Interesting article Cameron,

I would just like to point out one online service you missed in your assessment.

While living overseas I was a subscriber to setanta sports. They provided all the rugby for me while in south east Asia and in 2013 also began providing rugby league as well. They had functionality of historical games (but not back to 2009) and there was hd quality that performed pretty well connected to a large flat screen.

Setanta offers us in Australia the European rugby and some other leagues as well. They do not have any rights to super rugby inside Australia but could be rerouted simply to provide this (if one was so inclined to skirt the sidelines legally)

Anyway the point is that setanta offers the equivalent to the global pass for afl for 15 a month (although that may have changed in 2015)

I really enjoy watching clubs from our three countries play. It would be extremely disappointing if we lost or dramatically reduced this. I have a whole group of friends and we all follow super rugby, we are not interested in a local competition as much but that may be just us.

This year I have really enjoyed the competition and I would be happy for it to stay the same. If we could work out a way to include lions and kings for the South African conference maybe that could solve this discontent from that side.

I could see these three conferences not being restricted to the countries. We should drag in an islander team for the Australian Conference, a Japanese team for NZ and an Argentinian side for SA conference. Thats where I would like to see it head, but thats just me.

Good article. On an aside I was really hoping for a far more competitive tour this year, in my mind it has not been as exciting as past tours. Is it possible if they were all jacked up we would see some more interesting and dramatic competition? Not encouraging or anything just a thought.

While I do not agree with the way Greg Martin verbalised it, it was quite harsh and uncalled for in that manner, the less emotive facts behind his rant are pretty spot on.

His defence is a concern, he has never been a strong defender, with defence being an important part of the game and Cooper showing us that it is not possible to hide such a flaw forever (cooper has indeed improved this year and we can only hope he will continue to do so).

Furthermore he is 28, that gives an argued 4 years of playing life left. Considering he will not be an early adapter as he has had 12 years playing League, so that gives at least 2 seasons for adjusting, that leaves you with 2 years and he will come with a hefty price tag.

I think the best thing for him to do would be to accept a 2 year deal and play his skin off proving he is worth resigning till 2017, if he does prove his metal then he can arguably request a larger piece of the pie too. Why does he not back himself and take the 2 year deal?

Well said,

Looking forward to hopefully seeing Luke Morahan add his strong running game with his late edition.
I would have to agree with your assessment of the backrow, but overall their forward pack really worked as a unit throughout the match. It is hoped that the Wallabies can gel in the limited time they have as the Lions are really chalking up the game time together.

Where are they screening South Africa Italy?

I could not find an appropriate forum to list this but I thought I would roar out here with a comment,
Where oh where can we watch the non Fox Sports televised international fixtures this weekend? To my understanding The South Africa Vs Italy game will not be shown nor will the Samoa Vs. Scotland game, not to mention Argentina and England.

What has happened? Such a spectacular weekend of Rugby is coming up and it appears that the majority of it has been denied to us
Confused and concerned

Well actually yes you can be charged with assault. “person who strikes, touches, or moves, or otherwise applies force of any kind to, the person of another, either directly or indirectly, without the other person’s consent.” 245 Cc

In fact verbal intimidation coupled with agressive movement can be deemed assault. Intent is the essential element.

So I have thought about it. It is the plaintiffs right to continue charges through and in this case it was not the public pressing charges but the individual. KB can well be forced into mediation in this regard.

I also know of two cases that included shoving pushing and general rowdiness without punches that had been thrown that resulted in Assault and battery charges.

Can we just break this down.

He had some push and shove with a security guard – Most security guards I know are not the nicest of fellows and we do not know exactly what happened. Worst case scenario is two testosterone fuelled blokes one with a bit of booze in him the other with HGH, clenbuterol, trenbolone. They pushed each other, I guarantee the security guard is used to bullying little blokes like me and of course whined when he realised he could make some money.

He punched a team mate while intoxicated – This is inexcusable. This is so bad. But the rest of his team mates forgave him, somehow the public can’t I dont understand this, the guy who gets punched gets over it but the rest of the population cannot. Ridiculous.

