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It’s easy to complain about rugby league – people are passionate about their clubs and when things don’t go right it is natural to go about apportioning blame. However, there is so much passion because we enjoy the game.
I try and write about as many good things as I can. However, sometimes things in the footy world piss me right off and I’ve got to vent.
There are a few things that are annoying me right now.
But instead of just being yet another person whining about what’s wrong with league, for every negative, I’m also going to tell you something that I love about the NRL.
I hate: Friday night Broncos
Friday nights equal free-to-air games and free-to-air games equal greater exposure, greater following and greater sponsorship. No team in the NRL gets a better run on Friday nights than the Brisbane Broncos Ltd.
You can understand the NRL wanting to feature form sides in the free-to-air time slots, however the Broncos are not a form side. In fact the Broncos have missed the finals for the last two seasons and are a good chance to miss again.
So why is it the Broncos will play 16 of their 24 matches – 76 per cent of them – on Friday nights? All up The Broncos have 81per cent of their games shown on free-to-air this season.
To put this in perspective, have a look at how many free-to-air games some of the other teams get:
Even if you are a form team you don’t do as well as the boys from Brisvegas. Manly, who were grand finalists last year, have had one fewer free-to-air game than the Broncos in 2014, South Sydney seven less, and last year’s premiers, The Roosters, have had eight fewer free-to-air games than the Broncos this season.
Mr Smith, this is ridiculously inequitable and actively furthers the unlevel playing field. Are you seriously going to let this continue?
I love: Josh Reynolds
I know the trip on Ben Barba and the feet kicking out at Sam Thaiday looked bad, but Josh Reynolds isn’t that guy.
Sure, he’s full of niggle and he’s one hard-arsed competitor but he’s not an arsehole at all.
When you interview footy players you often get a string of clichés thrown at you, but not with Josh, he actually tells you what he thinks. After the match he is one of the players who always goes to fans around the edge of the ground to sign autographs, take pics and shake hands.
He is also one of the few who come out of the dressing rooms to take photos with fans and have a chat. He does things like writing letters to little kids to cheer them up and just last week he was visiting kids at a children’s hospital.
The bloke is passionate about his footy and wears his heart on his sleeve. No one will be more upset by his brain snaps last Friday night than the man himself. I’m his fan.
I hate: continued bad ref decisions
There have been repeated bad calls all year and last weekend was no exception. There were three crucial – and wrong – calls that cost teams victory.
First off there were two howlers that allowed the Knights to post an amazing comeback against the Storm. Firstly, how Travis Waddell wasn’t called offside when he jumped out of marker waaaaaay too early is beyond me. The subsequent one-on-one strip on Billy Slater resulted in six points and a grandstand finish. It should have been checked by the video ref.
Compounding that non-call only moments later, Ashley Klein called held well before a tackle on Adam Cuthbertson was even close to completed. He then penalised the Storm for pushing Cuthbertson into touch. The Storm were robbed and Craig Bellamy said as much. They legitimately took big Adam into touch and it should have been game over.
The loss of those two points for the Storm could be very telling come the finals.
The other awful decision came in the 20th minute of the Eels versus Raiders in Darwin. A seemingly rejuvenated Raiders side was up 10-0 and pressing the line when it appeared that Jordan Rapana had sliced through to take the score to 14-0, kick to come. Instead it was adjudged that decoy runner Jarrad Kennedy had blocked Parramatta defender Kenny Edwards from making a tackle on Rapana.
This call was total rubbish. In the previous week’s rout at the hands of the Warriors, Terry Campese was adjudged not to have been obstructed by Sam Rapira’s decoy run that basically took Campese completely out of the play and opened a gap for Sam Lousi to go through.
Kennedy performed nowhere near the obstruction on Edwards, yet this time it was declared worthy of denying a try.
What makes the decision even more bizarre is that, unlike Lousi the previous week, Rapana still had to beat three Eels defenders to get across the line and the replay showed that the reason Kennedy was in Edwards’ path at all was because Parramatta defender Michael Morgan pushed him there.
Yet, in spite of all these factors, ‘no try’ was ruled.
Instead of Jarrod Croker lining up to make the score 16-0, moments later Jarryd Hayne was doing the plane at the other end to make the score 10-6. Tony Archer needs to understand that the Raiders don’t need further impediments right now, they have enough.
There must be consistency in rulings. Perhaps it is time to have just one team performing the video ref role from a central command centre, rather than eight separate mobs going to the grounds with eight separate interpretations.
I love: the parochial fans at Brookvale
There is no doubting that Manly’s 18th player, their crowd, is one of the very best in the comp. Sure, they don’t let the facts get in the way of their assertions to the refs. And OK, they are probably the greatest collective of people who are all missing an eye. But they make so much noise.
They are constantly behind their team, into the opposition and on the back of the officials. Most opposition supporters hate them but I reckon they could learn a thing or two from them. It’s a real pity for their team that their fans don’t travel in large numbers.
I love their passion.
I hate: what happened to all the good nicknames?
When I was growing up the players often had great nicknames. Blocker, the King, the Axe, Cement, Junior, Changa, Puff, the Black Pearl, the Guru, Chicka, Choppy, Crusher, Shrek, Mongo, Lurch, Fatty, Piggy, Mad Dog, the Brick with eyes, Bozo, and Spud were all great nicknames.
With the retirement of Anthony ‘the Count’ Minichiello we may have lost the last of the good nicknames. It seems the best the most recent mob can manage are things like Duges, Gal, Smithy, Browny and Hoff.
Please tell me I’m wrong and provide me with some modern day player nicknames that are funny and/or clever.
I love: the mini Penrith Panthers cheerleaders
I know I’ve gone on previously about how much I like going to games at Penrith because it has such a great community feel. However, one of the chief reasons for it is their little girl cheerleaders that go out on the field just before the games.
These tiny kids are so bloody adorable in their little outfits and ponytails, doing their routines. And they are so happy and excited to be there.
They bring the day at the footy back to being about the whole community getting out and having fun. It doesn’t matter when they go to the wrong positions or get the moves wrong, they are just joy personified.
Now, can someone please explain to me why the big Panther cheerleaders are dressed in sheer and shiny black nylon suits?
So Roarers, what do you love about rugby league?