Round 2 (2005) Raiders Vs Lions

[roosterboy60]

Canberra Raiders v Sydney Lions

Game Thread
Please note - This is a game thread only, therefore only game posts can be made here (Teams, Articles).
Any other posts will result in loss of points and is at the discretion of the referee.
Only original essays, not used in previous games, will be marked by referees.

Home team captain will be allowed 3 reserves, visiting captain will be allowed 2 reserves
Rules: http://f7s.leagueunlimited.com/rules.asp

Full Time: Wednesday 30th March at 9pm (Syd time)

Venue: Bruce Stadium

Crowd: 15,600
REFEREE: Mystique

**Referee Blows Game On!**

 

[Raider_69]

Raiders Team:

I Bleed Green
Schifty
Hrundi99
canberra_raiders2k2
Raiders Azz

Raider_69
thickos
Souls

 

[choc_soldier]

Lions team:

parra_panther (C)
Everlovin' Antichrist
Lisa13
Captain Krupa
Jed

Reserves:
roosterboy60
PK

 

[Stelios Giannakopoulos]

#7 Schifty takes the ball and makes a swift line break.

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Making the Most of our Inactive Players.

When a player goes to the judiciary and cops any sort of suspension they will end up spending the weekend doing nothing. Some clubs have a policy where if you cop a lengthy suspension, you lose some of your pay. But if the offence is minor, they will still get paid to do nothing for the weekend.

It is time for us, the community, the NRL to start turning a negative thing such as a player suspension into a positive. In my opinion, suspensions should involve community service. If a player gets suspended for 1 week, it should equal 1 afternoon of community service. There is a lot of unknown talent in the league community that people don’t know about.

Say for example that during a Raiders vs. Broncos Match, Damon Alley-Tovio gets put on report for a high tackle, and come Tuesday night at the judiciary he cops a 2 week suspension. Now instead of Damon just sitting at home for the weekend why not use his skill as a qualified tree surgeon* to our advantage? I’m sure there is plenty of companies that would be willing to accept some free help for the weekend.

Now even if a player has no qualifications whatsoever, that doesn’t mean we can’t use their services to help the community. Things like collecting money for charity, cooking a sausage sizzle for the local bush fire brigade and serving food at free meal centres do not require TAFE or university degrees. Training someone to perform these activities is so simple that even a prop forward who has been in 200 too many scrums can learn within minutes!

Another key point is when people who are having some sort of problems see a local star serving them soup, it can put a smile on their face and help them feel a lot better. After all, some of these people are at the very bottom of the scale in Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs. For them food, water and shelter is all they are aiming for in everyday life. They don’t think about social 'wants' as they are too focused in keeping up with the bare essentials. But if they were to engage in conversation with someone that has any sort of stature in the community, it can only help. Any remote feeling of social acceptance can really help people feel better about themselves.

Players that receive a lengthy suspension, (e.g. Greg Bird, Danny Williams) could be used even more effectively in the community. If they cop a 8 week ban, that player could be relieved from training duties for 8 weeks and work found for them in a job like bricklaying or labouring.
This way they will still be getting decent exercise so they won’t go out of shape and it will give them time to think about their actions. If they do 48 hours a week work on a construction site for their wages (which should be reduced to what an apprentice labourer earns) they will realise how much better off the are in their profession. They would therefore become more disciplined as they would realise any slip-ups means loss of their good life style. This would really help players put their life in perspective when they find out that some people are slaving at a contsruction site for a less than half the pay that they are receiving.

This concept can also be applied to injured players, if someone has a knee injury does that stop them answering phones at a local charity's office? If someone has a shoulder injury they can still visit local schools and give kids motivational talks. The possibilities are really endless. Players can turn a negative thing like a season-ending injury into a real positive. It also helps player morale - he will feel better about himself if instead of sitting at home all day feeling down, he is out there putting smiles on kids faces or contributing to a local charity.

So instead of watching players sit on the sidelines during suspensions and injuries, let's use their inactiveness to our advantage. There is just far too much work out there to be done to let people laze around and do nothing. So lets make the community and the players feel better about themselves and embrace this concept.

* information from raiders.com.au

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730 words between the lines

 

[choc_soldier]

parra_panther, proudly leading out the pride of the Lions once again...



CAN PENRITH MOVE MOUNTAINS THIS YEAR?

The Panthers have been boldly predicted by a number of experts to be this year’s premiers. And to achieve that, one thing needed is the cattle – lightning backs, skilful halves, and rampaging forwards.

