Redneck Redfaces 2

[POPEYE]

From the start when Klemmer and Tolman walked out in their Elastoplast leotards you knew the Dogs were a team of odd bods, the whole mob looks like a positional patchwork quilt. The most worrying is the blank look on Des's face, if there was a game plan going awry or players not performing up to scratch you'd think he'd be throwing his headphones around . . . can't remember, does he still wear them

Anyway, enough of that, on the bright side I didn't realise how good a deal the Sharks are getting with Aaron Gray. He was impressive, in the Us Against The World growing culture in Cronulla the bloke should thrive with Flanno as a mentor

We saw that Crichton does have an Achilles' heal after all, he still passes like a Rah Rah, nothing that can't be fixed, his foot speed is just too fast for his hands atm. Talk about getting good deals, if Newcastle thought that SKD was worth a run why not Goodwin . . . the Centurians will be pleased

 

[POPEYE]

On the road yesterday, didn't watch any game until a Storm/Roosters replay just now, no f**king idea thanks to the referees which team should have won

Only definite is the Roosters are brain f**ked for letting Watson go . . . can he do a DCE

 

[POPEYE]

Crikey it's nice here on the Sunshine Coast, no wonder NSW can't win a series, seems the two most receptive places to RL are Qld and Leichhardt Oval. The Seagles looked as though they'd already won the game in front of a whiteboard, bad idea going there with that attitude, Melbourne will testify to that

What happened to the Raiders AG . . . no matter, I'm about to catch up everything I missed on Fox

 

[POPEYE]

Just a bump to keep this thread on the front page. Annesley 'surprised to see a Hayne-Henry fall out'

Not hard to imagine an ex-referee would be surprised the Yanks didn't want Hayne, the Fiji RU didn't want him, Brad Arthur didn't want him, who else was there. Instead of Annesley taking a guess he should have asked every RL coach 'would you want him'

Annesley's stupidity or Henry's biting off more than he can chew is now going to result in two steps backwards for the Titans. Except for Hayne walking around with that continued dumbarse smug smile on his face all this could be just considered bad Vaudeville . . . instead we have one of the stadiums hardest to fill in Qld make life easier for Suncorp

 

[Cloudsurfer]

Just a bump to keep this thread on the front page. Annesley 'surprised to see a Hayne-Henry fall out'

Not hard to imagine an ex-referee would be surprised the Yanks didn't want Hayne, the Fiji RU didn't want him, Brad Arthur didn't want him, who else was there. Instead of Annesley taking a guess he should have asked every RL coach 'would you want him'

Annesley's stupidity or Henry's biting off more than he can chew is now going to result in two steps backwards for the Titans. Except for Hayne walking around with that continued dumbarse smug smile on his face all this could be just considered bad Vaudeville . . . instead we have one of the stadiums hardest to fill in Qld make life easier for Suncorp

Who else? Kearney didn't want him when it became really clear he didn't want Kearney very early on in the piece (from the beginning)...it wasn't rocket science what happened there. His disruptive influence on the other players started on day one and at Parra Hayne got what Hayne wanted when he wanted it.
Still happening it would appear.
Neil Henry isn't quite so green and would be thicker skinned but you can't underrate that type of poison, its insidious and seeps into everything - a bit more than you can chew can be terminal as you've pointed out.
Must be Kearney's lot in life, up against similar at the Warriors now but the culprit isn't as cunning as Hayne & Kearney's grown a thicker skin - gives hope the Board isn't already tainted & the housekeeping gets to run its course....then we might see if he can learn to be an NRL coach

 

[POPEYE]

Elgey is not reliable and Taylor may be looking for a reason to jump to Benny but there might be a chance Hayne will see this game as his once a year opportunity. Then again if the Titans beat the Eels who is saved . . . the coach or the bludger

Rabbitohs/Warriors, a loss for one a disaster a win for the other a miracle . . . a fmd match if ever there was one

Won't happen but if the Dragons were to win at Suncorp with Mann at #7 . . . that would be better than seeing Hayne leave RL

