Hands up if you thought at the start of 2014 that Blake Austin would be a sought after recruit and that a club’s fans would celebrate upon signing him? Anyone with their hand up needs to be called in for questioning, because you’re telling fibs. Austin began the year not only behind Braith Anasta for…
Alright, I’ll bite. On Thursday, Daily Telegraph sports editor and NRL provocateur Buzz Rothfield set out his “50 ways to fix the NRL”. As expected they included the usual mix of whinging about refereeing, carping about the costs of attending games and futile plans to retain or lure back star players. However in a piece…
The current he said, she said drama enveloping the Wests Tigers has provided much fodder for newspapers and sports talk shows as the team’s 2014 season slips away. However there is a different element of the club’s off field performance that should really get attention: the clubs remarkable player retention. First a quick anecdote. When…
So the Raiders finally have a confirmed, no going back, lock-him-in-Eddie signing. But it’s not exactly a game changer. This season the Raiders (allegedly) almost signed James Mansour and Kevin Proctor, and actually did sign James Tedesco only for him to change his mind. The club has also been linked to could-be-anything youngsters like Tautau…
With 18 rounds of the NRL now complete and Origin in the rear view it is now time to buckle in for the run to the NRL finals in September. As usual at this time of year the top and tail of the competition seems relatively settled but it is in the middle third where…
The long awaited (by hard core Raiders fans) first grade debut of Jeremy Hawkins will sadly not come this season after the NRL ruled Hawkins out on the basis of the 2nd tier salary cap. Whilst it is disappointing for Hawkins, Raiders fans should not be so quick to blame the hated 2nd tier cap…
Brad Walter at the Sydney Morning Herald is among the premier rugby league writers in Australia. In addition to his regular reporting Walter also produces a weekly opinion piece titled “Winning Starts Monday”. I’ll let you guess what day of the week it runs (surprise – it’s Tuesday). The premise of this week’s column (http://www.canberratimes.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/cutting-players-down-to-size-pays-dividends-for-blues-and-clubs-20140707-zsyp1.html)…
Perhaps I’m the only one but I find myself thoroughly unenthused about State of Origin III tonight. Now that NSW have slain the 8 in a row dragon there seems very little to get excited about. I’m convinced that I am not the only fan who feels this way as the breathless anticipation and fervor…
There is currently a very troubling story circulating in the rugby league rumour mill that the Canberra Raiders are interested in signing Robert Lui. As a Raiders fan I honestly can’t think of a player in the NRL that I am less interested in bringing to the club. Not just because he’s a mediocre player…
Ricky Stuart was quoted in the media last week saying that for the club to rebuild, more short-term pain would probably be required. Ricky was, however, adamant that better times were coming as the club developed, and recruited, the sorts of players needed for the future. Then, on Friday night, we got a little bit…