Recently there was an opportunity given to me to write a 600 word article for the Leigh V Warrington match day programme. They were asking for fans to write about any rugby league related topic and I got given the task. Unfortunately after Leigh's home friendly to Salford got cancelled again, the club has decided to recycle that programme with a few minor changes so it can be sold to us on the 17th January. Anyway instead of letting that article go to waste, I thought I'd publish it on here instead. Enjoy!
If you reading this it must mean that the match has been given the all clear, and the powers that be have put the UK back outside the Arctic Circle. That’s a good thing from a Warrington point of view, as this is our first pre-season game before the start of the season. We will need to be at the top of our game if we are to defeat Harlequins in round one, as their round three fixture against Wakefield is being brought forward three weeks so they can play Melbourne Storm a week before the World Club Challenge.
It appears this has been the worst winter for some time. We have had sub zero temperatures, 11 inches of snow and we’ve had to put up with Rage against the Machine being the Christmas number one. Rugby League has been affected too, with countless matches for both amateur and professional teams being postponed due to the adverse weather conditions. The entire amateur programme was postponed the weekend before Christmas due to the frost, while two of the three county cups were originally postponed the day after Boxing Day. The entire Challenge Cup programme fell foul of the weather as we welcomed in 2010, while very few scheduled games went ahead elsewhere across the country. Warrington’s pre-season plans have already gone pear shaped after our extravagantly titled ‘World of Beds Cup’ match against Widnes was cancelled on two occasions leaving us with one less game to give the reserve side, plus a few familiar faces, a decent run out. Alas, it would have been nice to celebrate another cup win.
Of course we are not alone in cancelling fixtures. The not-so-friendly friendly between St Helens and Wigan was called off along with what would have been Salford’s visit to this wonderful new stadium. Amazingly there were some friendly matches played over the festive period, all of which seem to have been played in Yorkshire. In all honesty I would have thought that would be the first place to call a game off in the middle of winter, considering I have seen it snow at Belle Vue in the middle of April. Leeds and Wakefield managed to play their Boxing Day contest on the same day Dewsbury and Batley gave their pitch the all clear. The following day York City Knights played against a York Select XIII consisting from players from the local amateur teams. But overall the amount of games called of due to the weather has been alarming this year, and begs the question why the RFL insist on starting the season earlier and earlier each year.
Gone are the days in the summer era of rugby league when the Challenge Cup would signal the start of the season before the league kicked off a week later. The season is starting earlier each year, with Celtic hosting Leeds two weeks after this game in Super League, while the Northern Rail Cup commences with Leigh travelling to York on the 31st January. For me growing up in the nineties and remembering very little before Super League, it was all part of the romance of the Challenge Cup that the season would often start with the fourth round tie. It meant spring was just around the corner and the start of another rollercoaster season was waiting for us after several months without rugby. Of course it wasn’t so romantic if you drew Barrow away only to find there was more water floating down the main road than there was in Morecambe Bay during a heavy spell of rain. Summer rugby, eh?
Wednesday, 6 January 2010
Monday, 4 January 2010
Team of the decade - winger
It appears the attributes and requirements of a winger have grown in recent years. There is no longer a small speedy winger in the modern game who can handle the rough and tough of the middle of the field, as as a result the species that brought us Martin Offiah, Brian Bevan and Jason Robinson are a dying breed. Warrington's Kevin Penny is the last player who earned his first team selection based on speed alone, and while it proved successful early in the young lad's career, he was vulnerable to many aspects of the game and his weaknesses were quickly exploited.
Today, fast paced and speedy wingers are no long an necessity. But they must be successful finishers, calm under pressure, but they must still possess that little bit of pace and acceleration to get past the defence. Just a bit. They must also be build so they can handle the physicality of the modern day game, therefore reducing their speed, but becoming effective in brushing aside the defence.
Ade Gardner
From 2002 Ade Gardner has always been a thorn in the teams playing against St Helens. He scored 114 tries for Saints in Super League and became one of the most respected players in the game. It took him four years to make the Great Britain team making his début in the 2006 international at Knowsley Road against New Zealand in which Great Britain were victorious 46-14. His last international appearance was, ironically, against the Kiwis in the 2008 World Cup, who would later become world champions a week later. But Gardner had already become a world champion himself by this point, playing in St Helens' 18-14 win over Brisbane in the World Club Challenge in which he scored two tries down the right wing. Sadly we may have seen Gardner at his peak in 2006, but during that time he was an effective and dangerous winger.
