Well Big Daddy you just contradicted yourself with your 2nd comment there mate. You said rugby league fans are fair weather fans yet said warriors and cowboys got good crowds yet both had nothing to play for. If we were fair weather fans wouldn’t that mean they would have attracted poor crowds?? I ain’t a knights fan but them lot are the opposite of fair weather!

The transgressions of Cronulla were forgotten the week after?? I doubt that is the case seeing Flanagan is still banned and Cronulla have had their salary cap cut as a punishment and are losing players due to this such as Kyle Flanagan and Jayden Brailey.
What more investigating needed to be done?? They were caught with 2 books and tried to get away with it. I think you should be thankful that they didn’t get the thorough investigation that Cronulla got, because Cronullas initial investigation into the salary cap led the NRL to emails from Flanagan which in turn got him sacked. And why would they get the same consideration?? Cronulla were 3% over for one year (and was self reported) whereas Storm were 25% over for 4 straight years and tried to hide it!
So the Storm got caught cheating after trying to get away with it so, in your own words, put up or shut up

Jimmys right.. you did just prove your first point! And to say its ‘ancient history’ is a bit of a stretch considering there is still players from the cheating era still playing!
Also, Cronullas case was handled differently to Storms case because they were different cases!
Cronulla were 3% over the cap and was self-reported whereas the Storm were 25% over the cap for 4 straight years and were purposely cheating. They were rightfully stripped

That’s a great idea Max.
Even though the regional areas don’t really have big grounds and will only draw 8,000 – 10,000 that will still look better than having 8,000 – 10,000 at ANZ or any of Sydney’s suburban grounds. Plus it gives the regions excitement

Well I guess its not really a bye because they are played so close together but its weird that 3rd have to wait for other results before they find out who they play. This is a very weird top 5 formula that ive never seen before. Atleast 1st & 2nd get second chances

Because the Sharks were 3% over the cap for 1 year (and the incident was self reported) whereas the Storm were 25% over every year for 4 years. You are right in the fact that the Storm never once bought a superstar (even to this day) and that they raised them, but the cheating salary cap kept them there. Had they obeyed by the rules then they wouldn’t have kept the big 4 for very long.
So the premierships that were “built from the ground up” weren’t really built from the ground up as it was illegal money that kept the superstars there

Its definitely a better finals system in rewarding 1st & 2nd but I am confused in how they came up with the fact that 3rd gets the bye in the first round??
Top 5 format is usually 1st gets the bye, 2nd v 3rd qualifying final and 4th v 5th elimination final
So winner of qualifying plays 1st in semi final and the loser players winner of 4th v 5th and so on..
Why didn’t they just stick to that method??

You really cant remember QLD belting NSW similar to what NSW done in Perth??
2015 Decider 52-6??
2010 Game 2 34-6??
2008 Game 2 30-0??

QLD haven’t lost 3 of the last 4?? QLD won ’15 ’16 & ’17 and NSW have won ’18 & ’19

Not too sure about greatest ever series but that was definitely one of the greatest games ive ever seen and I lost. Just when I thought QLD were doing another typical QLD comeback victory NSW decide to do a QLD last minute try on QLD. Tedesco and Cook are absolute freaks and I cant see any QLD hooker even coming close to matching it with Cook. That try he scored was something else. What a weird game it was, at 20-8 QLD were gone. The blues were carving up just like in Perth but then that happened. However I don’t believe QLD supporters would go missing in similar circumstances of NSW domination. In 03, 04 & 05 Suncorp sold out the day the tickets went on sale and we lost those series. Plus Sydney tickets are so much cheaper than Brisbane. I went to game 1 this year and paid $170 to sit in the nosebleeds in line with the dead ball line. It was good to see NSW fans stick with their team though. They were definitely rewarded last night!

Maloney is definitely a big game player. Success seems to follow him more than most players.
But what are you insinuating by calling Smith a “false idol”??
Even as a Queenslander, I hate the way he controls the game, niggles the ref and gets away with his wrestling but he is definitely the most successful player today and, perhaps, history. You don’t have to agree with that opinion, but the stats back me up on this. He has tormented the blues for years.
Yeeeaaarrrsssss

I agree Papi Smurf, you don’t want Pearce to be missing tackles and giving away crucial penalties, he can also leave that to Maloney. As Maloney does these in every Origin & NRL game.

Best comment I’ve ever read on this website!!

