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Gareth Ellis is man of the match in the NRL's Sunday prime telecast


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They won't.

Time will tell.

The game has gone stupid lately with League players going to AFL and French Union.

The Commercialism of Sport has moved this way but in the end it may self destruct the codes as people lose interest and move to other forms of entertainment.

Do the top AFL players and fans appreciate the signings of Hunt and Folau? I doubt it.

The same with the somewhat failed NRL signings by Oz Union in the last 6 years.

Cooper will go where the money is.

Same as nearly all players.

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I have wtched each and every game that has come from the NRL on MSK and enjoyed them so much that I am paying the extra premium to continue doing so.

I agree that both Burgess and Ellis have looked well within their depth in the OZ game and both have easily risen to the fitness levels required, especially Ellis. Sam is trying too hard and is requiring a subs spell in each game, when he paces himself better he will become better still.

However although both of them look good neither of them are the stand out forwards of the NRL!

I watched the game Wests V Panthers and whilst not wanting to pour cold water on the fact that Gareth got the MOM award, I thought that was a bit wrong.

Robbie Farah was the best man for Wests, by a mile and the best forward on view was Luke Lewis, but as far as I was concerned the MOM was the Penrith F/B Michael Gordon who played fantastic, even in a beaten side.

Hannibal: there are no Aussie Supermen.

Grow up and simply accept the fact that compared with the NRL the S/L is a poorer standard competition, like it or lump it that is undeniable. :(

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So, Burgess got a one match ban for a grapple tackle recently? Did he ever do that in SL? The so called 'grapple tackles' I've seen in the SL/Championship have just been high tackles around the neck, whereas in the NRL I've seen proper grappling whereby players choke their opponent so they have to catch their breath before they can play the ball.

I still think that as well as being a faster, tougher competition than SL the NRL also seems to lead to some dodgy (dangerous?) tackling techniques.

Edited by HappyDave

"I've never seen a woman with hairy ears... And I've been to St Helens" - John Bishop

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I have wtched each and every game that has come from the NRL on MSK and enjoyed them so much that I am paying the extra premium to continue doing so.

I agree that both Burgess and Ellis have looked well within their depth in the OZ game and both have easily risen to the fitness levels required, especially Ellis. Sam is trying too hard and is requiring a subs spell in each game, when he paces himself better he will become better still.

Sam Burgess already has a tremendous tackling performance every game. He also makes good ground with the ball on almost every run he makes.

One problem is that because of injuries at Souths they have switched him to prop a few times. That is not his best position, even though he can perform well there. His best position is either second row or lock.

Sam's only real development problem is that he needs to know when to offload and when not. He is learning that slowly, week by week. Once he gets that right, he will be a champion.

Le rugby a treize, c'est moi!

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So, Burgess got a one match ban for a grapple tackle recently? Did he ever do that in SL? The so called 'grapple tackles' I've seen in the SL/Championship have just been high tackles around the neck, whereas in the NRL I've seen proper grappling whereby players choke their opponent so they have to catch their breath before they can play the ball.

I still think that as well as being a faster, tougher competition than SL the NRL also seems to lead to some dodgy (dangerous?) tackling techniques.

give it a few years and the wrestling holds will improve in SL

nathan brown is one, and maguire is from the melbourne storm, the team that perfected wrestling type tackles in the nrl

the wrestling tackles have largely gone from the nrl with 2 refs

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I haven't really seen enough of Ellis at Wests to comment. I understand that he has been better this year than last, but I haven't seen anything in his game that suggests he is a better player now than when he went to the NRL.

Burgess, I think, is not quite the same player as he was. At Bradford, in his breakthrough year, he was in a very strong pack - in 2009, when he needed to carry the team, he was not quite capable of this. He is in a similar position at Souths - in a pack with old men, trundlers and fatties, and his game is suffering under the weight of expectations. He is committing many more unforced errors than he ever did at Bradford and there doesn't seem to be an improvement in his game - although I accept that would be hard, with him having reached such heights at his young age.

