Tom Gibson's Roar Profile

Recently, a Queenslander mate of mine was commenting about the Maroons' State of Origin dominance, particularly the depth the Maroons have in several key…

League

2013

Tom Gibson

Roar Rookie

Which state has the best Origin depth?

League

2013

Will Hopate does have a get-out clause – if Stuart leaves.

As a Raiders fan, I was very wary whenever I heard Stuart’s name mentioned. When both he and club denied he was on the shortlist, I knew he was coming.

Hopefully, he brings Hoppa with him.

Good riddance to bad Ricky

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If Channel Nine ensured there was equal coverage of all teams, then we wouldn’t have this problem. Well, we’d have less of it anyway.

I can handle seeing Parra get flogged on TV a few times a year but it’s the fact they get more games on free-to-air than a lot of teams that angers me. All this talk of trying to even the comp with complicated player redistribution ideas is meaningless when the simplest way to share the wealth – TV coverage – is intentionally skewed towards a few teams.

Ban the Parramatta Eels from TV

Stopping the clock when the play is not in play would improve the game so much – as long as players were still obliged to move quickly to the re-start.

Golden point would be a lot better if it didn’t become a field goal contest. The oft-discussed alternative of playing extra time where points accumulate as usual unless there is a try scored, in which case that team wins would be a lot more exciting. Games shouldn’t be won by one guy with an obscure skill (i.e. Jamie Soward should never have the opportunity to be a hero unless he runs the ball.)

Ten innovations that made rugby league (and some that didn't)

Short and long arm penalties make sense to me. Nothing drives me more crazy than three great tackles that keep a team in their defensive 30m only for a penalty on the fourth for something pedantic that gets missed most times to allow the attacking team to start again in their opponent’s half. Happens in every game.

However, the best way to improve refereeing is to ban them from reading the newspapers and pre-determining which team: is more likely to win, concede more penalties, be less disciplined, has more stars etc. It is embarrassing how differently they treat teams and players.

The NRL needs to strip the penalty of its power

This isn’t a list of the Raiders’ best backs – just the ones they’ve sacked. I think Vidot and Goodwin plus five Origin players is pretty reasonable. Add Campese, Wighton, Robinson, Croker or Lee and you’ll get a picture of what could have been.

I wonder about the same thing, Dwayno. Not sure if Furner was to blame for many of the problems with the team. I hope the nine senior players who pushed for his sacking step up and start playing better than most of them have for the last couple of years.

The Raiders have always had a strong presence in SE QLD, dating back to the Meninga and Belcher days. Just this year, Josh Papalii re-signed with Canberra and he’s from next door to Milford. The Raiders in fact identified it as the place in Australia that produces the most NRL players so .

Also, it’s not like they aren’t recruiting from their own backyard. The current squad is littered with players from Goulburn, Temora, Orange – and Canberra.

This theory seems valid but wouldn’t it make as much sense that a player like Ferguson would be better off in Canberra where there is less ‘happening’?