Super Rugby does exactly this. In the middle of the season, they put the super rugby on hold to play June Internationals. The only time they don’t do this is when its a World Cup year and that’s because there is a monster post-season international calendar.
I would love for the NRL to be reduced to about 22 rounds and have a 3 week break in the middle of the season where the womens origin can be played at a best of 3 series (rotating games between states). NZ and Tonga play best of 3. Fiji, Samoa, PNG and Lebanon all play each other once and the team at the top of the ladder either gets promoted to the NZ match for the following year or they play Tonga at the end of the year for a shot at promotion.
Plus less rounds in the NRL means more important fixtures and must-win games which will hopefully drive in bigger crowds.
Maybe I have my head in the clouds??

I guess that’s pretty embarrassing reading for Sydney fans too then??
the 7,000 at Brooky last Friday was an atmosphere and a half wasn’t it…
I went to Sydney in April this year and went to the Sharks vs Roosters game in Cronulla. I travelled from the Sydney CBD, caught a train to Woolooware and it was about 30 minutes overall and there were next to no Roosters supporters there.
Cowboys supporters regularly travel from Charters Towers (2 hours) and Mt Isa (9 hours) just to watch the Cowboys play in Townsville and Sydney-siders cant even get on a damn 30 minute train?? Don’t say its because there are too many teams in Sydney because Melbourne AFL fans prove that crap theory wrong.
2015 GF shows QLD fans are passionate. Airfares were $2,500 return just to get to Sydney and we still sold out ANZ. It was actually cheaper to buy a plane ticket to New Zealand and just not catch the connecting flight from Sydney. Yet 80,000 still turned up. I aint a Bronx fan but they are the team that lifts the competitions average yearly attendance

Actually, during 2003, 2004 and 2005 all games at Suncorp were sellouts. Look at the stats yourself. And I recall in 2005, both games at Suncorp sold out before the one game in NSW . That’s 105,000 tickets sold before NSW could sell 80,000. And that’s when QLD were losing.
NSW ‘always’ selling out ANZ stadium will usually double Suncorps crowd because the capacity is almost double……. that’s not hard to fathom is it??
Lets not forget the 2010 and 2016 dead rubbers in NSW the crowd was only 62,000. That’s 20,000 short of capacity. Now whose bad losers?? Actually, the only games that QLD struggled to sell out were during QLDs dominance. Maybe we are bad winners?
In 2006, QLD were down 1-0 heading into game 2 at Suncorp facing 4 straight series losses and, once again, the game was a sell out (52,468 of 52,500 capacity)
And I cant believe you said this but the reason ‘80% of them live within 100km of NSW’ is because that where Brisbane and the Gold Coast are located which make up for about 80% of the states population….
And don’t even start on Broncos not getting big crowds.. Sydney is an embarrassment!

Spot on Jacko, spot on.
Im an aussie league fan but I love watching union aswell. I used to only watch internationals but am now starting to watch the super rugby (mainly in march before the NRL kicks off) but I definitely enjoy it. I don’t understand the constant arguments had by fans of both codes, we all should be watching both as they are similar. I love my league but im definitely jealous of unions international game. And just like you said… I can sit there and watch any sport but I also struggle to watch AFL. I don’t get it, ive given it plenty of goes but its just too strange of a game. Im sure I will come around one day but god damn what the hell is going on

Youre right, I hate how James Tamou is aloud to play for QLD
Oh wait…
Don’t be ignorant, overseas players are in both teams

Who grabbed a strangers genitals?? You cant be talking about Scott Bolton because that is not even close to what he done. But then again, you are a Journalist so over-sensationalising and lying about a story is your job.
As ive always thought, if touching someones thigh is deemed sexual assault then I would be interested to see how many times footy players are sexually assaulted. Does that count though?? I know quite a few females that have told me what they have ‘grabbed’ when they see footy players on a night out and it definitely wasn’t their thigh

Oh god.. you are one of them!
First of all, the Titans didn’t exist 15 years ago but lets just assume you meant ‘around 15 years ago’, please remember it was the Daily Telegraph that called the Queenslanders old and slow in 2015 after NSW won ONE game, in which QLD thrashed them in the decider (how good), and after game 1 2017 when NSW flogged QLD at Suncorp it was NSW papers who laughed at us and said we are getting desperate in the team we picked for game 2 and there was no way QLD were going to win (they never learn) in which QLD ended up winning that game and the next. It was also the Telegraph whose journalist literally pointed out every single decision he thought the ref got wrong in a game they lost (cant remember what year). This bias definitely occurs both sides of the border so I believe it is you with the blinkers on.
I also find it very hard to believe you were almost “ran off the road” simply for displaying NSW number plates. Sure you may have got a horn and a middle finger but ran off the road?? Gross over-exaggeration. I definitely don’t recall the 2 man strip.. In what game was that?? if it cost NSW a series im sure you would know the exact year and game it was in. Or, once again, youre grossly over-exaggerating. But all those years losing to future immortals has to be a conspiracy though right??

