Obsessed much?
The outspoken Aussie sporting icon's criticism was way off the mark for rugby league fans. Details here.
au.sports.yahoo.com
Is there a sport more obsessed with its opposition than rugby union?
Even when rugby league has nothing to do with it, the 13-man game gets dragged into the argument with union like a boyfriend reluctantly defending his lippy partner in the public bar at closing time.
This time, rugby league was minding its own sweet business when Peter FitzSimons, writing for the Sydney Morning Herald, held last week's Penrith-Parramatta NRL semi-final up against the Wallabies' Test win over South Africa.
Fitz, you go first.
"When you switched from the rugby to the NRL finals last Saturday night to see the Eels-Panthers match wasn’t it just a teensy-weensy bit dull?" he started.
"I mean, a Sydney suburban slug-fest between two teams situated 25 kilometres apart was fine, and the skills of the likes of Nathan Cleary a wonder to behold, but after the international grandeur and wild flowing mercury of the Boks-Wallabies match, didn’t the NRL feel ever so slightly ... suburban and staccato."
Suburban and staccato?
After working out a staccato wasn't a type of coffee – we league types are dumb, after all – I read the piece again to see if I'd missed something
A second read only confirmed Fitz is in need of a HIA.
I've been watching league finals for a loooong time and that game was up there with the best I've seen.
Whatever the opposite of staccato and suburban, this was it.
It was tough, it was skilful, it was fast, it was absorbing, it was controversial and it was in doubt right until the referee asked for the ball back.
If this is what teensy-weensy bit dull looks like, can we have more of the same this weekend and repeat the order for Sunday week's grand final?