View from the couch - Origin 2
If Origin match #100 went down as the greatest in history, then #101 should go down as the worst. Perhaps not with long-suffering NSW…
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The armchair critic that everyone ignores
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If Origin match #100 went down as the greatest in history, then #101 should go down as the worst. Perhaps not with long-suffering NSW…
Integrity is difficult to quantify and difficult to measure. But I believe it is the vital battleground for the NRL and one they are…
As usual, this Monday brings us the View from the Couch, wrapping up all this weekend's NRL action. St George-Illawarra versus Roosters I've never…
As always, I take my unique perspective from the comfort of my lounge chair and apply it to the weekend's NRL action. Souths versus…
The NRL ladder continues to be topped by a team with a negative for-and-against, and propped up by last year's premiers. So how did…
The crazy results continue in the NRL, where it takes as long for Wests Tigers fans to get to and from Leichhardt as it…
Another tough night on the couch on Friday night with two interesting games on offer: Bulldogs 9 defeated Roosters 8 Sonny Bill versus the…
In another round of close results, one club may have snatched victory if they hadn't lost their bottoms, while one legend of the game…
The NRL is going all out with the big matches in the early rounds, with Souths following up the blockbuster against the Roosters with…
Footy is back on our screens and there have only been minor changes to the Channel Nine coverage. We have the Ray Warren/Phil Gould…
Welcome to the final part of the four part series looking at the hopefuls and the no hopers in the upcoming NRL season. Canberra…
Here is part three of my preview to the 2014 NRL season, along with a unique haiku poem for each NRL contender. North Queensland…
Welcome to part two of the four part series looking at the hopefuls and the no hopers in the upcoming NRL season. South Sydney…
Couch sitters, it seems like just yesterday that the curtain was brought down on the 2013 season and the corner posts, the banners and…
Must we? Really? OK – let's do it. Congratulations to the Eastern Suburbs Roosters (none of that Sydney Roosters rubbish here). Sing it with…
You may have thought the 2013 season was winding down or wrapping up, but there are still a host of sports journalists who need…
It was the weekend for the feathered mascots with the Eagles, Hawks and Roosters getting up. This now sets up a re-match of the…
And then there were four as two more teams hire Smurf costumes, Sonic the Hedgehog outfits and animal onesies for a their day long…
In a disastrous season, at last some good news for Parramatta with Ricky Stuart announcing league's worst kept secret that he was leaving and…
The Salary Cap is a necessary evil. Numerous clubs wouldn’t be able to survive let alone compete in an open market. I can imagine the player market benig dominated by a few clubs and the competition turning into the EPL where only 3 or 4 clubs ever have a realistic shot at winning the title while the rest struggle to keep their heads above water.
The NRL is losing its battle for integrity
I don’t want it to drop out of the schedule, and it won’t be, but there has to be a way to include it in the schedule where teams are not penalised for producing good players worthy of playing Origin.
The NRL is losing its battle for integrity
I’d say that Origin has very little importance to a lot of NSW and Qld fans either; club loyalty is far more important. I find myself hoping players from my team get overlooked for rep duties, so they can remain playing for the club and aren’t getting worn out, injured and mentally fatigued playing Origin, or worse still City/Country.
The NRL is losing its battle for integrity
Actually, I do agree he had to be banned for life, because the integrity of the game needs to be upheld.
What I do find troubling is that it opted for integrity in this instance (when it didn’t cost them anything), where in many other instances the NRL has traded the integrity of the game for money.
The NRL is losing its battle for integrity
It does appear to be an unstoppable and irreversible tide. In a competitive market where every $ is hard fought, you can’t blame the game for accepting money from the gambling industry, but i f you deal with the devil, you are going to get burnt.
I believe that the NFL does not allow odds to be shown or discussed during their broadcasts – but then again the NFL is richer than the Pope.
The NRL is losing its battle for integrity
That was my understanding. Third Party Agreements could be organised through the club, but the money couldn’t be guaranteed by the club. Players like Mark Gasnier and Jarryd Hayne have reportedly been burnt in the past with money through TPA’s not materialising.
The NRL is losing its battle for integrity
Video ref is killing the game. Witness the explosion of jubilation after a goal was scored at the A-League Grand Final (granted soccer goals are generally more clear cut), in comparison to the muted crowd reaction when a try is “finally” awarded after 2 or 3 minutes of nervous replays to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to determine whether the defender dived or whether it really was obstruction.
Now the reaction is more relief than celebration.
The other elephant in the room which was touched on briefly is sports betting issue. The NRL hammered Tandy, however do they also bear some responsibility due to the money they allow to come into the game from sports betting companies ?
Clubs are able to name their stadiums, have jersey sponsors, the networks are allowed to sign deals with betting companies and fill their broadcasts with odds and ads (with a few toothless legislative restrictions), yet then react in shock and horror when betting affects the game.
The NRL is losing its battle for integrity
Absolutely. As I say, it’s an uneasy balance between $ and entertainment, but I think for years the $ have taken precedence, to the detriment of the integrity of the competition.
While Channel 9 are all about the $ and recouping their investment, they also have to be mindful of the entertainment side as there is no return if the fans get fed up and switch off.
The NRL is losing its battle for integrity
I realise that is what is being ruled on.
I said
..and Thompson was impeded
I perhaps should have said
…and Thompson was impeded, which prevented him from filling the gap that Foran ran through to score the try.
