Roar Pro
Joined June 2013
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Manly fan and proud, though I do have a massive soft spot for the Canberra Raiders. I also love the NFL.
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It was the biggest blunder of the season, a diabolical and inexplicable decision, according to the newspapers. The error cost the Tigers the game,…
The Canberra Raiders' poor form this season is masking what could be the building blocks of a future premiership run. Coach Ricky Stuart and…
For the past eight years passionate, mad and downright crazy NRL fans have witnessed one of the greatest sporting teams ever. The era has…
Since making the Superbowl in 2002, the Oakland Raiders have consistently been one of the worst teams in the NFL. In many respects they…
If the objective of the City versus Country clash is to hold a genuine State of Origin try out for NSW, then let's make…
No other club should ever have to lose in the fashion that St. George Illawarra did on Monday night, and the NRL should immediately…
The NRL has introduced some new rules for the 2014 season, based on recommendations made by experts of the game and input from fans.…
The most surprising thing about the sledging issue is that it is an issue at all. Why people are surprised sledging happens is mystifying.…
Channel Nine boss David Gyngell said yesterday that rugby league needs Sonny Bill Williams to compete with the AFL now that Buddy Franklin has…
David Furner's sacking as Canberra Raiders head coach has given a chance for new life to be blown into the club. Already this season…
I can picture NSW League fans perched on the edges of their seats, foaming with anticipation at the prospect of the Queensland game this…
Dylan Farrell lay on the side-lines at AAMI Park for minutes before play finally stopped. Two sets of six and nearly 200 metres of…
I don't really care that the Rabbitohs will miss Greg Inglis for a few rounds a year when he plays representative games. Nor do…
The NRL decided to implement the Gallen rule because the new administration felt it wasn't a good look for the game. But apparently elbows…
After Origin I, the NRL should really be looking at itself rather than Paul Gallen as the problem. Issuing a new rule where any…
Not every bloke is asked to leave two clubs in one night by security staff, and told never to come back to one. Well you might but I know I don’t.
Pearce arrest a blessing in disguise for the Blues
Stick and pick has obviously played a part in Qld’s success, but you also have to consider that they have had the luxury of having the best halves in the game. Lockyer is one of the best ever to play, and Thurston and Cronk have not only been the Qld halves but the Australian halves, and throughout their Qld careers been amongst the best halves in the game. NSW’s always seem to have form dips at the wrong moment, and really there hasn’t been one half consistently at the top of his game over this time.
Pearce arrest a blessing in disguise for the Blues
Genuine contenders will find a way to win. The Dragons in 2010, for example, had double digit Origin players that year, but they still finished at the top or close to the top (can’t quite remember now) and won the GF. The Storm won it in 2012, Manly basically every year has 3 or 4 of their best out and usually more and still make the finals every year. If teams need to play understrength teams to get a win, they will be found out eventually.
Pearce arrest a blessing in disguise for the Blues
The referees cop enough as it is. Sometimes it is warranted but let’s be fair dinkum, they are human beings, just as prone to error as anyone else. Have you ever tried refereeing a sport? It really isn’t as easy as it seems. I really don’t see the benefit in openly shaming poor refereeing decisions, I think that will only create an environment where they are stressed out about making the right decision, and lead to less obvious penalties not being called. There is an obsession from some fans with referees getting every decision right, and it is simply not possible. And by penalising them for making ‘a shocker’ you are effectively saying that they got the call wrong on purpose, and that is a rather serious allegation.
Demerit points for referees
I totally agree. I’m 22, and growing up in high school to suggest something was ‘gay’ was akin to suggesting something was lame. Perhaps in its original form it meant that something was homosexual and therefore a negative but today (or at least when I was at school) the terms are interchangeable. I don’t know but I suspect Moses was simply repeating a phrase he had heard on more than one occasion during his schooling life. Like tradies swearing all the time, are they actually vulgar, coarse people? Or do they simply reflect the environment they spend most of their life in.
