Agree, too abrasive. And it shows in his coaching history. After a year or two of sullen-ness and prickliness, players and administration get pretty jack of the whole experience.

In Parramatta’s case, however, have a look at the two line-ups from last night. Which forward would have displaced anyone in the Panthers side (Mannah excepted, who is now out for weeks anyway)? They were never up to the challenge.

Excellent point, and something the NRL needs to reintroduce.

I used to love getting to the game an hour or two early for Reserve Grade. I won’t do that now, even if Beyonce minces down the catwalk every week.

Planko, it was clearly deliberate.

Everyone knows you can strike in an upward direction and hit ball first before sliding into the head. The NRL judiciary is too prone to their eyes glazing over when a human movement ‘specialist’ spins a yarn.

Having said that, a grade 1 is a nothing grading. Either they felt is was an accident (and he slipped up), or it was deliberate and all the rest, and warranted a harsher grading.

No, you simply and absolutely cannot replace a player sent from the field for foul play. Unless you want to encourage wanton violence, that is.

The NRL has a duty of care to safeguard against this type of thuggery, and it hasn’t even made a good fist of that. It’s not a prison match, it’s professional football.

There is no issue to discuss about whether a team reduced to 12 players. If a coach is serious about his team’s chances, he won’t pick players who are liable to leave his team in that predicament.

If I were David Smith and Greg Inglis was in a wheelchair by mid-season, let’s just say that wouldn’t be a good look, not to mention how many lawyers would be coming at me, the NRL and the person who speared him into the ground, and his coach presumably.

Elijah, I’ve also thought about their draw so far, but have come to the conclusion they are at least a top 4 team. They are improving with every game, and aren’t just beating opponents, they are dominating them for the entire 80 minutes. Sure, it’s going to get harder when they face Cowboys, Knights etc, but I would imagine they are more concerned about the Roosters than the other way round. The Roosters have struggled to score points in recent years, but they have no such problems this year. I would therefore respectfully disagree, but we won’t find out for a few months yet!

Crowds should grow as population grows in general, and even though average AFL crowds fell a few ‘000 last year, they’re way up this year. So the fact that NRL crowds are 5% higher this year on a Rd 6 vs Rd 6 basis is not all that surprising.

Still, grounds are not close to selling out, and the NRL average is less than half that for AFL. There are differences in terms of which is a better live vs TV event, but the fact remains that crowd sizes are not delivering the kind of revenue clubs require to remain viable, and lead them to rely on gambling income.

No, RL is not dead. Far from it, thank goodness. But it must do better if it wants to escape the gravitational pull of being ‘regional’. It could be so much better, and that’s the point to be made.

Enjoying the twist on names. Marvellous stuff,as Richie would say.

The home game idea (each team committing to a home game in the country) seems to offer an opportunity to do an ‘E-squared’ on the country spectators.

Playing 15 games (Warriors excluded) out of town to support the game would be genuinely inclusive and generate enormous goodwill. The problem is that the crowds will be too small on average, and money talks. Step into the breach NRL …

So maybe 15 (deinitely) isn’t the number, but engagement is about regularity and consistency, not a ‘one-nighter.’.

How very odd that David Smith was not doing this.

The TV ratings were also poor, so it’s not like spectators held a lounge room protest 🙂

‘poultry’ … I like it. Nice pun for the Roosters

The way I see it is that the game needs to be run with a firm hand. Media needs to be onside, but first the NRL need to acknowledge friction where it exists, and facts as they emerge.

Einstein is attributed the quote “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid”, which seems to describe David Smith’s predicament at the moment. He is a fish out of water who seems to be thrust into the media glare every time something goes wrong. Pre-existing problems are not his fault, but they are still his problems.

He desperately needs help from the inside, and this is where media, commentatorsand fans are missig the point, and the more appropriate target – John Grant and the Commission. The buck stops with them, and they are the collective body that hired a man with no appreciation of rugby league in Australia. It’s not entirely his fault, and I sense he doesn’t have the kind of power he would like, nor the knowledge of where to begin applying if he did.

The Dr is always willing to help. The game should not succeed despite itself. It should soar because of its quality. The product on the field is not the problem.

I stand corrected 🙂

Nudge, you’ve hit the nail on the head. Wade needs to seriously work on his keeping before being thrust into a position of leadership. I’m not sure the extra pressure is conducive to improving his performances, which includes batting as well. He has almost singlehandedly stifled Nathan Lyon’s career.

It’s a shame CA catapulted him into the Test team so early, when Brad Haddin still had (and still has) so much to give, and who would be an automatic VC. It seems like ‘wicket-keeper’ has been just about the only position not rotated!

Ed Cowan in leadership is going back to the days of Dirk Wellham and Mike Brearley. Modern sides can’t carry underperformance and succeed. Unfortunately, this is where the Aussies find themselves. It’s like 1984 all over again …

Ha. That’s funny. Glad you liked.

I’ll concede that. I haven’t been to AAMI. I was being Sydney-centric there. Whoops. Still, the pot remains about filling stadums that have larger capacties.

Thanks PS.

The NRL doesn’t seem to grasp the ‘big picture’ very well, and the ARLC has been a monumental disappointment so far, as far as I’m concerned. Hopefully that improves, but the the signs aren’t great.

As per another comment, I prefer tiering at this point. Baseball fans have so many games to choose from, so attracting them to a Tuesday nighter against average opposition is a challenge.

To put it into perspective, NRL teams play about 15% of the games a major league baseball team plays in a season.