He goes to the Storm game and drinks a few warm light beers in plastic – he broke the rules; he probably thought no one would notice, he was stupid. this is not reflective of him being a drunk especially when there was no incident, he just broke a rule, so he has been stood down, fair enough

If it wasn’t for the media heat this could probably have continued to sort itself out.

I feel like the majority of you guys who just continually talk about getting rid of him shipping him off, cutting him loose have forgotten the sort of stupid decisions you make as a young man, maybe it was too long ago, or you are just used to exemplary citizens surrounding you.

Talk more objectively and less heatedly.

+1

I would have to say I have been in a very similar situation but not for sport over the last few years, I am the same age as Beale and actually competed against him at school. I know the situation he spent his later adolescent years and the last few.

I don’t think it is addiction but lack of boundaries, it is difficult when you do not have them and have countless opportunity that doesn’t seem to disappear at a young age. Spoilt might be a harsh word, continuous mistakes though make it difficult to understand.

I understand what you meant Tony,
You weren’t out to offend but I am not surprised people arked up so swiftly

As far as I understand your point was about pushing for a third tier while incorporating history that we already have.

Clubs like Brothers in Queensland and Randwick in Sydney do have this, I think there could be a way of getting these sort of teams all on board with maybe a few new ones tied to traditionally long lasting clubs in locations like Melbourne and we could see something happen!

It does not mean any other sides would disappear, they would still all function on a subbies level or something, we could keep all the competitions and have the Premier Rugby comp.

We could even run it almost like an FA cup, I always find the notion of a small band of misfits coming up against a giant and winning.

Anyway in response to your question
1. leverage history
2. Don’t centralise it round shute shield

Exactly

This was a great article, really enjoyed it thanks

Quade Cooper it appears like some of that age thrust into a professional sporting lifestyle has not managed his off field behaviour and this has affected his on field performance.

I feel that this year Quade Cooper is in pursuit of becoming that all rounded player rather than the guy with a barrel of neat tricks but without consistency. We have also seen less social media banter and poor off field behaviour than has been present in the past few years with him

QC has the opportunity to develop into the player we have been wanting this season. I still personally think that even though his form is volatile he has performed with much higher consistency this year. I look forward to seeing if this transforms into consistent form at the wallabies. I am still quite concerned that Robbie Deans will not get the balance of form and experience right when he selects his side.

Brumbies are looking at 6th win away from home if they take this making it the longest winning away streak in their super rugby history

If it was all about the money, Mundine’s worth is suggested to be between 30-100million, SBW will go further if he committed to boxing and If Quade focussed on Boxing and has the ability to succeed then he would not turn to MMA for money, Boxing still gives a far larger pay day.

Cannot see him realistically making a serious run at either in the long term, He needs to shutup and go back and play rugby and learn to be the brilliant sportsman he could be if he set his mind to it

Wrong. He never wanted back in to league especially after his growth in Union over the last 12 months. Ill eat my hat if he stays any longer than he has to in League

+2

I would have to agree with John on this one.
If you take a look at Rugby Union you will find the majority of them are pursuing study or have already qualified. Dan Baxter is an architect. Both Phil Kearns and Rod Kafer are incredibly acute players in the financial scene.
As Sam mentioned John Roe is a medical practitioner but so is Jannie Du Plessis,

Peter Fitzsimmons does not only write the back page for the SMH, he also has published a plethora of riveting historical books.

Cannot comment off the top of my head on other sports really, but the point is that there have always been various intelligent beings as well as idiots throughout sporting teams, kind of an even handed reflection of society.

Jocks and Nerds is a useless stereotype merely propagated by films. What we have forgotten is the Renaissance man, eager sportsman, articulate, wide ranging interests and taste in music and beverages. They have always been around but just don’t work well on screen, because they get on well with everyone.

Well written article though and good on Lebron for getting with what the cool kids are reading ha!

