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My name is Peter Davies. I was born in St.George Hospital.
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Rugby league is the greatest game of all - but how can we make it even greater? The following rule changes would improve the…
After last Sunday's game between the Dragons and the Storm, I wrote on The Roar's live coverage that I thought Tyrell Fuimaono was hard…
There has been an anomaly in the allocation of NRL competition points since the introduction of the golden-point win. New game results were added…
Aussie Rules was played in Sydney well before League began in 1908. League has become the biggest, but the four main football codes are well supported. The Australian Rugby team had a dismal world cup. It’s a pity all the AF states don’t provide any help.
'Twiggy' Forrest branching out into NRL with mammoth deal to boost Dragons rebuild
I lived in Adelaide for a year last century and they didn’t have any Sydney Rugby League scores so I had to phone home to see how Saints were going. They had VFL and English Soccer but no RL or RU.
Then one day there was a Sydney Rugby League story, but it was propaganda. They reported that a Manly and Wests game was abandoned when the crowd rioted forcing the referee to call the game off.
'Twiggy' Forrest branching out into NRL with mammoth deal to boost Dragons rebuild
I haven’t heard of a scrum after every tackle but what it reminds me of is the creeping barrage that helped to persuade the English to end unlimited tackles. Leading teams would close shop because it gave the team in possession the option to completely monopolize possession, simply by the dummy half not passing or kicking. Run from dummy-half, play-the-ball, run from dummy-half, play-the-ball, run from dummy-half etc. etc. etc.
Forward pack dominance: A look back at John Sattler and his Cardinal and Myrtle wrecking crew in the 1960-70s
That’s a plausible outcome of a 4-tackle handover but the result of the 4-tackle scrum was a game saturated with scrums and scrum penalties. Scrums were repacked for various reasons and together with the time lost while the kicker prepared to kick there was less time for playing the game. Another big difference was the field goal went from never used to a necessary skill.
From my point of view scrums were an unpleasant aspect of the game, winning possession for another set. Kicking was frowned upon if it gave up possession, so teams did kick for touch. I didn’t like playing opposite a prop who was greater in weight by 60% but scrummaging was important.
Forward pack dominance: A look back at John Sattler and his Cardinal and Myrtle wrecking crew in the 1960-70s
Comparing results can be misleading.
Cleary is playing in the best team of the NRL period. They have beaten some very strong clubs (Souths, Melbourne, Brisbane) and the comeback this year was amazing. I thought they would come back until the last try when I thought it’s all over now.
Who is the greatest Penrith Panther of all time?
Yes, he did in 1967 when Balmain beat Souths 11 – 7. There would not be many coaches who did that, and I don’t have the data to check.
Both Balmain and St.George played in many 2nd grade grand finals. In 1984 Balmain who had won 15 premierships were playing St.George who had been runner-up 15 times. Naturally, Balmain beat St.George 10-8.
Forward pack dominance: A look back at John Sattler and his Cardinal and Myrtle wrecking crew in the 1960-70s
I didn’t know Artie would be suspended when I made that prediction, but I don’t think it would have changed my mind.
It was understandable that Souths were hot favourites because they had a pack full of Kangaroos and Balmain had lost theirs.
The semi-final win was based on a strong defence that was necessary to beat Souths. In the grand final they did even better and did not allow one try although they did seem to go down for quite a few breathers.
Forward pack dominance: A look back at John Sattler and his Cardinal and Myrtle wrecking crew in the 1960-70s
I saw some of the Souths players at a Neil Diamond concert in 1992. They were all wearing their floral shirts that were popular back in the early seventies.
Forward pack dominance: A look back at John Sattler and his Cardinal and Myrtle wrecking crew in the 1960-70s
Leo Nosworthy was my mum’s cousin. He played for Balmain from 1948-1950 playing in the finals & 1952. I didn’t know this when I was cheering for them in the 1969 grand final.
Forward pack dominance: A look back at John Sattler and his Cardinal and Myrtle wrecking crew in the 1960-70s
Souths were the top team for five years with a team full of Kangaroos.
On the French leg of the 1970 Kangaroo tour Australia played a team containing nine Souths players.
Forward pack dominance: A look back at John Sattler and his Cardinal and Myrtle wrecking crew in the 1960-70s
Great historical piece Tony.
In 1967 the game adopted 4-tackle rule from American Football. English boss Bill Fallowfield proposed American Football’s four downs followed by a turnover. The New Zealand delegates amended this to have a scrum on the fourth tackle and Rugby League became a game of scrums and scrum penalties. The move to the modern game was postponed because of the NZ desire to keep a battle for possession an important part of the game.
