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2012 Rnd 5: Bluebags v Dragons

Willow

Assistant Moderator
Messages
108,129
jersey_bluebags_1a.gif
-VS-
jersey_dragons_1a.gif


PREVIEW: Mate against mate, state against state. With former team mates playing against each other, this match is sure to generate some fireworks!

Game Thread:
* This is a game thread only. Only game posts can be made here - team lists, substitutions, and 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:
* 5 -V- 5 (+ 3 reserves for home sides; + 2 for away)
* No 'TBA' or changing players named
* Captains must stick with original teams named

Rules: http://f7s.leagueunlimited.com/rules.php
Official Word Counter: http://f7s.leagueunlimited.com/wordcount.php

FULL TIME: Sunday 26th August 2012 (You have until midnight)
Referee: madunit
Venue: HENSON PARK

NB: SEMI-FINALS KICK OFF ON AUG 30
 

Willow

Assistant Moderator
Messages
108,129
The Saints go marching out of the Marlborough Hotel en route to Henson Park where we will be taking on a few old mates. Hutty1986 is the designated driver and Breathingfire is giving directions.

ST GEORGE TEAM - ROUND 5, 2012
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Tanner Ave
Slippery Morris

Fire
Everlovin' Antichrist
Willow
(c)

Reserves:
Breathingfire
Hutty1986

Good luck one and all. :thumn

 

Willow

Assistant Moderator
Messages
108,129
Willow | St George
jersey_dragons_1a.gif


Blow up the Pokies

To blow up the pokies and drag them away, 'cause they're taking the food off your table.
- The Whitlams

Poker machines are an infestation. A disease that has turned the Rugby League administration into addicts.

Don't get me wrong, I'm no wowser. In the 1960s, I was introduced to gambling whilst still in primary school. Living in Sydney, I recall the Melbourne Cup Sweep in the classroom and the teacher suspending lessons so we could listen to it on the radio. Later, I recall taking the afternoon off work just to be part of the race that stopped a nation. I have the proud distinction of picking a tri-fecta in the Cup. I've attended famous race tracks and played with the bookies in 'the circle'. Off the track, I got on famously with an illegal SP Bookie who had his own phone on the bar of Newtown's Marlborough Hotel. He'd cash my paycheck, and in return I'd peruse the form guide and place a $2 each way bet on the nag of my choice. At the football, I looked forward to picking the first try scorers. At home, my mates and I had more than a few card nights.

So I'm no wowser. But those were simpler times.

Gambling aside, I recall going to St George Leagues Club to play table tennis or get a hair cut. Maybe we'd watch a movie upstairs. Occasionally the auditorium would have an international act or a theatre production. For example, in 1972 I saw Jesus Christ Superstar at Sydney's famous Capitol Theatre, then saw it again at St George Leagues Club in Kogarah... the St George production was better.

There were poker machines in the seventies, but I just don't recall seeing them. They would have been a smaller part of the establishment, hidden away. Considered boring by most.

This gave way to the greed of the eighties and extraordinary changes to gambling legislation. The innocuous illegal SP Bookie at the pub was gone and replaced by the far more insidious legal 'PubTAB'. This opened the floodgates to machine gambling. There was no stopping the proliferation of pokies... including at my old club. After travelling overseas for some years, I returned to St George Leagues in the 1990s... and I didn't recognise it.

The old barber was long gone, as was the table tennis and numerous other recreation facilities. The auditorium was a run down shell. The community of 'The Taj' had departed. Left in its place was a pokie palace. Of course St George were not the only club to succumb to this madness, the machines had taken over the Australian urban landscape.

Enter the proposed 'pokie tax'.

In April 2011, Independent MP Andrew Wilkie took full advantage of a near hung parliament and pushed for gambling reforms. What followed was a smear campaign that almost brought Wilkie down. The pro-gambling lobby is powerful, their claws embedded in clubs and pubs across the nation.

