The Rocket

Just give the fumbleball sh*t a rest.

Hardly a post where the other "code" isn`t mentioned, but that`s fumbleball fans for you, like Seven Day Adventists they have a compulsive need to tell everyone how good things are inside the cult.

I think 3 or 5 would be prime.

Yeah, I`ve heard of people using similar reasons for reading Playboy.

I tell you one thing that is a dead eye cert , a lot of their sports `chat` shows on our national broadcaster the ABC are definitely fumbleball centric, some of the hosts seem to even have a hard time saying the words `Rugby League`, it`s like asking them to say a dirty word. This latest show `Monday Experts` on prime-time monday nights is hosted by the ever politically correct and pea-brained ex-fumbleball player somebody Armstrong, it`s fumbleball this and fumbleball that, any angle they can bring it in on. I gave it one episode. Thank god no one watches the ABC.

I think we can expect to see a lot more stuff like this. A couple of kids signed from last year`s tour and a couple more this year. What a great opportunity to come over not only for the League opportunities but for the educational opportunities as well. Great to see the girls` team do so well, winning all three of their matches. NRL clubs eye Tongan talent as schools tour inspires participation explosion | NRL.com Would be great if we could start to see the same sort of thing coming out of Ghana and wherever else your clubs have ties with.

It`s absolutely not true that V`landys is obsessed with getting the Bears back, he has made it clear several times that he likes the idea but at no point that it is a must have for the Perth bid. On top of that several people involved with the Perth bid have made it clear that they would rather be a stand-alone entity, but are sensible enough to see what the Bears can bring to the table. A lot of it is a media beat-up, V`landys has fuelled this because he knows it`s a headline grabber and a t no point has he said a must have. Having said that if done right the Bears do have things they could offer a new team. They have existing full pathways, juniors, a League`s club and other businesses and are based in a wealthy part of Sydney with a large central business district that could provide sponsors. The socio-economic profile of the North Sydney region could provide that hipster type of fan-base that would get behind some sort of retro-team and as much as this type of fan is criticised we don`t have enough of that type of fan in the game. All this working though depends on the Bears knowing their place in this proposed merged entity and getting the balance right in retaining those fans with out necessarily playing any regular season games at North Sydney oval. This could be tricky but if I think if done right could be done.

I think fumbleball`s most recognized image is pale skinny white blokes with pencil necks and arms.

For someone who can`t stand the game you seem to watch an awful lot of it. I can take about 20 seconds and am reminded that it hasn`t improved.

That`s what I read and it would certainly be V`landys style to if not own the thing, then certainly to own parts of it. This is not a one-way street in New Guinea, the NRL would be telling the Gov`t we are doing you a massive favour even contemplating a side based out of that country. Hence I expect they are demanding plenty of sweetners, having a stake or owning the compound maybe be part of that.

If there is one saving grace from this madness that is the P.N.G. franchise it is that the NRL will own the multipurpose compound being proposed and it will include a hotel amongst other things, all paid for by the Federal Government I believe. If the Franchise folds or whatever this has to be worth money especially with the large mining operations and such operating out of P.N.G. these days and certainly something which is only going to get larger and provide further income for the NRL. So not all bad.

I still like Perth or W.A. Reds with the iconic Red Kangaroo as their emblem, also ties in with the red of the deserts over there.

"Ariel bombs." is my guess.

By yesterday Sydney had received the equivalent of its` usual entire average annual rainfall for the year. The fact that crowds have held up like they have is remarkable really. Cruelly though the southern latitudes of the nation remain in one of the worst droughts in living memory.

Exactly.

Mate the headlines alone are worth it. To the casual sports fan and our fumbleball rivals seeing headlines all week, front and back page, " Another Wallabies star leaves rugby union for League " only increases the public perception that League is the unstoppable behemoth now so you better take notice. I`m sure this flows onto tv eyeballs, spectators and sponsorship dollars. I agree with your argument that we can rely on this sort of thing alone to generate publicity and growth but there`s no reason why it shouldn`t be part of our armoury in taking League to the number one winter code in our region.

So committed to returning to Queensland that he held talks with Newcastle Knights.

Couple of years in League and he`ll go back to union three times the player he is now. Maybe then he could nail down the spot- I believe he was a number 10, whatever that is - he had lost after the Aussie`s dismal union world cup showing.