Not a bad read, but I really couldn’t get past this…
“And good for the big picture, as mandated by media, whose agenda is truth.”
That is the biggest lie I’ve ever read on this website. Almost unbearable!
Mainly because the media has NEVER been about the truth, just agendas. The media are the ones that tell us we should be offended by what someone said, such as Sam Thaiday describing an origin victory similar to losing your virginity. The media were all over it yet not one person I know found anything offensive about it. In fact, almost all found it funny, even the people that don’t like big Sammy. Lets not forget, its the media that brands footy players guilty until proven innocent and gives them a bad publicity image. Keep your damn noses out of the case until it reaches a verdict. I didn’t see many articles on Radradra when he was found innocent.. plenty of articles on his charges but once the case was dismissed there were very few articles on the charges being dropped. The same thing will happen to JDB if found innocent (if guilty, I will eat my words)
And it is not Wayne that “contorts news”
We all know who the people (on their keyboards) are that contort news

So youre saying footy players now have to enter a period of chastity to obey their contracts??
Sorry but I feel youre only looking at one side of the story here. If you believe having consensual sex is putting yourself in a position of bringing the game into disrepute and you want to blame that on the player then you are giving women a free ride to do whatever. Last year I was fortunate enough to be in the same nightclub as the Cowboys for their end of season breakup and every one of them behaved. The main thing that stood out to me though was the attention Taumalolo was attracting. One girl wouldn’t leave him alone even though he rejected her advances, then she walked away and another girl took her place and he also rejected her advances. He was sitting on a stool when the first girl came back, pulled his legs open and started dancing on him. He then got up and walked away. I don’t believe you have seen with your own eyes how young women throw themselves at football players and this is a perfect example. And im sure they get groped endlessly but its okay because its the woman groping the footy player so he has to take it. That girl could have went to the police and accused Taumalolo of groping her or verbally assaulting her, even though he clearly didn’t. Should he be then stood down?? After all, he did go to a nightclub and enjoyed a night out with his teammates after 12 months of living a strict, enclosed lifestyle. Please don’t be the fun police, journalists always seem to be though.

Always love reading your pieces Steve, you share the same views as me. The NRL needs to realise the potential of Rugby League, not just the NRL competition.
I have always loved the world club challenge and am quite annoyed that its always so controversial within the NRL. I thought we were really starting to appreciate the concept when we brought in the WCC Series but that didn’t last unfortunately. However I do feel the teams are starting to take it more seriously as they head to England earlier to adapt to the climate and the results are starting to show that. Meeting halfway in USA would definitely be the preferred choice over Asia, especially if we plan to have a World Cup there and maybe one of the teams could play a warm-up game against the Wolfpack and the other team play against the US National team?? Promoting the game is everything and I believe this is the opportunity

I don’t see how they can be number 1 now..
Yeah they beat Ireland who beat the Allblacks but England lost to the Allblacks a week before. It seems to be a triangle happening there that will be awesome to see how it plays out in the WC this year.
I feel like a loss or even a couple of losses before the WC will be good for Ireland as they know they are beatable and will have to be on their game for every fixture from here on out.
In all honesty though… do you really want to be number 1 heading into a WC?? because anything less than a win is deemed a disappointment. Im comfortable with the Allblacks being favourites for every world cup, it takes the pressure off every other nation. Not that my Wallabies have much of a chance this year….

Theres no harm in giving it a crack and its not a bad list but ofcourse there will be disagreements.
Im not sure about cricket being the number one sport however.. For instance, I play backyard cricket every now and then but I don’t watch or follow the sport enough to warrant me a fan. Plus its on in the summer where it doesn’t have to compete against the NRL and AFL for ratings. But that also brings me to my next point..
The AFL kills the NRL when it comes to crowds yet when it comes to TV ratings the NRL trumped the AFL by 4 million viewers for the season in 2018 and that doesn’t even count origin. If Origin was counted, it would be 15 million more viewers (see link below for proof). So if we were to measure by numbers.. do we measure in crowds and membership in which the AFL clearly win or in TV ratings in which the NRL win??
https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/nrl-trumps-afl-in-tv-ratings-war-20180910-p502u1.html