Roar Rookie
Joined August 2012
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Sport nut and writer.
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Opera singers, feature films and a doppelgänger – all part of the incredible ride from relegation candidates to bizarre champions in the most famous…
It's a cold, soggy morning in the North-West of England, as the Manchester City bus rolls on down the M62, en route to Goodison…
It's about halfway through the English Premier League season, and the competition has moulded in terms of the make-up. Chelsea have a five-point lead…
Tuesday morning sees another explosive Merseyside derby taking place at Goodison Park. Having seen the most red cards produced out of any match up…
Rugby League's off-season media circus seems to generally work in cycles, year after year. Someone plays up while on the drink, rookies are reported…
The coming 2015-16 season bodes as one of the most highly anticipated in recent memory for the blue boys from Merseyside. It was a…
While we're two-thirds through the season, there's still a long way to go in terms of just how the top of the English Premier…
The last time the South Sydney Rabbitohs made the finals, the Gold Coast Titans were playing their first season in the NRL. The time…
The only positive out of this change is club competition will be less affected by international duties for World Cup Qualifiers. The prestige of reaching the world cup was an asset of the tournament in itself. The road to qualification as exciting for minnow countries as watching the main event. Now that road is going to be a hell of a lot easier, only to watch their side get belted by a cricket score. All in the name of more dosh for FIFA.
The 48-team FIFA World Cup will be a good thing
Please excuse the Luke Shaw mistake, it should read Luke Garbutt.
Everton to sweep last season under the rug
As much as I hate to admit it, being a Bears fan & junior, he’s absolutely spot on. I want the Bears back in as much as anyone. I grew up North of the bridge, been a part of Asquith Magpies all my life, played SG Ball for Norths etc. etc.
I think had Gallop gone ahead with it in 2013 the Bears would have been a sure thing, because no one else was close to being ready. But he held off and put expansion on the backburner til the next broadcast deal, which tells me the NRL are just playing the waiting game because they want to expand out of NSW.
WA & NZ means new time slots for television, and a second Brisbane team taps in to a rich market that we know is footy mad.
My vote is 100% behind the Bears for sentimental reasons, but I don’t expect them to be back anytime in the next decade.
Stand aside, here come the mighty Bears
I do like the idea of reduced time in the ruck for defenders, however it’s not as simple as penalising defenders once the ‘held’ call is given. Momentum plays a huge part in the tackle, whether or not the contest is ‘won’ by the man with the ball or the defenders.
If three defenders belt an attacker and drive him back 10metres, the dominancy of the tackle deserves extra time for the defenders to get up and return to the line. If someone is picked up and slammed on their back, then gets up and plays the ball before the defenders have even returned to the feet, there’d be a strange flow to the game where there’s no momentum and teams just score set for set.
By all means, if someone makes a half-break and makes 15m, I agree the defenders should be forced to clear immediately. The referees are being coached to referee the ruck by their interpretation of the tackle, i.e a dominant tackle allows you extra time whilst a half-break would see him call ‘move’ to the defence earlier (I know this because a referee from the NSWRL came to our training session in pre-season to give us a crash course on how they police the ruck).
I think the problem is, like with many other things in refereeing, they’re looking too much into it and coming up with structures and rules for ‘interpretations’. It’s going to be very hard for them to completely remove the wrestling from the game, though I do agree they need to try.
NRL flies the white flag on wrestling
I feel like a lot of the displeasure coming from the author is based on the fact that the game was scheduled back when the Tigers were in form and the game had a bit of a attraction to it. No matter what time slot the game was on last weekend, it would have been a shit game and rubbish to watch. Put a Manly vs Souths on Thursday night and you won’t hear anyone complaining.
Thursday night’s a crap night for football
Disappointing start for my Toffees. I have a Kopite mate who says based on that we’ll finish 12th or 13th, tongue in cheek of course (though you never know with those silly reds). Important to note the Toffees drew their first three games and still managed to have a good season in 2013/2014, so I think these early fixtures must be taken with a grain of salt. Good write up though!
EPL Round 1: Winners and losers
Kudos for starting to write Michael, keep it up. In terms of any feedback you asked for though, it’s very easy to try and forge your style as a writer and turn some heads simply by writing controversial pieces going against the grain for the whole ‘shock’ factor thing. Shock jock’s are nothing new, and unless you’re a well known figure not many people tend to listen to it. Try and write your next piece by offering some insight that is both interesting and well supported. Instead of going for a “that’s right, I’m putting Minichello above Hayne” article, focus on why you believe Minichello is still one of the best fullbacks in the game. It’s a lot more credible and interesting to read than simply going to the easy path of rustling jimmies.
The NRL's top three fullbacks
Another Bluenose here: Look, I feel like the disregarding of Everton as a threat year after year is merely the media syndrome of world football. The teams with plenty of cash, fans and big names get talked about each year, whilst consistent performers in Everton go by the wayside. It seems to occur with managers also, I clearly remember that arrogant twat Mancini condescending Everton in pre-match pressers only to have been turned away from Goodison with his tail between his legs, courtesy of Mr. Gibson one year and Leon Osman/Niki Jelavic the next. Until Everton can consistently, and I mean two or three seasons in succession, qualify for the champions league and receive some fanfare and mainstream coverage outside of Merseyside, we are still going to be discounted from conversations. I like and wholeheartedly agree with you comparing us to a very ordinary Tottenham side, yet if you look at the season odds to win the title Tottenham are streaks ahead of us. Everton have a much better football side, yet we’re stuck under this glass ceiling in terms of recognition until Everton can enter the mainstream world media market for football. Once the dosh starts flowing in from Champions League appearances and increased exposure, and some more recognised signings are made, then the glass ceiling will be gone.
Can we stop underrating Everton?
Hard to make a call on 10th Steven, as the bottom 11 teams are just packed too tightly to make a prediction this far out from the finish. Still have 12 games to play and 10th placed Swansea are only 4 points off relegation zone.
And yes, hard for Southampton and Newcastle to catch up, and although I predict United will finish at 7 I’d be foolish to predict there’s no more nose dives to come for Mr. Moyes side this season.
Thanks for your comment!
EPL: Who will finish where? (the top half)
It wouldn’t be a United draw/loss if Mourinho didn’t make some comments about the referee would it? Was a pen all day, baffling how bad Pogba got it wrong.
I like Klopp, but don’t think he can complain too much here. If you’re playing against a nimble and crafty side like Liverpool why wouldn’t you get it off the deck. You don’t get points for playing passes. Considering their goal came from a monumental stuff up from Pogba and not their own creation I feel he should be grateful he was able to walk away with a point.
Klopp hits out at Mourinho's tactics after Liverpool and Manchester draw