Redneck Redfaces 2

[POPEYE]

No secret that I would be over the moon if Shane Richardson's proposals are adopted but methinks the interim is too great a hurdle to overcome the whinging and whining we're about to endure. Imo what he wants to happen should be set in stone now and all the doomsayers can go f**k themselves while we wait for the appropriate season of preparation to pass . . . the vibes aren't good however

The time we have to wait for Roberts to select who he wants to play for and the time it takes his new fellow players to accept his intrusion and the undoubtable time it will take him to metamorphosise from a novelty to a saviour is similar to what Richardson is facing.

It would've been a whole lot better if we woke up to hear that Roberts out of the blue had left the Titans and joined so and so club. He could then just continue his road to newfound fame reasonably unabated without the gauntlet of furore.

I seriously doubt that Roberts' mindset is capable of overcoming what is now expected of him but his situation is a walk in the park compared to what Richardson faces. Hang in there Shane, I'm sure you're strong enough to walk the good walk

 

[POPEYE]

Benny's still the best coach on the planet, arguably, when he says Green is making a mistake taking on the Qld job he is not just manipulating the media this time, he'd be better off if Green was preoccupied. Qld doesn't have to be reorganised anyway, just the usual inspiration is needed, Fatty 'coached' them to success ffs

Why would a failure at club coaching, dear old Mal, need to be replaced by an apprentice supercoach who passed his most recent test by one point. Last thing the little bloke needs is an extra curricular distraction at this stage of his burgeoning career and last thing Qld need is a big body replaced by a big head. Green doesn't need to grow a big head, particularly for NQ's sake

Let Hagan stand behind Kevvie and nod, point and wink as he or someone like him has always done for Mal, why risk ruining the Cowboys' chances when there's sfa to prove for anyone concerned . . . on the contrary, favouring Qld as I do a Walters' snub could be the saviour of NSW

 

[POPEYE]

Things are progressing nicely, the big forehead of Taylor is a winner over the Farah pinhead and all it took was a little reverse psychology. All that remains for Wests now is to decide which of the leadership group will work best with the coach and we will see where the straight line takes them . . . or how much did Taylor have to do with the Roosters last cup win

To all the 'junior' worshippers, do the Cowboys really need Val Holmes or should we be happy the Sharks get to keep him because they introduced him to the NRL. He mightn't have seen the light of day in NQ and they've got plenty of young talent in the new home of RL . . . fair go disciples

Good to see Green has 'committed' to the Cowboys, imagine how much better they'll go now, probably won't even need golden point next season. Not sure why he took so long to commit, could have saved Kevvie a lot of grief if indeed he has been saved

JT being given an honorary doctorate has to be a good thing, is there a better way to acknowledge what the bloke's worth to NQ as a destination, its just a simple matter of mathematics when adding up values to the joint . . . easier to maintain than a pigeon shit covered statue

And NSW have a new jersey, still the same puncey blue the Titans favour, the cockroaches would do better in all dark blue and try to strike fear like the All Blacks instead of hoping a kaleidescope will confuse

 

[POPEYE]

The worse thing about media in general is the lack of street sense, you have to take care the naivety of the protected species doesn't mislead you to the point you become a flag waver, a rebel without cause. Boyd Cordner has been now conveniently poached from Newcastle when he never played top grade footy for them. A line has to be drawn somewhere, we wouldn't want every father checking the DNA of his children would we

You'd have to have one eyebrow to believe Farah is the victor over Taylor or believe that Woods is silly enough to be 'filthy' on his coach if Robbie is removed. The press look for weak minds because weak minds are where the money is and it doesn't take street sense to evoke rationale.

Imagine, there are people out there waving a copy of the Telegraph and shouting 'Taylor has backflipped' or 'Laurie says you can trust Mal'. Crikey, taking the piss is fair enough if you think the pissee will recover but almost all of the media don't give a shit about recovery because they don't understand the relevance . . . watch the weather reports because the lass has a nice arse, not because she swears the truth

 

[POPEYE]

Vibes are a funny thing, good ones are dismissed as par for the course but bad ones tend to stick like shit to a blanket, wake up with them on game day and it takes nothing less than a miracle to go to bed with a smile. The more I want a team to win the more chance they'll lose if the vibes are against, works with players for me as well

As far as I'm concerned Roberts is an accident waiting to happen, I reckon Ferguson may be lucky to play more games than he doesn't and Bird The Good worries me . . . tempestuous streaks always do. These are but a few of the players I spend a lot of time watching with fingers crossed.