In November 2011, St George Leagues Club General Manager Danny Robinson said the club would be closing their doors should the proposed tax get through parliament. According to an interview with 2GB's Ray Hadley, this would be the death knell of the St George-Illawarra Dragons.

My view was that Robinson should have stepped down immediately. He was either talking rubbish, or admitting that he managed a club that never achieved viable alternative revenue streams. No one closes a multi-million dollar operation over one source of revenue, unless the club is run by someone who has no idea.

Danny made mention of the 30,000 members who would be affected by the proposed tax. In my opinion, he should be more answerable to those members.

As it turned out, the numbers changed in parliament and Wilkie's Bill was scrapped. So we'll probably never know if the scare-mongering had any basis. But since then, the NRL has scored a $1 billion five-year broadcast rights windfall which should see the game well stocked, so I doubt any club would have been forced to close their doors if we decided to 'blow up the pokies'.

I do try to be the optimist and look forward to taking back our clubs and pubs. Perhaps one day we will voluntarily rid ourselves of these silly addictions. If lady luck is truly on our side, the pokies are destined to become a relic of the past.

Defeat them in your secret battle, show them you can be your own man again.

Words | 750
 

Slippery Morris

First Grade
Messages
7,395
Slippery Morris for St George

jersey_dragons_1a.gif

POOR BRIAN

b-smith_200x233.jpg


It’s 1992 and Brian Smith has reached his first Grand Final as a first grade coach with the St George Dragons. He started his finals campaign with a close loss to Illawarra 18-16 but then guided his team to two hard fought victories where points were at a premium. A semi-final win against the Newcastle Knights (3-2) followed by another nail biter against Illawarra (4-0).

Brian gets the famous Red V to the Grand Final with two brutal victories. He is up against a star studded Brisbane Broncos outfit filled with Origin players. The team was coached by Wayne Bennett who is also out there to win his first premiership as a coach. The Brisbane club are favourites here and Brian has a lot to prove as nobody picked the Dragons to make the Grand Final at the start of the year especially looking at the two line-ups on paper. The St George Dragons continue giving their fans 80 minutes of suspense and win the Grand Final 5-4. A last minute field goal from the ever reliable player Brad Mackay wins them the game.

In 1993 Brian is up for it again and has made it back to back Grand Final appearances for the famous Red V. The Semi Finals series is a less stressful campaign with two convincing victories over the Raiders (31-10) and the Canterbury Bulldogs (27-12). The Dragons have more people believe they can win this game as opposed to last year but are still not favourites to win the game against the Brisbane Broncos with Wayne Bennett looking to win his first premiership. The Dragons go out and beat the Bronco’s 36-6 with their captain Mark Coyne scoring six tries all under the posts. They continue their great run in the finals series with another convincing win.

Super League then breaks out and Brian is left with no club as rumours circulate of a merger with another club and he is no certainty of being that coach. So Brian takes on a coaching position in England, only to return to the Parramatta Eels a year later.

In 1997, 1998 and 2000 Wayne Bennett wins three titles and is in the lead in terms of winning premierships between himself and Brian Smith (3-2).

In 2001 Brian had a great year with the Eels breaking all records. He gets them to a Grand Final against an Andrew Johns inspired Newcastle Knights. The Eels continue their great record breaking season to win the Grand Final 42-0 to make it the biggest winning margin in a premiership decider. The score is now 3-3 between to two coaches.

In 2006 Bennett wins his fourth premiership as coach against a Melbourne Storm side that is later found to have exceeded the salary cap and stripped of their titles. It was a great effort as the Storm where favourites to win this title but Brisbane had other ideas sending Shane Webcke out as a winner with a great victory. Wayne Bennett is now up 4-3 and Brian Smith is up to his third NRL club.

