Roar Rookie
Joined June 2019
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So apparently I should be excited it's Magic Round. Just like in 2019 my team is playing a 'home' game in Brisbane this weekend,…
Want some more stats that matter? So far this season there have been seven shutouts. I'll do the math, that's one per round and…
I know I'm a broken record, but I'm a facts kinda guy, so writing about how player X is better than player Y doesn't…
Unquestionably the 2020 NRL season is unlike any other in the code's history. Almost all the teams have had to cope with the exceptional…
And yet they are still better than 12 other NRL teams, how is that?
ANALYSIS: Good luck everyone else as Penrith have way To'o much power - but Storm did everything to help them
Storm this, Storm that and yet Penrith are about to win their 3rd GF in a row. Give over mate. BTW this imaginary ‘skilful and open game’ everyone loves doesn’t work against the Panthers, or any decent defensive team because just throwing the ball around is not sustainable. Penrith are not the team you think of when you think of length of the field tries, so to beat them, the rest of the NRL is going to have to join them. Get bigger, pound it down the middle until the 10mtr line and then do it some more with backs built like forwards. Not pretty, but it wins right now in the V’landys (or however you spell that guy’s name) era.
ANALYSIS: Good luck everyone else as Penrith have way To'o much power - but Storm did everything to help them
The New York of Australia can’t get 96,000 in total to several NRL games any given weekend. Maybe Sydney doesn’t deserve the Tigers, or Sharks or Saints or, or …
ANALYSIS: Storm overshadow AFL as Warbrick speccy downs brave Roosters - who nearly repeat the fairytale
Would love to see any Sydney NRL side go head-to-head with a 96,000 strong attendance at whatever sport you care to name, just across the road. That’s tough competition on public transport, on parking, on just getting there on a Friday night. No, wait, there is no sporting code of any sort that draws 96,000 to a game in Sydney.
ANALYSIS: Storm overshadow AFL as Warbrick speccy downs brave Roosters - who nearly repeat the fairytale
When your 9 man rotation is not hitting threes, it might be time to bring on a guy who is renowned for shooting from downtown, he could not have gone any worse. Not sure why Goorjian was reluctant to go to his deep bench ever. Have not seen Joe Ingles as ineffective offensively as he has been this series, I mean, he flat refused to shoot against Slovenia.
Boomers sent packing from World Cup after Doncic's Slovenian teammates deliver knockout blow
Shorter season, longer careers, that’s good for the players, teams and fans. also allows time for SOO.
Lack of care factor over NRL minor premiership is embarrassing but almost impossible to solve perennial problem
See my comment further down but a top 7 mirrors the odds you had in the Final Five days of making the finals. Perfect.
Lack of care factor over NRL minor premiership is embarrassing but almost impossible to solve perennial problem
Top five in a 12 team competition gave you a 41.6% chance of playing finals, and that, applied to a 17 team competition, would see only 7 qualify today. Fine by me. We don’t need mediocre teams in the playoffs or late season matchups that purport to have post-season implications, when in fact those teams struggling to make the 8 are not going very far if they do. Don’t water down the product. I cannot see any team outside the top four this season making it to the GF, can you?
Lack of care factor over NRL minor premiership is embarrassing but almost impossible to solve perennial problem
Yep, there is that
NRL final round equation: The best and worst outcomes for each team as five teams fight for last three playoff berths
Storm would do well to not win on Thursday night thus avoiding Penrith in the first week of the playoffs. That said, they’ll face Brisbane again, so will have to battle the psychology of losing a week earlier or maybe Brisbane develop a false sense of security. Head games are very possible here. I reckon it is hard to beat good teams two weeks in a row…..we shall see.
NRL final round equation: The best and worst outcomes for each team as five teams fight for last three playoff berths
The men’s team have a place in our hearts as they take on the World every four years or so, the Matildas have now cemented a place in our hearts too. However, beyond boosting numbers in the Women’s game at the grass-roots level, almost immediately I would think, I can’t see the A-leagues benefitting from this upsurge of ‘interest’ in the round-ball code. Much like cricket, if you think about it, where the nation loves to turn up to or tune in to test matches involving Australia but ignore anything (BBL apart) below that I think this is where broader interest will remain for football. Socceroos and Matildas yes, A-Leagues, not so much. But hey, funnier things have happened.
'I’ll be supporting whoever plays against Australia': Are people engaging with the Women’s World Cup, or just along for the ride?
The Swedish goalie was outstanding and though penalty shoot-outs are a lottery, it is wonderful she got to be a winner after such a performance. You could say the Swedish defense was saved time and again by her efforts while the US were let down by their shooters time and again.
World Cup Diary: Foord challenges Sydney to be louder than Melbourne for Matildas, USA stunned by Swedes
The NRL is consistently inconsistent. Much as I personally dislike the playing ‘style’ of some in the NRL it is not their fault if things they do that are untoward are not given the penalties we expect from week to week. It is the fault of the bozos who ‘run’ this competition. If, for instance, NAS has committed an infraction that to all and sundry looks worthy of a penalty and/or sin-bin (my how I detest that juvenile term, sin-bin, how childish?) and possible later suspension then that is the outcome that should occur, all things considered. Same goes for every other player but no, what we get is a game that makes it up as it goes along, a crackdown here, a harsh penalty there, a fine here, a ‘nothing to see here’ there. Just like six-agains, offsides (one man’s offside is another man’s line speed), forward passes etc (most damaging ones occur over the 10 metre line during try-scoring movements yet no touchis can see it). The game is not serious about consistency, never has been sadly. So frustrating for all.
