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…
The Queensland Rugby League has announced the Maroons side for game one of the State Of Origin series and there were basically no surprises what so ever. The Queenslanders have a big production around the announcement of their side and its pretty funny if only for the fact that you have so many journo’s who…
The NSWRL has announced the Blues State Of Origin side for game one and I have to say, its a lineup I really like and one that looks like its been selected to attack the Maroons and really go after a win rather than trying to defend its way to a series. When you have…
When you get to representative level, the players you assemble are the best of the best. Bigger, faster, stronger, more skillful and with more endurance. It is that last asset that I think is seeing the bench rotation at representative level evolve into something different than what we have become accustomed to seeing over the…
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…
Queensland’s winning run at State Of Origin level burns away at me every single day. When I watch games I rate the form of possible Origin players, as well as the Queenslanders. I think that New South Wales are in a much better position than they were say two years ago. Now we know who…
It is a series in which every single game rates as highly on TV as the Grand Final. I would argue that State Of Origin is the most identifiable product that the game has Australia wide. Recent speculation suggest that any television station that wants to broadcast the three game State Of Origin series will…
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….
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…
Think of this as a conspiracy theory that has a lot of pieces that fit very neatly into place… I wrote yesterday about Mal Meninga’s Ignorant Rant against everyone and everything from New South Wales. His article titled Queensland’s triumph a victory over the dirty rats of Origin was full of venom, and its got him in a lot…
So Australia lost the Four Nations Final, and it is the third loss in a major final in the last five years, all of them at the hands of New Zealand and two of those losses on home soil. You can’t ignore those facts. They fly in the face of what we have all grown…
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…
Normally, I find nothing more exciting than a Test match. I grew up in an era of very good Test football where it was a real pinacle of the game. The mid season “ANZAC” Test though, its just not doing it for me any more. We throw two teams together with a five day preperation,…
Well the mid season Test match is not far off now and its time to start thinking about who you would select in your Australian Test team. Its sad to think that politics will come into play when picking the actual side. The Queenslanders will not be happy untill all 17 players are from Queensland…
Well the Queensland conspiracy theorists are out in force once again, and this time they are targeting one of their own. With three of the strongest clubs in the game and three straight Origin series under their belts, its getting hard these days for the old Queensland brigade to suggest that those rotten NSW people…
In a recent article in The Guardian Online Rugby League reporter Andy Wilson wrote an article about England World Cup chances titled No reason to fear Folau and co. The article was typical of a lot of press thats coming out of the UK at the moment. With England having just beaten a French team thats was mostly…
Victorious Queensland coach Mal Meninga has called for a Queensland heavy Australian Test side when selectors sit down to pick the national team at the end of the year. After winning the last two Origin series and the last four Origin game, Meninga’s call is common sense but definantly needed in the day and age…
In an ironic move by the New Zealand Rugby League considering the name of the Test is the ANZAC Test, the NZRL has said that the 2008 game will be their last mid season test against Australia because they are unable to compete with the World Champions in the fixture. Despite the fact the game draws big…
After a dominant display for Queensland in the first State Of Origin, and an even more dominant display in the Cowboys win against the Bulldogs just two days later, Jonathan Thurston is in the form of his career. On a night when channel 9 commentator Ray Warren was comparing Cowboys fullback Matthew Bowen to the…
Its been an agenda for a while now and for some stupid reason it persists despite the fact that on field results prove it would be a disaster! Now Jamie Lyon mentor and close person friend Noel Cleal Has told the Sydney Morning Herald thats Lyon is up to the job of playing five-eight for New South…
Much has been made of the short preperations both Australia and New Zealand had in the leadup to the ANZAC Test in Brisbane last Friday night. There has been calls for players to be stood down from the preceeding club game, calls for Test matches to be played as stand alone events on a weekend…
If Queensland have their way the State Of Origin trophy will belong to them on Wednesday night. Their quest to wrap up the series though has taken a beating with Brad Thorn struggling to overcome a sternum injury. After losing prop Steven Price for the series to a knee injury, the Queenslander’s couldn’t afford to…
The NZRL wants an Kiwi Origin series. They also want Kiwi’s to be allowed to play in the Australian State Of Origin series. The ARL meanwhile was surprised that the first test match played in 6 years in the second biggest League center on planet Earth attracted a crowd. Because of this, they are re-thinking…
Well in case you didn’t know, the RLIF has been meeting this week and a few key announcements were made. First, news that Great Britain would be broken up into England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland heading into the 2008 World Cup was surprising. Just as the Great Britain Lions have started drawing sizable crowds in…