2010 and they meet again. Wayne Bennett coaching his second NRL team in the St George Illawarra Dragons against Brian Smith with his fourth NRL club, the Sydney Roosters. Bennett has just won his second Minor Premiership with the Dragons and is looking to finish the job and bring home the joint venture's first premiership (if Brian really did win in 1992-3 Grand Finals it would be St George’s 18th premiership). Brian Smith has got an unlikely Grand Final appearance with the Roosters after winning one of the longest finals games in history against the Tigers which is a remarkable effort.

Brian Smith wins the nail biting Grand Final and has now won four premierships to equal Wayne Bennett as the two most successful coaches in history.

Unfortunately for Brian the crucial bits of the above are not true.

In real life, the results of the Grand Finals and the score between himself and Wayne is 7-0. Brian lost all four Grand Finals and his record is far less convincing than his nemesis Wayne Bennett.

Poor Brian.

But to get to a Grand Final is a fantastic achievement. Unfortunately, you are not credited no way near as much as winning them. People seem to forget that to get to a premiership decider you need to produce a season of good consistent footy, providing great memories along the way.

Thanks for 92-93 Brian Smith.

747 words
 
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Drew-Sta

Moderator
Staff member
Messages
24,567
A desperate Bluebags team roll up. No team bus, no cab-charge, they're forced to take public transport for their final game.

Newtown
1. Drew-Sta (c)
2. Timmah (vc)
3. muzby
4. Rexxy
5. Cliffhanger

Sadly, no reserves have responded to make themselves available, so we're taking it back to the 60's and 70's... Bluebags style!
 

muzby

Village Idiot
Staff member
Messages
45,708
muzbyswaggers up for the bluebags..

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750 words, title to end..

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The Best Man For The Job.


John Grant sat at his desk, looking at his short list of candidates provided by a selection committee for his new ARLC chief executive to replace David Gallop.


The list read: Andrew Demetriou, the tough AFL chief executive; Gina Reinhart, billionaire mining magnate; Russell Crowe, owner of the Rabbitohs; and Divad Pollag, an unknown who seemed to know his stuff when it came to rugby league administration.


“Sarah, please send in the first candidate” said Grant into his buzzer.


The door opened, and in walks Dean Young. He smiles at Grant and said “Heyyyyy! Dr Jamieson! I’m here for my check-up for long term damage after the Greg Inglis hit.”


Grant looks back at Young and says “Dr Jamieson is down the hall, to the left”. Young makes a “click click” sound with his mouth whilst doing the double finger gun sign at Grant and walks out.


In walks Andrew Demetriou. Grant starts by asking him “Andrew, I’m pleased you’re willing to walk away from the AFL and join the ARLC.”


“Oh, you’re wrong there Jimmy.”


“John” says Grant.


“Whatever” replied Demetriou “I’m perfectly capable of running both the AFL and the NRL. We’ll be able to streamline both competitions. My first change will move NRL to an oval field – allows more players. And what’s with the low scores? Let’s add a couple of extra goalposts to boost scores”.


Grant stands up and points to the door. “Get. Out. Now.”


As Demetriou walks out, Grant sees a bewildered Dean Young wandering along the corridor. He turns into Grant’s office, sits down and says “Heyyyyyy! Dr Jamies..”


“No Dean. Down the hall” interrupts Grant.


Through the door walks Gina Reinhart. Grant asks her “So Gina, we’re impressed you want to run the NRL. What can you bring to the ARLC?”


Reinhart says, in her softly spoken manner, “Well John, I’ve proven myself to be a perfectly capable business administrator and great at making money. I can offer jobs for retired players in my mines, and I can control the media. I own shares in Channel Ten, Fairfax and have recently purchased a forum called ‘League Unlimited’.” **Editor’s note: Grant is stunned by Gina’s beauty & knowledge of Rugby League **


“And what would you ask as salary?” questions Grant.


“Just all the profits from the game.” Says Reinhart **not a bad deal, hey John? –ed**

Infuriated, Grant points to the door and orders Gina to leave. As she walks out the door, Russell Crowe enters.


“Morning Russell, tell me why you’d be the best person to run the game” says Grant.


