In this section of the web site you will find articles contributed by guest writers.
Performance enhancing drugs have been all over the sporting world lately. First came cycling’s fallen angel Lance Armstrong finally coming out of the PED closet on Oprah and confirming what we’ve all known for the last two years. Just as we’d all digested that, enter Ray Lewis and his alleged use of deer antler spray that may…
Although the NFL and the NRL are two completely different sports, the skill sets can often merge without any problems. Below are the players from the 2012 season of the NFL that I believe would make up the best NRL outfit. The obvious deficiency in this side is the kicking game, as the NFL does…
Pre Season in any sport is the time in which the foundation qualities needed for the long season ahead are established. In a collision sport like rugby league the intense mental and physical challenges of the game need to be not only mirrored but exceeded in this period, allowing the player to feel confident to…
In all his gloriousness, League Freak asked in November how everyone gets by in the off-season, and I’d like to offer up what I’ve been getting up to over the past three months. 2012 ended with my club, Hull KR finishing outside of the top eight playoff places for the first time since our inaugural…
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…
Ian Schubert, the NRL’s salary cap chaperone, has had some devilishly intricate contracts to review over the years. However, there is one from a different kettle of fish and loaves that stretches his abilities more than most, and with Israel Folau’s return to the land of league imminent, he’s about to tussle with its particulars…
The problem a lot of Super League teams are faced with is spending more money than they make. That is the simplistic answer to the financial issues dogging the likes of Salford, Castleford and Hull KR. The salary cap sits at £1.65m. That means that clubs can spend up to that limit on wages and…
With the Salford City reds currently await a winding up petition hearing and the recent spate of big clubs going bust, it begs the question, what does the future have in store for Rugby League in England? Last season we saw one of the biggest clubs in English RL History, the Bradford Bulls arrive at…
The great game of rugby league, saturated in rich heritage and underpinned with a revered history, will forever find itself jousting with the feisty and youthful beast of progression. The sport has been constantly churned through the stamping press of time and subsequently embossed with evolutions like video technology, floodlit night games, convoys of on-field…
My oval-shaped pigskin heart almost flat-lined on the weekend thanks to a Sabbath sans rugby league, but with the aid of an unheralded sliver of light that poked through the vile post-season darkness, I was able to survive and tell my tale today. The saviour smelt like oil and bourbon and aggressively attacked my ear…
“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…
The title says it all really. Not again. Not again as the Bulldogs who, in my opinion, were certainly the cream of the crop throughout the season came crashing back down to Earth after audio of someone within the club calling out abusive comments to a media contingent. Compounding the matter, the comments were of…
Two battle-dusty sheriffs stand at opposite ends of the ANZ corral in the Wild West, wearily upright among piles of the steaming fallen as the only remaining gunslingers from a drawn-out bloody battle carried out over 1 score and 6 rounds. And a couple of finals. Both wear an engulfing tattoo of strain on their…
Rugby League applies a weakening choke-hold to news outlets on grand final week as it provides only a solitary game’s worth of inspiration to the poor souls empowered to lay literary bricks in column space. It is no more apparent in 2012’s decider with lonesome crickets chirping in the judiciary room at NRL base camp…
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…
For as long as I can remember, I have always had a great fondness and been captivated by martial arts, especially when displayed on the big screen. I know some people think these guys are just actors but I think just about all that will feature in my list are real life martial artists, this…
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…
G’day from Scotland! Whilst it is summer here, I’ve seen the four seasons over the past hour, and have just had my fix of Australian news, especially all things RL. And what a massive couple of days it has been! When it rains, it pours. When ol’ Huey decides to dump it on theARLC/NRL, grab…
Hi again. After a bit of positive feedback on the first article, I’m here again to rant. This week we have the so-called ‘Captain’s Challenge’. Whilst I understand that most players/coaches/fans have not been happy with the standard of refereeing this year (or for a number of years it should be said), this initiative will…
Let me start off by saying I love rugby league. Love it so much that it leaves me wanting to tear out another handful of hair or kick the nearest small child sometimes. This week, it’s the judiciary that needs our help. Like many things these days, the NRL judiciary system has become over-complicated to…
As a lifelong female fan and supporter of Rugby League, I am appalled by today’s decision regarding Robert Lui. I am fortunate to have a local JRL club run by a strong woman, and the Under 9 team my son plays in has a fantastic female player. The piss weak one year ban is a…
One of the main talking points for the first month or so of the 2012 NRL Off Season has been off the field and it’s a big issue – the next TV Rights Deal and indeed who they will go to. Now for those who don’t know (which I doubt will be many of you)…
Last Friday, the 2nd of March, a significant event in the history of the New Zealand Warriors occurred with expatriate New Zealand businessman Owen Glenn purchasing a 50% shareholding in the club. Glenn and current owner Eric Watson finalised and signed of the deal with NRL CEO David Gallop in Auckland on Thursday evening, 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…
Now I must admit that I like the Super League playoff process… well, most of it. Remove that God-awful ‘club call pick a team to play even though we all know they’re gunna choose the lowest-ranked side’ rubbish and I think you’ve got a brilliant formula. And we’ve seen pieces of magic that remind you…
I started reading League Freak a couple of years ago and the main thing that attracted me to the site was the laconic and straight-to-the-point attitude of the author, which is evident when he covers the issues that affect rugby league. People within the game can so often be found on the fence but some,…
Forget the Rabbitohs versus the Roosters, forget NSW vs QLD and certainly forget Australia vs New Zealand, no, the biggest rvalry in Australian sport at the present time isn’t even between two sporting teams its between two sports with one using more spin than the Mike Gatting ball and the other getting smashed pillar to…
Rugby League began at Brunel in November 2007, when a few freshers who felt disenfranchised by the rugby union set-up at university thought about approaching the university about creating a separate rugby union side where they would feel comfortable. Before approaching the university with the idea however, they were convinced to instead set up a…