Brian Carney
There are not too many players who can say they are born and raised in the land of shamrocks and Guinness. Without a doubt Brian Carney is the best player ever to have come out of Ireland, and arguably he is one of the best wingers in the past decade. In his first season of NRL rugby league, he was voted the Dally M Winger of the Year in 2007 after a successful season with Newcastle, a year before he was due to play for the Gold Coast. He was scouted for Gateshead after playing for Dublin Blues RLFC and eventually signed for Wigan where he made his mark on Super League. In 14 appearances for Great Britain he scored eight tries, his last coming in the 2005 Tri Nations against Australia in Hull. But after his successful year in the NRL he made his retirement from both codes of rugby to concentrate on his family life. He later returned rugby union playing for Munster, but was later signed up for the remainder of the 2009 Super League season with Warrington. In four appearances he scored two tries, showing that at the age of 32 he was still capable of performing at a respectable standard. He career at Warrington was short lived after breaking his arm against Leeds, effectively ending his time on a rugby pitch.
Darren Albert
He was once tagged the fastest man in Super League after he won a charity foot race in 2004, and it was very hard to catch him with a ball in hand. In his four seasons at St Helens he helped them to one Challenge Cup win over Wigan as well as a Super League title. Beforehand he played for Newcastle in Australia (at which time was in the middle of the Super League war.) His début in 1996 was against Western Reds in Perth, and in which he scored a try. A year later he would go onto scoring one of the most memorable try in Australian rugby league history in a thrilling ARL Grand Final at the Sydney Football Stadium against Manly. If stats and figures are to be believed, he scored 77 tried in both Australia (ARL and NRL competitions for Newcastle and Cronulla) and Super League in the UK, totalling 154 tries in 217 apperances at first grade level. He showed pace and speed, but also the strength to compete in the middle of the field with the props when he was needed. He was a superb player, and it was great injustice he only ever played one game for New South Wales.
Hazem El Masri
One of the all time great players of rugby league. He broke and achieved a number of records in his career, including the all-time highest NRL career point scoring record scoring 2,418, he achieved 300 career apperances playing for the Bulldogs as well as the most points in a season of the NRL with 342. On top of that, he scored 160 tries at first grade level making him one of the most individual successful players to have played the game. During his time at Canterbury, he was part of a winning NRL Premiership side that defeated Sydney in 2004. El Masri retired after the 2009 season as the best point scoring player of all time against Parramatta in the preliminary finals, but will remain a memorable figure in the game for some time.
Jason Robinson
Jason Robinson left Wigan at the end of the 2000 season, so just about manages to become a nominee for this team of the decade. But before that, he was one of the best three quarters Great Britain had in their attacking arsenal. He had a quick side step and footwork a lot better any I have seen since. And his pace and speed was phenomenal. Eventually he left Wigan and transferred to the dark side of rugby union, where he made a very successful career out of playing that sport playing for England 51 times and the British Lions five times. But in rugby league, he started life at Hunslet before moving to Wigan in 1992 where he would appear for them 286 times and score over 600 points. Between 1993 and 1999 he went on to earn 12 Great Britain caps. A little unknown fact is he is the last person to score a try in a RU world cup final in 2003, as the 2007 final consisted of seven penalty goal kicks.
Lesley Vainikolo
Judging from the size of this bloke, you would never have guessed he played on the wing. But that is exactly what he did, and he did it with style. Along with his team mate, Shontayne Hape, he was part of a devastating left flank Bradford side that made four consecutive Super League Grand Final apperances winning two of them in 2003 and 2005. (Bradford won the 2001 final, but Vainikolo had not signed for Bradford by that point.) He caught the eye of Brian Noble playing for Canberra in which he scored 35 tries in the NRL between 1998 and 2001. This led to the nickname of The Volcano, christened to him by Peter Sterling. Once he settled into English life, he became a force to be reckoned with. He went onto score 135 tries in 136 apperances for Bradford in Super League, once scoring six tries in one match against Hull FC in 2005. A record that has not yet been broken. He left in 2007 to play rugby union for Gloucester but will always be remember for his trail blazing runs down the left flank at Odsal.
Martin Offiah
Martin Offiah left Salford in 2000 after 41 apperances for the club to join rugby union, a place where it seems many a great league winger goes off to collect their pension. He is a Londoner and one of the greatest wingers of all time. He made his name in the 1990s playing for Widnes, Wigan, St George, Eastern Suberbs and London. He scored 501 career tries playng in the UK and Australia, second to Brian Bevan.
