Scrapping relegation does not guarantee coaches permanent jobs.

Two Super League coaches have lost their jobs within the past two weeks, both due to a poor run of results and teams underperforming when they should be challenging for honours. Two seasons ago Hull were in the Grand Final, now they are second to bottom of the league having won only four games and managing a draw over their French counterparts. This was enough to see Peter Sharp in the job centre chauffeured there by an inpatient Hull board, who have a known record for sacking the coach all too easily. And while Richard Agar takes over knowing the axe can easily slip out of the executioner’s hand after an improved performance against St Helens, over on the other side of the Pennines it was a sad end-of-an-era for Warrington who saw their very own Paul Cullen jump before he was pushed.

If truth be told, Cullen was like a cat with many lives. There were many opportunities that could have seen him go, but he always had an uncanny ability to bounce back and restore many of the fans faith in him until the next opportunity came along. One such excuse for his sacking was the Challenge Cup loss to Hull KR in 2006, when KR were still in the lower tier of British Rugby League. And this lead to a run of five successive losses which was the start of the fans revolt, with a minority realising the Warrington-born coach could no longer take the club further and demanded a change. However the club scraped into the play offs and one of Cullen’s finest moments as a Warrington coach was witnessed by 12,000 fans at Headingley as Warrington won their first Super League play off game in dramatic style by a single point. The dream of a Warringtonian leading his home town club to on-field success was still on for another week until they deservingly crashed out of the play offs against Bradford, the first quarter being the catalyst for a Yorkshire win. And as the club slowly slid down the table the following year despite the signing of big names within the competition such as Adrian Morley, Paul Johnson and Vinnie Anderson, with the promise of Louis Anderson joining his brother in twelve months time, the anti-Cullen group was growing. Only the mid-season signings of Michael Monaghan, Matt King and Chris Hicks during the 2007 season kept him in a job, as 2008 would have to be the year he delivered. And with a good, if unconvincing, start the promise was seemingly being delivered. However the beginning of the end was, ironically, against Castleford on Easter Monday when Lee Briers limped off and the team lacked creativity for the remainder of the match. A last minute win was Cullen’s last in the north of England, when a form of one win in seven (the one being in Cardiff) lead us up to Castleford at home where a collapse within the last ten minutes saw four Cas tries. As they saw, the rest is history.

But Paul Cullen must not be remembered for the past two years as coach. Instead, the fans must remember the good times. Paul dragged the club away from relegation when he first took over in August 2002, he took the club to a play off place for the first time the following year therefore leaving Wilderspool with dignity and a memorable final game against Wakefield. The year after can be excused as it may have been possible the team over-achieved to reach the play offs, considering twelve months beforehand the club were celebrating surviving relegation. And then there was Cullen’s most successful season as coach. Not only did he lead the team to a series of wins, spoiled only by a one pint loss at Knowsley Road, he also lead the club to their highest league place in Super League and brought in Andrew Johns who gave the fans a series of memories that they will never forget.

As for Peter Sharp, he installed life into an already cohesive team and produced the goods for Hull bringing them to Old Trafford within the first twelve months of his role in charge. After which he steadied the ship the following year until the current campaign when he was tipped by many to be the first coaching casualty. He never failed to disappoint and leaves Hull having been sacked. The Black and Whites have since given the role to assistant Richard Agar on a two and a half year deal. Where will the Warrington board go next? Wait and see...

Blues underperform as Maroons collapse beneath them.

Wednesday saw the first game of this years State of Origin series, as well as the last representative game Billy Slater will play for a long while. But Slater was not the only culprit having a shocker, as an out of position Karmichael Hunt showed why he won’t be following the same career path as Darren Lockyer. With the Brisbane five-eighth injured, Scott Prince was duly overlooked by selectors as Hunt was considered too good to lose. With other positions occupied he was thrown the No6 jersey and, I assume, was told to hope for the best.