The Knights have to play the Storm with Munster back, let's hope Lamb continues to step up a liitle more each game. A quick start, Melbourne don't like to be bamboozled, a fast finish, the crowd overflows . . . stranger things have happened

It's not at Leichhardt and the Roosters will be out for blood, Brooks had a semi-reasonable game last round so two in a row not likely

Who have the Cowboys lost from last week . . . O'Neill and Fensom . . . with Ponga returning from purgatory and the humidity how much will the Sharks win by. More importantly who will NQ lose for next week

Raiders/Panthers has to be game of the round, Cleary is a match for Sezer and Austin combined but I'm not keen on Chickenhawk Moylan and no Wallace will give Hodgson free reign . . . anything could happen, betting won't be done responsibly

Bulldogs to beat the Seagles

 

[Saxon]

Just a bump to keep this thread on the front page. Annesley 'surprised to see a Hayne-Henry fall out'

Yeah, but if you told Annesley, "sky is blue, grass is green", he'd have to go outside to check.

 

[POPEYE]

Hunt's getting in early winding up the adjudicators about Melbourne's 'wrestle', gotta love his complacency if he thinks the Broncos are already in the 'grand' final. He should be as worried as Robinson Crusoe was when he had to do without Friday, he was more influential than wrestling

The Storm have more to worry about in the lottery than overcoming Brisbane, the Broncos would be lucky to beat them. The Sharks and Roosters however won't require luck, they have the game to beat Melbourne at least one out of every three games

That's a thought, why not make the final series best-of-three between the top two Shield teams, like Origin . . . then even I might relinquish any claim The Shield winner is the best of the season

 

[POPEYE]

Just popped in to say how happy I am the Storm are officially the best team of the year. I listened to 'Bobcat' and some goose on the ABC who thought he was calling a game on tv, you'd have to be Nostradamus to follow his call

Now I'm hoping for the Eels in the gf, if not against Melbourne the Sharks would be good, maybe the Panthers would be nice

 

[POPEYE]

It has been said that smart NZ playmakers go to Union and therefore the Warriors are deprived which seems to have been proven by the Bledisloe Cup result. By that reasoning the opposite appears to have happened in Australia, smart playmakers have deserted Union for League. Therefore, stands to reason the Warriors need to employ Aussie RL playmakers

Of course being a soc I have a different opinion. I reckon League broke away from Union over a 100 years ago in Australia because brain triumphed over brawn, NZ has yet to break away from the 'dumb' mindset. While ever yuppies the world over imagine they're ancient Romans at the Colleseum Union will prosper

From a more personal viewpoint if the body of world sport was equated to the human body and it needed an enema Union is where I'd stick the tube

 

[POPEYE]

Because the Qld branch of my family aren't interested in RL I've had to listen to games via Andrew Moore and I must say I'm impressed in comparison with his tv counterparts. The dickhead that did the Newcastle/Melbourne game was a hiccup but Moore/Gibbs/Elliott and co do a great job imo . . . definitely going to try and correlate radio with tv when I get back to civilisation

While I'm at it I also must say I owe Lolohea an apology of sorts, I've been waiting for him to go missing but he has stood up well. If old man Cleary is the key to his consistency/availability maybe there is hope Matulino will regain what he once had

Pity Lolohea wasn't matched with Moses, Brooks is a gremlin

 

[POPEYE]

F**king shame Bevan's not playing, damn it, the Eels just one player too far away. At least the Broncos having everything go their way now might prove a chicane later on. C'mon Ashley, let's see you 'Klein' up this game . . . put a cat amongst the pigeons

When the Raiders beat the Knights it won't be because Lamb is out, it will be because a repeat of round 10 doesn't bear thinking about

Even money for the Cowboys/Tigers is about right, Cleary has reason to be as optimistic as Brown and Green's mob are barely hanging on . . . hopefully a great game

Go the Dogs . . . the vibes that had the Seagles beaten last week aren't there but Go the Dogs anyway. I want Graham to lay a forehead on Hayne, put the prick out with a fairdinkum injury

