Round 10 (2005) Bulls Vs Rhinos

[roosterboy60]

[font=Times New Roman, Times, serif]South Florida Bulls v Orange County Rhinos[/font]

[font=Times New Roman, Times, serif]Game Thread
Please note - This is a game thread only, therefore only game posts can be made here (Teams, Articles).
Any other posts will result in loss of points and is at the discretion of the referee.
Only original essays, not used in previous games, will be marked by referees.[/font]

[font=Times New Roman, Times, serif]Home team captain will be allowed 3 reserves, visiting captain will be allowed 2 reserves
Rules: http://f7s.leagueunlimited.com/rules.asp[/font]

[font=Times New Roman, Times, serif]Full Time: Wednesday 3rd August at 9pm (Syd time)[/font]

[font=Times New Roman, Times, serif]Venue: Gold Coast Stadium

Crowd: 8,010
REFEREE: Mystique[/font]

[font=Times New Roman, Times, serif]**Referee Blows Game On!**[/font]

 

[broncoman]

USF Bulls

3 broncoman (captain)
11 BroncoCloete
8 Striker
4 Sir Biffo
6 Diehard

Reserves

5 Homer's Bowling Ball
1 Broncodroid
2 Jordan

Things could be better for us right now but we are soildering along, theres still an outside chance of making the finals but we really need to win this one... good luck guys

 

[ParraMatt]

Rhinos Team

Mzilikazi (c)
Bartman (vc)
Yakstorm
Hightown
NotSoSilentBob

Reserves

Mr Angry
ParraMatt

 

[broncoman]

Bulls Replacement

Out - Sir Biffo
IN - Homer's Bowling Ball

 

[Hightown Tiger]

The Rhino's Hightown Tiger with the double dummy drop off, triple face ball!!

Harlequins Calling

London Calling
To the far away towns
Now war is declared
And Battle come down

London Calling by my favourite band, The Clash. But in Superleague, it will no longer be London Calling, but Harlequins Calling.

By now, you have probably heard the news. Next year London Broncos will move to The Stoop (where they played used to play 6 years ago), will call themselves Harlequins Rugby League Club, and will adopt Harlequins colours-light green, dark green, blue, red, light brown and dark brown. For those that don’t know, Harlequins are a Rugby Union club.

Is it a good or bad move? Well, one area I always examine first is the stadium. I like London’s current home ground Griffin Park, you can stand (yes, that old chestnut again), you can buy buckets of Victoria Bitter (which come in handy when your team are losing) and there is a pub in each corner. It’s also easy to get to, and I found people in the surrounding areas to be very friendly. Even those who didn’t know a thing about rugby league tried to find out more info.

Now, compare this to The Stoop. I’ve only been once, that was when Castleford drew 12-12 with London in possibly the most boring game I’ve been to. Firstly, it’s all seater so standing is out of the equation. Secondly, the Stoop is very hard to get to, compared to Griffin Park. Another major factor is, unsurprisingly, it’s Rugby Union Territory. Just over the road is Twickenham, home to England RU. At London Broncos games I’ve spotted quite a few Brentford FC fans (Brentford FC share Griffin Park with the Broncos). Will I see Harlequins RU shirts at Harlequins Rugby League (blimey, already this is getting confusing) games? I can’t see it myself.

All these things will be forgotten if London…sorry Harlequins Rugby League Club can make a success of it. But I just have a bad feeling about it. Currently, London Broncos are slowly building up their crowds, and they have a base to work from. To make any business work you have to be recognised in the community, will moving grounds every 5/6 years help? I very much doubt it. It’s a huge risk, what will happen if it all goes wrong for Harlequins Rugby League Club? Finding a new ground in three years time will be even more difficult. And starting afresh is a very dangerous thing to do. There is still a lot of ill feeling with regards to London setting up as a new company, thereby eliminating their £3m debts earlier this year.