For the team of the decade, on the right wing is Brian Carney and on the left wing is Lesley Vainikolo.
Today, fast paced and speedy wingers are no long an necessity. But they must be successful finishers, calm under pressure, but they must still possess that little bit of pace and acceleration to get past the defence. Just a bit. They must also be build so they can handle the physicality of the modern day game, therefore reducing their speed, but becoming effective in brushing aside the defence.
Ade Gardner
From 2002 Ade Gardner has always been a thorn in the teams playing against St Helens. He scored 114 tries for Saints in Super League and became one of the most respected players in the game. It took him four years to make the Great Britain team making his début in the 2006 international at Knowsley Road against New Zealand in which Great Britain were victorious 46-14. His last international appearance was, ironically, against the Kiwis in the 2008 World Cup, who would later become world champions a week later. But Gardner had already become a world champion himself by this point, playing in St Helens' 18-14 win over Brisbane in the World Club Challenge in which he scored two tries down the right wing. Sadly we may have seen Gardner at his peak in 2006, but during that time he was an effective and dangerous winger.
Brian Carney
There are not too many players who can say they are born and raised in the land of shamrocks and Guinness. Without a doubt Brian Carney is the best player ever to have come out of Ireland, and arguably he is one of the best wingers in the past decade. In his first season of NRL rugby league, he was voted the Dally M Winger of the Year in 2007 after a successful season with Newcastle, a year before he was due to play for the Gold Coast. He was scouted for Gateshead after playing for Dublin Blues RLFC and eventually signed for Wigan where he made his mark on Super League. In 14 appearances for Great Britain he scored eight tries, his last coming in the 2005 Tri Nations against Australia in Hull. But after his successful year in the NRL he made his retirement from both codes of rugby to concentrate on his family life. He later returned rugby union playing for Munster, but was later signed up for the remainder of the 2009 Super League season with Warrington. In four appearances he scored two tries, showing that at the age of 32 he was still capable of performing at a respectable standard. He career at Warrington was short lived after breaking his arm against Leeds, effectively ending his time on a rugby pitch.
Darren Albert
He was once tagged the fastest man in Super League after he won a charity foot race in 2004, and it was very hard to catch him with a ball in hand. In his four seasons at St Helens he helped them to one Challenge Cup win over Wigan as well as a Super League title. Beforehand he played for Newcastle in Australia (at which time was in the middle of the Super League war.) His début in 1996 was against Western Reds in Perth, and in which he scored a try. A year later he would go onto scoring one of the most memorable try in Australian rugby league history in a thrilling ARL Grand Final at the Sydney Football Stadium against Manly. If stats and figures are to be believed, he scored 77 tried in both Australia (ARL and NRL competitions for Newcastle and Cronulla) and Super League in the UK, totalling 154 tries in 217 apperances at first grade level. He showed pace and speed, but also the strength to compete in the middle of the field with the props when he was needed. He was a superb player, and it was great injustice he only ever played one game for New South Wales.
Hazem El Masri
One of the all time great players of rugby league. He broke and achieved a number of records in his career, including the all-time highest NRL career point scoring record scoring 2,418, he achieved 300 career apperances playing for the Bulldogs as well as the most points in a season of the NRL with 342. On top of that, he scored 160 tries at first grade level making him one of the most individual successful players to have played the game. During his time at Canterbury, he was part of a winning NRL Premiership side that defeated Sydney in 2004. El Masri retired after the 2009 season as the best point scoring player of all time against Parramatta in the preliminary finals, but will remain a memorable figure in the game for some time.
Jason Robinson
Jason Robinson left Wigan at the end of the 2000 season, so just about manages to become a nominee for this team of the decade. But before that, he was one of the best three quarters Great Britain had in their attacking arsenal. He had a quick side step and footwork a lot better any I have seen since. And his pace and speed was phenomenal. Eventually he left Wigan and transferred to the dark side of rugby union, where he made a very successful career out of playing that sport playing for England 51 times and the British Lions five times. But in rugby league, he started life at Hunslet before moving to Wigan in 1992 where he would appear for them 286 times and score over 600 points. Between 1993 and 1999 he went on to earn 12 Great Britain caps. A little unknown fact is he is the last person to score a try in a RU world cup final in 2003, as the 2007 final consisted of seven penalty goal kicks.
