Manly’s Treatment Of Toovey Is A Disgrace
The treatment of Geoff Toovey by the Manly Sea Eagles is a disgrace. When you consider the constant infighting at board level Toovey has had to deal with during his time as the Sea Eagles head coach, the injury list he has managed, the loss of talent he has worked around, as well as the very spare list of players he has been able to bring to the club, Toovey has done a remarkable job coaching this club.
I’ve said many times over the last few years that the results the Sea Eagles have achieved despite all of their setbacks have been incredible. Geoff Toovey deserves way more leeway than the club is giving a coach with his record and a former great of the club.
Super League Clubs Don’t Have The Money
It’s interesting that the RFL decided to bring in the marquee player allowance once certain clubs decided they wanted to use it. English Rugby League politics aside, there is a major flaw in Super Leagues marquee player allowance. Most clubs can’t afford to take advantage of it!
The vast majority of clubs in the British game can’t really afford to spend to the salary cap as it is. The policing of the Super League salary cap is a complete joke anyway! When you look at the number of clubs that have gone broke over the last decade and the long list of players who are out of pocket because of that, it makes no sense at all that the RFL would allow clubs to spend well beyond the cap with money they don’t actually have.
No One Loses A Game Any More
What ever happened to clubs losing games? I don’t think I’ve seen a club lose a game all season. You know why? The refs screwed them over!
It is the weakest cop out you can come up with. What ever happened to accepting the referees decision and pushing your way past mistakes?
Players make dozens of mistakes during games that can be devastating to a teams chances of winning the game. Maybe it’s time a bit of accountability found it’s way to terrible performances by players and coaches before we start blaming referees for anything!
10 Day Cooling Off Period
So now that a player can only backflip on signing a contract for ten days after that contract has been signed, everything will be ok again. Right?
This is a sport where players and clubs break contracts they have signed all the time. Ten days? Contracts can be broken at any time for any reason with no consequences at all.
Mitchell Pearce The Great Survivor
I was horrified by the way the NSW halves performed at the end of State Of Origin game one. When the game was there to be won both halves just refused to take responsibility and do their job.
NSW coach Laurie Daley has chosen to stick with the same halves combination in game two and that is fair enough, after all, it’s his job that is on the line as much as anyone else’s. I have to question why any representative coach would stick by any player that time and time again has failed at representative level.
Hodkinson has a series win under his belt from last season, so I can understand why Daley doesn’t want to go with a completely new halves pair in which both players have not shown they can win a series. The selection of Pearce however I can not be so understanding over.
I can’t think of too many player I have seen who have failed so many times at representative level only to find themselves selected in a rep team over and over again. As a NSW supporter, I can only hope Pearce is getting close to being a game winning half. Surely the law of averages dictate he will fluke a game at some point!
