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ghost crayfish

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  1. Oh wow! That is a big point - IMG could make big money there, particularly given the game's seemingly only big sponsorship at the moment is Betfred! They certainly know what they're doing...
  2. I think Manu has mostly been pretty ordinary for the Roosters the last year or two. That whole team in fact has looked pretty stale for a while, so it's no surprise he's looking for a new challenge. And if he doesn't want to play against the club, it makes sense to chase a big Union pay day. He's a loss to the Kiwis, but it's not the end of the world. I actually think the Roosters have known this was coming for a while and have bought Dom Young in with an eye to him eventually playing right centre.
  3. Good move all round. I think last year his impact for Souths slipped slightly, on what was an outstanding 2022 for him, and he is entering that veteran stage. He's been at Souths so long he is part of the furniture, but at a new club he could probably freshen up and add a lot of value on and off field. Presumably Chris Hill will finish up this year, so Huddersfield probably feel they need a new senior prop - Burgess is as good a signing as they could hope for in that area.
  4. Kayo will presumably continue to have the two main Sky Sports games, if not all 6?
  5. Yeah let's not forget that the last World Cup saw 40k plus in attendance for two England test matches against Samoa, 30k at Elland Road for Australia v NZ and Old Trafford was packed with almost 70,000 people for a game not even involving England - all of this was pretty much unthinkable in the golden age of the 1990s! Still, the difference is the 90s international game was coherent and meaningful in a way the current schedule largely isn't. The Ashes were seen as the pinnacle for Australian players in a way test football doesn't even come close to now. A big part of that IMO is scheduling - Australia should play one mid-season test match each year, after Origin. Position test football as the pinnacle; a reward that players are competing for in the origin series.
  6. Someone with a degree of professional competency is finally in the building, it seems. Thank God!
  7. Yeah, Wigan performed (mostly) well, from memory. I just remember being a kid in the crowd to see the Broncos sleep walk their way to a 70 point win over a clearly hungover Halifax...
  8. This all sounds great. I hope they fill it with archival matches including all World Club Challenge games (except the expanded format 1997 matches!), GB/England test matches going back to the 90s etc. That's the sort of additional content that would make it more worthwhile for me, as an Australian fan.
  9. I think this all makes perfect sense. Superleague+ is an alternative way for people who don't want to pay for the full Sky package to see rugby league. In this day and age of people subscribing to several different cheaper streaming platforms, over a single pay TV provider, it is a good approach. Of course, it makes sense for Sky to maintain the power to choose 2 games each week that they have exclusive live coverage rights for - I guess that's what they're paying their 25 million for. It will be interesting to see how this impacts SL coverage in Australia, on Kayo. Will we get the 2 Sky games, or all 6? And will Superleague+ be available internationally (surely it will be - this is where they could attract a few subscribers)? If Kayo only carries 2 games and Superleague+ is available here, I might sign up myself... more as a show of support than anything else. I doubt I'll ever want to watch 6 superleague games a week, in addition to all of the NRL I watch!
  10. The recent string of announcements marks the first time in years that the RFL has looked even remotely connected and competent. It is very clearly the impact of IMG expertise, and the first cause of genuine optimism in English rugby league administration for a long long time. Of course there are a lot of things left to fix, and a lot of progress still to make, but all of this inspires confidence that it actually could happen!
  11. Certainly looks that way, particularly when combined with other recent announcements re. BBC and social media consolidation content development - both of which should help to sell Superleague+ subscriptions to non-Sky subscribers.
  12. You seriously expect the BBC to cover its own yet-to-be-confirmed broadcast deal?
  13. I don't think any rugby union convert should necessarily bank on playing first grade, let alone Origin.
  14. I know the topic says English players, but it's a shame to omit Brian Carney's quality season with Newcastle from consideration. He certainly had a greater impact in the NRL than Ryan Hall (who was sadly past his best and struggling with injury at the time, playing in a team with such strong depth that they can never shake rumours about their 'creative accountancy').
  15. Yeah, while I was a critic of Bennett and the GB fiasco, I tend to think if you put him in charge of England last year they win the World Cup - certainly wouldn't have choked against Samoa like that.
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