Lesley Vainikolo
Judging from the size of this bloke, you would never have guessed he played on the wing. But that is exactly what he did, and he did it with style. Along with his team mate, Shontayne Hape, he was part of a devastating left flank Bradford side that made four consecutive Super League Grand Final apperances winning two of them in 2003 and 2005. (Bradford won the 2001 final, but Vainikolo had not signed for Bradford by that point.) He caught the eye of Brian Noble playing for Canberra in which he scored 35 tries in the NRL between 1998 and 2001. This led to the nickname of The Volcano, christened to him by Peter Sterling. Once he settled into English life, he became a force to be reckoned with. He went onto score 135 tries in 136 apperances for Bradford in Super League, once scoring six tries in one match against Hull FC in 2005. A record that has not yet been broken. He left in 2007 to play rugby union for Gloucester but will always be remember for his trail blazing runs down the left flank at Odsal.
Martin Offiah
Martin Offiah left Salford in 2000 after 41 apperances for the club to join rugby union, a place where it seems many a great league winger goes off to collect their pension. He is a Londoner and one of the greatest wingers of all time. He made his name in the 1990s playing for Widnes, Wigan, St George, Eastern Suberbs and London. He scored 501 career tries playng in the UK and Australia, second to Brian Bevan.
For the team of the decade, on the right wing is Brian Carney and on the left wing is Lesley Vainikolo.
Steve Prescott MBE
A huge congratulations must go to Steve Prescott for being honoured in the Queen's new year's honours list. Steve will be awarded an MBE for services to rugby league and charity.
Steve played for St Helens, Wakefield and Hull FC but was diagnosed with a rare form of stomach cancer in 2006 and given 12 months to live. Four years later, he is still going strong and has raised thousands of pounds for both The Christie Cancer Hospital and the Rugby League Benevelant Fund, which helps sick and injured rugby league players, via the Steve Prescott Foundation.
Visit www.steveprescottfoundation.co.uk for more information.
From A Tap on the Twenty, we would like to congratulate Steve and his helpers and wish him every success with future charitable events.
Steve played for St Helens, Wakefield and Hull FC but was diagnosed with a rare form of stomach cancer in 2006 and given 12 months to live. Four years later, he is still going strong and has raised thousands of pounds for both The Christie Cancer Hospital and the Rugby League Benevelant Fund, which helps sick and injured rugby league players, via the Steve Prescott Foundation.
Visit www.steveprescottfoundation.co.uk for more information.
From A Tap on the Twenty, we would like to congratulate Steve and his helpers and wish him every success with future charitable events.
Thursday, 24 December 2009
Team of the decade - Fullback.
Ah, the fullback. The first man on the team sheet every single week. But who would you give the number one shirt to, and why? What are the qualities of a rugby league fullback?
The modern fullback's minimum requirement is to begin the counter attack upon receiving the ball from the opposition's kick down field. They obviously need a good set of ball handling skills in order to not drop the high ball. He is also the last line of defence, meaning once the opposition get past this fellow, you've had it so a good tackler is essential. But what makes a great fullback is the way they perform their minimum requirements as perfect as possible, as well as their attacking qualities adding more options to the attacking structure for the half backs to use. The full back can slot into any side of the attacking line next to the second rowers and the centres, so they act as extra option runners or carriers. In effect, the defence can be playing against five three-quarters (If that makes any sense.)
Below are A Tap on the Twenty's four nominees for fullback of the decade, who all possess the key skills to becoming an excellent fullback.
Anthony Minichello
Minichello was one of the reasons I used to like watching Sydney when I was younger. He is always in support of his line breaking team mates and has scored 89 tries in 181 NRL appearances because of his ability to back up the runner. His hard work failed to go unnoticed having represented his country 18 times in test matches, with a further nine tries to his name. His début against Canterbury in 2000 saw him play on the wing for the first few seasons, but the retirement of Luke Phillips in 2003 sparked a career that also saw him represent New South Wales nine time scoring six tries in the position of fullback. Thankfully for Sydney, he has saved that team more tries than they care to think. But despite a reoccuring back injury in recent seasons, he has always been a real asset to the club and a local hero being part of a team that saw him win the NRL in 2002 and become grand finalists in 2000, 2003 and 2004.
