Redneck Redfaces

[TheVelourFog]

I don't agree, this Queensland run has gone on so long it feels like the only story left is if they can get to 10. A NSW win will be a relief for fans im sure but the damage is already done.

 

[Lambretta]

Raiders' fans should find some consolation in what the future may hold, the Eels have set a precedent that admittedly came a tad too late but nevertheless the beacon has been lit. Pity McFadden, who fine tuned his coaching at the Melbourne College of Rugby League, wasn't snapped up before Canberra caught the heebie jeebies and in a moment of semi consciousness signed Sticky.

Arthur, another MCRL graduate, should provide the incentive needed for the Raiders to begin again from scratch after the blight has passed. Look at Parramatta, tried all kinds of remedies as have Canberra and followed a remarkably similar path. All that remains is that management spend the hopefully little time Stuart has left in meaningful research.

The really promising and established great players won't jump ship before June 30, touch wood, if they have taken notice of what came after Sticky at Parramatta. Admittedly Anderson is probably as influential as Arthur because the future for the Eels now has a Manlyesque vibe where players will want to die in the joint.

All this talk about the Raiders not attracting talent is bullshit, talent will go where talent is emphasised, that will happen when the emphasis is on great player management

The Raiders were strongest when there was no other Qld team for Qld players to go to other than the Broncos. Canberra at the time could offer a similar lifestyle to Brisbane without the expense of living in Sydney and without the limelight

Queenslanders who choose not to come to Sydney have the Gold Coast, Townsville and Melbourne to choose from. Canberra just isn't the attraction it once was.

You are right when you mention player talent and players realising their potential as being a key to attracting players to the Nations Capital but is Ricky the man to entice them down? Hardly. Canberra have six more years of mediocrity under Stuart or they have to pay Ricky a million per season to get rid of him unless he walks early

I just can't see that happening. I reckon the Raiders will go bust before that happens

 

[Lambretta]

'Benji Marshall's clash with old rival Jamie Soward will be one of the highlights of Round 14' (SMH) . . . says it all doesn't it

Dave Smith can probably be excused for not caring about the ramifications of that statement but the people who employ him shouldn't be

Agreed. The Bulldogs v Eels game should be a highlight of the season.
Two teams playing good football, both near the top of the table. They should get a massive crowd and have everyone salivating

Instead we have both teams missing their best players and everyone is asking which team is going to miss their best the most and fall across the line to by default

It's a shite state of affairs

 

[POPEYE]

Anyone fortunate enough to have seen Ron Coote and Steve Menzies play will know what I mean when I say they had the same 'look' about them . . . the dangerous look reminiscent of a Preying Mantis. Both these blokes could spring into action in a split second for different reasons.

If Inglis or Hayne, or Menzies for that matter, tried to penetrate the 1/3 of the field Coote was defending they might get the ball away but almost never would they get past him. Ron was one player from yesteryear whose particular talent in defence has never been matched let alone surpassed

Menzies was another forward by size only, saying Coote was the only bloke I'd trust to defend against Steve says it all. The bloke makes the records of so-called 'immortals' appear as scribble on a blotter.

The highlight of last nights Rabbitohs/Tigers game was the 'look' of Kyle Turner, admittedly still the only comparison with Coote and Menzies, the bloke raises the hackles just enough to stir the memory of two of my favourite players. The laughing at Souths is dwindling to a snicker, no wonder with the promise some of their nurtured players are showing

 

[POPEYE]

Benji is getting closer to the best he can offer once more and Soward is on course to replicate his noteworthy 'first year at the joint' form. PNG is hanging on to the top half of the Intrust Cup and Penrith's NSW Cup 19 year old Waqa Blake steps/jumps/runs like Folau.

What else . . . Mary has the Dragons looking better/competitive and not many yet believe the Panthers aren't pretenders, even though they can only deal with what is in front of them. Luke Lewis is confident of being fit for Game II, doesn't say how many minutes of it and Hayne is now that highly regarded he will be nailed to a cross if the Blues lose

Should be worth listening to Eels/Dogs whilst pottering around in the shed, no game is worth 2 hours of dribble least of all this Origin fill-in . . . shame about Waza not being on the air. If the Eels win I'll catch the Fox replay to see how De Gois went.