I played Rugby in Brazil and there is a pretty good local comp going on in Sao Paulo. I played for Rio Branco and some of the guys who played for them were great, we had an ex french international (only 2 tests but still) One guy in the extended squad for Argentina (2007) and an ex Aus Schoolboy + 1st Grade Sydney player Eli Hedges.

In 2010 I moved to Mexico and the sport is virtually non existent, there were some poor attempts at 7’s but they simply do not care, they have a small comp for Gridiron which is followed with more interest and is a Uni game between the rich private uni’s. Rich Mexican kids play and eventually spend a semester or two overseas at a American university pushed by the program. The Gridiron is even on one of the ESPN channels and the guys who play get free accom (it shit though) at the uni, as well as also being paid to study at the University (usually it costs a lot to attend so this is a big thing), one guy I knew also received a car. In summation, Rugby has absolutely NO headway in Mexico and it would be difficult to even consider entering the Soccer saturated marketplace.

Argentina, Brazil, USA and Canada to play in a 4 nations would be a ripper. they could also hypothetically get a 6-10 team competition going between them. Brazil would need the most work, Argentina already has a comp and they would relish the opportunity to step it up. IRB money should be injected into this area.

I cannot wait for the next time I return to live in Latin America and I can play and watch rugby properly. It was the one thing that latin america lacked for me so lets keep this dialogue continuing albeit on the roar!

QGIRL – Pointing out that Rugby Union has been played there for 90 years and is a failure is extremely redundant. It flourished as an amateur game at an amateur rate. It is now growing at a rate reflecting the shift to professionalism.

Unaware whether you have left Queensland in the last 12 months, but if you have and travelled to America in this time period and actually had a look around you would be very surprised. ESPN is currently looking at an agreement to air college Rugby as well.

And where is rugby league in all this melee in the USA, If you could tell me it would be great, I would love to know, because I went looking and I couldn’t see hair nor hide of it.

I love rugby league, it will continue to be played and enjoyed in Australia, but please dont even try to suggest it will ever be anything but that.

God, throw a few backwards kids a billion dollars and they think they just became the next global superpower

Australia are at long odds, The word Laughable is not out of place.

but…. BUT…

Looking down the team list. the group have the ability and the talent, SHOULD they perform, to be competitive and with the right stars aligned, win at Eden Park. I know that the majority of commentators on this website abhor any alternative thinking to the primary and dominating Rugby community viewpoint, yet they do have the talent on board.

The combination of Genia Cooper and Barnes is mouth watering if they are given the space to work their magic. This space can be achieved through a strong Forward performance. Hooper could provide an injection of much needed energy and vigor.

Sharpe, Moore, Robinson and Dennis have shown and proven aggression in the past. If by some incredible stroke of luck they decide to all perform on the same night, they are worth opponents.Anything can happen on the right day, and I am looking forward to another clash between the All Blacks and the Wallabies. Last week was disappointing and as a sports fan I choose to look forward and upwards.

If the wallabies backs align, if they have the amount of space they need and front foot ball, if the forwards regress to their (at present) dormant animalistic agressive nature and control the breakdown and set pieces. Then the Wallabies have a team to beat their primary rivals. Unfortunately, that is just a few too many ifs for my fantasy to become a reality…

Well worded,
first measured even handed comment

Oh so people are going to stop swimming and running, because they want to play afl… this makes sense…. what utter generalised stupidity, and I usually enjoy your writing…

What utter bollocks,

I barely wish to dignify this with an answer.
Rugby is a global game, always will be. League will never achieve this. The future is in global competition, so league will continue to be a game confined to Australia where expansion is limited by our size – I know several people employed in community efforts to promote League in various countries to little or no success and yet having lived around the world from Latin America to now South East Asia, I have always been able to play Rugby and locals have always had an awareness of the sport, which is growing.

Pro Rugby is a much bigger beast than you realise. whether or not it is taken seriously in Australia is irrelevant because of the strength it exhibits on a global scale.

Completely 100% agree, case closed really, no need for people to get all emotional about the demise of the game, process was followed, makes sense and thats that, thanks for the cut and paste!