Redneck Redfaces

[POPEYE]

Watching the pc replay couldn't help raise a giggle over the Sam & Frank show. Every man to his own I
reckon and maybe they have found their true calling but it does stretch the imagination.

Can just picture the both of them with the Warriors being the first players to take the field with full face
tribal tattoos or turning up to a Manly training session with boards on the rack. If they played for the
Tigers you might see them down the local Bunnings before the game getting face painted with whiskers and stripes.

Shame the teased blonde half of the forwards don't follow the rest of the team's example and get into
costume and become full on . . . need more than just a nibble

 

[POPEYE]

Teams that wish they had certain players and attack them because they don't are doubly incensed
when they're encouraged to stifle them but can't. Then you get the ridiculous situation when it seems
justified to seek out a player half your size and bite his ear as a last resort.

Fair enough, it's not easy to watch a player like Brett Stewart score a try that no-one else can against
your side and calmly walk back without French kissing half his team with a look on his face which
says 'big deal'. Anyone who is extremely talented at what he's on the field to do is entitled to strut as
much as he likes.

When Slater normally gets close to a player trying to score he normally aborts the try even if one out
of a hundred times he comes close to a misdemeanor. Anyone who thinks players like Slater and
Stewart are not as tough as the rest and are there because they're freaks are f**kwits.

What we saw in the last game of the year was Slater pulling out of trying to stop Perrett when he realised
he had no chance. Sam may have thought Billy was going to do something extraneous but it didn't need
Porky Inu to push a player off the ball he can't get near in talent. Billy wasn't reacting to the push but the
insinuation he had done something wrong.

Then we see a brain dead dope from the land of the unwashed seeing his chance to unsettle one of the
biggest threats to improving his abyssmal grand final record. This 40 minute man now is claiming innocence
of trying to stop an 80 minute whirlwind by trying to convince us he was justified because there was no other way.
That dumb pommy look on his face permeates the whole way to the back of his skull.

 

[POPEYE]

Said it before that in Rugby League there are the players and then there is everyone else.
The players are the ones you should talk to if the opportunity arises and treat the opinions of the rest
as just heresay. Media is last cab off the rank as a source for anything genuine so any of their crusades
like 'immortals' should be taken with a grain of salt.

Players know which team is the hardest to beat, which player is the hardest to nullify, when their
opponents are underdone, carrying an injury or can't take a trick. For instance, they know that Manly,
Melbourne and the Dogs this year would beat any of the rest 8 out of 10. Record books should read
Storm, Premiers* 2012.

The asterisk because the result was not manipulated by judiciary, officialdom or loss of a key player
in the decider . . . a vintage year indeed. If the Dogs had to do without Barba for 5 games as did
Melbourne without Slater they wouldn't unfortunately have won my idea of the year's best.
Melbourne simply won the pissant cup for the same reason they didn't win the Shield . . . the
difference between having and not having 3 Origin hardened blokes at their best.

All the bullshit about the 'best' coach had nothing to do with it. Bellamy oversees a culture/training/coaching
regime as a whole that others haven't replicated yet. I would step down from my soap box if every year the
cup was decided by the two best teams and their full compliment of players. There is more chance of regrowing my hair.

 

[POPEYE]

Like many others I might have been derogatory about Tim Sheens' ability to coach but it was more
about him not being able to secure a loose canon than to implement a game plan. Swap Marshall with
Cronk and Tim would have won My Kitchen Rules.

Call it an international competition if you like but the only two countries worth a pint of cold piss in the
League world are conjoined and would die for each other on the field of battle. What we have is virtually
an Origin game with black and white versus green and gold so Sheens probably should be allowed to
paddle in the shallow end like Meninga does for as long as he wants.

 

[POPEYE]

Every time Matty wakes up with a hard on he should wait till the sheet sags before rushing to the keyboard.
One of his wildest dreams has Cameron Smith captain/coach of the Storm. Maybe he should watch the whole
game, especially the group round tables after points are scored, and he would see Cronk alone enforcing
the next move.

Smith may be the coolest player on the planet but a coach he'll never make. He's quite happy to play the
Pied Piper but ranting, raving and demanding is not his go. We all know what happened to Wally when he
calmly tried to get a team of players to 'do as I would do'

 

[POPEYE]

Seems everyone is stepping in dog shit when they shouldn't be walking on the grass in the first place.
The best thing about SW Sydney is the road out of the joint and most of those who inhabit the
area are true believers and the rest infidels. Nothing wrong with like minded people congregating as
long as no harm is done.

