I always find it very interesting when someone within Rugby League tosses up an idea that is used in another sport, when it is clear they have no idea how that idea is applied in that sport, let alone how it would be applied to Rugby League. The latest idea is the draft, and internal…
It is the dream scenario for the National Rugby League, the worst case scenario for Fox Sport and it would be a deal that would change Australian television in a very dramatic way. The Sydney Daily Telegraph article Channel Ten to attempt to snatch NRL broadcast rights from Channel Nine outlines moves by Channel 10 to broadcast…
If you follow me on Twitter, you will know that this is something that I have brought up a few times and I am not happy about. As of today, the Penrith Panthers do not have a captain, CEO or a major sponsor. Earlier this week The Daily Telegraph looks at the latter in an…
Phil Gould wrote an article on the weekend about junior Rugby League in western Sydney that basically went along the lines of, the AFL is a juggernaught, we are doing nothing to stop them, we need to spend more money, the sky is falling…..you get the picture. It has caused a lot of headlines and…
Am I the only one getting sick to death with the way the media keeps trying to manufacturer Rugby League stories lately? If you have been on the League Freak Juggernaut for long enough, you know I don’t like to stuff around. I like to get straight to the point and not mess about. I’m…
Yesterday at a gas bagging session that was nothing more than an excuse for some of sports power-brokers to have an expensive lunch and hear themselves talk, Channel 9’s boss, David Gyngell, said that Rugby League could not expect to get anywhere near what the AFL got because put simply, the game didn’t have enough…
Starting a new football team, and expansion team, is all about good will. You have to convince the governing body of the sport that they really need you in the competition. That the area you are going into has room for growth, and their presence will will be a welcome addition to the established competition…
They are looking to enter the NRL and provide Brisbane with a second NRL team, but the expected announcement today that they want to name that team the “Brisbane Bombers” is ignorant and short sighted. It will never be allowed to happen, and rightfully so. There is an AFL team called the Essendon Bombers. That’s…
The last 10 years have been a very interesting time in Australian sport. Over the last ten years we have seen Rugby Union, Boxing and AFL all covet star power of Rugby League players. Rugby Union was the first. Flushed with funds from its new found professionalism, it was a sport that was very much…
Last year the AFL made a decision that to them, Israel Folau was worth $1.5 million dollars a year. This made him the richest player in AFL history, and he had never played the game, at any level. Not even as a kid. This week, Kyle Eastmond has made the decision to take a big…
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…
This has been coming for some time. The Daily Telegraph in Sydney is reporting that Jarryd Hayne has his nose out of joint over comments made by his coach Daniel Anderson after the weekends loss to the Brisbane Broncos. What Anderson said was the softest rocket you have ever seen: “I think our fullback is learning. He…
Brett Kimmorley has had a fantastic career. A Premiership winner, a State Of Origin veteran, a Test player, there are very few things Kimmorley has not won over the course of his amazing career. There is one thing though that I’m sure he would change if he got the chance. Newcastle Knights, Hunter Mariners, Melbourne…
Well no doubt by now you have heard the news. Brisbane Broncos winger Israel Folau has decided to sign an incredible $6,000,000 contract to play AFL for the next four years. Good on him, he must be kicking himself! The AFL is desperate to break into Western Sydney and this is the avenue they have…
Its a little ironic that a sport founded on the basis of an open market for players and compensating players for the time and effort they put into the game not finds itself in a position where it tightly regulates what players are worth and shouts down any attempts for a player to earn as…
Obviously the Melbourne Storm are under the pump at the moment and you will find a lot of the good old fashioned Rugby League alarmists talking about the complete demise of the club. That would be great for the game, we could then look to expand the comp in 15 years time and wonder why…
Few other sports in the world can claim to have the same high drug testing numbers that Rugby League has. Over the years we have seen players testing positive to Performance Enhancing Drugs as well as other street drugs, and while it is almost impossible to get everyone, Rugby League authorities on both sides of…
The Melbourne Storm will take the field in their fourth successive Grand Final after a dominant 40-10 victory over the Brisbane Broncos in front of 27,000 fans in Melbourne. The game never really reached any great heights and as I suspected, once the Broncos came up against a real top of the line outfit they…
Forget the Rabbitohs versus the Roosters, forget NSW vs QLD and certainly forget Australia vs New Zealand, no, the biggest rvalry in Australian sport at the present time isn’t even between two sporting teams its between two sports with one using more spin than the Mike Gatting ball and the other getting smashed pillar to…
I’ve always said my priorities as a fan lie in this order: The game of Rugby League, My Country, My State, My Club. That order is basically what allows me to have unbiased views on the game. Sure I rant and rave about Penrith every so often, but most of the time I’m being critical…
Brett White has not be charged by the NRL judiciary over a forearm to the head of Sharks prop Ben Ross on the weekend. The media talked up the two players clashing all week, and as soon as Ross looked to be in trouble after the White charge, you knew the media would try and…
It was a must win game for both teams in Canberra today. As I wrote ion my NRL Tips on the Sports Freak website, I felt as though one of either Canberra or Penrith would make the finals, but I didn’t think both of them would. Canberra has been in great form the last few…
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…
They used to be an odity, something different from AFL that Victorians were happy to have a quick look at before going back to their domestic code. These days however the Melbourne Storm have their own growing fan base, one thats Rugby League savvy and who have embraced “their” team. It took a long time…
I remember once there was a train of thought that players would not want to play for the Melbourne Storm. With the option of Living in Sydney, Brisbane or North Queensland and playing at clubs with bigger crowds on offer, who would want to go and play in dreary old Melbourne and play in front…