Tonka

The GB 38 - 8 loss to Australia after we’d beaten them 8 - 4 at Wembley. I really thought we had a chance, but got demolished. I was relatively young and new to the sport then and I was gutted.

Ha - yeah exactly. My other bug bear is tries from kicks which really amount to wanging it up in the air or along the floor, the defence fumbling it (as well they might with three 17 stone giants bearing down on them) and it ending up in the attack's hands somehow. Perfectly legitimate but never my favourite kind of try. Especially when it bounces around off people's heads/hands/knees/the floor and all that, and you can't even tell if they've scored til you watch the replay.

I’m gonna sound like a right misery guts here but I don’t really get excited by the corner flag leaps. They’re highly athletic and sometimes necessary to score (although often a bit unnecessary I think). I get more excited by skilled passages of play: offloads, passes, steps, chips over, individual efforts, lines of running, tackle busts etc, than I do a leap. Just my view, and I’m not knocking that it was a great finish.

Well if we’re spunking it I might stick it in London. So to speak. I still think the perception of there being no (good) team in the south paints us into a corner as a sport in this country.

I mean it wouldn’t be *invest* in the sense I’d expect to get any of it back…

Tuigamala

I’d love to see heartland clubs in a stronger state. But I don’t think it necessarily creates a base for expansion because - from outside the M62 corridor not many will care - even with the “giants” awoken it’s still a small game - there is massive competition from football and union and we get further and further behind - there’s a very limited international game But expansion and development of existing clubs aren’t diametrically opposed, soooo. My own view is that the national team is the number one priority if we want positive headlines.

Nice Rugby League “now then” trivia!

Ray French's "NOW THEN" when Offiah broke the line at Wembley in '94 is my favourite. Just because its such a funny combination of words when you think about it (absurd really) and yet we all know what it means, and I don't think any other player breaking from 80 yards would get a "NOW THEN".

Yeah it wasn't a chart topper

You b*stard

Bit annoyed that you’ve piggy-backed my joke and got more laughs than me there lad

Went out with Kylie Minogue for a bit this fella, if I recall correctly Jason Donegan Cambridge Park High NSWCHS 1993

I mean you might argue they played even worse in this one… 1998 JJB SUPER LEAGUE - ROUND 21 GIANTS 16 – 72 Leeds RHINOS

I don’t disagree with that sentiment, and Im definitely not a rose tinted kinda guy

Yeah but if the upshot is that the clubs don’t go bust then that sounds like a good decision

It’s to RL’s credit that it isn’t losing major, established clubs the way RU is. Maybe for once we should be applauding ourselves.

Best Newcomer?

You can really see the sheer gas there between the 20 - 40 metre marks, on 30 metres he‘s just eating the turf up

You can’t have this in the game because taken to its logical conclusion that means the referee assessing every point of contact and determining whether precisely the right amount of force as was necessary to tackle the player (or less, but not more) was used by the tacklers in aggregate, rather like self-defence laws in real life. Which is (1) completely against the physical nature of the sport and (2) impossible to police. Its just a bad decision, I’d be more curious to know whether the referee thinks he still made the right call and the referees’ body agrees (and why).

I’m gonna add to the list: tries that are really quite run of the mill then the winger does a mad swan dive at the corner and everyone’s like ooooooohhhhhh magiccccccc what a tryyyyyy

For my twopence worth he seems like the kinda guy who likes to run in a straight line, so he’ll probably be amazing for the next 3 years, decent for another 3, then get slower and slower til he gets signed by Leigh aged 34. Unless his game develops a bit.

Oh. Dear. God.

Ok I’ve spoken to Guinness, apparently it was actually a World Record. Congratulations Bradford!!!!!! Amazing start to the (pre) season!!!!!

Fair enough