Welcome back, old friend.

The observant amongst you will have noticed that for a blog dedicated to rugby league for the past four seasons, there hasn't really been many posts on that given topic. Or any topic for that matter.

Thankfully that is all about to change.

Due to educational commitments my time over the past year and a half has been going into earning myself a shiny certificate from the worlds worst organised university. Needless to say entering a job market that has been one of the worst for a generation should give me plenty of time to write more about a passion of mine, and maybe even point this blog in the direction of a few potential employers as someone who is about to graduate with a journalism degree.


As part of the re-brand (so to speak) it's about time we caught up with the highlights of the action over the past twelve months.


Wigan dominated the 2010 season pretty much from start to finish. After their defeat at home to Huddersfield (where incidentally I pissed myself half laughing, half cheering when it meant the pies were denied the league leaders shield mathematically for another week) I said they would not go unbeaten for the rest of the season.


I was right in the sense that they went unbeaten for the remainder of the regualr season. However despite the loss of Danny McGuire early in the match, Leeds did the unthinkable and topple the league leaders away from home in the first round of the play offs. The rematch at Headingley two weeks later proved to be a one sided affair but it showed that despite their losses, Wigan are a remarkable side and Michael McGuire has done amazing things in the space of one season at the club. As expected, they went onto win the Grand Final over rivals St Helens.

Warrington shocked the attendants at Wembley by not only defeating Leeds in the Challenge Cup final, but by doing so with ease winning 30-6.


It was certainly a game to forget for those travelling down the M1, with 85,000 eagerly expecting a classic game of rugby league. It didn't come.


Warrington showed why they will be future Super League champions in that one game, ensuring the game was won before half time and the cup defended successfully. 


Many Warrington supporters will say their favourite moment of that match was Chris Hicks' try, as he plucked the ball from out of the air to score in the corner. For me it has to be Lee Briers' 40-20 halfway though the first half. I think even at that point, deep down, the game was won and Leeds didn't look up to the fight.

 Finally the World Club Challenge proved to be a disappointing affair again if you are a British supporter of the game. Or if you just love Wigan. 


After putting Sydney to bed in the 2010 NRL Grand Final, St George Illawarra came over to these shores for what the Aussie fans like to call 'a trial game.' 


In fairness to those convict armchair supporters, they do occasionally get things right. Wigan were outplayed from start to finish at the DW Stadium, despite winning 15-14 at half time. St George always looked the better side as they eventually wound Wigan down and kept restricting their field possession in the St George half of the field. It would have put a smile on Wayne Bennett's face, who had to fly back to Australia early due to a family illness. 


And that's your wrap of the key pieces of silverware that have been won over the past twelve months. I promise I'll update again soon, ta raa!

Copyright: Sky News, http://league.quins.co.uk 

Nathan Brown rant is not the first.

Nathan Brown's rant after his side's loss to Wigan on Sunday is not the first time the man has last the plot in front of the media.

In his post-match comments at Edinburgh, the Huddersfield coach said: "The officials can do better and protect the small players. I'll quite clearly instruct my players if the officials are going to allow people to hit our key players late and in the head, you do it back."

For the former St George Illawarra boss, it is not the first time he has instructed his players to take the law into their own hands. In 2008 he was so appalled by the tackling techniques of Melbourne in a game at Olympic Park, that he then instructed his players to respond with violence, and called on every other NRL club to turn their games against Melbourne into a bloodbath because that was the only way to beat them.

To me, and with the historical evidence at hand, this is a case of the toys being thrown out of the pram. Huddersfield played very well on Sunday, and it was only a lapse in concentration for ten minutes that really cost them the game.

Brown's criticism of the match officials could see him fined by the RFL like Justin Morgan was earlier in the year. 

A brief lookback on 2009.

2009.

Eventful. Exciting. Pleasurable. And not without its fair share of controversy. So in the week leading up to the NRL play offs, its best to go over the highlights of what already has been a busy season so far.

I last left you in the aftermath of Martin Gleeson's transfer to Wigan, with a reported £100,000 plus Richie Mathers. I think its fair to say that for Warrington it was the deal of the century. While Mathers hasn't been the perfect fullback, he has performed above expectation considering what his form was like in Wigan's colours. Gleeson on the otherhand missed several games after their loss to Celtic and has done very little in the cherry and white overall since.

Speaking of Celtic, they're starting to remind me of the fictional Harchester United FC which was the focus of the TV drama series, Dream Team. Still only a baby compared to more established clubs, their catapult to the top flight in such a short space of time has seen them struggle to compete this season. An early Challenge Cup exit and with only three wins to their name in the league (Bradford, Wigan and Salford) they have failed to capture anyones imagination, especially the Bridgend locals if you were to read into their home attendance figures. Not wanted by many in Super League to begin the year with, their implosion will have no doubt put a smile on the fans of many Championship clubs. Espicially the fans of Widnes, Halifax and Leigh.
But the real drama occured in August when it was confirmed that no less than six of their first team players were to be deported on the basis of playing and staying in the UK on the wrong visas. The offence is estimated to have occured during the 2007 season in which Celtic were promoted to what was National League One. Captin Jace van Dijk, Tony Duggan, Damien Quinn, Darren Mapp, Mark Dalle Cort, and John Hannay are all alledged to have played under a working holiday visa illegally, despite this practise being allowed in the past and a UK Border Agency rule change preventing this practise between the 2006 and 2007 seasons. Who is to blame remains a closely guarded secret, which may be a first for Rugby League. This story has a million and one complications, as another semi proffesional club had, before the 2007 season, appealed to the UK Border Agency to let its players play under this type of visa and they were granted permission. This was reported in one of the trade newspapaers. So my own personal opintion of this is that is was an administrative error. Thats not to say Celtic shouldn't face the consequences whatever they may be, merely that they may have been careless in applying for visas for their overseas players.