One thing you can’t deny is The Stoop has more corporate facilities, and a better financial arrangement for the London league club. I’d like to see a successful London Broncos team, playing in front of 5 figure crowds. And this revenue will allow them to attract top class players….and no I don’t mean a few NRL players after one last pay day. Perhaps in the future Harlequins (both RL and RU) will be able to sign League players who are snapped up by Union teams…such as last years GB capatain Andy Farrell. If the Harlequins arrangement had already been set up they could have signed him on a dual contract, playing Union in winter and League through summer.


So in conclusion Harlequin Rugby League Club’s challenge is pretty clear: To hold their own in a city with so many famous football sides (Chelsea, Arsenal), and a city that is overall very much a Union media foothold. If they can hold their own, we may see a competitive London Rugby League Club both on and off the pitch.

London Calling
Yes I was there too

Let’s hope more people can say ‘I am there too.’ And maybe, just maybe crowds of 3,000 will become things of the past…and the new Harlequins Rugby League will gain support from the London public. Support that, quite frankly, they haven’t had for a long time.

If it doesn’t work out, I think this could be the end for professional rugby league in London

Word Count: 684 including title

 

[bartman]

Bartman bludges in the backline for the Rhinos...

You can't help who you support…

There's few more depressing sights than a sad sports fan. And there's few worse feelings than being emotionally attached to your team's slump in form. Some of us may be having a chuckle at the falls from grace of teams like Cronulla at the moment. But think twice before you mock, because we can't really help who we support.

I was born into Parramatta territory, as were two generations of my family before me. I'm a child of the 70s, so grew up in an era when league was the dominant winter sport in Sydney, no question. The late 70s was also an era where my local club started to make semi finals on a consistent basis, and we all know how winning - or the hopes and dreams of it - can plant those first seeds of addiction in the hearts of sport fans.

So after being taken to my first game at the age of five, an Eels fan I would be. Like most of the friends in my street and most friends I would make at my school. The local area and the family connection seemed the key factors in deciding my fate as a fan, and luckily there has been nothing about my club - apart from the occasional public rantings of Denis Fitzgerald - that has made me think twice. And even though it's been a while between premiership drinks for the Blue and Golds, witnessing that run of success in the early 80s has kept this addict salivating for more ever since.

But if local area and family connections were the main factors that first brought me to league, it could've so easily turned out different. I suppose I've been lucky to have my own team since I first knew what a football was - a team that feels like a part of me, a team that I am emotionally attached to and somewhat dependant upon. But what if I'd been brought up in an area where there wasn't a league team, or it wasn't the first choice sport? What if I didn't have a sports or league mad family, and only came to the game late, what then? Who would I come to support?

Many league supporters have not been so lucky, and have had a more difficult path to find that team that somehow, through some connection, reflects themselves - a team they can feel proud to say they support. I'd never even dreamt what that felt must feel like at all, until last year… I was leaving my hometown Parramatta behind for now, and moving to England. Once an Eel, always an Eel, and I knew I could never sever those emotional ties. My dad has saved my season ticket for me, and now gallantly allows his partner to attend in my place to keep the seat warm. And I taught him how to send text messages from his mobile, so I could receive score updates from each Eels home and televised game.

But even that fix of league from home would still not be enough for this displaced addict. So who could I support over here? I had no family history ties in any league area - Wolverhampton is soccer territory, and Cornwall is just plain strange. We'd decided to live in York, which is kind of close to Leeds, but there's something about suddenly arriving on a scene and starting to support the winning team that leaves a bad taste in your mouth? None of the other teams in Yorkshire (Hull, Bradford, Huddersfield, Wakefield) were close enough for me to be sure I could regularly attend their home games.

Once again I turned to my Parramatta connection - could there be anything there? Warrington share the blue and gold colours… but again, it's just too far away. The Parramatta greats - Thornett, Price, Kenny, Sterling… all had come over and played for different English clubs. David Solomona, Brad Drew, Colum Halpenny, Chris Thorman… weren't really Eels long enough to sway my decision. Jamie Lyon's now playing for St Helens… but that's a bit of a touchy subject out Parramatta way!

