Do you think Australian union would have out-done their offer had he not made himself ineligible with that stupid sevens wheeze? Dan Sarginson was meant to be going out there next season to be their new full-back, so he must be seething. The overrated Cockney wanker.
I reckon they would have easily outdone it by letting him play in Japan in the off season.
Waratah + ARU top up + 3rd party + playing in Japan + all the Japanese 3rd party
Queensland's greatest ever footballer has signed to play for QLD Country this NRC season.
Who's that?
Brad Thorn.
We had him over for dinner once. True story.
Our series donning of Australia suddenly looks a bit less impressive. Unless we ruined their confidence, in which case today belongs to Sir Eddie Jones. In more distressing news, Jamie Lyon has probably played his last game. In terms of quality (rather than longevity or success), he's the best Super League import ever.
Saints got a good bumming off Wigan last night, I see.
I'm a twit
If Hull win next week Rovers' songbook loses about a third of its content.
Lee Radford, coaching at Wembley in his 'lucky' polo shirt. Idiot.
This is the best final since 2005.
Am I mixing up the rugby's or was that tackle as the game ended not a mile offside?
Not that they were going to score anyway, fantastic game.
Which one? Tony Smith now, with his patented passive-aggressive praisewhinge.
Oh wanky wanky...
I'm a twit
RIP Rugby Union in Australia.
We're just not very good at the moment. Although I feel like we've been running on fumes for a while?
Their league poaches are of a decidedly lesser quality these days, to the point where they can only be doing it out of habit. What is somebody like Lachlan Maranta going to offer the Queensland Reds that some youth prospect won't need eighteen months to learn?
Maranta has no business playing for the Reds. Brisbane schools spit out potential world class outside backs every year the problem is that most go to League. Our main problem is we just dont have enough quality coaches and administrators to all pull in the same direction. Basically eastern Sydney is again fucking us over and preventing the money that is desperately needed in Western Australia and Victoria to help take to pressue of 2 grass roots pools where all the players come... Brisbane and Sydney.
For Australia to be a top 4 team again our future is dependant on having 50% of our elite players coming from outside of QLD and NSW.
That win against England last year was the worst possible result for us going forward this year. Cheika will never drop his Waratah favourites because they beat a rubbish England last year. And this years result is not our fault of course because England had palyed together.Originally Posted by ItalAussie
We are just so full of excuses and bullshit at the moment we desperately need Sir Eddie Jones to come home and beat so fucking heads in.
He ours now, we've taught him how to queue and everything.
Ditching out of the top four forever is a bit drastic, since Wales and Ireland will always collapse when it matters; but is a proper recovery to former glories actually doable, or have demographics killed it? You look at the massive increase of islanders in league (right through all the youth teams), and how did union not stitch those communities up ten to twenty years ago? I can only guess that they got a bit complacent fifteen years ago when they were riding high whilst league was still cleaning up its mid-nineties mess, because all of these islander families would surely have gravitated to union had the choice been there.
League has so much money for young players right down to colts teams in the suburban clubs.
The biggest problem Union faces is that most quality juniors are playing both Union an League. Agents are signing 13 year old up and then they are gone unless they get the Wobbly jersey dangled as currency. The reds have a few former under 20 Toyata Cup players that were also Australian Rugby Union school.boys so fingers crossed there.
The ARU fucked up bigtime by not investing heavily in non League States after they made a killing from the 01 Lions series and the 03 World Cup. Union is far more popular than League in the AFL states but they havent done enough to develop those states. Ill say it again but we desperately need Western Australia and Victoria to produce at least 50% of the elite players the will feed into the wobs because NSW and QLD just cant compete with League's aggressive juniors programs.
Also the current mob of Eastern Sydney spivs need to piss off and stop treating the ARU as an extension of NSW Rugby Union.
And we have a huge lack of quality coaching and coaching pathways as well.