Knew there was something else . . . NSW whinged about Shayne Hayne and Mal said both sides were equally disadvantaged so he's going with 'shit happens'. Does anyone know if Shayne's past penalty counts correspond with each game the NRL/media would prefer to see won by either combatant. I haven't seen any correlations . . . naturally Qld would be the preferred victor in Game II

 

[POPEYE]

Got to feel for Greenberg, whodathought Pearce/Maloney would be relegated and Arthur would be better at it than Hasler when the 'draw' came from under a hat . . . sorry, out of a hat.

 

[POPEYE]

Maybe the Origin Menstruation hasn't completely bled the real game of interest, there has at least been some exciting revelations that may have been overlooked had teams not been looking for answers. If Hoppa and Hayne were available maybe Pauli Pauli wouldn't have taken it upon himself to be inspirational.

Ironic the bloke was born in Bankstown, leaving the joint and learning to get a ball away are probably the two best things that could have happened in his life so far, maybe playing Origin one day will surpass both. Ordinarily after his meteor impersonation Parramatta would be practicing their Eeyore recitals as they become resigned to losing him to a poacher

The Parramatta revival may have supporters in raptures but in reality it's only a rehearsal, making the finals will be equivalent to opening night, if that happens Arthur will be the Toast of The Town. If the resurgence is to rival Broadway it will be up to Anderson to protect the chorus line. Given the NRL's penchant for ignorance there's no guarantee the Eels will be given any help in keeping their stars

 

[POPEYE]

Tried to ignore the Storm/Titans game, considering I'm a Melbourne supporter watching The Voice instead seemed at the time a good personal protest, but I had to catch the late replay when I knew the result . . . that's hypocrisy for you but not out of place this time of the year.

The great display by Bromwich and Harris made me think of how Bellamy could stay a little longer at Melbourne. Firstly let the Broncos have all the promising juniors and only take the discards, young and old, wave the Bellamy wand over them and see what eventuates.

Secondly, and most importantly since Melbourne already have a substantial input in junior Kiwi development, concentrate mainly on NZ players. Instead of being the 4th Qld team become the 2nd NZ team, after all the Warriors wanted Craig so why not take advantage of his standing in the joint.

Melbourne already has as many Kiwis supporters living there as Aussies so the next obvious step is to encourage the most promising of their juniors to head to Melbourne, a win win for Qld/Melbourne/Bellamy/NZ . . . unfortunately not so good for the Warriors who would suffer as Brisbane does now.

You all know what I'm getting at, no more insidious f**king disruptions to the Melbourne culture, no more excuses to depreciate the effort Bellamy makes by refusing to poach and best of all a chance to poke fun at what's left of the Kiwis who stay across the ditch

 

[Cloudsurfer]

What I like about the kiwis in the Storm NRL team is they are all Maoris. There's 5 of them (2 Bromwhiches, Harris, Proctor & McLean). They are all in the engine and they all have a few clues - heart & brains is a great combo.

If this lot have a fault it's they are nice guys of good character (a Bellamy requisite) but hey, good to see guys just play the game not the man (JWH comes to mind). Mongrel isn't needed if you have brains to go with your brawn. And skills of those half your size.

Jesse Bromwich is a couple of years off reaching his prime, Harris will only reach his 50th game at the end of the season, McLean has barely had any games and even though this game was against a depleted Titans side, the signs augur well for the Storm.

Never mind the Warriors breeding ground of AK, there's plenty more like the Storm engineers in the provinces. Bellamy knows where to look and what to look for...

 

[POPEYE]

Never been a fan of Ennis but crikey, he is nowhere near the worst #9 in the comp, he sells himself better than anyone the Sharks have. A bloke who spends that much time in front of a mirror grooming himself as Superman must bring desperately needed inspiration to a mob with part time playmakers.

Might be a surprise to some that a pretend Supercoach has to poach but I reckon Toovey has always coached the Seagles, just incognito earlier, Hasler mainly had the gift of the gab. Des is just a bulldozer driver, Tooves is the firey little chicken hawk that no-one took seriously until he started knawing legs off.

The Dog precinct is Australia's arsehole so it is suitable that Lichaa has to be paid handsomely for 'anal', can't blame the bloke for wanting to escape a temporary brothel to join something more established.

