The 2005 Wests Tigers run to their maiden NRL Premiership came out of nowhere. Having finish the 2004 season in 9th position on the NRL ladder, the Tigers were a bit of a strange mix of players and no one really had them on their radar heading into the 2005 season. Little did anyone know…
Peter Badel of The Courier Mail in Brisbane is reporting that if the current Covid 19 restrictions stay in place the NRL is open to playing the 2021 NRL Grand Final in Brisbane for the first time. With all NRL clubs now based in Queensland, and the Covid numbers and restrictions much lower in the…
In 1997 Rugby League in Australia had been split in two. Years of turmoil within the game had seen Rugby League team itself apart. While all of this was going on, something special was brewing. For a number of years the Newcastle Knights and Manly Sea Eagles had developed a rivalry we rarely see in…
In the years leading up to the 2003 NRL season the Penrith Panthers has struggled through some lean years. One thing that helps supporters through those tough times was seeing the emergence of a group of very good junior players all coming through into first grade at the same time. This, coupled with the signing…
Goto manscaped.com and get 20% off + free shipping with the code: NRL In this episode the boys do a complete review of the 2020 NRL Grand Final between the Penrith Panthers and the Melbourne Storm. Freaky is a Panthers fan, and this is his immediate reaction too the game! Have a listen to what disappointed…
Goto manscaped.com and get 20% off + free shipping with the code: NRL In this episode Nadine joins League Freak as the two talk about the Penrith Panthers 2020 season, how the Covid restrictions have made things a little different, how fans are celebrating the Grand Final appearance and just generally what its been like as a…
In 1991 the Penrith Panthers came into the season focused on going one step further. Having made the 1990 NRL Grand Final against the Canberra Raiders, the Panthers celebrated the fact they had just got there. The Panthers had been a struggling football club until the mid 1980’s when an influx of local juniors saw…
Here are the player ratings for the 2019 NRL Grand Final between the Canberra Raiders and the Sydney Roosters. The Roosters secured back-to-back titles with a 14-8 victory over the Raiders, becoming the first back-to-back champions in the NRL competition since the Brisbane Broncos achieved the feat in 1992 and 1993. The ratings for these…
In this episode we talk about possible retirement plans for Craig Bellamy and Cameron Smith, Phil Rothfield gives us some of the worst damn stories to chat about in 2019, we go through the restyle of the official Fergo and The Freak fan poll for 2019, we take a look at the 2019 NRL Grand…
In this episode we talk about alternative venues for the NRL Grand Final. What would be the best place for the match if it needs to be moved outside of Sydney? We throw up a couple of outside possibilities with many thanks to the great leader. We then go on to talk about a better…
The Roosters are crowing after vanquishing the Storm in the Grand Final and they have been installed as early favourites to defend their crown next season. Cooper Cronk fought through the pain barrier and Luke Keary delivered the performance of his life to lead the Chooks to a convincing 21-6 victory over the 2017 champions…
When it comes to playing the Grand Final in Sydney one thing always gets overlooked. Players want the Grand Final played in Sydney. To them, going to Sydney to play in the Grand Final is part of what makes the biggest day of the year so special. So lets not pretend that we need to…
When the most successful club in the history of the game adds to their success, the history books all need rewritten. The South Sydney Rabbitohs triumph on Sunday evening was a proud moment for Rugby League. For the vast majority of Australian Rugby League history a club with it’s sights set on winning the title…
When I was in high school I had a friend that supported the South Sydney Rabbitohs. It was something he didn’t mention too much though. This was when George Piggins was running the club and they looked like they did not belong anywhere near the top level of the game. After high school I remember…
Grand final day is now only 2 sleeps away and the betting agencies and fans alike have the Roosters are solid favourites over the Manly Sea Eagles. Twitter seems to be fairly split, and even neutrals have decided which way they will lend their support on Sunday evening. My wife is a Manly fan (I…
Grand Finals are won by great halfbacks. At this stage I don’t think anyone would accuse Mitchell Pearce of being a great halfback. Even in what has been an incredible season by the Sydney Roosters you haven’t seen too many people raving about the form of Mitchell Pearce. The Sydney Roosters main playmaker is James…
This season has seen some very strange decisions when it comes to handing out man of the match awards. I see a lot of people on Twitter who bet on man of the match awards blowing up over players that have dominated the game being overlooked for others who are bigger names. It happens all…
The marketing guru’s at the National Rugby League got the Grand Final they always wanted! Two Sydney clubs facing off, both with questionably sized supporter bases. Neither of which like to travel at all. Both clubs universally hated across the game. This is how you make money people… Who doesn’t want to see Sonny Bill…
Nothing says Grand Final day like a washed up Latino pop singer… You know when people talk about a line being crossed? Well, the National Rugby League just crossed that fucking line… The benefit of the doubt is gone. After banning the shoulder charge, generally going out of their way to complete the pussification of…
It fair to say that at this point of the season, we know enough about every team in the National Rugby League to be able to make some pretty good educated guesses on where teams will finish the season. When I look back at my 2013 National Rugby League Season Preview, I feel like I…
The Melbourne Storm are the 2012 Premiers after defeating the Canterbury Bulldogs 14-4. The Storm came into the Grand Final in great form and simply looked to be playing on a completely different level to the Bulldogs. In a game that was dominated by brilliant coaching by from both sides, the execution the Storm showed in attack…
So here we are, Grand Final week and in a few days time lives will be changed. As a fan this whole week reminds me of 2003 when my Penrith Panthers made the Grand Final. I was never nervous at all, just confident.I enjoyed that entire season and I wouldn’t change a single thing about…
Two battle-dusty sheriffs stand at opposite ends of the ANZ corral in the Wild West, wearily upright among piles of the steaming fallen as the only remaining gunslingers from a drawn-out bloody battle carried out over 1 score and 6 rounds. And a couple of finals. Both wear an engulfing tattoo of strain on their…
Rugby League applies a weakening choke-hold to news outlets on grand final week as it provides only a solitary game’s worth of inspiration to the poor souls empowered to lay literary bricks in column space. It is no more apparent in 2012’s decider with lonesome crickets chirping in the judiciary room at NRL base camp…
The Australian Rugby League Commission has today announced that the broadcasting rights for Rugby League in Australia have been retained by Channel 9 and Fox Sports Australia. The deal will run over five years and is worth $1.025 billion dollars. $100 million dollars of that is advertising on Channel 9 and Fox Sports. This deal…
The Manly Sea Eagles are the 2001 National Rugby League Premiers after a dominant display in their Grand Final showdown with the New Zealand Warriors. I was going for the New Zealand Warriors in this match and they looked pretty good early on. In fact, the first 30 minutes of the match reminded me a…
Grand Finals are life changing experiences. For players, it is about that life long goal they have always had to reach the great pinnacle of the sport. It is a chance to live a childhood dream. For coaches, it is about going over everything a million times in their heads. As their team walks out…
It is like something out of a comedy sketch. For some reason in this country, sporting competitions see their major game entertainment as some type of pissing contest. Its almost as though the actual entertainment value of an act is not really of any relevance, its more the size of the name that the act…
Pouring rain, choking, bad refereeing…the 2010 Grand Final wasn’t a classic, but it was one too remember. While the crowd was probably split with 90% Dragons fans, 8% neutral fans and 2% Roosters fans who had been fans for a solid seven days by the time of the Grand Final. Now, just before we look…
In a great game of football the Melbourne Storm cemented their place as one of the most dominant teams of the modern era by beating the Parramatta Eels 23-16. The sellout crowd of 82,538 saw a classic Grand Final with momentum changes, precision play, rampaging runs, a great comeback and a cool as you like…