It is the old misdirection play. The team loses a game and the coach starts to spray the referees in the post match press conference to take pressure off himself, and his team. It is a move that is very old and very effective. Hell, even when you know what is going on you end…
The absurdity of the second tier salary cap has reared its head quite emphatically in the past week due to the circumstances that have prevented talented Penrith rookie Fullback Matt Moylan not being allowed to play because his match payments would exceed the club’s second tier salary cap and thus, put the Panthers over the…
Within a minute after the full time siren sounds on grand final day, NRL clubs turn their attention to membership drives. Memberships are a good source of revenue for clubs and are used to try and get fans closer to their club with members only features, such as invitations to training days and team functions,…
Ever wondered how much damage one little lie could do? One Newcastle player certainly found out the hard way. Before the salary cap was introduced, players had to play for the team representing the area they lived in. If a player residing in Sydney wished to change clubs, he had to leave the suburb he…
“I was with Ray until the end.” Sam Haron wasn’t anyone special or significant to the greater public. He was an average person enjoying his life. In 1933, he managed to begin the greatest dream of his life, to tour with the Australian Rugby League Kangaroo’s to England, on board the S.S. Jervis Bay as a Rugby…
Okay, so the title of the article is done, time for polite to fuck off! Background: I’ve been a Balmain fan since 1988 and a Wests Tigers supporter since their inception. I say fan for Balmain because I loved that club. I say supporter for the latter, because as much as I want to tell…
He had a brain for rugby league, creative, speedy, successful and spent most of his life with a bullet in his chest. He was Duncan Thompson. Thompson was born in Warwick, Queensland on March 14, 1895. He joined the Australian Bank of Commerce in 1911. While at Ipswich he represented Combined Country in 1913 and…
In 1908, Rugby League in Australia and New Zealand was officially born. So too, unfortunately, was the first reported attempt to fix a game. Northerners though were always keen for a punt, however one punter attempted to go one step further to get a win. Wigan were the competition heavyweights for season 1908-09, and rightfully…
Comparisons between players of the past with those currently playing the game have been an oft discussed topic. But ultimately it is near impossible to know certifiably just how good players would have performed under the current rules, against different opposition and the tactics of the modern game. Player weight variances would be of the…
There are a number of pertinent issues in Rugby League in Australia today that are the result of over a decade of self-interest by the NRL. A lot of these can be quickly and easily rectified through the implementation of a smarter draw. What the NRL needs to do is look back at what the…