Roar Pro
Joined June 2013
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Manly fan and proud, though I do have a massive soft spot for the Canberra Raiders. I also love the NFL.
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It was the biggest blunder of the season, a diabolical and inexplicable decision, according to the newspapers. The error cost the Tigers the game,…
The Canberra Raiders' poor form this season is masking what could be the building blocks of a future premiership run. Coach Ricky Stuart and…
For the past eight years passionate, mad and downright crazy NRL fans have witnessed one of the greatest sporting teams ever. The era has…
Since making the Superbowl in 2002, the Oakland Raiders have consistently been one of the worst teams in the NFL. In many respects they…
If the objective of the City versus Country clash is to hold a genuine State of Origin try out for NSW, then let's make…
No other club should ever have to lose in the fashion that St. George Illawarra did on Monday night, and the NRL should immediately…
The NRL has introduced some new rules for the 2014 season, based on recommendations made by experts of the game and input from fans.…
The most surprising thing about the sledging issue is that it is an issue at all. Why people are surprised sledging happens is mystifying.…
Channel Nine boss David Gyngell said yesterday that rugby league needs Sonny Bill Williams to compete with the AFL now that Buddy Franklin has…
David Furner's sacking as Canberra Raiders head coach has given a chance for new life to be blown into the club. Already this season…
I can picture NSW League fans perched on the edges of their seats, foaming with anticipation at the prospect of the Queensland game this…
Dylan Farrell lay on the side-lines at AAMI Park for minutes before play finally stopped. Two sets of six and nearly 200 metres of…
I don't really care that the Rabbitohs will miss Greg Inglis for a few rounds a year when he plays representative games. Nor do…
The NRL decided to implement the Gallen rule because the new administration felt it wasn't a good look for the game. But apparently elbows…
After Origin I, the NRL should really be looking at itself rather than Paul Gallen as the problem. Issuing a new rule where any…
I would have been mad, but then again, I would also accept that we got beat by 32 points. There were seldom times when the Tigers looked like scoring, and Manly looked like scoring with most of their touches. Look at the stats, tackled in opposition 20 in particular, Manly had all the ball, despite conceding 10 penalties to the Tigers 6. It was a bad call, but the Tigers got beat by a good team. In round 4 when the Eels nearly upset the Sea Eagles in Brookie, was it the dodgy reffing call at the end, or the fact Joseph Paulo missed 3 or 4 conversion kicks that made them lose?
The Tigers should be looking in the mirror, not at Shayne Hayne
I defend the refs a lot but I don’t think even they know when the video ref can and cannot be used. The rulebook needs some serious re-writing so that the many grey areas in league are eliminated
The Tigers should be looking in the mirror, not at Shayne Hayne
Well did Finch get sat down when he dropped the ball, or made the wrong read to cost his team a try? Probably not.
The Tigers should be looking in the mirror, not at Shayne Hayne
In Potter’s defense, he said it didn’t cost them the game. You also have to consider that often players and coaches will talk about the decision in the press conference because a journalist asks them the question. Someone in that press conference would have asked about the decision for sure, and Potter answered it. A coach is entitled to think he got the wrong call, but he didn’t make any excuses.
The Tigers should be looking in the mirror, not at Shayne Hayne
I’d love to argue with you on this, but I have mentally blocked out the traumatic memory of last year’s grand final, who won again? :p
The Tigers should be looking in the mirror, not at Shayne Hayne
Haha well not just the Telegraph, Ray Warren must have mentioned it about eight times too, the replays on the news called it ‘a controversial decision’, but the Telegraph spent all weekend talking about it
The Tigers should be looking in the mirror, not at Shayne Hayne
It was a try, but it was pretty close not to being a try, and to make that sort of call in real time would be quite difficult.
The Tigers should be looking in the mirror, not at Shayne Hayne
The way the rules are written contributes greatly to this. There are so many grey areas which require interpretation. Anyone who has read my articles knows I put a lot of NFL references in because I watch that, NFL has its problems but there are few grey areas, and it is usually up to how a referee sees the play, as opposed to he simply made a bad call. Every now and then some freak play will happen and there will be no rule for it, so they go and make an exact ruling. They even have written into plenty of the rules “if in doubt, it is a X”, as in if the call is in doubt here is what you do. If two refs see a play differently, that means there is doubt, and so they have only one course of action.
Referees need support, not media criticism
A year or two ago, the NFL and their referees had a pay disagreement and replacement college refs were in. College rules and NFL rules do differ, a lot of things are the same but there are plenty of areas where there is a major difference. It was an absolute clusterf#$k to put it lightly. It was a disaster, they didn’t know the rules, they didn’t know how to enforce it, there were missed calls everywhere. Sacking the top officials is probably the worst idea, you think it is bad now, wait until you see a whole bunch of guys who have never worked at this level step up.
Referees need support, not media criticism
In Campo’s defense, he really does love the Raiders. When guys are tired at the end of the game, he is the only one who is still sprinting up when they are on their goal line. Reece hasn’t had the best year, but he is a good player in my opinion, and I have to say some of the errors he has made this year are uncharacteristic. As for Milford, well if he is leaving next year and the Raiders are sitting in 14th place, why not try out blokes for next year, I like Milford, but if he isn’t going to be there next year, you have to also be thinking about looking to the future. Who do you replace White with? Sure you could start Boyd, but who takes his bench spot?
