I really enjoy watching the Auckland Nines every year. I think it is a perfect way to get the Rugby League season as a whole under way, and it is a great promotional tool for the game in New Zealand which I believe doesn’t get enough help from the NRL to grow. I would personally…
Super League returns tonight with what we expect to be a cracking opening game. In its 21st season, the teams will be playing once again for that elusive Grand Final trophy but can Leeds be stopped? Here we preview the opening round fixtures: Leeds vs Warrington (Thursday 4th February, 8pm, Sky Sports 2) The champions…
News this week that Wayne Bennett was contemplating an offer to coach the England Rugby League team came as a bit of a surprise to most. The RFL has long held an outdated view that England should be coached by someone who was based in the UK, something that has had a devastating effect on…
Should Mitchell Pearce be sacked by the Sydney Roosters and deregistered by the National Rugby League? I tend to think a fine and suspension is enough in this case with a warning that one more incident will be the end of his NRL career, but a lot of people feel that is not enough. So…
Sydney Roosters halfback Mitchell Pearce is in a lot of trouble right now after video emerged of him highly intoxicated at a private party. During the video Pearce admits to pissing on the couch of the person that owns the home, before briefly simulating a sex act with her Poodle (Ironically a little bit of…
Last season saw Leeds Rhinos enjoy tremendous success in the world of rugby league, claiming a highly impressive treble – the League Winner’s Shield, the Challenge Cup and the Grand Final Trophy. They are fully expected to be right in the hunt for honours again this year, but there are challengers determined that they won’t…
Warrington Wolves are one of the most prestigious rugby league sides in the United Kingdom and Tony Smith’s men will be quietly confident of success in 2016. After a disappointing 2015 campaign, many have questioned Warrington’s decision to allow the likes of Joel Monaghan, Richie Myler and Chris Bridge to leave club in the offseason…
Anthony Mundine has told The Locker Room Podcast that he believes he was a very similar player to Johnathan Thurston, but more explosive. Mundine said “Thurston was very similar to me but way slower”. He went on to add “I think I had twin turbos. If he had twin turbos he’d be very similar to…
As the National Rugby League continues to negotiate its next broadcasting agreement news has emerged that Fox Sports wants to shake up the current broadcasting schedule by adding an early Friday Night match at 6pm AEST and buying Channel 9’s Saturday Night Game, giving Fox Sports its “Super Saturday” back while moving Channel 9’s match…
Are you a Rugby League fan, or are you just a fan of your club? Do you want to see the best talent in the world on show every weekend in the NRL, or do you only care that your team wins and very little else matters to you? Personally, I’m a Rugby League fan…
Winning a major sporting tournament gives any country’s national pride a shot of adrenalin, but it can also be a significant boost for its economy. Countries winning the football World Cup can expect to their stock index to outperform global indices by as much as 3.5 per cent in the following month, according to Goldman…
Sam Burgess has officially made the decision to leave Rugby Union and return to the South Sydney Rabbitohs. Many will suggest that Burgess’ stint in Rugby Union was a failure. Considering how much money he made in his short stint there, and the fact he walked into the English Rugby Union test team, I find…
Pay Television provider Optus today announced that it had secured the exclusive rights to broadcast English PremierLeague soccer matches today in a deal said to be worth over $50 million. This deal in itself isn’t massive news in Australia as due to the kickoff times of most EPL games the television ratings for them in…
Before the excuses starts let me just say that I’m not a big fan of excuses. Excuses are for people that have failed and that want to come up with some sort of fantasy scenario where they didn’t fail and they were actually successful. When you start making excuses in Rugby League, you basically are…
David Smith has resigned from his position as NRL CEO after three years. An official announcement will be made later on today. The loss of Smith from the NRL’s administration is a blow to the game. Smith joined the NRL three years ago and before he had even officially started the job he was dealing…
Veteran sports journalist Mike Gibson has passed away at the age of 75. Gibson, a very well respected journalist, was known for heading up Channel 9’s Wide World of Sport, and later, The Back Page. He was known for giving reasoned, straight forward opinions and having the ability to look past PR spin and rubbish…
The NSWRL held its awards night last night that is basically the NSWRL’s version of the Dally M Awards. Various awards for NSWRL ran competitions were handed out, and among these awards were those given to New South Wales State Of Origin players for their outstanding performances during the 2015 State Of Origin series. Those…
England host New Zealand in a test series at seasons end in what will be a bit of an afterthought for Rugby League as it struggles with the demands of club football and the need to have a relevant international scene. New Zealand will no doubt send over a bits and pieces team to take…
Jarryd Hayne is doing very well in his new life as an NFL player. Hayne is now officially part of the San Francisco 49’ers 53 man squad and looks like he will play a role with the club this season as a special teams player and backup running back. Here are the highlights from Jarryd…
Fairfax Media is reporting that Nathan Brown will be the next coach of the Newcastle Knights. I’m not sure how I feel about this appointment. While there is a lack of top class coaching talent out there Brown seems to have been one who had a couple of chances to show he could be a…
More than ever before Rugby League finds itself in a battle for peoples time and entertainment dollar. Some people tend to get drawn into the old idea that Rugby League is in competition with other sports for your attention. This simply overlooks the fact that we are all people that are easily distracted by other…
Its a pretty simple question…. If Foxtel were to drop their NRL coverage completely, would you cancel your Foxtel subscription? Vote in the poll below and we will see how the numbers stack up:
Will this season ever end? When the terms of the new Free To Air broadcasting deal were announced I was really disappointed. The NRL basically locked itself into the same season schedule it has right now for a further five years, and I absolutely hate the current season schedule! You could cut an entire month…
It was the most predictable story heading into the 2015 season. At what point would we see the headline “Taylor vs Farah”? To say that the Wests Tigers are a badly run club is an understatement. They are a basketcase. Now to be fair to the Wests Tigers, they have plenty of company. Most clubs…
When you think of the many different sports we are lucky enough to watch, like Golf, Football, Tennis, Swimming and Cycling who do you instantly think of? Rory McIlroy, Lionel Messi, Andy Murray, Michael Phelps, Chris Froome. These are all famous people playing the sport they love, and for Rugby in both codes one man…
Who makes up your mind about whether the NRL is doing a good job of running the game? You’re probably a stubborn person that right now is thinking “I do League Freak! No one else is going to make my decisions for me!”. Think about it though, where do you get your information from to…
I know what you are thinking. Who the hell is Stan and what does he have to do with Rugby League? Stan is one of about half a dozen digital content distribution services now established in Australia. For $10 a month you can watch any number of movies or television shows. Its very similar to…
Lets not get too far ahead of ourselves just now. Jarryd Hayne did very well in his first pre season match for the San Francisco 49ers but he still has a long way to go. It was important for him to show the club he had raw athletic talent, and he more than did that….
I love Rugby League because it is an uncompromising collision sport that is difficult to play. It isn’t the sport for everyone. Only a certain type of person wants to play a sport where you receive the ball and have 13 other people looking to drag you to the ground. When you play a collision…
It is a fact that the Australian Rugby League or the NRL is the most watched and anticipated event in Australia each week. The Rugby World Cup fan base mostly consists of Australians, South Africans, New Zealanders, and English crowd. But the Aussies really hold a strong and vibrating passion inside their blood for this…
