Southstander13
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Posts posted by Southstander13
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32 minutes ago, Graham said:
Jordan McLean has told Melbourne Storm he is leaving at the end of this season.
He came through the club's development system.
Disappointing news.
Wonder where he's going?
He's been announced at North Queensland from what ive seen
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58 minutes ago, Graham said:Quote
Chris Grevsmuhl had the rugby league world at his feet — a starting back-rower for the Penrith Panthers, an Indigenous All Stars representative, a Queensland Origin hopeful.
Then last November, at the age of 23, he walked away from the game, citing “personal reasons”.
In an exclusive interview with The Daily Telegraph, he has broken his silence on the real reasons he left rugby league — revealing the pressure of being an NRL player became so overwhelming he quit for his mental welfare.
He suffered from depression, lost the desire to play and distanced himself from family, friends and teammates — before loved ones and Penrith boss Phil Gould stepped in.
After requesting a release from the Panthers, Grevsmuhl, who celebrates his 24th birthday on Thursday, now lives in Orange working as a builder and helping out the local footy side.
“I hit rock bottom and I had to walk away from the game for myself,” Grevsmuhl said.
“You sort of get consumed by it and all the processes that come with it. Footy is a job, you do lose the love for it and it’s not fun anymore.
“It’s exactly like going to work and it became too much in the end. I don’t blame anyone else. I blame myself for just losing the love for it and just not wanting the pressures.
“I’d reached my low and I didn’t see it, but luckily there were people around me that could see it and they helped me get back to the great mindset and appreciating everything a bit more. I’m loving life away from footy.
Sad story, but great that he had the people around him to see where he was at and help him though it!
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Well that's a pleasant surprise.
It will add an extra layer of interest in seeing how Zak goes in the NRL and as it says, with immediate effect. So we should/could see Zak playing in the very near future.
He'll want to do well to secure a deal for the future too.
Segyaro should do well for Leeds in SL
Hope he gets some game time, like you say, it will add an extra amount of interest to the Panthers games this season.
Wonder how he'll score in Supercoach!
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Officially confirmed - Swap deal means Zak Hardaker to Penrith and James Segayaro to Leeds.
http://www.therhinos.co.uk/news/rhinos-and-panthers-agree-deal-on-player-swap-25462
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JAMES Segeyaro appears to have played his last game for Penrith after telling teammates he expects to join Super League strugglers Leeds as early as this week.
Segeyaro is understood to have broken the overseas transfer news to several players during a field session on Monday on a cool, windy afternoon at the foot of the mountains.
The Leeds deal is expected to include the remainder of this season and 2017.
Im excited by this signing, hope its true! Would rather have Segayaro than Farah, who worried me in terms of the friction he is part of at Wests and whether he likes to wield too much power.
I think Segayaro would be awesome in Super League, would suit his style of play and he can be one of the top players in the league. Will be interesting to see if any NRL clubs will come after him again, in 2014 he was on fire in the NRL so its odd that he cant secure an NRL spot, unless he would rather come here for a year or two for the experience?
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I can't see Newcastle or Gold Coast paying a transfer fee while they are owned by the NRL. The other clubs would whine like there's no tomorrow and the NRL-haters in the media would have an extra Xmas over it.
Also, why Zac when you've got Zillman, Josh Hoffman and Mead?
That's a fair point, would probably rule out those two if a fee was needed.
You're probably right about GC, but I think Hardaker is as good as if not better than those players to be honest. Unless he ever goes to the NRL and shows us, its hard to judge how these players stack up against each other. Having watched a fair bit of NRL and having watched Zak on a weekly basis, I think he would hold his head up over there, but he needs the right club, something that Sam Tomkins didn't choose wisely!
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Zak is a quality player and I would disregard this year in any judgement of him, the whole Leeds team is appalling at the moment so its impossible to tell what's going on!
I wouldn't be surprised if the price tag is more of a hands off sign to UK clubs, and that any NRL club enquiring could get him for much less than that.
As for where, who knows, Farmduck asked me to look at the NRL roster and I do agree that there isn't much space for him. I know they've said they aren't interested but Id play Zak over Jack Wighton at Canberra, and if Inglis is at centre permanently then Souths may be an option. Gold Coast possibly too. Other than that Im struggling to see any other teams where he would fit at FB.
Is Gagai a FB? I know he's been playing there recently but is he naturally a FB or is he more a centre/Wing? Im sure Newcastle could accommodate him in the team, and Nathan Brown will be very aware of Zak already from his time in the UK.
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So is anyone going to bite for Zak Hardaker? I've so far read that the Roosters, Canberra, Manly and GC are interested, but I cant see anyone paying £300k to take him off Leeds. We cant be expecting to get that fee paid!
Also, Robbie Farah is strongly linked with Leeds (again!) but seems more to it this time I think.
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Nathan Peats confirmed to Gold Coast Titans for the rest of 2016 and 2017.
Feel sorry for him being forced to move on due to the ineptitude of the Eels board.
Good signing for the Titans though imo.
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Leeds apparently knocked back by Sam Moa, and according to reports we're after Paul Gallen, Cooper Cronk, Tony Williams, Gareth Widdop etc.
I'm sure some of them must be half true but it seems the marquee allowance has given the agents in Aus a good bargaining tool for their own players. Ill bet they want a better deal and suddenly >insert SL club here< is after them so you better upgrade his contract!
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Thanks, I cant remember seeing too much of him so I'm not sure what to expect. He seems to have been in demand in the off season when he went to Brisbane, but doesn't seem to have kicked on this year for some reason, although it wasn't Bennett that signed him so that may explain the lack of opportunities.
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Brisbane Bronco Mitch Garbutt has signed for Leeds with immediate effect and through to the end of 2017.
What's the general opinion of him?
