To state the obvious, 2007 has not been the greatest year in the history of New Zealand Rugby League. But tonight, December 1, the brighter side of the NZ game was acknowledged and celebrated with the annual awards function held at the Telstra Pacific Events Centre, Manukau, Auckland. Winners from the night were: Lion Foundation…
Well Willie Mason has decided to wait 12 months before he steps into the boxing ring, and I have to say, its a smart decision. Mason was going to be rushed into this boxing gig and he was going to have to do it during off season training with the Roosters. At least by waiting…
Anyone struggling the understand the eligibility rules in Rugby League would be well advised to not read this article, because quite frankly, in outlining the official rules you are going to end up even more confused than you already are! NRL.com.au posted an article regarding eligibility rules that heavily quoted ARL CEO Geoff Carr. You…
Some brilliant news for Rugby League today with the announcement that Matthew Bowen will remain a North Queensland Cowboys for at least the next 4 years. Bowen is off contract at the end of the 2008 season and with his incredible form you would have to think he would have been in high demand by…
Samoa have scored a 38-16 win over Lebanon to secure the tenth and final place in the 2008 Rugby League World Cup. Lebanon tried hard all game and for a while in the second half looked like they were on the comeback trail, but the Samoan side just had way to much fire power. The…
The Sydney Roosters have just about free’d up all the salary cap space they need to sign Australian forward Willie Mason. Roosters lock Ashley Harrison looks set to leave the club and head to the Gold Coast Titans on a three year deal that would give the Roosters some room under the cap to sign…
Great Britain has scored an unconvincing 28-22 win over New Zealand to take a 3-0 series win for the first time since Moses was a lad. As with this entire series New Zealand played well below par and Great Britain did what they needed to score a fairly easy win. Rob Burrow was named man…
Samoa has defeated the United States 54-10 while Lebanon has beaten Wales 50-26 leading towards a great final qualifying game in which the winner between Samoa and Lebanon will secure the last place in the 2008 Rugby League World Cup. Many people expected Wales to beat Lebanon but after watching both teams last week I…
In 2007 New Zealand Rugby League was supposed to be celebrating 100 years of international competition. Instead, it has been brought to its knee’s as a century of incompetence hits a new low and the game in New Zealand becomes a shattered shell compared to the long awaited promise of success. With the Bardercard Cup…
Despite going down 18-16 against Wales, Scotland has secured a place in the 2008 Rugby League World Cup due to having a superior for and against record. Scotland looked the more desperate to win throughout the match but at half time they found themselves down 14-4. Had Wales held onto that 10 point lead, they…
Great Britain has beaten New Zealand 44-0 in a very, very average Test match. The Lions didn’t really do anything special, New Zealand were just nothing short of atrocious. After setting a laughable goal for New Zealand coach Gary Kemble to win at least 75% of his games in change of the Kiwi’s, his record…
Ireland has scored a late penalty goal to secure a 16-all draw against Lebanon and have booked the 8th place in the 2008 Rugby League World Cup It was a close game throughout with a lot of ill discipline from the Lebanese costing them in the end. At one point they were down to 12…
This week NZRL chairmen Andrew Chalmers has launched another scathing attack on the British judicial system. What’s he whinging about? I mean, it’s not like this is anything new. Any Super league fan that has followed the game more than 5 minutes will tell you our judicial system is an inconsistent farce and appears to…
Some great news for fans of the game with Australian internet provider BigPond showing the World Cup Qualifiers live through their Rugby League TV service. http://bigpondvideo.com/leaguetv With Australian fans deprived of coverage of these games, this is a great way to be able to see some important contest over the next month or so. Ireland,…
Well it’s all happening at the Bulldogs at the moment! Fresh of having to deny rumour that CEO Malcolm Noad was about to be sacked come the news that Willie Mason wants out….immediately! While the reports about why Mason wants out vary from wanted to take time out to take up boxing to falling out…
The Rugby Football League has always been soft on things like gambling, drugs use and illegal play, and once again this week the English governing body has turned the game into a laughing stock. In the last 7 days we have see 3 of the worst head high tackles in International football in recent memory,…
Great Britain has defeated New Zealand 20-14 in Huddersfield to take a 1-0 series lead in a pretty average match without any real highlights. New Zealand were the better side over the course of the game but gifted Great Britain 6 points with a horrible mistake in goal by Sam Perrett that allowed British winger…
As many of you know I have always been against the high number of imports in Super League. I have fought with countless people over the effects of imports on the British game….and now that fight is about to end. I’ve come to the conclusion that Super League is no longer a British competition. The RFL and its…
In 2008, the NRL is launching a new programme to encourage players to become referees when they retire. The programme, dubbed the Cadet Programme, will be overseen by former NRL whistle-blower Steve Clark. It will consist of a three-year programme whereby the cadets (former players) will train with the current first grade refs, do school…
Anyone that had read my opinions in recent years knows I am 100% behind the Franchise system that Super League will have in place from 2009. Promotion and Relegation does not work and that can be seen in the financial position of a number of National League clubs who have gone broke trying to gain promotion. However,…
The New Zealand All Golds beat the Northern Union side 25-18 in Warrington last night. It was an interesting game to watch and certainly helped me get my footy fix for the weekend as the All Golds dominated for most ofthe match. It was only a 20 minute period in the second half where the…
The World Champion Australian Rugby League team has demolished New Zealand by a score line of 58-0. It took Australia about five minutes to kick into gear and once that happened they just looked three classes above New Zealand. The youngest backline in Australian Rugby League history was just oustanding showing power, speed, skill and…
Leeds have run out 33-6 winners over St Helens to claim the title of Super League Champions for season 2007. After a slow start in which they were completely dominated by St Helens in the early going, Leeds jumped out to an 8 point lead after a penalty and a quick try against the run of play….
Sky Sports UK has announced that it will show every game of next years World Cup including five qualifying games to be played next month. Its great news for fans in the UK as there have been rumours recently that Sky was looking to donwgrade its involvement in Rugby League. They join Channel 9 in…
There is one rule in Rugby League that you should never, ever break… SHUT UP! You never, ever give any opposition a reason to fire up by talking yourself up before a game. It always ends in tears. So when NZRL chairman Andrew Chalmers this week game about the best ammunition I have ever seen…
After having morons in Great Britain acclaim him as the best forward in the game, Stuarts Fieldens fall from grace is now complete with his axing from the Great Britain squad ahead of the Test series against New Zealand. Despite being young and never having out played any opposition from Australia or New Zealand, many…
With the announcement that Super League would be moving towards a franchise system and scrapping Promotion and Relegation, we have seen a number of lower grade teams in the UK making a big song and dance about why they deserve to be in the final Super League lineup. Among those were the Widnes Vikings. You’d…
Well its that time of the year again when the Poms get together and star showing the world how little they know about Rugby League. After a great season in which he was head and shoulders above his team mates and any other player in the Super League competition, Trent Barrett has NOT won the…
New Zealand have named a powerful side ahead of this weekends test match against New Zealand in Wellington. The Kiw’s have gone for a great mix of impact, stamina and skill and will learn a lot about the type of lineup they want heading into next years World Cup. When you consider New Zealand are…
Well its seems as though the footy gods are handing a number of deserving players Australian test jerseys they should have got in the first place! Paul Gallen has been ruled out of the Australian side to take on New Zealand next week with a shoulder injury, prompting the promotion of Storm lock Dallas Johnson…