“Well John, I’ve brought the Rabbitohs back from oblivion, so I know how to run a football organisation. I’ve got excellent celebrity contacts so can bring in money and am passionate about making NRL the no.1 sport in the world.”


“Well Russell, I must say you come with excellent credentials. I’m almost willing to offer you the job now”
“Just one condition, John.”


“What’s that Russell?”


“TOFOG must sing the theme song. None of this Bon Jovi junk.” And seemingly from nowhere, Crowe whips out a guitar and starts belting out “Thhhissss isss owah house!”


Grant puts his head in one hand, starts shaking it and points to the door with the other hand.


As Russell leaves the room (still singing), Divad Pollag enters. Whilst not a lot was known about him, the selection committee thought he was the strongest candidate. Grant notices he is a tall, skinny man with a strange silver moustache.


“So tell me Mr Pollag, why do you think you’re qualified to run the NRL?”


In a strange, nasally tone Pollag says “Well, um, Mr Grant, um, I believe that, um, the NRL needs to be strong, um, and win the war in Western, um, Sydney. “


Grant stands up, leans over the desk and rips off the fake moustache, revealing that Pollag is really David Gallop.


With a shriek, Gallop leaps up, dives headfirst through the window and goes running off down the street.
John Grant sits down, slams his fist into his desk, and asks himself rhetorically “Where can I find someone with half a brain to be able to run the competition?” **What about Gina Reinhart? – ed.**


Just at that moment Dean Young again enters Grant’s office. He smiles and says “Heyyyyy! Dr Jamieson! I’m here for my check-up.”


Grant looks at Young, puts out his hand and says “Dean, I’d like to offer you a job for next year”.
 
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Tanner Ave

Juniors
Messages
539
Tanner Ave, St George
jersey_dragons_1a.gif


Bromancing the stone



Okay, so I know that the Rugby League is trying to get women involved in the great game. We have a round dedicated to Women in League, there's education on how to treat women and we have women on the newly formed Independent Commission. However, no matter how much work is done to include women in the fabric of Rugby League, it always has and always will have a special relationship with men.

From a young age this relationship consumes boys' dreams, their time, school lunch times and their weekend activities. You know how it works, friendships are formed from the footy team. By default, girls are left behind.

It doesn't change as boys get older. Dreams, not of playing in the grand final but watching your team win one. Lunch times, not playing but blogging about it. Of course, weekends are based around the NRL draw.

So it's inevitable that men gravitate towards other men who are equally obsessed with this pastime. Groups form based on the football relationship that involves past stories and current stories. Thoughts about everything football and the occasional game of touch footy in the park. By habit they exclude women, well in most cases anyway.

Most of these groups are made up of healthy relationships, let's call them bromances. But occasionally, just occasionally, some bromances cause us to question what’s really going on. The line of healthy and scary is blurred. So just looking at the recent past of league, let's look at some of the more alarming bromances.

The Continues Call team:

EVERY weekend for 30 odd weekends, in a small commentary box, the questions has to be asked. This relationship is open to the public scrutiny, available to be judged by all. So let's have a look at what makes it alarming.

Bickering: check.
Pet nicknames: check.
Sharing meals: check.
Standing up for one another against an outsider: check.
Common interests: check.

That sounds more like a marriage than a working relationship between grown men.

Brett and Glenn Stewart:

Yes, these boys are actually brothers so let me explain why they would be on a list of scary bromances.

Let's go back to the Manly v Melbourne game last year.

Adam Blair and Glenn Stewart are engaged in a fight and both sent from the field. On their way to the tunnel they start fighting again. Now these are grown men on a football field, what was really going to happen except maybe a black eye or bloody nose? Well brother Brett ran into that fight with the speed of Usain Bolt, the third man in. You'd swear his older brother was in a pub with a cage fighter brandishing a knife to his throat. I get the brotherly love here but in all honesty that seemed a bit much.