So I solved this dilemma the only way I knew how, by thinking local. York City Knights are toiling away in the National League Two competition. They're not a top flight Super League club yet. But they've got the local families and the school kids behind them… who can't help who they support.

- - - - -

750 words including title.

 

[Not so silent Bob]

not so silent bob takes a hit-up for the Rhinos... and gets barreled.

Love/Hate… Well, mostly hate.

There are a lot of players I like in rugby league; for example, Lance Thompson, Craig Gower, and pretty much anyone who ever put on a Magpies/Wests Tigers jersey (except Hoppa). But supposedly for every action there must be an equal and opposite reaction. So, according to this law, there must be people in rugby league I hate as well. And there are.

I hate these players with a passion. It’s a different passion to how you support your home team. This passion is more like an “I want to stick a hot poker in that person’s eye.” passion. You know that one, right? No? Oh, maybe it’s just me then. But anyway, these players make my blood boil. Whether it’s because they are arrogant, stupid, or whiney little cry-babies (the last ones especially earn my ire), I just want someone to go up to them and put their foot up an orifice which wouldn’t be pleasant for them (or maybe it would be. I don’t know if they’re into that kind of thing).

Ryan Cross: Oh dear, where do I start? First off, he plays for the Sydney Roosters, so he’s off to a bad start already. Secondly, he whines a lot. I refer of course, to his efforts at trying to be chosen for the New South Wales Origin team. He played a few great games beforehand, and then spectacularly stuffed up his chances of being picked because he tried to tell the selectors to pick him. I can’t remember exactly how the interview went, but I’ll try and give you an accurate rendition. It went something like this:

Ryan Cross “What about me? It isn’t fair. I’ve had enough now I want my share. Can’t you see? I wanna play but you just take more than you give! What about me?”

It went something like that. The point is you shouldn’t come out and say that you’re one of the leading backs in the competition. That fluffs your chances right there. The last thing that annoys the absolute living hell out of me is the eye gouging incident, for which he was banned for 6 weeks. That was one of the lowest acts I’ve seen on a rugby league field since Shayne Dunley’s spitting scandal.

Billy Slater: Now this guy really gets on my nerves. Not because he scores great tries, or because he will be terrorizing New South Wales for years to come. I don’t even hate him for that try. No, I hate him because I see him on the field and see copious amounts of arrogance etched into his face. He is always talking smack to the players on the opposing team, is always big-noting himself, and gets into fights he really shouldn’t get into. He is a little smart mouthed 12 year old trapped in a 21 year old mans body. It is my fervent hope that he speaks his mind to someone like Lance Thompson or Ryan McGoldrick, and gets the tar beat out of him.

Glenn Morrison: I’m just going to come out and say it: this man is a money whore. There’s really no easy way to say it. He played a season or two for Balmain, and then before they merged with the Western Suburbs Magpies, old Glenn decided to bugger off to North Queensland because they showed him the money. Hardly four or five years later, he is off contract. What does he do? Well, he goes where the money is of course! And the money was at Parramatta. So he put two and two together and signed with the Parramatta Eels. It’s not just that, though. It’s also the fact that, like Mr. Cross, Mr. Morrison also possesses a touch of arrogance which I pray will get him into a fight that he has no chance of winning.

Those are the three individual players I hate the most out of all of them. “But where’s Braith Anasta, or Willie Mason, or even Luke Ricketson?” I hear you ask? Well, though they are all worthy of people’s ire they just haven’t done enough for me to start wanting them to be poked in the eye by a swordfish on speed. Not yet, anyway.

There are also teams I hate as well. Like the Roosters. Oh, more typical Roosters bashing, you say. So what’s your point? I can hate whoever I want, for whatever reason I want.

These people can go and get stuffed.

749 words, including title.

 

[broncoman]

broncoman (captain)
# 3 USF Bulls

Supporting A Winning Team
The NRL is the toughest Rugby League competition in the world and as a supporter you just cant get enough of it. The Bruising encounters, the close games the classic tries, it has it all. Everyone on the East Coast has a team and we support them with passion, we all love our team no matter how they are performing and maybe more so when they are struggling. But I’ve concluded its just as important to show your support through the good times as it is through the bad times, this is how you support a winning team.

