News that covers Rugby League in Australia.
When I was four years old, the Cronulla Sharks were my favorite team. The reason was because I liked the Sharks logo, it was cool. In fact my first every footy jersey is a tiny little Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks jersey. When I went to primary school a year or so later, my favorite players was a…
After a terrible start to their season, the Parramatta Eels made a decision that it would cease all contract talks with their off contract players until such time as the team turned things around on the field. The backlash was fairly swift. The players were not happy at all. They were filthy the decision was…
The Gold Coast Titans had a great year last year, but when it came to finals football, they were just way short of the mark. Two major problems showed up for the Titans. First, they didn’t seem to be able to step up and play at a higher level, a higher gear. While great teams…
Stupidity is a curse that no one asks for. It is a weight that one carries through their entire life. Footballers tend to get a reputation for being stupid. That can unfair in some instances as we have a lot of intelligent players in the game these days. Many run businesses and some excel in…
As a football junkie, the Melbourne Storm deadset make me damp every single week. The effort required to get up and produce the goods week after week, year after year, its astounding what they have managed to achieve. Just trying to stay motivated after so many Premierships, so many Grand Finals, and yet not team…
I’m not sure where the push is coming from, I’m guessing lazy journos getting fed “news” from an anxious player managers, but there are been a bit of news recently regarding the future of Sonny Bill Williams. First there was talk he wanted to go back to New Zealand and play for the All Blacks….
The Canterbury Bulldogs have a problem. They have invested a lot of time and money in a player who now wants out of the club. Ben Hannant signed a 3 year deal with the Canterbury Bulldogs after the Brisbane Broncos chose not to offer him enough money. He moved to Sydney with his young family,…
The pass was forward, no doubt about that. The Manly Sea Eagles are filthy about that pass. They have ever right to be as well. It was a mile forward and neither one of the referee’s or touch judges noticed it. Hold on, how did we get here? Go back to last Monday night, and…
I have to say, I feel pretty sorry for Russell Crowe. Imagine pouring all that time and money into your club, going out of your way to sign a young English player you feel will help your team, and then sitting down to watch them getting smacked by the Sydney Roosters. What a shit way…
Only 11,000 people turned up to watch Penriths season opener against the Canberra Raiders. After an off season full of promises and talk from the club, here we are on opening night, and the crowd figure was terrible. Don’t blame the fans though, if there is one thing following Penrith teaches you its to expect…
There are a lot of things about the Rugby League media that I simply hate. I hate it when they are lazy and call player managers to get a cheap “Player XYZ Is Leaving!” headline. I hate it when they come out with “Exclusives” and then you find out they are just quoting widely available…
Over the off season Benji Marshall sat down with former Penrith Panther and now West Tigers defensive coach Royce Simmons and asked him how much it meant to him to be a one club player. Marshall has always been a very mature player, if you know a bit about his background, even away from football,…
The NRL Indigenous All Stars team has beaten the NRL All Stars 16-12 in front of 26,687 on the Gold Coast. Any worries about how fair dinkum this game was going to be were quickly erased early on in the match with big hits and great play being the order of the night. Usually at…
I’m a fan of most sports, not just Rugby League. In fact outside of a few completely shit house sports like Rugby Union and AFL, I’ll give any sport a go. So news this week that the Newcastle Knights Rugby League club had applied to the courts to have the Newcastle Jets soccer club wound…
Just hours after being cleared by the courts of assaulting a female at a night club, Greg Bird has been called into the Indigenous All Stars team. Having not played in the NRL for about a year and a half now, and having two high profile court cases in which he was on trial (And…
I find few things in life more boring than Lote Tuqiri. A bloke that played Rugby League as a youngster, went chasing money in Rugby Union (Fair enough), spent the whole time miserable and hating it, wrote about a million news paper articles talking about Rugby League and pleading with League players to switch codes,…
You see, fans, coaches, club officials and the media can talk as much crap as they like about a player. At the end of the day, as long as he can still play football, he will always come out a winner. As the season draws closer and coaches change their mindset from preparation that will…
Remember the other day when I mentioned that the NRL had finally announced the NRL All Stars team after 4 months and 578 stages of voting? Well yeah…..scratch that! Players are now dropping out of both sides with injuries in what is both a worrying sign for the games credibility and a sign of the…
Well it only took three months and 25 stages of voting, but the 2010 NRL All Stars team has finally been announced. Over 50,000 fans took part in the voting process which I think needs to be simplified and streamlined the next time around. The squad includes a players from every NRL team as well…
Imagine if you will for a moment that you make a living writing about the game of Rugby League. During the season work is good. There are few sports in the whole world that produce as many stories and as much drama as Rugby League does. There is always a rumour to chase, always a…
Everyone knows I love the concept of an Aboriginal All Stars team taking on an NRL All Stars team. It will make for a great game, it will be a great way to kick off the season and it will celebrate the fact that Rugby League has a higher percentage of Aboriginal players than any…
I always think that going into a season, you can get a feel for what direction a club is heading in by the little subtle things they have been doing over the last few months. Some things are good. For instance, have you heard much from the Melbourne Storm? No. Thats a good thing, more…
At what point do you realize you have had enough? For some people its when they start to feel a bit under the weather. For others, its when they start to slur their words. Some people go even further than that. When they can’t stand up on their own, when they throw up, or when…
Paul Gallen is a real top bloke! For years Gallen has forged a reputation on the field as a grub, and in 2009 he pushed that reputation to new heights through his stupid behavior, on and off the field. It all started well when he was fined $10,000 for a racial slur he made towards…
Another day, another off field disgrace for Rugby League fans to deal with. This time its Newcastle prop Danny Wicks who has been charged with supply and possession of prohibited drugs. Serious? Well, he’s been refused bail. Even Greg Bird got bail… It just makes you wonder what goes through the head of some of these…
There is a difference between doing something stupid, and being stupid. We’ve all done something stupid in our lives thats made us look back and think “What the hell was I thinking”. However there are people that just don’t get it, who don’t look back and ask that question. These people are morons, they are…
Greg Bird is free to negotiate with NRL clubs. Most have turned their back on him, but now it seems long time rumours that the Gold Coast Titans want him are true. The Titans are in a tough position in some regards. As a footballer, Bird is just what the Titans needs. For a team…
We all know how terrible the 2009 season was for the Sydney Roosters. In fact by the time you are finished reading this article its likely that one of their players will commit another crime against humanity. So the club doesn’t know how to handle itself, that much is clear. They have continued to allowed…
I can not wait for this game between the Indigenous All Stars and NRL All Stars earlier next year. I’ve wanted there to be a game for the best Aboriginal players in our game for many years now, and I think the NRL has just about got it right in terms of who they will…
Under Matthew Elliotts coaching the Penrith Panthers have yet to have a winning season in his three years on control of the club, Despite this the Penrith Panthers management decided to give him a three year contract extension. Now, during the 2009-10 off season the Penrith Panthers have been spending a lot of money. Penrith…