As a Cowboys supporter, if we make the 8 I’d call that a successful season, no matter what happens in the finals.
We’ve got some very good players, we can do some very good things, but I don’t think anyone of the top teams are getting worried.

Lol- sounds like you’re a real wizard at being an Ozzy then…

Are you sure you’re Australian?
Ozzy?!?

All valid points raised but I can see an article in future decades suggesting that former players are biased towards their clubs, positions etc etc & asking for a fairer voting system by people who really see the game up close, say the umpires maybe?!?

He carried that protester off the field without much worry & in an awkward position too.
I’d suggest Mr Professional Athlete is much fitter than he may appear.

I’m pro-vacc/anti-vacc mandate as you described but I must say I’m quite disturbed by the seemingly public interactions Novak has conducted when apparently knowingly positive & most likely in a highly contagious state.
Novak isn’t going to have to worry about the effects of COVID because he’s very fit & also very wealthy, but his apparent lack of concern for the people he interacted with who probably are neither of those things makes me think he is pro-choice but only his choice.

One way to fix any & all of the issues involved in playing Origin- it is selection to play for Australia & that is it.
If you choose to be available for Origin you play for Australia & no-one else.
Tiers?
Too bad- I know we want to grow the game but perhaps it is time to make players choose what is more important to them?
Naturally we’ll have players who choose the glory of Origin (& the obvious cash) over any feelings for ancestral/heritage feelings, but I can’t help think we’ll also have plenty who go the other way.
But there’ll be no in between, you’re either in or out.
I acknowledge all of the vagaries of citizenship, IRLF rules etc etc & know that there exists every shade of grey in every individual situation.
Too bad- if you are an Australian citizen/resident & meet the criteria to play SOO then you are in line to play for Australia & that’s it.
If you aren’t selected for the Kangaroos then no more Tier 2 WC jaunts for you in the event you aren’t selected for Australia. Ever…may be too harsh, so if a player renounces their eligibility for Australia & never be available for selection/play Origin again , there will be a dispensation to allow a player to play for another nation. This has to occur 2 years before the next WC for example, so it is not a ‘didn’t get selected for Australia’ decision, it’s a I desire to play for “….” (insert nation here) decision.
I admit it isn’t ideal but tbh I’m a bit over the picking & choosing going on.
Either SOO is still about playing for Australia & if it isn’t, then just call it the All Stars series & be done with it.
I’ll still watch, but I won’t care about it like I do Origin & I certainly won’t ever be buying an All Stars jersey etc like I own Maroons gear.
So if having the best players & making it the biggest RL show on earth is what matters then I think the NRL etc should be aware that there is every chance that it will actually turn out to be less interesting.

Kids (of all ages) aren’t drawn to football & basketball because of Aussie teams/comps, they’re following the big leagues overseas & are ardent fans even if they may not know much about the locals.
Their interest is sparked when an Aussie heads overseas &/or someone like LaMelo comes to the NBL for a ‘gap year’ etc.
Football has all the glamour & media coverage, even people who don’t follow or like the game could still tell you the name of a big club & player.
Personally I love rugby league & AFL, & at my age I’m a rusted on follower, but one thing I’ve noticed as my interest in the NFL & NBA has increased is that there are so many teams & therefore so many games that it is constant coverage & constant news, I think this appeals to the young generations & despite spending so much time on social media etc, there is also a feedback loop into where the attention goes.
Comps/sports that play once a week & only exist in Australia are losing interest for young people I think.

Saw an interesting analysis of McGregor’s stance & his relative “looseness” in it with images of his earlier fights when he seemed like a completely different beast & recently where he definitely looked a lot more stiff & upright.
I seem to recall that reading about early McGregor was where I came across the name of Ido Portal & I wonder if he hasn’t gone completely away from that free flow movement emphasis in training & tried to ‘box’ more?
I’m no expert but I found it hard to believe that he (& his team) have completely missed the calf kick revolution that has occurred recently & seemed to not only not know what Poirier would do (& any number of other opponents for that matter) but also had no real ability/tactic to avoid/overcome its use once it became apparent.

So all I read here was Cummins goes out to call the coin toss & Steve Smith does the rest once Paine is gone…..

I am happy to be corrected but I thought a penalty try required the foul play to occur in the act of scoring?
JAC probably would have been first to the ball but he wasn’t in the act of scoring.