Darius Boyd and Wayne Bennett:

Unless you have only started to watch league you would be aware of the love these grown men show for each other. It is unclear if Darius even sleeps without first checking in with his mentor. I know Wayne is a great coach and what seems to be a great father figure, but when you are in your early 20s with another 10 years ahead of you, what happened when the coach has had enough? I think Darius needs some time to discover himself!

Queensland aligned Storm players:

Okay, these guys quite literally spend months together in camps. Think about it, Storm camps, Queensland camps and Australian camps. Come on, that seems like more time together than most husbands and wives would enjoy.

Tim Moltzen and Benji Marshall:

When you are prepared to ruin your reputation and any hint of integrity, you have just to stay with your house mate. Well, that seems excessively bromantic to me. Let's be clear; backing out on your contract is one thing, but to embellish the facts as to the reasons, and then act like a three-year-old and not return calls from the organisation that you had signed to play for is dead-set scary! In the age of multimedia, Benji would have been only a Facebook status update away. Now does that sound ike a friendship or an obsessive partner?

Channel Nine and anything West Tigers:

Just watch and you will see! A match made in heaven?

Now that's bromantic.

Bottom line is this: If any other employees required this much attention from work colleagues, their 'life' partners would ask more questions than a Melbourne salary cap enquiry.

(750 words)
 

Hutty1986

Immortal
Messages
34,034
Hutty1986 , for St George
jersey_dragons_1a.gif


Welcome to the Jungle

Welcome to the jungle, we got fun 'n' games
We got everything you want, honey we know the names
We are the people that you find, whatever you may need
If you got the money, honey we got your disease.

I reckon this Guns ‘n’ Roses classic is the new soundtrack to Laurie Daley’s life. When it was formally announced that he of the massive schnozz and unique commentary had been appointed the New South Wales Blues coach, this was the first thing that popped into my head. Is there a tougher gig in Australian sport than being the man to lead the Blues into battle against the brilliant Maroons?

So let’s get this straight; Daley now has the reins of a side that has lost the last seven straight Origin series. NSW are up against the classiest ‘spine’ (1, 6, 7 and 9) of the modern era and there are not one, but two games in Queensland next year. After nearly a decade of disappointment, it’s a job that has proven to be the definition of a ‘poisoned chalice.’ On the surface, it appears that the former Raiders great has been given a one-way ticket to sleepless nights and Billy Slater-induced nightmares...but I think Pinocchio’s long-lost cousin might just go okay. Despite all the doom and gloom that years of failure can bring about, there is also plenty to look forward to as a Blues fan.

If the inspirational performances in game two in 2010 and 2011 have taught us anything, it’s that Sydney is slowly turning back into the impenetrable fortress it once was. A young, exciting backline did remarkably well from very limited opportunities this season. If we can find a halfback that does more than bomb or throw predictable inside passes, I’d be putting a few sneaky dollars on a NSW 2-1 series win in 2013.

In the jungle, welcome to the jungle
Watch it bring you to your kn-kn-knees, knees
I wanna watch you bleed

It has been a tough few years for Laurie Daley. There’s little doubt he still adores his Raiders and aside from a late-season run in 2010 and their annual wins over St George Illawarra, the Green Machine has been in desperate need of a tune-up for a long time. 1994 was the last time Raiders fans had much to smile about, that year it was Loz and Queensland coach Mal Meninga running around in the centres and halves respectively. That memorable grand final was terrific reading for Canberra fans, with a 36-12 victory over Canterbury and tries to the pair. Oh, how times have changed. Mal now sits comfortably as the most successful SOO mentor of all time, while Daley lines up for a crack at the Queenslanders. It’s the Master versus the Apprentice and the Master will be thirsty for blood.

Personally, I know the Blues game plan for 2013 will be perfect. As Daley once said in commentary, “the team who scores the most points in this game will win.” As you can see, Laurie’s skills behind the microphone are nearly as good as Mal’s short-lived exploits in the political arena. Quotes like the one above are a good laugh, but the Nostril King will be the one laughing the hardest at his critics if NSW finally get the industrial-sized monkey off their backs during his time in charge.

