In the interests of perpetuating the stereotype of rugby league’s fickle water cooler, where memories are short, determinations are rash and a week is a long time, I’m going on the record today by saying the Bulldogs are back, baby! For those reasonable and sensible who don’t exaggerate whilst canvassing over a plastic cup, this…
Confirmed By St Helens: Walsh To Become A Saint It is a move that has been doing the rounds of the rumour mill for a few week now. Luke Walsh may be contracted to the Penrith Panthers, but it is all but a done deal that he will be released from his contract and will…
The Canterbury Bulldogs are supposedly a “club in crisis” so often that when the media throws those three words in their direction, no one bats an eyelid any more. With a thousand stupid rumours doing the rounds and their CEO leaving in August to take up a role with the NRL, the Bulldogs were facing…
For those who haven’t read Rugby League Week’s Players Poll, I definitely recommend doing so as it was not only a good read but always starts discussion re the best players, best referee etc. The poll took a softer stance this season dropping the Biggest Grub/Sook award as well as the Most Overrated, and focused…
Well, well, well….it seems that Captain Chomp has finally returned to grace our football fields once more. The moment James Graham tracked down Billy Slater and went out of his way to bite the champion fullback on the ear is one I don’t think any of us will forget. To see him full of that…
First I think it is fair that I let everyone know once again that I am a Sharks fan and that should be taken into account when reading the following. Yesterday young 2nd rower Wade Graham was the first player to be interviewed by ASADA officials in Sydney’s RBA offices in relation to the Sharks…
With NRL clubs now turning their attention to Super League players in an effort to boost depth in their squads, many within Super League had the same reaction. Raise the salary cap. Forgetting that a handful of clubs have gone belly up in Super League over the last few years with the salary cap set…
If Sam Tomkins wants to play in the National Rugby League he will need to learn how to do one simple thing. Shut the fuck up! Sam Tomkins has a weekly article he writes for the UK’s Mail Online. It is actually a pretty good read if only for the fact that he doesn’t hold…
For some reason I still watch The Footy Show. Maybe its because I like to see them ripping off my Rugby League Look-Alikes and not giving me any credit at all. Maybe I just like in hope that one day they’ll talk a little bit about Rugby League. Who knows! The one constant that I…
Benji Marshall is at an interesting point in his career. Marshall is one of the greatest players of his era, and yet over the last few season he has found himself playing in a poor side, getting poor results, and it has without question had an effect on his form. Now comes word that Marshall…
The competition between MMA/UFC and boxing has been a talking point among many over the last few years. Boxing may be the oldest form of combat known to man. Its existence dates back to ancient civilisations before the birth of Christ. Boxing was definitely most popular from the 50s through to the 90s when we…
These are the facts… An independent report was commissioned by the Cronulla Sharks into the alleged use of supplements and peptides in 2011. One of the many conclusions that this report came to was that there was the possibility that there may be a connection between the use of certain peptides and the acceleration of the condition of disease…
Who would have thought that after last years debacle the RFL would still press ahead with its disastrous International Origin match! You’ll have better luck putting a bet on Kentucky derby horse racing than you will predicting what the RFL does these days. The powers that be in England carry on these days like a crazy person that doesn’t realize they…
There is a stark reality that Super League fans and clubs need to accept. The days of buying decent players from the NRL are over. The days of picking and choosing who they would like to have in their sides are long gone. The days of big name imports have gone the way of the…
Canterbury Bulldogs CEO Todd Greenberg will leave his post at the Belmore based club today and take up a with role the NRL which is being described as Deputy Chief Executive of the NRL. Greenberg is expected to work under NRL CEO David Smith and will probably become the public face of the game. NRL CEO David…
The Super League battle was a drawn out and messy affair that last 8 years and Australian rugby has taken nearly a decade to make a full recovery. Undoubtedly in the end the biggest winners had to be players and team managers. From whichever way you look at it, the battle was always going to…
With the City vs Country game now behind us we all turn our attention to the State Of Origin series. New South Wales has lost 7 series in a row. Despite talk of building a winning team we still come into the State Of Origin series with a lot of big questions hanging over the…
When Phil Gould took over the running of the Penrith Panthers Rugby League club he set about the task of rebuilding the club from the ground up. After nearly a decade of poor management the Panthers were a basket case at every single level. Gould looked to bring in a new coach and training staff,…
Australia beat New Zealand 32-12 in the ANZAC Test Match in Canberra on Friday night. After the match the reaction from fans and the media was interesting. They talked about how strong the Kangaroo’s are and how easily they will win the World Cup at the end of the season. Me….I’m not so sure about…
English born Melbourne Storm five-eighth Gareth Widdop has signed a four year deal to join the St George/Illawarra Dragons from 2014. The deal is said to be for around $500,000 per season. This is the first big name signing the Dragons have made in years. It is also a very brave move by Widdop who…
For over a decade Rugby League in Australia found itself living on a tight budget. The aftermath of the Super League War actually saw salaries shrink considerably. This was followed up by under funding after the game signed off on poor broadcasting deals, and it created a situation in which teams were spending the least amount of…
It is very rare that a terrible coach can manage to win a Premiership. It does happen from time to time (Hello Michael Hagan) but for the most part, the best coaches normally share the spoils. With the NRL salary cap strictly policed and teams not recruiting youngsters from all over the place, the biggest…
Before I get into the specifics I must admit that I am a huge fan of Sam Tomkins and would welcome him into the Cronulla backline today, tomorrow or yesterday. He is a world class talent and I hope to see him in the NRL next season to test his skills against the world’s best…
Rugby League Week is reporting that Sam Tomkins could find himself playing for the New Zealand Warriors next season. It would be an incredible move for the young Wigan fullback, a brave move. The New Zealand Warriors have the salary cap space to spend to get Tomkins. They also have a coach in place that…
St George/Illawarra Dragons half Jamie Soward has signed a four year contract with the Penrith Panthers started from 2014. I think this is a very good signing for the Panthers. Soward has a fantastic kicking game. He will bring a cool head and Premiership winning experience to the Panthers halves. It has become clear in…
After broadcasting 45 grueling years of steamy side-glances from bush league thespians, Channel Nine has made a major alteration to sick day protocol by cancelling the daily screening of worshiped soap Days of our Lives. Unconfirmed reports from nameless sources say that CEO David Gyngell had grown tired of the program’s suffering standards, so he decided to allow his…
This week we have seen a media backlash against the game in regards to access to players and coaches. In some ways it is understandable. I’ve talked before about the almost paranoid stance the game takes to the media at times, mostly driven by coaches. A lot has been written about Darius Boyd over this…
This Sunday afternoon, Coffs Harbour will play host to the annual City Vs. Country event. Whilst the concept is a fun one and brilliant for the local area hosting the game, its fast losing credibility as a genuine Origin selection tool. The presence of Origin certainties Jennings and Hoffman takes up 2 spots that could…
Despite some distasteful trash talking at the scrum base and some disobedient novelty Steedens, another coat of restoration polish was applied to St George Illawarra on Sunday thanks to a blue-collar negation of the Wests Tigers. Now with three straight wins, the famous Red V jersey is once again returning to being more palatable as…
I can not wait for this weekends clash between the only two undefeated team in the NRL, the South Sydney Rabbitohs and the Melbourne Storm. These are the two teams I tipped to make the Grand Final. So far this season, they both seem to be set to make yet another of my predictions come…