Round 8 (2009) Bluebags v Rabbitohs

[Pistol]

Forum 7s - Round 8 2009
NEWTOWN BLUEBAGS v SOUTH SYDNEY RABBITOHS

-v-

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

Naming Teams:
* 5v5 (+ 2 reserves for visiting team, 3 reserves for home team)
* No 'TBA' or changing players named
* Captains must stick with original teams named

ALL THE RULES & REGULATIONS: http://f7s.leagueunlimited.com/rules.php

FULL TIME: Wednesday 12th August 2009 at 9pm (Syd time)
REFEREE: The Colonel
Venue: Henson Park

**The Referee Blows Game On!**

CLICK HERE FOR OFFICIAL WORD COUNTER

 

[Willow]

The Bagbus rolls onto the hill for the club's final home game of 2009. As has become the local tradition, the rampaging Black Kitty is first to alight and ready to sign autographs.

Welcome back Mr Angry to the Newtown sheds. :thumn

Bluebags
Round 8 team for Rabbitohs clash

​

Black Kitty
Mr Angry
Cheesie-the-pirate
Drew-sta
gorilla (vc)

Res:
Willow (c)
ozbash
muzby

Good luck one and all.

 

[Black Kitty]

Black Kitty, busily signing autographs with her Priceline cherry red lip liner (because she forgot her pen), pulls herself away from her adoring fans and skips on field for the Blue Bags.

****

Words of Wisdom from Forest Gump?

“Stupid is as stupid does” drawled out in monotonic tones by Tom Hanks never used to make me think of anything other than a very long movie that many people seemed to rave about a great deal more than I ever thought necessary. At this particular point in time and argument though, I really can’t find any better quote to sum up the antics of those thick headed dolts of the rugby league world who continue to cause grief for themselves, their clubs and the game as a whole. It really only leaves one with the thought that a mentally challenged person, in the form of the fictitious Forest Gump, can learn this message from his mamma, but our supposedly intelligent *cough* footballers cannot? Are these guys really that thick? Or really that stupid? Or really that selfish? Or, perhaps, it is all of the above and then add in a nice big dash of pathetic to boot.

Seriously boys, for you most certainly are not men, have a look at yourselves. Have a look at what’s happening in the media. Do you honestly not see all the bad publicity the game is getting lately? Do you genuinely not realise that you and you alone are responsible for your actions and therefore the reputation that you portray of your club and your game? Is your club really worth so little to you that you would risk its reputation just because you think it’s fun to get so intoxicated that you do idiotic things? Things that in all probability you won’t even remember. Is that really fun? Is the price your mates and your club pay really worth you having to act like some dull witted Neanderthal?

Obviously this is not the majority of NRL players by a long shot. The problem is, though, that those that are being mindless Neanderthals are the ones getting all the press. I know it’s been said that any publicity is good publicity. Newsflash boys, it’s not! The public are sick of hearing of stupid NRL players doing even stupider things. I for one have gotten to the point this season where I could hardly be bothered turning on a game to watch. When the sports news comes on the telly I tune out. I just don’t want to hear it anymore. It’s like listening to the parent of the kid playing in traffic crying because the kid got ran over. They didn’t do anything to stop it, but seem to think someone else should have. That’s the NRL board.

Maybe we need to treat the poor little boys like poor little boys? Break the rules, pay the price. And make it a price that will hurt. Not this slap on the wrist ‘you naughty boy’ now let’s play the game you love and as a bonus we’ll pay you for it. In the real world when you stuff up at work you get warnings. Penalties and reprimands that DO threaten the security of your job. Make it so in NRL. There are plenty of young players just dying for that spot I’m sure. Give out warnings, three strikes and you’re out. Enforce it so they know that you mean it. Have first and final warnings for the really big issues, and stick by those penalties. Garnish wages or privileges or field time until the messages sinks in. Why not drop them a grade, with the sufficient pay cut, for so many weeks depending on the ‘crime’?

Whatever needs to be done, needs to be done now before the game and its reputation are covered in that much tabloid filth that it will never recover. The toll of players behaving badly is already being felt with teams finding it hard to find sponsors (not that we’ll mention names), and there has been talk of dropping spectator numbers at games and ratings drops for broadcasts. These boys need to realise that this is their problem, and it is their fault. Their team mates need to take some responsibility too, and see if a bit of peer pressure can’t make them see some kind of sense. Rather then shouting them the next round, shout them a taxi.