Don't give a shit who wins out of Storm/Rabbitohs, if Melbourne are going to continue well into the lottery the injury toll is all that matters . . . may the footy gods smile

Sharks/Roosters has to be match of the round, with no excuses available except a possible refereeing f**kup the winner will be mentally one up for next time

If the Seagles let the Warriors beat them the Manly season will have gone from a good drink to a mirage

Panthers/Dragons is the only game I'm willing to watch Ch9 for, could be a bottler . . . there's one player in particular I want to be Mann of the match

 

[POPEYE]

BA not for Brad Arthur but for 'Bad Arse', any doubt the bloke is a Supercoach is now only conjecture, he has become one of the rarest of the rare in RL. Best part of a great game was the winning coach smashing up shit when his mob gave away late tries. Loved it when he said any team giving away 30+ can't be serious about the finals

Forget the big names . . . any that Parra have . . . it's men like Alvaro, Gower, Edwards, Auva'a playing like f**king champions and Radradra playing out of his skin instead of just walking to the exit that makes Arthur a name to behold. RL is in desperate need of his kind, money is necessary to a player, commitment is everything to a coach

Unfortunately I had to watch the game on 9, the wanker commentators reckon they can't tell what Benny is thinking which says more about them than Benny . . . even through frosted glass all you have to do is look at the corners of his mouth, tells you all you need to know

. . . and had to get a laugh from Sims throwing slaps at little Matagi one minute, running at him with a raised elbow and getting shoulder f**ked for his troubles the next

 

[POPEYE]

So close yet so f**king far . . . poor Loz only had to see the back of Cronk, Thurston, Slater and Smith and he would have been home and hosed. Add to that Cleary Jnr in full flight and the luckless Daley would have been crowned king like Mal was

Ah, the plans of mice and men, one or two more years and Jabba could've deposed Laurie and again walked on water as NSW coach while Qld rebuilds and when the time was right step down with his halo doubled in size

Not sure who would want to be NSW coach right now, the Qld Big Four aren't fully committed to retirement and some important wankers might say Cleary is not ready . . . give the job to Sticky in the interim I reckon, failure is like water off a duck's back to him

Anyway, you can blame the media for NSW's woes, if SOO remained the way it began . . . a one-game contest turned to three to sell newspapers . . . NSW/Qld on a rough count would have been equal or close to it in wins, not a series 21 to 13 in favour of Qld

 

[POPEYE]

Why do the Titans need an 'established' coach to replace Henry, is it because Neil wasn't quite gifted enough as was arguably proven by what happened after he left Townsville. Green wasn't as 'noted' as he is now, he replaced Henry and won a cup, so why not hire another potential Supercoach to replace Henry this time

Do the Titans need a Hasler/Maguire/Bellamy type and why, is it because the roster is in need of a soup nazi to keep their minds on the job. Does the fault lay with an inept coach or a rabble roster. I reckon taking an 'experineced' coach from from one team to bolster another is one f**king step forward and one back for RL

Even if Garth Brennan for example was to fail to get the Titans' brain dead roster to play as a team it would be far more logical to bring him into the NRL than play musical f**king chairs with recognised coaches. You'd think a club owned by the NRL would lead the way in searching for more Supercoaches . . . . we expect this mob to decide who is the next immortal . . . the way they make decisions it'll probably be Hayne

 

[POPEYE]

Wouldn't it be a turnup if the Cowboys beat the Broncos, that'd be f**king funnier than Sims breaking his arm trying to elbow Matagi. Be nice to see Milford have another shit game just to stop the press claiming he can walk on water. If the Cowboys somehow go deep into the finals keep your eye on Thurston

Rabbitohs can't possible make amends for last week, they're well and truly gone for the season so let's hope not. What RL needs is the absentee Eels to return and no more go missing

With luck the Roosters will put 50 on the Titans and the Hayne Blame Game will gather momentum . . . I wouldn't be surprised if the prick breaks a nail in the warmup and can't play

