Barry Lloyd's Roar Profile

In my view, when he came back from injury, on 22 April, although playing off the bench against the Cowboys he was one of the best on the ground. With a bye in between, he tore up the Titans on 14 May and was probably MOM. Same story 2 weeks later against Manly after being left out by Queensland. He probably would have gone close in their loss to Brisbane on 10 June had they won. Although I am not a Newcastle fan he seemed to be close to the best player on the ground every time I saw them after that. Including his last competition game on 27 August.

That’s a long short burst.

Dally M Knight: Ponga wins in all-time shock as voting comes under fire but Johnson says he doesn't feel 'robbed'

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Sep

I’m sure Moses will be fine.

In the eleven and a half minutes after Flegler was sin-binned in Origin I Cleary made one tackle and missed two. He handled the ball twice. Once to kick on the last, once to get tacked in his own 20.

I imagine Moses could have done all of that.

Why Reynolds would have been a better option for Blues as Moses faces a no-win situation

Jun

If only Justin Olam had passed the ball in round 3. This whole conversation would be moot.

Panthers beware: History shows that the front runners often fall short

2021

It is a shame that they didn’t take the opportunity to make meaningful changes. Some of the changes add further difficulties in situations where referees already struggle. How long before we see the first penalty try for an attacking player being tackled in the air and then held up?

And since the only team with a trainer on the field is the side that just played the ball, why do they get it back if it hits the trainer. In the situation in the Grand Final the Roosters would just have got a seventh tackle instead of the scrum we saw. How is that better?

NRL make raft of major rule changes for 2020 season

2019

Just had a look at the GF replay and, as to the question of why the trainer was out there, he was out there in the in goal area at kickoff. Not surprising, it’s a big moment for all the players.

And he’s like Mr Monopoly from the Macca’s ads. When the Raiders get their first set he’s nowhere to be seen. They kick to Tedesco and by the time he gets up to play the ball old orange shirt is magically standing behind him.

The NRL knew the risks for years about on-field trainers and did nothing

If Bradman had been made to retire when he reached 100 and been recorded as out he would have averaged a mere 59.25 in Tests.

In the face of public anger, Australia's selectors finally back down

Cricket

It’s interesting that everyone’s memory is that, after 40 minutes, “the Maroons looked gassed,” and NSW threw away a game they had won. Right on halftime Jake Trbojevic made a miracle tackle on Cooper Cronk on the tryline. Seconds later, as the siren sounded, Josh Dugan held up Michael Morgan over the line. Had Queensland scored there it would have been 16 – 12 at the break despite the Blues dominance. Gagai’s first try early in the second half would have given them the lead and it may have just become yet another game where Queensland ground out a victory.

Of course NSW may have been better off, in that they would have had to try to win the game and not just hang on to their lead.

NSW have little chance of winning Game 3

2017

Gee this is a rather disturbing article. There are 10 teams in the NRL that concede more than 6 penalties per game. And that includes Penrith. Are you saying if any of these 9 other teams plays Penrith at Pepper Stadium under Henry Perenara they can reasonably expect to lose the penalty count by this sort of margin?

Stop your moaning Manly, you got exactly what you deserved

If, instead of the pair he got, Houli had managed to get genuine A-list celebrities like Jimmy Barnes or Nicole Kidman to vouch for his good character he may have not been suspended at all. He may have even ended up in credit.

AFL to appeal two-week ban on Houli

AFL

Let me quote one of my favourite writers, Robert Burgin, discussing the selections for the Queensland team, specifically Justin O’Neill: “However, he had zero tries and zero try assists leading into Round 10 of the NRL this year and has seemed to return to the fluctuating form which marred previous seasons. Selectors will be hoping he finds another gear when he slides the hallowed jersey over his shoulders.”

He didn’t.

Justin O'Neill's a much better footballer than you'll ever be

I have heard, from someone close to the Queensland camp, that one of the Queenslanders is actually already dead. They are only keeping it quiet for fear that the Blues forwards will target him if they find out.

State of Origin: Maroons in perfect shape for Origin with whole squad in doubt for opener

A few other key SOO stats:

90 – the percentage of articles by statisticians that will mention that the team that wins game one has a 75% chance of winning the series. This despite the fact that anyone that has ever tossed a coin can see that it is obvious.

95 – the percentage chance that, within moments of Phil Gould proclaiming, “The Blues are well on top here,” Queensland will proceed to close out the game.

State of Origin 2017: The definitive Game 1 stats preview

In all the excitement of the Ennis Wighton “Is it a bird, is it a plane, is it a shoulder charge,” I think we have all managed to miss the good news contained within it.

Like most league supporters I had stupidly believed that the shoulder charge had been banned in the interests of player safety. With big brutal missiles like Sonny Bill Williams running around someone was going to get killed unless it was all stopped.

