Absolutely agree about the head injury issue Geoff. It’s easy to see one pathway that results in all the major contact sports (league, union, AFL, soccer) becoming something unrecognisable in decade although soccer is clearly the best placed. I’m still surprised that we haven’t yet seen serious consequences within NFL as they are at the forefront in evidence: perhaps they will be ok due to the immense finances involved, past high school it ceases to be a community game and differences in the American culture and psyche.

Although there is a growing body of evidence and awareness, as a community (national not just sporting) we haven’t had that surge of awareness of the criticality of the problem which would result in broad based urgency of change. I suspect it will come, there probably just needs to be a single tipping point incident that captures the community awareness. In past years, corporate media would have led this push but they are reliant on the sporting codes too. It may be some form of human tragedy that coalesces pressure for change.

I agree with Okunbor’s effort – since his debut I’ve considered him an effort player rather than a skilled or athletically gifted player. Filling a gap in the middle may prove a good move for him, increases his value to the squad and doesn’t demand too much more than work rate and effort as no one will expect him to run for big metres. If this injury problem continues, the Bulldogs may need to play more like Manly with the penetration coming from the halves and edges with the makeshift middles holding ground in defence. Reynolds may even find himself wearing 13, a floating ballplayer role a la Connor Watson / Dylan Walker may be his best use and adds a bit more threat to compensate for Flanagan being predictable.

There’s a whole lot to like about this doggies squad and I left last night thinking we still don’t know what their attacking shape looks like since the best team still hasn’t been on the field.

It’s a tough one Forty, the easy measures of a coach are success and/or improvement whereas the true measure is more subjective and nuanced. Most would agree Wayne Bennett and Craig Bellamy are outstanding. However, Bennett’s weapon seems to be his relationship with the players while how much can Bellamy credit to the culture and environment inherited from Chris Anderson et al. Likewise Ivan Cleary, it is clear to see why he is an effective coach but, perish the thought, how much does he owe in this iteration to the system built by Gus Gould? I consider Brian Smith amongst the elite of coaches for being able to consistently raise teams above the performance indicated by their roster. The proof is getting that St George team into three grand finals, a team full of unfashionable players who consistently beat much better squads, the fact they lost the grand finals doesn’t undermine the assessment.

The reason why I didn’t rate Kevvie as a coach is that much of how he presented seemed to be driven around passion rather than a deeper understanding of the game, in particular his ability to communicate that deeper understanding in a club environment. Last year’s performance from the Broncos seemed to prove the point of a very talented team that played well before disintegrating for the back end of the year. Now we can postulate that last year was needed to build experience into an inexperienced squad. We will have a better understanding in a couple months as there are only really two possible outcomes: the Broncos sustain their current levels and Kevvie is vindicated or the Broncos follow last year’s path and we have a coach with a pattern of getting a team up early but unable to sustain or pace for the season.

Okunbor’s move to the pack might last a little longer than expected.

Simon it looks like a 5 year plan:
1. Start by building as much interest as possible, maximise the headlines, any news is good news so long as it mentions rugby.
2. Hope for an outperformance miracle at this year’s RWC, goal of top 4 or higher.
3. Use the increased interest and RWC performance to get a private equity deal in place, which covers the main $ issues and hopefully isn’t a deal with satan.
4. Ride the increased interest and financial position into the 2027 RWC which has the potential to be a windfall as well as further revive local interest.
The part that’s not clear to me is how pathways are improved. Maybe that article from a week ago – think it was Harry’s alignment of Wallabies with Ireland – was on the mark re embracing the private school heritage.

It’s an interesting perspective Peter. I’ve picked up an impression, rightly or wrongly, that you are closely connected with rugby. Although having played both at an admittedly crap level, I’m not strongly connected with either code. If my impression of you is correct, and we can agree that my perception of the posts is accurate for me (not you), would it be possible that there are aspects of union and it’s close supporter base, ie interacts around aspects of the game, that act as barriers of entry for outsiders?

Yep, how do I delete my earlier comment? It’s pretty much invalid now.

😂 😂 😂

Lol TLN – at least I had the decency to say anecdotal.

Peter have a look again at the forums. You are talking solely about the union forums whereas I was comparing union to league. Also, I’d define some, not all, union posters are less unhappy rather than being happy. Have a look at the articles posted last night re Eddie Jones’ squad selection (yeah I know it’s Wallabies not SRP but it’s the same community), the volume of grumbling and discontent exceeds the satisfaction.

I’m absolutely one of those who thought Kevvie was a good representative coach but a poor club coach.

He’s very much proving me wrong so far in 2023 and the Broncos are a joy to watch. However, the jury will still be out until we see them hold it together for the full season.

Sobering points Geoff and challenging from a contesting-for-eyeballs perspective.
I support both rugby and league but have the ongoing challenge of balance time v viewing priorities. At a time where SRP seems to be slowly sliding into mediocrity, the NRL is experiencing an outstanding start to the year with most of the games very tight and even the blowouts entertaining. This finds me prioritising Kayo over Stan as I know I’m getting a spectacle with a NRL match v a much less certain outcome with SRP.
This is not intended as a league v union which one is better comment – rather, it is the pragmatism of which option represents greater value when only one can be selected.
An anecdotal observation – there does seem to be a higher level of discontent and frustration amongst SRP supporters compared to NRL supporters, utilising the Roar forums as my evidence base. Many reasons why this is the case, but the NRL supporters, even those of the underperforming teams, seem happier with what they are getting. No solutions in that comment, just an observation.

Suaali’i was part of the NSW SOO squad last year although not selected to play. Just making the squad is an extraordinary achievement for a then 18 yo. Playing NRL as a 17 yo, having received special dispensation, equally extraordinary.

