EastLondonMike

Sam was great in the Warriors game today, scored a couple of good tries and looked solid throughout, with a few glimpses of the magic he showed so frequently when at Wigan.

 

The Warriors favourite pet play seems to be the split/lead play down the right edge, with Tomkins as the split and getting early ball to a rampaging Konrad Hurrell. Worked well in various guises throughout the game today. 

Think Tomkins picked up MoM also.

brief highlights of the 9's..

How good is it to see the PNG boys celebrating their win?!..



Even though its only a U19s squad and a low key event (in comparison with 4 nations/World Cup) i really hope they get the celebrity treatment on returning to PNG.

Lionheart has to be on a wind up.. seriously.

Its just as sad that people within the game act as if this is just how it is, International rugby is small potatoes compared to SOO and thats that. No comment about how big the International game could be, or how we go about growing the game, or any out cry for more International games etc.

We've got an Englishman in charge of the International game (apparently he's in charge), yet still nothing gets done. The growth of International game is run by the NRL and its TV partners.

Are we sure the 2 isn't for the amount of times he might have touched the ball?!..

I agree, i think he'll switch back. He's highly thought of in Australia and there will be plenty of teams throwing money at him to sign. He'd be playing in the NRL now if the current salary cap rules would have been in place when he was in talks, and ready to sign, with Parra. Union was his only option after that.

 

Reading Kris Radlinskis latest blog on the Wigan website gives an insight in to how quickly the Tomkins signing came about. Even though the rumour of him wanting to come back to RL had been ongoing for quite a while.

 

http://www.wiganwarr...logp.aspx?id=22

i agree, i don't think Tomkin's was poor in the Souths game at all.

Great effort from Cas. Well deserved win. Wigan looked out if sorts and a bit clueless at times, but always fancied Cas for this one.

Also thought the officials were absolutely dreadful. Bordering in embarrassing. Not just for the try/no try decisions, but across the park. Some absolutely terrible decisions made and as many completely missed. Whole refereeing thing needs a complete overhaul.

Great effort by Leigh. Kinda always felt Leeds would nick it in the last 10 mins, but Leigh can certainly hold their head high. 

[minor annoyance mode on] The lack of penalties against players flopping onto the tackled player. Counted three blatant flops in the second half, all of which were third man in. why refs don't penalise this any more baffles me. [minor annoyance mode off]

It's a word used primarily as an insult to gay men, and therefore he should be punished accordingly.

The man is an Imbecile.

McFadden at the NZ Warriors seems to be going ok after stepping up since the departure of Matt Elliott. He was Elliott's assistant.

Not sure how well Webster will do, but at the moment i guess he fits in to the category of what Wakey want.

Let's hope they promote it as such then. I sacked in my Sky sports package last year, so will be the first bit of SL ive watched all season!

It all boils down to the bigger nations not wanting to potentially get beat, and wanting to pool all the best players for themselves. Fear essentially.

The reason SOO is the way it is is down to each teams desire to win at all costs, and thats not just for the field of play. They'll pick, cajole and nurture any player they think can help them win, regardless.

The rules really could be very simple,  but are made difficult by a reluctance from the major players in the game to allow anyone else the potential to flourish. The message is "we want International growth, but not at our expense".

It really could be very easy. When you sign your first pro contract you state your country of birth and if you qualify for any other countries through heritage. You can elect to represent any of those nations as a first choice and second choice, third choice etc.

Your allowed one switch after a 12 month cooling off period from when you state your intention to switch. But thats it, no more switching back. So players could represent Samoa or Tonga and then if they wish, switch to NZ.. but thats it, no going back.

You might lose a few players from International rugby, players who choose to play for one of the bigger nations who then fall out of favour, or are replaced by a better player, but thats their bad luck. Life is tough.

You might also get players sticking with the likes of PNG and Fiji rather than risk playing one game for Australia or NZ and not getting picked again.

 

The same set of rules can apply to England and the heritage players who have played for the other home nations.

For SOO the original selection criteria was based on what state you were born in or what state the club was in where you signed your first pro contract. Return to that set of rules and drop the "must be available for Australia" rule and the likes of Milford, Vidot, Uate et al can represent their state, and their country of heritage, should they wish to do so, and still represent Australia if a green and gold jersey is what they desire.

"Firstly, we need to change the eligibility rules so that if a player is not selected for an 'A nation', he can play for a 'B nation' without it affecting his chances of playing for the 'A nation' in the future." - Phil Gould

This is what i don't agree with. Its allowing players to play for Samoa, Fiji etc.. but as soon as they are deemed good enough for Australia, he's an Australian. This wont help International Rugby grow. It might give a few teams a moment or two in the sun but won't help the likes of PNG, Fiji, Tonga etc grow to a level where they can regularly compete against the current big three.
 

Only really saw the last 30mins (work interfered with watching the first half properly), but was a cracking game, and looking forward to watching it in its entirety tonight.

 

NZ played really well, just a few bad reads in defence costing them tries. Always thought they might tire a bit, and with the Australian machine clicking into gear it was just too much.

 

The arrogance of some of the Australian RL fraternity in writing off this kiwi's team in the lead up clearly worked as motivation.

Impressed with Harris and Proctor in the back row. Bromwich was awesome also.