• Go to the matches
• Wear your club colours everywhere
• Remind everyone you know that your team is on top of the later on a daily basis
• Make sure you mention the footy in every conversation, even with the old lady at the corner store
• Remember the neighbours want a running commentary while watching matches on TV, cheer loudly!
• Show arrogance by purchasing Grand Final tickets in July

Why You Should Follow These Rules

Half the fun of supporting the team on top of the competition is everyone knowing that you support them. By going to your teams matches on a regular basis you start to feel a part of the team, the clubs need support if they are to survive and even if the players don’t know you personally, while you (the fan) keep turning up, they will keep putting in. By wearing your clubs colours or more importantly the jersey, everyone will know which side you support. This is good for your self-confidence, as it should make you feel invincible, particularly if your mate is wearing a Roosters jersey! You cannot own too much merchandise, teams bring out new strips or training shirts every season and as a fan its your duty to buy them, this will help you in your goal of becoming part of the team. Everyone knows if you look the part you’re half way there.

While you can look the part this is only half of the package. It’s your obligation to discuss the matches, praise your team, bring down every other team and tell everyone how good the game is going. Even if you are at home you can talk about the footy with those you live with, it is mightily important that everyone you know (even if they are not League fans) that your team is on top of the comp. This is extremely important as a fan because if you don’t do it who will? You really only get eighty minutes per week where you feel like your hard work is paying off so you need to make the most of the rest of the week. A quick "how’s your team going this season?" as your walking pass your house mate never hurt anyone and it helps to get arguments going about the footy, arguments which you cant lose when your team is on top. Remember this can work anywhere, at work, at school or just down the local, remember people don’t want to hear from you so make your points quickly and accurately, be confident and remember you are never wrong!

You can’t go to every game so its important you make up for that by cheering twice as loudly while watching on TV. The neighbours need not watch the game as you should be given them regular updates at the top of your voice, you should find things will work out for the best more often than not if you follow this rule closely. You want to avoid abusing the ref and critising coaching decisions as these things turn around for you eventually but make sure you serve it up to the opposition team where possible. Buying Grand Final tickets midway through the season could be called arrogance but I feel its simply a show of confidence in your team, why should you wait months for the inevitable of your team being in the big one on the first weekend of October! Make sure you buy a second ticket for a mate whose team won’t be there, this adds to your enjoyment of supporting the best side.

These are the simple rules of supporting a winning Rugby League team, the most important one I didn’t mention was have fun and don’t take the game too seriously, there’s always next year.
___________________________
738 words including title

 

[Mzilikazi]

Mzilikazi pounds into the fray:

A little boy’s pilgrimage:

When I was two days old I first wore my Manly jersey. We’re a Sea Eagles household. All my friends pick and choose their side according to who is winning. We don’t. We value loyalty, and we picked the side with the best pedigree in the first place.

Okay, so Dad wrote that first bit, but I want to tell you about my big weekend adventure.

We get birthday cards from the club, signed by all the players. We watch all the games. But nothing beats the excitement of us boys from the bush driving to Sydney to see our heroes play for the first time!

We drove a long way. It’s 400km to Sydney, but six hours in the car. It was amazing. I have never seen so many cars and big buildings, and there were people everywhere and they all looked soft. I couldn’t imagine them riding their bikes down by the river or having a rodeo with sheep like we do.

On Sunday we went to Brookvale Oval. There were people everywhere and all of them were wearing Manly jumpers. I thought maybe they were players walking to the game but Dad said they were supporters like us and that this is the only place in the world where you will be in the majority as a Manly fan.

The tribe invade Brookvale

We sat up on the Hill with Dad’s friends. The hill is very steep at the back and all the kids were sliding down the grass on cardboard boxes. It was great fun as the hill was really steep and you could bash into people at the bottom of the hill as they were walking past.