This would be similar to suggesting that Andrew Johns improved himself during his time at Warrington (and I'm sure PJM will tell you he did :P ).

Not a troll post. Well Done

Infact, good read and true.......the last bit being great tongue and cheek :P

PS PMJ not PJM ........please mr nosh ;)

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Hannibal: there are no Aussie Supermen.

Grow up and simply accept the fact that compared with the NRL the S/L is a poorer standard competition, like it or lump it that is undeniable. :(

Irony isn't your strong point, is it?

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it must just be me but Ellis and Burgess were two of the best players in the GB squad. A GB Squad that knew where its strength was.. the pack, and they were players within that pack. they were the best players in their club sides by and large and that is why the aussies bought them.

the aussie sides knew they were getting good players that may need a little polish for "their game" but still they were fantastic players already and had proved it in super league and interntaionally.

The SL v NRL debate is simple and its about intensity... week in week out the intensity is there in the NRL it isnt in Super League, best against best is as exciting in either division but week on week the intensity is not there lower down.

burgess and ellsi will have had to learn a mental toughness that they didnt have before and this si waht is lacking in the england team as a whole.. SoO helps it but the week in week out toughness of the division does too.

the one real shining light is Flangan IMO.. bobbins over here, gone over there and going from stregth to strength and i hope wests keep him and develop him, he is the one to look at he went over as poor and is looking good.. the other two were fantastic players in their own right when they went over.. everyone knew how good ellis and burgess were no one is suprised by the way they are playing, if they sound it on the TV (which they do) it is about hyping it up, they arent suprised they saw what they did agianst their own international team and iknew they would do well.. lets not go overboard as per usual about the NRL making our players better etc etc.. they make them mentally tougher yes but IMO Ellis and Burgess are not technically better now than when they went over.. and i've been watching a fair bit this year, but they are more switched on and alert.

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Ellis and Burgess are both Easily in the top 5 back rowers in the World. IMO Ellis is the better of the two even though he doesn't get anywhere near as much hype as Burgess.

They won't.

I wouldn't be so sure, it's unlikely but stranger things have happened.

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Playing in different competitions and under different conditions will always improve players but not to such dramatic extent as the likes of PS make out.

I have been watching MSK this season and although Ellis and Burgess are stand out players in both of their respective teams, their performances arent amazing. In fact their performances are at exactly the same level of performance as they were in SL, they are very good. The difference is the Aussie media build them up like they are supermen since NRL coaches got their hands on them. This is pretty blinkered and very disrespectful to the SL and the standard of coaching over here.

Simple fact is, our top players over here always end up as top players in the NRL. The british players who go down under and cant make an impact are the same ones who cant make any impact in SL.

Chris Thorman, Keith Mason, Ian Sibbit etc...

The top players like Carney, Morley, Ellis, Burgess etc do well.

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So, Burgess got a one match ban for a grapple tackle recently? Did he ever do that in SL? The so called 'grapple tackles' I've seen in the SL/Championship have just been high tackles around the neck, whereas in the NRL I've seen proper grappling whereby players choke their opponent so they have to catch their breath before they can play the ball.

I still think that as well as being a faster, tougher competition than SL the NRL also seems to lead to some dodgy (dangerous?) tackling techniques.

Sam was asked on the footy show last night if he got away with grapple tackles in the UK and he said he had got away with it. He said that in Oz where every game is televised, it is hard to get away with things as there are 8 camera watching every move from various angles, as only 2 games are fully on tv in UK, that is 2 games with 8 camera angles, the others are only filmed from one angle hence the chance is there to get away with things.

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Sam was asked on the footy show last night if he got away with grapple tackles in the UK and he said he had got away with it. He said that in Oz where every game is televised, it is hard to get away with things as there are 8 camera watching every move from various angles, as only 2 games are fully on tv in UK, that is 2 games with 8 camera angles, the others are only filmed from one angle hence the chance is there to get away with things.

Interesting point. I tried to find it on the website but it has not been posted there.