NRL bosses, please, wake them up or send them home to mummy before they ruin they game we love. At least mummy will give them the slap around the ear they need, if not, send them to me and I will.


***747 words including title***

 

[Bumble]

Souths are here:

Bumble (c)
byrne_rovelli_fan82
miccle
Marshall_Magic
Dave Q

Franko
rabs

 

[Mr Angry]

Mr Angry,
After a knee reconstruction, pulls on the mighty bluebags jersey for the first time this season

____________________________
Annus Horribilis

The Queen’s got nothing!

Is there a worse year on record for any one club? It is possible but I doubt it.

When it comes to bad things happening, 2009 will go down as the worse year recorded for the Sharks and perhaps all time. At the start of the year no one could have guessed how bad it would get, and if someone had suggested the chain of events that happened, they would have been called a nutter and rightly so.

It started off OK, a win against the Panthers. Then the rot starts with injuries, Ben Ross, forward leader and highest paid player, broken neck, then our best attacking player Brett Kearney does his leg, both gone for the season. Next came the off field scandals, first off, hanging over from last year, a current test player on charges for assaulting his girlfriend, then a group sex scandal that claims the career of a former player and high profile league identity. The fact these people were not even on the Sharks payroll now becomes irrelevant and mud sticks. These events did happen while they were on the Sharks payroll. Then we find out or CEO has an episode of “shadow boxing” hitting a female employee, has his hands is some dodgy pies and ends up resigning in disgrace.

Disgraced CEO Tony Zappia, and the result of “Shadow boxing”

The chairman of the board stands down, the board itself gets a huge re jigging.

We start losing sponsors due to the scandals, have to fight off bankruptcy and are still waiting to see if the development which will apparently secure us financially will be approved by a council. Next an off season signing, a former test player, outed for taking performance enhancing drugs. Then a player sacked for repeated off field ill discipline, namely repeated drunk. Our captain ends up in a race row over things said on the field. The pressure from the media, the public and the board, results in him standing down as captain. We lose our biggest off season signing, our stand out play maker with a fractured face, for the season of course, after a successful return to Origin. Then one of local juniors Reece Williams who has come through the grades, gets a blood clot in the brain, gone for the season.

So now we have Luke Covell as captain, what odds you could have got for that at the start of the season? At least he made the New Zealand squad for the end of year international tournament. To make matters worse, players let go for this season, Issac DeGois, Kevin Kingston, Brett Kimmorley, Bryson Goodwin have all had wonderful seasons for their new clubs.

We are now fighting to avoid the dreaded wooden spoon, in first grade, and due to the horrendous injury toll all our good under 20s players have been playing in first grade. The result, the poor NYC boys are dead last and will get the spoon. So we are now in the position where we could get the wooden spoon in both top grade and youth grade, are at the mercy of the local council to stave of bankruptcy, have a new chairman of the board, a new CEO, less sponsors for next year and the season is not even over!

Dejected Sharks players after yet another loss.

The pain, oh, the pain!

So what to do when your team is out of the running after such a horrible year?

I could follow my second team, and hope they win the thing. For me the Parramatta Eels.
I could follow my most despised teams, death riding them into a semi final choke of epic proportions. For me the Illawarra Dragons, or the Brisbane Ponies.
I could follow the NYC, but alas all our good under 20s are in first grade, and we are running dead last, spoon specials to boot.
I could follow another sport, for me cricket, but alas Ponting’s man love has me having little interest in the current results.
I could remain upbeat and try to convince myself the signings we have made for next year; the likes of John Morris, Albert Kelly and Adam Cuthbertson are major coups.
Then I could be a typical Cronulla Sutherland supporter and say the same thing we have for 42 years, “There is always next year.”

In the mean time, I am off to play golf, badly.

_____________________________

742 words between the lines

 

[Dave Q]

Dave Q takes it up for the bunnies against his former team mates ( Mate against mate!)
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The Industrial Design of Rugby League.

The chief tool of the modern car designer is a computer.