Our part of the hill had a great bit that everyone else was avoiding. Maybe that’s because it didn’t have much grass, but lots of shale and rocks. But the boxes went much faster over that and we had long clothes on so the grazes didn’t bleed when we fell off. (Did I mention we were wearing our Manly jumpers too?)

Mum covered our eyes when the cheerleaders ran onto the field. I don’t know why as they didn’t look scary at all.

The cheerleaders were followed by the Cowboys and then came the Sea Eagles. They were very big men but I was disappointed that Jye Mullane wasn’t there because Dad says he’s their worst player and I wanted to see what he could do.

It was so noisy when they ran on the ground – everyone shouting and whistling and music blaring from loudspeakers. I had never seen so many people in all my life. Dad said there were more people in that ground then in most of the towns we’d driven through to get there.

The crowd didn’t stay loud for too long because the Cowboys scored first. It did get louder again and the Sea Eagles started to score try after try and just before half time they scored a very long one and everyone was very happy.

At half time lots of men were walking by balancing lots of beer cans and we tried to knock them over by sliding down the hill.

It became quiet again when play started and I was on the back of the hill still but I could hear the fans moaning as the Cowboys seemed to be scoring lots.

When I came back up the Cowboys were in front on the scoreboard, but Dad and his friends were shouting “Manly” and clapping their hands to try to lift the side. I joined in and shouted as loud as I could and didn’t even get into trouble with Mum.

Then the most amazing five minutes of my life happened. Brett Stewart made a break and passed to Chris Hicks who scored. Next thing I was plucked from the ground and was swinging around and around through the air as the Dad and the crowd celebrated the winning score. Everyone was shouting and screaming and very happy, except for a few of the Cowboys fans.

And then………

The referee made two mistakes, letting the Cowboys kick off early and missing a knock-on and the Cowboys scored and we lost the game with a minute to go.

I ended up at Daddy’s feet, punching his calves and saying “why didn’t we win” as tears welled in my eyes.

I didn’t know supporting a team could be so much fun and so hard at the same time.

749 words including titles.

 

[BroncoCloete]

The Art of Field Goals

Some people say games are won and lost on the back of your kicking game. Others will say it’s just a minor aspect of a game that requires much more than one kick to win a game. However, the latter is so far away from the truth it becomes mildly amusing. Sure you’re not going to definitely win every game by kicking a 40/20, nor will you be assured of victory with a perfectly placed grubber and you certainly won’t lose games by picking out the opposition fullback on one occasion. But there’s one type of kick that can change games, finals and even premierships.

It’s a simple kick really, all you have to do is drop the ball on the ground and kick it with sufficient power and direction to put it between two posts. However it’s a kick that wins games and makes players legends. With the introduction of golden point a few years ago, we have steadily seen field goals increase in both importance and also in number. No one will forget Shaun Timmins’ famous kick that sailed between the uprights at Telstra Stadium to win game one of Origin 2004. Likewise, Jonathan Thurston’s drop goal, that touched a Blues hand, to send Origin one 2005 into golden point, which Queensland won after a Matthew Bowen intercept, will be remembered for years to come.

It’s a shame to see the lack of field goals in the current game; this can be put down to the fact that the value of them was reduced from two points to one over three decades ago. Many matches before this were decided by a drop goal and it wasn’t uncommon to see numerous amounts kicked in a single game. The most famous exponent of this was Souths great Eric Simms who kicked 86 field goals in his 206 game career. It was Simms ability to put over the two pointers that resulted in them being reduced to one point in 1971, this was highlighted in a match against Penrith in 1969 when he booted five in a single match.

