In our weekly review on all things rugby league we focus on the headlines and give our spin on pressing issues. We encourage you to join in the conversation.
We’ll start by addressing Ray’s No.1 subject that gets his blood boiling.
The ‘Big 4’, a myth to rival the Lithgow Panther and Nessie
Before going to air news has filtered through this morning that the ‘Big 4′ is no longer. Luke Brooks, the least appealing of the quartet, has re-signed with the club for two years.
For over 12 months Ray has consistently sworn and been agitated with any press clippings or media reports relating to Wests Tigers ‘Big 4′.
I am sick of hearing him bang on about it being as farcical as sightings of the Lithgow Panther or Nessie frolicking about at Loch Ness!
After assessing the quartet’s value, output and reliability we agreed it should have been the big ‘1.5′. The one being Aaron Woods and the 0.5 being James Tedesco.
The other pair has shown great promise, but not over a sustained consistent period. The red flag for Tedesco is the fact he has been sidelined for long periods in his brief career.
He also needs to improve the flaws in his game, mainly defensive tasks. If I were selecting Origin 1 today both Josh Dugan and Tom Trjobevic are streets ahead of Tedesco.
The giant caveman Aaron ‘Grug’ Woods is the most important re-signing the club needs. Leadership, maturity, representative honours and reliability are his strong suits. He is the rock coach Ivan Cleary will want to build his side around.
Kieran Foran’s promising debut for the Warriors
Anyone reading the headlines and thinking Foz can lift this side to great heights, need only to review the first half dished up by the Warriors. Sure the attack clicked in the second stanza as the Kiwi No.6 grew in confidence but as SJ has shown in the first month, even he can’t carry the Ayshfords, Katas and Co.
They continually make poor reads or attempts in defence and drop the ball more than Virat Kohli in the slips.
Foran’s debut took the focus on the same issues the Warriors have week in, week out. The forwards are still struggling to gain the ascendency in the ruck, the marker defence looks slow, poor and a weakness and the backs continually cough up possession at crucial times.
A few tweaks from coach Kearney could turn things around. Ray and I suggest shifting Bodene Thompson into the centres and when Ben Matulino returns employing his as a wide running edge back rower.
Both have played in these roles in the past and produced the goods, particularly in attack. Blake Ayshford has been poor two weeks in a row but somehow retains his spot. He is not first grade standard and should be a permanent fixture in the NSW Cup. James Gavet must be in the 17 every week.
He runs straight, hard and direct with no fear. He also doesn’t shift his body side on like Lillyman and Vete do on impact.
The attack looked good albeit against a side with zero reserves for majority of the second half. Don’t expect a repeat this weekend Warriors fans.
Cooper Cronk, the new aged snag
Call us old dinosaurs but throwing your lot in for love as you approach the finish line of an outstanding career had Ray and I reaching for the Bex! Surely with Skype, face time and technology these days Cooper could have given the Storm a few more years.
Sure Melbourne is an awful place and home of the brown ugly river, the birthplace of man buns, Eddie McGuire – Melbourne’s version of Donald Trump – and trams, but we’re sure Bellyache and Co. would of given Cooper ‘Foran-time’ when the side visited Sydney.
It’s a big call from the little general to announce his plans after only five rounds, and credit where credit is due, he has been open and honest for his reason’s and future beyond 2017. I’m sure Melbourne Storm fans are shattered by the news and old Molly would have attempted to remove his hat and throw it against the ground in disgust had it not been surgically implanted to protect his head.
We predict a gig with his missus on Fox Sports will be his next move in 2018 and he’ll go out as a one club legend. Look out for the first teaser toward the festive season titled ‘Christmas with the Cronks’ and a follow up pilot in early 2018 of ‘Keeping up with Cronks’, directed by none other than Tony Chalmers.
So give us your two bobs’ worth, punters…
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
The Titans were in strife. By all reports, with some proper management, they seem to be heading in the right direction.
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
"Sadly Super League in the UK will always struggle against the cashed up Rugby Union clubs." Kind of like how Cronulla were always going to not win a premiership or how Bradford were always going to be a professional club or how Toronto were never going to get a professional rugby league team up and running and so on and so on. If things continue the way they seem to be going, you may very well find that there will be rationalisation of the Super League with only the strong clubs surviving. A better negotiated media deal would also help and all that requires is one savvy negotiator once the current contract expires. Come now Ron, surely you can give me a better rationale than "x will always struggle against y"? "... the grand old days of watching the Challenge Cup Final featuring Brett Kenny, Sterlo etc. are all a distant memory." Not sure what Kenny, Sterlo etc have anything to do with it as the Challenge Cup Final still pulls in 70,000 people. Clearly somebody is interested in rugby league over there.