They take the existing model and stretch a bit here and there, tuck a bit in, put in some new weird shapes. In the later 3d mode, they can then walk around it, climb into it and lift the engine bay. They can lower the door if it’s too high and then add some accessories on the inside such as foot well courtesy lamps. The computer will tell them if they have enough room for the engine or even a light bulb they want to install At the end of it, they can even add some pin-stripes to make the car go faster!

The next step is to make a clay model of the images. They use special clay and the vehicle is modelled by people who probably excelled in pottery in school. They slip, slop, slap the clay onto wooden frames. They carefully cut and pat it down, (whilst the car is spinning around on the lathe at 30mph (just kidding) their aprons getting grubbier in the process. The whole thing is left to dry and then the model is painted in auto-like paint with a blackish hue for tinted windows.

Sample groups of car-buyers are then invited in to view the results and are asked questions about whether or not the car pops their corks or whether they think it should be clumped up into a big lump. If it gets the thumbs up, work begins on the real panelling and a proper prototype.

Which takes us to the footy…

The computer is of course the video referee. A lot of people hate the video referee because he takes ages ( btw where are the women video refs? “Women in league” is just gossip isn’t it?!). Eventually, after a thousand replays, he makes a decision based on an obscure rule that no-one understands, least of all, him.

The application of clay is the team. Halfbacks slip around the field, dashing and jinking. They are elusive and well lubricated. The slop is the forwards as they face one another in the line. Heres a one up sloppy run with a complimentary sloppy tackle. A sloppy waste of a play. The slap is the gratuitous violence we see featured so often. Thus Souths v Manly at Telstra, away from the prying eyes of the camera ( but right in front of the touch-judge and I) a bunny didn’t just tackle Brett Stewart, as he took Stewart down, he gave him a verbal spray and I saw his closed fist impact in a fierce and unforgiving manner with Stewarts formerly handsome face To his credit, Stewart got up as if he had been kissed by the elfin princess.

Left out to dry are the coaches after a loss. One of my all-time favourite coaches was Nathan Brown ( co-incidently, a good girl too). The Dragons were struggling early to mid season last year. They couldn’t take a trick. After a loss, I heard the talented Gaz interviewed and he said words to the effect of :“ We just didn’t do what Browny wanted us to do, we listened and everything like that, but then we left the whole game plan back in the dressing sheds.” And from that day on, it dawned on me that players often don’t do as they are instructed. After decades of being trained to follow instructions, they abandon them quicker than a real estate agent abandons the truth. You see if they had followed Browny’s instructions, they would have won the game. Yet it was Browny who was abandoned by the club (albeit for someone much better), Browny was hung out to dry.

That leads us to the samplers. That’s us isn’t it? The whole show is shoved in front of us with a couple of thousand commercial messages to digest as well. If your team loses, there are problems and controversy. Large amounts of resources are wasted explaining losses. But is it a waste? The emotion of it all makes for good conversation amongst fellow fans as one tragic event can be followed by another and another. And this grief can be shared and it can form the basis for touching and meaningful communication.

But when the chips are down, the true, trusted, tried and tragic supporters, they never abandon their manufacturer; they just look forward to next year’s model, the tweaks, the tucks and weird shapes!

………………………………………………………..
749 words between the dashes.

 

[gorilla]

*gorilla side-steps the ball-girls and ruffles the ref's balding pate as he runs on*

*********************************************
Animals and barbarism.

There’s a certain barbarism that’s inherent in humanity. The history of wars and exploitation are proof enough of human barbarism.

It’s funny but the most barbaric of our society are often referred to as ‘animals’, when it’s often the reverse – barbarism in the ‘animal kingdom’ is misconstrued animal behaviour (such as wolf pack attacks) or, otherwise, is the result human interference, even training.

Rugby league is portrayed as a violent, barbaric sport – gladiatorial with an emphasis on impact as well as surgical incision. It is usually the nancy boys playing Aussie Rules or soccer who call league barbaric.

Funnily enough, most of the barbaric acts in rugby league occur off-field. Excrement in hotel corridors, group sex with rape overtones, public urination, bashing girl friends or partners, public fighting. The list of barbaric acts occurring off the filed is long and, unfortunately, well publicised.

