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2011 ROUND 9: Rabbitohs v Panthers

Willow

Assistant Moderator
Messages
108,132
South Sydney Rabbitohs -V- Penrith Panthers

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-V-
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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 (+ 2 reserves for the visiting team, + 3 reserves for the home team)
* 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

Kick Off: Sunday 7th August 2011 (2100AEST)
Full Time: Wednesday 17th August 2011 (2100AEST)
Referee: Drew-Sta
Venue: Redfern Oval
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Monk

Referee
Messages
21,347
Souths watch their fans do their customary "'ode to the shopping trolley" as they catch the bus through Redfern. What a beautiful sight.

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Starting:
Monk (C)
Marshall_Magic
byrne_rovelli_fan82 (VC)
Lambretta
griffo346

Bench:
Bubbles
Bwuce
Bazal
 

Big Mick

Referee
Messages
26,239
Panthers run out to the field to the tune of "mama's gonna knock you out" realising its pretty soft for our mums to fight for us....oops.

Starting:
Azkatro
Madunit
Leaguenut
Goleel
Broncoman

Reserves:
Big Mick
Didgi
 

Monk

Referee
Messages
21,347
Monk runs onto the field with his jersey on backwards... whoops. The effects of sleep deprivation.

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++++++++++++++++++++++++++

A totally different experience

Living in Wollongong all of my life it’s been pretty rare that I get to see the Roosters play down here, let alone win. The closest I’ve come is a 20-all Draw in 2001, as well as a Pre-Season Game in which Joel Monaghan got seriously injured, but only Souths fans really put any merit (Pun not intended) into Pre-Season games. Last weekend was the first time I have ever witnessed a Roosters Victory (in a Regular Season Game) at WIN Stadium, and I loved every second of it.

It started off with some hopeful banter with one of my best mates who has been a Dragons supporter all his life, for the purpose of hilarity, let’s say his name was... Wayne. Here’s a little snippet of Wayne and mine’s conversation on the drive to WIN Stadium.

Monk: “Wayne mate, I can’t imagine how it must feel to lose four games in a row, that’s almost as bad as us losing five in a row... season’s heading downhill mate.”
Wayne: “If you think Bennett is going to let us lose four in a row, you’re just as delusional as you were last October.”
Monk: “Low blow man... Too soon.”


Fast Forward through the Toyota Cup Game (which was handily won by the Roosters in an impressive display), and Wendell Sailor (AKA Wollongong’s favourite Dragon - Big Dell) mentions that Soward is playing in this afternoon’s game, much to the shock of myself and Wayne.

Monk: “Did he just say Soward was playing? Why would you merged nuffies play him? He’s not even close to being right! We’re going to tear you guys to shreds!”
Wayne: “Damn Wendell’s looking fit, I wonder if he would have another year in him... I mean yeh, Soward’s playing, how weird.”


The game starts and I get comfortable for what is sure to be a corker of a game, and before I know it the Dragons have are over in the corner. Of Course, Wayne sits there in his Steelers jersey (because he’s such a cool Dragons fan) with that smug ‘You’re in for a long afternoon mate’ look in his eye. But before he can utter a word, the Video Ref sends back a ‘Refs Call’ and the ruling is No Try. Next thing I know, Ryles scores a try against his former club, at that very moment, I felt the wind change, there was a Different smell in there air. No, it wasn’t the aftermath from my Chipotle Burrito which I had before the game; it was the smell of a real football game.

Despite all the distractions during the week (which, if you don’t know about you’ve been living under a rock... Or in Redfern and you can’t afford to buy the local paper), the Roosters were putting up a fight and Halftime came at the perfect time, just as the Dragons were gaining momentum after having gained the lead. I had ‘that’ feeling.

Monk: “Oi, open up the Cheese and Bacon Cheetos.”
Wayne: “Only if you guys can get the lead back.”
Monk: “You’re a merkin, have fun walking home.”


You know what ‘that’ feeling is. When you just know you’re team is going to win, I just knew it, and when I looked up at the Big Screen at WIN Stadium and saw the Roosters were $7.00 to win, I nearly rolled down the hill. I was confident that soon, I would taste the Cheesy goodness of Cheetos, we’d reclaim the lead soon enough.