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
"Gossip is the coal that stokes the game’s engine, converts to TV dollars." That be true....
Jason Hosken
Roar Guru
Are you legit Swanners, I can already see Tiger atop Aaron's shoulders in the pit? Meant to ask, will Ray be Lottoland tomoz, be a great intro match of the round and all. Mate, I'm enjoying the Eagles, amazing how cleansing the winning formula is. Certainly caught me by surprise, the Chopping Block Rant sucked me in that's for sure.
Ron Swanson
Roar Guru
Hosko good to hear from you old son, albeit lauding our global expert. Bet you are in a good place now after the opening round woes your mob dished up, along with the media claiming the place was toxic. Anyway Happy Birthday Helen and hope you got down to Melbourne in March to watch the 25th Anniversary super gig put on by TSW.
Ron Swanson
Roar Guru
I have to disagree with the Titans being labelled as professionally run. They are always in financial strife or having Darryl Kelly and Co. seeking investment from others to prop up the coffers. Would it be naive of me to say News still more or less runs the Broncos and Storm, or would be found guilty of opening up old Super League v ARL wounds?
Ron Swanson
Roar Guru
Spot on Albo, I have little time to care or follow the UK version of the game. It's about as solid as the state of Australian Super Rugby teams. I like Jim Doyle as an administrator but I worry if he has gone "all in" with Foz with the smart money on him returning to Sydney in 2018.
Ron Swanson
Roar Guru
I think you'd find Georgia go pretty good on the Rugby 7's world tour. A Fijian team in NSW? Can't see it happening, maybe in the Qld Comp as rivals to the Hunters. I do recall a Toronto side and recent publicity. I suggest Hindy comes out of retirement and leads the Canucks to GF glory. Sadly Super League in the UK will always struggle against the cashed up Rugby Union clubs. It has shot itself in the foot by not expanding earlier in the piece like the NRL did. Founding SL clubs prior to the addition of the Catalan Dragons and London Broncos were all geographically closer than the old all Sydney Competition prior to the Knights, Steelers and Co. gaining entry to the old NSWRL. The longest trip was equivalent of a Sydney club heading to Newcastle in St Helens to Hull KR. I'd admire you for your knowledge but the grand old days of watching the Challenge Cup Final featuring Brett Kenny, Sterlo etc. are all a distant memory. More Poms are heading down under than ever before now which is a blight on the SL in my opinion and how much of a rabble it's become.
Jason Hosken
Roar Guru
Gossip is the coal that stokes the game's engine, converts to TV dollars. Plenty of UK fans on the Roar lament the lack of rugby league media in Europe. Sure, it's small in the scheme of its competitors but it won't grow stuck on the back foot. I'd love to see UK league thrive and it breaks my heart to see, what is it, three out of six games a week on TV - makes sustainability in the village difficult.
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
Bradford have already paid the price. Personally, I think it is too late for them to return to the professional tier but who knows? The eventual fallout from Toulouse, Catalans and Toronto being in the Super League (and yes, I am making the assumption that Toulouse and Toronto will eventually be there) is big. There is no way I can see how the RFL would ever permit promotion and relegation once those clubs are in. The financial media rewards is too big to dismiss. Alas, I don't see any of the kerfuffles as anything other than gossip. Yes, requiring attention and so on, but nobody has convinced me yet that they are affect the code itself. Maybe the news reports....
Jason Hosken
Roar Guru
Yeah, I did get a little mad SA, however apology accepted. Your global wraps always make for good reading but to exclude Bradford from the list of struggling villages struck a nerve as did reference to Cas without word of Mend-A-Hose-Jungle. Kerfuffles, white noise, I'd argue those NRL topics do affect the code itself. It's precisely what Matt Cleary was getting at in last week's article. Sure it's not for everyone but it attracts fans - more than many care to admit. Foran - I dunno, is his reputation damaged. I'm not sure he's reliable enough to be considered a leader and I don't expect he'll be about to see the Warriors first past the post. Anyway, any league talk is good talk.