Rugby league as a barbaric sport is not the issue, rather the off-field acts are beyond societal norms and standards; generally illegal, sometimes criminal. , Personally extreme fighting and cage fighting seem to me to be the most barbaric of human sports and I can’t bear to watch these things, much the same way seeing a street fight leaves me sick

To find truly barbaric sports, we need to look at humanity’s involvement in sport that pit animals fighting against each other animals. Across the world, most societies have decided these sports are illegal due to their barbaric nature.

My interest in barbaric sports was piqued the other day when I read a media report about how police had busted a ‘canary fighting’ ring. Apparently male canaries are very territorial and if ‘trained’ and provoked, they fight like, well … , angry canaries. http://www.wfsb.com/news/20183100/detail.html

Now people can make too much of barbarism. I had the pleasure of speaking with an intelligent and apparently sane woman at a party recently who, after a admiring comment about a pearl necklace, discretely admitted she felt guilty wearing it because is was cruel to introduce an irritant to the oyster to create the pearl. I mumbled something about molluscs’ rights and hoped there wasn’t snails on the tray of canapés being passed around, but her view stuck with me after reading about canary fighting.

There’s such a range of these ‘sports’ – starting with the big animals like camel wrestling (http://www.allaboutturkey.com/camel.htm ) and ranging to bear baiting or pig hunting, even fox hunts, through to the well-known c**k-fighting, right down to canary fighting and even Siamese fighting fish matches. My drycleaner keeps and fights Siamese fish and even proudly demonstrated their prowess when I lately expressed an interest. My son just loves to feed ants to ant-lions, and our mouse racing events are legend in the neighbourhood.

In addition to these, there are the plain old weird mixed animal and human categories such as such as bull-fighting, humans and boxing kangaroos, and crocodile wrestling ala Steve Irwin (although the “World Aquatic Mixed Species Champion” is currently a Northern Queensland stingray). http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/steve-irwin-killed-by-stingray/2006/09/04/1157222051512.html

I couldn’t help but think of the parallels between the barbaric animal contests and rugby league and players in the NRL. Some league players naturally lend themselves to comparison and caricature, like ‘the Ox’ for Manly, (although that is a bit like calling a tall person 'shorty', in my opinion) and that bull-like winger for the Tigers: Tuiaki.

The classic pig dog players would have to be someone like Manly’s Watmough or the Cowboy’s Webb – both have that knuckle-dragging, wide-armed posture that seems to align with a pig dog mentality. Their run-ins with players like Civoniceva or Hoffman remind me of the bear-baiting dog fights.

Any two lightweight halves like the Dragons’ Soward and the Roosters’ Pearce could be compared to a c**k fight – the little bantams fluttering around looking for the strike to finish the match.

I did think, however, that Soward’s attempted tackle on the Storm’s Inglis the other week, when Inglis had Soward around the neck in a choker-palm off was more like pitting a canary against an emu.

Camel wrestling is a slow and ungainly sport. It’s a bit like the State of origin face off between Price and White, both standing a good distance away, slowly but emphatically slugging it out until one got the upper hand.

Despite the general accusations of barbarism in rugby league – there’s plenty of other examples actually off-field and, in reality, far more barbaric acts when humans sport with animals.

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748 words between the stars

 

[Marshall_magic]

Hunt, The AFL and Everything​

Karmichael Hunt signs with the AFL on a lucrative deal, but what does it all mean in more depth? Who are the real winners, and who are the losers, and of course everyone in between.

First of all, from the AFL’s perspective, they have just recruited a big name player from a rival code, for a massive amount. Is it really that much of a good thing? Sure, it gives the new club a face, a local hero, but is Karmichael a good face for AFL in Queensland. Will he be looked at as the Gold Coast faithful as the ‘Gold Coast AFL star’ or the ‘NRL star who changed codes for big bucks.’ Is it really a good look for the code when they have to look outside their walls for a face of a club. Would it be a good look for the NRL if Adam Goodes became the face of the Roosters?

From the AFL players’ perspective, surely the decision would have them a little disgruntled. They push themselves for years to get to the AFL, then all of a sudden a guy who has played 8 games in high school gets signed up on a contract they could only dream of being offered. Surely that must frustrate them. The AFL can say all they want that back before he made it to the NRL they though he was the one that got away, when realistically we know that’s just not the case, he’d only played 8 games.