Billy Slater
Easily the best fullback in the game currently. Unfortunately for this exercise it does not automatically qualify him for that imaginary fullback spot when you consider half the nominees either are retired or play elsewhere on a more regular basis. Slater is one of the more acrobatic players in the game. Cameron Smith's try is a perfect example of that, when it was Slater who knocked the ball away from the dead ball line for Smith to score. Slater is also one of the few players who catches the ball on the full every single time it is kicked towards him. It was a real pain to see Eastmond's or Thomkins' kicks go straight to Slater every time. Since 2003 when made his début against Cronulla at centre, he was quickly moved to fullback after seven games and has since set the world alight with his brilliance.
Darren Lockyer
Darren Lockyer spent the early part of his career playing at five-eighth (stand off for us English folk.) This was at the early stage of his playing days at Brisbane in which he spent a lot of time coming off the bench from 1995 until 1997. From that point on he was a fullback, and a fine one too. He later went back to five-eighth at a later stage, but for now we will discuss his performances wearing the number one shirt. He was such a brilliant fullback that when Wayne Bennett moved him to five-eighth, I immediately cast doubt over his selection on the hypothesis that it seemed silly moving a player who has done so well at fullback playing for both his state and country in the number one shirt, to the number six shirt. But as the last line of defence, he was excellent. But he wasn't as flashy as Billy Slater. but equally effective. He would always find the extra yards to begin the counter attack that no other player at the time could. He didn't waste time letting the ball bounce either. He would collect it either on the full, or on the half volley. He always had his body in the right position to collect the kick without wasting chasing it down. A brilliant fullback in his day.
Kris Radlinski
Arguably the best British fullback since Jim Sullivan in the 1920s. Radlinski is of Polish decent, but was born and grew up in Wigan for whom he played 332 games for. His international debut came in 1995 for England, and made the Great Britain side a year later. Despite retiring and making a comback, his finest hour was during the 2002 Challenge Cup final, in which he won the Lance Todd Trophy award for his man of the match performance. I'll always remember his tackle on Tim Jonkers ten minutes into the final, when despite being in hospital all week he was passed fit, he managed to prevent what would otherwise have been a certain try for Saints. In his career he played for Lancashire as well, but always gave 100% for whatever side he represented. He demonstrated a brilliant attacking flaire, earning himself 183 tries for Wigan, but only two in an eight year stint playing for GB.
The 2000s fullback of the decade is Anthony Minichello.
The modern fullback's minimum requirement is to begin the counter attack upon receiving the ball from the opposition's kick down field. They obviously need a good set of ball handling skills in order to not drop the high ball. He is also the last line of defence, meaning once the opposition get past this fellow, you've had it so a good tackler is essential. But what makes a great fullback is the way they perform their minimum requirements as perfect as possible, as well as their attacking qualities adding more options to the attacking structure for the half backs to use. The full back can slot into any side of the attacking line next to the second rowers and the centres, so they act as extra option runners or carriers. In effect, the defence can be playing against five three-quarters (If that makes any sense.)
Below are A Tap on the Twenty's four nominees for fullback of the decade, who all possess the key skills to becoming an excellent fullback.
Anthony Minichello
Minichello was one of the reasons I used to like watching Sydney when I was younger. He is always in support of his line breaking team mates and has scored 89 tries in 181 NRL appearances because of his ability to back up the runner. His hard work failed to go unnoticed having represented his country 18 times in test matches, with a further nine tries to his name. His début against Canterbury in 2000 saw him play on the wing for the first few seasons, but the retirement of Luke Phillips in 2003 sparked a career that also saw him represent New South Wales nine time scoring six tries in the position of fullback. Thankfully for Sydney, he has saved that team more tries than they care to think. But despite a reoccuring back injury in recent seasons, he has always been a real asset to the club and a local hero being part of a team that saw him win the NRL in 2002 and become grand finalists in 2000, 2003 and 2004.
Billy Slater
Easily the best fullback in the game currently. Unfortunately for this exercise it does not automatically qualify him for that imaginary fullback spot when you consider half the nominees either are retired or play elsewhere on a more regular basis. Slater is one of the more acrobatic players in the game. Cameron Smith's try is a perfect example of that, when it was Slater who knocked the ball away from the dead ball line for Smith to score. Slater is also one of the few players who catches the ball on the full every single time it is kicked towards him. It was a real pain to see Eastmond's or Thomkins' kicks go straight to Slater every time. Since 2003 when made his début against Cronulla at centre, he was quickly moved to fullback after seven games and has since set the world alight with his brilliance.