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
Yeah, I'll go with that. Incompetent, or let's call them 'not as professional as they should be' management may be an issue. But even then, I'd call that an issue affecting the club more so than affecting the code itself. There are a lot of NRL clubs that are now being run professionally - Melbourne, Brisbane, Canterbury, Parramatta (finally), Souths, North Queensland, Roosters, Canberra, Penrith, Warriors, Titans, Cronulla... Some have been doing it properly longer than others, for sure, but in the main, they all seem to be heading in the right direction. Even Wests. If we keep referring to the extreme example of the Tigers we tend to imagine things are worse than what they really are. Until this year, Parramatta were a literal joke of a club. For decades. Cronulla was reeling and Souths had to wait until they were kicked out before they joined modernity. But those clubs being on the up and joining the modern world shows it doesn't take a long time to get a house in order. Certainly not the end of the world stuff that will destroy the code or whatever. Anyway, all good. Sorry if my comments got anyone mad.
Albo
Guest
Yep ! Not sure I would call the NRL suffering from soap opera tidbits ? Especially when giving credence to International issues as a key focus ? There are some serious issues running rife in the NRL game here. There have been lots of dumb decisions made by both incompetent Club management and hoodwinked players ! And there is too much power resting in the hands of player agents & managers as they continually try to eek out another million here and there from the NRL coffers. See the turmoil created for the Tigers fans by the combination of incompetent club & roster management, & the player agents and players seeking over inflated contracts from the golden goose of the current NRL marketplace with their "big 4" hype, with virtual blackmail and any other tactics that come to mind. Look at how the whole Tigers retention issue is now looking ...an average player looks to be retained, and the three key/ better/ overhyped players all look to be gone , leaving the roster in tatters and a trail of personal & commercial destruction left behind for the Club and fans. This sort of farce seems to be becoming more commonplace. We had the Eels circus last year, and I'm sure a few lids are being sat on at other Clubs as well. As for the Warriors, they need a Keiran Foran type to lead them around the park or they become a hapless rabble. If he stays , the Warriors can progress. If he leaves they will likely revert again, unless a suitable leader can be found. As for Cronk, like the professional he is, he is playing it all close to his chest, revealing only the one obvious fact that he won't be playing with the Storm next year ! Everything else is just lots of very useful publicity to either tie up a new contract or to tie up a new job off the field ! He wins all the way to the altar and beyond !
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
Contract kerfuffles happen all the time, great players retiring or changing clubs is not new and great players returning from injury is almost a weekly affair. No, those things are interesting but don't actually affect the code itself. The NRL's main issues affecting the code are player welfare ala concussions and so on and, while not technically NRL, the introduction of the PNG Hunters in Queensland and the possible (likely?) introduction of a Fijian team in NSW. Those issues have greater ramifications for the code in Australia. As for the RFL, they are having to contend with an undervalued media contract which makes it difficult to compete properly with union. They are also dealing with an increase in the salary cap as just over half the Super League clubs voted to increase it from next year. How that impacts the smaller village clubs like Widnes, Wakefield and even Leigh (who apparently have strong financial backers) and Castleford (who are tearing it up this year) will remain to be seen. Then there is the trans-Atlantic club Toronto (not to mention Toulouse in France) whose eventual(?) promotion into Super League will change the landscape dramatically. Small town clubs like Widnes and Wakefield are already feeling the impact of a globalised professionalism with Wakefield even willing to consider the idea of selling their Super League licence/status to another club in order to be more successful in the lower grades. There are rumblings north of the equator Ron and those rumblings and how they play directly affect the code itself. Your remarks about Mongolia, Uzbekistan and Georgia are disingenuous as the RFL have embraced teams from France and Canada. PS: Foran is the best thing for the Warriors. Hope he stays. They are my second favourite team.
Ron Swanson
Roar Guru
RFL? Please do tell more Mr Azizi. Is this the same competition that the likes of Kurt Gidley, Adam Cuthbertson, Glenn Stewart and Ashton Sims are dominating? Are they expanding beyond Europe and considering league mad nations such as Mongolia, Uzbekistan and Georgia? Before we submitted our article things further escalated over the Big 4 soap opera with Mitch Moses walking into Coach Cleary's office with Uncle Benny requesting an immediate release. To think he now wants to re-join the side that once dumped him after haggling over school fee's. Worlds gone mad!! Then again how would Doust and Co. feel now after letting Jack Bid go after refusing to cover his medication costs?
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
You'll find that the pressing issues in the code are actually occuring in the Northern Hemisphere as the RFL come to terms with international expansion clubs, a rise in the salary cap and a host of other issues. Issues in the NRL tend to be more soap-opera tidbits than anything of substance affecting the code as a whole.