Islanders also make up a huge percentage of some Brisbane Rugby Clubs. Sunnybank, Logan, Souths willnoften field colts and reserve grade teams that would be all Pacific Island Australians. Sunnybank has been hugely dominated by Maori Australians since the 80's and have produced plenty of players that have gone to represent Tonga and Samoa.
Widnes.
Highest-earning player in Super League Sam Tomkins is a shadow of the player he was before his knee[s] started falling to bits, but he'll still play for England ahead of about five better options (six if you include Darius Boyd).
Between them being awesome and Brisbane lurking in fifth, I'm predicting that Wayne Bennett will don them 11-6 in the worst Grand Final in years.
Ricky Stuart blowing up by an unjust Grand Final loss would be worth it.
NSW Police havent ruled out the possibility that All Blacks bugged themselves. Jesus
Rovers getting Tim Sheens is quite a coup. Or it will be if they can also sign eleven new, not shit players for him. Speaking of which, was Warren Gatland talking up 'continuity' an early excuse to pack the Lions with shit Welsh players after England win another Grand Slam?
Anyone know what Eddies record is against NZ? I don't think Gatland has ever beaten NZ from memory.
It's easier just to post a list of games New Zealand have lost in the last decade and write the coach next to each.
Wikipedia says five wins from eleven with Australia (and one defeat from one with Japan), which is pretty respectable, and must be the best record of any non-South African.
Surprised he didn't put his hand up for the Lions role then. It's not like he's going to be around for the next NZ tour in 13 years time.
Nobody wants to see Cronulla vs Melbourne in the Grand Final, but Canberra deserved to lose for that Icelandic thunder clap shit, and they might be stuffed without Josh Hodgson (England should be alright). 'Mon Queensland (or Penrith).
Leigh.
Watched the South Africa game last night. Australia let them stay in the game by making stupid mistakes, but did enough in the end.
I was really surprised at how short Owens played advantages. Towards the back end of the game it seemed like any kind of forward movement was counted as the advantage being played.
South Africa really should be better than they are. Does the quota stuff cause them as much grief as it does in cricket?
Maybe not as much, but I do think it's affecting them. They keep playing players out of position (as do the Wallabies actually).
Western Australia's school system is filling up South African kids. Be handy if the force chipped in with Bokke type forwad.
They have quotas at all levels if i remember correctly.
They have transformation quotas at all levels in all sports (although they don't use the word 'quota', but that's what it is). Rugby and cricket keep getting hammered by the sports ministry for failing at it. In a way it's good as it allows coloured/black players to get the fair opportunities that they never did before, but certainly in cricket, there are white players even at young ages leaving in droves to make careers in other countries.
Des Hasler is such a fraud.
10 years ago Kalyn Ponga would have been the next big thing in Queensland Rugby Union.
Ive heard most of the promising backs running around in GPS open teams this year have already signed with Rugby League player agents.
Australia needs to divert promising athletes away from sports that the rest of the world doesn't care about.
Western Austrlia and Victoria can save Rugby Union from League raids on Brisbane.
It will be very interesting to see how many NRL players can be shoe horned into next years world cup.
If they are all being hoovered up by league, is there any scope for approaching rookies as if they were already established players? If I was union I would be throwing every penny I had at that Bevan French from Parramatta and hoping that he becomes Jason Robinson.
That was good. Hopefully they're too knackered to get through the next one.
The Reds still have a great academy set up but dont have first choice on the best talent coming through anymore.
Schoolboy Rugby in Brisbane is the best in the country. Nice mix of sons of first or second Kiwi and Islander expat kids and local blokes.
Brisbane - North Queensland was an outstanding match.
We need a new halfback to replace Hunt. I wonder if Ash Taylor is willing to return home and partner Milford?
The rest of the top six all have miles better hookers than Brisbane, which almost always leads to him or Anthony Milford either having to do something brilliant against an already set defence or set up a breakaway down one of the edges. We have a few that the England coach could look at, but Greg Eden has probably put them off English players for a generation.
Josh Hodgson is donning this on one leg. If he doesn't win the Dally M it's a fix.
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