Manly won the World Club Challenge in a very physical game against Leeds. Jamie Peacock, it seems, needs to learn how to control his temper after being sin binned for the second time in the space of three weeks.
Tony Smith took up a rather fancy role at Warrington. He is not officially a coach, but indeed much higher than that in some sort of capacity, despite still calling the shots. James Lowes therefore, is still 1st team coach, despite being under Smith. To cut through the bull, Smith is coach, Lowes is assistant but yet Lowes still has an assistant. Don't ask! Still, its good news in some ways for Warrington, having won three out of the last five league games. A much better record than when Smith joined the club.
Leon Pryce and Stuart Reardon go up in front of the judge who said they may go to jail soon, for the assault of Mrs Reardon and her boyfriend. Stuart Reardon has since left Warrington to go to Hull FC. They like criminals there, you see. Ben Cockayne was also up in court recently for assault.
Canterbury were docked two points for having fourteen players on the field late on during their 28-26 win over Penrith. The fact that the fourteenth man was on the field when the winning try was scored has seen the appeal turned down. Its nice to see that NRL officials are strict on such offences. In Super League over the years, Saints got away with a 13th interchange and Bradford have also felt the need to field 14 men against Warrington back in 2004. Both teams were 'fined'.
Martin Gleeson has felt the affect of Tony Smith's wrath and has moved to Wigan. Richie Mathers and a reported £100,000 go the other way, putting an end to specualtion that Gleeson will move to the NRL. Rumours are floating around Warrington as to who will be next to go. Favourites include Matt King, Michael Monaghan, both Anderson brothers and Lee Briers.
Wednesday 22 April 2009
Monday 20 April 2009
McNamara should walk the plank.
Arghh me mateys!
The call from Bradford fans for Steve McNamara to leave gets ever louder, and to be honest I can't blame them. While for me, Friday's match at Odsal was one of the best games I've been to all year. A comfortable Warrington side brush away any traces of testosterone in the Bradford team as they won the match 58-22. A little weak in the defence, but otherwise fulfilling seeing as we've struggled for most of the year.
But I do sympathise with Bradford fans. Tony Smith is the third head coach we have had in twelve months at Warrington at its increasingly frustrating when you know your team should be playing better than what they are. But for me, Bradford have been on this slippery slope down hill since Brian Noble left. Noble not only had the right tactics, he had the right players and desperately tries to bring Wigan up to the same standard as his Grand Final winning years of 2001, 2003 and 2005.
But the thing that stinks heavily for McNamara, is that he has replaced good players like Stuart Fielden, Shontayne Hape and Lesley Vainakolo with a team of nobody's. Nick Scruton? Chris Nero? Rikki Sheriffe? Who? These players aren't as good as the previous bunch. These players are not play off winning material, never mind Grand Final winning material. And judging from Friday's game, McNamara can't coach them. He can't organise or prepare them. For this reason I have been predicting Bradford will crash and burn for the past three years. Its looking likely I'm finally going to be right.
Nows your time Stevie. Will you sink or swim?
The call from Bradford fans for Steve McNamara to leave gets ever louder, and to be honest I can't blame them. While for me, Friday's match at Odsal was one of the best games I've been to all year. A comfortable Warrington side brush away any traces of testosterone in the Bradford team as they won the match 58-22. A little weak in the defence, but otherwise fulfilling seeing as we've struggled for most of the year.
But I do sympathise with Bradford fans. Tony Smith is the third head coach we have had in twelve months at Warrington at its increasingly frustrating when you know your team should be playing better than what they are. But for me, Bradford have been on this slippery slope down hill since Brian Noble left. Noble not only had the right tactics, he had the right players and desperately tries to bring Wigan up to the same standard as his Grand Final winning years of 2001, 2003 and 2005.