Rampaging forwards is something that the Panthers definitely have. And for 2005, they are big boppers, which literally makes these players the Mountain Men, rather than just a moniker describing their geographical location. Penrith boast the likes of the Tony and Frank Puletua, Joe Galuvao, Joel Clinton, Ben Ross, Trent Waterhouse, Garret Crossman and Frank Pritchard, as well as the guile of Luke Priddis at hooker.

Over the off-season, all of these players but Waterhouse and Priddis have added to their playing weight, by an average of 5kg. It was done to give the Panthers an imposing look in their forward pack – and it has had the desired effect, being by far the biggest pack in the NRL. Ross was quoted in last week’s Big League magazine saying that “we want a to have a pack that makes it more difficult for each side that plays us”.

The move was designed to monster the opposition, with bulk and power, making it easier to set up an attacking platform for their halves, and allowing them to distribute the ball to their backline.

But after two rounds of the 2005 NRL season, the Panthers are winless and anchored at the bottom of the premiership table. As expected, the feint sound of alarm bells appears to be ringing for the 2003 premiers already.

What is the problem? The backs seem to have not lost their nose for the tryline, and the halves are firing as usual. But these forwards that Penrith have... are they too big?

The concern has been that the forwards have tired too quickly, which makes them more of a liability as part of a defensive unit. And the Panthers have conceded a few easy tries right up the middle of the ruck against the Sharks and Roosters.

However, what Penrith have done is not new - the Parramatta Eels and New Zealand Warriors had tried it before. They too beefed up front to add steel to the forwards – and both of them were resounding failures.

Panthers coach John Lang believes that they are different to the Eels and Warriors – that the Penrith forwards are good players, and that it is no good having big players just for the sake of having them big, and who can not play.

Lang seems to be on the money here, in at least the appraisal of the players at his disposal – the starting 5 forwards (Clinton, Priddis, Ross, Tony Puletua, Galuvao and Waterhouse) were all in the 17-man squad in the 2003 grand final. All of them have also played representative football, which rewards skill (as well as form). And players like Crossman and Pritchard have been touted as having future potential.

Personally, I believe that they are also set apart from the Eels of last year because there was a concerted recruitment drive to bring large forwards to the club rather than try to just mould what they already had, whilst the Warriors in 2004 were a poorly drilled outfit that lacked attitude and direction. Both these teams were major disappointments, missing out on the finals.

As a Panthers supporter, it is disheartening to see my club winless after the opening two rounds. But I choose to not employ panic stations at this time.

After watching the Panthers-Roosters match last Sunday, I was encouraged to see that the Panthers were getting some serious go-forward in the second half. In such a small and isolated example of sampling, it is difficult to ascertain as to whether the gamble is starting to pay off. However, give it a few more rounds, and the positives and/or negatives should become more abundant.

I have faith in the coaching staff at Penrith. They have made this decision with all the best intentions, trying to find ways to have an advantage over their opposition. The other 14 clubs do it as well – that’s the nature of it all… the ultimate aim is to lift that trophy on that first Sunday in October.

If Penrith can manage to move mountains this year, and achieve premiership glory, the very strength of the forwards will be a key contributing factor. However, it is a mediocre year, it could be its Achilles heal.

Only time will tell.

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Word count: 744 [including title]
Reference: Mountain Monsters, by Ben Blaschke, Big League Magazine, Round 2 edition, 2005

 

[Raider_69]

Raiders Sub:

Off - canberra_raiders2k2
On - Raider_69

 

[Raider_69]

Raider_69 comes off the bench and make immediate impact, brushing past Jed P) on his way to the try line

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State of Foreigners

With the 2005 NRL season well under way, the much anticipated representative season is just around the corner. But with the representative season comes fierce debate. And there is one issue that continues to rage throughout rugby league communities: should we allow foreigners to take part in the pinnacle of the representative season – State Of Origin?

This debate was brought about by two young stars and their individual decisions in regard to State Of Origin. On one side, we have young Bulldogs star, Sonny Bill Williams who has stayed true to his heritage and has elected to play for his Kiwis and by-pass the opportunity to represent NSW in State Of Origin. Then on the other side, we have talented young Broncos star Karmichael Hunt, who has turned his back on his New Zealand background for a shot at donning the maroon of Queensland.

These choices have sparked fierce debate amongst experts and die hard fans alike, with the question “Should foreigners be able to participate in State Of Origin?” still an unanswered one.

