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Joined October 2020
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Fair warning, I am a Dragons fan.
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With the 2022 season done and dusted and Penrith yet again hoisting the trophy, most fans' minds turn off from rugby league for a…
Ahead of the 2018 NRL season the Newcastle Knights signed Mitchell Pearce on a multimillion-dollar deal. He was signed as a premiership-winning general who…
There has been an undeniable gap emerging between the top four to six teams and the rest of the competition over the last few…
Rugby league and the AFL are in the middle of a brutal war for the hearts and minds of the Australian winter sports enthusiasts.…
Australia is multicultural society and its major sporting codes are one of the great melting pots of cultures, opinions, and experiences. Many Australians have…
Michael Maguire is a noted hard task master. Pushes his players as far as they think they can, then a bit more. It certainly…
How about we play a simple game of snakes and ladders to take our minds off all this expansion talk? Which team will move…
Like Morpheus, NRL clubs and fans are always searching for the ‘one’. The ‘one’ will change everything. They will single-handedly turn the fortunes of…
With the addition of the ‘Insert name here’ Dolphins to the NRL in 2023, talk has already turned to when and where an 18th…
The Dragons were very disappointing last year. To get back into the finals conversation the team needs to spend their off-season working on their…
Despite the rule changes and the unprecedented turmoil surrounding the 2020 season, there haven't been too many surprises. Outside of the Panthers exceeding all…
I don’t think cutting the season down to 17 games is an option. Would cut about 25% of the games funding.
This idea is an attempt at addressing the issue without wholesale changes to the competition structure.
Draw, draft or draught beer? My NRL off-season ponderings
I would argue that it affects teams differently. Games which require travel would be more disruptive to away teams I think, but professional organisations and teams with good player relationships can handle it better. Not sure how much of an advantage/disadvantage it would be between Sydney teams.
Draw, draft or draught beer? My NRL off-season ponderings
At the moment a team will only play 9 of the 16 teams twice. It is very hard to truly rank teams for the following year given all the variables, before having to also balance the needs of the broadcaster and ground availability. Inevitably, some teams will play more of the better teams twice while others will get an easier draw and play more of the poorer teams twice.
If you play every team twice or only once it is much fairer (although timing of the games can still make a difference), although neither of those options are real possibilities given the player fatigue and broadcast funding respectively.
Draw, draft or draught beer? My NRL off-season ponderings
I think the current system doesn’t allow for these post-season changes, but this system can. Clubs can make their own assessments of how strong teams will be with updated rosters and choose opponents accordingly. If they assess incorrectly, than that is on them.
Draw, draft or draught beer? My NRL off-season ponderings
I agree that the Cowboys definitely need to get more out of Lolo and Holmes, but I think their season will be defined by what they get out the supporting cast, in particular their forward pack. The backline doesn’t look too bad really, but the starting forwards McLean, Hess, Dunn, Luki would all be battling for bench positions at most other clubs, the bench players even more-so.
Perhaps a better balance in the team may be to switch Lolo to prop, bring on Cotter to 13 and Hess to the bench. Hess can then provide some impact off the bench when Lolo comes off. Would also allow the versatile Granville a spot on the bench.
NRL 2022 Radar: Cowboys need to get bang from star duo's megabucks
You are welcome AMD, I enjoy your pieces.
I do think it all falls back to attracting better business people into the NRL, and to do that we need to make the clubs more continually profitable. A greater portion of the profit for the clubs and a reduced overheads of the governing body. The clubs need to come to the party as well and contribute.
Part of that should be the dissolving of some of the NRL central organizations and exporting to the clubs, as suggested in the article. Social media is certainly one.
Some clubs obviously do this much better than others.
Likes and nudges: Equalising the NRL
Nice piece, AMD.
As businesses, I certainly agree clubs should be engaging social media and concepts younger people are more interested in more effectively. They may well be engaging statisticians individually which they keep in house, at least you would hope so.
Should the focus on how the club/business operates not fall on the CEO rather than the board though? The board will then assess them against the goals which you would imagine would be a) make money, b) win games (because that makes money), and c) support local communities and create a positive image (again because this creates members and money).
Noted that if the Board is incompetent they will hire and fire the wrong executives and coaches, and instability causes issues, but is it not the CEO and then football departments at an NRL club which really drive the success of the business? The board or the coach is often the go-to behind the scenes when it isn’t going well. Apologies if I am off-base here.
