Roar Pro
Joined September 2015
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Back in 2003, I was a butter-fingered winger for the Newcastle representative touch football team. Playing in the link position (one in from the…
This is the second article proposing how to improve the NRL fixture and scheduling. Part 1 addressed giving teams a more balanced set of…
The NRL draw is inherently unfair, with not all teams meeting one another on a home-and-away basis. The fact that those teams facing one…
Despite the rollout of vaccines, bubbles and quarantines will continue to be unavoidable in the sporting world for the foreseeable future. Cricket, with so…
In this final edition of Super League Revisited, the last 'what ifs' concern the NRL's 14-team rationalisation. What if no teams faced the chopping…
This week's edition focuses on the warring competitions' fight to recruit clubs and establish themselves. What if Super League moved to the Central Coast?…
In this final sequence of the look back on the Super League era looking at the events of the period and their consequences, I…
This edition is a re-look at the years affected by the war. Apologies if some details, like finals formats, seem like data dumps, but…
Part 5 of this Super League series is the second half of the A-Z focus on select players and other stakeholders. The previous four…
This look back on the Super League conflict, in true 2020 style, went on an unscheduled hiatus but is now going to run its…
After looking at the clubs that defected to Super League and those that remained loyal to the ARL, this time, I want to review…
Following Part 1, which focused on the clubs aligned to the Super League, I'm now going to look back on the ARL and their…
Due to COVID-19, the 25th anniversary of the last great disruption to the game - the Super League war - has passed with little…
Michael Lamonato penned a recent article about the excessive Formula One schedule. If Miami and Vietnam present viable models for 2020, that would bring…
Let's face it, sport and intelligence don't always mix. Just look at the Sunwolves playing half of their games in Singapore. Or the Australian…
On the week before the AFL finals six teams must travel interstate for their clashes. Facing a potential elimination match the following week against…
Because when you concede 30 points, clearly only the officials made mistakes.
Five and a Kick: 'Make the f--king right call!' Payten's blow-up, Dragons forget how to win, Jaeman needs to let grudge go
The Giants in Western Sydney check ID’s outside nightclubs.
Share Bears: V’landys floats bizarre player swap proposal with Force which contravenes the NRL’s own rules
I get that argument, but it still reinforces the idea that the Bears will be struggling to field a competitive squad. You want to give the NRL some publicity, but not at the expense of your new club.
Share Bears: V’landys floats bizarre player swap proposal with Force which contravenes the NRL’s own rules
As a teenager on the way back from visiting relatives in Melbourne, I picked up a Sun Herald in Albury. The guy behind the counter gravely asked me if I knew that that was a Sydney paper. I told him “yes, that’s the point.” He seemed genuinely troubled by that response.
Share Bears: V’landys floats bizarre player swap proposal with Force which contravenes the NRL’s own rules
Olakau’atu, who didn’t throw a punch, tried to help his vastly outnumbered teammate. I hope that’s the takeaway for the NSW selectors.
'I just seen red': Olakau'atu has no regrets over last year's wild Origin melee brain snap as he sets eyes on Blues recall
When’s the last time that bringing in a coach to be a disciplinarian actually worked? It reminds me of when South Sydney plucked Steve Martin from the wilderness in 1998, having done little since taking the Bears to a preliminary final in 91. He promised to fine players for every week they were suspended. No talk of tactics or team building. They went 3 and 15 before Craig Coleman came in and dragged them out of spoon territory. Maguire looked out of ideas at Souths, and even worse at Wests. You can be tough as a coach, but ultimately you need more than that for your players to buy in.
Brutal blow for Broncos, Maroons as Hunt confirms 'not in the picture' for Origin
I ran into Mark Sargent way back when he was on the NRL judiciary and told him they’d made a mistake not suspending Ruben Wiki the week before. He gave me the old “Oh yeah?” until I explained that it was tradition for a New Zealander to be suspended before a test match and the NZRL to claim that they were going to ignore the sanction and select him anyway, only to inevitably back down. He said he knew for next time!
