Redneck Redfaces

[POPEYE]

Must apologise for winding up mainstream forum like an organ grinder, but anyone taking my doomsaying regarding the 9's too seriously is a monkey. Rugby League's attraction for the traditionalists is it's confrontation, something a 9 a side game wouldn't have time to partake in.

If the 9's ever gets established even to the point of a full blown annual competition it would be as foreign to League as AFL, and less of a threat unless it ran concurrently. No-one in his right mind would want to rob Peter to pay Paul in a game, or a derivative of it, that is struggling to find a place in world sport.

In a worse case scenario a 9's competition might drain the NRL of players who have 'been there, done that', who instead of going to SL might cross over, albeit more prematurely. Many people are delighting in the imminent demise of the Big 3 for instance, who would lose sleep if they crossed over now.

Admittedly the NRL competition would see many more younger blokes filling the gaps but that can't be a bad thing, the more the game attracts the better. The big advantage of 9's attracting seasoned players from all over the joint is that their longevity would be increased exponentially, Menzies could play until he was 45.

I can't forsee there'd be too much disruption to the NRL, not like Australian Cricket being robbed of Gilchrist, a dark day indeed in my book. So, imo there's nothing for Rugby League purists to worry about, we can enjoy a bit of 9's hit and giggle to fill the void while we wait for the real thing . . . although we might need to reinvent Russell Morris to remind us which is which

 

[POPEYE]

The hardest thing to learn in Rugby Union and the biggest difference between it and League is that when a player runs the ball he has to worry about who's running behind him every bit as much as who's in front of him, the reason Union is like watching Council road workers . . . can't risk getting too far ahead

Having seen a pic of Kent with a caption something like "Sam will smash 'em" it's not hard to work out what Mumbles is referring to. SB would be perfect in Union, backs are like tits on a bull because they only run the ball when the threat of them being tackled in the open is practically zero, Sam would add another gear to the forwards.

When you think about it what's the better option, a Union player temporarily crossing to League and pocketing a shitload of money that could have been spent on promising youngsters or an expensive League player humiliating Union on a sabbatical giving someone a chance in his place. Either way no-one can seriously demonise a bloke for making the best life he can from the oval ball.

There are worse scenarios, some people would like the US to play League but imagine if the US convinced Australians to take their shit game as seriously as they do. If a lot of our athletes took the eye of the Yanks there would be no returning from the money pit.

Anyway, the fact remains that modern day Union would not relinquish players like Price or O'Connor for very long and we'll have to get used to the fact that all players with acceptable credentials will soon code swap to their heart's content . . . the more money available the more attraction is taking precedence

 

[kbw]

Anyway, the fact remains that modern day Union would not relinquish players like Price or O'Connor for very long and we'll have to get used to the fact that all players with acceptable credentials will soon code swap to their heart's content . . . the more money available the more attraction is taking precedence

This leads to an interesting point. Price and O'connor's talent as footballers is beyond question without a doubt.
But would they get a gig nowdays if they were young kids trying to get into SG BAll or U20s ?. O'connor would have a chance but Ray Price would most likely be completely ignored.
Either that or be completely unrecognisable.

In a lot of ways footballing talent is being ignored for the sake of size and athleticism. Size of the heart is being replaced by the size of everything else. There are a few glimmers of hope creeping through but I dislike the trend that to me is partially a byproduct of that disgrace called the U20s.

BTW liked the Sutton write up, although I have to say there are 2 differences between Sutton and Anasta. Anasta had at least one good season and at least other clubs were interested in having him.

 

[POPEYE]

My point with Price and O'Connor is that nowdays they may have tried their hand at League but they certainly wouldn't have looked at it as the progression they did decades ago, more of an escapade. O'Connor coaches Australia's Rugby 7's and like SBW would probably float between codes now that they are equally financial.

Anasta had more opportunity than Sutton who has suffered from being a Rabbitoh stalwart, anyone who judges him by what he's done at Souths is naive. If he had spent his time at Manly or Melbourne his talent, albeit possibly not as 5/8, would be heralded.

