This is when the NRL Finals series get really good! If you win this week, you are one week away from playing for a place in the Grand Final. If you lose, you leave the country. There are a lot of story lines to follow for this weekends two games. Can the West Tigers keep…
Last season felt like most of the competition was in transition and only a couple of teams were really primed for a real shot at the title. This season we have a number of different clubs ready to roll. The Storm are looking for redemption. The Dragons are looking to prove it wasn’t just a…
So the Dally M’s were held last night and before I list the results, I need to get something off my chest. I’m not real sure how relevant the Dally M’s are any more. First of all, this is an award that has recently been won by Todd Carney and Matt Orford, but has never…
Tim Sheens gave them every chance, but he knew, it was time for change. The West Tigers won the 2005 NRL Grand Final with a young team. Most of that team still forms the core of the current West Tigers lineup today. In the years following that Premiership win, the Tigers have had one major…
If you head down to my local McDonald’s with ten of your mates, find a Kiwi bloke and start racially abusing him, you better expect to get punched in the face. Do me a favour though… If that is how you get your kicks, and you do end up being punched in the mouth while…
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…
Of all the people I talk to about Rugby League through my web site, forums, Twitter and just general people I know and meet, not a single one of them views the RL Worlds Golden Boot award as anything other than a joke and a complete farce. From the mythical list of “International Journalists”, none…
They are the only awards that really matter. They don’t conform to a points system. They don’t just focus on one part of the season. The King Of Rugby League kick in from the very first trail game of the season and judging ends only after the last major game has been played. Players and…
Just when you think the international season is crap, along comes an incredible Four Nations Final and it leaves you wanting more! I’ve been lucky enough to attend three of the best Rugby League test matches of the modern era. The 2006 Tri Nations Final that Australia won in extra time, the 2008 World Cup…
I hate the Sydney Roosters. I hate that a club with no fans and no junior league, with a false history tarnished by the fact that no one cares can be soaking up the funding that other clubs with actual supporters could use. However, who cares, because this game was sooooo good. The Wests Tigers…
It should have been the type of situation that would have any decent footballer licking their chops and reading for a big game. Facing off against a weakened opponents. No captain, no on field general. Their back forward missing, their best backs missing. All that would be left is a couple of experienced club players…
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…
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,…
I’ve been very critical of England for a very long time, I’ve give my opinion on changes that needed to be made, and so when those changes have come into being, I shouldn’t be surprised by Englands improvement. England beat New Zealand 20-12 in a good old fashioned test match! New Zealand started well and…
The New Zealand Rugby League today named their squad for the upcoming Four Nations competition to be held in England and France. The squad contains seven uncapped players and really has a bit of an eye on the future with some very good young talent in the team. The Kiwi’s have been hit hard by…
Australian Test selectors have made few changes to the team beaten in last year World Cup Final. The team that wasn’t good enough will be given a chance to get some sort of false redemption against the World Champion New Zealand Rugby League team in Friday night in Sydney. New Zealand have made a few…
Benji Marshall has signed a contract extension that will see him remain at the West Tigers until at least the end of the 2011 season. It seems the speculation grew very old with Marshall and he decided to get the deal done before the season kickoff against the Canberra Raiders on Monday night. This is…
The NRL today announced that it had signed off an some made up rule that would supposedly stop Benji Marshall, an off contract player who would have no obligation or ties to the NRL any more, from playing Rugby Union in Japan before returning to the NRL before the start of the 2009 season. How…
The Gold Coast Titans have been making a lot of news recently with future signings being the order of the day. First of all we saw that the Titans were willing to go all out to sign Melbourne Storm, Queensland and Australian hooker Cameron Smith, seemingly offering half of South east Queensland to move north…
Strap in folks, this is gonna be a long one! In an amazing game that was a fitting end to the centenary celebrations in Australia, New Zealand has beaten Australia 34-20 to claim the Rugby League World Cup! I was lucky enough to be at the game and it was very surreal to see New…
Well its here, the Rugby League World Cup Final and the chance for one nation to claim it is the undisputed World Champions. Australia have held that mantle for three decades, and while New Zealand managed to win the 2005 Tri Nations Final, this is the only game you can win and claim to be…
New Zealand has won a great test match beating England 32-22 and booking a place in the 2008 World Cup Final. It was a fantastic game to watch and at time it looked like either team might win the game, but the Kiwi’s always seemed to have something in reserve. England probably played their best…
New Zealand have easily accounted for England in the last of their pool matches, winning 36-24. Now, before you read on keep in mind that these two teams will play again next week in the World Cup Semi Final, and this game had no baring on the competition, so both teams tried a few things….
New Zealand have belted Papua New Guinea 48-6 in a game that really tied off a lot of lose ends in this World Cup. Many were looking at this contest as a marker towards how England will fare tomorrow night against Australia, and the signs were not good for Pommy fans. While PNG didn’t play…
After watching the New Zealand Maori Haka being challenge by the Aboriginal war dance and seeing both proud teams look like they may come to blows before the game started, you could help but be pumped up ahead of the Australia vs New Zealand match. Unfortunantly I didn’t get to see the Aboriginal Dream Time…
Rugby League just keep turning out star players and one to look out for is the West Tigers Daine Laurie. At 6ft 6in and 112kgs, Laurie is right up there with the most physically imposing players in the game. He is just what the West Tigers pack needed, he adds a whole lot of size,…
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 West Tigers have beaten the St George/Illawarra Dragons 24-16 at the Sydney Football Stadium. The Tigers were without Benji Marshall after just two minutes when the champions five-eigth left the field with a knee injury. It looks ominous for Marshall who looks to stop and prop and wince in paid without having been touched…
Great news for the West Tigers today as they announced that superstar Benji Marshall has signed a contract extension to stay at the club. Originally Marshall, probably prompted by his manager, had decided to wait until the season got underway to before he held talks with the Tigers. However a change of heart saw Marshall…
Matthew Head will join the West Tigers in 2008 and give the 2005 Premiers the halfback they have missed since Scott Prince left the club. Head can be a handy player but he hasn’t really impressed even going back to his days at the Dragons….which to be honest feels like yesterday. The Tigers have a…