As usual, I was on the money, we reclaimed the lead and didn’t let the Dragons score a point in the second half. I was ridiculously proud of my club; it still hadn’t hit me that this was the first time in Wollongong, where I had seen the Roosters get the two points.

So what does this mean for the Roosters? It’s our first away win for the season which thankfully means we avoid having that ugly statistic against us at the end of the season. It’s our first win in Wollongong in what seems to be forever, so essentially, it’s great that our players can go and play at grounds where they may not have the best records, and come away with the two points. It’s also good to stick it to my mate... That’s probably the most important bit of all.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++

731 Words according to the OWC
 

byrne_rovelli_fan82

First Grade
Messages
7,477
jersey_rabbitohs_1.gif


byrne_rovelli_fan82 for the Rabbitohs laughs at Monk for his poor appearance, before he retorts and she realises she has her boots on the wrong foot *embarrassed*

~~~

To be feared.

September 14th 2008 – NRL Qualifying Final, Melbourne Storm (1) vs New Zealand Warriors (8).

For Storm and Warriors fans alike this day has been etched into their memories, and both parties agree it was a fantastic game of football. Nobody expected the outcome that happened, nobody knew what to make of it as the final few minutes unfolded.

Since this day, fear has firmly been installed in the hearts and minds of the Melbourne Storm and their fans, the club itself won’t admit it but the fans have certainly spoken. A recent trip to a Storm post-match function confirmed these thoughts as Storm fans aired their thoughts over the club’s potential first week finals’ opponent. A resounding majority confirmed the Warriors are the team they didn’t want to play.

It is not only the Storm who need to be nervous, the other Top 8 teams will be well-aware of the Warriors, their 2008 upset doesn’t just haunt the Storm it haunts all teams.

Confirmation of just how much the Warriors have evolved since 2001 is evident in their year-by-year assessment. Excluding their poor years in 2004 and 2009 respectively they have carved out a future filled with promise, hope and realism. Even more they have nullified all the odds, as just another team making up the numbers, and their reputation of playing strong at the start of games before slacking off and allowing their opposition easy opportunities’.

One of their greatest attributes in the modern area is their ability to mix their flair with good structure and teamwork. Back in their day it was all about the ‘one-hand carries’ and ‘hot-potato’ football described by most league critics, but now they will only use this form when it was needed, no more did they try to use it every chance they got, instead they play the structured approach using their game plans, and when the timing is right then will they let loose. They are now able to play the right mixture of football, they’ve got the players who can play with flair and the players with good football brains and commonsense.

Opposition teams use one word to describe the Warriors: Unpredictable. They have always been un-predictable but one-dimensional. In those days the play was: ‘give it to Stacey and he’ll come up with something’ then it evolved into the ‘kick it to Manu’ method, but now, now opposition teams must be asking the question: ‘What now?’

Stacey Jones has moved on, Manu is still a strike weapon but he has others to aid him, many of them becoming an even bigger threat. Kristian Inu was one before demotion, Joel Moon has the ability to play as good as any winger, Kevin Locke is feeling comfortable, Bill Tupou has found his feet on the wing and even the forwards are making huge strides as leaders on the field and their youths stepping up out of the NYC are also turning into seasoned professionals.

In a nutshell the Warriors are still very much an unpredictable team only this time they have dropped the one-dimensional tag and have turned into a genuine threat; and not as potential title-contenders one day, but a real threat as a whole team.

James Maloney made the best assessments of the Warriors when he compared them to his former counterparts the Melbourne Storm. Here is an excerpt from the article.

* He goes as far as saying the Warriors' stars are comparable with the stellar names at the Storm.
"You've got blokes like Cameron Smith, Cooper Cronk, Billy Slater around you every day. It sort of rubs off on you," he said.
"The boys over here, some of them are in the same class.
"(At Melbourne) they're Aussie representatives and we've got plenty of Kiwi representatives."
Now as we draw closer to the pointy end of the season, the Melbourne Storm and their supporters will be watching results in the bottom half of the top carefully. On the outside they might feel their future is in their control, they will feel nothing will alter their destiny.
If they get too far ahead of themselves all they need is to look back to 2008. They will not want a repeat of that afternoon. Look out NRL Top 8 the Warriors are here to play.