Round 23 judiciary: 'Don't see anything wrong with it' but Burgess faces big ban as Luai, Fotuaika, Brown get feather touch
Call me crazy but I still think FB is Munster’s best position.
ANALYSIS: Storm show lack of class by celebrating stripped premierships as dynamic duo devour Eels
I don’t recall anyone from the front office, or the back office, making a tackle, taking a hit-up, scoring a try or kicking a goal. Nothing the players did, on the field, broke any rules and they were, and still are the best team of those two seasons. How clever of the Victorian team to figure out how to ‘rort’ the cap, those NSW and QLD teams must feel so silly they didn’t think of it, no wait, did someone mention Brisbane and Sydney Roosters? As if Melbourne were setting a trend, not just ‘playing the game’ as they found it. How clever of Cronulla to be over the cap prior to, and after, their premiership win. That’s great management right there. Then again, being over the year before, doesn’t that set up the GF winning year? Unfair advantage? You have to get out of Sydney to see the bias.
ANALYSIS: Storm show lack of class by celebrating stripped premierships as dynamic duo devour Eels
I have no clue as to the correct geographical locale but refuse to just call them Dolphins for f sake.
Round 20 Talking Points: Resting Origin stars a huge gamble as Roosters lose touch of top eight
Current ladder based on win/loss percentages (tie breaks given to teams who have beaten the team(s) they are tied with. Canberra and Melbourne play this week I think.
Week 21 W L T .Pct
1 BRIS 13 5 0 0.722
2 PEN 12 5 0 0.706
3 CANB 11 6 0 0.647
4 MELB 11 6 0 0.647
5 N.Z. 11 7 0 0.611
6 CRO 10 7 0 0.588
7 PARR 10 8 0 0.556
8 NQ 10 8 0 0.556
9 S.S. 10 8 0 0.556
10 RED 8 10 0 0.444
11 NEWC 7 9 1 0.441
12 MAN 7 9 1 0.441
13 G.C. 7 10 0 0.412
14 SYD 7 10 0 0.412
15 CANT 6 12 0 0.333
16 St.G 4 13 0 0.235
17 WEST 3 14 0 0.176
Round 20 Talking Points: Resting Origin stars a huge gamble as Roosters lose touch of top eight
I read somewhere that the Roosters are 4-20 versus Melbourne, Penrith and South Sydney since 2020. There’s your problem, they can’t beat the teams that matter.
ANALYSIS: Chooks cooked after Storm defeat sees season all but over - and Radley and JWH escape bans
You seriously saying Sydney was happy with the fact the Storm were winning GFs regularly, had arguably the best coach, had the best four players in the game, the best system for player identification and development and a dominant home ground advantage?? All achieved in under 15 years of existence. You reckon your average Sydney league fan was cool with that, your average ruddy faced NRL/ARL (whatever the hell they are these days) ‘executive’, and I used the term advisedly, was well pleased that the team from Victoria regularly towelled them up more often than not??
Did the NRL overreact to the 2010 Melbourne Storm salary cap scandal?
Nah mate, pretty sure no other clubs were systematically doing anything underhanded with their caps, not being Victorians they could never institute such a thing, it’s just not cricket. One day Melbourne will realise it’s way cheaper and simply easier to fit it all under your sombre, um, cap to buy players in every year, paying over the market value, than developing and retaining your own.
Did the NRL overreact to the 2010 Melbourne Storm salary cap scandal?
Not to mention going head to head with 70,000+ crowds at AFL games just over the road that one team often has to deal with.
The data deep dive: who is actually the NRL's most supported club?
I’m pretty sure it is.
The data deep dive: who is actually the NRL's most supported club?
I have issues with the NRL’s, and therefore your, attendance averages. How did you allocate the Magic Round Attendances? The NRL gives the total crowd figure to each ‘home’ team that weekend meaning, Bulldogs, Sea Eagles, Warriors, Sharks, Storm, Tigers, Roosters and Titans all got a 50,000+ home attendance, as did each ‘visitor’ that weekend. Take that out and get a clearer (although muddied further by games held up country and so on) picture of at least 5 Sydney clubs attendances, the five listed as home above.
The data deep dive: who is actually the NRL's most supported club?
Oh don’t I know it, just look at Penrith’s schedule during Covid. It could, however, be made more equitable by factoring in the travel thing and Top 6 playing Bottom 6 only once etc.
Round 19 Talking Points: No dead rubber in Origin with all the pressure on Blues, tough luck of the draw for Eels, Bunnies
Gamesmanship you say? Like blocking against defenders on every 5th tackle kick? Like holding the opposition kicker long after the play on their 5th tackle kick? Like doing as much ruck rubbish as any other team and yet getting the majority of the few penalties/six-agains given out in their games? Someone in NRL land really likes seeing Penrith win comps. When the rest of the viable top 4 contenders get bigger guys across the park and play Panther Ball (which is not entertaining in the length of the field speed and skill kind of play) the NRL might have a re-think on how dour the NRL could or might become.
ANALYSIS: Good luck everyone else as Penrith have way To'o much power - but Storm did everything to help them