Those who are of the belief that they should be eligible for State of Origin will argue that the exclusion of foreigners weakens the all important international game, as players like Karmichael Hunt elect to by-pass their country of origin in order to play in the spectacle that is State Of Origin.

They would ask why players like Karmichael Hunt should have to turn their backs on their country, just for a chance to play in undisputed pinnacle of Rugby League? Why should foreigners be penalised by not being eligible for such an occasion in their sport?

It could also be argued that the addition of such superstars from across the Tasman would only add to the spectacle. I mean, sure, what would be better to see than Adrian Morley running off a short ball from Trent Barrett and offloading to a rampaging Anthony Minichello? And it would be a sight to behold seeing Karmichael Hunt stepping past a couple and linking up with Billy Slater to score a typical Queensland try. Surely there are no losers in this situation, right?

Well in a perfect world this would be true. Unfortunately, this far from a perfect world and there are losers, tradition for one. State of Origin isn’t about the individuals involved, it’s about the pride of two league mad States going toe to toe for bragging rights.

It’s this idea that has seen some of the more memorable things ever witnessed in rugby league: Billy Moore screaming “QUEENSLANDER” as he walked down the tunnel; the famous Queensland miracle try; or what about big Mal Meninga going toe to toe with Blues' centre Mark McGaw? This is not to mention ‘The Chief’ Harragon and Mark ‘Spud’ Carroll, bitter club rivals, joining forces to lead a NSW pack against the might of the Queensland juggernaut.

You see, State of Origin is not about pitting the best of best against each other. No, it’s much more than that. It’s the might and power of the NSW Blues doing battle against the passion and never say die attitude of the Maroons. The concept is bigger than the individual. Tinkering with that would conflict the very reason for creating the concept.

Another loser in this would be the hard working Queenslanders and New South Welshmen who may lose their spot, or never even get a shot at this great honour, because their spot is being filled by a foreign player. Has anyone thought of this poor bloke when suggesting this be allowed?

State Of Origin is about the traditional, passionate fight, an epic battle between Queensland and New South Wales. It’s a simple concept, and one that has worked for 20 odd years. There’s an old saying that is relevant to this debate, and that is “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. And as far as I can see the State of Origin concept isn’t broken.

I hoped that by the end of this piece you wouldn’t need to ask for my answer to the question: “Should foreigners be able to participate in State Of Origin?” But just in case you are unsure, the answer is simple. "No." I’m a passionate Blues supporter and to me it betrays the concept of State Of Origin. Allow this and you might as well call it something else, because it wont be State Of Origin, not to me anyway.
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Word count: 740 including title

 

[Everlovin' Antichrist]

EA for the Lions.

Jacko.

Not the Diana Ross look-a-like currently in court in the U.S. and not the bonehead ex-AFL player whose claim to fame is wailing “Oh Highway” 30 times an episode in a thankfully short U.S. action show.

This Jacko is the Rugby League version. Jacko’s other nickname was “The Clown Prince of Rugby League”. Peter Jackson was his name and he burst onto the Rugby League scene as a blockbusting centre cum five eighth. A protégé of current Broncos Coach Wayne Bennett he moved from Brisbane Souths to link up with Bennett at Canberra for the 1987 and 1988 seasons. A Queenslander through and through, Peter moved back, with Bennett, to play for the fledgling Broncos in their second and third seasons.

He represented Queensland and Australia with great distinction at Schoolboy and senior levels.

Jackson went on to play for Norths for 3 seasons from 1991 to 1993 where his career petered out due to health problems after being diagnosed with a neurological disorder.

Peter Jackson is difficult to write about. To put the plain statistics of his career is enough to give anyone the impression that he was a more than competent Footballer, and he was, but he was so much more to supporters of all clubs. Peter had a wonderful sense of humour and a smile that lit up the surrounding area each time he flashed his pearly-whites.

Peter’s genuineness and sense of humour came to the fore often, in his various TV appearances and in person. He also could bring a smile to an excited, albeit confused, 4 year old.

The first game in 1990 for Wests was against Brisbane at Campbelltown Sports Ground. My then 4 year old son and I did what every Father and son did back then, we hung around the back gate to grab player autographs as they made their way into the ground.

The Broncos players duly arrived and were besieged by kids with books and pens hoping to grab an autograph of one of the Broncos players. My son was swamped and ended up at the back of the pack, close to tears. Just as I was about to dive in and rescue him, one of the players spied my son and circled the pack, manfully ignoring the throng of autograph hunters for a few seconds. He knelt down and put his hand on my son’s shoulder at which point my son looked up into the eyes of Peter Jackson. Peter put his hands out and my son handed him his pen and Big League magazine. Jackson asked him for his name then wrote “To Adam, keep your chin up” and then he signed it underneath.

