Care to elaborate Kaks? That is not my intention at all. The overall point of the article is: Gayle has been hung out to dry but there has been a distinct lack of constructive or intelligent discussion about the broader notions of attitudes towards women and respect in the work place – it has instead turned into a Gayle bash-a-thon.

I am under no illusions that women are not discriminated against in workplaces (far more then men) and this was indeed an example of such which as I’ve stated several times in the piece is not acceptable as even at the basic level it shows a blatant lack of respect for a professional doing their job, but I raised the UFC example because of the polar reaction that it evoked. Everybody thought it was a completely harmless and funny thing but I wanted to pose the question as to why should it be? Technically ogling all those men and thus objectifying them is no better than Gayle’s objectification of McLaughlin, yet no one comments on it. If we are talking in equality terms then that isn’t what equality is about.

But again though, Gayle’s comments were sexist crap and he has been rightly criticised, the witch hunt is over the top however.

@Wayne and @Ryan – I am aware that the defamation suit is to do with the claims of indecent exposure from Fairfax and not the McLaughlin interview. The point and placement of those comments is that it is absurd that it has been dragged out this long beginning with the McLaughlin incident and that he should not have to go to the lengths of hiring a lawyer for defamation as media outlets have gone to town on him.

My point being he was criticised, apologised and fined all in quick succession, thus my criticism is aimed at the ongoing demonising of him. This whole fiasco has served purely to demolish Gayle as opposed to offering solutions to change attitudes towards women, particularly in a professional context. At best it has been a conversation starter but 99% of write up’s and critique have focused on him being a pig as opposed to identifying that these issues are still prevalent and Gayle epitomises it, digging up dirt on him and threatening to end his career is what has incensed me – it’s not constructive and has similarities to the James Deen situation unfolding and Matthew Johns in the past.

What would you suggest for the emblem Doug? Personally I think it hasn’t really dated, it’s intense and sharp which immediately makes you take notice.

Will, I am actually a Tigers member so far from a conspiracy haha. As for the jersey again the Tigers have dished out something with bare minimum orange/gold being included in the strip. It’s a glorious colour and they are the only team that utilises the colour in the competition yet sadly they barely ever use it. In terms of having some actual stripes, 2005 is about as close as we get – a decade of poor thought. Everyone understands the shared heritage of Magpies and Tigers but quite simply if you select a Tiger mascot it is logical to think both orange and/or stripes would be used, given, you know thats what a Tiger looks like. For me it completely lacks creativity and just doesn’t look very good.

I tend to agree with a lot of those scores Mo!

Cheers Ed! Glad you enjoyed it. Not a bad idea, look out for those once the 9’s tournament ends!

Hi Rory, am I right in thinking you believe Djokovic to be the tougher player mentally as a result? Overall who do you think is the superior player, and for that matter, who will go down in history as the superior player?

Yep that’s all fair enough. I can’t justify paying Brooks and Moses big money and they never should have been offered it – RTS is twice the player both of them are and has been ever since he came into grade yet he has never been on the type of money they have, I think management at Tigers is very weak and consistently bows to the pressure of player agents and scare tactics. Given they came straight from U20’s they should have been capped at 80-150k max for the first two seasons with guaranteed upgrades based on performance thereafter.

Yep, If Tigers can free up say 4-500k from Farah, plus hopefully get rid of Halatau…they should then make a dual play for Adam Docker and Willie Mason. Mason is consistently solid and would be good for the younger blokes and Adam Docker is the Alan Tongue type player that every side needs which the Tigers do not have since Fulton retired.

I like that point itself – Robbie the FOOTBALLER does not deserve this. From all accounts he is an extremely intense person with a big ego but he is far from the likes of an Auva, Barba, Fergusson etc, his stellar career and loyalty to the club should count for more. He is partially to blame though (in conjunction with his management) he does not deserve that salary anymore, if he was earning aprox 600k I highly doubt this situation would be happening.

Actually: written by someone before the revelations regarding reserve grade and Mitch Moses request for a release were made public – I can only comment on what is available to me at the time otherwise I will end up like Phil Rothfield 😉

I agree his ego and reported fractures with staff and players is a problem and ultimately that’s why I’m not overly concerned about his departure – I am a Farah fan but I have tried to take emotion out of this and look at it logically, much the same with my approach to the Benji Marshall saga. How the club has handled this is disgraceful even though it probably is time for hime to go.

