World Cup
Melbourne storm five-eighth Gareth Widdop will not play again this year after dislocating his hip in the Storms 18-12 loss to the Gold Coast Titans. Widdop’s loss is a huge blow to the Melbourne Storms hopes of retaining their Premiership this season. His loss will also have a major effect on England’s World Cup plans…
The Rugby Football League went out of its way to free up this weekend so that England could play the Exiles team and have the best possible chance to prepare for the World Cup at seasons end. That makes me wonder, what happened to Scotland, Wales and Ireland this weekend? Why did the Rugby Football…
France have named a 40 man squad with an eye on the 2013 World Cup. The squad will be trimmed back to 23 players by World Cup kickoff. The 2008 World Cup was nothing short of a disaster for France. Under the coaching of John Monie France were arguably the worst performed team at the…
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…
Australia beat New Zealand 32-12 in the ANZAC Test Match in Canberra on Friday night. After the match the reaction from fans and the media was interesting. They talked about how strong the Kangaroo’s are and how easily they will win the World Cup at the end of the season. Me….I’m not so sure about…
Monday night saw the banality of the universe maintained with another two competition points to the Melbourne Storm, a result which took the club to a record-equalling 13th consecutive win. Yes siree, 2013 so far has been enterprise as usual for Craig Bellamy and his cartel of systemised androids. Death, taxes, yada yada yada. Like…
Do you remember the first time you heard what had happened? It was a fantastic story. The type of story I’m sure you didn’t believe until you watched the news that night. The Canterbury Bulldogs poster boy and one of the biggest named in the NRL had got on a plane and left for France,…
In my lifetime the best elite level development competition I have ever seen was the World 7’s. They used to be a way to kick off the season here in Australia and they put Australian clubs up against international teams. They were also a way for emerging nations to dip their toes into the water…
In life, the ability to say the word “No” is very important. In fact, I’d go as far as to say our ability to say the word “No” is what our entire society is based around. You see, for things to run smoothly you need some level of control. You need to be able to…
He is regarded by many as being the best player in Super League, and although under contract with Wigan for a few more years there is a general feeling that he is already looking at a move away from the club in the not too distant future. So, will we ever see Sam Tomkins playing…
Any international sporting competition is incomplete unless it has one very important element….mascots! Personally I don’t even watch an international sporting competition unless I have been marketed a mascot that I can buy in various forms. I like to think back over the history of sporting mascots…they really do complete the entire sporting experience! So…
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,…
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…
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…
Last night in England the Rugby Football League was supposed to announce all of the venues that would be used for the 2013 World Cup. For what ever reason, that did not happen and in all the confusion about why the announcement wasn’t being made, it felt like the RFL just decided to announce what…
Last night in England the Rugby Football League was supposed to announce all of the venues that would be used for the 2013 World Cup. For what ever reason, that did not happen and in all the confusion about why the announcement wasn’t being made, it felt like the RFL just decided to announce what…
The RFL put out and extrardonary press release last night in which they confirmed their planned 2012 tour of New Zealand had been cancelled, blamed Australian administrators for the cancellation, and then decided to change the laws of the game. You know, just because they felt like it! The stupid, pathetic, egotistical failures within the…
I’m looking at Rugby League on a world wide basis, and I can not for the life of me understand why the RFL has any influence on the decision making process at international level. The RFL and its shambolic track record. An organization that can not even properly administer its own tiny little club competition….
Yesterday at a gas bagging session that was nothing more than an excuse for some of sports power-brokers to have an expensive lunch and hear themselves talk, Channel 9’s boss, David Gyngell, said that Rugby League could not expect to get anywhere near what the AFL got because put simply, the game didn’t have enough…
The NRL’s push to have a National Youth Competition for Under 20’s players has seen some very good, well prepared players come into the NRL ranks over the last few years and show they are ready for first grade right from the get go. These young players get a chance to play representative football, but…
The NRL’s push to have a National Youth Competition for Under 20’s players has seen some very good, well prepared players come into the NRL ranks over the last few years and show they are ready for first grade right from the get go. These young players get a chance to play representative football, but…
So what is a Rugby League World Cup supposed to be about? It’s an interesting question and one that could have a thousands different answers. For me a Rugby League World Cup has always been about the countries I don’t normally get to see. In fact, in any international competitions we have in our game,…
So what is a Rugby League World Cup supposed to be about? It’s an interesting question and one that could have a thousands different answers. For me a Rugby League World Cup has always been about the countries I don’t normally get to see. In fact, in any international competitions we have in our game,…
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…
The draw for the 2013 Rugby League World Cup was announced with little warning at an event held in Salford over night. It was announced that 14 teams will take part in the next World Cup, which will be held in Great Britain, and the format for the group stages would be completely overhauled. I…
Something has been nagging away at me for a few weeks now, and I haven’t been able to make sense of it at all. Now, I think it has all come together. While still in Brisbane for the Four Nations Final, I kept being asked by people about the rumour that Australia was looking to…
The draw for the 2013 Rugby League World Cup was announced with little warning at an event held in Salford over night. Click Here To View The Draw For The 2013 Rugby League World Cup It was announced that 14 teams will take part in the next World Cup, which will be held in Great…
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 2010 Rugby League Four Nations has been disappointing. The quality of football has been dreadful and when only two of the four teams have ANY chance of winning the tournament, you have to think of other ways to grab the public’s attention. People want to see a decent contest, you can’t sell people rubbish…
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…