But the thing that stinks heavily for McNamara, is that he has replaced good players like Stuart Fielden, Shontayne Hape and Lesley Vainakolo with a team of nobody's. Nick Scruton? Chris Nero? Rikki Sheriffe? Who? These players aren't as good as the previous bunch. These players are not play off winning material, never mind Grand Final winning material. And judging from Friday's game, McNamara can't coach them. He can't organise or prepare them. For this reason I have been predicting Bradford will crash and burn for the past three years. Its looking likely I'm finally going to be right.
Nows your time Stevie. Will you sink or swim?
Wednesday 15 April 2009
Too many games or too many Easter eggs?
There are times when you think rugby league is like a scratched record, going over the same topics and issues again and again. This time its about the amount of games played over Easter. For people like me who love to watch rugby league, no matter what the game is, it's a wonderful time of the year because there is so much choice. But on the opposite side of the coin, does the quality deteriorate during the second game, and more noticeably the week after?
Jamie Peacock (a player who's team lost both games over weekend) has come out and said that teams play too many games over Easter. In the space of fourteen days they are potentially playing four games, a scenario Peacock thinks is too demanding for the players in what is one of the toughest team sports in the world.
Don't get me wrong. I do feel for the players in this difficult time of the season. I played three games in one week once, and by the end of it I was knackered. Playing at the highest domestic level, I'd imagine that's ten times as hard. But there is a bigger issue here, and that's money and revenue. Especially in tough economic times.
The Easter weekend guarantees every club a home game during the holiday period. Easter is a time when a lot of people are off work and have the time to go down to the rugby. Therefore attendances often increase. Every club wants to cash in on this time of the year. We play in the summer, so cannot cash in over Christmas where Boxing Day and New Years Day are seven days apart. When we get to July and August attendances drop as people rush away on their summer holidays, so Easter has to be the time of year where clubs can guarantee a decent attendance at their ground and watch the cash roll in.
Clubs largely rely on gate receipts and TV revenue to keep them afloat, along with hospitality and sponsorship. Those are the biggest earners. Therefore it makes sense to give each club a home game and make the most of people's free time off work.
What more fun can be had chewing on a cream egg and watching the Lancashire derby?
Jamie Peacock (a player who's team lost both games over weekend) has come out and said that teams play too many games over Easter. In the space of fourteen days they are potentially playing four games, a scenario Peacock thinks is too demanding for the players in what is one of the toughest team sports in the world.
Don't get me wrong. I do feel for the players in this difficult time of the season. I played three games in one week once, and by the end of it I was knackered. Playing at the highest domestic level, I'd imagine that's ten times as hard. But there is a bigger issue here, and that's money and revenue. Especially in tough economic times.
The Easter weekend guarantees every club a home game during the holiday period. Easter is a time when a lot of people are off work and have the time to go down to the rugby. Therefore attendances often increase. Every club wants to cash in on this time of the year. We play in the summer, so cannot cash in over Christmas where Boxing Day and New Years Day are seven days apart. When we get to July and August attendances drop as people rush away on their summer holidays, so Easter has to be the time of year where clubs can guarantee a decent attendance at their ground and watch the cash roll in.
Clubs largely rely on gate receipts and TV revenue to keep them afloat, along with hospitality and sponsorship. Those are the biggest earners. Therefore it makes sense to give each club a home game and make the most of people's free time off work.
What more fun can be had chewing on a cream egg and watching the Lancashire derby?
Tuesday 14 April 2009
I love Easter.
Over the period of five days there has been a feast of Easter rugby league action that I for one have tucked into without a moments hesitation.
On Thursday there was the Wigan V St Helens match at the JJB Stadium. Usually saved for Good Friday, this match saw Kyle Eastmond score a massive drop goal to win the game for Saints 19-12.