 

[POPEYE]

This weekend is appearing more and more like the first Gay and Lesbian Mardis Gras for Rugby League, will the inaugral Nines propagate similarly from a giggle to a novelty event to a liberation is the question, who wins or loses is secondary. Acceptance is the real prize, monetry reward a by product.

Rhinos CEO is saying the WCC should involve more teams but that won't happen if the Nines take off, he says the Poms have embraced the game and why wouldn't they while only one team from Australia takes it semi seriously. Involving more teams from Australia would take the WCC from playing eight ball for a beer to $100 a corner and the Poms would be left holding more than the cue in their hands.

England would do better to send teams to the Nines as would Pacific Island Nations, that's what Wigan should be doing instead of bending over the kitchen table for the Roosters. Much easier to give a good impression with nine players in a game of chances taken than 13 in structured discipline. I reckon Tonga/Samoa/Fiji would not be easybeats and even Union biased nations could dig up 9 man crews.

Make no mistake, the NRL has as much control over the Nines as pissing into the wind, the promoters and the media hold the key. Never know, it could end up the southern hemisphere playing the northern in Nines WCC, even Londoners might be interested

 

[POPEYE]

Should anyone feel intimidated by the Nines it is Union, the reception NRL clubs are getting as they adopt NZ communities can't do anything else but make the rahs rahs uneasy. Sure, we'll hear more of the 'Union threat' before the Olympics but 4 years between drinks is a long time.

Anyone watching Rugby 7's will see the game is closer to League, when ball is in hand the idea is to get it across the line with speed, not by way of the usual Union mud slide. Without the embedded boring idiosyncrasies of the 15 a side game a composite of the best League players transposed to 7's would slaughter any Union derived opposition. If Australia desperately wanted to win gold in the Rio 7's it only has to commandeer the best suitable oval ball players in the country for 4 months prior to the games.

Will the future see contracts that allow for League players who may be asked to do 'jury duty' in the Olympics or will players demand the right to be given leave when signing for a club. Couldn't be much worse than depriving clubs of players because of Origin. All depends if Union is playing in the Olympics or Australia.

 

[POPEYE]

Great day already, it's raining, I didn't jinx the cricket after all and the Rugby League begins, whatever happens from now on in is cream on top. I went to bed when Cricket was 1-1 and woke up to 'glory be'. Crikey I hope SA get interested in the Nines, they are a mob I could easily love to hate and where else than the best sport on the planet.

Ryan Hoffman is already calling for an expansion of the Nines and I bet he's indicative of many players that want their League longevity extended. I'm sure his enthusiasm is just as well founded as that of Cricketers who sought a new lease on life but the economics of a secondary competition can't be dispelled.

There's a lot at stake this weekend, I should go to bed and wake up when it's all over, maybe like Warner the ideas man behind the Nines will be raising his arm in triumph challenging the NRL to come up with a season to match. Already the Nines has the f**king arsewipes concentrating on the good things, Ferguson and Co are treading water.

All we need do between now and the end of 2016 is establish an expanding Nines, make Origin stand alone and send 15 Australians to win gold in the Rugby 7's. The rest of the world thinks Union/League is called Rugby and I bet the Yanks will be conscripting NFL players for their 7's squad so let's get some League players in there and win the f**ker.

 

[Lambretta]

F**ked if I know what he sees in Roberts but I'm not game enough to call another Champion until I see what he's got in mind.

Ben Roberts cannot run a team, but he has talent enough to be dangerous on his feet if someone else does the hard work of organising players

Roberts has instinct - put him alongside someone that has leadership and there is potential for him to be a decent player

He will be a support player to Cronk and Smith - from that end he should surprise a few people. They will make him look better than the players at Parramatta ever could

 

[Jack_Napier]

Have always thought Roberts would be decent at centre. Maybe belly is thinking of playing him there now Blair is gone.

 

[Lambretta]

Have always thought Roberts would be decent at centre. Maybe belly is thinking of playing him there now Blair is gone.