The point I'm making is RL on paper is not the same game as played on the field, all well and good to have icons but contingencies are just as important, good coaches always allow for the worst. Best thing about bad vibes is being proven wrong

 

[POPEYE]

I have a chuckle when I read the umpteen different RL experts and their summation of how player movements will influence the outcome of a season. Because I believe coaching is more important than perceived talent, other than in rep teams of course, I'm not that fussed on player movements, more interested in what they find when they move

Back to vibes again, a good one has me believing that Barrett will go gangbusters at Manly, with the roster they've got all he has to do is complement the 'culture' handed him by Toovey. Then again, I'm yet to be convinced the little bloke couldn't have resurrected the Seagles with the same roster

All the unproven Barrett has going for him are vibes but he's in a whole lot better position than Neil Henry who I think would be better off being Meninga's assistant coach . . . imo Henry>Hagan. GC say they won't pay exorbitant money for players but still they don't realise they don't have to, what they need do is hire a coaching staff that players are attracted to

Would Miles, Roberts, Sezer, DCE and Co turn their noses up if Bellamy/Bennett/Robinson were made an offer by the Titans they couldn't refuse or more importantly with Barrett as the GC coach would the errant players feel more comfortable. Did the Cowboys win the cup because Green came or Henry left, does replacing Cartwright with his clone make sense to players

If Sticky hasn't learn that up to now sermons won't win enough games then his new roster would have been better off with Barrett, what is there to lose. We all hope Sticky does well for Canberra's sake but a good roster is a bad roster if every player is not comfortable. RL starts with coaching and finishes with it, player movements are merely side shows

 

[POPEYE]

Wouldn't it be good in the new year if we had a Salary Cap thread, a place where everyone who specialises in dwelling on the insignificantly repetitious can go and any post mentioning it can be sent . . . similar to a radio channel for American country music

This thread is a perfect example, anyone who wishes to ignore my soc ramblings can easily avoid them, my occasional mischievous sorties in other threads are kept to a minimum and everyone's happy. This thread is persevered with by management because it fills a void just as incessant ignominious boring chatter about a subject, the cap, serves a purpose

Getting rid of cap discussion would undoubtedly depreciate interest in the forum and is a necessary evil but why not allocate it it's own bucket of shit that can also be easily avoided in the same way my sideshow can. Fmd, why spend a dollar a go shooting at ducks all day when the prize is a 50c teddy bear . . . or the equivalent of knowing sfa about the subject

 

[POPEYE]

Thank f**k for small miracles, Mary sitting Benji down like a good uncle would do a nephew an telling him the way it is, should be more of it in RL. I could put a list of players together that would be far better off on one year contracts, not just for the club's sake but their own. Pity Mary is not consistent with his credibility, if ever a player needed to be signed to one year it's McCrone

Players like Benji at this stage of their careers are asking for extended contracts in the same way Green wants to fight Mundine, preferring assurity over liability. Marshall will perform a lot better and not look for short minutes if his next season is not guaranteed . . . and Mary is counting on it. Benji will have to be content with taking a damaged body home to his lady, no time now to save himself for later on

There should be more ESL bound players being signed to one year NRL contracts before they take the swim, there's many a player that plays better with pressure to hold his position. Works both ways of course, who's to know how Michael Morgan will perform now that he's not worried if he's good enough . . . just joking

 

[POPEYE]

Did the right thing, tried to hang in there to see if Jarryd could come up with something, made it to half time so I reckon that's enough. I fully understand the idea of the game and its processes in the same way I understand Chess and Soccer and I definitely have the patience to spend hours concentrating on hobbies

I can't however stomach the Yank bullshit that accompanies any desire to accept NFL really is a sport, the training sessions may well be strenuous enough but 'bling' is definitely the main attraction on game day. Sad thing is the Yanks being even more brainwashed than their enemies actually believe they are getting what they pay for

My greatest hope is that I will have to search for the highlights when Hayne gets a chance to run with the ball . . . until then I will never waste another moment of the time I have left watching NFL

 

[Jason Maher]

If the Titans manage to avoid the spoon, I'll declare Neil Henry to be a worker of miracles.

 

[POPEYE]

If the Titans want to play out of a location foreign to RL they are going to have to create something other than a uniform. I'm willing to bet Perth would attract more of everything, any culture is better than none and the far west of Australia would provide a novelty for better players and better coaches.