With the salary cap dispensation he`s probably not going to cost them much, so definitely worth a gamble. Things must be really dire in union, I heard their CEO the other day, somebody or other Waugh, saying that he was hoping that the players from the defunct Melbourne Rebels would go to the wooden-spoon winning Waratahs, btw, he didn`t actually mention the wooden-spoon part. I also heard several other senior and ex-wallabies urging Carter Gordon to go there as well, so much for that.

The full story in today`s telegraph: Full story: https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/sydney-roosters-will-spend-500k-to-launch-a-team-out-of-los-angeles-for-2025/news-story/3b5b2133cd6cd3768be8c434cb0eef7b?amp&nk=9d2ae4f16633183f77c24eb04a4b0dc3-1718089025 The Sydney Roosters are on a groundbreaking $500,000 mission to break into the United States market with their own team based out of Los Angeles from next year. Billionaire Roosters chairman Nick Politis is leading the charge on the back of interest created from the Las Vegas double-header in March in a revolutionary initiative he hopes will provide the first proper pathway for gridiron players into the NRL. Under the plan a Roosters West Coast Rugby League Academy will be established alongside a team to be known as the LA Roosters to compete in a six-team competition in California. “This is one of the most exciting ventures our club has ever undertaken,” Politis said. “We see this as an exciting long-term opportunity not just to grow and develop rugby league in America but to provide openings for tens of thousands of great athletes that don’t always make it in the NFL or college football. “It is a serious investment into an area where no NRL club has ever been. “Who knows what can be achieved in the long term. There is so much potential. “We are incredibly optimistic as to the opportunities that exist to unearth future rugby league talent.” Politis is rugby league’s greatest visionary, the first man in Australian sport way back in 1976 to become a jersey sponsor with his car company City Ford. He now insists this latest venture into the world’s biggest sporting market will pay off. The Roosters were blown away by the Las Vegas experience earlier this year and the vision of independent commission chairman Peter V’landys to create a permanent footprint in America. The LA Roosters will be made up of part-time players in the Pacific Coast Rugby League competition. Roosters CEO Joe Kelly says the long-term plan is to attract players from the college football system. “There are one million college football players,” Kelly said, “Of those, 10,000 participate in the combine each year, 300 go to the draft and approximately 285 get drafted. “This leaves thousands and thousands of extremely talented athletes that are looking for an alternative once they finish college. “We will become a very attractive second option. And we will be on the ground looking for them.” Kelly has been working alongside Politis on the plan for several months. Their $500,000 comes from the Roosters Foundation, the club’s fundraising arm that is dedicated towards young player development in junior academies and pathways. V’landys loves what the Roosters are trying to achieve. The Roosters will be the back-of-shorts partner for both the men and women USA National Hawks teams and will also be the referees sponsor for the USARL domestic competition. Another $50,000 will go into a development fund for other American clubs to support the growth of rugby league awareness and participation in their region. “Our investment will hopefully accelerate growth and provide the governing body and the players with much needed financial support to create further awareness and interest in the game,” Kelly said. “In turn we are confident participation numbers will grow in the US domestic market. “This whole thing isn’t just about finding NRL players.” The Roosters also see an opportunity to entice rugby union players across to league. “There are conservatively 1.2 million rugby players in the US. They play in winter, league plays in summer so their seasons don’t cross over,” Kelly said. “There is a great opportunity to work alongside rugby and see a transition of players to league in their off-season.”

Yeah, I`m sure absolutely no thought has gone into this at all and you know better.

The problem is you can adapt all you like but the size difference means these things are going to continue to happen and players are going to keep getting suspended and at some point you`d have to question are they worth it. This is all said of course in the light that protecting players heads (brains to be more anatomically precise) is going to continue to be paramount in the game, or put simply, we won`t have a game.

Makes you wonder is there a future for these 6`6" blokes in the game, it`s a long way down to tackle the small blokes like Walsh, especially when things are happening so fast.

Sure he was tough but he was dirty #### as well. Price ended diminutive St. George halfback Mark Shulman`s career in the 1977 GF when he kneed him in the back, Shulman never played again. It was that act that lead to the NSWRL sending word down to St. George HQ that they could let Rod `Rocket` Reddy "off the chain". In the GF replay the following week Reddy was cautioned 5 times in the first 40 minutes with Ray Price bearing the brunt of Reddy`s fury. By the end of the game Price was a bloodied wreck. St. George won 22 - 0. Any word from Pricey on that episode.

This is unequivocally a good thing.