While this skill doesn’t really play a major part in picking the great players from the good players. It certainly adds a feather to the hat of your traditional “match winning” players. Andrew Johns holds the NRL record for the most field goals in a career, a staggeringly high number of 20. These match-winning players who are excellent under pressure can once again show off their talents as they skilfully slot a 30-metre drop kick through the posts to secure a win for their team. Apart from the aforementioned games, one famous game comes to mind. The 1998 NRL Semi Final between the Canterbury Bulldogs and the Parramatta Eels was a game where field goal kicking came to the fore. While it was a brilliant comeback through tries by the Bulldogs, it will be Craig Pollamounta’s magical drop goal that’s remembered throughout time. Struck from all of 50-metres out, the ball, according to the referee, sailed just under the posts and meant the Bulldogs went to extra time. Halligan eventually kicked a field goal in extra time and it helped Canterbury score another 2 tries to win the game. However, there are some people to this day, myself included, that believe that magical drop kick from 50-metres out sailed over. Whether it did or not, that kick along with the game will be remembered throughout rugby league history.

Drop goals have always been a very exciting prospect for the fans. Fans all around the country hold their breaths when a drop kick is unleashed with a few minutes to go. But perhaps they are not used enough. Perhaps these kicks should be used more often to just put you that extra bit in front, being behind by 7 points is a much more daunting prospect than 6. Putting on points is bound to boost the morale of your team and it can either shift the momentum towards the kicker’s team, or just make the momentum even stronger. After all, rugby league is as much a mental game as it is physical.

The art of kicking field goals is very much alive, even if they’re only worth 1 point! It’s an exciting time for league fans, as matches seem to be getting closer. Who knows, things may just come down to premierships being won and lost on the back of drop goals. Here’s to more field goals!
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749 words including title.

 

[Striker]

Bulls #8 Striker

Interpretation

Referee, the man in the middle, the man trying to blow the pea out of the whistle or that bloke that cost us a win last week. Which ever way you look at referees, they have a tough job. Let’s face it, they will always be the easy option when a supporter is looking for someone to blame for a loss. Sometimes the blame is warranted other times we are just watching the game through one eye.

It amazes me how often a referee’s performance in any given match is determined by how many times we heard his whistle blow. Should we not judge his performance on his ability to police the game to the rules, even if it means stopping an otherwise flowing match. We always hear the word consistency in relation to any particular rule that has been broken and a player or team penalised for it and ask that the opposing team receive the same punishment if they are found guilty of the same infringement. But we know that is not always going to be the case, the reason, well it’s easy, interpretation.

A lot of rules, way too many in my opinion, in Rugby League rely on the referee’s interpretation of each incident and these will always be vulnerable to debate. And I would like to touch on couple of these which are key aspects of the game. The played at or not played decision is one those hot topics, some times it is clear cut if a player has played at the football or not, other times it isn’t. If it results in a side getting ‘six again’ 10 meters out from the oppositions try line the defending side or more often their supporters will contest until their faces go blue that their team didn’t play at the football. Everyone’s interpretation will be different, even the television commentators will have a different opinion. The only one that counts is the referee’s so let’s move on, don’t show 10 replays from 5 different angles and finally decide three minutes after the team has scored that they should not have got six again.

The ‘play the ball’ often referred to as the biggest grey area in our game. Here the player in possession must rise to his feet to play the ball, the defending players must clear the ‘ruck’ and keep their hands off the football. Again this rule is largely governed by the referee’s discretion so if he believes the player didn’t get a fair chance to get to his feet, or the defender had is hands ‘all over the ball’ he will award a penalty to the attacking team. On the other hand, if he believes the attacking player failed to get up and attempt a correct ‘play the ball’ he will be penalised and possession is handed over. Again everyone’s interpretation of this incident will be different and again television coverage will allow for multiple looks at the incident to try and prove their point.

Add to that, the referee is wired to his touch judges and the ‘man upstairs’ so if they see something different they’re in his ear letting him know. Something the referee may have thought was clear cut now has a question mark put on it and he blows the whistle, trusting his touch judge’s judgment. He can over-rule but what if the ‘touchie’ is right, he wants to referee first grade next week.

Have you ever watched an incident in a match and thought the wrong decision was made but the television commentators have taken the same view as the referee and made nothing of the incident. You watch it again and again and cannot believe everyone else missed it, interpretation. It is the one blemish on our great game that has too many rules attached to it. High Tackle, dangerous tackle, knock-on, forward pass, played at, obstruction and play the ball infringements and I’m sure I missed a couple all rely on interpretation.