In terms of improvement I am not so convinced. The culture may well improve (although who is to say that Farah isn’t simply being the stern leader and someone like Mitch Moses who himself has a massive ego is not simply being a brat?) but look at their roster for next season. Whilst Galloway and Farah have underperformed they are still better than half of the players in that side – what options do they have to replace such players? Cherrington will be a great hooker but he is not yet. Matt Lodge is now all but gone from the squad, Pat Richards has had a very average season but the dreadful Deloise Hoeter is his replacement and when you consider there are very few players (of quality) left in league world wide to source from to help build the roster for next season then they should be VERY short priced favourites for the spoon. The club is an absolute mess, it’s embarrassing.

@Jarijari

Agreed on the gross mismanagement side. Surely there is no way Brooks and Moses are on half a mil each though, that would be quite simply a case of the most over paid players I have ever seen – and I like both of them!

Squid – not to mention scoring a try on an illegitimate 7th tackle against the Tigers at a pivotal point in the match (the one in which Tigers led 22-0 early).

You can make up arguments and stats and figures for any purpose to try and prove yourself correct, 74% of all people know that…

Initially I gave this article the benefit of the doubt but my god what a load of tripe.
Every team deals with this inconsistent crap (well minus the protected species that is Souths) – some of your examples in here are just laughable, hysterical in fact is the Tigers example – I could easily put a counter argument that Croker’s try a few minutes later when Whighton supposedly caught the ball in the goal could have gone the other way, yet they scored from that ensuing play…
The Raiders have become my second favourite team this season and yes they have been on the end of some bad decisions but the only ones I can even remotely allow you to utilise is the Pritchard incident and the Stewart incident. Most of your examples occur with upwards of 30 minutes remaining in the match, if we all focussed on the what if’s, but’s and maybe’s we would all be getting back together with our ex’s and still bitching about why Eels weren’t gifted the 2009 grand final. Please remove your Raiders goggles and get on with it – the officiating in the NRL is abysmal, we have every right to complain about it but to suggest it has completely altered the course of ONE team’s fortunes this year is absurd. There are teams who cop it as much as the Raiders – the Tigers on the end of 12-4 penalty count against the Eel’s for example is one that sticks out – is there position on the ladder directly reflective of how their matches have been officiated? No.

Hundred percent agree! I’m a Tigers tragic – tragic being a very appropriate word here :'( – but if there is one game a week I always make sure to catch its the Raiders game. Mostly because of Austin but also in general the style of football they play, they love to throw it around and have some players that can pull off insane feats even if inconsistent – think Lee, Ropana and Waqa. Hope they make the finals!

This article is purely concerning origin performances, quote..

“…there have been some truly horrid performances from NSW players over the past few years.
This is not to say these players haven’t had exceptional careers in the NRL – quite simply these are players that unfortunately hindered rather than helped the quest for State of Origin glory.
I present to you the top five worst NSW Origin players of the ‘Lost Years’.”

Creagh might do well at NRL level but at origin he was poor.

You know what I actually retract my thoughts, one and one and he smashed him – poor old Hodgo just happened to be helpless to stop it. Not held no penalty, you have swayed me gents.

I felt like I had to put him in the dog house

I did consider that as per the article – his issue was more a selection one than his own doing but he was also dreadful when he went out there. Basically I’ve looked at the worst performances for NSW whether by their own design or not which is the same reason Galloway is in the 17 despite being unfairly treated.

Perhaps not a penalty but surely should have been called held although with the rules as they were back then I suppose there was always momentum in the tackle. Touch and go really. Two main points on that situation though 1. Nothing occurred for QLD as a direct result of it so its more just a moment of folklore. 2. Harrigan has since stated that he probably should have blown a penalty which I found quite interesting.

You’ve raised some fair points but from my memories of him every time the ball or a defender went near him my heart sunk – he was an absolute night mare for myself and just about everyone I know and I still believe is one of the codes all time most over rated players, I am of course expecting you not to agree with this given the whole Kurt Gidley being your profile picture haha, but his influence for mine was far more negative across his rep career.

I think people fortunately have enough sense about them to hopefully not fixate on those. The Tallis one should have been a penalty regardless, the pass was just so very unfortunate 🙁 but there doesn’t seem to be any great animosity towards Hodgo so I think that says people still respected his contributions.

FRANGOS IS AMAZING, Kaks don’t do this to me haha, chicken is my weakness

Nor am I and I don’t understand where they have popped up from they didn’t live around here previously haha. Food is excellent however! Yep that’s the one. And yes the baron! I saw Tim Mannah with some Parra boys and Izzy Folau a few months back there.