Darren Lockyer
Darren Lockyer spent the early part of his career playing at five-eighth (stand off for us English folk.) This was at the early stage of his playing days at Brisbane in which he spent a lot of time coming off the bench from 1995 until 1997. From that point on he was a fullback, and a fine one too. He later went back to five-eighth at a later stage, but for now we will discuss his performances wearing the number one shirt. He was such a brilliant fullback that when Wayne Bennett moved him to five-eighth, I immediately cast doubt over his selection on the hypothesis that it seemed silly moving a player who has done so well at fullback playing for both his state and country in the number one shirt, to the number six shirt. But as the last line of defence, he was excellent. But he wasn't as flashy as Billy Slater. but equally effective. He would always find the extra yards to begin the counter attack that no other player at the time could. He didn't waste time letting the ball bounce either. He would collect it either on the full, or on the half volley. He always had his body in the right position to collect the kick without wasting chasing it down. A brilliant fullback in his day.
Kris Radlinski
Arguably the best British fullback since Jim Sullivan in the 1920s. Radlinski is of Polish decent, but was born and grew up in Wigan for whom he played 332 games for. His international debut came in 1995 for England, and made the Great Britain side a year later. Despite retiring and making a comback, his finest hour was during the 2002 Challenge Cup final, in which he won the Lance Todd Trophy award for his man of the match performance. I'll always remember his tackle on Tim Jonkers ten minutes into the final, when despite being in hospital all week he was passed fit, he managed to prevent what would otherwise have been a certain try for Saints. In his career he played for Lancashire as well, but always gave 100% for whatever side he represented. He demonstrated a brilliant attacking flaire, earning himself 183 tries for Wigan, but only two in an eight year stint playing for GB.
The 2000s fullback of the decade is Anthony Minichello.
Wednesday, 23 December 2009
Team of the decade - 2000s.
A post on the ever popular Rlfans.com forum on the Warrington board recently posted asked fans to name their team of the decade. Listed were some brilliant forgotten names such as Allan Langer, Danny Farrah, Allan Hunte, Darren Burns and Tawera Nikau. As a Warrington fan myself (I make no secret about it) I couldn't resist a stab at my own Warrington XIII over the past ten years. Below is my selection.
Allan Hunte
Henry fa'afili
Martin Gleeson
Toa Koe Love
Brent Grose
Lee Briers
Allan Langer
Adrian Morley
Danny Farrah
Paul Rauhihi
Logan Swann
Ben Westwood
Tawera Nikau
But then it got me thinking on a wider scale. What would be the team of the decade with regards to the rest of Super League? Even better, what would it be with regards to the rest of the world. On the face of it, it seems an easy task to name 13 players who have amazed, shocked and played outstanding rugby within the last ten year. But it isn't. The scrum half position alone has some wonderful nominees who could be placed there. Andrew Johns, Jonathan Thurston and Stacey Jones to name just three players. There are many more who could be worthy to wear that fictional number seven shirt.
So lets begin at having a stab at it shall we? Over the Christmas and New Year period I shall try to name thirteen of the best payers over the past ten years, starting with the fullback. Below are a list of rules that are being abided to with regards to selection.
A player can be nominated as many times as possible for different positions, but in the opinion of the editor (me) they must have played a significant part of their playing career in that position and not just the odd couple of games.
Players can only feature in the final team once and not in multiple positions, despite being able to be nominated in many.
There is no minimum or maximum number of nominees to each position. If a player is worthy of consideration in any given position, he will be nominated.
Allan Hunte
Henry fa'afili
Martin Gleeson
Toa Koe Love
Brent Grose
Lee Briers
Allan Langer
Adrian Morley
Danny Farrah
Paul Rauhihi
Logan Swann
Ben Westwood
Tawera Nikau
But then it got me thinking on a wider scale. What would be the team of the decade with regards to the rest of Super League? Even better, what would it be with regards to the rest of the world. On the face of it, it seems an easy task to name 13 players who have amazed, shocked and played outstanding rugby within the last ten year. But it isn't. The scrum half position alone has some wonderful nominees who could be placed there. Andrew Johns, Jonathan Thurston and Stacey Jones to name just three players. There are many more who could be worthy to wear that fictional number seven shirt.
So lets begin at having a stab at it shall we? Over the Christmas and New Year period I shall try to name thirteen of the best payers over the past ten years, starting with the fullback. Below are a list of rules that are being abided to with regards to selection.
A player can be nominated as many times as possible for different positions, but in the opinion of the editor (me) they must have played a significant part of their playing career in that position and not just the odd couple of games.
Players can only feature in the final team once and not in multiple positions, despite being able to be nominated in many.
