Sports Prophet

I wished for better but history told us this fundraising effort was only going to be a waste of every person’s pound. It actually makes me angry thinking about how the club would fund raise in this manner with no likelihood the funds would be anything but a waste. It would be great to know what the funds were used for.

Level headed and never showed the arrogance of some of the SL referees of his era. A good choice as a leader.

I don’t think RL is beyond saving in the capital. If it was, then we all may as well give up right now.

Not even all SL clubs have efficient academies in their own backyard do they? Grass roots development is down to the RFL as far as I’m concerned.

At least you apologised!

Like all good threads

I would love to see more examples of this, because I am also in the camp that believes there is no such thing as a deliberate knock on.

There was a similar highlight where a Melbourne player was in the process of being tackled but was able to execute a kick before he was penalised for “holding the ball”. All I see in your specified incident was an umpire making an on the spot decision 50/50 decision, so I don’t see it as undermining anything. The AFL are equally vulnerable to bad calls and certainly not immune to them. Not as bad a decision as the shambles we are getting from the NRL referees of late or even worse, the bunker with all the millions of dollars worth of replays and multiple angles the officials are resourced with.

There is a typical state divide in Perth being north and south of the river. This extends to Fremantle and Perth. Fremantle have a proud WAFL history and similar to the Broncos, there was some discontent around the WCE relegating WAFL to second tier footy standard. What was once a league with crowds regularly > 15,000 and a league of a similar public following to NSWRL at the time swiftly saw crowds go the same way as the BRL.

3rd quarter was high contact. 4th quarter deemed dangerous for same reasons as sling tackle, supposedly driving player’s head into ground first. I thought it was a rough call. So did the commentator. extraordinary match and a huge comeback. 58,000 there to watch it on a Thursday night. NRL can’t get a club game that well attended until the GF. There would be some definite envy going on. Misses and all.

Fitzroy didn’t run away with their licence to Brisbane, the Brisbane Bears were admitted to the VFL/AFL and played in 87, a year before the Broncos in NSWRL. The Bears were a threat to RL and the main establishment in NSW, which was part of the reason for the Broncos existence. Bears merged with Fitzroy.

Are you telling me you are now watching full AFL fixtures? I haven’t seen the incident. I would hazard a guess one of the following: - tackle above the shoulders - tackle below the knees - sling tackle (swinging the player in possession around dangerously so the head makes heavy contact with the floor) Which quarter was it in? Any idea of time?

Brave

A 10 team tournament will be pants. Convoluted group formats and no doubt played in front of sparse crowds in non-capital cities. Whilst I disagree with assertions the NRL sabotage international RL, it’s not like they have thrown much investment, be it financial or otherwise, into successfully building public interest in international footy. I would be ecstatic if Fiji, PNG, Samoa and Tonga got to host all their home fixtures. I think it would be significantly better than playing in Cairns, GC, Newcastle, Gosford, Wollongong and Melbourne. Pipedream I reckon, unless the NRL can sell it to the Aus Govt as increased Pacific diplomacy with a legacy of high standard CoE in each of those countries.

I think your use of the word “undermines” is overstating the position. Referencing your examples: 1. Is this solely due to the NRL? 2. I could easily argue the Denver Test sabotaged the NRL. 3. The NRL was not responsible for COVID and other sports didn’t have their best players under strict lockdowns for as long as the NRL stars were prior to their international events, nor were other sports hosting international events for as long as the WC was scheduled for and finally, the isolation standards in the UK were significantly less than the isolation standards expected of Australians at the time. 4. Tonga was a poorly executed series, worthy of criticism. The Pacific Final was a disaster as well.