Based on what I’ve seen from people’s reactions is that 95% think it should have been a penalty to the Cowboys, so Paul Mellor was one of the very few people that saw the Buhrer incident and thought Thompson wouldn’t have made a difference.
View from the Couch - Round #7, 2014
Commentators, ex-players, viewers have been fairly universal in their condemnation of the NQ/Manly decision. Often there is conjecture over who initiated the contact and whether the defender made the decision to come in on the dummy runner, but in my opinion in the Manly game, Buhrer clearly stopped in the Cowboys line and Thompson was impeded.
As with any rulings where there is discretion, consistency is the key, which is always going to be difficult to achieve and will never be perfect.
As much as it is against my religion, I tend to agree with Phil Gould, in that I think that the video ref is killing the game and far less should be sent upstairs and things like obstruction should be adjudicated by the referees and leave grounding/sidelines to the video ref.
Nothing gets my goat more than the ref ruling “no try” when sending to the video ref getting them to check obstruction. If you think it’s an obstruction, blow the penalty and get on with it.
View from the Couch - Round #7, 2014
Parramatta vs Wests
Match up of the teams in 15th and 16th from last season and who would have believed it if you said at the start of the year that 50K+ people would show up, or that the winner would go into a tie for first spot on the ladder ?
The questions coming out of the game are – how much are 2 compeitition points worth and when will they learn ?? This was an Eels home game yet it was played at one of the home grounds of the TIgers at ANZ Stadium.
In 2012, Parramatta took 3 of their home games and played them at ANZ Stadium. They lost all 3.
In 2013, Parramatta took 3 of their home games and played them at neutral venues (2 to ANZ Stadium). They lost all 3.
The last time Parramatta won at ANZ Stadium was July 23, 2010 and haven’t won there in their last 13 attempts, yet someone within the Eels organisation had a lightbulb moment thinking “Hey – let’s take our home game and play it at the home of the Tigers where we haven’t won for 4 years”. Even more amazing is that no one else in the organisation immediately applied a “Stone Cold Steve Austin Stunner”, the moment that person uttered thethought aloud.
You don’t need to know anything else to know the result of the match.
Outraged at Parramatta’s poor grasp of history and preferring $ over competition points, the football gods allowed the Eels to play all over the Tigers, scoring 4 tries to 3 and still lose the game.
Two of the Tigers’ tries came from length of the field intercepts against the run of play and the football gods intervened further by pushing 3 of Sandow’s conversion attempts wide. If any of those were successful then the Eels likely win.
View from the Couch - Round #7, 2014
Certainly a good crowd today, but it’s been no secret that the crowds have been a continuing disappointment so far this year with a couple of exceptions.
The indifferent start from the Bunnies should have been somewhat offset by the better than expected start of the Bulldogs.
I don’t think there is one reason for the crowds being down, I suspect it’s a mixture of many reasons.
View from the Couch - Round #7, 2014
Not sure what more can be said about the Cowboys other than they are one of the disappointments of recent years. They traditionally don’t travel well, but the five of their first six have been in Queensland this year so that can’t be used as an excuse.
Perhaps expectations are too high. Thurston is obviously the focus and the star, but the rest of the spine aren’t really game breakers and I reckon they would prefer to have Segeyaro at hooker than Rory.
They do have a positive for and against despite losing twice as many games and with the third best defence in the comp, they are doing something right, but they have the third worst attack. I suspect it’s ongoing punishment from the football gods for the signing of Robert Lui.
View from the couch: NRL 2014 Round 6
I don’t have a problem with the tackle on Burgess continuing, but the manner in which it was performed was dangerous in the extreme and to my mind, deliberately so. I realise players are coached to attempt to put attackers on their backs to prevent them bouncing up off their elbows for a quick play the ball, but when Burgess’ legs were pinned to the ground by the other tackler, pushing him onto his back was obviously going to bend him in a way that the human body isn’t meant to bend.
View from the Couch: NRL 2014 Round 3
Souths fan ? No. Bitter ? Slightly miffed that my perfect round of tips always collapses at the first hurdle, but not bitter.
View from the Couch: NRL 2014 Round 3
I suspect I have bearing on NRL crowds, although I’d be interested to learn how many people have signed up for the Digital Pass Free Trial on NRL.com and are testing out the benefits of the Couch and if that is part of the reason for the lower numbers.
View from the couch: NRL 2014 Round 1
Noted – Wests from now on. Just don’t ask me to call Easts, Sydney Roosters.
View from the couch: NRL 2014 Round 1
Yep – fair point. Just seemed odd that they highlighted something that they were taking out of the players (which in theory is harmless), when the bigger problem with these revolutionary (slightly shady) mobs should be what they are potentially putting into the players.
View from the couch: NRL finals week three (part I)
In their infinite wisdom, the editors have published half of the submitted article here at this stage.
The full report (including pics and reports of weekend games) can be found here: http://www.sportsbanter.com.au/nrl-finals-week-3-view-couch/
View from the couch: NRL finals week three (part I)
McKinnon’s head did the damage to McLean’s jaw, but my point is that the hitting with the shoulder even if it hits the attacker in the chest or shoulder causes the head to whiplash which is potentially just as damaging as hitting them in the head – as it was on this occasion.
View from the couch - NRL Finals week 2
It seems like I wasn’t the only one:
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/monday-buzz-despite-the-emotion-origin-ii-was-one-of-the-worst-games-of-rugby-league-ive-seen/story-fnj45km6-1226962993700
View from the couch - Origin 2