However, this wasn’t the selector’s only mistake, according to Phil Gould on Channel Nine. Don’t ask me what difference it makes but debutant Israel Folau should have played on the opposite wing to the one he played. Personally, and as a hard-grafting forward myself, I fail to see the difference between left and right especially as a debutant with little cohesion and social interaction with his centres. But who am I to question a former Origin coach’s opinion?

On the other side of the pitch however, Peter Wallace showed his capabilities as an Origin player with a very good performance in the scrum half role. He and Greg Bird linked up effortlessly to combine and provide quality ball to either side of the park, with Bird adding the extra quality of a personal stunning defensive effort. Another debutant who made an impact was Anthony Quinn, who also scored the game’s first two tries as well as denying Brent Tate a try in the corner late in the second half. Credit must also go to coach Craig Bellamy, who planned a tactical win against many of his Melbourne players playing for the maroons.

So what now for game two? Well if I were a Queensland selector I would get Darren Lockyer on the park no matter how fit he is. He combines well with Thurston and has done for a long time. Its no wonder they are both Australia’s first choice five eighth and halfback. If Lockyer is unavailable they must go for Scott Prince at five eighth before they go 2-0 down in the series. I would also keep Karmichael Hunt in at fullback with Slater being dropped or left in Melbourne.

As for NSW, I honestly wouldn’t change a thing. But if all the above happens, Queensland will, on paper at least, crush NSW.

A Tap On The Twenty - as read on BBC Radio Manchester.

So as you know by the post below, I created a team consisting of players surnames that could be forenames. Well I created the team (with the use of technology limited to about three or four players only) and emailed it, using Hotmail to Radio Manchester just after the Wakefield-Wigan game kicked off the second half. My name was then read out, live on air, with a few names from the list mentioned (including Wally Lewis) and nothing more was made of it. By half past five I decided to post the team on this blog and this blog only. I did not send a link to the studio, nor did I email them my blog address as part of my signature. In fact I didn't send them anything else afterwards. It remains as the last method of communication I had with them. So how was it that Jack Deardon read out the previous post word for word live on 95.1FM, DAB Digital and around the world?

Well one can only assume this blog was made aware to the kind guys and gals on Oxford Street by someone on RLFans or Facebook (which this blog is also listed on) during the half hour between posting it on here, and before the end of the show. The link advertising the blog stands out in my RLFans sig and it keeps changing as I update the blog, like an advertisement. So when this person clicked on the link, read it and saw the first post they must have sent it to Manchester, who in turn gave me second raps live on air. I mean my name is written all over the damn blog anyway so thats how they knew it was me.

Either that, or I am developing memory loss and think really big of myself.

Note: Incidentally, he didn't actually mention the name of the blog, or note that fact he was reading it online. But all the signs point to what is mentioned above.

Frankie Howard played Rugby League.

Radio Manchester, or more specifically Trevor Hunt, began the show on Sunday by reading a list of players who happen to have a Christian name for a surname and/or vice-versa. So while a load of idiots rang in crying out names randomly as well as deciding if a player called Frankie Howard played for St Helens, I set about creating a starting thirteen team using the same method. Here is what I came up with with names from the past, present and NRL:


1. Brett Stewart (Manly)
2. Darren Albert (Ex-Wigan & Cronulla)
3. Matt Cooper (St George-Illawarra; there is a Cooper Cronk who plays for Melbourne)
4. Phil Graham (Canberra)
5. Scott Donald (Leeds)
6. Wally Lewis (Ex-Brisbane & Wakefield)
7. Andy Gregory (Ex-Wigan
8. James Graham (St Helens)
9. Jon Clarke (Warrington; Clark(e) Kent is Superman)
10. Matt James (Bradford)
11. Matty Dale (Wakefield)
12. Beau Scott (St George-Illawarra)
13. Mike Gregory (Ex-Warrington, RIP)

Saints' stadium given green light by council.