Could be worse, imagine if CB/Hasler didn't have to poach, we'd have to go back to being jealous of the once great club known for it's independence. When Flanaghan returns I couldn't think of a better man than Ennis to wave the flag for him . . . Gallen is getting a bit old hat

 

[POPEYE]

The Yank Superbowl and AFL GF stadiums might hold 20,000 more people, Wembley is no match, but I doubt any oval ball game on the planet has had as many people wearing the same colour in one place as Rugby League. Even Soccer's biggest games are usually evenly represented in non-internationals.

It is therefore fitting SOO has eclipsed all else in a country with so few people, the Rugby League and AFL Premierships have no hope filling stadiums in such a lopsided manner. Qld's dominance has lessened the degree of celebration before last night, the Origin of old has returned to it's magnificence in one fell swoop.

Last night's game was played as all League games should be played, the thuggery there but not catastrophic, the refereeing doubtful but not overbearing, the game made more intriguing because scoring was not easy. I only attack Origin for the way it is scheduled, not the way it is represented.

My fervent hope is that there will be changing of the guard and the team I prefer amongst the fifteen I want to do well will be less represented if the scheduling isn't altered, which is the reason I wanted the Blues to win. Can't help however to be impressed by the exhuberant celebration of NSW when it restored the equilibrium . . . well done indeed

 

[POPEYE]

Team lists this weekend mean sfa, maybe because I couldn't bother catching up on the who's in and out gossip, doesn't matter anyway since I don't go to games or bet on them. Have to make sure I've some movies ready to go, won't watch Greenberg's mob unless there's a real good chance of them getting beaten and against McCrone . . . I'm not into self mutilation

Mt Smart game had the makings of a ripper with both teams at full strength, as did the AAMI game, the former I'll watch because it's too late to stay out in a cold shed and the latter will depend on who plays to make it worthy of a long lunch

The 2 hour game on Sunday might dictate a replay if the score is close, main interest is seeing how Mortimer goes and if Dugan may have shaken his fragile tag

MNF is almost always the best game and Thurston will be out for Origin revenge. This game means more to the Knights that any game this weekend does to anyone so at the very least should be worth giving The Voice it's required head start.

 

[POPEYE]

Forgive me, or not, for missing any discussion elsewhere about the Roosters 'invading' the Central Coast. I've drunk a few schooners with a Seagle supporter mate and each time I ask him why Manly didn't wrap up the area long ago he gives me that 'arrogant' look as if to say 'we don't need anyone'. They've lost their Qld connection is that right? So where else does the club feed from

Poor old Greg Florima still thinks he may be CEO of an NRL club, can't blame him when Manly have been laxadaisical imo for not making a far bigger deal of playing out of Bluetongue. Not that I've been interested enough to take notice, until the Roosters made a move. Flo is kidding himself if he thinks the Roosters aren't going to negatively impact his dream of a bear's den with him being Poppa

Politis's mob are going from a postage stamp to an envelope, smart move when one day relocation for someone might be in the air. The Roosters would have a better look if they decide to represent the Central Coast, they'd rarely fill Bluetongue but at least you wouldn't be able to hear the Allianz crickets at half time

Maybe someone can fill me in why Manly is so in love with the swamp that it wouldn't want to pursue an ace in the hole and lock up the Central Coast. I would have thought that a concerted drive to brainwash such a Rugby League mad area, even to the extent of establishing Flo's Bears as principal feeder. What have I missed?

 

[POPEYE]

Harking back to the second half of '09, the only time Hayne has earned his money before 'Arthur Time', I remember earlier in the year Mortimer and Kelly were killing them as a halves combination in the Toyota Cup.

I'm not sure what came first, the chicken or the egg, whether Hayne fired because Mortimer was stolen from Kelly and inspired him or whether Hayne pulled his finger out due to jealousy of the attention Mortimer was getting. Either way the big loser was Kelly who probably envisaged he and Daniel moving to the top grade as a well tuned pairing.

Turned out Hayne returned to sucking his blanket and Mortimer couldn't replicate '09 either . . . again, the chicken or the egg. Kelly never seemed to get over his separation from Mortimer and imo his main injury was between the ears which degenerated into a miriad of unfortunate malfunctions, mentally and bodily.