No GF on Kayo my friend unless you are going into your own COVID bubble & watching their “replay” at 10pm.
Disappointing I know, but no live coverage on the K-yo as far as I’m aware.

I can see how much there is to like about MM & he really looks to be a competitor but every time I think about SOO & therefore Kangaroos reps, Cleary looks to be the player who is just growing into the true superstar.
Throw in Keary (who could easily play 5/8 to Cleary’s 7) for NSW & the fact that Qld’s DCE & Munster are obvious Kangaroos means that MM looks to be at best a player in waiting.
For me it harks back to the glory days of having a multitude of elite players across the halves (Lewis, Sterling, Mortimer, Kenny, Lamb et al forgive me if I’ve left out any others & also for showing my age) but that surfeit of talent also means that relatively deserving players will generally miss out.
MM’s career will be relatively complete if he becomes a Premiership winner- no amount of Kangaroo caps trumps that unless you’ve got both, & if the Eels do win one in the next few years then one would have to think it will be very influenced by MM so perhaps that may well be his best chance to really cement his status in the game long term.

Sounds pretty personal mate- not sure about the “yes boys posse” but given that RL & RU have some pretty transferable skill-sets why do you begrudge someone who has the talent to choose either or as it suits them?
Apart from the Bulldogs, is there another club or team that has any issue with the way SBW conducts himself?
From everything I’ve ever read, he is a model player that leads by actions & many young players have watched & learnt from his professionalism. That sounds like he enhances the future prospects of players further down the ladder rather than hinders them.

Fifita- sure, I think he’s going to play well wherever he is. I’m a Cowboys fan & think JT2 is worth every cent.

Bateman- I made the comment elsewhere that he is a shot duck injury wise & is looking to secure the big contract to eventually medically retire.

Addo-Carr- for sure but in these days of spine players being where it’s at unless he’s going to be a FB then no. Is he a FB? No.

Cotric- I really like him as an option but how much difference would he make in a Bulldogs team that spends big on outside backs but doesn’t have the spine?

Milford- for sure, if Foran holds up & Milf brings some running n gunning I could totally see him doing well.
Problem is, if he can’t do it in a Broncos jersey why would he find it for the Dogs?
Milf looks to me like a guy for whom anything is possible, I bet he does amazing stuff in training, but because anything is possible, nothing actually gets done.
In addition, having Milf in the halves would play out poorly if/when Foran gets injured again & the playmaking/ game management suddenly falls onto the shoulders of a guy who just isn’t up to it & possibly isn’t interested anyway.

Someone mentioned B.Smith & I reckon he is the most likely to look outside the Storm if things are truly what they seem with C.Smith playing forever & Grant being favoured as the new 9.

Why he’d come to the Dogs apart from money & he’s young enough to have a crack I guess but outside of that: would you want to come to a club that seems like it has factional discord resulting in a new coach sooner than later & leave the Storm where C.Smith will probably take over & on it goes? It better be a s**t tonne of money & a relatively short deal. Maybe he could wrangle himself a loan too…..

He’s a shot duck & knows it- needs the biggest contract to make his next 2 injury riddled seasons worthwhile before the medical retirement.

Big Sam let him know how it works & all he has to do is make sure the injury is a “new one” that is only diagnosed after the deal.

Cynic much? Absolutely.

I’m surprised that with the whole situation concerning his new (although obviously recently troubled) agent that the dude hasn’t got a new, upgraded, TPA linked contract already.

TPAs is where it’s at, & Canberra Milk is the motherlode.

I live in Canberra & despite COVID-19 restrictions coffee is consumed in ridiculous quantities & once we’re back to relative normal I’m sure there’s a large amount of milk being consumed between 0700-1000h daily in this city, & that’s not even counting the amount expended on home based brews, morning cereals, kids generally etc…..

C’mon Bateman, get on board, get into the low hanging fruit & get upgraded in the most natural whey….