Outside of blockbuster games, pricing is very much an issue. And demand for tickets was very much the idea of the article. Exploring ways to improve the system should be high on the agenda, rather than CEOs complaining about crowd numbers.

I wouldn’t say the Rabbitohs-Storm crowd set the world alight either at 32k. I hope that’s not the best we can do. It would have filled the SFS had it been played there, in my opinion, but that’s another topic altogether related to subsidising white elephants.

I completely agree about SOO standalone weekends. This week’s rest in the NRL is a poor decision, which I’ve come to expect unfortunately. And it is compounded by the drop-outs.

SOO is the pinnacle. That’s where the standalone weekend needs to happen.

I feel the pain. Paying full freight at the end of a season where your team is no chance of making the finals absolutely guarantees a small crowd. Take a third off the price and you might just double the crowd!

That’s a much bigger issue, and is a result of the money in the game these days.

For example, there is no natural reason for the Rabbitohs to play home games at ANZ Stadium, which is more empty than full, other than the subsidisation given to them and the stadium. It’s so far from the Rabbitohs heartland that it’s a joke, but bean counters aren’t into passion, they’re into moolah.It’s a very odd mix of socialism and capitalism 🙂

That’s why I prefer tiering. It’s an easier strategy to implement, and makes a lot of sense (see comment to oikee). And as noted, we don’t have a zillion games a year to choose from, so the ebb and flow of demand is much smoother.

Exactly, filling these seats is imperative, and tiering the price is an oh-so-easy way to do it.

It’s also a better experience for the players to have a crowd in the backdrop.

It’s not the best angle from behind the posts, but I still remember a John Schuster sidestep in a Wallabies-World XV game a long time ago that nearly made me fall over, such was its majesty. And I also can remember seeing Brett Morris’ foot graze a spectators face in the 3rd row in the 2010 Grand Final from 80m away, which even the touch judge missed.

The point is, there is an experience to be had. Price it apprpriately and we all win.

Gday Jono. I’m glad you brought up hooker. It’s an important role, but I think the combination with the halves is under-appreciated.

It certainly looks like Robbie Farah, doesn’t it? He certainly deserves a place based on previous service though 2013 hasn’t exactly been brilliant.

But Who else is there?

Nathan Peats is an exceptionally talented player, and he proved that last year standing in for Isaac Luke, to the point where I thought he should have remained in the team with Luke on the bench.

Jamie Buhrer is another option, though he hasn’t had a lot of experience there. Should he get the opportunity at club level, he could become a viable option in time.

The real bolter, and it’s not as silly as it sounds, is Jake Friend, purely because of his combination (there’s that word again!) with the NSW halves. He is also a workhorse in defence and an effective dummy-half runner.

None of them can kick like Farah though, can they? He’s the complete package and a mini-Smith, complete with the niggle and rule-bending

As for Hayne, I don’t get why NSW insists on playing guys out of position against the most effective attack in the cosmos. Jarryd Hayne’s defensive reads on the wing are second only to Aquila Uate for ineffectiveness. Why they insist on playing him instead of Nathan Merritt is beyond me. Either pick him at fullback (unwarranted) or leave him out. Then again, they picked Gidley – again – so it’s a wonder why anyone bothers talking about team selections.

But we do because we love it!

I’m not on the Mason bandwagon, particularly given he’s only playing half a game at the Knights as it is. He has performed well in patches this year, but inserting him back into the NSW squad is a retrograde step (barring injuries to other players) and an admission that NSW have no forwards. That is not the case. Mannah is a proven workhorse, something a team needs to tighten the defence and take pressure off others. His name should be higher on the selectors’ list than Mason.

Re G. Stewart, it depends on how much game time he has prior to the matches. If he’s not match-fit, then no. It’s not like he excelled last year.

That is the likely plan, which would have occurred if Mini had retired. Hard to drop a player of his service record, but mistakes are creeping into his game. If that continues, Sheck will be playing finals at fullback …

Looks like well a dry run of Reynolds + Reynolds now that they’re in the city team …

He’s a great player isn’t he? I’m guesiing (I don’t know) that he is seen more as a half, but is playing 5/8th, where there is ample competition. That might be hurting his chances for halfback selection. He looks right on track to recapturing career-best form. His defence is not as good as Pearce and Reynolds though, and the successful teams all have a halves combo that gets down and dirty and relieves the big men.

Hi James, the post isn’t meant to nominate a halfback. I would actually like to see Reynolds get the nod. He’s performed well over the last 2yrs. Even so, Pearce will start Game 1, whether we like it or not.

The job now is to build the best combinations. The 5/8th is one, the hooker is the other.

My 5/8th is Maloney, and that I will nominate. He’s a standout.

What about hooker? Are there any other possibilities other than Robbie Farah?

I think they can. As I mentioned, I think it’s the combination in the halves that counts. The 2 Reynolds together don’t offer enough in attack, which is what NSW have lacked. Pearce/ J. Reynolds the same. And I’m afraid I can’t find a place there either for Sutton, who I regard as more suited to lock.

As for Croker, he’s been a favourite of mine since he burst in the scene. Its hard to displace Jennings and Morris, but I would consider him as a 5/8th. Awesomely gifted (and tough) player who would solve the Wallabies problems at fly-half without skipping a beat. They don’t seem to get it, which is the NRL’s gain.

Still, I think the under-appreciated combination exists between the dummy half and the halves. I would be looking further afield than Ennis and Farah, in other words, though Farah would suit a halves grouping of either Pearce or Reynolds at half, Maloney at 5/8th.

Any thoughts on the hooker?