Football is back very soon and as a rugby league fan I am excited – I take it you are too. Our favourite game is played on Saturday, the NRL v Indigenous All Stars fixture, at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium.
OK, so it’s not club rugby league, the so-called ‘be-all-and-end-all’. Not much hangs on the result. But I believe we will learn a heck of a lot about season 2013 and beyond if we take some time to watch and digest.
There are a number of things I want to see. You, undoubtedly, will have yours. So here is my list and you are more than welcome to add to it:
* I dearly want to see some razzle-dazzle football, RL style. Tennis, cricket and all those summer sports have had their fling. I want my rugby league, almost as much as some wanted their MTV a few decades ago!
* Is the South Sydney halfback, Adam Reynolds, up to the task? Dally M Rookie of the Year, and the young man widely touted as a potential NSW Origin No 7. If he fires up in this elite company, Blues fans should get excited. Very excited. I don’t think Mitchell Pearce can win us an Origin series. Is Reynolds the Real Deal?
* Willie Mason and Timana Tahu are clearly in the veteran class. Have they got lots more to offer or are the selectors playing selectors’ games with them (and us)?
* Benny Barba. One of the most exciting players I have ever seen. He won almost every individual award in 2012. Was last season a one-off, a fluke, or is this highly impressive young man an Origin/Test superstar of the future? I’m tipping him to get ever better and that is a scary prospect, Roarers.
* There are many standouts from both teams but from the Indigenous, my eyes will be closely trained on the likes of David Shillington, Reece Robinson, Blake Ferguson, Joel Thompson, Jake Foster and Jack Wighton.
Mmm. Six Raiders. If they are picked to play at this (medium rep) level, perhaps we should all take a good, hard, look at the Canberra Raiders for a premiership finals berth. After all, they were thereabouts last year. They look more than a tad dangerous in 2013.
* Aidan Sezer – naturally, they are calling him Julius – is a very special talent and I want him to do really well in this game. Don’t be surprised if he is right up there with the superstars when they are counting Dally M votes in September. This boy can play.
* The game has a new Referees boss (Daniel Anderson) and his men will be on show. Please, please guys, keep your whistles in your pockets. This is not a scenario for you – charities benefit, the crowd is up for player action, there will be a huge TV audience tuning in for football. Not a refereeing exhibition.
* I would like to see some television extras, some of the stuff we might warm and thrill to as 2013 unfolds. Can there be an on-field camera, for example, perhaps in a player’s headgear?
* From the All Stars line-up, for lots of reasons, I really want to check the early form of Jarryd Hayne, Shaun Johnson, James Tamou, Tim Grant, Benji Marshall, Robbie Farah, Paul Gallen and Feleti Mateo. These guys are crucial to their respective teams in 2013. If they don’t aim up, perhaps there will be some cause for concern.
I am an ardent fan of this game and will howl down any of its detractors. It is a terrific entree to any rugby league season, and I believe it will grow in stature as time goes on.
C’mon time. Go a little faster if you can. I crave my rugby league. The off-season sucks.
Westie Nomad
Roar Rookie
If Queenslanders can fill the great cavern for this game maybe they deserve other more signifigant games......GF2014?
Bazzio
Roar Guru
Mabe not, mushi ~ Ref's can already call play back to the spot where they called "held" when player's haven't heard the call. No changes there.
mushi
Roar Guru
My only issue is the Refs are on a hiding to nothing with this as the amount of penalties they'll have to give for offloads that happen as progress has stopped will be horrendous. As long as lay off the refs long enough for the players to grasp the concept and stop getting penalised I'm all for it.
Bazzio
Roar Guru
Thanks mate ~ the laws that I know are cut-and-pasted below from the PDF link given. May be current, maybe not. However the ref's allow defenders to force ball-carriers ten or fifteen meters backward sometimes. Bugs me no end that Ref's don't enforce the rules, or cherry-pick rules to either enforce or ignore. Laws of Rugby League ~ http://www.arldevelopment.com.au/fileadmin/document_downloads/ARL_Rules_book_2012_-_FINAL_INT_LAWS.pdf SECTION 11 (page 23) THE TACKLE AND PLAY-THE-BALL Tackle player 1. A player in possession may be tackled by an opposing player or players. It is illegal to tackle or obstruct a player who is not in possession. When tackled: 2. A player in possession is tackled: Grounded (a) when he is held by one or more opposing players and the ball or the hand or arm holding the ball comes into contact with the ground. Upright b) when he is held by one or more opposing players in such a manner that he can make no further progress and cannot part with the ball. Succumbing (c) when, being held by an opponent, the tackled player makes it evident that he has succumbed to the tackle and wishes to be released in order to play-the-ball. Hand on player (d) when he is lying on the ground and an opponent already grounded places a hand on him.