Rugby League is never short of a scandal, and the Australian's have seen to it they are supplying more than their fair share of bad publicity. Countless players have been accused of assault, rape, disorderly behaviour and being intoxicated in a public place. In my opinion the media seem ot be having a field day with the NRL at the moment, reporting on every player that so much as sips a drop of shandy. And if, as an ex-player, you thought no one would expose the wrong doing you did during your day, you can guess again.
I honestly feel sorry for Matthew Johns. Not only has he lost his day job on Channel Nine, but he has no doubt had to relive memories and rebuild his family over events that have occured seven years ago while he was playing for Cronulla. The woman in question is no doubt cashing in on the story being sold to newspapaers. The original police investigation saw no one arrested or found guilty, so why she had to drag these events up is at this time is anyones guess. Although the timing is suspicious after Brett Stewart, Paul Gallen and others were accused of wrong doing in quick succession. Of course these stories do have consequences. I'm talking about the rumours that Coca-Cola were days away from signing a sponcership deal with the RFL to sponsor the Four Nations. League Express reported that a representative of Coca-Cola's visited Australia when a large proportion of player scandals were being unearthed and he reccommended that the multi-million pound company pull out of the deal. If I were Nigel wood at the time, I would have been furious as the RFL have done nothing wrong before the deal collapsed. Its merely Coca-Cola not wanting to tarnish their company's image by associating themselves with a sport that is in a bad light. But amazingly, I don't blame them for pulling the plug.

Now I think its time to talk about some rugby. Queensland secured their record breaking fourth straight State of Origin series win after game two in Sydney. Although in my opinion the player of the series was New South Welshman, Jarryd Hayne. For a player on the losing side, he was nothing short of sensational. A true inspiration which none of his team-mates wanted to follow. when it mattered, New South Wales were outplayed, out-enthused and showed no desire to perform at their best. Overall, NSW's performances can be compared to their captain's, Kurt Gidley. For two games he was more exposed and targeted than Katie Price's breasts on a nudest beach. And for the life of me, I cannot understand what goes on in a NSW selection commitee member's head. They chose to select both the ageing Trent Barrett and Brett Kimmorley in the halfs, while Peter Wallace and Terry Campese were there on merit what they did last season. For me, Jamie Soward can count himself unlucky not to be selected at five/eigth as he has clearly been the best number six in the NRL and as a result St George Illawarra have won the minor premiership, and are odds on to make the grand final.

But as for the NRL, fans in the UK have had a hard time of it over the past few months. Less than 24 hours before game two of State of Origin, Setanta Sports have the plug pulled on them by the administrators after the broadcaster spent millions of pounds it didn't have on football television rights. A well known internet forum almost went into melt down with fans desperatly trying to find illegal internet links that show the game. Thankfully Bigpond, an internet arm of Australian communications giant Telstra who sponsor the NRL itself, saved the day and showed a legal live feed for UK users only. And it would seem that until a UK based broadcaster is found, Bigpond will continue to show NRL matches live for UK users via the net on the following link; http://www.bigpondtv.com/nrllliveuk

More scandal involving rugby league, but this time it was the UK's turn to suffer the humiliation as Gareth Hock was found to have traces of a substance also found in cocaine in a urine sample he presented to random drug testers. Its not uncommon for rugby league players to take recreational drugs. Even the very best took them during their day, didn't they Andrew? Hock's only mistake was that he got caught and as a result he was banned for two years from playing the sport. However, I fail to understand why a young lad with a promising career in front of him would take such substances knowing he could get caught very easily. The RFL take cheating of this kind very seriously, as a result British Rugby League is one of the most scrutinous testers in the eyes of the World Anti-Doping Agency. There are people out there, not just youngsters, who would give their right arm to play Super League and yet Hock has thrown it all away with flour up his nose.

And finally congratulations must go to Warrington for winning their first Challenge Cup since 1974. Also Huddersfield must not be overlooked, as they have looked true dark horses in Nathan Brown's first season in charge, but on the day Warrington were the better side and such is the romance of the Challenge Cup that the best team on the day wins. Bt its seems to have been a year for unexpected successes. Both St George Illawarra and Canterbury have been fighting for the NRL minor premiership all year and as two of Sydney's most well supported clubs both teams successes have seen attendances rise in the NRL despite all the bad publicity. One only hopes that these two meet in the grand final because that is sure to be an exciting climax to the NRL season, and a match not to be missed.