The Federazione Italiana RFL (FIRFL) look set to create international rugby league history after announcing their Italia Azzurri XIII National Team will play their first International against a ‘Rest of the World’ team named the Barbarian Warriors Rugby League. The international will be played at Stadio campo da Rugby Dan Giorgio in Palmi, Reggio Calabria…
Wowsers. What a collector’s item of sparkling goal kicking from Luke Walsh last night! The Penrith halfback’s spotless 11 from 11 was a magnificent showcase of accuracy from sideline to sideline, not to mention a perfect accompaniment to the razzle dazzle being served up by the Panthers on the CUA turf against a porous Warriors…
The New Zealand Warriors are a club with a lot of talent. That they sit in 15th place on the NRL ladder with just 2 wins in their 10 games this season is a disgrace. Last night it all culminated in an embarrassing 62-6 loss to the Ivan Cleary coached Penrith Panthers and with former Warriors player…
Dear Panthers Fans, In my season preview I without hesitation (ok a little hesitation) predicted that the Penrith Panthers would run away with the Wooden Spoon in 2013. A few weeks later in my thoughts on the wooden spoon I again said the Panthers would finish last due to the lack of a genuine game…
The National Rugby League will celebrate its annual Women In League round this weekend. On face value it is a great concept. A round of football that allows us all to focus on the contributions women make to Rugby League at all levels of the game. Then there is the fact that someone like Robert…
In an exclusive, League Freak has obtained a copy of an email that proves the decision by Matt Cecchin to send-off Jared Waerea-Hargreaves against Manly on Monday night may have been the pre-conceived actions of a raving madman that were inspired by a directive from above. The email, sent on Sunday from senior official Shayne…
It’s fair to say that the Penrith Panthers have been extremely busy in the player market so far in 2013. They have publicly chased Australian 5/8 Thurston as well NSW 5/8 Todd Carney and although they came up short in both efforts, media reports indicate they came within a whisker of securing each. After a less than…
Benji Marshall has been named on the Wests Tigers bench for Friday nights game against the South Sydney Rabbitohs with Liam Fulton taking his place at five-eigth. It comes at a very interest time in Marshall’s career. At 28 years of age, these should be Benji Marshall’s best years. This should be the time when…
The Salford City Reds will change their name to the Salford Red Devils next year in a move that I think will help them in terms of marketing. It is part of an overall re-branding of the club that is long over due. In related news, I just bought the domain name SalfordRedDevils.co.uk Seriously, click on it…
Since being fined and having his contract almost torn up a few weeks ago, Blake Ferguson has come back into the Canberra Raiders side and been in some decent form. One the weekend Ferguson tore the Newcastle Knights apart in a display that saw him dominate the entire outcome of the game. Ferguson broke the…
Rugby League coaches never lose games. Ever. There is always something that gets in the way of a Rugby League coaches perfect plan to take down the opposition. Injuries, suspensions, the terrible schedule, the rep season….there is always some reason why a coach didn’t manage to get the win. Of course, the most obvious reason coaches…
Right from the get go I want to let anyone reading this article know that I was born in Penrith, I was raised in Mt Druitt and I went to high school in Blacktown. I’ve lived my entire life in Western Sydney so I think its fair to say that I understand the people of Western Sydney….
The crowd of 7, 803 at Centrebet Stadium to see the home side Penrith take on the World Champion Melbourne Storm capped off a poor weekend of crowd attendance for the NRL. This week saw figures of: 12, 117 at The Titans vs. Dragons game 10, 453 in Canberra to see the Raiders belt Newcastle…
Right now there is a lot of talk about restructuring the Super League and Championship competitions. Some of the idea’s on the table seem alright. Others are completely ridiculous and should not even be up for consideration. The problem with all of the options being put up for discussion right now is that they do…
Rugby League’s worst kept secret is now out, Josh Dugan is officially a Dragon. My first reaction was ‘geese the Dragons are desperate’ but on second thought I realised it was only a few short weeks ago someone asked me if I’d take Dugan at the Sharks and I said I would consider it. The…
Injury prone and more trouble than he’s worth. It is not exactly the type of description you’d expect to hear about a player who, at his best, is a walk up start for the New South Wales State Of Origin team. At just 22 years of age Josh Dugan finds himself at a cross roads….
Todd Carney has re-signed with the Cronulla Sharks after turning his back on massive offers from the Penrith Panthers and New Zealand Zealand Warriors. It is believed that Carney will put pen to paper on a five year deal that will earn him around $4.5 million. The last 24 hours had been abuzz with speculation…
South Sydney coach Michael Maguire has come out and stated that he believes Greg Inglis has been targeted by defenses To this I say “Ah Duh!!!” Manly’s Richard Fa’aoso is serving an 8 week ban for 2 separate spear tackles on the South Sydney ace but this is not the first time this season Inglis has…
The whispers are getting louder and louder that Todd Carney is on the verge of leaving the Cronulla Sharks and will be playing for the Penrith Panthers in 2014. I’ve been skeptical that this was going to happen for a while now for two reasons… First of all, I think Carney is happy and settled…
Yesterday (7th May) Blake Ferguson signed a 2 yr contract extension with the Canberra Raiders after a cracking game against the Storm. News reports have referred to the centre as a “reformed bad boy” amongst other things. He’s even being spoken of as a potential State Of Origin centre. First of all unless Josh Morris,…
It fair to say that at this point of the season, we know enough about every team in the National Rugby League to be able to make some pretty good educated guesses on where teams will finish the season. When I look back at my 2013 National Rugby League Season Preview, I feel like I…
Over the last 7 years since NSW has won an Origin series the question has arisen countless times through media outlets and social networking sites weather State Of Origin is still relevant to the game of Rugby League. The simple answer is Yes it is the more difficult answer is how do New South Wales come up…
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…