~~~

717 words between the '~' according to the Official Word Counter

* - Excerpt is from article on nzherald.co.nz website titled: Warriors' stars match Storms' - Maloney

link here: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/warriors-league-team/news/article.cfm?c_id=360&objectid=10740908
 
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Goleel

Juniors
Messages
864
Gol for the Panthers

---

Hicks and Stones

I've never been inclined to abuse Parramatta players from the stands, something my fellow supporters find baffling since I am so ruthless about them over a beer at the pub or on the lounge watching the game. Behind their backs, I'm like a teenage girl with an inferiority complex, jealously tearing each and every player apart after even the most incidental of failures. Still, when seated in the Thornett Stand, the men in blue and gold are usually safe from my tirades.

Like most fears, it can be traced back to an unfortunate incident in my childhood. Inspired by a particularly foul mouthed friend and his frenzied and frankly unjustified abuse of Geoff Toovey, I gave Eels forward Dallas Weston an almighty thirteen year olds spray after a handling error gave the Sea Eagles some great field position. A burly man two rows in front of me turned around and politely asked me to watch my mouth, as that was his brother I was yelling at. I'd love to say I came back with a fantastic one liner that left the onlookers in awe of my wit, but I meekly sat down with a mumbled apology and soon excused myself to gorge on some comfort food, hot chips drenched in white vinegar, while my parents presumably apologised for my behaviour to the alleged Mr. Weston.

My fellow season ticketholders have heard this same story enough times to know that when I stand up and abuse an Eel, I've either worked up plenty of liquid courage or a Parramatta player has done something truly abysmal. Seeing as last Saturday I was embracing sobriety in anticipation of running the City 2 Surf the next day, it could only have been the abysmal, horrendous, downright embarrassing performance of Chris Hicks that got me out of my seat to sling a 30 second tirade of abuse in his direction, before quickly looking around for any sign of the Hicks family approaching me with bad intentions (although even his closest family would have to admit his play was ordinary).

Hicks' efforts to gift Manly a key try were well covered over the weekend, the most embarrassing display of 'skill' seen on a football field since the Mario falcon or the Nathan Brown/Lance Thompson tap debacle. A dog looks more graceful chasing its own tail than Hicks looked in attempting to clean up what wasn't even that devious a rolling ball, I've seen dozens of footballs take a crueller bounce than this one, yet Hicks stumbled and bumbled his way over the ball like he'd never seen it before, until Steve Matai dived in and scored the easiest and most humiliating of tries.

While that level of incompetence would have earned a tirade from me even if the perpetrator was an Eels legend like Nathan Hindmarsh or Luke Burt, players I love so dearly my sons will be named after them (note: fully dependant on missus approval, and a moot point since Burty or Hindy would never flail that badly on a football field), Hicks had already tested my patience this year. His debut in blue and gold against Penrith was one of the worst displays of outside defense I've seen, a bold statement considering the years I spent watching Eric Grothe Jr. His tough if opportunistic try earlier in the game had earned him a brief reprieve, but that impressive moment will be forever tarnished by the horror that followed, a moment so stunning it briefly made me forget myself, stand up and tear in.

It felt pretty good. Sure, Hicks couldn't hear me, my language may have offended fellow supporters and my last threats could get me at least questioned, if not arrested, should any ill have befallen Hicks later that night, but it was worth it. I was once called a drunk on live television by Mark Geyer when I dared to suggest it was within fans rights to boo their team, as both a cathartic release of frustration and as our most effective method of communicating our disapproval to the team. I feel the same here. While I don't have the courage to do so, I hope somebody told Hicks what they thought of his efforts at the post match function or at Jimmy's Kebabs at 3am the next morning, just in case his own personal shame wasn't enough for him to get the message. Chris Hicks, I don't think you are a very good footballer.

---

748 by the official counter.
 

madunit

Super Moderator
Staff member
Messages
62,358
madunit for the Panthers

The Wizard of Aus.

Once upon a time, in a world full of journalists brimming with integrity, honesty and professionalism; in the black and white days of sports writing when only facts were published, there was a wonderful game adored by all, called Rugby League.

There was also a little girl with a big imagination called Rebecca. She was a budding young sports writer who used to frolic in the sun kissed fields with her faithful puppy Philphil.

Then one fateful day, a monstrous tornado came along and turned their perfect lives upside down.

