Tedesco stars as Kangaroos topple Tonga in historical match
Australia have answered their critics with a hard-fought 34-16 win over a determined Tonga outfit at Mt Smart Stadium.
Andrew Jackson
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One of those irritating people that consistently rants to anyone about rugby league despite the fact that they do not care.
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Kangaroos vs Tonga: International rugby league live scores, blog
In their first-ever clash with Australia, will Tonga prove themselves worthy of a tier-one status or will the challenge prove too difficult? Join The Roar for live scores and a blog of the match, starting at 5:45pm (AEST).
Kiwis pip Kangaroos 26-24 in Test thriller
The Kiwis have caused a massive boilover, stunning the fast-finishing Kangaroos 26-24 at Mt Smart Stadium on Saturday night.
Kiwis vs Kangaroos: Trans-Tasman Test live scores, blog
A changing of guard will take place on Saturday afternoon when the Kiwis and Kangaroos battle in a test match at Mt Smart Stadium. Join The Roar for live scores and a blog of the match, starting at 5:45pm (AEST).
Meet the Parramatta tragic who travelled over 19,000 kilometres to every Eels game in 2018
2018 – a year that opened with so much promise yet was over in a matter of moments for the Parramatta Eels.
2018 NRL Grand Final player ratings: Melbourne Storm
A million-dollar man flopped and a champion of the game left ANZ Stadium disappointed as the Melbourne Storm collapsed to a 21-6 defeat at the hands of the Sydney Roosters. These are my player ratings for Craig Bellamy’s men from Sunday night’s decider.
NRL Grand Final 2018 live scores, blog: Sydney Roosters vs Melbourne Storm
Either the Sydney Roosters or Melbourne Storm have featured in 15 of the past 20 NRL Grand Finals and for the first time in history, the two most successful clubs of the modern era meet in a battle for the top prize. Join The Roar for live scores and a blog of the decider, starting […]
Clive Churchill Medal 2018 preview and prediction
While everyone may have their opinions as to who will win Sunday night’s decider between the Sydney Roosters and Melbourne Storm, narrowing down the 34 finalists to one Clive Churchill winner is a much tougher prospect.
Call Nathan Cleary overrated all you want, he's still worth every cent
Is Nathan Cleary overrated? Perhaps. But does that mean the Panthers shouldn’t have locked him up long term? Of course not.
Dolphins claim Queensland Cup in seesawing affair
The Redcliffe Dolphins have secured the Queensland Cup with a hard-fought 36-22 win over a brave Easts Tigers outfit at Suncorp Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Queensland Cup Grand Final live scores, blog: Redcliffe Dolphins vs Easts Tigers
The Queensland Cup goes on the line on Sunday afternoon when the Redcliffe Dolphins and Easts Tigers battle it out in the grand final. Join The Roar for lives scores and a blog of the match, starting at 3pm (AEST).
Cronk injured as Sydney sink Souths to join Storm in grand final
The Sydney Roosters have held South Sydney tryless 12-4 on Saturday night at Allianz Stadium to book a grand final showdown with the Melbourne Storm next Sunday night.
Sydney Roosters vs South Sydney Rabbitohs: NRL Finals live scores, blog
Another chapter will be added to rugby league’s oldest rivalry on Saturday night when the Sydney Roosters and South Sydney Rabbitohs battle it out for a spot in the 2018 NRL Grand Final. Join The Roar for live scores and a blog of the match, starting at 7:40pm (AEST).
Will the Panthers ever be true premiership contenders?
Cast your mind back to 2014. Ivan Cleary’s band of young misfits and unwanted journeymen had just fallen 18-12 to Canterbury in the preliminary finals.
Reynolds snatches preliminary final berth for Souths
Three Adam Reynolds field goals have seen the Rabbitohs sink the Dragons 13-12 in an absolute classic at ANZ Stadium in front of over 49,000 fans.
South Sydney Rabbitohs vs St George Illawarra Dragons: NRL finals highlights, live scores, blog
A preliminary final berth awaits as the South Sydney Rabbitohs look to put last week’s one-point loss behind them against the rejuvenated St George Illawarra Dragons. Join The Roar for live scores and a blog of the match, starting at 7:40pm (AEST).
Sims City: Tariq hat-trick breaks Brisbane hearts
The St George Illawarra Dragons have stunned the Brisbane Broncos at Suncorp Stadium, racing away 30-point winners and overcome a host of injuries to key players including five-eighth Gareth Widdop.
Brisbane Broncos vs St George Illawarra Dragons: NRL Finals live scores, blog
After surging into the finals off the back of three-straight wins, the Brisbane Broncos will look to keep their premiership hopes alive in a do-or-die clash with the heavily criticised St George Illawarra Dragons. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage from 4:10pm (AEST).
Mad Monday has a place in our game, trashy journalists don't
It’s just another manic Monday. Or for some so-called ‘journalists’, another chance to bring our game into the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.