Another good question is how much power does the NRL have over the clubs to enforce change? Most clubs are privately owned? I think it would be interesting if the NRL funded an independent consultancy/strategy firm to assess each club and forced the club to post the results to their members and staff who ultimately elect and nominate their boards.
Given the NRL has been able to shed a lot of their overheads I think they should increase the grant to each club, above any increases to the salary cap, to incentivize more successful private business owners to invest. Make it a more attractive business model and attract better business. Note, Mike Cannon-Brookes effectively just bought a share of the Rabbitohs.
Likes and nudges: Equalising the NRL
Of course, this would require the board to have at least one proficient member to identify this. Next they would need enough share of the power to make changes.
Likes and nudges: Equalising the NRL
Another good read, Tony, cheers.
Agreed, Manly are definitely one of the contenders.
What excites me about Manly is that their is still so much improvement left in the team from their younger players and they still managed the Top 4 last year. Olakau’atu, Shuster, Saab, Harper all effectively playing their first full NRL season and can only get better. The likes of Koula and Tuipolotu waiting in the wings for a chance as well who could both be great. Then there is Paseka, Aloioa, Boyle and Keppie who all showed scope for further improvement. Paseka in particular is exciting, give him some more ball close to the line and he will sore 10+ tries next year. Try and stop him.
However, the one big question mark that remains for me is how they supplement the ‘T factor’ in games against the other Top 4 sides which were able to limit Tom’s effectiveness. They didn’t have too many answers last year against the likes of Penrith and Melbourne. If Fainu comes back that will help, Walker and Shuster may also play a role there, but DCE and Foran need to step up in those games and take the pressure of Tom. For them to go all the way, they will have to address that.
'Serious contenders': The factors that could carry Manly to the 2022 title
The Dragons are about to become the new Melbourne Storm with their own Big Three. Don’t you worry about that.
A draw full of possibilities
Most team’s quality changes from year to year too, often in an unpredictable fashion. Even picking from last year’s rankings can still be quite unbalanced. Travel would generally be reduced for all teams during this period – even Melbourne and the Warriors who may opt to camp in QLD for a period.
The set conferences will build those rivalries.
A draw full of possibilities
I would be concerned this knock out competition wouldn’t mean much to the clubs if it has no bearing on the NRL competition. Would be like the 9s where best players dont play.
A draw full of possibilities
Dolphins only joining in 2023, I imagine they will be looking at 2025 onwards for the 18th team.
Points or no points for a bye makes no difference.
A draw full of possibilities
This is why I think I Clune could be a boon for them. Could show Taylor the what it takes and the knights can start very cheap.
Why the Knights should tinker with Taylor but leave Brooks behind
Good points. The players you mentioned were also surrounded by some pretty handy other players though, not sure Taylor and even Brooks have had that.
Why the Knights should tinker with Taylor but leave Brooks behind
I would agree with you how he played lately. I think he has showed a bit more than Clifford has though. Both are more halfbacks than modern 5/8s.
Both Taylor and Brooks’ defense was awful, but doubt Johns can help either with that. Think Taylor has more upside and untapped potential than Brooks.
Why the Knights should tinker with Taylor but leave Brooks behind
Everyone in the game always says how well he knows the game as a halfback and the incite he has, so year, wouldn’t be a bad thing. Also why I reckon someone like Clune could help get the best out of Taylor or Brooks.
Why the Knights should tinker with Taylor but leave Brooks behind
if he got a full time contract offer, I am sure he could get out of the train and trial. I do agree with Clune though, just think Taylor has more upside.
Why the Knights should tinker with Taylor but leave Brooks behind
The Dragons would do well to pick him up if they aren’t able to push Hunt to 9. Would be a gun young spine – 9. Verrils, 7. Sullivan, 6. Amone, 1. Sloan.
The Titans and Parramatta will also be looking for 9s.
Sayonara Sam: What now for Verrills as Cheese joins the Chooks?
Blowouts should be less common under this model, even with the new rules.
A draw full of possibilities
1. That is only possible if they make the finals, same under current system. They can only play twice in regular season.
2. It isn’t, but that isn’t plausible with the current comp size. Still fairer than current draw.
3. Probably no points for the bye.
A draw full of possibilities
Yeah, could put a number of things on the table. Game timings, short turnarounds, road trips, teams to play at home or away. Starts getting a little complex though.
Draw, draft or draught beer? My NRL off-season ponderings