The Roar
The Roar

Adam Vaughan

Roar Pro

Joined June 2012

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One man's view on all things sport.

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I think Cronk will be in the Fox Sports studios, and commentary box, in 2018 for two reasons.

Firstly, I don’t think he can bring himself to play against Cameron Smith, Billy Slater, Craig Bellamy and the Storm organisation.

Secondly, last time I checked, there wasn’t any salary cap involved in television contracts. He could ask for any price and get it, not only due to the incredible feats he has been a major part of, but because of his ability to explain clearly and concisely why the viewer is seeing what they are seeing.

If you follow the NFL, you would be aware of ex-Dallas Cowboys Quarterback Tony Romo and his ability to tell the viewers what was going to happen before it happened. His experience and ability to read the game is enhancing the viewer’s television experience. And this is his first season in the comm box. As he refines his skills, his delivery will also improve.

Cronk could do the same thing for Fox League’s coverage.

And there’s no chance of Adam Blair smashing his kidneys in the safety of a television studio.

But we won’t know until after the World Cup is done and dusted. Whatever he decides, chances are the wheels have been in motion well before now anyway. Which could be another reason why he’s been so measured about it all.

Time for Cooper Cronk to come clean

Well, he wasn’t having a go at the Broncos, he was having a go at Mal Meninga and the Kangaroos. They’d already dropped him, so they couldn’t do anything else to him. They’d already done it.

Sam Thaiday just following the trends

Tebow goes very well considering he’s a TE playing in the QB position…

Tebow puts a wildcat amongst the Jets pigeons

His biggest problem is the offensive line he has protecting him. Manning isn’t Tebow and able to run around when the blocks break down. But then again, with the replacement officials about to embark on the regular season, they could hold all day and not get flagged by the starry eyed officials.

Manning will succeed even if Broncos buckle

Mango Jack, they are very good points that you raise and I agree with them. What I was getting at is that I personally don’t believe players such as James Tamou should be in SOO. And I am a New South Welshman through and through. His statement “If I can play Origin, you can too” directed at other New Zealand natives puts the very concept of SOO at risk, and as I say in my article, is in danger of becoming a joke. I love SOO for what it is and as you have stated in your comment, i am not alone.

Others such as Turbodewd have made their opinion known as to the possible future of the concept, and they may have valid points. The rugby league landscape is very different now than what it was when SOO was born. My issue is that it cannot continue to be called State of Origin and played between QLD and NSW if bro’s from across the ditch can get involved. That’s the part that is on it’s way to becoming a joke.

Time to consolidate for the NRL

Cam Newton plays for the Panthers big fella. The Jags wish they had him…

Should be a Packers V Texans super bowl going on the team lists, but I hope my Chicago Bears find a way!

Finally, the new NFL season is coming

Point taken D of W. Living and learning. Hope my other articles haven’t come across the same way.

NRL politics overshadows approaching finals

Read that Tinkler is trying to sell his horse racing operation for $200 Million. No takers so far.
BTW – read that in the Newcastle Herald (a Fairfax paper). Just for those of you who think I’m a News Limited stooge… 🙂

NRL politics overshadows approaching finals

I understand what you’re saying Oikee, but the Knights themselves were running on an oily rag until Tinks came along. The lack of a leagues club was a big reason for that.

And you’re right, it is a dog eat dog world. But if rugby league is to prosper despite the competition from other codes, it has to be one big unified dog. I’m not talking about “sharing like good little boys”, I’m talking about working together as a sport. Each team can go at it to win a comp as hard as they want, but when it comes to the big picture rugby league has to work together. For a sport that has been as dysfunctional as rugby league has been, thats going to take some time. But it should be the goal everyone is working towards.

NRL politics overshadows approaching finals

I think (and i could be wrong after reading a lot of the comments) that the players association have looked at the NFL model which is similar to the cricket model in that the players are given a percentage of the revenue generated by the league. For this to happen it would take a major reworking of how funds are currently divvied up as well as a complete overhaul of how the competition is structured. The main difference between the NFL and the NRL is that all teams are privately owned in the NFL and the league works as a co-operative. The NRL have seperate clubs who have their own seperate revenue generating components along with help from the NRL.
The two are very different and as such, I don’t think the revenue sharing is a great idea for the NRL. Look at the Knights compared with a team like Cronulla. The Knights have a billionaire to look after them financially but the Sharks are an old fashioned club run on leagues club dollars and sponsorship. Is it fair to give the Knights the same percentage of NRL revenue as the Sharks? One club doesn’t need it, but the other does. I know both teams are in the same competition, but the game doesn’t need to have a situation of “haves VS have nots”. In this modern age all clubs should be more or less the same financially. That won’t happen unless they are all on the same page and the ruling body is allowed to do just that.

NRL politics overshadows approaching finals

As much as we like to talk about the teams, the biggest factor this season will be the replacement officials. We’ve already seen what they’re going to be like in the first preseason week. They will unfortunately have a bigger impact on the game than they should.

I also think we’ll find out how strong Manning’s neck is after the Week 1 game against the Steelers (that’s a big bullseye for a blincd side pass rusher). In the big game, I like the Texans to beat the Packers (I’m a Bears fan so I can’t say the Pack will win…you just don’t do it).

2012/13 NFL season preview: the teams to beat

Fantastic article. I am truly sorry that it is a true story though. And like you say, this is a problem that affects all walks of life.

