Where was that bunker tonight for the Broncos – Dragons game?

What are you talking about? “Untapped market” in Brisbane, Townsville, Gold Coast??? This is the myopic Sydney view I wrote about.

You can take your “50 year history” back with my nasal snort all over it as I laugh! I also wrote about the 106 year history of Souths Logan – but you aren’t suggesting they get an NRL gig. If you were consistent you would be.

North Sydney has always had strong ARU due to private schools. The demise of clubs at Crows Nest etc is coz there’s no families there now – all units, same as South Sydney catchment. There is still 8 clubs in Bears territory.

(they are – don’t tell anyone)

What a ridiculous article. There are games at NSO tomorrow!!

Broncos, Storm, Cowboys – all extremely well supported despite being new inventions. The Titans, too, are well supported and going pretty well for a poor performing club. Western Reds had a tough job but were growing the game over there. These clubs, whether they represent existing rugby league regions or new ‘expansion’ areas have increased the popularity of the game across a wider demographic.

The nostalgia-chancers will follow whatever club they think is the coolest to follow. Bunnies for this generation. The South Queensland Crushers had an average crowd of over 20,000 in their first year despite competing with the Broncos (which averaged over 30,000 that same year). The Rabbits got 3,000 on a good day.

Penrith does have a good following although they may not turn out to games. I have lived there and they’re doing quite alright – representing the heartland.

Removing clubs will be painful but the net gains have always been, and will continue to be, net gains for our great game.

I’d agree that there are lots of NSWmen who put club first. But those attitudes are a changin’. Also, there are many new fans who aren’t passionate about a club, but they are for the Blues.

I’ve been to Olympic Park to watch State of Origin for about 7 years. Each year NSW lost the Blatchy’s Blues contingent grew. It is now about four to five times larger in just those years. There is a growing magnetism of NSW fans to the Blues and, for many – yes many, it is already the main game. You ask those Bears…

NSW’s total embarrassment at the dominance of this amazing QLD side has lit the fire. Ahh, the struggle. That’s what sport is about.

Oh no, NOT THE HISTORY!

NEWSFLASH – Nobody really cares about the history! But what they do care about is a feeling of being part of something and fighting for something.

For example, State of Origin is, in Rugby League years, very young. Yet many people associate with their state teams more than their club teams – particularly in Queensland, but also in NSW and also in other codes. State of Origin (seemingly) forces you into being part of a team – you don’t choose and you can’t change (please, don’t waste your time responding with GI, Sterlo or Rogers jokes). Bond formed.

Removing or merging teams takes a toll – people’s associations are destroyed or hurt. But people get old and die. New people form their own associations during their lives. Newtown’s demise didn’t hurt rugby league. Neither did the Bears. Neither did the dead Brisbane clubs. Nor will the future defuncts destroy rugby league. Not the Eels. Not the Roosters. Not even, drum roll, the Bunnies…

The Bunnies are a great example. They had no real supporters (the worst supporter levels in the competition averaging about 2000-3000 per game). Until there was a fight and all the flag-wavers joined the fight. Something to fight for! Hoorah! And they’ll live on that for a generation. Getting kicked out was the best thing that ever happened to the Rabbitohs.

Removing or merging teams is a real shame after all they have done and given. But when you make Sydney three times larger than when the competition began, new teams spring up. At first you can absorb the extra clubs. But when you change from a Sydney competition to a State competition and to a National competition, guess what… Something’s gotta give.

But what about other areas outside Sydney? The mighty Souths Logan Magpies have a history back to 1908 (the first year of league in QLD and the second year of league in Australia) – older than almost all of the current Sydney NRL clubs. But most so-called ‘rugby league fans’ in Sydney who claim to respect history and tradition don’t actually care about rugby league’s history and tradition – only their own myopic version of it. They are happy to invent the Broncos rather than build on the ‘history’ of a Brisbane team. They are happy to invent Cowboys despite the Marlins history.

Let’s travel to the Central Coast. The coast has a long and proud rugby league history and great community. But there are continual calls for a transplanted Sydney team to represent their region. What about their real history and tradition?

New franchises have no associations or fans at first – they must build them. Success helps – hence AFL’s approach to giving new teams a leg-up to premierships – it works! But new franchises don’t hurt rugby league either – in fact, most build the profile and supporter-base of rugby league. The Broncos club replaced a competition, but probably has grown a larger fan base than where the BRL competition was headed at the time. Storm. Titans – yep. Western Reds – definitely made a name for rugby league out west in just a couple of short years.

If you love rugby league, then nurture it and grow it. Don’t chant slogans of ‘history’ and ‘tradition’ in the name of rugby league when you actually only apply it to your own club.

Rugby League needs some hard decisions to be made in the best interests of the game. The ARL started it – well done, Arko. Superleague tried to rush it too fast and messed it up. The Independent Commission Version 1 won’t do it because [insert rant here], but the time will come when we do make those decisions – bit by bit…

But believe me on the history.

No, the people you have been speaking to were lying to you. Everybody hates Thursday night football – everybody!

In accordance with the State of Origin regulations, the QRL and NSWRL can agree to allow deviations from the standard eligibility requirements.

The QRL and NSWRL both agreed that Greg Inglis can play for Queensland.