From the NRL’s perspective, they’ve lost a gun player. But is it really as big a loss as we are lead to believe. Is Karmichael the type of player who brings new fans to the game, or is he the type of player who just impresses those who are already on board? It’s not like he’s an Inglis dazzling us with amazing speed and a fend that’s just as impressive, or a Jarryd Hayne who can impress anybody. These guys are the phenomenal athletes Rugby League needs to hold onto. Karmichael is a good footballer, but athletically he’s far from the best in the league. This will make his transition a little tougher than it would be for the more athletic players, even if they haven’t reached the same level he has. That’s not to say he’ll fail.

From the NRL players’ perspective, I think it’s a big complement. Apart from obviously opening up a slot in first grade for a career to begin for a promising youngest like a Josh Hoffman, and an origin spot for a player like Cooper Cronk wanting to get the next level, it says a lot about how athletic and talented our players are if they can attract a one million dollar a year deal in another sport. It just shows how great the talent in Rugby League is. We’ve seen Rugby League players excel in the Rugby Union and we’ve also seen Mundine excel in boxing, so this is just another area we could see a former NRL player excel in. However when the players do change, there has to be something wrong. How can the AFL and Super 14 offer our players so much more than we can? Are they really getting their fair share of the pie? Does this just further expose how underpaid some of these guys are?

Finally, from Karmichael’s perspective, he’s earning a million dollars a year to change his career. Even if it’s a flop he could be back in the NRL when it’s all done and dusted. It’s a win-win situation he’s in, he will earn big bucks to play a different game, and if he has to, he can switch back to league and earn a substantial amount. I highly doubt Karmichael will get 16 ‘thanks but no thanks’ responses if he tries to return to the NRL.

So who were the winners and who were the losers? It’s pretty clear from here that the only real winner is the man himself. Karmichael will earn more than just about every player in both codes over the next few years. He can leave at the end of the time if he is a flop, and still have the big cash. If the publicity stunt backfires on the Gold Coast AFL Club, the financial hurt could be severe. The NRL can only hope that a new man steps up into the superstar slot Karmichael left.


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744 words, between the lines.

 

[Drew-Sta]

Drew for the Baggers!!

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One of us

On a Thursday night I often go to help at a soup kitchen called ‘Newtown Mission’, located on King Street at an old Uniting Church. As part of my faith, I take seriously the verse in the bible from Luke’s Gospel: John answered, "The man with two tunics should share with him who has none, and the one who has food should do the same." *

Early on in the piece, I met a man called Julian who would often arrive quite early in order to come and stand outside for conversation as we cooked the meal for the night. One of the gifts we would give to him, he stated, was that of discussion. Julian would sit and chatter away to us about anything on his mind; Politics, what he thought of weather and on the odd occasion the footy.

Our conversations were often one sided affairs as I made a point of actively listening and only asking the sporadic question on some comments he made. I found the exchanges that I related to the most were the ones where he retold his teenage memories of watching the Jets as part of the crowd. He stressed to me how he felt when amongst fellow supporters, emphasising that this was one of the elements he enjoyed the most.

Julian was a fairly complicated guy. He had lost his house through poor investments and turned to drinking when his wife left him for another man. His job soon followed through poor performance and he never managed to pick himself back up. He often mused that his life swung in a direction not unlike the Jets.

“Matey, it was just like Newtown my life; Top of the pecking order one year, kicked out on your ass a couple later. The only difference is people sought to remember Newtown, none of me mates sought to remember me.”

A couple of months ago, he announced that he was going to attend a Newtown match, claiming he often watched from outside the fence but had chatted to one of the club staff and they were going to let him in for free. He was so happy that he would be able to support his former club that I told him I’d come along as well.

“What? You? Matey, you got better things to do than spend your time with a bum like me!”

Nevertheless, I promised him I’d show up and support the Bluebags.

It was just before 3pm on Saturday when I rocked up at Henson Park and spotted Julian. I called out, and as he turned I could see the beaming smile on his face.

