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Facts have muddied the good art of journalism...
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Every ship needs an anchor, and for Australian sporting codes it's the National Rugby League. A sport with a history so steeped in controversy,…
My main concern is how Maloney and Reynolds; both players who are good at game management and very capable of controlling a game, come together to execute a cohesive game plan.
None the less – within the tempest of Origin, I feel both players cool heads and compartmentalization could prove invaluable to the blues…Or kill us – who the hell knows?
James Maloney is a marked man
I’d argue it’s common sense.
If my family watched me roll over another player and land with great force on my neck like that, I would contact them too.
Kudos to the NRL in this case…
NRL have no problem with Norman on phone
We finally got somewhere with the fixture; If Dave is CEO Friday nights at Lang Park would be a permanent fixture.
Todd Greenberg for CEO and other highly critical analysis of NRL season 2016
I think the raiders have the talent to go all the way, but I’m not confident they have the ability to grind out a hard match. They raiders excel went they can put on points, even at the cost of points against them; I mean look at the magnificent game against Canterbury last season. In the modern game, it would best described as tactical nightmare but god it was a good watch!
But the tightly fought low scoring games is where I think they will come unstuck, they were more focused on gaining an insurmountable lead than maintaining a narrow one.
The raiders are similar to the Tigers in this regard, my favorite matches from last season were from either club. They were brimming with talent but just didn’t have the training and conditioning to be able to grind away a narrow margin game.
Todd Greenberg for CEO and other highly critical analysis of NRL season 2016
Pat, I’m going to be honest with you; I don’t think Todd is the man for the job.
The NRL is now filled with businessmen, not footballers. Todd operated very well with the Bulldogs, but he was surrounded
by men and women who were very well versed in the sport.
If Rugby League headquarters was filled with footballers, I’d concede he would be a great fit. But now I don’t think that is the case…
However, I think he is the best man we have right now. However, I would love to be proven wrong in this case!
Todd Greenberg for CEO and other highly critical analysis of NRL season 2016
This is a concern as it mirrors a trend among league teams where factions ranging from prolific ex players, to wealthy individual benefactors to large companies and local clubs all are trying to exert influence on the clubs for their own purposes rather than the good of the clubs. Between this, parramatta and West’s troubles; I’m growing very concerned about the very structures in which these clubs operate.
Manly-Warringah FC board critical of Geoff Toovey's sacking
As much as everyone is screaming to have Malthouse gone, my assessment is Carlton are playing their hand well. Let him stay the season and keep some form of goodwill, scout out a new coach, and look long and hard at the players and management for the rest of the season (my god, management better be taking a good hard look at themselves). At least they will earn some good draft picks, know what potential players and structure they can work with and not just resort to a band aid solution.
I dare say the pain of getting rid of Mick at this point in the season when he is only contracted till October will be too much for a club with already low morale. Why shore up the building now when they can wait 6 months and build a new one?
Mick Malthouse: I still have plenty of support at Carlton
My problem with all this is the media, and by extension the public, making ALOT of assumption’s on Alex’s behalf.
Of course he would be weighing up his options, and taking stock of what he would need to have a good quality of life. However, he has vastly improved and I have heard only one media outlet (The Newcastle Herald) make proper mention of the fact he is grateful for what the league, the club and the fan’s have done; and is reluctant to pursue legal action. I am very indifferent on the subject because like the everyone not in the inner circle, I do not have all the facts. However, I would support his choice what ever it is because it seem’s like he is making a well informed decision.
This should be an excellent situation for discussion to be had on the NRL’s insurance policies. Considering it’s a contact sport where any advantage is how imaginative someone’s interpretation of the rules are, then sadly I fear this won’t be the last we hear of such accidents.
NRL needs to do the numbers on McKinnon
I am so stoked someone pointed out ‘random vitriolic twitter comment to support argument’ problem
NRL needs to do the numbers on McKinnon
Farcical charge? I’m sorry, what? Sure he was pinned to the ground, but lashing with the feet is a feigned attempt to escape the tackle, it’s mostly to try and inflict pain on the other team. If you think kicking studded boots wildly is all in the manner of escaping the tackle and speeding the game, then sir I must say you are wrong.
If the player is pinned – sure it is most certainly to impede flow and quick play, but that or lashing the boots – you tell me which is in the spirit of the game?
Then you go on from defending a player who should not had been guilty for frankly kicking someone in the head, to a process of discussing how the game has been sanitised. Well funny that your argument for Cameron Smith being impeded from quick play – most of the recent sanitation laws; especially scrum rulings – have all come about trying to speed up the game.