There is no minimum or maximum number of nominees to each position. If a player is worthy of consideration in any given position, he will be nominated.
Saturday, 19 December 2009
Independent commission taking its bloody time.
Ever since Rupert Murdoch put his nose into the Australian game, things seem to have gone badly for the sport overall. News Ltd's interest in the sport sparked the Super League War, crippling the game in Australia and internationally setting it back years behind other sports such as the AFL and rugby union. While Super League and BSkyB's money on the other side of the world proved to be the ressurection what the game and the RFL needed, Super League has been a dirty word down under for the past twelve years. Many Australian fans feel News Ltd took their game away from them. A game based on community values, friendship and raw emotion.
Now after twelve years, News Ltd are willing to do some good for the game and sell their 50% share of the NRL providing the ARL sell their share. As a result a new independent commission is being set up (ironically with David Gallop and Colin Love at the head of it) to repesent the views of all 16 NRL clubs. The ARL is to be wound up and the money News earn from the deal will be pumped back into the game via the media conglomerate's own club, Melbourne Storm.
So finally it seems the game will be handed back to the clubs. The fans can happily wave goodbye to Murdoch and Co, while the clubs get to elect independent representitives to oversea the running of the game on a fair basis. Except, thats not whats happening.
The clubs want a bigger say in the way the profits are split, while ARL are being fussy over nominating two candidates for the new eight man commission. The way I see it, (and read carefully because this gets tricky) they want nominees from the New South Wales Rugby League and Queensland Rugby League and are rejecting News' offer. As a result, the 16 clubs are threatening to walk away from the NRL and set up Rugby League Australia unless the new commission is set up.
This is a blatent example of the way administrators shoot themselves in the foot. A good offer comes along that will eventually see the game being run effectivly for the first time in 115 years and our origina governing body throws out their dummy. No wonder the game is behind AFL and football. What is concerning is the proposed split that could happen on the 18th January next year. It would be the ikin to the Super League War, but with all 16 clubs walking away instead of oly half of them.
All the ARL have to do is nominate two candidates to sit on this new commission. Any two businessmen, or any two human beings. Hell, I'll do if they like. The last thing rugby league needs is another split twelve years after the last one (which may not happen until at least 2013 making it 16 years) and become further behind the AFL whilst it has to rebuild itself again. Its not fair on the players and its even more unfair on the fans who have had to put up with a lot over the last two decades.
Now after twelve years, News Ltd are willing to do some good for the game and sell their 50% share of the NRL providing the ARL sell their share. As a result a new independent commission is being set up (ironically with David Gallop and Colin Love at the head of it) to repesent the views of all 16 NRL clubs. The ARL is to be wound up and the money News earn from the deal will be pumped back into the game via the media conglomerate's own club, Melbourne Storm.
So finally it seems the game will be handed back to the clubs. The fans can happily wave goodbye to Murdoch and Co, while the clubs get to elect independent representitives to oversea the running of the game on a fair basis. Except, thats not whats happening.
The clubs want a bigger say in the way the profits are split, while ARL are being fussy over nominating two candidates for the new eight man commission. The way I see it, (and read carefully because this gets tricky) they want nominees from the New South Wales Rugby League and Queensland Rugby League and are rejecting News' offer. As a result, the 16 clubs are threatening to walk away from the NRL and set up Rugby League Australia unless the new commission is set up.
This is a blatent example of the way administrators shoot themselves in the foot. A good offer comes along that will eventually see the game being run effectivly for the first time in 115 years and our origina governing body throws out their dummy. No wonder the game is behind AFL and football. What is concerning is the proposed split that could happen on the 18th January next year. It would be the ikin to the Super League War, but with all 16 clubs walking away instead of oly half of them.
All the ARL have to do is nominate two candidates to sit on this new commission. Any two businessmen, or any two human beings. Hell, I'll do if they like. The last thing rugby league needs is another split twelve years after the last one (which may not happen until at least 2013 making it 16 years) and become further behind the AFL whilst it has to rebuild itself again. Its not fair on the players and its even more unfair on the fans who have had to put up with a lot over the last two decades.
Friday, 18 December 2009
Celtic move north.
Celtic Crusaders have dropped the 'Celtic' from their name and renamed themselves Crusaders RL. It was part of a rebranding exersise that has ended up with the club moving away from Bridgend, moving away from Newport and finally they are settled in Wrexham. Wrexham just so happens to be on the other side of Wales nearer to Rhyl and Colwyn Bay for those who don't know. Its much further away from Cardiff and Swansea in between which the club was originally formed and based.