Rebecca frightened and scared, held onto her only friend, Philphil, while Mother Nature vented her awesome and mighty fury, before being knocked unconscious as her house was picked up and sucked up into the powerful vortex.


Rebecca was swept away to a colourful new world, filled with hyperbole, innuendo, rumour, fabrications, half-truths and other wondrous new things filling her fear and excitement, which she would never be able to purge herself of.

She was in a new world, detached from normal civilisation.

“We’re not in Sydney anymore Philphil.”

Rebecca decided to employ what little journalistic skills she had to ascertain how she would go about returning home. A nearby munchkin informed her that she needed to see the Wizard of Aus, as he is the only one capable of returning her to Sydney safely.

She soon found a yellow pathway leading to Emerald City and opted to follow it. She then saw what appeared to be a living scarecrow.

“Hello, my name is Rebecca, I’m from Sydney and I’m trying to find my way home, can you help?”

The scarecrow replied, “Hello, my name is Schubert, I’d like to help but alas, I have no brain!”

The scarecrow and Rebecca walked together further along the yellow road, before coming across what appeared to be a woodsman made of metal. Rebecca figured she would ask again for assistance.

“Hello, my name is Rebecca and this is my dog Philphil. We are lost and want to go back to Sydney, are you able to help?”

The metallic man replied, “Hello, my name is Gyngell, I don’t care much for your plight, as I have no heart.”

The Tin man joined the Scarecrow, Rebecca and Philphil as they continued on their journey, until they met a talking lion.

“Hello, my name…”

The lion was startled by Rebecca’s voice, running away and hiding. Philphil went after the lion and coaxed him out of his hiding place.


“Sorry about that,” said the lion. “My name is Gallop, you frightened me.”

“But lions are powerful mighty beasts, the king of the jungle,” remarked Rebecca.

“That may be so, however I have no courage,” revealed the timid Lion.

Rebecca revealed she sought the Wizard of Aus after being informed he could help her return home.


“Maybe he can help you all as well!”

Inspired by Rebecca’s hollow suggestion, they marched forth.

They all managed to get to speak the Wizard of Aus. He explained that in order for him to assist them, they first have to kill the wicked witch of the west and return to Emerald City with her broomstick.

So they set off again and before too long, they were intercepted by the Wicked Gould of the West.

“I’ll get you my pretty...and your little dog too!”

Filled with fear and an ambiguous objective, Rebecca was captured and held captive before Philphil, accompanied by the Scarecrow, Tin man and the Lion managed to set her free after using their amazing ability to deceive.

A fortunately nearby placed bucket of water was picked up by an angered Rebecca, who emptied its contents of the evil witch.

“I’m melting! I’m melting!” shrieked the evil witch, who literally melted and evaporated, leaving just a black hat, dress and broomstick.

Rebecca, now more confused, amazed, frightened and excited than ever before, wondered what more madness was in store, as she collected the broomstick and set forth for Emerald City

And so off she went, skipping and singing as though back in her past life, frolicking in fields heavily laden with flowers and innocence.


They sang and skipped along the golden bricked pathway, Rebecca’s heart full of hope that she and Philphil will soon be back home.

Sadly, Rebecca and Philphil never made it back to Sydney and still to this day, she continues writing wondrous and amazing stories of her stranger than fiction life in the fictional yet wonderful Land of Aus.


748 words, including title, according to OWC.
 

LeagueNut

First Grade
Messages
6,972
LeagueNut finishes his set and charges on to the field...

jersey_panthers_1.gif


LeagueNut - Panthers

TWENTY QUESTIONS (plus a few more)

1) If a Video Referee is asked to check grounding, why do they feel the need to check 10 other things before they ever get to the grounding of the ball?

2) Is anyone else expecting the Gold Coast Titans to fold over the next few years because that’s what’s expected from Gold Coast teams?

3) If “The Duke of Penrith” Philip Ronald Gould considered Ivan Cleary to be his first choice for the Panthers coaching role, and Brian McClennan was available at the same time, does that mean Gus doesn’t rate Bluey?

4) If you scrape into the Top 8 with a 50% winning record for the season, do you really deserve the chance to win a Premiership?

