As a fan of the Kangaroos, Saturday Night’s game was a close to a train wreck as Kangaroo performances get, yet there could not have been a better result for the Four Nations tournament, or the international game. Before we all get too carried away with the big victory to our brothers across the Tasman,…
Another end-of-season, another round of clubs fines for breaching the salary cap. This time it was Sea Eagles, Knights, Roosters, Tiger and Tigers named as offenders. The breaches date back to the 2013 season, and the Titans aside, seem like minor offenses at worst. For instance the Tigers over spent on their Holden Cup cap,…
By now I’m sure you have all heard the massive news this morning that NRL superstar, and current Dally M medalist Jarryd Hayne has announced he is headed to the USA to try his hand in the NFL. Sighting the fact that he felt he had ‘done it all’ in the NRL, one of the…
For all the good in Rugby League, the big hits, the length of the field tries, the emotion, one aspect of the game that needs urgent attention is the rule that says players signed before round 10 can simply change their mind at any time. When a player ‘signs’ with another club prior to the…
With news breaking that superstar five-eighth Johnathan Thurston has withdrawn from the upcoming Four Nations Tournament, the door was well and truly thrown open for the New Zealanders and English in terms of possibly winning the tourney. With Thurston joining the likes of Matt Scott, Paul Gallen, Billy Slater, James Tamou, Nate Myles, Brett and…
With news coming out of yet another unfortunately disruption of Kurtley Beale’s promising but troubled career, reports now indicate that Kurtley Beale may be headed to Rugby League in 2015. It looks as though it may be the best move for both the ARU and Kurtley himself as despite his obvious talents and ability, Beale…
Although the Manly/Dogs, Sharks/Dragons, Broncos/Titans rivalries, and there are plenty of others, have plenty of history and venom behind them, make absolutely no mistake about it, league’s biggest rivalry is between the Rabbitohs and the Roosters. This Friday night the latest chapter in this heated rivalry will be written as two of the NRL’s foundation…
News recently broke that Cowboys enforced Tariq Sims has been slapped with a five week ban following his shoulder charge, off the ball, on Broncos star Justin Hodges from Saturday Night. Although there have been some calls from the far North that the ban was far too harsh, I for one am glad the NRL…
With reports surfacing that both the NRL and the club itself are set to investigate the goings on during Mad Monday celebrations by the Cronulla Sharks, surely the question has to be asked, “if Mad Monday worth the trouble?” For those who aren’t aware, Mad Monday is the end of year ‘celebrations’ which usually includes…
It’s a big call, but I’m making it now: this year’s NRL decider will be an all Sydney affair. The balance of probabilities are on my side, being that five of the eight teams contesting the finals series are Sydney based, however I simply don’t see either the Broncos or Storm being a factor come…
Last night’s all important clash between heated rivals the Sydney Roosters and the South Sydney Rabbitohs had it all. Brilliant tries, try saving tackles, sin binning, some huge hits … It’s shame that thousands of people missed out on up to the entire first half of football due to horrible organisation and scheduling. Anyone who…
Canberra coach Ricky Stuart has this week warned fans of the club to expect similar results until the club is able to attract Origin quality players to the squad. Isn’t it his job as coach of the side to attract players of said quality? Isn’t it also his job to turn talented youngsters into Origin…
With last night’s one-point win over a very capable and in-form North Queensland side, the Panthers may have finally silenced at least some of their doubters. I wrote earlier in my 50 random NRL thoughts, the first thought in fact, that I still can’t believe fans of other teams have taken to social media to…
Across multiple press conferences this weekend, coaches of multiple teams took officials to task to continue a worrying trend, that of blaming referees rather than taking responsibility. Let me first say I believe the Storm were very hard done by on Saturday night, particularly with the penalty awarded very late in the game after the…
For those who don’t read Rugby League Week, Jarryd Hayne was voted the best player in the competition by fellow players in the competition. Gaining 30% of the vote, Hayne beat Jonathan Thurston (21%) and Greg Inglis (18%) to the annual award. Given Hayne’s brilliant performances for Parramatta this season, and his unforgettable efforts in…