U20s Origin was simply boys behaving badly
Haha you’re the first one I think! Precisely, why not give these guys who play for different club teams a chance to train and play together, I really don’t see the drawback. Someone much smarter than I will figure that out, and I think in the long run it will provide a pathway to the Blues team.
Scrap City versus Country for a genuine State of Origin trial
I’m confused as to exactly what your point is. You don’t want it scrapped, but you think it is a flop. You keep saying that it hasn’t sold out, but then again, do any League games sellout? Maybe Origin and the GF, that is it. Should we scrap them too because they don’t sellout?
Scrap City versus Country for a genuine State of Origin trial
What is the point of that though? That is more an exhibition type game at the end of a season, sort of like the All Stars concept. Using the match as a trial allows players to get used to each other, become more familiar with each other, which in time will pay dividends.
Scrap City versus Country for a genuine State of Origin trial
I love taking the game to the country too. That’s why I say we don’t need to completely scrap the game, just change it a bit to make it more worthwhile to NSW Rugby League.
Recently yes they have been lucky, but they simply have phenomenal talents in their team right now, they won’t always have such a deep talent pool to pick from, there is no reason why NSW shouldn’t be preparing for the future as well as the present.
Scrap City versus Country for a genuine State of Origin trial
The name isn’t important, I’ve no doubt someone somewhere can come up with a clever name. Artificial in what way? I think there will come a day when Qld do need it. It may not be for a decade but at some stage in the future Qld will need to blood some new halves and they might come to rue the fact they don’t have one of these trial games.
Scrap City versus Country for a genuine State of Origin trial
Why not have a trial? There will always be more than one contender for the spot, and playing against players who are all Origin contenders means selectors will see how the guys go against a team of players who are all reasonably good. Some players struggle taking that next step up, and the only way you’re going to know if they will struggle is to put them in and hope.
Scrap City versus Country for a genuine State of Origin trial
Precisely, and no matter who you partner with Pearce this year, the most games they will have together is 3.
Scrap City versus Country for a genuine State of Origin trial
Yeah I’d have to look into that, they always make it hard to find the rule book. That is a dangerous slope to be on though, if it is the sole discretion of the referee to decide when the game is finished. This wee will we see a team be awarded two extra plays? Or three?
Reviewing the game clock will prevent teams being robbed
It was a bad call though. 80 minutes had transpired and the play-the-ball came after that 80 minutes. I can see how the ref would have got it wrong, and it isn’t really his fault, but it was so close, and I bet if he was allowed to check it he would have. I didn’t see the Titans decision but the Storm had the rest of the game to put it away and couldn’t. The difference here is that the storm won after the game should have ended, they were given extra time, outside the laws of the game to win.
Reviewing the game clock will prevent teams being robbed
Yeah that was my point. I wouldn’t say he is replaceable because his style of play is unique, but there are way more backrowers out there than talented halves, and name a side that has won the comp in the last 10 years which has rubbish halves. Maybe the Broncos in 2006. Some would point to the Dragons in 2010, and even the Roosters last year, but in the year they won their halves were on fire.
Manly need to forget about "Giftygate"
I’d love to see him stay with Manly but they have to look out for the long term future of the club, and as harsh as it may be to say it, blokes like DCE and Foran are more important than Glen, he isn’t getting any younger, and it is a lot easier to find quality backrowers than it is to find quality havles and fullbacks.
Apparently a lot of the Manly big names have taken pay cuts to stay together as a group, and that is really admirable of them, perhaps Glenn should lower his price for playing for Manly (if he hasn’t already done so). I have no problem with players getting what they think they are worth, their bodies will probably be wrecked for the rest of their lives when their career ends, but clubs also have a salary cap to worry about, and the long term future. Signing Glenn to a big money deal (which he probably does deserve) now, might cause pain in the future when they can’t resign talented youngsters.