A big 'if' but not unimagineable is that the in-between may be discounted and what was ordained in the Toyota Cup might be realised, Kelly's growing pains might not be insurmountable

 

[POPEYE]

Fmd there are some headlines this morning guaranteed to keep the cornflakes undecided about up or down. F**kwit Fulton says 'cleansweep's our time for payback', being one of those immortal thingamajigs maybe he thinks he'll live forever which is what will be needed to see NSW win 8 straight

Gallen's hands raised after one series win is apparently one of the poses for his statue, only 66% are laughing at the idea so why not. I turned over to the Manly/Sharks game in between recordings to see Cronulla denied a fair try and the joke amongst wankers this morning is 'Sharks nil 3 times in a row' . . . dunno, did Gal play

Apparently Bennett is now the worst Knight's coach ever, heightened by Newcastle being such a wonderful place to coach where icons are exclamation marks and management is extraordinary. With that journalistic enlightenment Benny will have no hope of the Dragons or Broncos taking him back

Surprises me I haven't seen anything yet about Barba's return to fame, the Defence Turnstyle's kiss blown after the only thing he did all game was better than one of these headlines to regurgitate the flakes

Harrigan says Qld were ripped off, big f**king deal, Origin itself rips supporters off, the judiciary rips people off, referees rip players of, media rips everyone off because they think the public are idiots. Trick is to be on the right side of a rip off . . . much easier if only one eye works

 

[Aragorn]

what is this thread? the diaries of Popeye?

 

[Jason Maher]

Forgive me, or not, for missing any discussion elsewhere about the Roosters 'invading' the Central Coast. I've drunk a few schooners with a Seagle supporter mate and each time I ask him why Manly didn't wrap up the area long ago he gives me that 'arrogant' look as if to say 'we don't need anyone'. They've lost their Qld connection is that right? So where else does the club feed from

Poor old Greg Florima still thinks he may be CEO of an NRL club, can't blame him when Manly have been laxadaisical imo for not making a far bigger deal of playing out of Bluetongue. Not that I've been interested enough to take notice, until the Roosters made a move. Flo is kidding himself if he thinks the Roosters aren't going to negatively impact his dream of a bear's den with him being Poppa

Politis's mob are going from a postage stamp to an envelope, smart move when one day relocation for someone might be in the air. The Roosters would have a better look if they decide to represent the Central Coast, they'd rarely fill Bluetongue but at least you wouldn't be able to hear the Allianz crickets at half time

Maybe someone can fill me in why Manly is so in love with the swamp that it wouldn't want to pursue an ace in the hole and lock up the Central Coast. I would have thought that a concerted drive to brainwash such a Rugby League mad area, even to the extent of establishing Flo's Bears as principal feeder. What have I missed?

Perhaps they fear being screwed over by the NRL like the Bears were? Remember the Bears contributed a fair chunk to the building of that stadium, on the understanding that taking the initiative to relocate would guarantee them a spot in the rationalised NRL. Then when construction was delayed, in part by bad weather, the Bears were left high and dry, and had no choice but to pursue a marriage of inconvenience with their hated rivals. I still think it was a disgracefully short-sighted decision by the NRL not to back the Bears move. Up there with dissolving the Reds.

 

[POPEYE]

The Godfather will probably make better use of the joint than the rabble Manly heirarchy, wouldn't hurt to humour Florimo who once he realises the Central Coast are unlikely to make the NRL may settle for harvesting junior Roosters. Be interesting to see what eventuates if Nick flexes his muscles

 

[POPEYE]

what is this thread? the diaries of Popeye?

You'd be better off looking for a puddle to play in

 

[POPEYE]

Didn't take long for more proof that Origin is now considered the be-all-end-all of Rugby League, no f**king need for such brain dead singlemindedness but that's the way it is. If the Eels/Storm game had of been refereed as Origin was the score could have been as close, just as exciting and more open than the Wednesday dose.

Melbourne didn't need the Eels to be penalised for every insignificant misdemeanor in the first half, they denied the Eels with brilliant attack, only running out of puff late in the stanza gave Parramatta hope.

Parramatta came out guns blazing after some Arthur supervision and didn't need a Cummings Penalty Catchup, the f**kwit seemed determined to show how Origin should have been refereed. To send a player to the bin because one of them couldn't refrain from saying what everyone was thinking was the straw that destroyed a possible one-point match

The AAMI fiasco was a far better spectacle than Origin because all the players participated, the final score was not just an insult to the effort but an insult to the Premiership. Every time I see penalties given for the sake of the referee and not the game I imagine what Richard Silverwood would have done. No doubt had he been in charge yesterday Rugby League would have been the winner