That's not a bad idea - get him to do a reverse Fittler

 

[POPEYE]

I reckon half way through we can accept that the Nines is here to stay, in basically a one team country the Warriors probably should have played last but more of the crowd would have stayed if they weren't being slowly cooked.

Too many good things happened for most of the players to analyse the best of them but it was a standout that there was no time for the grubbiness that has pervaded the 13's. Before today no-one knew the criteria for Nines but we now know a team has to have a genuine playmaker and goal kicking has to be practiced seriously.

Ironically, 'up the middle' reaps more rewards in the Nines than the other version of the game and next year teams will be more specialised. I think as the Nines progresses over the years it will be taken far more seriously, there can be no doubt it is a better insight than trials of players on the fringe

 

[POPEYE]

I can envisage a time when the recognised heroes of the long game will have no choice but to play in the Nines, Cam Smith and Isaac Luke for instance would have carved up the middle for supporting players. If and when it takes off anyone who doesn't get a berth in the short game will be labelled deficient.

Burnout can't be used as an excuse, everyone seemed a little distressed but the recovery time available had a smile on most faces and the Nines is not a game that will leave a hangover, of course there will be exceptions like Coote who is a victim of shit happens.

Storm players if given a choice between the Nines and a day of Bellamy's torture sessions would gladly take the former, it would be no different at most clubs. So, the future scenario is the short game will not be scoffed at, it will be a fun way to shorten the drudgery of pre-season training and ease the way into the long game.

Unfortunately the fairytale appearance of players like Freddy and Menzies may be circumvented by an increased seriousness and promising youngsters may even have to take a back seat. We will see more players like Glen Fisiiahi using the Nines to regain confidence. If the Nines hangs around it will most certainly graduate from a festival to a warmup

 

[POPEYE]

Great result for the Nines, nothing better than an underdog getting up, in this case who'd expect 2 Qld teams facing off. The two that took goal kicking seriously, Warriors and Knights, were left by the wayside for differing reasons. Knights lost their playmaker and the Warriors forgot the game plan.

Although Matty Elliot was not directly involved in the Nines he must be shaking his head, Johnson going walkabout in the vinegar stroke game must be disconcerting, de ja vu at least. Green on the other hand is laughing all the way to the bank, Coote was bad luck but always an accident going to happen anyway, better to get it out of the way early.

So, we have the Cowboys looking like an outlaw MC already, what better way to start a season for a rookie coach. There were certainly some interesting new players on display, could be a good season for those of us that put the game first, clubs second

 

[POPEYE]

Nines are still the only thing occupying minds so wtf. Griffin is saying the schedule should be revamped but very few people are calling for it's demise so all's good. If what the promoters want happens and the series is expanded it should probably be played at night over a week with the finals played on the weekend.

That means it could graduate outside Auckland if it gets big enough but it will be more considerate of player welfare as Griffin suggests. Fox is the key, the Nines couldn't operate on FTA on such a scale, unlike BB Cricket there's not enough ad breaks and crowds couldn't be any worse than a SA Test.

Just say the Nines does take off like Origin, which was also considered a fairytale before it began, the mindset we saw on the weekend will have to change. Maybe clubs won't want to risk their prima donna players but they will have to actually train for the event, which should prepare the squads better against injuries and negate the need for trials.

Some of the injuries we saw were in innocuous circumstances and could hardly be attributed to a vagary of the Nines alone, serious preparation would have circumvented the rest. What we could end up with is a pre-season to shake the cobwebs, a Nines series that displays talent without the grubbiness of intentional thuggery which leads into a League season we're accustomed to.

 

[POPEYE]

Once the euphoria subsides and the media have garnered all they can it will be left to the ARLC to decide how best to use the Nines next year. At the moment it appears they have a tiger by the tail, not unlike Origin the week after the inaugral game, the impact State against State has made is lost on people who have never been without it.

League will always be a lottery unless teams play each other once or twice, no half measures. Imo the Premiership should be expanded and teams only play each other once, the push for games to be played at big stadiums is nullifying home ground advantage and adding to the confusion. Games could be alternated every second year to give the appearance of equal opportunity.