5) Has anyone in the NRL considered or planned for the possibility that the Warriors could host a 4 vs 5 home semi on the very same night that a reasonably large Rugby Onion tournament kicks off in Auckland?

6) Given the ridiculous number of jerseys each team has these days, and the ongoing fascination with “promotional socks” and other such garb, is it possible that a team will one day go through all 26 rounds with a different clothing combination each and every week?

7) The Bulldogs were “cap busted” in 2002 and won the comp in 2004. The Storm are looking like they’ll win the comp the year straight after their cap breach. Does the punishment really fit the crime?

8) Why does Bill Harrigan allow the current video referee setup to act as a crutch for gutless referees and touch judges too afraid to make a call on the spot if they can see there’s a possibility of a try being scored at the end of the play?

9) If Craig Bellamy is such an awesome club coach why did he suck at representative coaching?

10) Is anyone responsible for making sure the rules of the game are consistent across the globe?

11) If so, then where the hell are they each and every year when the NRL introduce their regular raft of rule changes to push us further away from tradition?

12) Why are there no openly gay players out of the 270+ first graders who take to the field each weekend?

13) Does anyone care that after nearly 15 years there still haven’t been a lot of Melbourne juniors coming into first grade?

14) How sure are you that there’s another significant salary cap breach being perpetrated RIGHT NOW by at least one NRL club?

15) Why can’t anyone in authority see it?

16) Golden point seems here to stay, two referees seems here to stay … why doesn’t anyone in the NRL seem to be able to reverse decisions?

17) Pay TV is generally a greedy money-hungry monopoly that tries to suck every last penny out of their customers pockets to help their poor starving shareholders … so why does Sky TV in New Zealand insist on paying for a range of numpties, nimrods, morons and munters on their Rugby League coverage instead of using the ready-made solution of Fox Sports or Channel 9 presenters?

18) There seems to be an increasingly large number of statistics available to cover almost each and every facet of the game these days – do we really care that Team X holds their opposition scoreless in the first ten minutes of a second half when leading by more than 4 points for at least twenty of the first forty minutes?

19) Surely he must have a worse record than his predecessor – so why hasn’t there been a rabid media campaign to remove Steve Kearney yet?

20) Why does it seem to be taking so damn long to throw the book at Ryan Tandy?

21) Does everyone know Tandy did “it” just like we knew Andrew Johns was doing “it”?

22) Thanks to the “close competition” these days, sooner or later the difference between two or three teams on the ladder at the end of the season won’t be able to be split by for-and-against – so what’s the full and correct measure of ladder order?

23) Is anyone else quietly sad that a “close competition” has come with a substantial sacrifice in quality?

24) Apart from referees, how many of us actually read more than 2 or 3 Forum Sevens articles each round?

25) Are you going to rush off and read a few more articles now to prove my last question wrong?


746 words in the official word counter doofer thingee.
 
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broncoman

Juniors
Messages
996
broncoman
#5 Panthers

Four Reasons Next Year Will Be Better than 2011

Some may think this article is a little premature, the 2011 NRL season still has some way to go, we still don't know who will win the premiership and many of the big hitters are just about to make their run. So despite the fact my team is still part of that premiership race I already have one eye on 2012, today I'll go over just a few reasons why.

The Resurgence of the Canberra Raiders
Most judges had the Raiders pencilled in for a top eight spot at very worse and potentially a top four position if the planets aligned for them, unfortunately for their sake the planets crashed into each other sometime in March. 2012 will see the return of Terry Campese, he is as important to this team as Benji is to the Tigers or Thurston is for North Queensland. Limited to just seven minutes this year I know he will be keen for a big year. Even in his absence this year could have been good for Canberra but pretty much everything that can go wrong has gone wrong, injuries to all their representative players has meant that a genuine challenge for the spoon became more realistic than a shot at making the finals after about round six. As we have seen in recent season confidence is a key factor for this team and if they get that back (and all their players) next year then the excitement machine will return.

Talented Juniors One Year Older
With the Toyota cup reaching half a decade in age we are starting to see some former stars of this competition reaching the top of the grade in the NRL. Alex Glenn for Brisbane became the first graduate of the competition to captain a first grade side this year and we should see more young players take on senior roles in 2012. Trent Merrin and Jharal Yow Yeh are among the players who have already stepped up to rep level while others are on the verge. Beau Henry will be instrumental in the Titans revival next year and Josh Papalli from Canberra has test player written all over him. The class of 2011 will be looking to step up but it's the players from 2007-2010 that I'll be looking out for next year.