For all clarity, I think the ruling was appropriate. Kicks too the face shouldn’t be tolerated but Smith is usually a clean player and deserves to play origin. But what he did was wrong and the Referee’s and Judiciary were right to err on the side of caution.
What was Cameron Smith guilty of?
You’d think that but considering we here Novocastrians lack the infrastructure to really support an AFL team, it is a hard sell..
Between an AFL team and a big bash team as possible future expansions, you’d imagine someone would at least start discussing an oval to be developed so we can at least have some NAB challenge games or Sheffield Shield games.
GWS taking giant steps of the AFL kind
GWS also seem seem to have been content with a strategy of learning from defeats is a large part of success. They have had a rough run but stayed the course. They have also publicly fostered team unity as a core goal, rather than being reliant on marquee signings. This contrasts well to GC, who have had quite an aggressive plan forward in trying achieve success quickly through churning through talent and staff, and with bigger signings.
Whilst GWS had been left to the slow burn, GC wanted to burn hard; and burn fast. I’ll admit I’m surprised at which strategy is bearing fruit first.
GWS taking giant steps of the AFL kind
I live in Newcastle, and support Canterbury, Jets and GWS. Alot of people here are either short sighted single code fans, or in the densely packed heart land of AFL. GWS get the fortune of drawing a long bow and firing into a very broad area (specifically, the REST of NSW). They may only pick up a couple of thousand members, but their odd’s of surviving are greatly improved.
i’m quite confident we will hear alot less about GWS relocating or merging than a few our less fortunate southern bretheren…
GWS taking giant steps of the AFL kind
Lets look at this pragmatically shall we.
At the Giants Vs Hawks game there were 13,556 spectators at the game. A game which no one really thought GWS would win, and an away game for Hawthorn in a city that apparently doesn’t want a second AFL team. (Hawthorn claimed around 3000 total members in NSW and QLD and 7000 in Tasmania from facts I could find).
Compare this with Hawthorns last game at Aurora Stadium against the Western Bulldogs. Home game for Hawks, in their ‘Second Home’ in a state screaming for an AFL team. That game pulled 15,559.
GWS was still being written off and hadn’t hit their stride and pulled only 2000 less for a home game than the defending defending champions.
I’m sorry but the problem for Tasmania is population density and distribution, plain and simple.
GWS taking giant steps of the AFL kind
Because there’s no point placing a team in a small saturated market. Why would the AFL invest in a Tasmanian when they are having static support in the state.
The league would had been compelled to Sydney for a few reasons. Huge potential market, access to Canberra, and a back end to grass roots investment. What better way to compel a following then placing a successful team in that market? And even then, a compelling argument could be made that most league viewers would only watch a game with a team they support, and maybe that weekends marque match. You would rather an active viewer of one game than a passive viewer of many. Trust me, the AFL would had done much greater due diligence on this than any of us…
GWS taking giant steps of the AFL kind
I have to disagree; to let the Western Force die is indeed a death blow to Rugby in Western Australia. Goodwill is something that is earned; and the hard work of the administrators, players, fans and even the Western Australia government has created the goodwill among fans. However, the ARU’s centrist, counter productive and indeed shady dealings have eroded much of that goodwill among players and fans of the game in WA. Grassroots players and fans are indeed what drives the game – a game that for so long shrugged off the professionalism that inevitably leads to moves like these.
With the NRL circling, and having indeed publicly stated their intentions – one would have to argue unless bold moves are made that Rugby would be decimated in the west. It is indeed hard to see how it would survive, when the fan base has been treated so poorly and others are willing to invest big money to get their attention. Am I saying that the NRL would simply waltz in and take over? Far from it; but this is indeed a war of attrition, and without an active and large presence in the market – it is indeed naive to think that the effect would be nothing but catastrophic. Kids want to play the sport that their heroes play, and without that prominence – Rugby will indeed be taking a massive step backward. I don’t see how it can afford to battle two juggernaughts of Australian sport, when they are already on the backfoot and arguably already neglecting their grassroots base in their nursery of the North Eastern states (The strength of Rugby in Sydney indeed has little or nothing to do with the ARU, but those who volunteer and put in on the weekends for the sport they love.)
I believe World Rugby would be receptive to Twiggys idea – as long as it didn’t stand on too many feet and over lap existing franchise areas. If they intend to expand to area’s under serviced by existing top level competitions; then there would be no reason why they wouldn’t be receptive. One could make the argument that this would be the perfect opportunity for Rugby to expand into the under serviced Indo-Pacific region. It all hangs on the sort of product Twiggy intends to create and just whom it targets.
Andrew Forrest should drop his court action and rebuild rugby in WA