NRL finals: Tomorrow's historic premiership storylines today
The 2018 finals series may shape as the closest in recent history but there is far more to it than that.
The Gold Coast are a tricky one. As you’ve said, defence has always been the main concern. While their squad is good, good simply isn’t enough given the talent in other squads right now. Apart from a couple of players like Brimson, who could be stars, I look at a lot of the Gold Coast’s players as just alright. Jai Arrow, Jarrod Wallace – they are hard workers and great to have up front. Ryan James likewise. Kevin Proctor is dependable. Shannan Boyd is joining, he’s decent. Outside of that, their bench is a tad underdeveloped. Their outside backs had similar issues in that they were usually a bunch of players recruited from different clubs who were fringe first graders. Tyrone Peachey is a great signing there. Ryley Jacks and Ash Taylor is a promising combo in the halves but there will still be some teething issues there.
Can the Titans make the eight next year? Personally, I don’t think so, just comparing their squad to a number of others who will be in the hunt for a top-eight spot. Defence is key. They leaked far too many points last year.
No more excuses for the Gold Coast Titans
I don’t necessarily agree that poaching Ivan was unprofessional.
It was Ivan’s choice – he clearly wanted to go to Penrith otherwise he would’ve turned it down. And as I said, Dave O’Neill led the charge for Ivan not Gould. Also, in the end, Penrith have every right to approach Cleary for 2021. Sure it may be sneaky but there’s nothing stopping them. I admit that keeping Cleary junior is probably a factor here but not the sole one. Ivan wouldn’t have been approached solely for that purpose if they didn’t see other benefits in him coaching.
If Ivan Cleary fails, Phil Gould must be sacked
Missed tackles, errors, penalties have definitely been an issue for a while… maybe Ivan’s defence-orientated coaching is what they need? More than anything, this is a team that could win the title next year easily but could just as easily miss the eight. They have a lot of players who are just too inconsistent. Particularly their forward pack, who started the year strong but got particularly lazy in defence by the end of the year.
If Ivan Cleary fails, Phil Gould must be sacked
While I understand where you are coming from Adam, I feel like a lot of people don’t like Gould as a person and therefore bag out his role at Penrith by association.
The truth of the matter is that they would not be where they are today without him. There was no five-year plan to win a premiership. The five-year plan was to rebuild the club into a successful side, which I think he has done. They’ve made the finals four times in the past five years. Increased their junior representation in first grade from 20% to 80%.
Of course, I agree – there are no excuses anymore. Gould can’t rely on those accolades alone and the next step is certainly a title.
Also, Gould wasn’t the one who went after Ivan, it was driven by the board, particularly Dave O’Neill, who was a close relationship with Cleary. So it wasn’t as if Gould went out of his way to poach Ivan, rather, by the looks of things, he simply just supported the board’s decision.
If Ivan Cleary fails, Phil Gould must be sacked
Sorry Jeffrey, of course there were some who weren’t keen on Cleary, but the majority I saw on social media were singing his praises. I understand though – I hate being grouped in sometimes with other supporters on topics I don’t agree with.
Both parties have come out of it quite well – I really don’t know what to expect with Cleary and I am really not sure how Penrith will go next year because of it. They have a top-four quality roster but could just as easily crumble if this Cleary reunion doesn’t go as planned.
Panthers officially announce Ivan Cleary will coach from 2019
I reckon the atmosphere at Suncorp for Magic Round could be far better – it depends what price tickets are for all games. If it’s realistic, then why not stay for all games and make a weekend out of it?
The matches you must watch in 2019
Tigers fans in March salivating over the thought of Nathan and Ivan together at the club.
Tigers fans in October after Nathan re-signs and Ivan leaves – “Nathan is overrated and Ivan was average.”
Love it.
Panthers officially announce Ivan Cleary will coach from 2019
Great piece Joe – the scenes of the avalanche of red as you call it were a highlight, as was the singing – it was like an EPL game or something similar.
In defeat, Tonga scored a huge victory for international rugby league
Great series Scotty! Disagreements ensued as expected but no decisions you made were absolute gobsmacking – top job on such a tough task. Agree with many that a couple of the South Sydney players could drop off the list next year. I get the sense they need to find another dimension next year to finish in the top four again as they were just too predictable come the end of the finals series. Tedesco slowly warmed to the occasion this year and he has really improved his passing game, particularly on sweeping plays with quick, short balls to Manu or Mitchell.
The top 50 NRL players of 2018: 10-1
Cheers PNG. I’m sick of the coaching merry go round personally – I just want some actual confirmation from clubs so we can move on! I don’t comment on anything otherwise because it seems someone different is linked to Manly every day.
Meet the Parramatta tragic who travelled over 19,000 kilometres to every Eels game in 2018
He’s certainly a passionate man TB – love the picture you paint though!
