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Joined April 2019
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Will Dolphins star recruit Anthony Milford ever recapture the form that established him as one of the NRL’s leading men? After kicking off his…
The term ‘breakaway rebel competition’ is synonymous with rugby league, somehow permanently ingrained in the DNA of the code since its initial split from the 15-a-side code in 1895.
A few weeks ago AMD wrote a great article about the early history of determining the Sydney competition premiers, titled A forfeit, challengers and…
With the on-field action taking a back seat during the summer months, the headlines of the rugby league off-season are usually taken up with…
With limited opportunity for international rugby league to be played before next year’s World Cup, the Exiles look set to be brought back from…
The domestic season in the southern hemisphere might be done and dusted, but we're only just getting to the business end of what has…
In Round 3, the NRL boldly introduced changes to how ruck infringements are policed and reduced the number of on-field referees from two to…
After a weekend of runaway victories last week, Round 6 saw three matches decided by two points or less, the first extra-time finish of…
Round 5 of the English Super League saw four of the six matches decided by 20 points or more, with Leeds, St Helens and…
The World Club Challenge might have taken centre stage, but there was plenty of other rugby league action in the old dart over the…
Round 3 saw heavyweights Wigan and Saints return to form as a couple of upstarts from the early rounds were cut down to size,…
As the NRL sides toil away over the Aussie summer preseason the English Super League is already back in full swing. There was plenty…
It’s Round 24 of the A-League and with the whirlwind of the finals that is about to descend on the fortuitous top six, a…
It’s a massive wasted opportunity but based on talent alone the window is definitely still open. Cobbo to centre and Oates (provided he stays) on the wing is still a formidable backline, and don’t be surprised to see Sailor and Mariner come on in leaps in ’24. Replacing Flegler will be a trickier prospect but he’s still behind Haas and Carrigan for impact up front, Kevvie might have to open the purse strings to add a bit more size there. So the talent’s still pretty much there, the bigger question is whether the Broncos can put the psychological scars from last night behind them
Grand Final player ratings - Brisbane Broncos: Nobody better than Ezra but hot-and-cold stars prove costly
Agreed, I’d take the 40 point hiding over that any day
Cleary's immortal display inspires Panthers to pull off record comeback win for three-peat and break Broncos hearts
That’s the big question PM, after 2015 the Broncos (and Ben Hunt) just couldn’t shake the heartbreak from that loss and were never the same team, it’s probably taken them until this year to fully recover as a club. If you look at other clubs like Balmain ’89 and Dragons ’99 who shuddered similar heartbreak they struggled to bounce back the following season. Flegler, Farnworth and Palasia will be big losses too, but if nothing else you couldn’t have anyone better than Reynolds to guide the club through it all
Cleary's immortal display inspires Panthers to pull off record comeback win for three-peat and break Broncos hearts
I’d put it down to the 40 per cent completion rate early on which put them in that position, just can’t do that against Penrith
Cleary's immortal display inspires Panthers to pull off record comeback win for three-peat and break Broncos hearts
I’m not against referees addressing players by number but whether or not it prevents more controversies is questionable. I’m reading Ian Head’s excellent Great Grand Final heist on the ’69 Souths v Balmain final and even with an aloof stickler for the rules in Keith Page officiating proceedings, there was still no shortage of controversy that’s still spoken about to this day. I’d like to see the 10 metre penalties enforced more often for descent, repeat offenders complete a referees course and have to officiate at a junior league match – maybe then they’d get a bit of an idea about the type of pressure that referees are put under
Semi-final Talking Points: Anxiety high for prelims, Warriors surging, Storm need Hughes for Panthers mission
There’s definitely reason for optimism if you’re a Broncs fan. The Storm have been unusually leaky in defence conceding upwards of 19 ppg – they haven’t had a worse defensive showing since 2014 – coming up against the best attacking side in the league. The Storm might’ve had 2 wins against Brisbane this season but neither was against a full-strength Broncos side – this game will be the real deal. I have a feeling last week was the loss we had to have to ground a few of the boys after 7 wins on the trot. Kevvie will no doubt be getting them up for Friday
NRL Finals week 1 preview talking points: Capacity controversy, everyone’s the underdog … It’s finals time!
There was a time there in around 2018 when Bennett (unfairly) seemed to be on the nose with a lot of punters and was within the sights of a lot of beat-up journalism. Glad he’s had the success he’s had with Souths, Dolphins and QLD in recent years to silence those doubters and he can see out the final years of his illustrious career on his terms
Bennett in high demand as multiple NRL expansion clubs line up to offer him inaugural coaching job
I’d be happier if my team just handed over the ball close to the opponents line on the sixth tackle
Forty Twenty surprised more teams haven’t wisened up to this. It’s an unfortunate result of the 7 tackle rule that teams are now punished for attempting enterprising attacking kicks. What’s more entertaining? Trying a grubber into your opponent’s own-goal on the last, or simply dying with the ball?