That makes him eligible to play for Queensland and is why the NSWRL has never, never, never claimed that he isn’t.

Totally correct!

Gallen was charged with taking performance enhancing drugs in 2011 and he has accepted the charge and penalty.

Gallen was applauded for his 80 minute effort in the 2011 SoO Game 2, Glenn Lazarus saying that it was “unheard of” in the modern game. His performance is attributable in part to his, now confessed, ingestion of peptides.

Anyone who thinks that Gallen’s 2011 individual performance awards should not be stripped has a strange sense of fairness…

Hey Gundy, Greg Inglis requested to play for Queensland, QRL accepted him, and NSWRL were asked if they would allow it – which they did.

NSWRL were pretty silly, hey…

It’s not a similar scenario.

GI received a personal award for his performance, but the penalty is against the Storm club and individual players were not charged with anything.

Gallen received a personal award for his performance, but he is now personally charged with performance enhancing drugs taken during that series (and he has now accepted the charge and penalty).

EagleJack, as usual, fails to address the issues and just wants to ‘move on’ and ignore the injustices of the game.

The Sharks players were personally in the wrong – not fulfilling their formal obligations to be responsible for what they ingested. The Sharks club obviously is also in breach of their formal obligations. Both players and club have acted improperly yet the players are not being held accountable for the significance of their own personal failures.

The Storm players cannot individually breach a salary cap – only the club can breach a salary cap. The players do not have visibility over all of the other players’ salaries to add it all up – nor is it their responsibility to do so. The club breached its salary cap and had its titles revoked – a harsh penalty deservedly dealt.

But the Storm players have PERSONALLY paid a significant penalty beyond their personal roles and, if you agree that they should (as suggested by your rants), then you should also agree that the Sharks players should pay a significant personal penalty – or even a more significant penalty as they personally breached their obligations. But, alas, you don’t…

You are the biased and hypocritical commentator in this argument, not the author.

Again, I’m not a Ricky fan, but don’t think he has been hyped much at all. In fact, he has been bagged out for years in the media – perhaps deservingly.

My comment was just highlighting that the current round of criticism is not unbiased commentary. He is being targeted. And this tactic is becoming more common in the NRL – more specifically between the Sydney factions.

EagleJack wrote “This insignificant period when Dank was at the Sharks, around 11 weeks, will not tarnish his [Paul Gallen’s] career in the slightest.”

EJ, wake up and look around you. Career tarnished!

Ahh – I agree. That’s why the ASADA deal darkens the darkest day…

The only people being duped are the public who buy into the story that the players were innocent parties who didn’t know that their performances were being enhanced by those mongrel club staffers!

No. Dank is a salesman who benefited from peddling performance enhancing drugs. The club officials have a legal and moral responsibility to the players, to the club, to the fans and to the sport. The players have responsibilities to know what they ingest, to ensure those treating them know and abide by policy, and to cooperate with investigations into drug abuse – and a responsibility to fans and the sport that has provided them a career playing footy. The NRL has a responsibility to manage and quickly resolve these sorts of issues. ASADA has a responsibility to investigate alleged illegal drug use and issue notices.

There are plenty of Danks around – but while I don’t respect him, I don’t blame him. The responsibility does in fact lie with ASADA, the NRL, the Club and the players – and all of them should be held to account for the performance of their duties.

Yeah, let’s all just move on now. Ignore the rules, fairness, image of the game, unsatisfactory penalties, drug cheating, 80-minute Origin performances, managerial stuff-ups, cover-ups, frauds. Nothing to see here.

Yes. NRL boss Dave Smith has already commented on how well they have run the investigation and that he is pleased appropriate penalties will be issued to those responsible…

When you hide the truth, how can the darkest day become brighter?

You are correct. It is clear ASADA didn’t have enough evidence to issue more suitable bans.

It is also clear that they had some evidence – otherwise the players would not be admitting to ‘unwittingly’ taking the illegal drugs and accepting having a 12-month ban on their record and reputation.

Did the players really think they were innocent and that there was no evidence whatsoever?

Apparently not hence their admittance to “unwittingly” ingesting performance enhancing drugs.

Yeah, those poor Cronulla Sharks players. What hell they must have been going through…

Like being the first Prop Forward to play the full 80 minutes of a State of Origin in 2011 thanks to the performance enhancing drugs some bastard gave him. Like getting player of the match in the same State of Origin match. Like building to legendary status based on the drug-enhanced performance that some lunatic forced on him. Like increasing his inflated contract. Like building a media career and second income through the profile built upon performance-enhancing drugs.

Poor Peptide-Paul. How the drug cheat must be suffering…

The Sharks players are in breach of multiple clauses including not taking responsibility for what they ingest, failing to ensure that their medical practitioners understood and abided by the requirements and failing to cooperate with an investigation into alleged drug abuses.

Paul Gallen has built a football and media career based on his 80 minute Origin performance in 2011. A three week ban is hardly suitable.

In both cases, the athlete should be taking legal action against the person that gave them the drugs without their knowledge.

Specifically on the Sharks players, there is no outrage from the players towards the club. If the players ‘inadvertently’ ingested illegal drugs because club officials administered them, why aren’t the players angry at the club and taking legal action?

Everyone knows the truth. Nobody is paying an appropriate penalty.