NRL clubs have made a move to oust Australian Rugby League Commission Chairman John Grant after Grant, along with NRL CEO Todd Greenberg, promised clubs a funding bonus, and then backpedaled on that promise due to other areas of the game needed the money more. The clubs not only want Grant removed, they also want…
In 1913 French mathematician and politician Émile Borel’s wrote an article titled “Mécanique Statistique et Irréversibilité”. The article was notable because of imagery Borel invoked in the reader that has a basis in mathematical theory that infinite monkeys on infinite typewriters given an infinite amount of time you eventually write all of the books in…
It would be very easy to sit back and suggest that what we are seeing happen to the Parramatta Eels right now is the result of terrible management of a club that has been a bit of a basket case for close on 30 years. That would be missing the much bigger picture though. In…
With pretty much all of Rugby Union’s interest in Australia currently surrounding former Rugby League player Israel Folau, it is pretty clear that the ARU is desperate to re-sign the former Queensland State Of Origin winger and keep him from returning back to the greatest game of all. When asked about what the Australian Rugby…
The NRL has a responsibility to take over and mentor the Super League whilst clubs could create an alliance or sister club in the UK. Super League is the 2nd biggest market but with the right promotion could be the new golden goose of Rugby League and it really wouldn’t take much of an outlay…
You don’t know him, I don’t know him, but Dave Smith just stepped into the highest profile sports administration job in Australia. Having watched the press conference announcing David Smith as the new NRL CEO a few things came out of it for me. Firstly, Smith, a Welshman based in Sydney in his role in…
The 2013 World Club Challenge between the Melbourne Storm and Leeds Rhinos will be played at Headingley Stadium in Leeds. Shocking I know… It was mid October when the same old people in England started talking about trying to play the World Club Challenge in Australia. I wrote that The World Club Challenge Won’t Be…
The Rugby Football League’s licencing system has come under fire recently after the financial collapse of the Bradford Bulls showed it up for what it really was. The grading of clubs in such black and white terms was completely ridiculous. Putting clubs into different categories was always going to lead to problems simply because so…
It has been generally accepted that 8 teams is too many for the Super League playoffs. There are simply not enough quality teams in Super League to justify so many teams qualifying for the finals series. Most people believe the ideal number of teams would be five, but that is a problem in terms of…
If I was running the Australian Rugby League Commission today I would have called NRL chief medical officer Ron Muratore into my office today and fired him on the spot. Making Rugby League as safe a sport as it can possibly be has been one of the major goals of every Rugby League administration going…
The NRL came out yesterday with a curious announcement that, one week out from the finals, it would send any shoulder charge that made contact with a players head or neck straight to the judiciary without any grading. This process is usually what happens with the most extreme cases of foul play and usually results…
With Rugby League in Australia now predicted to generate an average of $270 million dollars per year the game administrators have an opportunity to do something they have not been able to even think about for a very long time. Building a legacy. While clubs grants will be raised along with the salary cap, Rugby…
There are a number of pertinent issues in Rugby League in Australia today that are the result of over a decade of self-interest by the NRL. A lot of these can be quickly and easily rectified through the implementation of a smarter draw. What the NRL needs to do is look back at what the…
G’day from Scotland! Whilst it is summer here, I’ve seen the four seasons over the past hour, and have just had my fix of Australian news, especially all things RL. And what a massive couple of days it has been! When it rains, it pours. When ol’ Huey decides to dump it on theARLC/NRL, grab…
The deal has been done and the budget is now set, so where does Rugby League go from here? For well over a decade Rugby League in Australia was just trying to survive. It wasn’t that the game wasn’t growing, it simply come down to the fact that clubs at first were spending way beyond…
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…
Let me start off by saying I love rugby league. Love it so much that it leaves me wanting to tear out another handful of hair or kick the nearest small child sometimes. This week, it’s the judiciary that needs our help. Like many things these days, the NRL judiciary system has become over-complicated to…
The Rugby Football League should be on the phone right now to David Gallop and offering him the role as RFL Chairman along with a sizable contract. During David Gallops time in charge of the NRL he always pushed three major idea’s and never wavered on their importance. Gallop resisted calls to raise the salary…
In what is being described as a “mutual decision” made in conjunction with the Australian Rugby League Commission, David Gallop has decided to stand down as the CEO of the NRL only 4 months into a four year contract. I think it was time. David Gallop took over, reluctantly, as the NRL CEO in 2002…
So the NRL Referees have used Brad Fittler to get around their bosses, Bill Harrigan and Stuart Raper, to contact NRL CEO David Gallop and tell him they no longer have confidence in Harrigan and Raper. Hmmm… Firstly, what is David Gallop doing even sitting down at that meeting. Aside from the fact that Brad…
When you get to representative level, the players you assemble are the best of the best. Bigger, faster, stronger, more skillful and with more endurance. It is that last asset that I think is seeing the bench rotation at representative level evolve into something different than what we have become accustomed to seeing over the…
Last night Australia selected New Zealand born and raised James Tamou to play for the Kangaroo’s. He will go on to play for New South Wales in the State Of Origin series. It is a move that has caused uproar among fans and the media. Nobody feels like this is the right thing to be…
As a lifelong female fan and supporter of Rugby League, I am appalled by today’s decision regarding Robert Lui. I am fortunate to have a local JRL club run by a strong woman, and the Under 9 team my son plays in has a fantastic female player. The piss weak one year ban is a…
One of the main talking points for the first month or so of the 2012 NRL Off Season has been off the field and it’s a big issue – the next TV Rights Deal and indeed who they will go to. Now for those who don’t know (which I doubt will be many of you)…
It is one of the questions I have been asked the most over the last few days. With the financial crisis in Super League seeing three of the competitions 14 clubs fall over in the last 12 months, people realize that something has to give, and it is probably the ability of Super League to…
In the history of top grade Rugby League in Australia, there are only 16 players since 1908 that have played 300 or more clubs games. Think about that for a moment. For the thousands of players who have pulled on one of the famous Rugby League jerseys of either an NSWRL, ARL or NRL club,…
The Australian Aboriginals Vs NRL All Stars game is a great concept that ticks so many boxes. Its a fantastic focus for the kickoff to the Rugby League season. It has great fan interaction as people can vote for who they want to play in both sides online. It is a game that can be…
It is finals time in the National Rugby League and Super League. This is the business part of the season, where the game and its sponsors get the most attention. Yet here we are, in 2011, and teams on both sides of the world are refusing to talk to the media. They are under self…
One day……one day, the game of Rugby League in Australia will be run by an independent commission that is set to streamline the administration of the sport. Backed by the riches that are expected to come from a billion dollar broadcasting deal, the game finally see’s a chance to do a number of things it…
I’ve been saying for some time that Rugby League in Great Britain, and Super League in particular needs fixing. In 1996 Rugby League in Great Britain was given a whole lot of money to help try and form an elite club competition that would provide broadcasters with a nice amount of content they could show…