Roar Guru
Joined February 2019
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Life Long Brisbane Rugby League supporter, first Redcliffe and now Broncos. also a mad cricket follower and casual everything else follower.
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To those few hardy souls who have been reading my series of articles on the greatest rugby league alphabet teams, I promised that I would finish by ranking my selected teams and crown the winner of the mythical Alphabet Cup.
Before we launch into deciding who wins the mythical rugby league Alphabet Cup, all of these alphabet teams need coaching.
While going through this process of compiling rugby league’s alphabet teams, there have been a number of players desperately unlucky to miss out on their respective squads – so I thought I would pick a Best of the Rest side.
And now in our search for the winner of the mythical Alphabet Cup we come to the last of the alphabet teams: the combined UXZ Super Group.
In our search for the winner of the Alphabet Cup we come to Team Y. There’s some speed out wide and a couple of representative forwards, but they are going to struggle.
Continuing our search for the winner of the Alphabet Cup, we come to the W team.
Continuing our look for the Alphabet Cup champion, we now come to the V Team.
Continuing our search for the winner of the Alphabet Cup, we come to the T team.
Continuing our search for the ultimate alphabet team, we now come to the S side.
Consider these two State of Origin halves: Nathan Cleary and Mitchell Pearce.
Continuing our search for the winner of the Alphabet Cup, we now come to the R Team.
Continuing our search for the ultimate alphabet team, we now come to the Q Team.
Continuing our search for the ultimate alphabet team, we turn now to the P Team.
And now to the O Team. This is another side where I had to delve into state players to fill the roster. It’s a bit of a crazy team – rough, tough, full of front-rowers and even pumped with a bit of artificial assistance in some areas.
I had to scratch around a bit for the N team. The backline is a mix of state other nationality players, but there is some speed and quality among them, and the forwards won’t take a backward step.
And now, after all the fanfare over Team L, we move onto the Team M.
Continuing our search for the ultimate alphabet team, we now have the K team. They have a fearsome forward pack, some clever halves and a bit of speed out wide, so this team may cause some problems.
And now to the much anticipated L team. This is one of the contenders and certainly one of the cleverest sides so far.
Continuing my series of great alphabet teams, we head on to the J team.
Continuing our list of teams to contest the Alphabet Cup, we head to the I team.
You’re not wrong about that.
Touch-ups or touch judge: Which had a bigger impact on the 2019 NRL premiership race?
I think what the Raiders are showing this year is that recruitment and retention are possible even more key. Of course how much input or control the head coach has over that I don’t know. What I do know is that the slow fall of the Broncos since 2006 was attributed to Bennett moving on, but in reality it was all about the late, great Cyril Connell who had a remarkable nose for getting the right young players for the club.
Ricky Stuart's success highlights the absurdity of disposable coaches
Last I checked he plays for Australia. It’s like saying we could beat England but couldn’t beat Stokes.
Or like Warner saying he had a great series, except for playing Stuart Broad
England win despite stunning Matt Wade ton
England can have the moral victory, while we will take the Ashes home, thanks very much
England win despite stunning Matt Wade ton
Lyon will be alright, must be hard as a spinner with your finger split open
England win despite stunning Matt Wade ton
At least he’ll get a full offseason this time. Let’s see what that brings.
Six talking points from Parramatta Eels vs Brisbane Broncos NRL elimination final
So Brisbane have:
– Boyd – past it and not a half anyway
– Milford – struggles to manage games, so needs a dominant halves partner
– Turpin- wholehearted but not a game manager and with no kicking game
– Dearden – Big wraps but was tentative in his first taste of top grade
– O’Sullivan – a fringe first grader
– Bird – injury prone, a runner not an organizer and no kicking game
But don’t panic!
Six talking points from Parramatta Eels vs Brisbane Broncos NRL elimination final
Well that was awful and there will plenty of justified calls to get rid of Brisbane’s entire spine plus coach, but I also want to congratulate the Eels. That was a top shelf display of aggressive, attacking footy. I was torn between turning off to stop the carnage but also enjoying the show.
