By any measure the 2001 Parramatta Eels stand out as one of the greatest teams in the NRL’s history. With 20 wins in their 26 games played, and an outrageous +433 points difference. The 839 points scored still stands as a record for points scored over a 26 game season. Thats an average of 32.27…
Twitter is great because it is so easy to use. It allows people to broadcasts the first thing that pops into their head quickly and easily. Sometimes that can cause you problems. If you are not careful you can Tweet things you will later regret. I personally have a policy where I do not delete…
A war of words between Paul Gallen, Brian Smith, Rugby League supporters and Paul Gallens Dad has punctuated the aftermath of the Cronulla Sharks 32-22 win over the Sydney Roosters on Monday night. Top players in Rugby League are always going to face criticism on social media but it is rare that players have to…
The North Queensland Cowboys sit in 15th place on the NRL ladder after winning just 4 of their 13 games this season. The word is that Neil Henry is about to be given his marching orders, and when you look at the the teams results, that is completely understandable. I would ask one simple question…
It was only a few months ago that the Salford Reds looked like their days were numbered. With debt of around £600,000 hanging over their heads and a winding up petition issues, the prospect of the Super League season kicking off with just 13 teams seemed like a very real possibility. In stepped Marwan Koukash,…
If the 2012 season showed us anything it was that a great coach is worth their weight in gold to any club. With top coaches now commanding million dollar salaries, clubs are more than aware that a top coach controls the entire destiny of a club. A coaches performance can make or break a club, not just…
I can understand why New Zealand Warriors fans are a bit worried right now. After watching another disasterous season with a disasterous coach at the helm and knowing they actually have a very good lineup that can go places with the right leadership, they keep hearing some worrying names being tossed in their direction. The…
The Sydney Roosters have announced that they have “parted ways” with Brian Smith today. This doesn’t come as a surprise after the season the Roosters had. I always got the feeling it was going to end this way for Smith. He was brought in to try and fix the club and rid them of a…
When the season kicks off, everyone feels like they have a chance of winning the NRL Grand Final. Soon after though, reality starts to set in and teams that started off with high expectations find themselves on the wrong end of too many scoreboards. So who were the most disappointing teams in season 2012? Obviously the level…
In Newcastle, its not about what you know, its about who you know. The Newcastle Knights have been run for a very long time on the basis of just keeping everyone happy. Forget professionalism, forget winning, forget accountability….none of that matters. Just as long as everyone iust having a good time and they can all…
I’ve written many times before about the shambles that is the Newcastle Knights, club whom it seems only exists for the enjoyment of the playing roster. We’ve seen in the past player revolts because certain players have not been retained. Its amazing to think that only a few years ago the playing roster went berserk…
I have to say, I feel pretty sorry for Russell Crowe. Imagine pouring all that time and money into your club, going out of your way to sign a young English player you feel will help your team, and then sitting down to watch them getting smacked by the Sydney Roosters. What a shit way…
Imagine if you will for a moment that you make a living writing about the game of Rugby League. During the season work is good. There are few sports in the whole world that produce as many stories and as much drama as Rugby League does. There is always a rumour to chase, always a…
Remember when the Newcastle Knights made the decision not to re-new Matthew Johns playing contract? Johns was coming towards the end of his career and the club felt it wanted to go in another direction. So they announced that they would no re-sign Johns, and all hell broke lose. It upset fans, it upset the…
Talk about something coming from out of the blue! If you haven’t hear yet, Brad Fittler will be relieved of his coaching duties at the Sydney Roosters at the end of this season and he will be replaced by Newcastle’s current coach Brian Smith. This all happened so quickly that Knights players found out via…
The Sydney Roosters are in dead last place on the NRL ladder and its not looking like they will get any better any time soon. The side has completely given up, they are carrying millions in bad contracts and the players they hoped would kick on never have. The one area the Roosters have looked…
There, I said it! Well we all know Parramatta suck, and have sucked for quite some time. So what is there problem? Well the current situation the club finds itself in wasn’t helped by former coach Michael Hagan. He was a terrible coach, a terrible leader and even now having moved on, he is publicly…
When Brian Smith took over the Newcastle Knights, he walked into a club that was a total mess. The inmates were running the asylum, to the point where journeyman reserve grade garbage were going to the media when their contracts were not extended, and the clubs was run of a mates basis. Player fitness and…
Michael Hagan jumped before he was pushed today, calling a surprise press conference to announce he had quit as Parramatta Eels coach due to family reasons. Hagan narrowly avoided the sack this year after a disasterous season coaching the Eels, and heading into 2009 the Parramatta board had already given him a deadline to avoid…
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…
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…
On the back of their own non performances and in danger of picking up the clubs second wooden spoon in the last 3 years, Knights Players seem to think THEY are not the problem! With all the talk about their unique club culture, their mateship and trying to force managment into signing a player who…
The players have had enough! They have had enough of seeing their best mates being told they are no longer wanted at the club. They have had enough of Brian Smiths style, his training methods and the way he is changing the very fabric of the Newcastle Knights club. You know what I say, if…
Clint Newton has asked for, and received a release from the Newcastle Knights after a “falling out” with new Knights coach Brian Smith. Newtons gripe seems to be that he wasn’t offered a contract for next season and as he told Fos Sports “Everyone wants to feel wanted and that’s been the biggest thing for me…