ANALYSIS: Reece Lightning strikes Raiders, Kotoni elbows Rapana and chaos reigns in Canberra
We have a pretty clear rule for knock-ons where if a team doesn’t gain a clear advantage then it’s called back for a scrum so it’s strange that the same is only sometimes applied for 6 agains. I’d also like to see a mechanism where teams can still have a kick at goal after a six again if they so choose. 6-again is a good idea in principle but still some flaws that PVL and co need to work on
ANALYSIS: Reece Lightning strikes Raiders, Kotoni elbows Rapana and chaos reigns in Canberra
NRL needs to sort out what happens if a team overturns the ball straight after receiving a 6 again. Canberra twice awarded the penalty after losing possession, while Billy Walters had the ball stripped and no penalty given. There’s a serious lack of consistency with the rule
ANALYSIS: Reece Lightning strikes Raiders, Kotoni elbows Rapana and chaos reigns in Canberra
Personally I think the Rusty v Hugh angle is a piece of marketing stupendousness. The burning question remains as to which celebrities should represent the Donkies and the Bondi-based Chooks. The obvious choice is Darren Hayes from Savage Garden vs Larry Emdur from the Price is Right, or Dazza vs Lazza, opening up some truly scintillating opportunities for the halftime spectacle. Surely the Price is Right halftime show can get its own set of options on Ladbrokes opening up more and more unmissable ways to get on the punt. The Americans will be pinching themselves with excitement
NRL News: Walker makes Roosters return, Luai could dodge agent to sign Panthers extension, Rusty waiting on NRL call
Deserves credit for his recruitments, not just Reynolds and Capewell, but also less credited players like Taupau, Jensen, Sailor, Billy Walters, Smoothy and Houter who have added a lot of depth to the squad, while knowing when to move guys like Lodge and TPJ on
ANALYSIS: Ref tackles, Magic Mam, Herbie goes bananas - and the Broncos all but secure a top two spot
Is the Kev can’t coach cliche finally dead, buried cremated? I really hope so, few have had to cop as many questioning his coaching credentials as he has, Kevvie deserves all the credit that he gets
ANALYSIS: Ref tackles, Magic Mam, Herbie goes bananas - and the Broncos all but secure a top two spot
Kotoni has been solid but we’re still not getting the best out of him. Herbie goes looking for the ball, Staggs usually waits for Reynolds/Walsh to put him into space. Needs to go and get his hands dirty a bit more. Oates has been a big out most of the year and will be a welcome inclusion come finals time
ANALYSIS: Ref tackles, Magic Mam, Herbie goes bananas - and the Broncos all but secure a top two spot
I think they’ll stick Cobbo in the centres too, you’ve then got Mariner, Arthurs and Sailor to battle it out for the wing spot, not bad depth in the squad
ANALYSIS: Ref tackles, Magic Mam, Herbie goes bananas - and the Broncos all but secure a top two spot
Billy Walters’ running game has come along and he’s looking more of a threat out of dummy half, while Tyson Smoothy has also been effective coming on in the last couple of games and able to put in a handy kick when needed as well, which gives him an edge over Paix
ANALYSIS: Ref tackles, Magic Mam, Herbie goes bananas - and the Broncos all but secure a top two spot
Agree Rellum, some flashes of brilliance against Souths can’t mask the fact they made a lot of basic errors for the first 60 minutes
Round 21 Talking Points: Broncos loom as Panthers’ main threat, Souths in danger zone, Holmes binning 'massive over-reaction'
Very good point – playing to 592 is inviting a draw even in a test that’s likely to run for 5 days. Playing to 592 in a likely rain-affected test is boneheaded at best, yet very little mention/criticism of England’s captaincy
UK View: 'Timid, petrified' Aussies escape in 'galling travesty' - as Pommy Pauline Hanson's hypocrisy exposed
The version I’ve read is that Wayne wanted Locky to take the kick but Locky wasn’t too interested because he felt a draw was enough so it went to Lote who subsequently put it wide (Locky having also been robbed of a pretty legit try by the video ref). It’s a shame because there’s a bit of an asterisk now about those ’99 and ’02 Origin ‘retains’
Who are the greatest Origin coaches?
Perth Jets has plenty of merit but if we’re being fair dinkum about getting the foundation clubs back in the NRL surely it’s the Glebe Dirty Reds whose fans have been waiting 94 long years to get back into the big league that should be finally relocated. The Western Dirty Reds has a certain ring to it
History, nostalgia and passion: Why NRL should ensure Jets comeback gets off the ground in Perth
Yes yes of course, never mind all the extra travel required over the 10 of the other clubs and travelling to Sydney for prelims despite being minor premiers. May as well just put all the Broncs premierships as asterisk years
Round 19 Talking Points: No dead rubber in Origin with all the pressure on Blues, tough luck of the draw for Eels, Bunnies
Hard to feel sorry for Sydney clubs about losing 4-5 players for Origin. Hate to think how many premierships the Broncs have lost out on over the years because of Origin representation. 2003 case in point -Brisbane wins first 11 from 14, gets 12 players selected for Origin, and then go on an 8 game losing streak post-Origin. If they’re good enough Eels and Souths should find a way to bounce back
Round 19 Talking Points: No dead rubber in Origin with all the pressure on Blues, tough luck of the draw for Eels, Bunnies
Staggs is a great centre but I still don’t think we’ve seen him back to his pre-injury 2020 best. At times he’s struggled to inject himself into games and Kevvie still hasn’t quite figured out how to make the most out of his talents. Leaving Staggs out definitely won’t be remembered as Freddy’s worst selection call
Blues Origin III team: Fittler going down swinging the axe as besieged coach chops and changes in bid to save his skin
If Cody puts his mind to it he might just be able to fill that void
Blues Origin III team: Fittler going down swinging the axe as besieged coach chops and changes in bid to save his skin
Yeah he’s been extended for another season
Grand Final player ratings - Brisbane Broncos: Nobody better than Ezra but hot-and-cold stars prove costly