Television should realise the mindset of Doggie supporters doesn't take kindly to invasion by western
style media, especially when anchored by a woman. Can only imagine the explosions if they had
premierships stripped. If CB want to be left alone in some manly perceived ritual then so be it,
at least we know where they all are.

I'm not sure what the media need from a group of people who want to forget they lost the pissant cup.
Surely stupid questions will only get stupid answers.

 

[POPEYE]

Dearie me, it never ends from the media. Today we have the columnist version of Andrew Johns,
talking shorthand and a brain for solitaire, spruking that the game is getting slower than ever.
Next thing he'll be saying Jabba, Sterlo, Wally and Artie could have kept up the pace we saw on Sunday.

Sure there are more stoppages because of video but if there wasn't the players would drop dead at the
pace they play today. None of the teams from the past could remotely foot it with the top eight this year.
Teams of the bygone era would adapt given time but the type of stamina we see now has been evolutionary.

The second half of the pissant cup was the most enthralling 40 minutes I've seen all year and anyone who
says yesteryear teams could have held out is piddling through a tripod

 

[POPEYE]

If I was a player manager I would advise any of my clients not to play in the upcoming Aus/NZ Test
unless they felt a need to tick a box, re-establish themselves or were new to the jumper. Not being
100% fit is all the excuse needed. Jeremy Smith is a perfect example of common sense.

There is too much to lose and nothing to gain with training for the new NRL season not far away.
It's almost a tragedy expecting the Kiwis to compete against a team with battle hardened combinations
that have played together many times this year. It is ludicrous to expect the Kiwis to walk on water
with only one shot at it.

 

[POPEYE]

The game of life is infinitely more difficult than any other and I wish Kellie Furner all the luck in the world for the future.

 

[POPEYE]

Sitting here waiting for the mountain to fire up so I may as well annoy as many people as possible in
the interim. Incidentally, not in the spirit of capitalism it may be but the best way to enjoy the race is
record it. Watch the start live of course but go and mow the lawn for 90 minutes, come back and watch at
least the first half ad free . . . then repeat the process with an extended lunch.

Roy Masters most always writes a good column and this morning he mentions a discussion with Kevvie
Walters about the Bulldogs initiating front rowers playing like halves and how Melbourne
counteracted them. Walters thinks small men will always be needed but a new era in forward play may be at hand.

It does seem the way to go and I'm sure Bellamy and others will help Des perfect it. Not sure having front
rowers built like 44 gallon drums will survive more than one season of stealing the march on other teams though.

 

[POPEYE]

Using Hazem as a role model for behaviour in any sport is a great idea. He should have played much
more Origin than he did and anything that encourages boat people and their descendants not to
become anti-Australian is a great leap for mankind.

It won't be long before the whole Cumberland basin is home to these people and they must be
persuaded to participate in all kinds of sport rather than promote shoulder chips.

 

[POPEYE]

My battered old swag wouldn't feel the same without waking up to the sound of magpies, imo the best
sounding Aussie bird. Never was there any danger of being threatened by tigers in the bush but I'm
sure if one surfaced a magpie wouldn't be frightened by it.

If Leeds came to Melbourne Cameron Smith wouldn't be able to excuse himself even if his wife
promised the arrival of another child. Can't get jetlag from anywhere in Australia to AAMI park either
and I don't think the time frame would allow Leeds the usual warm up games. Like the ancient Romans
who also had a big round colosseum the Victorians might enjoy the bloodbath.

Got my fingers crossed that the Warriors will give Kidwell a go. New faces in the coaching ranks always
perks this old prick up and even looking forward to again becoming a supporter of the Roosters.

 

[POPEYE]

Seems I'll have to get used to talking to myself out loud whilst hoping others are listening. My family
assure me they're not tampering with 'views' to humour me so someone must be there. How about
some baited ones that may get a response.

Blake Ayshford would be a world beater if he went to Melbourne, or
Jamie Lyon went to England the best centre on the planet and still is, or
Tigers would be far better off if Benjii followed Tim wherever he goes, or
Broncos not to struggle without Darren is tantamount to Storm without Cameron, or
Adam Blair is not out of place in Formula One but that doesn't mean he can drive a truck

 

[POPEYE]

Marvellous how things come full circle. Remember when I was looking forward to fighting in Vietnam
but missed the call and how happy I am now I didn't because we were really the bad guys. Once Manly
stopped poaching pissant cups most of us are willing to forgive and forget how they systematically
destroyed the chances of other teams.

