Remember when Channel 9 and New Limited were attacking the NRL relentlessly over the investment the NRL made in setting up and running NRL Digital? It was a giant waste of money they said. Why is the NRL producing so much content? Why are they paying so many people to write about the sport? Why…
It’s not what you know, it’s who you know… Roy Masters of the Sydney Morning Herald is reporting that a phone call from Wayne Bennett to News Corporation boss Lachlan Murdoch has paved the way for Bennett to return as the Brisbane Broncos coach in 2015. Master writes that current Broncos coach Anthony Griffin was…
News Limited is reporting that Michael Ennis will accept an invitation to check out the Canberra Raiders this week as he look for a new club in 2015. Ennis is off contract at the end of this season and it is pretty clear the Canterbury Bulldogs are looking to move in a different direction for…
Click baiting…its something even the big media companies love doing! There is a classic example of it today in an article by News Limited today titled The truth about sport’s ultimate mercenary Sonny Bill Williams: nobody cares what you do, Sonny. The basic premise is that Sonny Bill Williams is allegedly going to boycott the…
My good friend The Mole is reporting that Craig Bellamy will reject a massive offer from the St George/Illawarra Dragons and re-sign a long term deal with the Melbourne Storm that is likely to see him finish his career with the club. In a chance to quote The Mole, he tweeted: “BREAKING: Moley can reveal…
For well over a decade now the game of Rugby League in Australia has been crying out for a strategic plan. Something that the game can work towards to give fans, players and various investors in the sport something they can look forward to. Basically the game needed to build towards something, and so today…
The Australian Rugby League Commission has today announced that the broadcasting rights for Rugby League in Australia have been retained by Channel 9 and Fox Sports Australia. The deal will run over five years and is worth $1.025 billion dollars. $100 million dollars of that is advertising on Channel 9 and Fox Sports. This deal…
For well over a decade News Limited was part of the business. A 50% owner of the NRL, heavily involved in broadcasting rights, they had their fingers in all the pies and made hundreds of millions of dollars out of the game. Now, they are no longer at the table when it comes to the…
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…
Think of this as a conspiracy theory that has a lot of pieces that fit very neatly into place… I wrote yesterday about Mal Meninga’s Ignorant Rant against everyone and everything from New South Wales. His article titled Queensland’s triumph a victory over the dirty rats of Origin was full of venom, and its got him in a lot…
I am a big supporter of the salary cap because quite simply, when the salary cap is working, every supporter can go into any given season knowing their team could be winning the Grand Final in 8 months time. The salary cap has two basic functions in Rugby League. The first function is to limit…
In 2010 the Rugby League media in Australia has gone bat shit crazy. Between the formation of the Independent Commission, the Melbourne Storm Salary Cap saga, players demanding higher wages and Greg Inglis deciding he wants to live in Brisbane, the media has basically had a nervous breakdown in this part of the world. You…
News today that the UK Times has dropped its Rugby League coverage its quite honestly a disgrace. The Times made the decision a few years ago to make a commitment to cover Rugby League. This decision came with great fanfare and was seen as a good sign for Rugby League in the UK. Many hopes…
The administration in Rugby League on both sides of the world right now is a complete and utter shambles. Stupidity, self interest and ignorance are all getting a work out and the lack of a real leader, someone that can push things forward and make decisions, is there for all to see. Anything thats good…
So the report is in, and….wait for it….wait for it…. The Melbourne Storm broke the salary cap by a whole lot! The false outrage today has been a bit ridiculous really. We knew the Storm broke the Salary cap. We knew they had broken it by millions of dollars over the course of the last…
In the Sydney print media there is basically two different camps. In one corner you have Fairfax, they own the Sydney Morning Herald. In the other corner, you have News Limited. They own the Sydney Daily Telegraph. They have always been at each others throats in a petty game of back and forth snide remarks….
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…
The Melbourne Storm have deceitfully breached the NRL salary cap over a total of five years. They over spent $1.7 million dollars over five years that they filtered through a second set of books that they did not submit to the NRL. As a result, the NRL has stripped the Melbourne Storm of two NRL…
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…
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…
Wayne Bennett has his first meeting with St George/Illawarra officials today in what is effectively his first day on the job as the clubs new coach. Bennett has spent over 20 years coaching the Broncos. During that time he coaches a club with amazing resources, in a city that had no other Rugby League team….
The Sydney Roosters have just about free’d up all the salary cap space they need to sign Australian forward Willie Mason. Roosters lock Ashley Harrison looks set to leave the club and head to the Gold Coast Titans on a three year deal that would give the Roosters some room under the cap to sign…
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…