It’s far from lost for Rugby League
Roar Guru By Steve Kaless, 18 May 2009 Steve Kaless is a Roar Guru
Here is a challenge this week, try and start and then maintain a conversation about rugby league without using the words “group sex” and “video referees”.
It may sound tough, but to those that actually follow the game there are some really positive stories and perhaps ones that should give the code as a whole a lift, it might even help sooth those that claim that the game is yet again on the way out.
Take a look at the competition table, and you’ll see the top two spots taken by Canterbury and Newcastle, two clubs who have faced huge overhauls in recent seasons and who are currently enjoying fruits of their labour far earlier than expected.
First to the Bulldogs, the Dogs began the season with many predicting the wooden spoon would remain in Belmore for another year.
Now without sounding like a member of the Friday night commentary team, it would be a brave punter who would jump on that particular wager now.
The Bulldogs needed a clean out, their once famous culture had become tarnished, and the big names were surviving purely on reputation alone.
But to their credit the recruitment and retention committee have made every post a winner with their off field purchases.
On the park, every player they purchased is performing superbly. While it was expected that the likes of Josh Morris (pre-injury), Michael Ennis and Ben Hannant would perform, the real bonuses have come in Brett Kimmorley having one of his best seasons in ten years and Bryson Goodwin becoming the personification of value for money.
Goodwin is reportedly on a salary of $40,000 this season. While that is unlikely to continue in years to come, you’d be hard pressed to currently find a better winger in the competition on any sort of pay to performance ratio.
Toss in the promise of boom youngster Jamal Idris and things are looking bright in Belmore.
Head up a highway and Newcastle is another team currently enjoying a new dawn after some dark days.
Few were excited about the prospect of Brian Smith taking his axe to the Newcastle roster.
But there can be few doubts it was needed.
The rumblings about a poor culture were pretty loud in rugby league circles and while there was certainly some pain involved in showing some former favourites the door the one antidote for that in rugby league is winning and winning well.
The Knights are doing just that.
Built around mercurial Kurt Gidley, the young Knights side is certainly doing their best to lift a region still wondering just what happened to their most famous rugby league brothers.
The Knights may lack the stars but they are playing with a real spirit that belies the reputation Smith took from Parramatta that he was in some way a demotivating factor.
For a reality check, look at where the Eels currently stand on the table.
There may be a long way to go this year, but currently two of rugby leagues former problem children are the grade A students and if the game as a whole can have such a quick and successful rehabilitation then the future remains bright.
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May 18th 2009 @ 1:48pm
sledgeross said | May 18th 2009 @ 1:48pm | Report comment
A League Team and Club troppo???
May 18th 2009 @ 2:41pm
macavity said | May 18th 2009 @ 2:41pm | Report comment
Broncos a power-house?
how could they not be with the deck stacked so far in their favour it is ridiculous.
The Broncos/News Ltd monopoly remains the REAL blight on the game – the REAL elephant in the room – not sex scandals dredged up from 7 years ago and referees.
May 18th 2009 @ 6:09pm
stephen ferris said | May 18th 2009 @ 6:09pm | Report comment
The standard loser’s knee jerk response to claim a moral victory after a questionable end game ref call is tiresome and soft. Go back and face up to Ben Creagh’s no try double movement decision, Idris’ previous try that never went up for possible offside etc and then argue the technicality of an off side player who makes contact thus impeding his opposition. Change the rules and stop whingeing and yapping on, look at the stats you were the piss weak team on the night and give us our win back.
May 18th 2009 @ 9:35pm
Russell Bussian said | May 18th 2009 @ 9:35pm | Report comment
Steve. What a cunning ploy you used – writing an article about rugby league. This is a most obvious admission that your article about the group sex was totally wrong and you are now distancing yourself from it. Make sure you don’t make this mistake again. Stop getting distracted by watching games and focus on the real issue sports lovers want to read about – womens rights. Me & Dario don’t want to read any more articles about the football you misogynistic bastard!