Manly need to forget about "Giftygate"
Age isn’t the barrier in cricket it is in other sports. Rogers is a great example of that at 35. How old was Mike Hussey when he retired? 36 or 37 wasn’t he? And he was in superb form, even at that ripe old age. Ryan Harris is the obvious candidate to bow out first, at 34 and coming off knee surgery, but his surgery could rejuvenate him for a few more years.
The ABC commentators seem most worried about batting, and the lack of young guys standing up and making a lot of Shield runs consistently. As we saw in the English summer and one time in South Africa, batting is definitely Australia’s weak point, and the top order is subject to collapse if one of the openers doesn’t fire. I think all the Aussies lack is a top class No.3 batsmen, and hopefully Doolan is the answer there.
So long as Clarke is skipper, I think the Aussies will be in with a chance. He is willing to task risky decisions to win games, and indeed, in my opinion, he has won games purely on the back of his decision making. We’ve got a few good years left before things might get a bit dicey I’d say.
How long will Australia’s dominance last for?
I’d love to see it stay, and hope it does stay because I’ve never been to a Grand Prix and may never get a chance if it leaves Australia.
Having said that I think every year the Victorian Government is going to think harder and harder about the massive amount of money that goes directly to Bernie’s pocket. In 2010, I believe though could be mistaken, they paid $51 million to host the GP. That is an extraordinary amount on money, and they have to be able to justify that spending to the public. Right now they can say that they get unpaid advertising for the city, and all the business brought in is good for the local economy but I think somewhere along the way Bernie’s fee will get too high.
Should Melbourne fight to keep the Australian Grand Prix?
Oh so coaches will have to tell their players not to do a cannonball tackle? What a travesty!
It’s a grubby move, it can easily see a bloke out for the season, possibly even his career, why do you want this tackle to be allowed?
New NRL rules make a lot of sense
You can’t link us to the article to back up your POV and then discredit it.
It doesn’t say what injury means but take a look at this video and then tell me which body part you think they are trying to protect, you don’t have to be a brain surgeon to figure it out.
New NRL rules make a lot of sense
Have a read of that article the guy linked in one of the above comments. 71 out of 142,355 attempted tackles in 2012 were shoulder charges, we weren’t really seeing it that often anyway.
If you want to see people get their head kicked in, go watch Muai Thai, or UFC or whatever, League isn’t solely about smashing blokes, if it was there would be no need for the back line, just find the biggest blokes you can and tell them to run at each other. But, of course, that isn’t what League is, smashing blokes is one part, but so is stepping them, out running them, and even out thinking them. Think of players like Greg Inglis, and SBW. Inglis in particular is massive, but he is also fast, can out leap a lot of players, is fleet of foot, the list goes on, that’s what makes him so good. SBW is different but still possesses size, strength, and ball handling.
New NRL rules make a lot of sense
How often do you actually see a player standing upright on the tryline though really? Once they get that close they are diving for the line, and because they are not standing on their feet, it won’t be dangerous for a third player to come in and dive at the knees. The cannonball tackle is specifically when a player is being held upright by a tackler (usually two) and a third comes in and dives at the ball carrier’s knees. Have you ever seen a player, standing upright on the tryline, try to bend over from a standing position and plant the ball for a try, while someone comes in at his knees? Maybe you have but I certainly haven’t.
New NRL rules make a lot of sense
League as a game is derived from Rugby, why would you be surprised there are similarities and that both games use similar rules?
New NRL rules make a lot of sense
Yeah I wish they would get rid of the wrestling tactics too. I actually looked up the wording of the rules last year and saw that once a tackle is made the player must “immediately” get off the tackled player, which obviously isn’t happening.
It might be that the rules say teams cannot contest the scrums, I haven’t looked that part up. I did wonder why the hookers would try and steal the ball because every time it happened it was called back but never penalised.
New NRL rules make a lot of sense
Floriade happens in Spring, and is simply called “Floriade” not “the Floriade”, it is a name. Also we do’t get a kick out of driving around roundabouts, just so you know.
Ricky Stuart's five-point plan for success