Tag: 2010
There Should Be Little Sympathy for the Greedy
Rugby league players in Australia have it better now than at any point in their century old history. They have signed a generous collective bargaining agreement that is the most generous in Australian sport and nearly every player in the code is better off compared to his equivalent even five years ago let alone further […]
The Scales of Justice: Reflections on a Harsh Penalty, Proposals for Future Salary Cap Reform
The salary cap is critical to the survival and growth of rugby league. A relatively even talent distribution is necessary for fans to continue to believe in the code. Hope is what fan support is built on and without it interest withers, clubs die and the game is marginalised. In a competitive football market like […]
The Day the Wall Came Crashing Down
The king is dead. But he may no longer live. And it is doubtful we will see another. On Monday word reached me that the Melbourne Storm were in a fair amount of strife. The rumour mill that runs through betting circles is rarely wrong but when I was told that the Storm situation was […]
The End of Empire: The Sharp Decline of the Brisbane Broncos
Most historians argue over how quickly it took for Rome to fall and the reasons behind the decline of the most powerful empire the world has ever known. Some see the decline starting with the political anarchy that reigned supreme in the third century lasting all the way through to the Fall of Constantinople in […]
The Rebirth of Matthew Johns
A nervous two minute intro, some pleasant introductions, a throw to a sketch and Matthew Johns was quickly off to the races, back into the groove that made him rugby league’s most popular pundit and personality. After being driven from television by a vicious pack of hypocritical lynch-mob with a taste for blood- Nine executives, […]
The 2010 NRL Season Preview
Sometimes the excitement is impossible to contain. Melbourne Cup Day, Christmas Morning, Grand Final Day and the start of the rugby league season. Annually I am overcome with giddiness as the NRL season approaches. The days of late February and early March seem to be timeless, dragging on like a Baptist wedding without alcohol as […]
Crucifying the Convert
The North Sydney Bears died because of people like Peter Lewis. Lewis wrote one of the worst screeds ever imposed on this language, full of dumb blindness and devious untruths, titled “The Convert: A Fan’s Journey from League to AFL”. He was supposedly a “devoted fan of North Sydney” for his entire life, one who […]
Scarface: A Novocastrian Tale
Newcastle is a town of disparity. Parts as pretty as small coastal town, contrastingly bordered by stretched golden and blue beaches and the furnaces of long engrained heavy industry and the ever-dull modern landscape of suburbia, Newcastle is as much contradiction as any city in Australia. The town clings heartily to its working class roots […]
Season 2010: Round 30
Image: From The Couch Grand Final Wrap: The drought is over, as they say, and fans of St George-Illawarra have been engaged in a much deserved celebration since the Dragons routed the Roosters 32-8 in what proved a Grand Final mismatch. The rains did not come for everyone, however, with Brian Smith still searching for […]
Season 2010: Round 29
Image: From The Couch Parramatta Fire Daniel Anderson: No club deserves misery more than the Parramatta Eels and no team is run by a bigger bunch of clowns than the Parramatta Eels. The Eels this year went into meltdown after everybody at the club bought into the idea that the club actually were the team […]
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