One man who has endured the highs and lows of Origin is Ricky Stuart. A wily, talented seven who was also a part of Canberra’s last premiership triumph, the bloke they call ‘Sticky’ came within a bee’s appendage of a series victory this year as coach. Ricky will stay heavily involved with the campaign and you would not want to be his liver specialist when the Blues are crowned winners once again.

Welcome to the jungle, it gets worse here every day
You learn to live like an animal in the jungle where we play
If you got a hunger for what you see, you'll take it eventually
You can have anything you want but you better not take it from me

If you want something bad enough, you’ll get it. The poor old Blues fans who have sat through years of gloating and XXXX-fuelled dribbling want it pretty bloody badly I reckon. While he may not be as outwardly emotional as his predecessor, Laurie Daley needs to win.

Welcome to the Jungle Loz.. Let’s make those toads bleed.


Sources:
http://www.elyrics.net/read/g/guns-n...le-lyrics.html

(745 words)
 
Messages
42,632
EA for Saints.

jersey_dragons_1a.gif


Know your enemy.

Four years ago ex-Penrith, NSW and Australian Rugby League player Mark Geyer declared "An AFL tsunami is slowly building and it's going to swamp everything if we don't do anything about it".


Now MG, God bless him, has never been the brightest match in the box, but that one single statement is looking like the worst call since Hirohito’s advisors said “They won’t use the A bomb”. As a fellow Westie, it pains me to put together a post-tsunami summary as a follow-up to Mark’s prediction.

Since the fateful day in 2008 when the second AFL team in Sydney was announced, AFL has gone downhill in Sydney faster than it takes for the first fumble in an AFL game to happen.

To be fair to MG though, in hindsight there is some evidence that AFL was heading in the right direction in Sydney at the time. The Swans had averaged 35,000 odd in 2007, a season where they ran seventh and were bundled out in the first week of the AFL finals. It wasn’t a stretch to expect things to get even better from there.

But they didn’t.

Their 2007 attendance average has been whittled down to around 25,000 in 2012 whilst hovering near the top of the AFL table all season. By any stretch of the imagination, that result of the announcement of the second AFL team in Sydney would have been unthinkable. But that’s exactly what it did. Any enthusiasm Sydney may have had for AFL has been damaged by the second Sydney team. It has shown the AFL up for what they are, greedy and invasive. They also have an innate belief that AFL is what we all want to watch, we just need the opportunity.

If you went back to the day the AFL made the decision and told them that the Swans would be near the top of AFL competition and averaging 25k in 2012, they'd have laughed heartily, but that's exactly what's happened. If you'd told them that the average Free-to-air TV audience in Sydney for Swans games was closer to 50k than 100k in 2012 they'd have had the men in white coats waiting outside, but that's exactly what happened.

Their mistakes were, and these are just a few;

1 Assumed that the big crowds in the mid-00's for the Swans were loyal Swans/AFL fans, they weren’t.

2. Poaching Israel Folau as the new team’s figurehead. That decision completely ignored the fact that Folau played all his senior Rugby League with Brisbane, Melbourne and Queensland, three of the four most hated teams in Western Sydney. If Folau had played a game for Manly, he’d have had the whole set.

3. Putting Kevin Sheedy in as coach to give the new club a famous mouthpiece. He's famous in the southern states but in Sydney he's a complete and utter non-entity.

4. The Blacktown debacle. Getting ex-mayor Leo Kelly to fork out ratepayers hard-earned for a stadium was as poor idea evidenced by Kelly being punted by the voters at the first opportunity. The “stadium that Leo built” is now a rather large white elephant and AFL are wearing its stigma. Not using it just infuriates the general public more.

5. Underestimating the lack of interest in anything that comes out of Melbourne. We don't hate Melbourne generally, we don't give a rat’s arse about Melbourne period.