Bazzio
Roar Guru
Thanks mate ~ the laws that I know are cut-and-pasted below from the PDF link given. May be current, maybe not. Laws of Rugby League ~ http://www.arldevelopment.com.au/fileadmin/document_downloads/ARL_Rules_book_2012_-_FINAL_INT_LAWS.pdf SECTION 11 (page 23) THE TACKLE AND PLAY-THE-BALL Tackle player 1. A player in possession may be tackled by an in possession opposing player or players. It is illegal to tackle or obstruct a player who is not in possession. When tackled: 2. A player in possession is tackled: Grounded (a) when he is held by one or more opposing players and the ball or the hand or arm holding the ball comes into contact with the ground. Upright b) when he is held by one or more opposing players in such a manner that he can make no further progress and cannot part with the ball. Succumbing (c) when, being held by an opponent, the tackled player makes it evident that he has succumbed to the tackle and wishes to be released in order to play-the-ball. Hand on player (d) when he is lying on the ground and an opponent already grounded places a hand on him.
oikee
Guest
Not 100% Bazzio, but i think i read in this years new rule changes that if you are not making forward progress in the tackle the ref calls held. I can look it up again somewhere, i was reading this only a few days ago. They normally make some minor changes, and these are proper rules, not the all-stars rules. If i can find them toomoorow i will post them.
Ryan O'Connell
Expert
I like to bowl half-volleys.
Tim Prentice
Expert
Sounds fine in theory, Bazzio. But putting it into practice could be a tad trickier. Does the guy in the box have the right "feel" to make such calls? Etc, etc. Your idea, full of merit in my view, would probably be shouted down from day one. But there could be no harm in trialling it in the trials, at the very least.
Bazzio
Roar Guru
Nope. No confidence at all. But IF (a real BIG if) there were game-observer ref's around the ground or imaybe a team in the the video ref box, who could speak directly to the ref's onfield regarding this, or any other, relevant issues, things could be very much better regarding dud call's by ref's. They observation ref's would just need to use their personal mike's connected to a central control ref (video ref) who would then pass on the call to the onfield ref's by calling "knock-on", "held", "high tackle" &etc. The ref's are already audio-wired to the video ref, but the facility is not used to it's best or fullest potential, IMHO.
Tim Prentice
Expert
I am not sure I have the confidence in them to get it consistently right. Are you?
Tim Prentice
Expert
You can certainly add me to the list. Dreams hatch in all forms of sport and many materialise in Rugby League.
Tim Prentice
Expert
Don't you want to see how A. Reynolds handles a taste of rep footy?
Bazzio
Roar Guru
It's up to the ref's to call "held" when an attacking player's forward progress is stopped, or he surrenders to the tackle ~ them's the rules!
Tim Prentice
Expert
Thanks Bazzio. Your concern is well founded re reconstruction ops but in practice, this is really hard to prevent. No-one will agree to limiting the number of tacklers and no young bull trying to make a name will succumb easily in a tackle. No clear solution I can think of. Do you or anyone on The Roar have one?
Bazzio
Roar Guru
Great article of positives. However there is a persistent negative that I don't want to see again in NRL. Too many young players nowadays are having reconstructions before they even get to play 1st grade NRL, and too many times NRL ref's don't call "held" when a player's forward progress has been halted by 3 opposition forwards who then try to push the ball-carrier back, so that in order not to lose ground because of refereeing incompetence, attacking player's must prop themselves against the overpowering opposition force, weight, and strength, and all that strain looks for the weakest point to bust out, and that is cartilage or ligament.
Dean - Surry Hills
Guest
Those who tear ligaments, pop knees or shoulders, or do a hammy at an All Stars Game are just as susceptible to the same injury in the first 10 minutes of the regular season (or a trial match for that matter). Stop the whining - it's beginning to sound like Heathrow Airport.
Johnno
Guest
1989 Aust VS NZ 1993 Aust VS NZ 1988 Aust VS GB 1992 Aust VS GB
Johnno
Guest
Good stuff oikee, good stuff from Queenslander's keep it up .
oikee
Guest
35 thousand tickets sold so far. Record 10 thousand more than gold coast. Should have around 40 thousand, brilliant, gee bring it on. This is huge. All that cash goes back into the Indigenous community.
Martyn
Guest
Here here Mushi