Meet the Parramatta tragic who travelled over 19,000 kilometres to every Eels game in 2018
Love your work AJ – honorable mention to what if Penrith actually played for the first 70 minutes of games – a question us Panthers fans will be asking all off-season.
Presenting the 2018 Crises awards
Of course, very true – definitely don’t deny that. Wasn’t trying to imply that all fans should strive to do exactly what he does. It is his loyalty they should strive to have, be it by making sure they watch or listen to every game when possible. Although Troy himself isn’t drowning in money and works hard to be able to go to each and every game so he still deserves credit.
Meet the Parramatta tragic who travelled over 19,000 kilometres to every Eels game in 2018
Cheers Paul. They’ll definitely need their pack to stand up along with Corey Norman on an individual level if he does choose to stay. The return to the new stadium should be a much-needed boost, but I still think they’ll be finishing in the bottom four, possibly scraping into 11th-12th.
Meet the Parramatta tragic who travelled over 19,000 kilometres to every Eels game in 2018
Probably good for non-Roosters fans that the Tricolours won tonight. If they didn’t, they’d surely be winning the comp next year given the pressure on them to finally deliver. Can’t see Melbourne going all the way next year without Slater. Easts could do it again but the premiers curse continues to hold strong and it’ll be interesting to see if (minus Ferguson) they can maintain the rage.
Five years on, the Roosters finally meet their expectations
An interesting point few have discussed in the lead-up to this year’s decider is the fact that at the age of 20, in his second season of first grade, Curtis Scott could win his second premiership. Many players have to wait years so it’s interesting to see how young players fare when they have achieved so much so early in their careers at club level.
I understand people being upset, but I appreciate your honesty Tim as a lot of people feel the same way. Still pumped for the GF of course but like many people, I’m just jealous of both these teams being so successful.
The NRL grand final has no peoples' champion because they both suck
Highly doubt it. Those around Allianz Stadium are already likely Roosters supporters, if they wanted to support a club and become a member, they would be members of them. Manly playing three games there won’t suddenly see people become Manly fans. It’s not like it’s an area with few NRL fans who have had exposure to the game. It will only detract fans from spending their hard-earned to travel to a home game for no reason.
I can’t see any NRL club getting on board with this. If you want to grow membership numbers, take the game to regional areas or states where there isn’t as much exposure. That is already happening and Penrith, for example, have built a solid base in Bathurst with a league’s club and a decent supporter base. If they were to take a game to Allianz, I doubt one person would sign up because of it.
All of the NRL's problems - and how to solve them
Speaking from an NRL perspective, by combining Parramatta with Penrith, Souths with Sydney etc. you are taking away some of the game’s best rivalries and in the case of Western Sydney, where there is so much junior development, it will mean there is even less chance for up-and-coming stars to break through.
Personally, I am for expanding rather than merging or condensing.
Which teams deserve the axe?
You speak about fixing membership numbers yet unnecessarily take away games from their home ground? This will only further deter people from signing up for memberships. Manly fans barely go to Brookvale so I can’t see them travelling to Allianz and besides, local derbies are far better at teams’ respective home grounds. Taking three Parramatta games to Liverpool doesn’t make any sense either, they should play all their games out of WSS – it was built for that purpose.
All of the NRL's problems - and how to solve them
I think he was referring to Sam Kasiano Nat but I’m not sure why it was worth picking up on.
Dolphins claim Queensland Cup in seesawing affair
I have thought Cleary could work at hooker for the qualities he has but halfback is definitely his best position. His game management wasn’t as apparent this year because Maloney took over – whether he is worth the risk will be more obvious when he goes and Cleary is left as the main organising half.
Call Nathan Cleary overrated all you want, he's still worth every cent
Cleary isn’t a speedster per say but not all halfbacks outside of Shaun Johnson, for example, are. I have seen him burst through the middle of the field with a decent amount of pace though. He could be a dangerous runner of the ball, he just needs to back himself more and that’ll come perhaps when Maloney goes.
Call Nathan Cleary overrated all you want, he's still worth every cent
Of course there is always that risk – I definitely agree – you always want players to be wanting to do their best and not feeling like they can ease off because they are earning ‘x’ amount of dollars and have a long-term contract. But at the same time, if they don’t take that risk, another club would’ve and I think they would have regretted. It’ll be interesting to see how he goes but Nathan doesn’t strike me as the type of player who’d do that. He seems driven and grateful for everything he gets. We’ll have to see.
Call Nathan Cleary overrated all you want, he's still worth every cent
Apologies Ross – thought I heard them say it was Slyney in the call. Will amend now!
Dolphins claim Queensland Cup in seesawing affair
That is true Adam – they have the tendency of standing up against some of the better teams but often just fall short, last year due a lack of experience in their spine.
No more excuses for the Gold Coast Titans