stookie

I ask (sarcastically), because not every time a player steps over the 10m in defence is a penalty given. Nor players holding on too long in a tackle, and heaps more examples. The refs in Aus are quite blatant about it, when giving a penalty or 6 again, sometimes we can hear them explain "that's 2 tackles in a row" for example, implying that they let the first one go. There's a lot of pressure to "put the whistle away" and "let the game flow", which in effect means not rigidly applying the rules, even if they are black and white. I thought this was all very well known, so thought your question was a strange one to ask.

Are you new to RL ???

Not for the first time, by far.

But wouldn't the existence of a quota system fall under the same protection? Why is it OK to discriminate on a yes/no basis based on a simple number (quota spots), but not OK based on a combined salary limit? That's a genuine question by the way, there may be something in UK laws I'm not aware of.

Well, * They'll be in the same or similar timezone to where they live or are playing next; * Flights home or to the weekend game will be max 3 hours; * Many won't be playing this weekend anyway. These points aren't true for a team that has to fly 22 hours to a 9 hour time difference. Not to mention the climate adjustment. Also if we ever go back to larger world cups or bigger tournaments (hopefully ?!?), then we either skip the WCC for that year, or the tournament runs to mid/late December to incorporate the WCC and then training time for the national teams after. I just don't see the WCC fitting in after the end of season, sorry.

Honestly, why? I thought it was a good read, fair and actually a little optimistic.

That stadium is an absolute work of art. The players got drenched, and most of us in the stands stayed dry. But the roof doesn't feel overbearing at all. First time I've been there, I love it, and now I hate the Olympic stadium even more.

That weather sure did suck. Very happy cheery crowd, damn I love women's RL.

They're just staging the news and building up to the main announcement - THE RETURN OF THE GLEBE DIRTY REDS !!!

I very much doubt they would outshine origin; and it's not vested interests, it's embracing and maximising one of the strongest annual sporting events in Australia.

What's the source for this? I feel the NRL players numbers are a bit low, did they intentionally time it for the 5 days where the exchange rate blew out? Eg random first article that came up for Nathan Cleary: "... while the halfback is currently on $1.3 million per season ..." https://www.zerotackle.com/nathan-clearys-contract-to-allow-penrith-extra-salary-cap-space-158456/ Currently that's about £630k

Some sports achieve good governance, and some have good governance thrust upon them.

"NRL set to walk away from Perth expansion plans" https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/nrl-set-to-walk-away-from-perth-expansion-plans-20250404-p5lpcg.html Ah well, if it takes a year or so longer and they aren't chained to the rusted anchor that is the Bears, may not be the worst thing ever.

But you can't blacklist people for following the eligibility rules, especially as those rules are intentionally as they are to help the tier 2 nations. If someone is eligible for Australia, wants to play for them, and is good enough to be selected, they must be. To purposely do otherwise is bordering on discrimination. I believe it may also be against the law in Australia, as we found out when the ARL didn't select Super League players in the rep teams. Otherwise, we change the rules. We make it so you can only represent the one nation, either tier 1 or 2. Then you'll find people like Xavier Coates would not have represented PNG in the first place. OK, misunderstood this one, fair enough.

No, we've been there, it's actually the opposite. Make players choose between SOO and playing for their heritage nation, we see that most will choose SOO. It really looks like the current SOO eligibility rules have hit the sweet spot for helping other nations. I hope they don't change (although I still alternate with NZ players and SOO, not sure which is better for that one).