News that covers Rugby League in Australia.
I’m not surprised and nor should you be. Anyway that has watched Canberra over recent years will see the trend and know that, for three years at least, this is what Penrith fans have to look forward to. Matthew Elliott has currently got a team with 9 current or former international players in his side….
The Canberra Raiders are going to struggle in 2007, everyone knows that. The club lost a number of experienced first grade players at the end of last year and they have not been able to replace that experience. Some people have questioned how the Raiders will recover when quite frankly, no established stars want to…
“I like being competitive and I like to have the ball in my hands,” Tahu said at the time.” That would probably be the most stressful thing; the game’s close and you want to do something and you can’t even get the ball because they’re very structured. Being a centre or winger, you touch the…
New Sydney Roosters coach Chris Anderson made the ridiculous suggestion this week that he has been astonished by the lack of skill modern day players have. Anderson said that since taking over the Roosters he has found the club full of players that lack skill, with some players unable to do basics such as pass…
When Matt Rogers decided the world should stop for him and he wanted to break his rugby union contract a year early, the Gold Coast Titans stepped forward and offered Rogers a one year contract the winger could take up ahead of his much more lucrative two year deal he had already signed with the…
As Sonny Bill Williams signed a 5 years contracted estimated to be worth about $2.5 million dollars with the Bulldogs last week, it was revealed that the New Zealand Warriors were keen to sign the New Zealand sensation but simply could not afford him. What? The New Zealand Warriors, a team based in New Zealand…
The drawn out saga over where Lote Tuqiri will be up playing may finally be resolved by next week as South Sydney prepared to table an offer on the same day the australian rugby union has set a deadline for the former League winger to sign a contract offer they have made him. In the…
In a recent article in the Sydney Morning Herald new Sydney Roosters coach Chris Anderson bemoaned the fact that the game has become too much of a defensive struggle. He cites the move by Greg Inglis and Mark Gasnier from the centers and into five-eight for their respective clubs as a sad sign for the…
I wasn’t shocked when I heard the allegations about Craig Gowers behavior in a King Cross night club on Saturday night. Let me take you back to 1999 when Gower was kicked out of the Australian Rugby League team after exposing himself to an Irish Tourist at a Coogee Bay Hotel. The powers that be at…
Look, I’m a fan of Russell Crowe and what he wants to do at South Sydney. While most try hard want to be celebs go to one Souths game every ten years and then feed of it for the rest of their lives like they are a loyal fan, Crowe actually attends as many games…
Lets sort the hype from the actual truth of the matter. When he left Rugby League, Matt Rogers was just a winger. He wasn’t a center, not up to fullback and defiantly not a half of any sort. He was a winger, plain and simple. On top of that, he was injury prone. So he…
There is no doubting Ricky Stuart is one of the top five coaches in the game today. His coaching record speaks for itself. So why then have the Roosters effectively got rid of Stuart (The official line is that both parties split by mutual agreement), the coach who took them to their first Grand Final…
While I may be on the other side of the planet at the moment, I could see Andrew Johns getting charge for dissent weeks ago. Surely Johns must have know he was treading a fine like a few weeks ago when everyone was getting on his case for the way he was talking to match…
News that Craig Wing is being chased by the Penrith Panthers shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone. Wing, who’s form has not been great over the last 12 months, has found himself out of favor at Bondi and is pretty much being shown the door by the Roosters. The Panthers meanwhile are still looking…
You have to give credit to Rhys Wesser and Luke Priddis. No matter how Penrith players, both of these players always stand head and shoulders above their team mates. Penrith’s performances over the last few weeks have been nothing short of disgraceful. Its easy to point the finger at Craig Gower’s and his injury as…
The Brisbane Broncos will be looking for a new coach heading into season 2007 because Wayne Bennett will step down as coach. Having guided a young Broncos side to back to back titles in the early 90’s, Bennett enjoyed great success with a side full of champion players. As these players reached the prime/end of…
So the Warriors deliberately and systematically cheated the salary cap. They turned themselves in and were willing to cop the punishment. Somehow, the NRL decided to only take 4 premiership points away from their 2006 total. Thats like taking the free points from the bye away….a NOTHING penalty. And yet, according to some media outlets,…
What was Scotty Prince supposed to do? He’s had a tough career. If any bloke knows how quickly a career can end, its Scott Prince. There was a while there that Prince was only a 50/50 chance of ever coming back from a shocking leg injury and as he went to the West Tigers, it…
I was all for the NRL’s strong stance against the Bulldogs when it was revealed that they had cheated the salary cap. Not it seems the Warriors have done the same thing. If its proven that the Warriors organization at any time made payments to players, knowing those payments were not being put on the…
Yeah its just a trial, but the first footy match of the season was very much appreciated in my lavish surroundings. It was an entertaining game, some big hits and a surprise winner. While some say trial games mean nothing, I disagree. Ive seen to many teams in two many sports write off poor trial…
Well, we all heard the news this week. If you have followed my comments over the last year you know what I think of Matthew Elliott’s coaching. I mean, he seems like a nice enough bloke, but between selecting park footballs ahead of good youngsters, bulking up the side to the point where their lack…
News this week that the St George-Illawarra Dragons needed to release a number of players to get under the 2006 salary cap came as a surprise, especially as the club only just re-signed fullback Clint Greenshields to a one year deal and Luke Bailey to a similar deal just a few months earlier. The Dragons…
This is a very young story coming out of New Zealand but it seems the someone within the company that owns the New Zealand Warriors allegedly offered Warriors NRL players as a bargaining chip in their effort to secure the rights to a Pacific Islands rugby union side. Now, if this is the case, I…
Congratulations have to go to the West Tigers. This is a team spending well under the salary cap. A small side with a big heart. The key to the Tigers incredible Grand Final success was without doubt their defense. They just offered nothing to the Cowboys who’s pack outweighed the Tigers pack by over 30…
After missing out on signing anyone decent, South Sydney is now tossing up poor signings with speculation they will make some TERRIBLE moves. Straight out of the Shane Richardson book of “Promises I Like To Make” comes talk that he is on the verge of signing ANOTHER Great Britain international. Lets me see, Paul Sculthrope,…
Why do the Warriors suck? On the field, off the field, they just don’t have anything at all you can get excited about. As other NRL clubs battle it out for survival in a crowded market, the Warriors have an entire country all to themselves. Its not even as if its a bad market, its…
Well, the Panthers 2005 season is over and now its time to stand back and have a look at what happened to the club. After a brilliant, magical 2003 season and an exceptional 2004 season, Panthers fans held high hopes that going into 2005 the club would once again be one of the best teams…
The Penrith Panthers announced last week that they would release State Of Origin forward Ben Ross because of salary cap issues the club was having. Needless to say, this news wasn’t very well received by Panthers fans. Just weeks after signing Preston Campbell to a one year deal, the panthers now find themselves having to…
A lot of debate this week has centered on wether Andrew Johns should be included as an Immortal while he is still playing the game. Many good judges say that Johns is the best player they have seen and most accept that he is the best halfback of all time. However, the step up from…
I enjoyed Channel Nines 25 years of Origin presentation last week. While I had seen most of the footage and heard all of the stories, it was something good to watch. I have to say it was a bit self indulgent of Nine to commemorate themselves part way through the special. It showed why Nine…