Previously, St Helens council had rejected the original proposals for a new stadium that Warrington couldn’t win on. On Tuesday and after huge pressure from Saints RLFC officials, supporters and the whole Rugby League world the council had no choice but to accept the proposals for another stadium Warrington will never win at, included as part of a stadium/supermarket complex similar to the Halliwell Jones Stadium and Tescos Extra store.

While it comes as a huge relief that my away trips to Knowsley Road (or the GPW Recruitment Stadium) are limited, I cannot help but feel it’s about flaming time. If I remember correctly, after the launch of Super League the RFL came out and said that clubs had to improve their ground facilities or move to a better stadium. So while Hull jumped across the city to the KC Stadium and Warrington in 2000 were given the green light by their council for a purpose built rugby league stadium, Saints began stalling knowing full well that the RFL wouldn’t dare kick them out. But with the licences coming into affect from next year, the Saints board had to act and this time a new stadia could be a reality.

However, the need to be careful in their farewell of Knowsley Road. The last point scorer at Central Park was Tommy Martin, a Leyther in a Saints shirt. How ironic it might be if Andy Coley were somehow to be the last point scorer at Knowsley Road, a Wire in a Wigan shirt.

The greatest rivalry in world sport is heating up.

The two State of Origin teams announced their squads today and the surprise news is that full back Karmichael Hunt is to begin the first game at five-eighth (stand off). Peter Wallace, Broncos youngster, was also called up to play in the scrum half role for New South Wales after Kurt Gidley’s injury ruled him out. Staying with the Blues camp, Craig Fitzgibbon returns to the Origin cauldron after an absence of two years on the interchange bench while Israel Folau remains in the position he played for Australia against New Zealand last weekend on the wing outside Justin Hodges. Newbie Jarryd Hayne, who scored one of the finest Origin tries I have ever seen last year, is back on the NSW wing up against Folau playing outside Mark Gasnier. Johnathan Thurston will partner Hunt at scrum half while Greg Bird will partner Wallace at five-eighth. The full backs will be Billy Slater for the maroons and Brett Stewart for the Blues.

The full teams are listed below.

Queensland

Billy Slater

Brent Tate

Greg Inglis

Justin Hodges

Israel Folau

Karmichael Hunt

Johnathan Thurston

Carl Webb

Cameron Smith (c)

Petro Civoniceva

Michael Crocker

Sam Thaiday

Dallas Johnson

PJ Marsh

Ben Hannant

Nate Myles

Jacob Lillyman

New South Wales

Brett Stewart

Jarryd Hayne

Mark Gasnier

Matt Cooper

Anthony Quinn

Greg Bird

Peter Wallace

Brett White

Danny Buderus (c)

Ben Cross

Ryan Hoffman

Willie Mason

Paul Gallen

Anthony Laffranchi

Anthony Tupou

Craig Fitzgibbon

Ben Hornby

A new era of Australian Rugby League begins.

Australian Rugby League welcomed in their new centenary with a comfortable win over their trans-Tasman rivals, New Zealand. Despite the event was hosted for a celebration, it was unfortunately over shadowed by the death of Australian “super coach” Jack Gibson. However, both sides managed to entertain the thirty-four thousand that turned up at the SCG with Australia dominating the first half with a 22-0 lead at half time. The highlight of the half, the match and so far the second centenary, was Mark Gasnier’s first try when Thurston’s kick looked to be going dead in-goal. Israel Folau jumped from the in-goal into the air, threw the ball back over his head on the bounce whilst in the air and fell out of play before Gasnier caught the footy in-goal and firmly placed it down to score a magnificent first try for Australia.

The game would have been a classic, had New Zealand turned up before half time. Australia’s dominance in the first half was way too much for the kiwis to come back from despite a spirited second half display in which they won 6-12.

But for me, my attention was focused on the body language of Wayne Bennett and Stephen Kearney. From what I saw being picked up by Channel Nine’s camera’s inside the dressing rooms and during the match, it seemed Bennett was doing the coaching. It was he who was shouting the odds during half time while Bennett watched on. Kearney still didn’t show any emotion during the game either and to me, it seems that Kearney is the front man releasing the pressure of the press off Bennett. I may be wrong, but that seems the impression to me.