At which point my then over-excited son blurted out “Thank you Mr. Lindner”….. (The only player whose name my son was familiar with at the time).

Jackson laughed raucously, rubbed my son’s head playfully and moved on to the next youngster, still giggling at my son’s innocent faux pa. I thanked him and he winked at me as he said “no problem”.

But underneath the veneer and unknown to all but his closest friends and family, Peter Jackson’s inner demons from past experiences were eating away at the “Clown Prince of Rugby League”. Unable to deal with the demons any longer, Peter Jackson turned to artificial means of numbing the pain until November 1997 when his life was tragically taken by a Heroin overdose, casting a pall over the Rugby League community for an interminable amount of time. He was respected by players and officials and loved by fans from all clubs and is missed to this day.

I’d like to leave you with a story from Peter Jackson’s 1992 book “Whatd’ya Reckon”, a collection of anecdotes and stories that tickled Peter’s funny-bone. This one told to him by the late John “Dallas” Donnelley.

Once, when Tom Raudonikis had pulled out of Wests injured, Coach Roy Masters was casting around for a new captain. Roy put a few of the boys through an intelligence test to gauge the talent.

The first question he asked of Dallas was: Captain Cook made three trips to the southern oceans, on which trip was he killed; The first, the second or the third?

Bruce “Sloth” Gibbs promptly piped up: “Watch it Dallas, it’s a trick question”.

Fittingly, on Wednesday the 30th of March 2005, Peter Jackson will be honoured as one of the greatest 25 players to don the Maroon of Queensland in State of Origin competition.

750 words, including title.

References.

http://www.bronconet.org/index.cfm?MenuID=219&TopMenuID=183

Book: Whatd’ya Reckon – Peter Jackson and Michael Croke.

 

[Lisa]

Lisa13 - Lions

Tears of a larrikin clown prince

On the 6th November 1997, tragedy struck the Rugby League community when it lost one of their most passionate and colourful identities. Peter Jackson, at the age of 33, was found dead from a heroin overdose in a motel room in Sydney.

To the public the death of Jackson, who was once dubbed the “ larrikin clown prince of rugby league”, came as a great shock as well as reports that he had been suffering from both manic depression and a heroin addiction. But those close to him were only too aware of an underlying torment that was hidden behind his easy-going personality. At the age of 16, while attending an exclusive private school at Southport in Queensland, Jackson was sexually abused by one of his teachers. It was something he would struggle to deal with and would keep haunting him for the next 17 years.

When he started his football career at the age of 6 playing in the under 8’s for the Pine Rivers J.R.L.C, nobody imagined that this skinny little dark haired kid would one day go on to represent Australia. He later on was a part of the Wayne Bennett coached Queensland club Souths Logan Magpies’ team when they won the 1985 Queensland Grand Final beating a Wynnum-Manly team containing players like Wally Lewis and Gene Miles by 10-8. On that day he played alongside of Mal Meninga and Gary Belcher who both debuted for Canberra the following year. Jackson followed them in 1987 and stayed with them for two seasons and to this day is named in the greatest Raiders team ever. 1989 saw him don the Broncos jersey before former State Rail chief, and then North Sydney CEO, David Hill signed him to play for his club North Sydney in 1991. His representative career included 16 games for Queensland between 1986 and 1992 and 9 games for Australia

Apart from his obvious talent as a footballer, Jackson was also popular with the public and the rugby league world for his upbeat demeanour and sense of humour off the field, which held him in good stead for a successful television career after he retired. This started with a weekly guest spot on channel nine’s The Midday Show where he was to come on and give his tips for the upcoming weekends games. His popularity grew not only with league fans but extended to the stay at home mums and even the blue rinse set who giggled like school girls when he came on the show in a raunchy impersonation of Frankenfurter from The Rocky Horror Show. His goal was to make people laugh. So with his television career started and a job as an assistant coach with the Canterbury Bulldogs, one can only wonder what may have become of him if not for his inner demons.

He had sought medical help and counselling for his depression and drug addiction on several occasions but sadly for him it didn’t help and a short time after giving his solicitors a documented recount of the lewd acts inflicted upon him all those years ago, he ended his life. A life that held a lot of passion for those closest to him and his love of rugby league. Such was his passion for the game and for Queensland that he had his ashes scattered over Lang Park, the scene of some of the most memorable moments of his career.