Competitive State of Origin Series
As a Queensland supporter the last six years have been a joy come Origin time, but surely the streak has to end sometime right? 2012 it might just happen, while the Maroons look dominant I think New South Wales made great progress this year. If they get the team selection right and injuries are kind to them then they should be equal on paper for the first time in a long time, the Blues surely have to find room for Chris Lawrence at least and hopefully for their sake the likes of Josh Dugan and Michael Jennings are also available and in top form. Depending on how Queensland deal with the loss of the great Darren Lockyer, New South Wales may finally have a say in which way the series goes for the first time in a long time.

An Even Closer Competition
With three rounds to go this year there are only ten teams still in contention to make the finals, that was never the idea of the NRL. With the projected player movements I believe this time next year we will have as many 14 teams battling it out for a spot in the finals. Even this far out there is only two teams who will look to be worse than they were in 2011, Cronulla and the Roosters. I look forward to seeing an improving Parramatta and Titans in particular; both teams have probably achieved what was expected from them (at least in my eyes) from them this season, but look to be considerably better next year.

While I still can't wait to see how 2011 pans out there is much to look forward to next year and beyond. Many issues such as Independent Commission and the new television deal will show their faces, unfortunately I didn't have time to cover that today but I'm excited by the on field action we are going to see.
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716 words including title
 

Azkatro

First Grade
Messages
6,905
panthers.gif

Azkatro posting for the Panthers.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Cutting out the “Middle” man

The game of rugby league in Australia has a serious problem when it comes to official record-keeping practices.

There is a name that is often raised in rugby league circles when talking about statistics. That name is David Middleton. He has become synonymous with the game, frequently being mentioned alongside facts and figures about the game. Middleton made his name in the 1980’s when he took over the role of editing the official rugby league annuals.

Over the years, I’ve noticed more and more that Middleton’s name crops up everywhere when it comes to rugby league facts and figures. You name it, and his name is there – newspaper articles, press releases, television broadcasts, and reference books including player biographies. As the years have passed, it’s struck me more and more that his name is so completely and absolutely intrinsically associated with Australian rugby league records, he must be doing very well out of it.

Typically, one would assume that the game’s official record keeping is handled by the body which runs the game itself. But in the NRL’s case, it doesn’t seem that way at all.

A friend of mine, also a stats head, recently got in touch with a prominent Sydney club to ascertain what sort of records they had on file, and what – if anything – we could gain access to in order to compile for our own research.

The answer we got was a surprise. Well, kind of.

We were told that the club itself had forked out a significant amount of money to obtain data about their own club. Thousands of dollars, in fact. And they didn’t pay for the privilege in order to provide it to their patrons, or the public, or anyone for that matter. It is solely for the club’s own records. In fact, they indicated that they won’t provide access to the information due to a fear of it being tampered with.

They also said that most clubs have their data supplied to them by David Middleton for substantial fees, and they accept that his data is the most accurate available on the game of rugby league.

So the clubs are paying David Middleton substantial fees for records about themselves, and presumably being asked not to share it around. Clearly Middleton is a businessman and doesn’t want anyone handing out what he may even consider his intellectual property.

This situation may go some way to explaining why we have found some conflicting information regarding the number of first grade games Terry Lamb played throughout his career. The “official” stats state that he played 349 games. However we’ve got him listed in the team sheets of 350 matches in total. Obviously we don’t want our info to be wrong, so we’ve spent quite some time trying to track down the erroneous game.

Season by season, our numbers match all official records, bar two. In 1980, current “official” sources say he played 17 games. However those same official sources used to say it was 18. Where or why it was changed, we don’t know.

A representative from Wests Archives advised us that they have 18 games for Lamb in 1980 in their records.

The other discrepancy occurs in 1986. The official Bulldogs website lists 23 games, while we have 24. All sources agree that Lamb scored points in 22 games that season, which for us, left two – the Round 6 match against North Sydney and the Major Semi Final match against Parramatta.