Why it’s important to keep the magic in Cardiff.

Having been to the first two Millennium Magic weekends, I feel I have more than earned the right to comment and I cannot recommend the weekend highly enough. For the fans to witness an entire round of Super League in one stadium is something only the RFL can conjure up in an attempt to establish a fan base and spread the game away from the heartlands with the goal of setting up a Super League side in the south of Wales. Celtic Crusaders will no doubt fit the bill eventually. But with the recent news that the RFL could be considering a move way from Cardiff for their Magic Weekend, how concerned should we be about a move to Edinburgh, Belfast or Dublin?

Well, I for one would be dead set against the idea of a move away from the valleys. In my opinion, the RFL must make the fans their priority, and that means listening to what they want. The general consensus from reading certain internet forums, watching television interviews with fans and listening to radio phone-ins, is that the weekend must stay in Cardiff. Being part of the majority, there are no doubt other reasons why Cardiff must host this unique event but of course I will mention my own thought up argument points.

Firstly there is no other city in the country that has a stadium the size of the Millennium Stadium that is situated so close to the city centre. In fact, the stadium is situated spot on in the middle of Cardiff, therefore the fans flood the entire city creating an atmosphere that is second to none in the middle of the city, and with it being a Rugby League event all the fans can mingle and mix together with very few if any at all unlawful incidents including alcohol related violence. For Hull FC and KR fans to be able to sit and drink in the same pub or bar and not start kicking each others head in is a miracle, but it shows that the rivalry between opposition fans is “friendly” and not something that is reminiscent to that of a football rivalry. If you were to take all of that, and put it into either Edinburgh or Dublin, the atmosphere would decrease due to the distance from the city centre to the stadium and the cost of travelling would increase to get the fans from the city centre to the stadium.

Secondly, the roof in the Millennium Stadium also adds to the atmosphere and protects the players from the elements if there is any bad weather. But this also increases the atmosphere (and forgive me for speaking scientific bollocks, here) as the sound waves created from fans, players and officials is bounced back off the structure of the stadium, instead of being lost into the atmosphere above with an open roof. However there is argument for the roof to be open. Barrie McDermott emphasises this point well in his commentary, the closed roof causes the pitch to sweat creating dew on the surface. This in turn makes the surface slippery for the players, and so many tries are scored and conceded from players being unable to keep their footing. Another reason is, and this was very obvious in the Saints V Wigan match on Sunday, the smoke from the fireworks that are set off when the players step onto the pitch is not allowed to escape from the stadium. It simply rises until it is blocked by the roof. The simple solutions here is to not use fireworks and maybe use spotlights instead and turn off the stadium lights as the players come out to create an atmosphere and build up that is just as good. Then again, this wasn’t a problem on the Saturday, so maybe the ventilation system wasn’t working as it should be on that particular day. The point being, the roof must stay shut to provide an arena for fans.

Thirdly, the Millennium magic concept is a win-win situation for almost everyone. The Welsh Tourist Board pays the RFL to stage the event in Cardiff, but in turn, the fans that flock to the Welsh capital and support the economy by spending money. Cardiff also provides for the Rugby League orientated fans by supplying supporters’ jerseys not just from Super League, but also from the NRL (although I was disappointed not to see a State of Origin shirt in the shops I went to). This is just one example; the bookmakers have provided special coupons and odds especially for this event. As long as we, the Rugby League supporters, keep spending money in the clubs, bars, restaurants, gift shops, high street stores etcetera, then the tourist board makes up the money from what they spent paying the RFL. The only exception to this rule is the clubs themselves. I’m not a hundred percent sure of the details, but I suppose the RFL will have to compensate the clubs in some way because they are not only missing a home fixture, but they also have to spend money to provide travel and accommodation for the players, coaches and club officials. But apart from that, it is good for the sport that the “magic weekend” stays in the land of the red dragon.