Peter Jackson fought a battle that neither myself or anybody close to me has had to fight so I can only imagine what he went through and to hope that his decision to end his life has bought him peace.



FOOTNOTE: After Jackson’s death, Ossie McNamara admitted to indecently assaulting him in 1979. When speaking to a reporter he said….
"I know it was stupid, I think I was very naïve. Jackson was something very special to me and it just got out of hand... I have always felt guilty about what did happen, I thought he grew out of all that."…Well he didn’t grow out of it!
McNamara has since been charged on three separate occasions for indecent assault on young boys stemming back to 1970. He has never been charged for his assault on Peter Jackson.

19/4/64 - 6/11/97


717 words including title

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[I Bleed Green]

IBG makes a bone-crunching tackle, forcing the turnover...

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You Can't Coach Everything

In this great game of ours, you can learn how to do most things on the field, but only after hours of preparation and practice. You can learn how to offload at will like Clinton Schifcofske. You can learn how to execute a picture perfect banana kick, just like Andrew Johns. You can even learn how to execute a flick pass, just like the 'Flick King' himself, Matthew Gidley. But while you can coach and practice all of those facets of the game, there are two things in rugby league that you can't learn, and that is class and experience.

You may think that these two aspects of the game go hand-in-hand, but they actually don't. You may have played 150 games in first grade, but that doesn't mean that you're a classy player. There are a fair amount of players in the NRL who have played that number of games, but to be honest most of those players would only be classified as solid, not classy. Class is a rare commodity these days, so not every player can possess it. But then on the other side of the coin, you don't have to play a certain number of games to be called a classy player, either, just ask teenage sensation Sonny Bill Williams, who doesn't even need all the digits on his hands and feet to count the number of first grade games that he's played in.

So how do you define class? I could try and describe every aspect of the game that a player has to master in order to be described as a classy player, but there's perhaps a more practical example that will paint a better picture.

I may be biased, but there's one player that defines the epitome of class, and his name is Jason Smith.

Several influential people in the game - including Shaun McRae and Phil Gould - have declared that Jason Smith has the best football brain that is currently running around in the NRL. He may be running on old legs, his shoulders may give out at any moment, but his knowledge of the game and his vision in leading the Raiders around the park is the most important factor.

It's already paying dividends.

Jason Smith has certainly stamped his authority on the Raiders, and in just two games he's provided more creativity and direction than the Raiders received in any game last year. He has the ability to find space with his kicks, he has the vision to draw several defenders and offload to a ball-runner, and he has the sense of mind to put a player through a gap. Not since the great Laurie Daley has Canberra had someone who can do all those things, and do them well.

Not only is Smith smart in regards to the poise and vision he shows on the field, but he's smart because he's changed the way that he plays the game to suit his current conditioning.

Before he left the NRL to go and join the UK Super League, he was a bash 'em up backrower who carted the ball up like a young enthusiastic prop. He also tackled himself into the ground, because that was his role. He still had the skills to direct a team around the park; he just didn't use them very often.

But now, at age 33, and after suffering several chronic shoulder injuries, Smith has completely changed his style of football.

No longer does he tackle his heart out. He lets his younger and more physically gifted teammates do that, but he's still there to make the big hit when needed - just ask Rabbitohs winger Luke MacDougall, whose broken nose can attest to that. He doesn't have to take hit-up after hit-up anymore, instead he picks his spots and decides to either pass or kick, depending on the situation. This is a man who knows his physical limits, and how to make best use of his body.

Just like Matt Elliot said in the press conference earlier in the week, I'll take this so-called "has-been" thank you very much, because sometimes it's not about how fast you can run or how many tackles you can make, it's about the contribution you make to the team, and how much of an affect you have on the other players around you.

I'm confident that by seasons end, Jason Smith will have proved more than his worth, because his class is priceless.

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750 words including title.

 

[Raider Azz]

Violence in Rugby League

Since the beginning of time violence has been apart of life whether it in the office, the schoolyard or on the football field. Long ago are the days of the violent cavemen who once occupied this world but their savageness lives on in rugby league today.

Violence comes in many forms on the football field. Verbal can come from player to opposition player or even a team mate, and in extreme circumstances the game’s official can be the target. Physical is when a player strikes another player, cheap shots, head highs and the crowd favourite fist fights when players or teams go toe to toe in a battle which rarely sees a winner.