We quickly confirmed that Lamb definitely played in both of those matches. He missed a conversion in the Round 6 match, and is not only mentioned in several reports of the Major Semi, but appears and is mentioned by Ken Sutcliffe in a news report of the match found on YouTube.

Interestingly, after our findings were reported by prominent league writer wdnicolson.com (@NRLTweet on Twitter), and we were roundly abused by a couple of passionately perturbed individuals who insisted we were just “spreading crap”.

It’s intriguing how much faith some place in information that’s tagged as “official”. Even though the information is proprietary and sold off for exorbitant fees.

How do we know they didn’t discover a mistake with Lamb and tweak their numbers to retain credibility?

We don’t know the answer because the data is a closed book. We might never know.

But we’ll do our best to find the truth.

And when we do, we’ll share the info to everybody for free.

---------------------------------------------------------------

747 words. Liftoff!
 
Messages
14,028
Marshall Magic on for Souths, after some poor work from his teammates, he double checks his jersey and his boots before running out. Wondering why the crowd is laughing so hard he realises he forgot to put his shorts on. This really is a lol@souffs afternoon.

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Wires Crossed
Every year or so, someone very special comes along in our great game. These special people have very special ideas. Unfortunately for these people, special in this context is not a compliment. In mid to late 2011 we saw one of these special ideas arise, when it was suggested that specially produced tracking bugs from NASA be placed inside the ball to determine the path of the ball. Initially the idea sounds laughable, maybe there is merit to it and maybe tagging, bugging and other technology has a place in our game, just not for this purpose. After hearing the idea, I thought long and hard about it in my own private bunker (another special idea) and thought about where we can try and eliminate human error from our game using state of the art technology, here’s what I’ve come up with.

Not a fan of diving, or players staying down? Here’s a simple solution. Upon their NRL debut, every player strategically has a tracking chip placed in their chin. This can measure the force exerted on them, and whether or not physical contact is made with the chin. What this means is when a player stays down hurt, the data from the tracking chip can be read and see how much force was exerted on the player’s chin (if contact was made at all). Players can be exposed for taking dives and milking penalties, and suspended for doing so, which will eliminate the garbage from our game for good.

These tracking chips can also help out off the field, as clubs can keep tabs on exactly where their players are heading in their spare time. See them heading into the Cross? Be a step ahead and get there yourself to personally bust them. See them heading for the airport to do a Sonny Bill? Head to the airport, stop them skipping the country. This technology is simply amazing.

Did you hate the Brett Morris 1 foot out is okay rule that seemed to come into play in late 2010? Here’s the solution to that. Have censor bugs implanted on the sidelines. When contact is made with said chips they’ll notify the officials that the sidelines have indeed been stepped on and the player is in fact out. How will they know exactly who sets the censor off? Who knows, but it’d still be a more useful system that most of the touch judges we have running around today. Plus it means on channel nine’s coverage of the game we have one less thing to listen to Gus whinge about, and he can put that energy into cheering for Keithy.

Are you a frustrated Blues fan? A bored Maroons fan? Just wish Origin would be a spectacle again? Well this could possibly be our best use of technology ever. NSW have tried everything to pick a side that can match it with Queensland; drawing names out of a hat, selecting players on their apparent merits, throwing darts at cards with their pictures on it and picking the Dragons team. For some reason none of these measures seem to produce a good result for us Blues. What will provide a good result is software than analyses the statistical performance of players in the lead up weeks, and past origins. You need to plug in the data, containing performance on the field (tackles, missed tackles, errors, tries, etc) as well as on the training field (100m sprint time, beep test score, bench press), after .075 of a second, the software will spit out the best possible team to take on the Maroons. Data of the Maroons team can also be plugged in and the software will provide areas of weakness that the Blues can exploit on their quest to end the dominance. It also gives Sticky another scapegoat should the Blues lose, and it means Daley will never again pick the side. Everybody wins in reality.

As you can see, these special ideas are not all bad; sometimes a little fine tuning and we’ve got ourselves some excellent processes involved in our game for the next 100 years. The quicker we dis and dismiss these ideas the faster we are shutting out the potential for an amazing future. If our game does not want to progress and adopt such technologies we’ll be left behind, bugs and bunkers are potentially the future of our game so we can get decisions right, rather than wrong faster.