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Ricky Stuart is putting a very decent team together at the Raiders. I've enjoyed watching them play this year, and the signings they've made for next year so far with Whitehead, Sezar and now Leilua (im sure there are more i've forgotten!) means they look pretty exciting next year too.
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Are there any big name halves out there available? Where do they look to replace them two?! They will have a big old hole in the salary cap that can be filled though so it could get interesting!
The management of the whole situation has been awful, I'm not sure they could have made more of a mess of it if they tried!
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Wow, Manly really are falling apart if Foran is going to jump ship too! Its going to be a very long season for them I think, and some very big decisions to make in terms of recruitment now too!
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Good signing. Decent top flight experience, grand finalist. Andrew Johns thinks highly of him as well.
Goldcaster, you're boring, pack it in.
On the subject of Widdop, he deserves more credit for his Storm performances than some are giving him. He's never been in the shadow of the big three in my opinion. When Slater was out for about 5/6 weeks last season, Widdop went to full back and they lost 5/6 games. He has been an important player for Melbourne.
On Widdop, this is why he had to move. Regardless of how he performs, at Melbourne the big three take all the attention so he is in the shadows a bit. Thats not to say he hasnt performed well. But at St George he will be far more prominent.
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You could say that about Widdop in 2011/2012. It didn't stop St George forking our A$4-500k for him next year.
Agreed. Next year is a big year for Widdop, he needs to come out the shadows of Cronk, Smith and Slater and show what he can do himself. Will be interesting to watch.
I watched a fair bit of the Bulldogs last year too and have to agree with Saint Toppy, he looked quite ordinary. He never stood out, didnt seem to offer much, and subsequently was dropped this year for Hodkinson.
Looks average, but the leagues have different styles and sometimes what looks average in one looks great in the other! Time will tell.
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Delaney works his nuts off every game, we signed him initially as a centre which quickly came clear wasnt his best position. Now in the second row he is one of our best players every game he plays, and gives absolutely everything to the team. Cant ask for any more!
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Just to be depressed, An RFL figure attacked for trying to do their job and promote the game. Again.
It is an open letter, not a strategy document.
He is a non-executive chairman, not an officer.
It is his opinion and response to the negativity that is damaging the sport's reputation.
The fact that no one can accept his letter for what it is, with people instead condemning him for things he has not said just illustrates how big this problem. The response from journalists resorting to ridicule and acting like they should be beyond question is the most arrogant and depressing thing. I want Barwick and Wood looking for sponsors and building up the game, not constantly having to fight the constant tide of unconstructiuve attacks that make their job more difficult.
Tony Hannan said in response that "if you are a journalist & you 'talk it up' then you ain't no journalist. You're a spin doctor. Aim for the truth" If he thinks that the truth can never be positive then he ain't no journalist either. If he thinks knocking something down you disagree with is journalism and not spin doctoring or yourself then he ain't no journalist.
(And just how boring must Tony Hannan's match reports be that he could never praise a game or a player because that not be journalism but spin doctoring. Just a load of technical statements saying someone passed, kicked, or tackled, with no description of how good or exciting any of them were.)
The biggest problem with rugby league reporting is that the line between journlism and editorial is blurred to the point of almost non-existance. Whatever someone thinks of, say, the 2x12 3x8 proposal is not journalism, it is opinion. Journalism is saying what it is. Journalism is investigating why it is being implemented, by whom, on what basis, what support it gets, how will is be judged, what analysis has been done for and against it. Journalism is saying what should be done instead on a factually researched basis. Saying "this is not good", saying "I think we should do this" is not journalism.
Just to be clear, Sadler's editorials are by definition meant to be opinion and not journalism, but for that reason they are also no more relevant to the overall debate than anything posted on this site. And just as he gets to use his prominent position to express his personal opinion, then Barwick has every entitlement to respond. And in a perfect world he could do so with the likes of Chris Irvine mocking him for it, but such low expectations we have of the games biggest enemy it understandable he has to new find ways of further diminishing his own credibility.
Great post!
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Last year when Steve Mac went to Aus, Gareth Ellis broke his foot and Sam Burgess did his knee in the same game.
This year, G Burgess gets banned for the duration of his trip and Widdop has now dislocated his hip.
Complete coincidence but talk about a bad luck charm!
Hope Widdop recovers well, sounds pretty painful!
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Ex Rhinos player Robbie Mears is playing for the Aus team too!
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But whether they are actually independent or not, why should they should increase the punishment just because an appeal has been received. A player appeals against his ban and does his punishment increase? No. It is simply upheld.
Actually, on occasions a players ban has been increased after appeal.
Otherwise any player will always appeal as there is nothing to lose if the worst that happens is that a ban gets upheld. It would waste time and money.
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Exactly. It's a result as far as Salford are concerned.
Actually, thats a good point, you could argue they've saved £5,000 and its made no real difference to their season!
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Just to be clear, the appeals tribunal is made up from a panel of people independent of the RFL, and who reevaluate all evidence to come to its own decision including deciding the appropriate punishment if necessary. It is not an investigation into the original hearing but a do over.
Usually where the appeals panel agree with the verdict of the original tribunal they will also come to the same opinion on the appropriate punishment. Here they clearly did not. That is the risk you take by asking the original hearing to be disregarded and a chance to do it all again, and is quite clearly stated in the operational rules that the appeals tribunal may reach its own verdict regardless of the original tribunal.
The whole operations rules tribunal process is a quasi-legal one and nothing to do with spite or management of employees and other strange conspiracy theories It seems some people just want to use this as another excuse to attack the RFL.
Thanks for that, interesting reading!
Moves, Rumours,Judiciary, Injuries ...
in The Australian Rugby League Forum
Posted
Not much happening this week is there?!?!
Any more?