In years gone by this was considered acceptable, but as the game slowly grew more professional it was seen as a blight on the great game of rugby league. Over the years the penalties became harsher, making players reconsider their rough play tactics. Seeing some former “Hard men” change their ways or have their careers cut short because of multiple sideline suspensions. An example of this would be Les Boyd. He was a great player on his day… When his temper didn’t control his game.

The 2004 NRL season rolled around and the game had never been more professionally run but it didn’t stop controversy on and off the field taking place. Sticking to on the field though, 2004 saw the usual cheap shots, head highs and fist fights that had been a bigger part of the game in less professional era. But what myself and others don’t understand is…

Why are the penalties less harsh and almost non existent now?

Cheap shot – Majority still go unnoticed, those that get pulled up get “put on report”

Head highs – Repeat offenders seem to cop the most weeks, which is fair. But a head high that sends a chill down your spine gets 1-2 maybe 3 weeks.

Fist fights – Most illegal form of violence in the game and it rarely has a consequence. Maybe a fine or week suspension.

All these images can horrify the young people that aspire to one day play the game like their heroes. What about the parents as well, their kids want to play the game and the parents are considered the bad guys if they don’t let their child play, when all they have in mind is their child or children’s safety.

The referees are scared and almost intimidated not to send people from the field today. Simply because in that 10 minutes the game can change. They would cop a disgraceful comment from a coach stating that the game was won and lost when they had a player sent. This results in perfectly good referee’s being disciplined for following the rules of rugby league. Where is the justice in that? They follow the rules and next week they go from say Newcastle vs Warriors to North Sydney vs Canberra in front of a crowd of 300 people.

10 minutes can change a game, 1 head high or punch can end a career or life of a player.

So why isn’t a harsher punishment handed out? I cant really say, but it frustrates me. I would gladly watch my favourite player sit on the sidelines if he committed a form of violence.

It’s hard for the NRL to get the calls right though. You have certain parts of the media criticising the game because it is too rough. Parents are scared to see their kids play. On the other hand you have some parts of the media who “love to see some passion” in the game. Then you have Reg Reagan a fictional character who proudly wears his shirt saying “Bring back the biff” and does a great job entertaining people with his antics.

Maybe this is why it is so hard for the NRL to figure out something that would please everyone. I hate the cheap shots and violence in the game. But I would by lying if I said Reg Reagan didn’t entertain me. The media do a great job of presenting two sides to every story.

What some people consider entertainment, some people would be horrified. An example of this would be when a fight breaks out at a game. Half stand up and cheer while the other half shake their heads in disgust.

Violence in rugby league… Passion or Thuggery? Maybe no one knows?

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739 words

 

[jed]

jed for the Lions runs out
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The Long, Long Summer


It all starts with a whistle. The ref blows time off, and the Grand Final’s over. The crowd’s polarized – experiencing the full range of emotions. All that’s left now is the post mortems. Did the right team win? At the end of the day, all the dissecting is for naught – the result has been written in the pages of history.

And now, only a week into October, summer has started. Not the summer that the calendar recognizes. The summer between the end of one NRL season and the start of the next.

There’s still the Kangaroos tour, but it’s not quite the same. There’s only a handful of games, no more than one per week. The routine of the last 7 months is hard to break. Football on Friday night. Football all Saturday evening. Football all Sunday afternoon. Suddenly with the Kangaroos, it’s a case of getting up at dawn to see the game. The make up of the team is still a good topic for discussion, but that will only take things another month or so. And there’s still a huge void in our lives.

There’s always videos. You always know that there’s a game or two sitting in the collection, but there’s no great mystery there. You’ve seen each of the games half a dozen times, you know each of the plays, you know the final score, you probably even know the classic moments of commentary, reciting them along with the tape.

As the off season progresses, the amount of league news lessens. On the news at night, you can go several days without a league related story. Through winter, the daily newspapers had multiple pages of stories to do with the NRL. Now, the only story in today’s paper is an inch long, barely even a footnote. You resign yourself to page after page being devoted to the cricket. And the small snippets of league news are read, re-read, discussed and dissected.

Getting together with your mates always allows you to re-live past glories. You catch up with them at the pub, you talk about the great players of days gone by, recount how the greats of the 70’s and 80’s will never be surpassed. And as the evening wears on, you start reliving the great games, but the details are fuzzy now. Passes that once traveled 20 metres are now 25. Or was it 30? Actually, come to think of it, it was really more like 35. And that blistering sidestep, he didn’t slip through 3 tackles, it was actually 5. And that goal! Wow! It didn’t just clear the crossbar, it deadset flew over the top of the goalposts. But as great as it is to reminisce about the good old days, it’s still just not the same.

