It is the dream scenario for the National Rugby League, the worst case scenario for Fox Sport and it would be a deal that would change Australian television in a very dramatic way. The Sydney Daily Telegraph article Channel Ten to attempt to snatch NRL broadcast rights from Channel Nine outlines moves by Channel 10 to broadcast…
For well over a decade News Limited was part of the business. A 50% owner of the NRL, heavily involved in broadcasting rights, they had their fingers in all the pies and made hundreds of millions of dollars out of the game. Now, they are no longer at the table when it comes to the…
It took a long time but they finally got it done. The old ARL has been dissolved, News Limited has left the building and now the Independent Commission is finally in charge under the name of the Australian Rugby League Commission. The handover occurred yesterday at Moore Park in Sydney where the new HQ for…
He is off contract at the end of the season and for the last few years, he has been less than enthusiastic about re-signing with the Canberra Raiders. Now, news has emerged that Josh Dugan is facing speeding charges after being clocked doing 105kph in a 60kph zone. On top of this, Dugan was unlicensed,…
This week we saw and interesting court case in which Optus were ruled to not be breaking any laws by allowing its customers to record free to air television programs on a personal DVR and then stream that recording to their mobile devices and computers as early as 2 minutes after that television program started….
In the history of top grade Rugby League in Australia, there are only 16 players since 1908 that have played 300 or more clubs games. Think about that for a moment. For the thousands of players who have pulled on one of the famous Rugby League jerseys of either an NSWRL, ARL or NRL club,…
The Rugby Football League has signed a three year deal with trucking company Stobart. The deal involved Stobart putting large Rugby League themed stickers on 100 of their trucks and involves no money. In exchange for this the Super League competition will carry the Stobart. This is insane! Nothing against Stobart, they’ve done a great…
You’ve waited through the long off season, and now, with the season just around the corner, your team is starting to play trial matches. So how much can you get out of trial games? How much can you take from trail game results? You can do all of the fitness work you like, but nothing…
Paul Vautin had hosted The Footy Show every single year since 1994. He is the worst host in Australian television history, and that is what makes him so great! In an industry of talentless try hards who have the personality of a wet cardboard box, Fatty is still a breath of fresh air. There are…
There is something about Rugby League that really pisses some people off. I can not think of another sport anywhere else in the world that is supposed to justify its existence, as well as its ability to survive long term, despite the fact the tough old bastard has been around since 1895. It is not…
Today it has been announced that the Sydney Cricket Ground will be upgraded with funding from the Australian Federal Government of $50 million, the NSW State Government tipping in $86 million and the SGC Trust itself spending $50 million as well. This will see the venues capacity boosted from 45,758 to 48,000. Wait, what? That…
So yet again Rugby League is talking about a “super secret meeting” that happened over a coffee in public. The story is that Sonny Bill Williams met with the Sydney Roosters chairman Nick Politis and Channel Nine supremo David Gyngell at “secluded” Circular Quay to all but finalize a return to the NRL for the…
I know its been difficult, but its all back up and running now. No doubt the first question you have is “League Freak, what the hell happened to your web site over the last week or so?”. How about I tell you… So on about the 23rd of December I has written the article below…
Well its that time of the year again when Santa going on the worlds largest break and enter spree. We don’t mind it because he leaves presents. Now, Santa spends all year making a list. Then, he checks it twice. He want to find out who’s naughty and who is nice. Personally, I think the…
Gary Hetherington is a complete moron. There, I said it. And this quote from him is why. “The increase in the NRL’s salary cap, the current exchange rate and various changes made by the government are going to make it very, very difficult to attract top-quality, international standard overseas players,” Hetherington said. The Yorkshire Post…
The RFL put out and extrardonary press release last night in which they confirmed their planned 2012 tour of New Zealand had been cancelled, blamed Australian administrators for the cancellation, and then decided to change the laws of the game. You know, just because they felt like it! The stupid, pathetic, egotistical failures within the…
Watch me start off simplifying this and then making it much more complicated as we go along. NRL clubs currently receive a grant from the NRL every year. This is basically their share of the current broadcasting deal. The NRL is looking to get clubs to sign an agreement that says that next year, they…
Twitter is an incredible resource that is like a gold mine for anyone that knows how to use it properly. Personally, Twitter had been amazing for my web site. It is a completely open forum that allows me to contact a large user base of people who are interested in Rugby League. I can send…
Today on Twitter I mentioned once again that I believe the Cronulla Sharks should relocate to Brisbane. I point to the way they have struggled over their entire history financially and the way they are squeezed into a small area of Sydney with no room to grown. In Brisbane they would be one of just…
The Australian Aboriginals Vs NRL All Stars game is a great concept that ticks so many boxes. Its a fantastic focus for the kickoff to the Rugby League season. It has great fan interaction as people can vote for who they want to play in both sides online. It is a game that can be…
For the majority of the history of Australian Rugby League, New South Wales versus Queensland representative matches were a test of the relative current player pool in those two states. If you were an Australian living in New South Wales, you played for the Blues. If you lived in Queensland, you played for the Maroons….
It is a sad day in Rugby League today with news of the passing of Queensland and Australian Rugby League legend Arthur Beetson. I met Beetson once at a function at St Marys Rugby League club. I got a few autographs and he signed off with “Enjoy The Game”. That pretty much summed up the…
Imagine that you own a Newspaper based in London. London is the biggest media market in the country, and the vast majority of your newspapers sales are in the greater London region. The good people of London are like any other people anywhere else in the world. They want to be informed about what is…
Mid way through the 2011 NRL season Chris Sandow signed a massive contract to play for the Parramatta Eels that come under fire by a lot of people who said he simply wasn’t worth it. At the time I wrote an article saying Chris Sandow IS Worth It. On the weekend Brad Fittler was quoted…
Just days after the announcement that James Maloney would not be re-signing with the New Zealand Warriors at the completing of his contract in 2012 comes word that the halfback has signed a three year deal with the Sydney Roosters from 2013. Maloney is a good buy for the Roosters and will partner Mitchell Pearce…
So here we are, the 2011 Four Nations Final. Australia vs England at Elland Road in Leeds. England are full of confidence after their big win over New Zealand in Hull. I watched the game and England did play well, but New Zealand were terrible. I don’t know how much England is really going to…
I’m looking at Rugby League on a world wide basis, and I can not for the life of me understand why the RFL has any influence on the decision making process at international level. The RFL and its shambolic track record. An organization that can not even properly administer its own tiny little club competition….
So Australia gets to play the soap dodging, Stella drinking, pasty faced whingers from northern England again, and like clockwork, the Poms are talking up their chances and using words like Pride and Confidence. After their win last week against a Welsh team that included 8 part time players, the soap dodgers are on top…
Australia has defeated World Cup and Four Nations holders New Zealand by a scoreline of 24-12 in Warrington in a game that was marred by poor refereeing and a dangerous tackle that will probably not receive any punishment at all. This was an interesting, if not exciting game to watch. Both teams to me looked…
If you follow me on Twitter, you will know that this is something that I have brought up a few times and I am not happy about. As of today, the Penrith Panthers do not have a captain, CEO or a major sponsor. Earlier this week The Daily Telegraph looks at the latter in an…