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744 words (OWC)
 

Bubbles

Juniors
Messages
416
Bubbles off the bench to replace Griffo for Souths
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[FONT=&quot]Complete and Utter Carnage[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Sounds like the title of a summer release block-buster featuring heart-stopping, adrenalin pumping action. You would think so, but you’d be wrong.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]This is the tale of a boy named Todd. It is the story of a talented athlete, a troubled lad, a touch of stupid (and by ‘touch’ I mean a full fist-clenched king hit to the side of the head!) and a snitching cabbie.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]As the guillotine appears poised above Todd’s contract with the Roosters the greedy vultures are circling, gleefully anticipating the feast his carcass will make. This is the stuff that sends Phil Rothfield and his ilk apoplectic with glee and self-righteousness, stubby fingers flying across the keyboard, slack-jawed mouths frothing. [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Last year this kid was being lauded as an advertisement for redemption and it appeared he had the Rugby League world at his feet. What a difference a year makes. These parasites who heralded the 2010 version of Carney as the poster-boy for rehabilitation have been death-riding Todd ever since his first stumble of 2011. Apparently there’s no tastier morsel for the media to feast on than a fallen star.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]No other player in the game seems to inspire such an emotional response from the fans. On the day the news broke that Carney and his cohorts had broken a team-imposed drinking ban, I was inundated with texts from friends and family, fuming at the man; “... has no respect for his teammates, the club, the fans and the game... blah, blah... should be kicked out of the game... blah, blah.” [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Now, I’m not sure what the logic is behind sending these hysterical emails to me. I can only assume that without a direct line of communication to the ear of Politis, these friends felt that mine were the next best thing, an easily accessible conduit to Nick the Greek. [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]In lieu of the response that was obviously desired to appease the masses, all full of indignation and condemnation, I chose to ignore them. All but one, that is. [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]For one particular friend had the fantastical, tremendous suggestion that he be “...locked in some high security facility filled with cocaine, booze and hookers and only be released to play.” She then goes on to state “Clearly he is too stupid to exist in the real world!”[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]In regards to the first, I say lock him up! I’m of the opinion it’s none of my business what footballers’ do outside of the game, as long as it’s not airing theirs or the club’s dirty laundry for the public eye to ogle. Nor do I expect or presume sainthood from these young men. If I’m looking for a role model for my young boy, I look no further than his father. All I want from Todd is for him to play football with heart, pride and integrity. So, for me, grog, drugs and whores, just behind closed doors, preferably double reinforced steel doors![/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Regressing back to my friend’s text, the latter statement is, of course, the greatest of Todd’s crimes; stupidity, sheer, utter and apparently irreversible. I actually don’t believe the party line that Carney is an alcoholic, rather a young guy who is a dickhead on the drink. If that were the criteria for alcoholism, then the very vast majority of guys I have known in my lifetime should all be attending AA. [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]No, Todd’s greatest flaw is stupidity. For a man who has been living with a bullseye on his back for many a year now, I’m not sure what Todd could have been thinking taking his circus to the streets. Most would no doubt say he wasn’t thinking at all, however it must have crossed that pea-brain, the risk of getting caught with his pants down (or was that one of his previous indiscretions?).[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]So, if we can assume that Todd did know the risks and yet forged on regardless, then the question is why? Is this his way of backing Politis and the club into a corner in order to obtain a release? [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]My wish is that the club ascertain this before any irreversible decision is made. If this is the case, let the kid go and he’s then free to piss his career up against a brick wall. On the other hand, if Carney wants to continue playing for the Roosters, then may he don the jersey with pride and passion and keep his laundry behind closed doors, double reinforced steel doors![/FONT]
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Jesbass

First Grade
Messages
5,654
Thanks, time keeper! Turns out the regular bloke was using a wrist-sundial instead of a normal watch!
 

Monk

Referee
Messages
21,347
Dangit, so close to getting 5 in, if only I had posted Lambretta's article by proxy :(
 
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Drew-Sta

Moderator
Staff member
Messages
24,567
OK gents, I'm in sunny coconut land (aka Tonga - A seriously nice place) and will be working through these over the next few days. I hope to post something up by tomorrow evening my time, which will be about late arvo your time.

I accept cash, credit and banana's for bribes if anyones interested :)

(That's a joke, by the way ;-))
 
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