What you long for is the unknown. The speculation each week about which are the best 17 players to take on the opposition. The trepidation of turning up to the ground, looking forward to a close game, not knowing for certain who’s going to have the upper hand. And you know that the NRL season’s got to be on it’s way – the finals of the VB Series have come and gone. The 4 pages about cricket each day in the newspaper is slowly shrinking, and there’s a countdown to the start of the season at the top of the sports pages. But still it’s only February – there’s still a long way to go.

A month out, the trials start. Your club sends a squad out to play a bunch of players from another club. And although it’s good to see the guys out on the field again, your team’s victories are hollow, and their losses are reassuring. At the back of your mind, you know that it’s only a trial, that your gun players were being cottonballed, that the coach was giving your Premier League players a go, that new combinations were being tested, that he was testing tactics that will never be seen again.

Finally, the countdown reaches single digits. You call up your mates, you line up your mate’s place (the one with the big screen TV), grab a slab of beer, order pizzas, and settle down on the couch. It doesn’t matter that your team’s not playing, that’s not the point. Finally the moment arrives. The familiar Wide World Of Sports jingle plays. The ref blows time on.

A new season of footy. And it’s sure to be a corker!

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750 words between the lines, including title.

 

[Gene Krupa]

Gene Krupa breaks the line.

Good afternoon listeners................

It was with some reservation that I made my debut as a league commentator. My team captain Roosterboy60 is just that persistent and hard to say no to. Why would he ask me to commentate? I had no experience and, since the Super League war, my interest in footy had been generally confined to the Knights. He wanted me to debut during the 2004 finals series, the prospect of calling games for teams I had no interest in, let alone ones I was actually unsure I was going to watch at all, did nothing to thrill me in the slightest.

My first broadcast was a complete disaster. The server we used let you view the number of listeners you had. For my debut, I had the grand total of zero listeners. You can imagine how ego sapping that was.

Overall, I would say that my debut into the world of sports broadcasting wasn't what I'd expected it to be. It was hard work! We also seemed to always have problems that plagued the broadcast. The joys of the Internet! Luckily, Roosterboy60 took up the majority of the workload and I was able to limit my time on air.

During the summer, Roosterboy60 told me about his master plan. Every live game to be broadcast by one of us, Roosterboy60 or myself. That meant I would have to broadcast at least one game a weekend. Some weekends two games. I was secretly hoping that the summer would never end.

Also during the summer, I had some family problems develop. This also did little for my enthusiasm to sit in front of the computer for up to eight hours a weekend, calling games that didn't really matter to me anyway.

But I'd promised Roosterboy that I would do it.

Then came the lifeline that I was looking for. Someone else was interested in calling games! I could drop out now and Roosterboy wouldn't have to do them alone.

Over the following weeks, it became clear that I WAS going to be needed. I tried to muster all the enthusiasm I could but I was still dreading the seasons start.

Very soon it was Round one of the 2005 NRL season and I was slated to call the opening match of the live commentary. The one listener I knew I'd have was going to the Roosters game that night, so I was looking at the prospect of having another “silent night”. At least the new server didn't show how many listeners I didn't have.

Then my MSN messenger went off. One of my friends from the Knights forum was inquiring about the broadcast. She wanted to listen. Now I had someone to talk to. Then another added me and said she'd listen too. Suddenly the nervousness and doubt faded. I HAD to put up a good show.

So I called the Sharks Vs Panthers match. OK, I was pretty rusty. I didn't know most of the players names by sight and as I said before, being a one man commentator is hard work. There's a reason there are three or four people in the Channel Nine and 2GB teams. No-one can talk non-stop for forty minutes. It's just impossible. That's the hardest part of the whole thing. The awkward silence.

Three rounds into the season, I've called five games. Every week I get better. I'm learning the player names and getting a better feel for the run of play. Over the next few weeks I'll continue to improve. I'm not trying to kid myself and think I could be a professional, but I do know I have a lot of fun and it helps take my mind off things for a while.

The biggest bonus that I've got from all this is I have now found my love for rugby league again. It's funny but I was thinking that I would have to force myself to watch league to commentate.

After “forcing” myself to watch the fantastic Cowboys try set up by Jonathan Thurston in the match against the Warriors last weekend or the barnstorming form of Ben Kennedy for Manly, I really don't mind that much when the quality is so high.

