The National Rugby League is in a fantastic position right now. The game is flushed with cash, there are tens of millions of dollars every year basically being put in the bank and saved by the game, and there are Port Moresby – Papua New Guinea When you’re a sporting competition who is getting backing…
Presented by Palmerbet In this episode of the Fergo and The Freak NRL podcast League Freak gives his thoughts on the huge win by New South Wales over Queensland in State Of Origtin 2 before having a chat about the international football we saw over the weekend. The Freaky talks about the silly argument that…
You have to hand it to the Rugby League International Federation, they can come up with some nutty ideas that seemingly have no connection to what we see on the field. Take the newly released “Rugby League World Ranking” which have been put out this evening. New Zealand has moved past Australia into top spot…
In this episode we keep an eye on the Greece vs Serbia World Cup qualifier that was being played as we recorded, we talk extensively about Great Britains disastrous Lions Tour and the repercussions for the British game, we chat about the incredible Fiji vs Papua New Guinea game and just generally chat about Rugby…
Dates and venues have been announced for the Oceania Cup and Great Britain Lions Tour of 2019. The Jillaroos and Kiwi Ferns will play alongside the Kangaroos and Kiwi’s in a historic match at WIN Stadium at Wollongong. The same weekend will feature a great game between Great Britain and Tonga in New Zealand which…
Here is a list of the Rugby League mid season internationals for 2019. All times listed below are local times for the venues involved. Cook Islands vs South Africa Friday 21st June 2019, 19:00pm Ringrose Park Wentworthville, Sydney New Zealand vs Tonga Saturday 22nd June 2019, 5:40pm (NZ Time) Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland, New Zealand…
It may be hard to imagine but it wasn’t that long ago that the likes of Tonga, Samoa and Fiji would struggle to put together 17 professional Rugby League players of any quality. Over the last 30 years Rugby League has seen these nations go from producing the occasional top level professional player, to producing…
One of the big things that came out of the 2013 Rugby League World Cup was the clear message that supporters of the game were giving administrators. Give us more international Rugby League. Heading into this weekend, plenty of people were saying the Australia vs New Zealand test match was a waste of time. Even…
New Zealand has smashed Papua New Guinea 56-10 in Leeds. The Kiwi’s started in ominous fashion by scoring a try after just 2 minutes. They backed that up with a second try after just 6 minutes. I could go on and tell you about every try scoring play the New Zealand team had in the…
Samoa has beaten Papua New Guinea 38-4 in a dominant performance over a very poor PNG outfit. The first half of this match couldn’t have been any more one sided. A try in the first few minutes by Samoa was a sign of things to come. Papua New Guinea turned the ball over way too…
France has defeated Papua New Guinea 9-8 in a close match that PNG will feel they should have won. The French opened the scoring after getting good field position off the back of a penalty. The field position allowed them to catch PNG off guard a little as they scored the first try of the…
The ARL has announced the Prime Minister’s XIII against Papua New Guinea at Kalabond Oval in Kokopo on Sunday, September 29: Australian Prime Ministers XIII 1. Jarryd Hayne 2. Brett Morris 3. Brent Tate 4. Josh Morris 5. Kevin Gordon 6. Greg Bird 7. Aidan Sezer 8. Ryan James 9. Robbie Farah 10. James Tamou…
The South Sydney Rabbitohs have announced that they will take on Papua New Guinea in their Return To Redfern clash at Redfern Oval on Saturday 9 February next year. It it one of three pre season games they will play including a game the following week against the Knights in Gosford and of course the…
He had a brain for rugby league, creative, speedy, successful and spent most of his life with a bullet in his chest. He was Duncan Thompson. Thompson was born in Warwick, Queensland on March 14, 1895. He joined the Australian Bank of Commerce in 1911. While at Ipswich he represented Combined Country in 1913 and…
The 2012 Australian Prime Ministers XIII team has been announced. They will face off against Papua New Guinea in Port Moresby on September 23rd. This game is not just about giving Papua New Guinea a good hit out, it is also about promoting healthy lifestyles in Papua New Guinea and the players in the side are ambassadors…
The Rugby Football League are very serious about winning the 2013 World Cup. So serious that they are looking to become pioneers. They are looking to go to extremes to get that winning edge. They are willing to go to all ends of the Earth to make sure they are the best prepared team bar…
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…
So what is a Rugby League World Cup supposed to be about? It’s an interesting question and one that could have a thousands different answers. For me a Rugby League World Cup has always been about the countries I don’t normally get to see. In fact, in any international competitions we have in our game,…
The draw for the 2013 Rugby League World Cup was announced with little warning at an event held in Salford over night. It was announced that 14 teams will take part in the next World Cup, which will be held in Great Britain, and the format for the group stages would be completely overhauled. I…
The 2010 Rugby League Four Nations has been disappointing. The quality of football has been dreadful and when only two of the four teams have ANY chance of winning the tournament, you have to think of other ways to grab the public’s attention. People want to see a decent contest, you can’t sell people rubbish…
Laughter is under rated. I like to laugh, and for that reason, I like watching England play Rugby League because England make me laugh. Just look at poor old Sam Tomkins who this week said it was a myth that the NRL was a better competition than Super League. Forget the basic case you could…
Australia has kicked off their Four Nations campaign with a 42-0 win over Papua New Guinea on a pretty average Sydney afternoon. Just 11,308 people turned up for the game and to be honest, I can’t blame fans for not going out to the game. With it being live on TV in Sydney, and a…
The Four Nations finally start next week as Australia and New Zealand look to tune up over the next few weeks with an eye on the final. We’ve had a couple of big name injuries this week, but hardly crushing blows. I had heard on the radio that PNG would be training at Blacktown today….
Its a tournament that was conceived with the notion that regular test football between the top nations would see other teams life their game and come up to the same level we have seen Australia play at forever. Has it worked? New Zealand’s success in 2006 and the 2008 World Cup is look at as…
Some people tell me that I see things in black and white terms. This is a flaw apparently. You see, I don’t understand that in this day and age, you have to be flexible. I think thats a load of horse shit quite honestly. I’ve always been someone that thinks that this game should be…
Normally we don’t see the the draw for a major international Rugby League competition until a few weeks before the bloody thing kicks off, however this time around the IRLF (ARL/RFL) have taken time out from meetings in Singapore in high priced hotels to get a draw out early. The 2008 World Cup was a…
The World Champions have kicked off the international season with a solid 40-24 win over Tonga in Rotorua, New Zealand. The Kiwi’s were made to work hard for their win, only running away with the game in the last 20 minutes. At one point the scores were level at 24 all in the second half….
French Rugby League was doing really well until a bit of money started to be generated by it and the French game was infiltrated by English coaches and officials. These leeches walked into a growing area that was showing great promise and started to tell the French how to become even more competitive….like England. It…
Its amazing to think that after so many years of waiting, the 2008 Rugby League World Cup is now behind us. After setbacks, questions about whether it would even be run, countless doubters and a cynical supporters base wondering if they would get it right, you have to give the organizers credit for pulling together…
Strap in folks, this is gonna be a long one! In an amazing game that was a fitting end to the centenary celebrations in Australia, New Zealand has beaten Australia 34-20 to claim the Rugby League World Cup! I was lucky enough to be at the game and it was very surreal to see New…