While I am at it, the Footy Show had a great interview with the Prime Minister Julia Gillard by Fatty Vautin. She was funny. I enjoyed her correcting his poor attempt to speak English.

http://wwos.ninemsn.com.au/nrl/footyshow/video/

I look forward to the day when a British Prime Minister agrees to speak to a rugby league interviewer on a prime time British rugby league TV show. The day when that happens we will know that rugby league has finally made it in Britain.

Le rugby a treize, c'est moi!

_____

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I look forward to the day when a British Prime Minister agrees to speak to a rugby league interviewer on a prime time British rugby league TV show. The day when that happens we will know that rugby league has finally made it in Britain.

I look forward to the day when a French Prime Minister (or President, I'm not fussy) agrees to speak to a rugby league interviewer on a prime time French rugby league TV show. The day when that happens, we will know that rugby league has finally made it in France.

People called Romans they go the house

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I look forward to the day when a French Prime Minister (or President, I'm not fussy) agrees to speak to a rugby league interviewer on a prime time French rugby league TV show. The day when that happens, we will know that rugby league has finally made it in France.

Brilliant observation. I agree.

Le rugby a treize, c'est moi!

_____

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No chance. Thaiday is nowhere near the class of those two.

This is a foolish reply. Very foolish.

I disagree. Ellis was a good player at Leeds before he went to Australia. But he was not a great player. He has become a great player at West Tigers. Whether it was Tim Sheens' coaching or the need to prove himself, or both, I don't know. But no one would have rated him so highly before he went to Australia.

Burgess is a slightly different case. He had been outstanding on occasion when playing in Britain. His Four Nations final performance was superb. But he was inconsistent in the level of his performances. Now he is at South Sydney there is greater consistency in his outstanding performances. Now he plays a great role at Souths that has made him a key figure in the squad. He ranks with Isaac Luke, Dave Taylor and Nathan Merritt as one of the team's stars. (go here: http://www.rabbitohs.com.au/ Sam is the first cab off the rank in the list of club stars.) Also Sam Burgess is now a media celebrity in Australia. This is a sign of how much he has developed in less than one year in the NRL.

Pish.

I have wtched each and every game that has come from the NRL on MSK and enjoyed them so much that I am paying the extra premium to continue doing so.

I agree that both Burgess and Ellis have looked well within their depth in the OZ game and both have easily risen to the fitness levels required, especially Ellis. Sam is trying too hard and is requiring a subs spell in each game, when he paces himself better he will become better still.

However although both of them look good neither of them are the stand out forwards of the NRL!

I watched the game Wests V Panthers and whilst not wanting to pour cold water on the fact that Gareth got the MOM award, I thought that was a bit wrong.

Robbie Farah was the best man for Wests, by a mile and the best forward on view was Luke Lewis, but as far as I was concerned the MOM was the Penrith F/B Michael Gordon who played fantastic, even in a beaten side.

Hannibal: there are no Aussie Supermen.

Grow up and simply accept the fact that compared with the NRL the S/L is a poorer standard competition, like it or lump it that is undeniable. :(

The thread should have ended here as this is 100% correct.

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While I can sympathise somewhat with those who (rightly) defend SL's excitement and skill, doing so by rubbishing the NRL is wrongheaded. Whether it is intensity, depth of player pool, coaching or whatever, nobody can deny which hemisphere's main RL competition has produced the vast majority of players in every team to win the Ashes series, the Tri-and-Four Nations and the Rugby World Cup for the last few decades.

They must be doing something right or SL must be doing something wrong. Otherwise, the results would read differently. Fobbing any complimentary comment about the NRL with a counterproductive and irrelevant quip about Kleenex is just ignoring reality.

Having said that, I don't think this year's NRL season has been a vintage one. I've seen many more poor games this year than I'd expect. Ellis and Burgess are playing well, but in teams that must be very frustrating to support, due to their inconsistency.

Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

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So SL is a poor level of competition?... That's not even worth an answer. Are benyas & petero new trolls?

Try looking at their joined dates....they are not trolls

Whilst I do not suffer fools gladly, I will always gladly make fools suffer

A man is getting along on the road of wisdom when he realises that his opinion is just an opinion

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