langpark

Papali'i not only recalled for Origin, but is put straight into the starting XIII. For all those who have rushed to call him a has-been, make sure you tune in to Origin 3 and watch him go!

My guess is, it was one of those rare evenings where the weather dropped below 15 degrees and my fellow Brisbanites went into hibernation.

How does that even happen? They announce a sellout but only 80% turn up?

I agree that I would love to see clubs alao investing in youth, however, if signing him is the difference between winning a premiership or not, then you cannot call it a waste of money. I don't watch as much SL as I would have liked this season, but my assumption is that Hull KR fans have been happy with JWH. And maybe he was the difference between winning a CC title and not. I can see Papali'i having a similar impact at Saints. Also for those that are unaware, Papali'i retired from Origin selection in 2023. It's not that they stopped picking him because he wasn't playing well.

Tell me you don't watch NRL, without telling me you don't watch NRL Papali'i is a great value buy. Never gives anything less than 100%. And there are dozens of examples of players (props) who have played their best RL in their early to mid thirties. I have no doubt he will be one of their best if he signs and maybe even still an 80-min player.

I really don't think we need curtain-raisers, BUT.... if there was going to be a curtain-raiser, I'd like it to be the England Academy vs Aus schoolboys. I usually watch them and they always seem to be closely-fought matches, but played in front of small crowds at small venues. So what a treat it would be for the youngsters to play at these three venues and in front of big crowds!

How comfortable is that armchair you are sitting on? You say it as though it's as easy as flipping a switch.

The shared FFRXIII and ERL HQ in Toulouse is very positive news too. That will make ERL eligible for EU grants again, after nearly 6 years in the wilderness.

I guess it all comes down to who is an optimist and who is a pessimist. Salford is an example you could use for a failure. I would look at Leigh as a successful example. What crowds were they averaging before they moved to their new stadium?

I don't think you can say "never". Things right now are magnified by the fact they are having a terrible season too. Also one of the perks of going for 12k rather than 8k, it would make it the perfect venue to host extra games like CC Semi Finals, Women's internationals etc.

I don't think anyone is saying the 25k venue is a good idea. I think it all started off by him saying, that if they are going to go to the trouble of building a new venue, then 12k should be the target, rather than 8k and I agree with his logic.

I know what he means when he says lowering standards. The club itself, may (consciously or sub-consciously) stop aiming higher if they move to a smaller venue. It's like me, when coaching my local team. Whenever we are struggling to raise a team (most of the time) we always seem to manage to scrape 13 players, sometimes with a few on the bench. Yet when we are playing in a 9s tournament, we often just manage to must 9 or 10 players. Everyone seems to dig that little bit deeper to turn up when they know the bar is higher.

I completely understand what you are saying and it's a completely valid concern. If Huddersfield move to an 8k stadium tomorrow, and maintain the exact same crowd levels (4-5k) then most of the criticism about their crowds will disappear, despite there not being any improvement in the crowds.