But that wasn’t entirely the case. Actually the NRL didn’t mind the shoulder charge but wanted it to be more aesthetically stylized, done in a particular way. You could dive shoulder first into an opponents chest but just keep a gap between the arm and your side, or at least seem to. In fact SBW’s technique would be gold under the guidelines – arm cocked and smashing guys with his shoulder. So come on guys check out youtube, practice getting that arm away from your side and bring back the shoulder charge.

Wighton whacked, Ennis exonerated: Did the NRL get it right on the shoulder charge?

Is it my imagination or did the Warriors not score in the last 4 minutes?

Golden State Warriors vs Cleveland Cavaliers highlights: NBA Finals Game 7 scores, blog, result

Basketball

I think people’s opinions are distorted by the rose coloured glasses they use to view previous origins. For a long time I have felt that Origin games are largely forgettable. If it wasn’t for the close scores most people can’t recall what happened in game one of an Origin series by the time game 3 comes around. Unless of course there was a refereeing controversy, because there won’t be any exciting footie played unless you are a lover of defence. I find that many fans can recount entire grand finals from memory but often need to resort to Google to refresh their memories about most Origins. In fact I can recall maybe 5% of the game just played but it has been like that for a long time now.

Origin has been bastardised beyond recognition

I guess we have a test coming up against the French. I assume Semi will be qualified to play for them. Or will we still pick him for Australia?

Is Semi Radradra really leaving the Eels?

I think this quote provides the most important insight, “Of those 31 series in only seven (22%) has a side come back to win the series after losing Game 1. ” This fact was mentioned so many times during the coverage of game one I thought it was the official match sponsor. It is discussed as though it is some weird oddity of the way Origin works. However the truth is that even if both teams had equal chances, just like tossing a coin, there would only be one chance in 4 (25%) of the either team winning the last two in a row whether they had won or lost game one.

Perhaps the selectors, and subsequently we Blues supporters, would be better served if that stat was used more imaginatively. “Who, with an eye to the future, would you like to see in the NSW team given that we now have a 75% chance of losing the series?” And that’s assuming the two teams are even money chances.

History is totally against NSW winning Origin in Brisbane

Strange that in all this coverage I haven’t seen any mention of “Section 16. Duties of Referee and Touch Judges When to blow whistle 8.1 (f) – when any irregularity, not provided for in these Laws, occurs and one team unjustifiably gains an advantage.”

Admittedly my copy of the Laws is that published by the NRL in 2013 but surely this law is designed to cater for circumstances like we saw on Monday, and I assume it still exists..

Sleight of hand from T-Rex arms reveals its rewards

Ho ho. Guru! I get it.

Well for a start there is no strip rule really. The note to Section 11 9 “Stealing ball” simply says “…. the ball is subsequently taken from the tackled player, a penalty will be awarded against the player or players effecting the tackle..” No explanation is provided of what stripping is so just touching the ball would count.

A better change would be to make the rule what it was intended to be – a method of stopping Alfie Langer’s annoying ball stealing. So penalize that alone. If you are actively involved in tackling the guy do as you like, if you are last man in and just grab the ball it’s a penalty.

Let's use the sin-bin more often to clean up the NRL

The selectors will be casting their net far and wide in search of a batsman in his mid 30s and a similar first class batting average.

Michael Clarke to retire after Ashes Tour

As the author, and a Blues fan, let me say that I am happy that once the ball hit Nate Myles it could not be a try. I was just interested in how stupid rugby league would have looked had GI been able to hear the shouts from a Sydney lounge room and get tackled.

However I now find in disconcerting that people like Tony Archer and Bill Harrigan can contend that the strip by Morgan was a knock-on. With the way Pearce was carrying the ball Morgan would have had to push it through Pearce’s arm to propel it toward the other end of the field, even if Morgan was playing at the ball. I do notice that Tony Archer refers to the Myles touch as “knocked forward” and not a knock-on.

But that’s rugby league – a great game burdened by endless petty controversies that result from ill considered rules that may as well be decided by the toss of a coin because the results often appear that random.

No, what I mean about double movements is that they are too open to interpretation. The rule only exists because it’s there and no-one thought to get rid of it. Like the corner post rule. It’s stupid and shouldn’t be a penalty at all. Either say anything goes or the ball is dead where it hit the ground. Works OK for players trying to get the ball out of the in goal area. If it touches the ground and the player tries to promote it he isn’t penalized. The ref just rules it grounded. I wouldn’t care which alternative they chose and in a few years no-one would remember there ever was a situation where you lost possession and field position because the ref ruled that you moved your arm while sliding along the ground. Why persist with rules that rely on guesswork?