A beginner’s guide to Origin speculation: Bluffing your way to 'logically' choose between bolters and blunders
Josh Starling, Steven Crowe, Brett Finch
A beginner’s guide to Origin speculation: Bluffing your way to 'logically' choose between bolters and blunders
I remember when Wests Tigers won in 2005. Their 25 man squad includes a number of players too young and raw for the top level in a desperate bid to save money (the NRL has a salary floor, the lower grades and juniors do not). Ultimately, only 20 players saw any significant game time*. It’s unrealistic to bank in such a charmed run with injury, but it can happen.
(*My cutoff for significant game time was counting Matthew Rieck starting 6 games, but not counting Dean Collis starting 2 and coming off the bench in 4.)
Perth Bears launched as V'landys blasts 'biased ... clickbait' paper's front page
So you move then to Toowoomba. Smaller population, less appealing for recruits, less corporate support. But they’ll play better for unspecified reasons. Sounds like a plan!
Perth Bears launched as V'landys blasts 'biased ... clickbait' paper's front page
Can we get Greg Bird out of retirement?
A beginner’s guide to Origin speculation: Bluffing your way to 'logically' choose between bolters and blunders
The Poms wish they were our biggest foe.
Queenslanders just don’t get Origin: A champion Maroons team from anywhere but the Sunshine State
“…controversial penalty goal.”
Penalizing an obviously high shot is controversial, apparently.
NRL Tipping Round 10: The Roar's expert tips and predictions - Origin selection period fraught with danger
Last time I checked, the NRL doesn’t have the ability to issue passports.
And yes, it would be the guys who would be nowhere near the Springboks, but that doesn’t mean they’d be hopeless players. It might be a prop who is great in general play, but struggles at scrum time, or a lock that’s too short to be an elite lineout option, or a winger with a poor kicking game. Such shortcomings would matter little in the 13 man game.
NRL barking (mad) up wrong tree with fanciful plan to boost player depth with Springboks and Pumas
Your argument is counter-intuitive. If league thought itself so superior to union, it wouldn’t be eyeing their talent pool because it would be inherently inferior.
NRL barking (mad) up wrong tree with fanciful plan to boost player depth with Springboks and Pumas
No
NRL barking (mad) up wrong tree with fanciful plan to boost player depth with Springboks and Pumas
You question someone’s description, and then respond with the term ‘demonic’. Okay…
NRL Round 10 Team Lists: Maguire makes big call on Mam, Bulldog learns judiciary fate, Bunnies' big reshuffle
So does Zezers, for that matter.
Billy Moore’s wacky guide to being a Queenslander sums up why Blues just 'don't get' Origin
Oh yeah, we should let elbows to the head go because we don’t want to hear the sound of a whistle. Why not scrutinize the people who committed the foul play rather than the guy who adjudicated on it???
Five and a Kick: Cleary puts Broncos under Magic spell, high drama as golden Raiders roll Storm, Des on last legs at Titans
Literally every call at the end was correct. What’s wrong with you people?!
Five and a Kick: Cleary puts Broncos under Magic spell, high drama as golden Raiders roll Storm, Des on last legs at Titans
Refresh my memory, please.
‘Never seen anything like this’: is Su’A clanger the worst bombed try in rugby league history?
That’s going to make it that much harder for South Africa!
'Deeply sorry to all those I have let down': South African star's WTC final in jeopardy after positive drug test
Cooper Johns, Dustin Cooper… that’s it, right?
Five and a Kick: Snappy Wayne has plenty of headaches, Warriors' hail new chief, and has Jarome made Tigers the real deal?
I remember the Tigers going to golden point a few years back. One of the Burgess twins reached for the stripe and it was unclear if he got downward pressure. While everyone was arguing, Luke Brooks scooped up the loose ball and put it under the black dot at the other end. When the video ref awarded ‘try’ it wasn’t obvious which side he was referring to. It went in Souths’ favour, but it was an incredibly tight call.
‘Never seen anything like this’: is Su’A clanger the worst bombed try in rugby league history?
Maybe he could make sure his players cut out their mistakes first. That tends to help.
Five and a Kick: 'Make the f--king right call!' Payten's blow-up, Dragons forget how to win, Jaeman needs to let grudge go