So why has the club been relocated? Money!
Leighton Samuel has screwed over the town of Bridgend twice now, having owned the original rugby union club until it went bust and Samuel switched codes. But while crys of outrage are heard from Widnes to Halifax and the RFL is slammed for not stepping in and saving the club from embraressment, (which if they had done, the flat-cappers against expansion would be waving their whippets and setting the dogs loose on Red Hall) the deal brokered between Wrexham FC and Mr Samuel has seen the club based in another area of untapped talent and is still classed as an expansion club despite only being 30 miles away from Widnes.
But the club wasn't bought by its new owners to spread the gospel of RL. It was bought to save the struggling Wrexham FC. The statement from the Wrexham chairman went something along the lines of, they couldn't afford to run the football club with only a few thousand turning up each week. He was talking of figures similar to when Celtic were based in Bridgend, averaging 3,000. In fact if you want to be more specific, in Bridgend last season Celtic averaged 3,500. Wrexham have so far in the 2009/10 season averaged 3,200. Considering it would take less time for the majority of teams and fans to travel toWrexham than Bridgend, the new owners must be banking on a lot of away support to raise revenue. I dread to think if the likes of Saints, Wigan and Warrington were to outnumber the home fans whilst invading Wrexham.
But South Wales has not been forgotten in all this. While Super League may be moving up north in the valleys, South Wales RLFC will step into Celtic's old shoes and be based in Neath. The newly formed club will be overseen by a Welsh businessmen, but will consist of board members from Wales Rugby League governing body. They have been admitted into the Championship 1 for the 2010 season, but will not compete in either the Challenge Cup or Northern Rail Cup for this season at least.
It appears they will act as a feeder club to the Crusaders Super League team for the time being, and in my opinion they should not be rushed into applying for a Super league lisence. While it would be nice to see a south Wales side in SL again, they need to develop a bigger fan base than what Celtic did for them not to be forced from their home or go financially broke. An increase in amateur players in the RLC and schools competing in the Champion Schools proves there is an appetite for rugby league in south Wales, and if Crusaders can spread the game like they did in Bridgend and the rest of south Wales then I'm sure Wales can eventually become familiar with rugby league in the end.
So why has the club been relocated? Money!
Leighton Samuel has screwed over the town of Bridgend twice now, having owned the original rugby union club until it went bust and Samuel switched codes. But while crys of outrage are heard from Widnes to Halifax and the RFL is slammed for not stepping in and saving the club from embraressment, (which if they had done, the flat-cappers against expansion would be waving their whippets and setting the dogs loose on Red Hall) the deal brokered between Wrexham FC and Mr Samuel has seen the club based in another area of untapped talent and is still classed as an expansion club despite only being 30 miles away from Widnes.
But the club wasn't bought by its new owners to spread the gospel of RL. It was bought to save the struggling Wrexham FC. The statement from the Wrexham chairman went something along the lines of, they couldn't afford to run the football club with only a few thousand turning up each week. He was talking of figures similar to when Celtic were based in Bridgend, averaging 3,000. In fact if you want to be more specific, in Bridgend last season Celtic averaged 3,500. Wrexham have so far in the 2009/10 season averaged 3,200. Considering it would take less time for the majority of teams and fans to travel toWrexham than Bridgend, the new owners must be banking on a lot of away support to raise revenue. I dread to think if the likes of Saints, Wigan and Warrington were to outnumber the home fans whilst invading Wrexham.
But South Wales has not been forgotten in all this. While Super League may be moving up north in the valleys, South Wales RLFC will step into Celtic's old shoes and be based in Neath. The newly formed club will be overseen by a Welsh businessmen, but will consist of board members from Wales Rugby League governing body. They have been admitted into the Championship 1 for the 2010 season, but will not compete in either the Challenge Cup or Northern Rail Cup for this season at least.
It appears they will act as a feeder club to the Crusaders Super League team for the time being, and in my opinion they should not be rushed into applying for a Super league lisence. While it would be nice to see a south Wales side in SL again, they need to develop a bigger fan base than what Celtic did for them not to be forced from their home or go financially broke. An increase in amateur players in the RLC and schools competing in the Champion Schools proves there is an appetite for rugby league in south Wales, and if Crusaders can spread the game like they did in Bridgend and the rest of south Wales then I'm sure Wales can eventually become familiar with rugby league in the end.
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