In a big blow for the New Zealand team, Frank Pritchard has been left out of the Kiwi’s World Cup final squad due to injury. Pritchard has been battling a hamstring injury for the last couple of weeks. He was absent in the Kiwi’s semi final win over England. His size, mobility and ball playing…
Billy Slater is all but assured of a return from injury in the World Cup final against New Zealand after Tim Sheens named him in the Kangaroo’s 19 man squad. Slater has been working hard to overcome a knee injury in recent weeks. His addition to the squad means that it is all but certain…
Anthony Milford will not play for the Canberra Raiders ever again if he has his way. Milford told The Courier Mail in Brisbane that he was willing to sit out the 2014 NRL season ahead of his move to the Brisbane Broncos in 2015. Milford’s stance brings into question why the Canberra Raiders came out…
New Zealand skipper, Kieran Foran, admits he will have to be at his best if he is to outfox Manly half-back partner, Daly Cherry-Evans, in Saturday’s World Cup final against Australia. The pair recently guided the Sea Eagles to the NRL Grand Final but they will be on opposite sides in the clash at Old…
It is a replay of the 2008 World Cup final that was famously won by New Zealand. The Australian side will go into the game as favourites but with a lot of pressure knowing that for many of them, this is their last opportunity to win a World Cup. I have said for a long…
The Rugby League International Federation Awards are pretty much like any other international Rugby League awards that are handed out. They leave you scratching your head and wondering who actually votes on these things and do they know anything about the game. The 2013 edition is no different. Keep in mind that these awards take…
Leigh Centurions have offered their support to the Political Animals and a World XIII team ahead of their encounter before the Rugby League World Cup Final on Saturday 30 November. The Championship club is making players available to coach both sides as they do battle at Leigh Sports Village. The Political Animals RLFC is a…
The NRL Integrity Unit has announced that it is investigating three separate incidents involving NRL players at three separate clubs. The Canterbury Bulldogs Reni Maitua, Newcastle Knights Russell Packer and Manly Sea Eagles Richie Fa’aoso have been involved in three separate, non related incidents over the last few days. Maitua has taken to Twitter to…
The Sydney Morning Herald is reporting that the Wests Tigers could review their commitment to play games at Campbelltown Stadium in light of public comments made by Campbelltown Councillor Paul Lake about a $55,735 overdue payment by the club for stadium hiring fees. While the outstanding $55,735 has now been paid, the Wests Tigers are…
From South Africa to Wembley Stadium, England’s 2013 Rugby League World Cup buildup and results were interesting to say the least. The Rugby Football League invested a lot of time, money and effort to make sure that England got the best preparation for the 2013 World Cup. No team that has come before had a…
The Australian Kangaroo’s have beaten Fiji 64-0 to book a place in the 2013 Rugby League World Cup final. It is hard to write about such a one sided match. Australia were obviously brilliant in attack while their defense once again saw them shut an opponent out. Australia have not conceded a try since their…
The World Champion New Zealand Kiwi’s will contest their third straight Rugby League World Cup final after a thrilling 20-18 win over England at Wembley Stadium. England played well in the first half while New Zealand just didn’t look themselves. The loss of Frank Pritchard to injury was a big blow to the New Zealand…
They have few players, hardly any staff, no ground to play at, and now the London Broncos intend to enter administration. Welcome to Super League! The London Broncos demise comes as no surprise to me at all. I wrote about it back in July. I knew this was coming! That a bloke on the other…
Continuity is a very important thing in sport. The ability to settle on a lineup and make the fewest changes you can possibly get away with has seen many sporting teams over the years beat more talented rivals who chopped and changed their lineup for what ever reason. In the 2013 Rugby League World Cup…
38 year old Solomon Haumono has quietly put together an impressive sporting resume. He played over 100 games at NRL level across 4 different clubs as well as playing almost 50 games in the English Super League. Haumono having also represented his state in the Super League Origin Tri Series and famously represented both Australia…
The St George/Illawarra Dragons will play less games at both Win Stadium in Wollongong and Kogarah Oval as the club looks to play more games at Sydney majors stadiums such as the Allianz Stadium, ANZ Stadium and the Sydney Cricket Ground the Sydney Morning Herald is reporting. The move is sure to upset Dragons supporters,…
The World Club Challenge will be played in Australia for the first time in well over a decade when the Sydney Roosters host Wigan at the Sydney Football Stadium on the 22nd of February next year. The last time the World Club Challenge (In its current format) was held in Australia was in 1994 when…
When Sydney Daily Telegraph writer Phil Rothfield decided to list 62 reasons why the 2013 Rugby League World Cup was terrible, I defended him. I honestly believe that the sport can react too quickly to criticism. I think sometimes Rugby League needs to realise that it can do things better. That there is room for…
2011 started out with a plan to start the Rebellion in the USARL and leverage that to jump start youth development of the sport in the USA. As the only way to make sure rugby league is stable in the USA is to have youth playing to sport in Schools as there is not a…
Australia has beaten the United States 62-0 to book a place in the World Cup semi finals. Brett Morris and Jarryd Hayne both scored 4 tries each, but the big news was that Billy Slater left the field early in the second half after aggravating a knee injury he has carried all season. Slater will…
Daly Cherry-Evans looks like has has secured the bench utility spot in Australia’s World Cup team with Robbie Farah dropped from the squad named to take on the United States this weekend. While Australia named a 20 man squad, Farah was still unable to find a place in the side. Cherry-Evans form has been sensational…
A motion has been tabled in Parliament celebrating the life of Steve Prescott MBE, calling him “a hero in sport and in life”. Tabled by the Chairman of the Parliamentary Rugby League Group, Leeds North West MP Greg Mulholland, the motion recognises Steve’s playing career and his astounding feats since he was diagnosed with pseudomyxoma…
NRL Chief Executive Dave Smith will address British Members of Parliament at a meeting of the UK’s Parliamentary Rugby League Group, just days before the RLWC2013 final. Smith’s visit is the second successive meeting of the Group to have an international focus and take place during the World Cup; on October 29 Scott Carter, Rugby…
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…
Scotland has come back from an 8-0 halftime deficit to beat the United States by a scoreline of 22-8. The first half was a real arm wrestle with the United States getting the better of things through a better completion rate. Their first two tries really put the pressure on Scotland and it caused them…
Daly Cherry-Evans has retained his place in the Australian side ahead of the Kangaroos clash with the Wolfhounds in Ireland. Cherry-Evans has been named alongside Cooper Cronk in the halves in after an outstanding performance in the Kangaroos big win over Fiji last weekend. It looks as though Tim Sheens is once again looking to…
The Gold Coast Titans are prepared to break the bank to lure Gold Coast Suns AFL player Karmichael Hunt back to Rugby League according to a News Limited report. Hunt does not come off contract until the end of 2014, the same time the Gold Coast Titans have a large amount of salary cap space…
Tonga has defeated the Cook Islands 22-16 in a very good game that has big implications for the World Cup quarter finals. Tonga was supposed to put a big score on the Cook Islands. For most of the first half however the Cook Islands were giving Tonga all sorts of problems. Isaac John was sensational…
Every so often something funny happens on the footy field that you just can’t let pass by without re-visiting. One of those occurrences happened in the 2013 Rugby League World Cup match between the Cook Islands and Samoa. With both teams needing a win to keep their chances alive, the Cook Islands were playing well….
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…