“Ahh, you’re here matey!” he cried, giving me a big hug. The happiness he showed was well worth getting ‘up close and personal’, if you know what I mean.

“Of course, I’ve got something for you,” I responded.

He looked at me a bit fearfully, unsure what was happening.

“Open it.” I handed him a plastic bag and out he pulled a new 1981 Newtown jersey I’d bought from Peter Wynn earlier that morning. Julian, struck with surprise, blubbered a little before wiping away several tears and looking me straight in the eye.

“Matey, you didn’t have to do that,” he rasped.

“You’re a supporter mate, you need one!” I answered.

I’m not sure I had truly seen complete happiness from a person until that day. I mean genuine, uninhibited happiness. Upon reflection, it began to make sense to me that Julian’s greatest problem was that society wouldn’t bridge the gap and include him. He had been progressively shut off from society and he no longer felt a part of it. His biggest problem with life wasn’t that he was homeless; it was the fact that he felt excluded.

I often attribute what I did on that Saturday as God working through me, as I personally believe I’m too selfish to have done it on my own. Nevertheless, I’m able to recognise that despite the world telling us they we’re all individuals, we very clearly are not able to live our lives completely independent of others. We have to be a part of something. On that Saturday I was able to give a man something he had not felt in many years; A sense of belonging.

That Saturday he wasn’t Julian the homeless man; he was one of many Newtown supporters, and that meant more than anything else I could have given him.

---

Words - 749

* Luke 3:11

 

[miccle]

Miccle carting it up for the seventh straight game with the Rabbits. Bring it home!

The Queensland Cup user guide

Dear Lonely Planet.

You have produced many guidebooks for tourists focusing on hundreds of countries, cities and attractions throughout the world. But, from my checking of your extensive back catalogue, there is nothing in your published works about what to do and what not to do when attending certain Queensland Cup grounds.

Trawling through the pages of Leagueunlimited, I've noticed a large number of people are what we call outsiders, or people who do not reside in Queensland. Unfortunately, a high percentage of these outsiders have also never attended a Queensland Cup match.

Introductions aside, here is my first publication looking at the experiences (both good and bad) to be had at three of the region's best-known Queensland Cup venues.

Dolphin Oval:

Do get a beer or three from the can bar sometime in the afternoon. The beer's plentiful, cold and pretty damn cheap.

Don't upset the natives that inhabit the said can bar. Particularly when beer o'clock commenced half a day ago.

Do head to the leagues club to continue the day after the footy has finished. Just metres away, and plenty of great facilities on offer.

Don't follow the author's lead and start a particularly sensitive chant which could greatly upset the locals. For example, just off the top of my head, a loud "Gold Coast" chant at the very time Redcliffe was threatening to take the now-Titans to court if they "stole" their Dolphins moniker. Fortunately, there were no serious injuries.

Langlands Park:

Do get yourself a steak burger from the canteen. Clearly, far and away the best there is.

Don't park in the car park close to the field. There is plenty of off-street parking available, where your car has minimal chance of a Steeden taking a journey through the windscreen.

Do take in the view from the halfway line, or close to it, on the park's great grandstand. Just a few rows back, it's the best view available in Queensland Cup football.

Don't stand too close to the corner of the park just inside the main entrance. This particularly applies to the half-time and full-time in any grade of football, as the teams tend to barrel through the path to get to the sheds. Dangerous.

Kougari Oval:

Do go to this ground at least once in your lifetime. It's an experience which is sure to build character.

Don't ask about the smell. Over 15 years of council and government research and testing has provided inconclusive results about the origin of the stench, and its chemical make-up. You'll get used to it, and sometimes it's better not to know the truth.

Do bring some business cards if you happen to be a dentist. The locals are many things, including short on teeth. If you happen to find a few who have had a winning day on the punt, hey presto - you should have plenty of space in your appointment book to fit them in.

Don't be a smararse and imitate the Chook Pen's infamous "Wyyyyyyyynnnuuummm" chant, interposing the name of the opposition team in its place. Especially if you are sitting with your group in the middle of the Chook Pen. It seems in those circumstances the constabulary may be required to assist you back to your vehicle as a safety precaution.