Stuart's true intentions smothered by poor form
I guess with Parramatta it comes back to the team he inherited, one that finished in last place the year before. The team simply wasn’t up to standard, and even Wayne Bennett can’t turn a guy into an immortal if he doesn’t have the talent to be one. The Eels have played well this year, and the question is whether that is due to Brad Arthur’s coaching, or Stuart’s roster changes, or both. We won’t ever really know but if Stuart is given a chance, we will see how good his coaching ability is.
Stuart's true intentions smothered by poor form
Haha thanks Max, not sure I’m quite qualified to run a Rugby League team, maybe one day when I win the lottery!
Stuart's true intentions smothered by poor form
Plenty of teams rush up on the outside. It is all about getting players who want to rush up together, and players who prefer to stay back together. Manly’s right side defense of Jamie Lyon and David Williams or Peta Hiku always rush up, while their left side of Steve Matai and Jorge Tafua stay home.
There is no one player on the Raiders who is playing poorly, as a team they are, and 14th is probably flattering to the way they have played in some games this season.
Stuart's true intentions smothered by poor form
Indeed he is. However, in his defense, the Raiders have had pretty much the same squad for years, under three different coaches, and despite some success in the finals, it has mostly been bad times for the club. I can’t give you the answer, but I think it is a bit easy to simply point to Stuart as the sole problem at the Raiders.
Stuart's true intentions smothered by poor form
Fair point, I truly wonder whether he will be given the chance to do the job though. One season at the bottom is probably all Raiders fans can take at the moment.
Stuart's true intentions smothered by poor form
Well I mean I am not the best judge of that. They finished what 14 or 15th last year, and despite showing a bit of promise earlier in the season, completely collapsed toward the end. Perhaps David Furner was simply getting the best out of them. I think though, that even when the Raiders have made the finals in previous years, it has always been on the back of a strong run, and not season long dominance. Their poor form this year may simply be a reflection of the talent they have, or as you say, poor coaching. As for Origin, well Campese played once and was dropped, Papalii is still in the Qld side when healthy, Shillo has been dropped and White hasn’t played origin since moving to Canberra as far as I can recall.
Stuart's true intentions smothered by poor form
That’s an interesting point you raise, because statiscally speaking there is a 50/50 chance the Blues or Qld win. The draw is possible I suppose but essentially it is 50/50. However, Queensland have been so good over the past 8 years you sort of have to throw stats out the window. And let’s face it, if Qld didn’t lose Cronk, things probably would have been wildly different. I think to say though that Stuart didn’t help NSW is unfair. The team clearly turned around under his stewardship, and as I pointed to in the article, Bird and Scott both seemed to think he was helpful, although Laurie Daley certainly has to be given most of the credit, surely there is room for Stuart to receive some praise too.
Stuart's true intentions smothered by poor form
Yeah Al Davis was a bit of a nutjob. Completely erratic, made crazy moves, and would often sign players to simply ludicrous contracts. Canberra is not that bad, but there has been plenty of criticism leveled at their management, they signed Stuart without looking at any other coaches. If Stuart works out then they are heroes, if not, well that changes everything.
Stuart's true intentions smothered by poor form
Yeah, like I said in the article, it will take a few years to truly know whether Stuart has been capable of rebuilding the club, but whether he gets that far is another matter entirely.
Stuart's true intentions smothered by poor form
Yeah I think he is too quick to blame the refs. Refs can be influential in games but I do not believe refs ever lose games for a team. I think against Penrith Ricky blamed the refs, but really it was the 10+ errors the Raiders made qhich cost them more than anything.
Stuart's true intentions smothered by poor form
Well that’s debatable I suppose, although I suspect most people will blame Ricky.
Stuart's true intentions smothered by poor form
I think the flaw in your argument here is that even though you say nobody wants to watch the pre-game rubbish, you still did. I tune into Nine at precisely 8:15 these days, just in time to catch the national anthem, which I don’t really care about, but it ensures I don’t miss the start of the match. The pre-game rubbish is boring, you’re right, so go watch something else, rather than watch it and complain about it later. That is like going to a pub and complaining there is beer around.
Dear Gus, Rabs and Sterlo: Just show us the game
In 2014, it doesn’t matter whether you’re halfback or five eighth, it’s the same role, how many times did you actually see 7 pass to 6 or vice versa last night? 5 times? I reckon Mullen could do it.
Oh don’t worry I know DCE will be great, my point is that even being the best player in the comp at club level doesn’t guarantee you instant successful at Origin.
Walker is coming off thumb surgery and will miss the last game.
Hoppa was young, and I thought too young but shows what I know, but he was also selected on the wing both times, you can hide on the wing a bit, you can’t hide in the halves and any inexperience will be found out
Opportunity to blood new Origin heroes in dead rubber
hahaha NSW and proud but that is a good call mate!
Opportunity to blood new Origin heroes in dead rubber
It was odd they didn’t look, but at the same time, the refs didn’t make the Tigers concede the penalties. And at the same time, say they did refer it to the video ref and it was awarded a try, who is to say the Tigers don’t spill their lollies from the kick-off, gift Manly a try, and then go on to be beat by 50!
The Tigers should be looking in the mirror, not at Shayne Hayne