The fact remains that the Nines, Origin and the Premiership should not be allowed to interfere with each other, with 18 or 20 teams League junkies could get their usual fix and players would have to play less games. Even with 16 teams the players get the breather they're asking for and we might have to make do with a shorter season if not better planning.

Common sense should have the antcipated expanded Nines start the year with a short interval before the Premiership begins

Half the Premiership games are played remembering teams only have to play each other once

The 'Origin' 3 week period begins which includes a composite of games between Island teams and any other games deemed appropriate for the advancement of League

Second half of the Premiership followed by an interval or lead up promotional game

Then the usual bullshit finals or if there are only 16 teams in the comp a there would be time to play a proper 4 team round robin to decide who plays in the GF.

 

[POPEYE]

Best thing about the wankfest surrounding the Burgess defection is having the f**king tossers that decried his worth before he arrived and put shit on him while he was here shitting their nappies screaming traitor now that he's leaving. League is pathetic compared to other countries that put almost all their sports heroes on pedestals, not just a newsworthy select few.

I wouldn't swap Steve Menzies for Andrew Johns because I prefer players that are always ready to play, nevertheless Menzies deserved to finish his tenure in the country and for the club that he served so well. He shouldn't have been penalised because his worthiness had diminished under the salary cap.

Maybe if Burgess thought he could bow out gracefully in Australia after 10 years and still get paid his worth unaffected by a draconian salary cap he might have stayed, unlikely as it seems. As it is he will now do to the NRL exactly what he did to SL, look for the reward he thinks his talent deserves elsewhere

The difference is when he finishes his galavanting he knows, like Farrell and Morley, he can return to SL and be given the attention he deserves until his balls drop.

 

[POPEYE]

Saw a headlining paragraph somewhere denoting SBW as the World's Best Player, a physical impossibility for a second rower. The best player has to come from the top ten or so that have equal billing after a certain criteria has been met.

Maloney for instance handles the ball enough times, makes enough right decisions, is the architect of enough wins and responsible for enough points to qualify as candidate for Best Player. The Roosters have a far better chance of winning without SBW than they do without Maloney. Williams isn't important enough to displace the players that are in the group of irreplaceables from all teams

I will concede he is a prime candidate for the Best Second Rower In The World, but even that is contentious because many of his peers do important work that goes unnoticed. Williams is a magnet for the ball which in itself enhances his chances to use his undoubted talent from a position on the field that suits his 'pick and choose' moments.

Hayne would be every bit as devastating as Williams if he too concentrated on playing in his most suitable position, as shown in the WC, neither will ever really be the best player in the world

 

[POPEYE]

Watching Kodi Nikorima in the Nines reminded me of Alfie the way he uses the short kick for himself, we'll know how it works against 13 soon enough. With any luck Milford and Barba will be fighting for a spot next year and my guess is Ben will need more than 'open sesame' to get in.

When Alfie burst on the scene in Origin it was the biggest surprise in the history of the game, Griffin is badly in need of the same sort of luck Wally had, a pressure relief valve. Bennett never had Melbourne and GC using his resources in the way Griffin has which is the real reason why the Broncos have lost their iconic stature.

Billy Moore is calling for yet another team in Brisbane to give the Broncos more opposition, never the sharpest tool in the shed was Billy. Griffin only needs what most good teams have, a great half or 5/8 that doesn't have issues and can be totally relied upon.

Every time we see a bloke like Nikorima turn up no matter who he plays for any League supporter will cross his fingers and hope for the best. These little fellas are like leprechauns, never far away from a pot of gold

 

[BKT]

Ye Gods Popeye....this would have to be a record for you, 164 pages and still going strong..congrats.

 

[POPEYE]

Ye Gods Popeye....this would have to be a record for you, 164 pages and still going strong..congrats.

My Lady . . . great to hear from you . . . well anyone actually . . . but especially you Princess

I've been keeping out of trouble, not bucking authority any longer. You should keep me company, Crusoe is in need of Friday