Seems now the Storm are mentioned in more and more articles as multiple premiership winners and
only suffer because of a misdemeanor rather than a capital crime. Bellamy is now far and away the best
coach in the game when the M's only a month ago said he wasn't. We know players leave Melbourne
reluctantly but in a good frame of mind because they realise the show must go on and the salary cap
is not the major consideration, perpetuating the roll-on is.

So, what we have now is an organisation that has turned players into products that sell better because
of a brand name. Clubs are buying Storm players because they want dedication more than just talent.
Aiden Tolman for instance is CB's best player and really belongs where he was taught to be just that.
He may return to top off his career but until all clubs manage to contribute as much as Melbourne does
to Rugby League there will always be unfortunate decisions to be made.

 

[POPEYE]

Remember watching David Campese through his career and the yearly threat that he was about to
change to League and turn the game on it's head. All the hoopla from the rah rahs surrounded finding
under the table money to keep him. That money could have been easily saved by asking David to play
a League trial match to exhibit his tackling prowess.

Terry, a passable League player, scoffs at the idea of David playing NRL and he should know. Quade Cooper
is not ready to play a game in which he can't hide. He may well be able to adapt given time but I'm sure
he won't take apprentice money which is all he would deserve. David led the way as the mostly highly
paid player to consistently make dumb decisions while in possession, let alone defence.

In the motoring world there is room for only one Wankel rotary engine and Benji Marshall is the League
world equivalent. Quade would be even less value for money

 

[POPEYE]

AFL is really doing the rest of the world a huge favour . . . the oval ball world that is. Australia is the
only country who makes a big deal out of three games using the funny shaped ball. Union is
recognised internationally and League is a poorer cousin, like Olympic Games are to Commonwealth.
Just by it's existence AFL is taking probably half Australia's oval ball athletes out of the equation.

Dare say that if AFL didn't exist we would easily be the Rugby Union champions consistently and
international League would be a non event. Given Victorian passion for sport it's not hard to imagine
a 3 way SOO League competition going down to the wire every year.

So, all you doomsayers wishing failure on the Victorian brand of footy either think League should be
Australia's only contact ball sport which would spell the end of weak clubs, or think that Union
deserves to be our number one game which it would if we couldn't be beaten. Imo there's room in all
states of Australia to play both League and AFL . . . Union can give NZ something to crow about.

 

[POPEYE]

This year's crucifiction is apparently going to be the Bulldogs and let's hope they cope as well as
Melbourne have done. You good folk who take anything that happens in League too seriously are the
target so better to disregard both the euphoric and demonic bullshit. Time to forego reading anything
the bush dunny arsewipes are writing about and fill in time with some idle chatter amongst ourselves.

Good way to pass the time is talk about how you see the chances of the cubs in '13, not a year for
the superstitious. I'll start with Parramatta who are advantaged by having nothing to lose and straight
off the bat I reckon they have a very ordinary head coach. Then again, their chances are greatly
enhanced by Ricky's PR machine and the talent he hopes it will attract. He would not contemplate
attempting anything with the roster Kearney had.

There is no reason to expect the Eels to fail remembering Stuart will not put up with the ingrown
wankerism which we have become accustomed to from the head of the river and if he remains the
NRL's pin up boy and listens to his assistant coaches the team will become more than a bumpstop.

 

[Packy]

Pops.. sometimes you just nail it.

 

[POPEYE]

Nailed it . . . what does that feel like again. Penrith won't just make up the numbers
if Jabba gives Ivan what he wants and leaves him alone. Jennings is about as useful
as tits on a bull if my assessment of Cleary's grand plan is accurate. If he is to create
a culture in the perfect place for one he doesn't need snickering in the ranks.

A bit much for supporters to expect parting of the waves just yet because '12 was a
hiccup for the coach and almost a year wasted while authority was being established.
Great breeding ground for players and now the club just needs NRL importance in the joint
. . . in other words a place where players are jumping over each other to get a run.

2014 will be the year of no excuses for this mob but '13 will be very interesting indeed.

 

[POPEYE]

Third from the bottom this year just about says it all about the Warriors. Was Cleary that good
a coach or are the Kiwis like a cat amongst 15 dogs. Anyone who thinks they can train a cat to
do something it doesn't feel like doing consistently should apply for the coaching job. I would
have thought Kearney to be perfect but maybe it's once bitten, twice shy for him when it comes
to loose canon clubs.

Leave it up to others to analyse the NZ club for next year, I wouldn't have a clue what's going
to eventuate. Most of this year I've said no team could match them on paper but like in the
analogy paper is laid down to stop cat shit ruining where they play. Maybe they think a season
is over 24 months and next year is their turn again.