There will be a number of rule changes that will come into effect for the 2013 NRL season. Their announcement has come at a strange time but then again, with the way the ARLC is making decisions, you can’t be all that surprised. From the NRL official web site the new rules are: Benefit Of The…
Thanks to funding from the New South Wales government, Sydney will host two games in next years State Of Origin series with Brisbane hosting the other match. Over the last few years the NRL has been pushing for more funding to host these games. Ironically it was Victoria’s willingness to pay to host matches that…
Once upon a time I could name you every single player in the Australian Cricket team. I could name everyone in the NSW Cricket team and even players on the fringes who played Sydney club Cricket. I could name most of the players in other state teams too. It was easy! Then something happened. Cricket…
For well over a decade now the game of Rugby League in Australia has been crying out for a strategic plan. Something that the game can work towards to give fans, players and various investors in the sport something they can look forward to. Basically the game needed to build towards something, and so today…
What a great achievement! Australia managed to beat New Zealand in Townsville 18-10 while being led from the front by a player born and raised in New Zealand who our officials and coaches recruited thanks to the possibility of at least $10,000 for every State Of Origin game he was selected to play in. What a proud moments for the…
I love international Rugby League. I grew up watching test football and enjoying every single minutes of it. I would set my alarm late at night to watch games played over in England, and I still credit the 1994 Kangaroo Tour for giving me the terrible sleeping habits I have today. Then Super League hit,…
Canberra Raiders youngster Josh Papalii has turned his back on New Zealand after being recruited by Queensland coach Mal Meninga to represent a state he once used to live in. Meninga has openly talked for a year about pressuring Papalii to turn his back on the country of his birth and that was helped along by the…
Australia, New Zealand and England poach talent from other countries, and then they dare to suggest that no other country can offer them a decent contest, so they refuse to play anyone else. That is the current situation in international Rugby League right now. You have a bunch of growing Rugby League nations playing games…
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…
Queensland has wrapped up its 7th straight State Of Origin series with a thrilling 21-20 win at Lang Park. A field goal from 45 meters out by Cooper Cronk ended up being all that separated the two sides in a win that see’s Fijian born Petero Civoniceva retire as the most capped forward in Origin…
Is it unreasonable to suggest that the biggest domestic sporting event in Australia would generate enough money to see the participants in that contest earning $50,000 each? No, not really? That is the situation we face right now with the State Of Origin series. The Rugby League Players Association is pushing for a pay increase…
Why do people like international football? At its very core, the most basic level, why do we like watching test matches between international teams? I like to this it comes down to seeing how one group of people from one part of the world plays compared to another group of people from another part of…
The New Zealand team contains an Aussie. The Australian team contains a Kiwi and a Fijian. One side was picked with an eye on State of Origin. The game won’t even be shown live into Australia. So why should I care? As a die hard Rugby League fan that grew up watching some great test…
Last night Australia selected New Zealand born and raised James Tamou to play for the Kangaroo’s. He will go on to play for New South Wales in the State Of Origin series. It is a move that has caused uproar among fans and the media. Nobody feels like this is the right thing to 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….
Rugby League in Great Britain is complex. It is small minded and yet at the same time it has this inflated opinion of itself. It is closed off and proud of its ability to not need any outside influences, and yet pounds its chest in triumph at the capture of a foreign player or coach….
Jack Reed is like a gift from the Rugby League Gods. Reed is a 23 year old center for the Brisbane Broncos. This time last year, he didn’t think he had much of a career ahead of him as far as Rugby League went. Perseverance paid off though and today he is a top performer…
So in the recent 2013 Rugby League World Cup launch, in Salford, the qualification process was announced and it had the two or three people that turned up to the launch scratching their heads. There is one spot in the World Cup open to what they are calling an “Atlantic Qualifier”. In real terms, this…
Wales have beaten France to claim the European Cup and claim a place in next years Four Nations tournament. Some people have been hailing this as a great thing for the game. Its not. The Welsh side is made up mostly of players born and raised in England. With little to no recognition from the…
As Akuila Uate, a Fijian born and raised player who only recently moved to Australia, was selected by the ARL to represent that Australian Prime Ministers XIII against Papua New Guinea, people who took any interest in seeing international Rugby League retain any credibility were up in arms. Having played for Fiji within the last…
Some people tell me that I see things in black and white terms. This is a flaw apparently. You see, I don’t understand that in this day and age, you have to be flexible. I think thats a load of horse shit quite honestly. I’ve always been someone that thinks that this game should be…
The administration in Rugby League on both sides of the world right now is a complete and utter shambles. Stupidity, self interest and ignorance are all getting a work out and the lack of a real leader, someone that can push things forward and make decisions, is there for all to see. Anything thats good…
Why do we have a Rugby League World Cup? In fact, why does any sport have a World Cup? The Rugby League World Cup was first held in 1954 after a lot of work by the French to make it happen. The French saw the need for a World Cup and the opportunities the competition…
You’ll have noticed I am yet to post the official squad lists for other nations competing in the World Cup, but I have a good reason. It seems the people running these teams have no idea what they are doing! In some instances I can’t really blame them. The rules are there are no rules……so…
Well the World Cup Countdown has begun and if you are following some of the squad selections at the moment you will find that some players are being named in more than one squad. Because this kind of muddies the waters, the RLIF (See ARL via an fancy letterhead) decided to clear things up. The…
The Scottish Rugby League scene is small to say the least. At best its just starting to get going at the junior level in a few small areas. At worst you could say it doesn’t actually exist. However on the back of a team full of English players, and being fortunate enough to be grouped…
Leading into this Fridays on of Test between Australia and New Zealand, we have once again been told by anyone wearing a small, flightless bird on their t-shirt that they ar proud to play for New Zealand and to be a Kiwi’s Test player. Pull the other one! For well over 10 years now the…
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…
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…
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…