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Australia has beaten New Zealand 34-20 in front of 44,432 in Auckland. I have to say, it was great to finally see a Four Nations game of some quality. Both teams looked sharp, with the Kangaroo’s obviously looking the better of the two, however this game was a real contest for the full 80 minutes…
I try to fight the good fight. If I see something I think is wrong with this game of Rugby League, I’ll call it out. I’ll write all about what is wrong, I’ll write about how I would do things differently, and I hope by the time you have read through an article, you come…
Australia has looked very unconvincing despite an easy win over an England side that is just totally out of their depth, winning by a scoreline of 34-14. The refereeing and touch judging was terrible in this match, but for all the whinging you’re likely to hear, it didn’t effect the result. Australia looked very impressive…
Laughter is under rated. I like to laugh, and for that reason, I like watching England play Rugby League because England make me laugh. Just look at poor old Sam Tomkins who this week said it was a myth that the NRL was a better competition than Super League. Forget the basic case you could…
Wales have beaten France to claim the European Cup and claim a place in next years Four Nations tournament. Some people have been hailing this as a great thing for the game. Its not. The Welsh side is made up mostly of players born and raised in England. With little to no recognition from the…
Australia has kicked off their Four Nations campaign with a 42-0 win over Papua New Guinea on a pretty average Sydney afternoon. Just 11,308 people turned up for the game and to be honest, I can’t blame fans for not going out to the game. With it being live on TV in Sydney, and a…
New Zealand have easily accounted for England 24-10 in front of a pretty decent crowd in Wellington. With both teams wearing historic jerseys and really going all out for a few photos to mark the occasion, its was interesting to see James Graham snarl “Don’t touch me” to a ground coordinator who was just trying…
When you come to my web site, I’m not about to start blowing smoke up your arse. I’ll write about things that are uncomfortable to say, that you probably don’t want to read, and the idea of that is that you will go away thinking about your own opinions of the game. If you are…
The Four Nations finally start next week as Australia and New Zealand look to tune up over the next few weeks with an eye on the final. We’ve had a couple of big name injuries this week, but hardly crushing blows. I had heard on the radio that PNG would be training at Blacktown today….
As Akuila Uate, a Fijian born and raised player who only recently moved to Australia, was selected by the ARL to represent that Australian Prime Ministers XIII against Papua New Guinea, people who took any interest in seeing international Rugby League retain any credibility were up in arms. Having played for Fiji within the last…
International Rugby League is a funny thing. You always get the feeling that its held together with sticky tape and rubber bands. Whether its the expert commentary team from England stuffing up players names from the opposition they have clearly never seen, depspite the fact these players are regular NRL players, to the Kiwi commentators…
I don’t like reading fictional stories unless they are of the pornographic kind. I just feel like they are a waste of time, and anyway, I’ll wait until it comes out as a movie. So when I go to the BBC web site to read the Rugby League news, and I come across a piece…
It has been a game thats been on my radar for months now. Englands first big test down under since their humiliating 2008 Rugby League World Cup disaster. While England goes about talking itself up with the same old lines about just lacking a bit of confidence and Australia just being a bit lucky, for…
It must be time for England to walk into another international Rugby League competition because I’m hearing the word “confidence” being thrown around a lot this week. We’ve been here before, and yes, I know, I know, I could probably let it all slide and our lives would not change one bit. You don’t come…
Its a tournament that was conceived with the notion that regular test football between the top nations would see other teams life their game and come up to the same level we have seen Australia play at forever. Has it worked? New Zealand’s success in 2006 and the 2008 World Cup is look at as…
New Zealand have easily accounted for England 24-10 in front of a pretty decent crowd in Wellington. With both teams wearing historic jerseys and really going all out for a few photos to mark the occasion, its was interesting to see James Graham snarl “Don’t touch me” to a ground coordinator who was just trying…
The Rugby League club season is only a few weeks away from drawing to a close, and attention is slowly starting to turn towards the end of season Four Nations competition between Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and England. The media tends to think you need to be wearing a Sydney Roosters jersey to…
Some people tell me that I see things in black and white terms. This is a flaw apparently. You see, I don’t understand that in this day and age, you have to be flexible. I think thats a load of horse shit quite honestly. I’ve always been someone that thinks that this game should be…
England Captain Jamie Peacock is out for the rest of the season and now, people are wondering who should captain England going into the Four Nations tournament to be hosted in Australia and New Zealand at seasons end. When selecting the next captain, you have to remember that the RFL has a bit of a…
It comes as a shock, I know, but it is obvious that Australia is scrapping the bottom of the barrel as far as playing talent goes. That is the only conclusion I can come to with regards to the news that Newcastle Knights winger Akuila Uate is looking to turn his back of playing for…
Well over the last few weeks I have watched the Soccer World Cup, basically because there isn’t much else on that late at night in Australia. Now Australia were bloody terrible, but I take heart in knowing that at least we are not as bad at Soccer as England is. If you are English and…
A harsh, cold dose of reality. The 2008 World Cup was supposed to be a turning point for English Rugby League. It was the competition where reality set it and expectations had been reset. The catastrophic performance of the English side, which saw them barely beat Papua New Guinea, thrashed by Australia, and then easily…
Samoa will make an application to the Rugby League International Federation to host a World Nines competition in 2012, an area of the international calender that is seen as a bit of a dead spot in the lead in to the 2013 World Cup. Its a nice idea, and it has seen some within the…
The Australian Kangaroos have beaten the World Champions New Zealand Kiwi’s 12-8 in torrential rain at Melbourne’s AAMI Park. It was the first game played at AAMI Park, Melbourne’s brand new rectangular pitched stadium, and the rain thrashed down for the full 80 minutes. The pitch itself must have been incredible to take the battering…
You will probably have noticed that the grumbles are starting to grow about Sam Burgess and his decision to not turn out for England’s mid season Test Match against France. The two other English players taking part in the NRL, Gareth Ellis and Mark Flanagan, both play for the West Tigers and both have made…
Well Australia face the World Champion New Zealand Kiwi’s this Friday night down in Melbourne. It will be the first event held at Melbourne brand new rectangular stadium that will become the home of the Melbourne Storm. Looking at both lineups, I don’t think either team has gone out to experiment too much. Both teams…
After a much publicized world wide search the Rugby Football League has announced that Steve McNamara is the man to coach England into the next World Cup. Damn….. The Rugby Football League have been comical in the way they have appointed coaches over the last decade. Ask yourself this, if the Great Britain/England team was…
Over the last 20 years, when ever Great Britain or England have come to Australia to play a series or any kind, it has resulted in failure on an epic scale. That their best tour in that time frame was coming third in a three team competitions, where one of the top two sides lost…
I don’t need to tell you what a shambolic farce Great Britain and England have been at International level over the last 30+ years. Promises are made, lots of big, bold statements, a big build up, and then, well…we all know what happens. The fact that we are coming off of a Four Nations competition…
Normally we don’t see the the draw for a major international Rugby League competition until a few weeks before the bloody thing kicks off, however this time around the IRLF (ARL/RFL) have taken time out from meetings in Singapore in high priced hotels to get a draw out early. The 2008 World Cup was a…