On Friday I saw three matches played one after another. There was the 207th Hull derby which was won by Hull KR. Hull FC were down 18-4 early in the second half, and fought bravely to come back 18-14. I watched that game at The Willows ahead of the Salford V Warrington clash, in which Warrington played badly, but got to within six points before Ben Westwood scored in the final play of the game. Chris Hicks handed Salford the win after missing the conversion. Finally it was back into Manchester and onto Walkabout for the West Yorkshire derby between Bradford and Leeds. It wasn't a particularly high scoring affair, but a gripping one nonetheless as Bradford shocked the Champions 10-6. The controversy came on the hour when Rob Burrow put in Brent Webb for a try in the corner, only for it to be disallowed. The reason? Brent Webb was in an offside position. I didn't know you could be offside as an attacker, but you can apparently.
The following day I was at Wilderspool as 18th man for Warrington Wizards against Bramley. We lost 18-36 in what was anticipated to be an exciting match.
Sunday was a rugby free day so onto Easter Monday where Castleford defeated Warrington at the Halliwell Jones. Cas played reasonably well and didn't really let Warrington into the game winning 28-6. After 33 minutes of non scoring action, Cas put points on the board first and never looked back. Its business as usual for Warrington. I make no effort to mask my support for the primrose and blue, so it was with great delight that I later saw Catalan defeat Wigan in one of the many familiar pubs surrounding the stadium that evening. Leading 14-4, it was the perfect remedy as Wigan threw the game away and lost 40-24 in Perpignan.
That was a grand total of seven games in a five day period. I'm very happy the Romans killed Jesus!
On Thursday there was the Wigan V St Helens match at the JJB Stadium. Usually saved for Good Friday, this match saw Kyle Eastmond score a massive drop goal to win the game for Saints 19-12.
On Friday I saw three matches played one after another. There was the 207th Hull derby which was won by Hull KR. Hull FC were down 18-4 early in the second half, and fought bravely to come back 18-14. I watched that game at The Willows ahead of the Salford V Warrington clash, in which Warrington played badly, but got to within six points before Ben Westwood scored in the final play of the game. Chris Hicks handed Salford the win after missing the conversion. Finally it was back into Manchester and onto Walkabout for the West Yorkshire derby between Bradford and Leeds. It wasn't a particularly high scoring affair, but a gripping one nonetheless as Bradford shocked the Champions 10-6. The controversy came on the hour when Rob Burrow put in Brent Webb for a try in the corner, only for it to be disallowed. The reason? Brent Webb was in an offside position. I didn't know you could be offside as an attacker, but you can apparently.
The following day I was at Wilderspool as 18th man for Warrington Wizards against Bramley. We lost 18-36 in what was anticipated to be an exciting match.
Sunday was a rugby free day so onto Easter Monday where Castleford defeated Warrington at the Halliwell Jones. Cas played reasonably well and didn't really let Warrington into the game winning 28-6. After 33 minutes of non scoring action, Cas put points on the board first and never looked back. Its business as usual for Warrington. I make no effort to mask my support for the primrose and blue, so it was with great delight that I later saw Catalan defeat Wigan in one of the many familiar pubs surrounding the stadium that evening. Leading 14-4, it was the perfect remedy as Wigan threw the game away and lost 40-24 in Perpignan.
That was a grand total of seven games in a five day period. I'm very happy the Romans killed Jesus!
Friday 10 April 2009
World Cup 2008. Its over, now move on.
There was no player rift in the England squad during the World Cup. The players have blamed themselves and we head into the next international with a clean sheet. So say the powers that be, but how do we move on from a disastrous campaign that saw England win only one game and perform so badly so three consecutive occasions?
Well for a start, I think if we had played at a reasonable standard we wouldn't be in this mess having a post-mortem. I can't see how, out of three super power nations, that England were expected to reach the final. New Zealand and Australia are two very good nations, and the squad the eventual world champions put out was very different to the one that lost a test series 3-0. So we can't be expected to make the final if we're just off the pace. Except we weren't just off the pace. We were miles away from reaching any sort of credibility. Papua New Guinea came out of the competition with more credibility than England. We were an embarrassment.