Crikey, you've only got to look at the manufactured motor racing rubbish concocted for the GC to evaluate attention spans, just one weekend of that shit is enough, interest is imported and locals just do whatever GC locals do . . . go to a beach where they can't swim. Ironic that even without the culture RL still had a better chance of survival in Melbourne, the 'home of Australian sport'

Imo the GC is as big an anchor on the 'HMAS Rugby League' as some of the Sydney clubs so what's the point, if Qld must have another team better it is in Brisbane where it can oppose Benny's dictatorship. Henry is not the problem and he is not the answer, imported ruthlessness is the only thing that will save the GC from being another Parramatta

 

[Mogsheen Jadwat]

GC sucks because it's full of androtrops, both on and off the pitch.

 

[POPEYE]

We find them everywhere

 

[POPEYE]

That'll do me for '15, MOM of the WCC in '16 will be presented with the Graham Murray Medal, no better news than that. No need to retell Muzza's life story other than to point out his early death is the epitome of the rotten luck the great bloke endured.

Even being tagged 'Little Artie' wasn't enough to thwart the Sterlo gremlin, he was always a scapegoat after that when he deserved so much better. Pity he was born in NSW, if he was coach of the Qld mob Mal never would've got a look in, at least he died where he belonged

 

[POPEYE]

I sometimes agree with Mascord, not as much as I agree with Masters but a whole lot more than I do Jabba who should have quit when he was ahead with coaching. Mascord is at odds with Jabba when he says the Nines should have a season of its own, read his column for the details, not rocket science so I agree

You can bet your cohones not all the crowd that turned up to the BBL at the MCG would contemplate going to a Test Match, just as not all the crowd that turns up to an Origin game at the MCG will ever turn up to a game at AAMI. Something to do in the holiday season or a novelty worth having a look at is what drove them there

RL purists shouldn't give a damn if there is a Summer Nines tournament to rival the round ball shit, doesn't matter if no NRL contracted player participates, what matters is that more people are attracted to some form of RL. Players that become good at Nines might be good enough to play League so at least another breeding ground is established

Its not as though Jabba is being robbed of anything, he struggles to judge RL talent anyway, he should be happy if another variation of the game does the legwork for him. I watch the BBL but don't have the time to waste watching Tests, I don't care that Test players aren't available, anything other than Soccer or NFL will do me

Hypocrisy that anyone should think the Nines a threat to RL, what better way to keep RL in the mind's eye than to fill the off season void with a game that attracts attention and hopefully talent to the real thing . . . Jabba is as overrated in his science as he is in his administration

 

[Blues Riff]

All I know about Phil Gould's views on the nines is, he doesn't particularly like them and believes non NRL players should be used. I tend to agree.
Instead of hiding behind cryptic innuendo and taking cheap shots at Gould, why not provide quotes or some kind of reference to what you're actually going on about.

 

[POPEYE]

I've said from day one there's no need to use contracted NRL players in the Nines. I'm not even keen on associating NRL clubs with the Nines, just as I'm not keen on associating NRL clubs with the 'Platinum League'. You may want to stand behind Jabba but hiding is not in my resume

The National Rugby League should be a separate entity, the jewel in the crown, why would players who as a group whinge about 'burnout' want to play in lesser comps if they're already where the sun shines brightest. Peripheral competitions should be wholly autonomous, as Richardson is suggesting, with the ARLC as director of all

The thing I don't like about Jabba is his delusion of grandeur in everything he purveys, he's more interested in the big mirror than the big picture. Almost all of what he says is common sense, I take umbrage at the thought he's the messiah he thinks he is.

If indeed the Nines as a separate entity felt like letting NRL clubs use the comp as a warmup or trialling apparatus for 'underdone' players so be it. The NRL, its clubs and their CEO's should concentrate on their sphere of influence, winning the Shield and the cup. Time to let the Nines and all other peripheral comps and tournaments do their own thing . . . add more talent for the NRL to choose from and give people who can't play at that level something to brag about

Guess what I'm really saying is the same as you are, I don't give a f**k what detractors of the big picture think just as you and I don't give a f**k what each other thinks

 

[Bigcoq]

Teams with the best defensive backlines will do best under the new interchange and other rules. Maloney had to go!

 

[POPEYE]

Teams with the best defensive backlines will do best under the new interchange and other rules. Maloney had to go!

Nice to have a Bigcoq in this thread even if you may have stuck it in the wrong place

 

[Bigcoq]

Nice to have a Bigcoq in this thread even if you may have stuck it in the wrong place

Most of the chicks I've met recon KY was a better invention than the wheel!