Forward pack dominance: A look back at John Sattler and his Cardinal and Myrtle wrecking crew in the 1960-70s
Billy wouldn’t hit a mate with a head high tackle, but Lurch would and did when he hit Smith high. I was close enough to see Smith break his arm on Lurch’s head.
Forward pack dominance: A look back at John Sattler and his Cardinal and Myrtle wrecking crew in the 1960-70s
Billy Smith formed a bond with John O’Neill when they played for Australia together. He was livid when O’Neill hit him with a head high tackle in a club match and couldn’t control himself whenever he saw O’Neill. I was at the SCG near the Paddington corner and saw Billy break his arm of Lurch’s head.
Forward pack dominance: A look back at John Sattler and his Cardinal and Myrtle wrecking crew in the 1960-70s
The problem with comparing packs from different periods is that the rules of the game change with time. The 1967 rule changes were major. The introduction of the 4-tackle rule was going to have a handover on the fourth tackle, but the Kiwis suggested a scrum go down on the 4th tackle. The ARL agreed and it became a game of scrums and scrum penalties. It could’ve been a great running, passing and kicking game that it is today.
Forward pack dominance: A look back at John Sattler and his Cardinal and Myrtle wrecking crew in the 1960-70s
Balmain was deserved premiers in 1969.
Souths were minor premiers with 36 points. Balmain were next on 34 points.
St.George and Manly were 3rd & 4th on 28 points.
Balmain won the round 1 game 16-7.
Souths won the round 12 game 22-5.
Souths won the major semi-final 14-13. After that game we all agreed Balmain were a good chance in the grand final. Balmain had the wood on Manly.
Souths didn’t have Col Pearce to provide them with scrum penalties within kicking distance and the Balmain defence was not broken once.
Forward pack dominance: A look back at John Sattler and his Cardinal and Myrtle wrecking crew in the 1960-70s
I grew up in the St.George Shire and played Rugby League, Aussie Rules and Rugby Union. The captain of the St.George and Australian Soccer team came to our primary school to talk us out of our obsession with the League.
You miss out on so much when one code has a stranglehold on the market.
It would’ve been good to have a few of those big Australian Football players in the RU World Cup.
A code war to the death: Why must one national sports global expansion come at the expense of another?
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A code war to the death: Why must one national sports global expansion come at the expense of another?
The WARL isn’t big, but it would grow if they had a team in the NRL.
RL is a rugged game that requires speed and strength. Soccer is the game that has the most players and understandably the most participants. There is also RU a game played all over the world. NSW and Qld supply most of these sports with their Australian representatives while the southern shore states can only play with themselves.
A code war to the death: Why must one national sports global expansion come at the expense of another?
Australia’s poor showing at the RU world cup is a result of the code wars. If the states with southern shores could stop playing with themselves and recover from their obsession of standing in a huge crowd and play rugby, we could win our third world cup. Allowing League players to play would also help. I’d be happy if the Dragons could beat Souths every now and then.
A code war to the death: Why must one national sports global expansion come at the expense of another?
V’landys is a charismatic figure?
A code war to the death: Why must one national sports global expansion come at the expense of another?
I thought the Broncs had it.
Me too, the Broncos were spectacular in attack and Penrith were rattled.
Then I remembered what master coach Craig Bellamy said about Penrith and I thought we could be in for an interesting finish.
Penrith defended with brute strength and didn’t give Brisbane another chance to score.
Then one of the best comebacks of all time with the maestro halfback.
Rabbitohs ready to pounce on Gold Coast league nursery after Titans part ways with Keebra Park
I watched the last quarter. With a minute to go it was anyone’s game. Great game.
ANALYSIS: Storm overshadow AFL as Warbrick speccy downs brave Roosters - who nearly repeat the fairytale
So, the Knight should’ve been penalised. He used his body mass to force Wighton’s head into his arm on the ground. The Knight milked it.
Wighton should have been hit for six over Knight bite - and given an extra match for arrogant sledge at heated hearing
Knowles suggested that mere pressure alone would not have created such a clear indentation on Gamble’s forearm and there was an intent to bite.
A lawyer argues his case by ignoring the Knight came down on the Raider’s head with the force of gravity. What was Wighton’s lawyer doing?
Wighton should have been hit for six over Knight bite - and given an extra match for arrogant sledge at heated hearing
Yes, rugby is played all over the world but only in the eastern states of Australia.
The most popular football codes in Oz are :- 1. AF, 2. RL, 3. Soccer, 4 RU.
Rugby has been losing players and spectators to the more popular codes for some time. Now the Wallabies are going downhill and look like they won’t see the big crowds in the near future.
Rugby needs a revolution - if the game is to endure then penalties must be scrapped for all but three reasons