We all talk and complain about the lack of quality referees but sometimes I think to myself, maybe there is a lack of quality rules to referee. Next time you watch a match and a decision pops up that creates a bit of controversy try to look at it from both opinions. I know it is hard, I can only do it when my team isn’t playing.

[733 words including title]

 

[yakstorm]

Yakstorm posting for the Rhinos
What happened to patience in Rugby League?
Well it’s almost like clock work, every year, especially just on the eve of the final series, someone again calls for the Melbourne Storm to be axed. It’s never about their performance on the field, their corporate backing, the television audiences they bring to the game, or even the national profile they help the game to keep…it’s always the same thing, the number of fans they have in the grandstand.

Interesting how one small component of a side causes so many problems for Rugby League fans and officials, after all you only need to look 12 – 15 years ago and most clubs were struggling to get averages much larger than what Melbourne achieves today. In fact prior to Brisbane’ admittance into the competition in 1988 the premier competition in Australia the NSWRL, had a crowd average less than 10,000.

So what might you ask? That was almost 20 years ago, well if you go back that far you get a pretty fair comparison to where Melbourne are now in terms of the crowd battle, in fact if you look at some sides like Western Suburbs, Penrith, Eastern Suburbs, Canberra, Illawarra, Cronulla, the Storm’s average’s even today are fantastic.

So this is where my argument comes in. All these teams were based in established Rugby League heartlands, many had almost 60 years of history behind them, yet despite that, crowds were poor. It took many of these sides another 10 – 15 years to finally bring up their crowd averages up to the respectable level that they are now.

Compare this to Melbourne where the team was thrown into a non-Rugby League city, as a result of a compromise between Super League and the Australian Rugby League (ARL), the team isn’t doing too bad.

Fan’s don’t grow on trees, in fact for many, being a fan of a team is something that in engrained into your system from a very young age. Usually something your parents or friends influence you into for many, following a team becomes more of an instinctive trait that has been drilled into the back of their brain. Why they follow the team, they don’t fully know, perhaps it was the colour of the jersey, perhaps it was the in thing to do, but whatever it was, they are use to it now, so just do it without thinking.

Changing such traits is almost impossible. It takes an extremely open minded person to not only watch a new sport, but to then accept it, and then get passionately behind it. That is why the future of Rugby League in a new area is based around the youth of that area.

The Melbourne Storm have realised this, and hence are directing a lot of funds and work in educating the Melbourne children about what Rugby League is, and also who the Storm are. Paired with the ARL Development, thousands of kids each year are learning all about the thirteen man code of Rugby, however as with many things this takes time.

Possibly with this group of kids, only a small portion will become dedicated Rugby League fans, with the rest possibly only holding a passing interest. But as the kids go through, there will be an increasing number each time.

Rugby League is a simple sport to understand, and if soccer (or as it is now titled in Australia, football) has shown us anything, is that people like to get behind simple to understand sports. This does not mean the sport in any way is complicated, it just means that it generally only takes 10 minutes to work out what is happening in a Rugby League game if you are foreign to the sport.

This simplicity should almost guarantee Rugby League a future in anywhere that it is prepared to put the time and effort in. Hence why Rugby League needs patience in Melbourne.

It will take 15 years minimum for the results to truly start to shows. Considering most other Rugby League teams were given that length of time, isn’t it only fair that Melbourne gets the same?

 

[DIEHARD]

DIEHARD #6 makes a break with that never say die Bulls attitude.

THE BATTLE OF BRISBANE

The world’s most bitter rugby league rivalry.

A second rugby league club calling the city of Brisbane its home is inevitable. Brisbane is the second largest rugby league city in the world behind Sydney with a rugby league history as rich and proud.

Everyone knows it will happen and we hear a lot of people shout “Brisbane needs a second club!” but we don’t hear about how it will happen and even fewer people care to speculate.