That's all for this issue, folks, but I think I'm on to a winner here. If Lonely Planet aren't sold on the idea, I'm sure the QRL or Queensland Tourism would be keen for further reading.

If none of the above comes to fruition, I hope I've convinced a few of you southerners to take in some of the most interesting and enjoyable sights in local rugby league football. The next time you come up to this neck of the woods, check the paper or the website and get out to witness Queensland Cup footy first hand. You won't blow your life savings, and I can guarantee you'll have plenty of funny and memorable stories to tell after that full-time siren sounds.

Far removed from the overt glossy marketing, professionalism and sterile nature of the modern NRL, local footy offers cheap entry, raffles, doubles, steak burgers, cold beer and three grades of football. It's a shame more don't get out and about to experience some of the very best that our code brings to the table.



**750 words**

 

[byrne_rovelli_fan82]

byrne_rovelli_fan82 for the Bunnies

~~~

The Officials​

One of the hardest jobs in the world of sport is the job of the officials. It don’t matter which sport you watch, rugby league, cricket, baseball, hockey, the officials cop the most flack from not only the players they are officiating but the fans too.​

Every time a play occurs in a game they must make a decision, sometimes they’ll get it right and at other times they will get it wrong, but no matter what decision they make the fans and players will always object to it. As the most important figure in a game they are relied on by all to see the play that unfolds and make correct decisions. The problem is, they are prone to mistakes, they will see things during the game the fans won’t or they miss something everyone else has seen.




When they make a decision they make it on first impulse, unlike their colleagues with the video replay duties. The on-field officials must trust their eyesight and back their own judgement, from time to time they will call on the guys in the video room but for the most part the on- field official makes the only decision.​

In rugby league the life of an official is so much harder; the heat is always on him and to the spectators and the teams whatever he does is critical to their chances. Being the ‘man in the middle’ he is in-charge of the game which means what he says go regardless of what others say, but with so much on his plate he is bound to make mistakes, so the touch judges were added to aid other areas during a game, and the main referee’s life was meant to get easier. Not quite, with only his first look at a key moment during a match still he made mistakes so the addition of the video referee was introduced. For a time this idea worked out, where the on-field referee if unsure about a particular decision asks for another opinion.​

For the most part the decisions that were given were correct so there was no cause for controversy, but over time as the game changed and the pressure increased, everyone wanted a quick decision and they grew tired of the amount of time it took to see the replay to determine the final outcome. Hence the on-field referee took on even more of the responsibility to make the right calls. They relied less and less on the video replays and only ever called on one if in their own mind there was doubt in a play. Still between the three; the on-field referee, his touch judges and the video replay they didn’t get decisions correct and in some circumstances one official may over rule another in regards to a decision.​

This year we saw the introduction of two main referees in the middle of the action, a move that was used during last year’s NYC. I feel the jury is still out with regards to the effectiveness of the two-referee system. If anything we have noticed some improvements but once again mistakes are still being made, and it makes it all the more confusing for the players and spectators if one referee has a particular interpretation and the other has a different interpretation.​

Perhaps the thinking of the NRL is to try and eradicate the mistakes by their officials, but in using that formula they have pushed it to the point where every decision needs to be correct. We seem to have forgotten the officials in sport are also human too and they are prone to mistakes, when they make an incorrect decision that is just all part of the game and while it is frustrating when the incorrect decision is made but nonetheless that is still part and parcel of the whole game. If everything went according to plan, there would be cause for the fans to cheer, sure they can cheer when it is all going good but after that nothing. In-correct decisions need to happen, that's what makes the game more exciting. When you know something has gone wrong and you as the spectator hate it beyond belief. So isn't that why we watch a game? To enjoy it and at the same time be frustrated by it.




Referees deserve credit; they cop the most abuse but still do a good job in a position not many of us have the skill to do.​

~~

746 words between '~' lines

 

[Cheesie-the-Pirate]

Cheesie-the-Pirate takes another hit up for the mighty Bluebaggers!

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Finally

Finals are something we take for granted in rugby league. By late July we all start thinking about that brief four-round tournament that decides who gets to home the premiership trophy.

