Great read Bernie! I can’t for the life of me understand the view that Hayden was overrated. His record in tests and one days speaks for themselves.
I always admired the way he coped with the disappointment of missing out to Slater in 93, then being dropped in 97 and each time went back to Shield cricket and essentially forced the selectors to pick him. Easily one of Australia’s greats!

I’m all for less disruption to the NRL season. Unfortunately if the 3rd standalone game after the season was a dead rubber, I doubt anyone would watch it.

Great read Les and your passion for the club is obvious. There is an incredible paradox in sport administration in this country. On the one hand clubs such as Collingwood are significant organisations, employing hundreds of people, generating and spending millions in revenue each year. We’re quite rightly told they’re businesses requiring highly qualified directors. Yet these ‘businesses’ are run with such little transparency and are seemingly answerable to no one and definitely not the clubs supporters. Collectively, clubs such as Collingwood re so far removed from commercial reality it’s not funny.

Thanks DP. Any truth to the rumour Griffin is trying to pull Merrin out of retirement???

Thanks Albo. For two guys that were only there 2 years, Mortimer and Kelly had a lasting impact! Funny, I had that exact same thought about Wighton until he made an appearance with 10 to go.

Thanks souvalis. I’ll be sure to check it out.

Really interesting article Tim!
I’ve no doubt Peter V’landys loves the game. Unfortunately that and the fact he’s from Sydney seems to win over most of the NSWRL mafia. That highlights the problem and Sydney-centric approach of the game’s thinking and much of the commentary. He’s (apparently) done a great job at Racing NSW, he gave it the Victorians by launching the Everest, the richest race on turf and he loves rugby league so we love him!
The inaugural ARL commissioner, John Grant was a Queenslander, who brought in another outsider in David Smith, a man with an outstanding resume in the business world, to run the game as a business. Grant was rolled collectively by the Sydney clubs and Smith was never accepted precisely because he was an outsider.
Then Peter Beattie, again a Queenslander heaven forbid, is rolled along with Todd Greenberg because they dared try to invest in a standalone digital arm for the NRL, modelled on plenty of leagues around the world; and an investment that had the potential to weaken the grip of television networks. Naturally the likes of Foxsports hated that idea and campaigned endlessly about “head office excess.” PVL comes in, slashes the digital arm and immediately wins over the tv networks because it tied the NRL to them.
But seriously, if either Grant or Beattie were putting themselves out there and seemingly making decisions on behalf of the commission to the level of PVL, they would have been run out of town.
The commission as it stands basically bends on the whim of the chairman, while Abdo, the CEO and ‘captain’s pick’ as it seems, takes a backward seat. I’d argue, the transparency and governance of the game has gone backwards since Vlandy’s took over and his repeated thought bubbles are doing the game more harm than good.

Good call Mp. I did forget Lomax who looks like a gun and hopefully he can get back soon. Perhaps a bit early to pass judgement on the others.
My point about the Dragons is they are running the club as though there on the verge of competing with the top teams. I think they’re closer to bottom four than top four.

Great article Dane! Can we also blame Channel 9 for insisting on keeping the Broncos on prime-time most weeks? Thus giving an even greater audience for their weekly on-field surrender?

GH, my point is they rate well because they have a city of 3 million to themselves. They rate well in Queensland; yet Sydney and elsewhere… not so much. Sponsors want FTA exposure and the Broncos can deliver that to jersey sponsors. It’s an enormous commercial advantage that is the envy of the comp.
it’s a by-product of historical on-field success, but also of geography. On-field, they certainly haven’t earned that sort of leg-up over the past 18 months.
If we take the first 8 rounds of this season, including round 8 this weekend, the Broncos will have had 7 primetime Thursday and Friday games; last years two grand finalists, 5 each; Souths 4. It’s not in anyway reflective of performance.

Pity towards the Broncos?
As someone who grew up in Brisbane, I absolutely relish the fact the Broncos have dwindled to such a laughing stock. The club has been characterised by arrogance and hubris since day 1. They get to play in a palace each week on incredibly generous commercial terms; get the rails run with match scheduling and have a city of 3 million to themselves. Don’t even get me started about the federal government (ie. taxpayers) paying for their “centre of excellence.” At least for the first 20 years of their existence they were able to back it up on the field. The fact it’s all falling apart and we still get to watch it unfold most Friday nights is just a bonus.

Good analysis TPD. I think the Titans are travelling ok. I really think their finish to last year was a bit deceptive. While great to see them string some wins together, they were never going to play finals so their wasn’t a lot at stake in those games.
I think seven rounds in they’re in that mid-table group that is competing for the last few spots in the eight. They’re a bit behind the likes of Panthers, Rabbitohs, Roosters, etc; but at the same time are above the bottom four. The big test will come through July and August when the pressure builds and they need to beat those teams that are currently around them.
It is great to see them relevant again…

Membership in the NRL is such a meaningless figure. NRL members have no ownership stake in the clubs. The majority of Sydney clubs are underwritten by leagues clubs so any funding shortfall in the football department is covered.
The other point to consider is membership numbers don’t always correlate to attendance. If we go way back to 2019 and pre-COVID; the Rabbitohs boasted close to 30,000 members, yet the average home crowd was between 15 and 16,000. Contrast that with the Titans who had less members (8,800) than they did numbers through the gate at home games (11,500).