If the Seagles are going to prove their season wasn't just a figment of DCE's imagination Sat@Lottoland is the site to do it. Methinks Cleary Jnr has taken the loss against the Dragons as more than unfortunate, a game not to miss

Considering Bellamy is helping Sticky coach the Raiders it would've been a good time to rest some of the Storm's big names . . . mates rates and all that. It won't happen, momentum is everything in the finals, it would be better to lose against the Raiders with a full team . . . give the fire a stoke

Knights might beat the Sharks . . . nah

Dragons/Bulldogs should be a cracker, I must thank Des for his help last week, this week he can f**k off to wherever it is he's been most of the season. Shit . . . Klein is the referee

Tigers at Leichhardt, the last stand for Tedesco and others . . . the chance for Johnson to finish on the occasional full page spread might spoil the party . . . anything's possible

 

[POPEYE]

Never a day goes by when the media doesn't come up with a nonsensical story to make a dollar from RL. 'Can Rapana catch Vunivalu in the race to be top try-scorer' is just another wank-wank-say-no-more. If Rapana was in a team with +271 for and against he would far and away be top try scorer . . . and Cotric wouldn't be far behind him

It's all well and good to grab a newspaper and find something to hang on to if you're a 'club' man, another if you're a 'game' purist who contemplates RL reality. You don't have to watch a replay 34 times to get the full picture, just trust the eye to brain process in what you do see . . . making things up is for children

 

[POPEYE]

To continue here from another thread so as not to clog it up with 'not in context' how about if the NRL put the salary cap in place only for players being poached. By poach I mean a one-club 'wanted' established player being offered more to change clubs

Melbourne couldn't find a permanent spot for Maloney, even if he played 4 NRL games, so the Warriors who were his first regular gig and desperately wanted to keep him could have been allowed to pay as much as they wanted to keep him away from the Roosters . . . which means the Roosters may have invested in an 'unknown' to take his place

Tedesco could've been paid enough to keep him interested while Cleary rebuilt the team

No need for Bird to go to Brisbane, reluctantly it appears, he could've found his pot of gold with the Sharks

Would've been none of the DCE, Cronk, Smith bullshit necessary with the Titans as a pawn

Is it too hard to distinguish between the good things clubs do and the bad. Is it not better that 'unknowns' come to RL in an avalanche and not dribs'n'drabs. If a club takes a chance with new players why not reward it if they strike a jackpot

As it is the salary cap is not in place to protect RL or the clubs, it's a miserable f**king attempt to keep the competition 'even' by people who are so f**king inept they defy description . . . even-stevens is a derogatory statement

 

[POPEYE]

Crikey I miss Fox, can't take my missus home to a flu pandemic in Mudgee so I'm stuck on the Sunshine Coast with Ch9 bits and pieces and the ABC. I was hoping for a whole lot better from the Eels, my gf wishlist is looking a little shaky, if Arthur is to win the thing his mob are going to have to step up . . . then again Souths were impressive

At least the Roosters kept second spot away from the Broncos who now will have to play out of their comfort zone. Luckily, according to Johnny Gibbs & Co, Hayne f**ked any chances the Titans had . . . would've been ironic if the Titans had of presented Benny with home games

Nfi what happened with the Seagles/Panthers . . . another dose of irony when Matai The Grub is said to have boycotted the game

 

[POPEYE]

Well there you go, I was hoping Mann would 'do good' in the halves because the alternative was ludicrous, unfortunately his indecision could have lost the Dragons the game . . . along with a shithouse first half game plan. Shuddering as I say it but McCrone might've won the game, Des's mob only finished with donations

Which is in accordance with another year long misconception of mine, seems Mary like Sticky was too good a player to make a Supercoach. He was great while the going was good but poor when the going got bad

The most I can hope for out of the 'finals' is a Thurston comeback so thanks to the Dogs for that, the Cowboys with a wild card might make the rubbish worthwhile . . . aside from the Eels winning the whole thing