Over the weekend, much like every weekend, fans of a variety of clubs took to social media to bag the referees, the NRL, television stations and announce that there is a conspiracy against their club. Don’t get me wrong, I am guilty of bagging referees, the NRL and Channel 9 on more than one occasion,…
Bulldogs and NSW five-eighth Josh Reynolds will return for his NRL side this weekend for the first time in seemingly months, and boy have they missed him? The Dogs, on the back of a two game losing streak, have slipped four points behind competition leaders Manly. Although the results and their current ladder position are…
Unfortunately yesterday’s, and today’s headlines have and will be dominated by the off field problems being experienced by the Wests Tigers. In a result that flew under the radar, the Dragons defeated the struggling Tigers 28-12 to further press the Red V’s finals credentials. I now think it it safe to say that the Dragons…
Less than 48 hours after Wayne Bennett announced he was returning to the Broncos from 2015 onwards, the revitalised Brisbane side have been installed as Premiership favourites next season. Bennett, who will be joined by new recruits Anthony Milford, Mitch Garbutt and probably Darius Boyd, has given punters the ultimate confidence that he can return…
Confusion well and truly reigned today across social media after two seemingly identical 40/20 kicks were treated completely differently. Early in the first half of the Roosters win over the Panthers, Jake Friend landed a beautiful 40/20 kick. His team took the quick tap that is now allowed this season, in a play that resulted…
As we close in on the NRL final series, everyone is starting to lay down their predictions for the top eight. For mine, the current table makes it a copy and paste job. Sea Eagles, Panthers, Bulldogs, Souths, Roosters, Warriors, Broncos, Storm … There is your top eight. Although I expect the positioning of those…
Last night’s game between the Panthers and the Broncos was without a doubt the best Monday Night game of the season. It may even be THE game of the season. The Panthers suffered injuries to in form winger Josh Mansour as well as livewire backrower turn five-eighth Tyrone Peachey yet had just enough in the…
The on again, off again side that is the New Zealand Warriors have finally had more on days lately than off, and it looks like it all comes down to Andrew McFadden. The Warriors have won five of their past six games, including their last three straight. Their latest victory was a scintillating 48-0 win…
Tomorrow night will see NSW attempt to record a whitewash, rather than avoid one, which has unfortunately for us long suffering NSW fans, been the flavour of the past almost decade. In this series we have seen Jarryd Hayne become an absolute legend of the game, the emergence of young Hodkinson and Reynolds as a…
As we approach State of Origin Three, which in terms of the series doesn’t really matter, players seem to be putting their club futures at risk. Josh Morris has taken extraordinary measures to be fit for Origin Three after suffering a potentially season altering injury in the first game of the series. Luke Lewis will…
The Sharks week from hell has ended on a high with the dailytelegraph announcing the club has landed a major sponsor for the rest of the season in the form of Labour Health. I’m sure NO ONE sees the irony in the Sharks attracting a company that specialised in drug and alcohol testing in the…
With the last six rounds of the NRL draw set to be released at 11 am (it is now 12:40 pm and no sign of said draw) multiple media outlets have confirmed the return of Thursday Night Footy…and the fans are not happy. Channel 9, the true rulers of the game, are set to once…
The series winning NSW blues have named the side they hope can complete a historic three-nil whitewash in Brisbane next Wednesday night. Josh Morris is back after suffering an unfortunate injury in his heroic Origin One effort and will replace the injured Michael Jennings. Boyd Cordner also comes into the side after missing the first…
Somewhat surprisingly, after just one series loss after eight straight wins, there is talk of Mal Meninga turning to the next generation of superstars in Origin three. Although I severely doubt there will be sweeping changes, surely a dead rubber Origin game is the perfect place to blood the stars of the future. One enforced…
Yesterday reports surfaced that a possible bronze statue of Paul Gallen will be created for the new ANZ Stadium precinct after he captained NSW to a doubt breaking Origin victory. Let me just say I am 100% behind the idea of immortalising the NSW and Sharks captain, but I’d place the statue outside Remondis Stadium….