6. Bullshitting. We can see bullshit a mile off, so when you tell us that AFL is “Australia’s game” but it isn’t our game, and we’re Australian, we called bullshit. When you say there are 20,000 kids playing AFL in Sydney, yet we don't see kids playing it, we called bullshit. When you tell us that there are 1,700 players wanting to use Birchgrove but no one in the area can remember seeing any AFL being played, we called bullshit.

7. Underestimating how entrenched Rugby League is. The AFL blindly assumed that Sydney was ready for a second team based on the Swans mid 2000’s crowds and that alone. They also blindly assumed that people who didn't follow Rugby League or the NRL were ripe for the picking. It never dawned on them that those people just didn't want to follow anything.

In conclusion AFL got it wrong and got it wrong in a big way. They misread Sydney completely and now face a cashed-up adversary with a long memory.

Tsunami my arse.

743 words, including title.
 
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Rexxy

Coach
Messages
10,604
Rexxy for Bags

newtown_1908_s.jpg


Thanks to Captain Drew-Sta for the hard yards in a tough year.


THE MEN FROM GEORES RIVER - Apologies to Banjo Patterson

There was movement at Allawah station, for the word had passed around
That the Dragons from St George/Illawarra had made the grade,
And had joined Sydney Roosters - in the 2010 Grand Final,
So all forwards and backs had gathered to the fray.
All the tried and noted players from the catchment way down south
Had mustered at the Leagues Club overnight,
For the players love hard tackles where the rowdy fans go wild,
And the players snuff the battle with delight.

There was Hornby, who wasn't born, when they played the Panasonic Cup,
The old man with his hair as white as snow;
But few could run off of him when his blood was fairly up -
He would go where other halfbacks couldn't go.
And BMoz from Kiama Juniors came up to lend a hand,
No better winger ever held the ball;
For never forward or back could tackle him in motion,
Either side of the Pacific Ocean,
He learnt to play while cheering on the Saints.

And one was there called Sowie, a small and weedy beast,
He was something like a jockey undersized,
With a touch of prancing pony - three parts thoroughbred at least
Soward was a goal kicker much prized.

But being so slight and weedy, he didn't always take on the line,
And Brain Smith said, "That guy will never do"
For a long game such as ours - lads, we should use the element of surprise
Lets get Soward before he can run right through

But when the Roosters shut down Sowie, he simply passed it out to Boydy
And the Roosters game plan, was well and truly in the poo.

All week before, they trained around Georges River, up by Tom Ugly's side,
Where Carss Park hills are twice as steep and twice as rough,
Where a players boot strike firelight from the flint stones every stride,
The man that makes 40 tackles a game is good enough.

When Grand Final day appeared there was laughter in the air
from Arncliffe down to Bega and all parts in between.
Some warned of 96 and 99, but this time it was different, we now have Big Wayne Benett
And the players know the value of a level head can bring.

Things started out the Dragons way, with a penalty near half way,
and the crowd sensed what was to come,
A kick over head from Soward, to the hands of Mighty Gaz.
The Saints were on the board with kick to come.

Brian Smith sat quietly fuming, after all his plans and scheming
He didn't quite look so relaxed now
with his latte sipping cronies, two parts milk and 1 part phony.
And Michael McInnes looked on, giving the cheer girls the eye.

Next to score were the Chooks, who used a play out of the books, when BJ Leilua caught a ball.
he was over in a jiffy but the try it looked quite iffy. With Braith Anasta claiming
that he had fallen in the ball.

The second half began, and the Dragons got the upper hand
when the ball went through the hands.
And the one they call Florence, who was faster than Albert Torrens, had them standing in the stands.

By the time the rain was falling the Red & Whites were scoring,
another try, again to Nighty, then to Youngy and then Fien.
By the time I thought to call it, Mark McInnes had lost interest
And slowly moved his gaze, to another shapely teen.

