News that covers Rugby League in Australia.
Everyone has been hopping on the Manly Sea Eagles bandwagon over the last couple of months, but you won’t find me on there! The thought among experts is that Manly have not just improved on their 2007 form, but they have even improved over the course of this season and their standing at the top…
Penrith is in a strange position when it comes to the battle of the Sydney clubs. They have the biggest and best junior Rugby League setup of any Rugby League team in the world. Its an embarrasment of riches and the production line of talent in the area between Blacktown and Penrith is good enough…
“I was offered double what I’m on at Canterbury to go somewhere else and I stayed because I wanted to stay loyal to the club and keep the boys around, but to see him leave like that …” “It’s tough because he was a player that I really did look up to and for him…
The poor old Bulldogs get pulled in more directions than a $50 note dropped in a packed TAB. They try to please everyone and yet everyone ends up feeling short changed somehow. I think that of all the clubs in Sydney, the Bulldogs have the most potential to be the big drawing super club that…
Well as we all know Mark Gasnier is probably going to opt out of his long term contract with the St George/Illawarra Tampons and take up a huge contract to play Rugby Union in France. Gasnier’s high paying, long term contract with St George/Illawarra basically allows him to come off contract every single season and negotiate with…
The Canberra Raiders have done it tough over the last decade but there are finally signs that things are starting to turn around. They are probably the youngest team in the NRL but they sport a number of top class players that any team would love to have in their lineup. I’ve been hyper critical…
In his first season with the Newcastle Knights, Michael Hagan won a Premiership. It was a fair achievement and many saw him as the new breed of coach who would go on to take the game to a new level. The problem was that from that point on, Newcastle got worse and worse to the…
If I could pick any center in the game, it would be St George/Illawarra’s supertsar center. No, not that injury prone turnstyle who’s Uncle made a name for him 40 years ago, I’m talking about Matthew Cooper. In a basketcase of a team, a club who’s erratic, stupid play has become a trademark, Matt Cooper…
You have to wonder where Steve Menzies stands among the games all time greats. At the age of 42 he is still running around for Manly, scoring tries seemingly every week. Early on in his career Menzies copped a bit of a bad wrap, and funnily enough it was because he was so good. Playing…
He has been one of the games elite players for over ten years. He is universally respected and one of the gentlemen of the game. He is a premiership winner, he has captained Canberra and the New Zealand Warriors and been an inspirational leader at both clubs. He in one of only 6 players in…
So if you didn’t know, Sydney’s Daily Telegraph is running an online poll to try and find out who the top player in the NRL is. Seeing this, Canberra fans decided they wanted to have their say and within hours of the poll opening they bombarded the site with votes for Canberra halfback Todd Carney….
Trent Barrett has signed a two year deal with the Cronulla Sharks that will see him play with the club for the 2009 and 2010 seasons. The deal is said to be worth around $300,000 with a third party agreement with Channel Nine. Barrett needed to get a release from Wigan to get this deal…
Anyone that saw Shane Richardson’s embarrassing performance on the Footy Show will remember it for a very long time. Richardson has a history of enjoying the spotlight, he is right there with Matt Adamson as far as getting his head on TV for no apparent reason to do lots of talking, but not really say…
The Newcastle Knights are the envy of other New South Wales based clubs today after the NSW Government announced a major upgrade to Energy Australia Stadium. After drawing 20,000+ on a regular basis to a grass hill for years, Newcastle can look forward to having an all seater stadium in 2011 with a capacity of…
Luke Lewis has really screwed over the South Sydney Rabbitohs by backing out of a handshake deal to play for the club from next season, deciding to re-sign with the Penrith Panthers instead. Lewis had agreed to join the Rabbitoh’s but had not signed on the dotted line yet. Obviously with the Bunnies poor start…
The mail was spot on and Graham Murray has stepped down as the coach of the North Queensland Cowboys. You knew Murray was gone when there was a betting plunge this week on hyim being the first coach to go. This isn’t new territory for Murray. He has a history of coming into a club,…
Darren Lockyer is one of the greatest players of all time, there is no doubt about that. He could retire today and he would have achieved more in his career than any current Rugby League player. Right now though, his knee is giving him a lot of problems. You find that most great players come…
The St George/Illawarra Tampons have been beyond pathetic so far this season. Even the boost that Wayne Bennett would be coaching them next season has not been enough to make them lift their game at all. Of course, Benny doesn’t need to worry about that, he doesn’t arrive at the Dragins until the season is…
The rumblings started late last year but now its been all but confirmed that Trent Barrett wants to end his stint in Super League and head back home to the NRL for what is being called one last season. Why anyone would want to sign Barrett for just one year is beyond me, but there…
The Sharks surprised everyone by swooping for Anthony Tupou’s signature earlier this week but now the talk is the Sharks have a few more moves up their sleave. There have been suggestions in the media that the Sharks will make a move to sign St George/Illawarra’s Jason Ryles, and may even be willing to swap…
Few teams in the National Rugby League actually have the ability to make me laugh through an entire game because they are so bad. South Sydney have done it in the past, the Panthers obviously are near the top of the list, but bar non the St George/Illawarra Tampons are the funniest side to watch…
Few things piss me off more than talking about loyalty in Rugby League. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not one of these idiots that talks about “the good old days” when players apparently didn’t switch clubs. I get pissed off because people talk about loyalty and for the most part, they are all a bunch…
It was the Grand Final rematch and you got the feeling the Melbourne Storm came out to make a statement in beating the Manly Sea Eagles 26-4. In truth, the scoreline flattered Manly who were well beaten right across the park. Billy Slater easily won his much hyped match up with Brett Stewart. Anyone thats…
Well a number of teams wanted him but it seems Wayne Bennett had his sights set on coaching the Dragons. Bennett will take over from Nathan Brown at the end of the season as Brown becomes yet another lame duck coach who is forced to see out his time at the club knowing he has…
Question: You’re the CEO of an NRL club and your brother is the coach. You’ve had a terrible season, the clubs going in the wrong direction and you need a change. How do you sack your own brother? Thats the question that could face Canberra Raiders CEO Don Furner in the future after he named…
With Neil Henry set to sign with North Queensland, and Wayne Bennett meeting the Dragons, a lot of positions are starting to be filled very quickly when it comes to the head coaching positions available in the NRL. So it comes as a bit of a surprise that reports of Daniel Anderson has been house…
Well the decision has been made, Israel Folau will join the Brisbane Broncos next year on a four year deal said to be worth around $500,000 a year. Not bad cash for an 18 years old! Folau, who grew up in Queensland, was obviously looking to head back home and its a real shame he…
Penrith have won their first game of the season despite giving up 16 points in the second half, downing the winless South Sydney Rabbitohs 24-20. If you haven’t been keeping up with the goings on at the worst club in the NRL, the players got Petero Civoniceva to confront coach Matthew Elliott about his game…
It was about this time last year that the whinging started as Brian Smith used the mandate given to him by the Knights board to end years of terrible football and put a broom through the entire club. He started telling poor, underperforming players that they didn’t have a god given right to play for…
He is Brisbanes chief playmaker, cool under pressure, he just knows whats needed and he gets the job done. And I’m not talking about Darren Lockyer! The form of Peter Wallace so far this season has been stunning. Following on from last year where he basically showed he is already a top class halfback, Wallace…