May 19th 2009 @ 12:28am
GaryGnu said | May 19th 2009 @ 12:28am | Report comment
I believe the last line of the last article Steve wrote contained “Now bring on the footy…”.
Well the footy was brought on and what footy it was. It was almost as if the game itself was responding to the horror week of perceptions it had.
Dario, I harldy think he’s running away from his last article. Steveis merely picking up where he last left off in commenting about how well the game is travelling on the field.
May 19th 2009 @ 5:01am
Steve Kaless said | May 19th 2009 @ 5:01am | Report comment
Dario,
I’ve been writing for the Roar for a far while now, not every article I wrote before my take on the Matt Johns affair was a prelude to it and not every article I write after it will be a epilogue. I’ve moved on and so have lots of people, that is not being dismissive, just that I think there are better things to talk about.
For what it is worth, I stand by my comments 100%. Judging by the feedback, some people agreed, some disgreed and some didn’t understand. my point, possibly through some form of mental episode brought on by hysteria. Fair enough, what a boring world we would live in if everyone agreed if everything they read.
Stephen,
Nice to get what I suspect is a Dragon’s fan perspective. The Ben Creagh try decision was interesting, do you know the exact rule, his arm touched the ground but not his elbow, what is the rule? I honestly don’t know?
Has anyone claimed Idris was offside?
I take it you applauded video refs decision in the 1999 Grand Final and gave the same response that any moaning “was tiresome and soft”.
I think fact is that whatever team people followed they would have preferred the result not to have been decided by a video referee’s call and a questionable one at that. But I guess that is footy.
May 19th 2009 @ 7:06pm
The Answer said | May 19th 2009 @ 7:06pm | Report comment
Stephen Ferris,
Clark has been dumped and admitted it was an error. Why not just admit your team got lucky. I notice Jamie Soward spoke out against the bottle throwing, claiming it could have been a glad bottle. That is a bit hard seeing they aren’t sold at the ground, but I guess anything to take the attention away from the fact that you are a cheat.
May 19th 2009 @ 7:07pm
The Answer said | May 19th 2009 @ 7:07pm | Report comment
Pip,
Mention A-League without under age sex? Impossible.
May 19th 2009 @ 10:16pm
Anand Antony said | May 19th 2009 @ 10:16pm | Report comment
“The Knights may lack the stars but they are playing with a real spirit that belies the reputation Smith took from Parramatta that he was in some way a demotivating factor. ”
Steve, to me the reason seems obvious You need a playmaker who can take the game by scruff Generally it is the half-back or five-eighth But really it is the quality of the player that counts Lockyer, for example, was the playmaker for Brisbane even when he was their no. 1 player Try taking Lockyer out of Brisbane, Fittler out of Roosters (we have already seen the effect) or Benji out of Tigers, the difference become obvious They might win a few courageous games – but not consistently. Kurt Gidley means the same to Newcastle. Brian did not have the same calibre player at Parra and that was one of the reasons why he did not succeed there
Another very possible reason for the failure at Parra could have been the lack of “passion” – that pyschological x-factor – at Parra In a recent interviewRay Price said that the legends wanted to address the players before the 2001 Grandfinal but Fitzgerald did not allow them to do so I have a feeling that Brian Smith also was not entirely blameless in this aspect. In 2005 I had a chance to talk to Brian during a season ticket holder’s meeting. I privately asked him on the need for psychological upliftment of the players His answer was that there is pyschology in everything an did not seem to be an enthusiast on the “passion” side. Fast forward to the 2005 qualifying finals. Cowboys were never given any chance. Gordon Tallis and Mark Gyer were with the Cowbays team motivating them during the entire journey from Townsville to Sydney. The result of the match is now history.
Any way I wish Brian all the best. He has a good Football brain and deserves a Grand Final success.
May 20th 2009 @ 6:51am
Steve Kaless said | May 20th 2009 @ 6:51am | Report comment
Anand,
I agree with your comments regarding playmakers, they are certainly the lifeblood of a team.
I was told by someone in the game that they felt that there were few coaches who could make players better as consistently as Brian Smith, however until he achieves Grand Finals success it probably won’t be recognised.