The rest I don't remember, but I sobered up in December
And remembered all he great things of a mighty footy year,
Being a footy fan,
Is part of God's great plan
And in March it started again - but things could never be the same
At least for me, a humble footy fan.

And down by Wollongong Oval, where the Escarpment meets the shoreline,
Their torn and rugged battlements on high,
Where the air is clear as crystal, and Boob Milward wears a blazer
At midnight under the cold and frosty sky,
And where Wayne Bennett's ghost roams and the gumtrees sweep and sway
The men from the George's and Shoalhaven Rivers are a household word today,
Young, Hornby, Creagh call into the Steelers Club to say g'day
And the local bar flies tell the story of their rise


http://www.middlemiss.org/lit/authors/patersonab/poetry/snowy.html
 
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Drew-Sta

Moderator
Staff member
Messages
24,567
Hi guys

I'm so sorry. I had an article written but because I moved house on the weekend things just got away from me. I'm really, really sorry to my Bluebags teammates - I let you down. My sincerest apologies to the Saints too.

Drew
 

Willow

Assistant Moderator
Messages
108,129
Thanks Time Keeper and all the best to the Bluebags. Over to you Mr Ref...
 

Timmah

LeagueUnlimited News Editor
Staff member
Messages
100,874
Time got away from me as well guys, plenty happening all weekend and this just skipped my mind.

Apologies Baggers :(
 

madunit

Super Moderator
Staff member
Messages
62,358
St George - 438

Willow - Blow Up The Pokies - 89
A very well written and researched piece into the poker machine infestation amongst all Clubs and pubs, especially Leagues Clubs.

Slippery Morris - Poor Brian - 87
A cleverly written piece that shows very clearly that the gap between Brian Smith and Wayne Bennett's tag of 'supercoach' is essentially 7 games.

Tanner Ave - Bromancing The Stone - 86
A look at some of the unusually and almost disturbing close relationships by prominent men in the rugby league world.

Hutty1986 - Welcome To The Jungle - 87
A witty and clever look into the appointment and chances of Laurie Daley as NSW Origin coach in 2013.

Everlovin' Antichrist - Know Your Enemy - 89
A well researched and written piece about the AFL's stupid decision to have a second team in Sydney.


Newtown - 178

muzby - The Best Man For The Job - 86
A humourous look at how the interviews for the new Rugby League boss went. Can't believe Gina didn't get the gig!

Rexxy - The Men From Georges River - 92
A magnificent restructuring of Banjo Patterson's poem.


St.George 438 def Newtown 178

Player Of The Match: Rexxy (Newtown)
 

Willow

Assistant Moderator
Messages
108,129
Thanks heaps ref and congrats to Rexxy on the POTM. Good luck baggers :thumn

Great work fellow Saints... excellent team work. Onwards... I do believe we have a semi to contest.
 

Willow

Assistant Moderator
Messages
108,129
Backpacker Award Points

Rexxy (Bluebags) - 3 points
Willow (St George) - 2 points
Everlovin' Antichrist (St George) - 2 points
Hutty1986 (St George) - 1 point
Slippery Morris (St George) - 1 point
 

Rexxy

Coach
Messages
10,604
Congrats Dragons and good luck in the future.

Thanks Ref. I dont take getting MOM over guys like EA and Pillow lightly. I am humbled and unworthy.

No wuckers Drew, you've been an inspiration all year. And good luck to the other Bagginses.

Seeing this is the end of an era, just like to say that although F7s can be a pain it has taken young league fans and turned them into great writers and future historians of the game - before our eyes. I follow madunit and timmah on twitter and have seen those two guys start to get some real traction in the professional league writing community. They write so well and with much passion. I'd like to think the 7s have contributed to that. The long hard slog of a 750 word deadline is about as welcome as a monthly colonoscopy for old cynics, but for you younger writers, the world is your oyster.

PS Muzby (you silly, silly man), I thought we were in with a chance, even though we were 2 on 5.
 
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