Honestly… I have to admit I pay no attention to any of the Foxsports shows and their crew of glorified gossip columnists, all full of agendas and eager for clickbait and seemingly desperate to make this story bigger than it is.
Here’s another take on what was really an innocuous incident in a game that had plenty of niggle… from both sides. Staines scores in the corner and as the Panthers players run from everywhere to celebrate, Liam Martin brushes Jarrod Croker who gives him a shove and not much else. Stephen Crichton, while looking elsewhere and having also run in to celebrate, bumps into Joe Tapine. Not realising he was waiting to come on to the field, Crichton suspects he’s hanging around the team huddle and foolishly drags him into the fray. Aside from a wayward Canberra trainer who grabs Fisher-Harris of all people. No harm done from either side and the game goes on.

Interesting perspective Peter, unfortunately I see T20 as causing the downfall of first class cricket. Witness only the short thrift given to the Sheffield Shield here in Australia in deference to the big bash. Where once young Australian players would spend their winters playing English country cricket, now the majority prefer to chase the riches on offer in various T20 leagues.
To your point about Washington Sundar, yes his experience in T20 no doubt helped him when under pressure on test debut. But who would you rather have leading your batting lineup? A batsman with 100-odd T20 games under his belt, or a Mikey Hussey type? Someone who had made over 10,000 first class runs before making his test debut?

Interesting article David. In the age of the future tours program and the supposed world test championship, the statistics around Australia’s test match opponents is staggering. the sad thing is that of the big 3, given our population and the dwindling number of players in comparison to the other two, it may not be long before we’re looking from the outside at the big 2!

Thanks Larry, haven’t read Neale Daniher’s book but it’s on the list. I must admit I do enjoy reading books by managers. Alec Ferguson’s were good and Rod McQueen’s was a standout.

Hi Don, thanks for the comment and definitely not emotionally invested. However, while Easts may have Redcliffe beaten in terms of club revenue, I would emphasise that the Dolphins are well ahead in terms of other business income and assets. As 2020 has shown, leagues club grants are not always guaranteed.

Thanks Emcie, you’re right I did neglect to include the Leprechaun’s though I think they’d be a distant fifth at the moment. The Western Corridor bid, though based in Ipswich is pushing a new entity in its entirety.. at this stage anyway. https://www.nrl.com/news/2020/06/08/nrl-expansion-team-could-have-indigenous-name/

Watching that game last night I think the Roosters are cooked! It was an amazing effort to come back late, albeit assisted by the Panthers clocking off early a few times.
However, just seeing the emotion of Robinson in the coaches box, you just had the sense he knew just how badly the team needs a week off; to get that chance to regroup and recover before going again. I also had the sense some of the senior players knew it too. You definitely don’t win the premiership in the first final, but I suspect the Roosters lost their chance last night. I’m tipping the Raiders to win tonight and go onto knock the Roosters out next week.

Really interesting perspectives and contrast of the top 8 teams. Still chuckling over that Phil Gould line from part 1.
One thought to ponder relates to the purpose of the club? Does it solely exist to win premierships? Or is it there to provide opportunities in community sport/give back to the community, etc? It’s an interesting contrast between perhaps a club like Penrith, with their junior networks and a newer team like the Storm. I’m not saying either is right or wrong, but they are clearly working with different priorities.

Wow. A definite pattern there. Fingers crossed it continues!

Well done to the Titans. He probably won’t win it but Justin Holbrook would be a worthy coach of the year winner. Taking the Titans from a team that snagged four wins and was barely competitive for the past few years to eight wins and possibly nine in a shortened season is an amazing achievement. I’ll back them in at home against a hot and cold Knights team to close out a successful season.

I have to say as a Panthers fan from way back I’m genuinely excited about where they can go this year. And while I start most years like that, seven rounds in, it’s still pretty exciting.
Looking at who they’ve already played and to be sitting on top is an impressive platform to build on for the rest of the year.
One point about the Panthers attack, while they’ve struggled to put teams away, 5 of their 7 games have been played at night. I’m looking forward to seeing them again on a dry track in the sunshine.

This article made me laugh. The Brisbane Broncos have been the darlings of the NRL for the past 20 years, get free reign with the local media (when the major shareholder owns the only newspaper in town it’s not hard) and has a city of 2.5 million to themselves… They are honestly the biggest under-performers in Australian sport for the past decade.
Here are a few tips…
– Teach the players some humility. They are seriously lacking in that department collectively at present.
– Connect the current playing group with the players that made the club what it is.
– Play the long game and stop looking for short-term fixes. We keep hearing about this boom set of youngsters. If they’re that good stick with them and reap the rewards in the long-run.