I started reading League Freak a couple of years ago and the main thing that attracted me to the site was the laconic and straight-to-the-point attitude of the author, which is evident when he covers the issues that affect rugby league. People within the game can so often be found on the fence but some,…
The other day I sat down to watch a press conference in Brazil where the UFC were promotion their first big event in the biggest country in South America. UFC President Dana White said that it had been a long time coming, and would mark the start of regular events in Brazil, which provides some…
Imagine being a St George/Illawarra player over the last few seasons. You are trying your guts out but its plainly obvious that you don’t have what it takes to win a Premiership. Hell, for nearly a decade the club has been there or there abouts, and they always fall short. So much so that the…
No doubt you have all read about the blowup this week by Phil Gould after some squiggles he wrote on a piece of paper at a recent meeting between all NRL club CEO’s and Chairman was “leaked” to the media. Gould felt like it was a personal attack on him by “someone” at the NRL…
You have to wonder where a club is at when, after a number of terrible performances, they feel like the best thing to do is to have everyone stop drinking alcohol for the next two weeks to try and lift their game. Imagine in your work place if things were going well and the prevailing…
When the Parramatta Eels went out in the last off season and signed Carl Webb, Paul Whatuira, Chris Walker, Chris Hicks and Reni Maitua off the scrap heap, I was certain it was all going to work out just fine for them. I was certain that by signing all of these player who were in…
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…
Phil Gould wrote an article on the weekend about junior Rugby League in western Sydney that basically went along the lines of, the AFL is a juggernaught, we are doing nothing to stop them, we need to spend more money, the sky is falling…..you get the picture. It has caused a lot of headlines and…
The NRL’s National Youth Competition for Under 20’s player get a lot of critics, and I’m not really sure why. I’ve always taken the opinion that, I don’t care what the results are in junior football, the main thing is that the kids are playing Rugby League and having a bit of fun. That should…
Am I the only one getting sick to death with the way the media keeps trying to manufacturer Rugby League stories lately? If you have been on the League Freak Juggernaut for long enough, you know I don’t like to stuff around. I like to get straight to the point and not mess about. I’m…
Canberra, Newcastle, Brisbane, Townsville, New Zealand, Melbourne and the Gold Coast. These are the names of teams that have come into what we these days call the NRL over the course of my lifetime. The presence of these teams have been nothing short of vital to the survival of the club I support in Sydney,…
In a stunning turn of events, the Wrexham Crusaders have withdrawn their license application to the Rugby Football League, meaning they will drop down a division to the Co-Op Championship next season. This decision means that the team that was heavily favored to be axed from the competition next season, the Wakefield Wildcats, have earned…
When Petero Civoniceva come to the end of his last contract with the Brisbane Broncos, he was the best prop in the game. He expected to be paid, and the club had always preached loyalty and told him that pay day was coming. It never happened. Petero didn’t want to leave the Broncos, but in…
I always find it funny when Super League Imports talk up the quality of Super League and its players. The vast majority of the time I think its just about knowing who butters your bread. Other times I think it just comes down to a player or a coach trying to convince themselves that they are no…
The Sydney Daily Telegraph is reporting that NRL clubs bosses are looking at a number of initiatives that are supposed to make the NRL season run a little bitter. From what I can see, it looks like club bosses have no only out smarted themselves, but also added a dose of self interest into the mix as…
Yesterday at a gas bagging session that was nothing more than an excuse for some of sports power-brokers to have an expensive lunch and hear themselves talk, Channel 9’s boss, David Gyngell, said that Rugby League could not expect to get anywhere near what the AFL got because put simply, the game didn’t have enough…
Rugby League holds 73 of the most watched 100 programs on Australian Pay Television. It is an industry that was formed on the foundation of Rugby League in this country. Today, Roy Masters has written an explosive article in the Sydney Morning Herald titled Clubs’ ploy to abandon Foxtel to get rights value. Go and read…
Starting a new football team, and expansion team, is all about good will. You have to convince the governing body of the sport that they really need you in the competition. That the area you are going into has room for growth, and their presence will will be a welcome addition to the established competition…
This morning Kevin Moore boarded a plane with his Bulldogs side in preparation for Friday nights showdown with the New Zealand Warriors. Not long after arriving in Auckland, Moore announced that he would stand down from the position of Bulldogs coach with immediate effect. Assistant coach Jim Dymock will take over with many suggesting that…
Mark Gasnier has announced that he will retire at the end of the 2011 season and get on with life after football. Gasnier told the media today that he knew going into this season that it would be his last. This is Mark Gasniers first full season of Rugby League, having returned by a stint…
The NRL’s push to have a National Youth Competition for Under 20’s players has seen some very good, well prepared players come into the NRL ranks over the last few years and show they are ready for first grade right from the get go. These young players get a chance to play representative football, but…
Tim Sheens gave them every chance, but he knew, it was time for change. The West Tigers won the 2005 NRL Grand Final with a young team. Most of that team still forms the core of the current West Tigers lineup today. In the years following that Premiership win, the Tigers have had one major…
The NRL’s push to have a National Youth Competition for Under 20’s players has seen some very good, well prepared players come into the NRL ranks over the last few years and show they are ready for first grade right from the get go. These young players get a chance to play representative football, but…
They are looking to enter the NRL and provide Brisbane with a second NRL team, but the expected announcement today that they want to name that team the “Brisbane Bombers” is ignorant and short sighted. It will never be allowed to happen, and rightfully so. There is an AFL team called the Essendon Bombers. That’s…
The rumours being made up in Rugby League at the moment are beyond ridiculous. Being on Twitter, you see them every day. You have to wonder where they come from becomes 95% of them make no sense at all to anyone involved in the rumour! One of my personal favorites was that Darren Lockyer was…
Think of this as a conspiracy theory that has a lot of pieces that fit very neatly into place… I wrote yesterday about Mal Meninga’s Ignorant Rant against everyone and everything from New South Wales. His article titled Queensland’s triumph a victory over the dirty rats of Origin was full of venom, and its got him in a lot…
You have to wonder what planet Mal Meninga is living on. Fresh off of winning a record sixth straight State Of Origin series at Queensland coach, Meninga went on a bizarre rant in his newspaper column titled Queensland’s triumph a victory over the dirty rats of Origin It was nothing short of a tirade directed at…
The Wigan Warriors forged their way to last seasons Super League title by pushing for every single edge they could possibly get over their opponents. Under the coaching of Michael Maguire they lifted their training standards, worked hard on their defense technique, and it payed off in his first season at the club with a…
The NRL’s next broadcasting deal will see a huge leap in the amount of money the game makes. By at least 2015, we will have an 18 team competition (With the addition of Perth and most likely a second Brisbane team). The deal after that, which will run between 2018 and 2023, will see further…
Queensland has wrapped up its 6th straight State Of Origin series win with a 34-24 win over New South Wales. Lets face it, the scoreline flattered New South Wales. I’ve never seen an opening half an hour to any Origin match like the one I saw in this game. Things just went Queenslands way. The…