Did you see Rennie rotating the scrum halves as uncertainty Haydn? I thought he was very clear on White as his preferred with the uncertainty as to whether McDermott or Gordon was the better deputy.

Great post Armchair
I’m disappointed about the amount of animosity. We’re fortunate to have two codes where it’s possible for some, not all, players to successfully move between. Good fortune to those athletes with the skill and ability to follow the path that appeals to them most at the time: likewise, difficult to understand the hostility towards a player taking the best deal available in professional sports.
My hope would be any cross-code athlete would always leave on good terms with the knowledge the door is always open if they want to come back.

Dumbo beat me to it but the Dragons supporters would be happy with an interim coach that encourages an attractive brand of footy, even if not successful in the short term.

Fraser Nikorima only lasted a couple of minutes before leaving the field following a head knock (friendly fire, Gilbert was the other party from memory). Nikorima will be short odds for an 11 day standdown, so rough halves combo for Dolphins next week.

Nikorima was a big loss Matth. Dolphins actually started with Mason Teague at hooker, from memory Nikorima came on around the 20 minute mark and sadly only lasted a tackle or two. Ray Stone seemed to play most of the game at dummy half from that point forward.
The Nikorima loss will be particularly painful as he’ll presumably get at least an 11 day stand down. O’Sullivan has really been the strong hand in the backline, Nikorima would have been my preferred option to replace him at 7. Dolphins are potentially looking at a Milford / Katoa halves pairing which does not inspire confidence.

Ex I was watching Milford shuffle along the backline, there are enough strong personalities in the Dolphins team that he would have been pushed back in had it not been to plan.

Great fun watching the Broncos v Phins game live, the atmosphere was outstanding. Suncorp is a fantastic league venue, little disappointing the rematch is at the Gabba.
My view of the game was a little different to Bennett’s. The start from both teams seemed a little subdued but the Broncos quickly asserted dominance, Phins worked their way back in for the middle sections of the match but the Capewell try and eventual Broncos win felt inevitable. While the Dolphins had a chance late, they lacked the playmaking cohesion for the majority of the match.
Takeaways for me:
1. Bennett is magic at turning out competitive teams that don’t give up. The Dolphins will win more games than they lose just by hanging in and competing the way they do. Most teams don’t have the composure to match that.
2. Bennett replaced O’Sullivan mid second half, I wasn’t sure if it was injury or something else at the ground. What was noticeable before the replacement was O’Sullivan was working his backside off in offence and not shirking in defence. In attack he was playing both sides, often switching to opposite sides first receiver within the same set. At the ground, it felt like Bennett was replacing him as play was verging on the frantic rather than deliberate. No shortage of teams would love to have a halfback that works that hard to get his team into the game.
3. In contrast, Milford played 3 wide the entire match, notable only for his kicking game which was good. I don’t recall him taking a run at all and in backline play he was just dishing the ball on. It again felt deliberate, I could see him calling plays in the backline so suspect Bennett was using him as on field general only, under instructions to underplay his hand.
4. The Broncos outside backs are outstanding. Every time Walsh swept to either side it felt like he was going to break out, there was a noticeable speed mismatch in the Broncos favour which was exaggerated by the compressed Dolphins line: it’s a credit to the Dolphins edge defence that they were able to scramble to shut down most of the raids. The lead up to the Capewell try was Farnworth running on the preceding tackles.
5. Haas was again huge. Every time he touched the ball he made heavy post-contact metres. His ability to keep motoring and get down the field for second and third efforts on the back of making the original break are exceptional.
6. Walsh’s sweep plays to left and right are a thing of beauty. He’s also a threat through the middle and will burn tired forward packs in the late game.
7. Tabua-Fidow is growing as a fullback and seems to add more attacking tools each game. His work rate last night was Dylan Edwards-esque, positionally sound and solid under the high ball.

Adam the problem is the entire Para game is based around Paulo and Campbell-Gillard gaining ascendency in the middle, which then sets conditions for the edges to run. For Parra, the starting props may as well be considered spine. We saw what happens when RCG and Paulo are contained in last year’s Grand Final, Parra just can’t compete.

The problem isn’t bench management – it’s recruitment and player development. Parra have not been able to either grow or buy another middle who can maintain the rage when the other two are off the field. If Arthur starts one of the bench props, they don’t get the same dominance, so the Parra gameplan is win the match during the 60 minutes that RCG and Paulo are on the field and try not to lose it during the other 20 minutes.

I’ve thought the same on a few ocassions. The next few weeks, assuming a Paulo suspension, is an opportunity to see of one of the bench props can lift intensity as a starter. Greig is only 23 so still has upside.

The disappointing part is we’ve been talking about this same flaw in Parra for a couple seasons now.

I disagree JGK – assuming you’re referring to Parra’s review of the Paulo high shot. It was very clearly used to buy extra recovery time before rolling in to golden point. Well played Parra and a smart use of the rule to grant them an advantage, they never expected to win the challenge but received an extra 30 seconds of deep breathing for some buggered forwards.
If you said that the Captain’s Challenge rules need to be changes to avoid manipulation then we have a worthwhile discussion.

Hey Monorchid

My understanding is that the women being more at risk is settled but the causal factors are still being researched. One I’m aware of is that nerve fibres in female brains tend to be smaller and more fragile, which has been suggested as both increasing risk of damage as well as extending time of recovery. This may interest you:
https://www.pennmedicine.org/news/news-releases/2017/november/women-may-be-more-vulnerable-to-concussions-because-of-leaner-nerve-fibers-penn-study-suggests

The reason for less mature research is pretty easy to understand: up until recently there hasn’t been mass female participation in contact sports so there wasn’t a base for investigation.