoyment of the playing roster. We’ve seen in the past player revolts because certain players have not been retained. Its amazing to think that only a few years ago the playing roster went berserk…
This is what it all comes down to… The Melbourne Storm, who still have Greg Inglis under contract, are happy to release him from his contract to play for another NRL club because it will help them with their salary cap issues. The thing is, they want him to pay a legal bill the club…
Its official, Joel Monaghan has apologized for the picture taken of him performing a sex act with a dog. He will be sacked by the Canberra Raiders some time over the next few days. There isn’t really much more that can be said about this whole thing. I mean, obviously pissed or not, Joel Monaghan…
Pouring rain, choking, bad refereeing…the 2010 Grand Final wasn’t a classic, but it was one too remember. While the crowd was probably split with 90% Dragons fans, 8% neutral fans and 2% Roosters fans who had been fans for a solid seven days by the time of the Grand Final. Now, just before we look…
A football club is a little bit like a sailing ship. The boat itself is the team. The captain of the ship is like the coach. The rudder is like the CEO and the keel, well, that is like the football board. Everything has its own job, and as soon as something fails, the whole…
Look out Sydney, there is gonna be a group of tens of Roosters fans hitting the town hard tonight! The Sydney Roosters have easily accounted for the Penrith Panthers in their qualifying final, running it in with a scoreline of 34-12. Only 23,459 turned up on a perfect night in Sydney to watch this game,…
I honestly believed that the West Tigers were busted, and on their way to an ambush in Canberra, however the Black and Golds lifted and managed a memorable 26-24 win and put themselves into the Semi Finals and a matchup with the St George/Illawarra Dragons. It was very much game on with Benji Marshall playing…
The St George/Illawarra Dragons beat the Manly Sea Eagles 28-0 on the weekend, and if you’re wondering why I’m only just writing about it, its because I didn’t watch the game. I’ve been told it was a pretty boring contest, that the Dragons did pretty well but probably could have put up a bigger scoreline,…
Week two of the NRL Finals series will see the 7th and 6th placed teams during the regular season host home finals games against the 3rd and 2nd ranked sides. There Wests Tigers have called for this set up to be changed. They feel that, a reward for finishing higher up the ladder during the…