March to June is too early to be thinking about it. Injuries and suspensions could intervene at any point to upset the apple cart. Early form doesn’t mean too much when there’s still over a dozen games to play. More importantly, everyone knows that a few wins in April does not a premiership make. Too many to mention are the teams that celebrated their April premiership only to embark on a September Mad Monday.

That’s part of the challenge of finals. Timing is everything. The winner is only ever the team that puts in the best 80 minute performance on the first Sunday in October. A dozen big wins in autumn would be an amazing achievement, but, those victories don’t mean all that much. They help to qualify for the big dance but it seems it actually hurts the cause to win so much in the early going.

It seems counterintuitive, but there is a point. Evidence suggests that teams simply cannot sustain that kind of performance for the entire season. The better the team performs, the harder it is hit by the mid-season representative fixtures. Players are lost to duties. Players’ performances are hit by fatigue. Worst of all players are felled by the injuries and suspensions that are the inevitable result of these high-intensity fixtures.

Equally important is the effect on attitudes. Wins at the wrong stage of the season present an interesting challenge to coaches. How do you keep attitudes in check and bring player commitment to each and every game? Warren Ryan often talks about the problem of the successful team that expects to win. Everyone expects someone to do something but no one does anything because someone will do something.

It comes back to timing. The team needs to be hitting its very best about now, a month or two from the finals, because that’s the only way that they can be the best on the day.

All of which begs the question, why have a 26 round season if all that matters is the month of September, plus a little bit? I don’t think there’s a really good answer to that. It’s good for the coffers of the game. More games equals more money; from sponsors, from ticket sales and from broadcasting. More games are also better for you and me. We all love that football goes for over half a year.

Those are practical reasons, based on the fans and the administration of the game. What’s the logical answer? How are those 26 rounds integral in finding the best football club? Really, they aren’t. You could play every team once in 15 rounds. Far fewer of the games would be early round fillers and coaches would quickly bring their teams up to finals levels performances.

But nobody wants that. The problem with the premiership isn’t that it’s too long. It’s that the minor premiership isn’t a big enough prize. A trophy that is promptly forgotten about by the first finals game, a paltry amount of cash and a home final. But teams two, three and four get the home semis too. As last year showed even team eight can earn a home semi under the right circumstances. Our finals system fails to reward the minor premiers in any substantial way.

So which finals system is that then? Nobody knows. Better brains than me have tried and nobody’s found the perfect system. Nobody’s even invented a better system. There’s only so many ways that eight can go into one in four weeks. The trouble is what we spoke about back at the start. Finals are all about timing. The easiest way to give teams rewards for being minor premiers is to give them walks to the later stages. But if you’ve been slowly building up to top form the last thing you want is a week off.

It’s a bit of a puzzle. It’s a jigsaw with no edges. The only thing for certain is that come October we’ll crowd around the telly or at the ground and nobody will even remember how the team played in April. No one will care about that high tackle in May. The 50 point win in June will mean nothing. Those four weeks are all that counts, and bloody fine weeks they are.


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748 words including title.

 

[The Colonel]

Time, ladies and gentlemen....

 

[Willow]

Thank you time keeper.

Good luck one and all.

 

[The Colonel]

Sorry guys, I'll be posting scores as soon as I possibly can. I've had a surprise audit sprung on me about 4 hours ago and I am right in the middle of stocktake at the same time. At best it will be sometime tomorrow before scores are posted. Apologies but I will sort things out as soon as possible.

 

[Black Kitty]

No worries Colonel
Life has a way of putting speed bumps in the way, it’s what it does best!
We’ll all still be here once the audit hurricane passes

 

[Pistol]

stepping in to mark the game






























































me

sorry for the teaser

 

[Willow]

You work too hard Pistol Pete. I'll do it if you want.

 

[Dave Q]

If the ref is otherwise waylaid due to circumstances beyond his control, then it is my respectful submission that Bumble be allowed to submit his piece late as he was also effected by factors beyond his control.

 

[Pistol]

If the ref is otherwise waylaid due to circumstances beyond his control, then it is my respectful submission that Bumble be allowed to submit his piece late as he was also effected by factors beyond his control.

I respect the submission there Dave.

However I should also point out that there is the proxy system in place which allows the assigned captain to submit a piece for a player in their absence. It is also acceptable for a stand in captain or vice captain to submit the piece.