And what of the rift between Leeds and Saints players? Its obvious to see that there is tension between the two sets of players. Their match in March was a fine example of players out to, not just defeat the other, but physically hurt them. I haven't seen anything like it for some time. It was one of the most physical matches I have ever seen. Thankfully I was sat in my comfy armchair, away from the brutality and aggression. But anyone who suggests that there is no reift is stark raving mad.
But how do we go about easing tension in the national squad? Getting rid of the dead weight would be a good start. Leon Pryce, supposedly one of the best stand offs in Super League was a dead rubber. Mark Calderwood was nigh on useless. Rob Burrow, Ade Gardner, Paul Wellens and Keith Senior all had terrible World Cups. Its little surprise that five of the six names mentioned come from the two best teams in Super League.
But there's the problem. Week in week out they are the best in the competition. But put the best together and they can't play. Considering the last time they played in an international jersey they were nothing short of disgraceful, its time we shifted some of the senior players out of the national side. Bring in a new generation of talent for the mid season test against France and see how they fair.
We couldn't do much worse than what we did in Aus.
Well for a start, I think if we had played at a reasonable standard we wouldn't be in this mess having a post-mortem. I can't see how, out of three super power nations, that England were expected to reach the final. New Zealand and Australia are two very good nations, and the squad the eventual world champions put out was very different to the one that lost a test series 3-0. So we can't be expected to make the final if we're just off the pace. Except we weren't just off the pace. We were miles away from reaching any sort of credibility. Papua New Guinea came out of the competition with more credibility than England. We were an embarrassment.
And what of the rift between Leeds and Saints players? Its obvious to see that there is tension between the two sets of players. Their match in March was a fine example of players out to, not just defeat the other, but physically hurt them. I haven't seen anything like it for some time. It was one of the most physical matches I have ever seen. Thankfully I was sat in my comfy armchair, away from the brutality and aggression. But anyone who suggests that there is no reift is stark raving mad.
But how do we go about easing tension in the national squad? Getting rid of the dead weight would be a good start. Leon Pryce, supposedly one of the best stand offs in Super League was a dead rubber. Mark Calderwood was nigh on useless. Rob Burrow, Ade Gardner, Paul Wellens and Keith Senior all had terrible World Cups. Its little surprise that five of the six names mentioned come from the two best teams in Super League.
But there's the problem. Week in week out they are the best in the competition. But put the best together and they can't play. Considering the last time they played in an international jersey they were nothing short of disgraceful, its time we shifted some of the senior players out of the national side. Bring in a new generation of talent for the mid season test against France and see how they fair.
We couldn't do much worse than what we did in Aus.
Monday 6 April 2009
Gleeson to Wigan, Mathers plus £100,000 to Warrington.
Mid season transfers don't happen too often. Thats why when they do its always a news story. The season is in full swing and the press are everywhere, swarming around Super Legaue grounds like there's no tomorrow. The news that Martin Gleeson is to move to his home town club, Wigan, is little surprise considering its been rumoured in the press and on the chat rooms for quite a while now.
It is bad news for Warrington, who must feel Gleeson is unsettled at the club and worth £99,999.99 as there's no way Richie Mathers is worth more than a penny after some of his performances this season.
What Warrington will do with Mathers remains to be seen, but when he steps through the front doors he will see a friendly face in Tony Smith, who coached the full back at Leeds before departing to the Gold Coast. This was at a time when Mathers was a decent full back, so maybe things can change yet for the former NRL player.
But in my opinion, Mathers won't fill the hole left by the England centre's departure in the Warrington line up.
It is bad news for Warrington, who must feel Gleeson is unsettled at the club and worth £99,999.99 as there's no way Richie Mathers is worth more than a penny after some of his performances this season.
What Warrington will do with Mathers remains to be seen, but when he steps through the front doors he will see a friendly face in Tony Smith, who coached the full back at Leeds before departing to the Gold Coast. This was at a time when Mathers was a decent full back, so maybe things can change yet for the former NRL player.
But in my opinion, Mathers won't fill the hole left by the England centre's departure in the Warrington line up.
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