Unb-Eel-ievable! Parramatta blow away Broncos 58-0
I guess that applies to all Sydney teams that finished below them as well? Tigers? Panthers? Dragons?
Get back to me when Brisbane win a spoon, ever
Unb-Eel-ievable! Parramatta blow away Broncos 58-0
Way to completely miss the point
Have Australia really been the better team in this Ashes?
Unlike others I thought our bowl first decision was ok after the bowlers got England for less than 300 on a good batting pitch.
It was out batsmen who turned it into a bad decision by being rolled for under 250 on day 2 when they were enjoying the best batting conditions of the match.
Flat Australia blunted by Denly and Stokes
Our effort retaining the Ashes away is even better considering we have not got the luck with LBW calls at all this series. Contrast the umpire giving Wade out to a swerving inswingwer just shaving the outside of leg, vs Marsh bowling stump to stump and being denied
Flat Australia blunted by Denly and Stokes
You know we’ve just retained the Ashes away right. The way some are going on you’d think we had lost 5-0.
Are the great eras in Australian Test cricket over for good?
The Ashes are retained do I don’t really care. It’s a mirror of 2009 where Australia dominated the series averages but somehow lost the series.
I think many people are downplaying the achievement of winning away. It’s a pretty rare and difficult thing to do. This team has achieved something that Ponting and Clarke’s teams could not.
For comparison England have taken the Ashes in Australia once in over 30 years. Winning away is not easy.
Have Australia really been the better team in this Ashes?
The only player to consistently average above 40 year I. Year out at Shield level is Joe Burns. Others tend to go up and down.
Humble pie all 'round as Mitch Marsh rips through England
The other sad thing about this was Marsh’s interview after the day where he said that most of Australia hates him.
That’s simply not true and I hope somebody talks to him about it. Nobody blames Marsh for doing his best and getting picked. He’s reportedly a good bloke and I’m sure everyone wishes him well.
Humble pie all 'round as Mitch Marsh rips through England
Yes well done to Mitch Marsh. I read he was told to attack with the ball rather than play a holding role and that suited him. I’m not certain but I believe he’s bowled well at this ground before?
Understandably we were just a bit off the intensity levels of the previous tests. Who knew Siddle would lose his radar?
The issue for mine is Lyon. He’s obviously not fit.
Here’s to a quick wrap up tomorrow and some of our lesser batsmen stepping up .
Humble pie all 'round as Mitch Marsh rips through England
Thanks Tim, hard to argue with any of that. I think the Rabbitohs have no hope, but i give the Raiders a punchers chance.
I have no grounds to back that up, but there is just something about the Raiders this year, a vibe if you will. And if Munster is starting to struggle physically after a long season then it evens the card a little. And the Raiders are the only side in the comp that can even come close to matching the Storm’s game management skills out of dummy half. And then there is the Raiders’ stripping skills. I just smell a glimmer of a possibility that there might be a snowball’s chance of a miracle.
Qualifying finals: The real contenders (and the real pretenders)
Following on from this, let’s say her output would be 20% of normal in a men’s game. she could still average over 40! Smith and Perry, two absolute freaks. Her bowling would be miltary medium at best in the men’s game, but she can nibble it around and is accurate, so in England she’d probably go ok as a fifth bowler.
What I’d really love is for Perry and Lanning to play a couple of state men’s games. Obviously you can’t compromise the integrity of the shield for an experiment, but some of the Australia XI games against touring teams would be fun.
Dropping Head for Marsh was a mistake
Except that you have to stop ever 22 yards to wipe the windscreen with a cloth.
Piece of toast discovered bearing divine image of Steve Smith
Burns and Patterson are the stand outs for mine.
Re Patterson since when does starting your test career with a century end with you overlooked for a series of players who average under 40 even at state level? Surely he isn’t going to end his test career as a trivia question?
Re Burns, he’s. Even dropped 5 times in 16 tests and still averages over 40 with 4 hundreds. And he averages over 40 opening at the Gabba. His pedigree compared to Bancroft and Harris is better, so why is he always two tests from the Axe?
I wouldn’t be a Test selector for quids