COVID-20: avian based virus?
Big dent in the chook industry – Steggles unable to sponsor – TPAs decline as potential investors find anyone wearing a chook on their shirt suddenly unappealing – Roosters look to change moniker but find Seagulls is strangely TM’d by the Brisbane Bombers enterprise just in case everyone realises their name is crap – Politis finds the Sydney City Pigeons doesn’t have the same ring to it on merch as it seemed in the boardroom but facing little alternative pushes ahead hoping it will eventually catch on – as Sydney City push ahead regardless, a hugely successful PR campaign to replace the now unavailable chicken with the much safer alternative of the widely available rabbit in the hearts of Australian consumers sees the situation become dire – a production error which sees a leak of white paint in equipment producing the new “pigeons” graphic ruins millions of dollars worth of aforementioned merch which sees Politis’ fortunes tumble – the final straw: big Russ calls big Nick on the QT & offers an uncirculated AUD $1 coin from the last year of the Rooster (2017) & a book of 100 tickets in the Rabbitohs Leagues Club meat tray raffles & an autographed pic to take over the whole kit & kaboodle – Politis drives a hard bargain & retires to live in an undisclosed location on the NSW mid-north coast – emerging reports from the CSIRO indicate that small mammals in the family Leporidae of the order Lagomorpha coming in contact with bats before being sold at rural markets may in fact be the “ground zero” of COVID-20 rather than poultry…..

My apologies- I just re-read your post & realised the most pertinent point was:
My club lost current sponsorship dollars & will struggle to attract future sponsorship dollars.
I thought you were concerned about the safety of the consenting adults in question, & their actual ability to be so.
Now I see that you are wholely & solely concerned about sponsorship dollars as your comments mention money on three occasions but the consensual age of the adults concerned only once & not at all in relation to the ‘girls’ ability to administer their own consent.
I feel I clearly understand the problem.

Consensual with willingness?
Consensual is “yes” & willingness is “yes please”.
They’re degrees of the same thing.
I believe I understand what you mean to say though- and I understand that you think that a person of 16 years of age is not old enough to truly appreciate the decision they are making.
For sure, but the age of consent in NSW is 16 years of age & the judicial system deals with that on a factual basis rather than what some people think on an ad hoc basis.
By this I mean, survey 100 people on a question & see how many answers you get.

I wrote a pretty long- winded post but decided to delete it & write this instead:
You’ve had a couple of shandies at your local while you watch the Doggies thump the Eels in the season opener.
You get pulled over in an RBT bay- you blow 0.03, which is under the legal limit to operate your vehicle.
The copper that conducts the RBT is a person who has had a family member killed by a drunk driver in an accident. They think you exhibit signs of inebriation, impairing your ability to drive, despite the fact that you committed no traffic offences prior to being randomly pulled over.
Despite the fact that you have adhered to the letter of the law, said copper imposes their own moral code upon you & issues you an infringement notice.
Do you think you’ve been fairly dealt with?
Do you think you have grounds to contest the issue?
Would you be happy to lose your job over this?
Personally the answers are No, Yes & No.

The law says there is no wrong-doing in this situation.
You say “integrity” (1. the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles) & so the intangible quality of morality is introduced.

Morals- 2. standards of behaviour; principles of right and wrong

Whose morality? Whose standard?
Is the law not our society’s clearly defined & tangible morality?
Your morals vs my morals vs someone else’s morals- who decides?
That’s why we have laws- to enable a suitably experienced, qualified, authorised & competent appointment to decide.
That will be the police & relevant Dept. of Public Prosecutions.
At this point they have- nothing to see here.

You’d commit a crime to avenge your perceived injustice against people who have not committed a crime.

Your “dark alley” fantasy is exactly that- I imagine there is much wailing & gnashing of teeth in the households concerned & again, I imagine the parents feel their world/sanctity has been violated, wrongly or rightly, so where does it end?
You’ve been down that dark alleyway & somehow come off the better, the men in question are beaten & punished.
Is that what you had in mind?
Now what of the family of the beaten & bloodied men, who committed no crime, but have been punished by vigilante action.
Should they now seek you out to avenge the wrong?

We have laws in our society, established by our society & they are adjusted over time, very cautiously, to reflect the values & expectations of our society.

Any member of the public can make a complaint to the police if they feel a crime has been committed.
My understanding is that vigilante action, assault etc are definitely considered crimes which the police will pursue regardless of public complaint.
Consensual sex between adults- obviously not so much.

Absolutely- I’m one of those employees, I’m in the Defence Force, but we have a parallel justice system which is clearly defined & regulated.
Is not breaking the law covered by the NRL Code of Conduct?

The only reason given for the stand-down that I’ve read of is the “motel rule”, which might stand legally for the direct employer, but with no laws broken I assume the only thing left is disrepute & if the ‘community’ has established laws that cover this situation then how does a player bring the game into said disrepute if they have adhered to the laws set by the community?
I just don’t see how it can be both situations simultaneously.