Unfortunately there too many entities that profit from sports gambling for it to be roped in and taken control of. Obviously the bookies, television networks (through sponsorship), the sports themselves and even the government make money off of every bet placed. The money trail goes too far. They may be changing the amount of advertising and in game bet updates etc, but the damage has already been done. We can all name at least 5 bookmaking websites straight away that gives us 24/7 access to ruin our lives and those of our loved ones.

If you know someone in the grip of compulsive gambling, try to have a chat with them. Chances are it won’t be a great experience. But it might be the nudge they need to get help.

How sports gambling cost me

Oh geez…she’d hit the ball further than Barry! And belt the umpire up if he gave her out!

International sports stars we should recruit for T20

No worries.

International sports stars we should recruit for T20

That’s the point Dan. At the beginning I say that they’re making a mockery of the game. Usain shouldn’t have anything to do with cricket. So I tried to take the Mickey out of it.

International sports stars we should recruit for T20

I know what you’re saying and it is true. But hand-eye coordination is still hand-eye coordintion. A few hits in the nets and I’m sure a baseballer would improve quickly. Just like a cricketer would struggle with baseball, after a few practices they would be much better.
And besides, this is a hypothetical. You don’t really think Ronaldo could be a spinner do you?

International sports stars we should recruit for T20

You might be right Josh, but at the moment you could argue that a good swing delivery would get most Aussie batsmen out as well. Not much difference really.

International sports stars we should recruit for T20

All for the refs having a bit of banter on the field with the players. That has been going on for a long time. However, maybe they should get their acts right first. Maybe a bit of a chat with the players during play on what an obstruction is these days would help? That’s a bit of banter and education at the same time!

Make some noise for the NRL referees

Who needs to watch Q & A when we can read this? Somehow I don’t think you’d be welcome back on the show with those answers… Kenny Sutcliffe might be interested though.

ABC's Q&A meets The Roar

The unfortunate part about this whole fiasco is that there are so many issues it is impossible to come up with a blanket solution. The ARLC have a huge job getting this right and in my opinion the best approach would be to have a huge overhaul of the complete system. I’m talking about starting with the role of touch judges right through to the judiciary. Yes, there are many issues in between but this is killing rugby league. The honest mistake here or there can be lived with. The constant clanger that appears time after time, game after game has to end. Unfortunately the MRC and Judiciary only add to the circus that the clowns wearing pink are running. Tinkering here and there will only make things worse. Enough with the band-aid solutions.

If John Grant gave Gallop the flick for his “reactive” management, maybe he should line the MRC up and give them the same treatment after this week. Its time the all powerful commission actually took some control. The game’s players, coaches and fans deserve it.

Officiating remains a black mark on the NRL

OK OK – For 250k a year to sink beer, I mean have lunch meetings, with players and other NSW legends; I’ll put my hand up to take the job. I’m not on the box or have anything to do with Gus. I don’t have a poor coaching record as I simply don’t have one and can come up with a good side if the right offers are put to me, I mean advice from well financed stakeholders steer me in the right direction.

That ticks all the boxes with most of you blokes doesn’t it??

Whats the worst that could happen? It’s happened for the last 7 years…

Fittler to coach NSW: are you having a laugh?

GI still intended to take a shot though. Who knows what he was actually aiming for. To me the intention was to knock him into next week. I reckon he’s done better than that and knocked him into next fortnight. Young may not play this weekend.

Judiciary need to act on violent Inglis hit [VIDEO]

We have two incidents that can be compared this week. The first is this shot from Inglis that was a deliberate act to hit Young as hard as he could and cause as much damage as he could. With Young making the break and looking left, right and behind him for support (Dragons players…where were you??), running across field, getting grabbed from behind slowing his momentum (not pulling him down, just slowing him up) – he was rugby league’s equivalent of a lame duck. And Inglis took his opportunity. I would have as well. The mistake that Inglis made was that he hit Young directly in the head with his shoulder. If Inglis had hit him in the chest, we would be saying it was one of the hits of the year.
Yesterday we saw Travis Burns sent off for a high shot on prop Martin Kennedy. The play before there was a minor scuffle when Kennedy had been tackled. The Roosters were given a penalty and Kennedy, who had gotten up full of chatter pointing to the panthers defence, took the ball up from the quick tap. Burns lined him up and gave him an old fashioned clothesline tackle around the jaw. Kennedy was seeing stars for a bit but was otherwise OK considering. The tackle from Burns was deliberate and very dangerous. Worthy of a send-off.
If you look at both of these incidents, there is no way that the Burns “tackle” was worse than the Inglis hit. Yet as has already been stated, Inglis went on to help the Bunnies win. How is this fair? How can the referees defend it?
The shoulder charge is not the culprit here. The contact point is the issue.
A shoulder charge is a gamble to start off with. The player with the ball can simply bounce off the hit and run through the hole where the defender used to be. The defender can actually hurt themselves more than the target of the hit. The shoulder charge has been around for a long time. To me, the officials have been very lenient on the contact zone hence we are seeing more hits to the head than ever. After seeing Inglis get away with it, why would other players not do it? The penalties need to be extremely harsh. That will make the shoulder charge an even bigger gamble than ever.

Judiciary need to act on violent Inglis hit [VIDEO]

Sometimes the post match interviews give us some great moments though. Sam Backo’s after Origin interview comes to mind, Jason Taylor had a great moment while playing for Wests on the ABC’s Saturday coverage, the Wests Tigers all forgot their after grand final interviews were live on TV. In fact, sometimes the post game interviews are better than the game it self.

Post-match cliches have players at sixes and sevens

So do I. A long time between drinks since Colin Scotts. He needs to have another big year to make sure he’s a top pick though.

Could Jarryd Hayne make it in the NFL?

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