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705 words including title.

 

[Raider_69]

Sub:

Thickos IN
Hrundi99 OUT

 

[thickos]

Minutes left on the clock and hrundi99 does a hammy. The captain turns to thickos and says 'You're on, son.' It's the stuff boyhood dreams are made of, the final play of the game...


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The Myth of the Supercoach

For a student of rugby league, it is a concept you cannot escape. The men who are put on a pedestal as the greatest coaches our great sport has seen, the men who have revolutionised the game from the sidelines. Names like Gibson, Bennett, Fulton… they stand alone as rugby league pioneers. One thing that also cannot be escaped are the monikers that the media love to put on these men, and one of them always remains a sticking point for myself; the title ‘supercoach.’

But what exactly is a ‘supercoach?’ Looking at it literally you could almost imagine a god-like figure that not only brings out the best in their players, but turns an average group into a team that challenges for the premiership. Or someone who revolutionises the game through new tactics, forcing opposition teams to copy that style or fall behind. In our modern day game, Chris Anderson’s ‘flat attack’ with the Storm, or Ricky Stuart’s ‘defence as a form of offence’ could be examples of how coaches can change the way league is played.

But does this mean that these two are ‘supercoaches?’ If you accumulate enough premierships across a coaching career, are you automatically a ‘supercoach?’ In my opinion the answer is a resounding no – mainly because I believe there is no such thing as a supercoach.

There have been, and will continue to be, plenty of wonderful coaches who bring so much to rugby league. The term ‘legend’ can definitely be applied to men of the game such as Jack Gibson – not only for his successes, but the wealth of ideas that he brought to the game tactically. Similarly the number of ‘second generation’ coaches he has generated is significant. The same is said for Warren Ryan, whose coaching philosophies and penchant for thinking outside the square has undoubtedly influenced the coaching styles of modern day coaches such as Andrew Farrar and Michael Hagan.

However the concept of the ‘supercoach’ falls down is the significant contribution made by the players these coaches have at their disposal. I’m sure I’m not mistaken in saying every Canberra fan has a soft spot for Tim Sheens, mainly because his name is synonymous with a wonderful period of success at the Raiders. He inherited a team on the rise and guided them to three premierships while turning young talents into Origin and test players. If you were to look solely at this period of Tim’s coaching record, the term ‘supercoach’ automatically springs to mind – however since leaving the Raiders he took the Cowboys to two wooden spoons and has not got the Wests Tigers to the finals. So has Tim lost his touch, or is there another factor at play?

Clearly, the difference is in the playing rosters. Comparing different eras is not easy, but the lineup Sheens had to work with in the early nineties with Canberra is arguably one of the strongest club teams in history, with every position in the 1994 team filled by an Origin or Test player. Naturally to have such an arsenal of gifted players (in every position!) is a luxury not many coaches have, and it certainly helps win titles. The same can be said for Bennett who has had the skills of Langer and Lockyer, or Gibson who had the wonderful Parramatta team of the early eighties. If a team is laden with enough stars, even a fairly average coach can win a premiership.

Having said that, Tim Sheens is a great coach. He’s not a supercoach, as he hasn’t performed miracles at the Cowboys or Tigers. However the respect he commands, and his eye for talent makes him one of our greats. To take a punt on a ‘talented kid’ seen at a Sevens tournament and turn him into an overnight sensation, as is the case of Noa Nadruku. The recruitment of John Lomax and Quentin Pongia – no-names who became internationals. And more recently – bringing together the factions of the Tigers merger, restoring credibility to the club and the nurturing of Benji Marshall. These traits make Sheens a great coach – not the list of triumphs on his record.

The same applies to all of the great coaches of our game. The ability to spot talent, build a team and command respect is something reserved for only a select few. Over a career this will manifest itself in trophies and accolades, but none of these things makes someone a ‘supercoach’ - just a great coach.

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750 words, including title.

 

[antonius]

Ref Blows Fulltime.

 

[Raider_69]

steady on ref, no need the blow it twice ;-) :lol:

5 v 5 - congrats to all involved
i got on 'holidays' for week tomz so IBG will take over the captains knock duties

Win, lose or draw, well done to all and may the best team win...


PS. jed your still a louzy turn coat :lol:

 

[jed]

Good game Lions & Raiders - 5v5

 

[Stelios Giannakopoulos]

Well done both teams 5 V 5

May the best side win

 

[roosterboy60]

Well done both teams. Good luck to everyone.