Well today I will care to speculate.

For starters I rule a line through the concept of establishing a new franchise with my big red pen. I don’t believe a new franchise is the answer to the second Brisbane club paradigm.

The new club will have a tough time establishing themselves in the city, in what has become a very cynical and crowded sporting market. New teams that have no history or connection with the community face an uphill battle. People in Brisbane are incredibly sceptical of franchises and nearly universally relate their life span to that of an ice cream cone in the dungeons of hell. (You can thank Super League and revolving door of franchises in the South East.)

The answer, as often is the case, lies in the past.

Before the Broncos and the NSWRL came to town. Brisbane was home to a rugby league competition known as the Brisbane Rugby League, a competition every bit as vibrate and popular to its southern counterpart.

Clubs in the competition date back to the beginning of the game in Queensland, especially in the case of the Valleys Diehards who were founded in 1909 and were the most successful (25 first grade premierships) and most treasured club in the premiership.

But the Brisbane clubs never had the luxury of poker machines and clubs struggled. They faced an impossible battle of not only keeping their stars in Brisbane but simply staying afloat.

Instead of promoting a few of our top clubs to the NSWRL, assuring Queenslanders of future tribalism and rivalry and giving our clubs the chance to match it with their NSWRL equals. The NSWRL gave franchises to the Brisbane Broncos and Gold Coast Giants. And sentencing future rugby league fans in Brisbane to franchised based soullessness while people in NSW can continue to grow up and enjoy the clubs, rivalries and traditions of the past.

Brisbane’s great clubs then begun to die, with Valleys in 1995 (premier in 1988, 1989 and 1990) and Brothers closing in 1998.

So Valleys is dead and buried. Some people will say to me “Forget it DIEHARD.”

But maybe being dead is an advantage. It means the Diehards can be easily resurrected for little cost and trouble with maximum benefits.

Why start an entirely new franchise. Which is difficult enough, just look at the Gold Coast struggle to establish a new identity, it is extremely difficult.

If a new franchise, run by the right people brought back the Diehards it would be as simple as picking up a t shirt and putting it on. And instantly you have colours, a jersey, a fantastic mascot, terribly proud history and most importantly overwhelming credibility.

The Brisbane Diehards would be a welcome addition to the NRL, bringing with them a strong brand and history.

There are thousands of disenchanted Brisbane rugby league fans still hurting from what happened. Bringing the Diehards back as Brisbane’s new team would be a huge step in avenging those wrongs.

Brisbane also has the best rugby stadium in the world, Lang Park. And it has been stated by officials that the stadium needs a second tenant to make it financially viable.

Anyone who denies the viability of a second team need only look to Perth and Adelaide, both with two successful AFL teams with massive crowd averages nearing 40,000. Both cities smaller than Brisbane, do they love AFL more than we love rugby league? I think not!

The introduction of the Gold Coast will show the non-believers in Queensland the potential of rugby league. Once they hit the field, mark my words it will turn into a gold rush for a second Brisbane team.

Rugby league needs tribalism and we lost it in Queensland. Bringing back the Diehards as Brisbane’s second team will complete Queensland’s resurrection as a super power and also bring with it some redemption for past misdeeds.


BRONCOS v DIEHARDS


It would be the world’s most bitter rugby league rivalry.

742 words including title.

 

[antonius]

Ref Blows Fulltime.

 

[bartman]

Tough luck hitting just the four posts there Bulls. It's tough and we've been in the same situation a bit too this year...

All quality articles there though, so well done to everyone.

 

[broncoman]

we'll get through it, im not one for blaming injuries so i wont!
well done to Rhinos i understand you guys have had some problems this season too so it wont be so bad to lose to you lot...

 

[Mystique]

Rhinos



Hightown Tiger – Harlequins Calling

The pros and cons of the London Broncos moving to The Stoop and becoming Harlequins. Good effort but could have been improved with a little more careful editing (eg. is it Harlequin or Harlequins?). Bonus point for quoting The Clash though.

Score: 85



Bartman – You can’t help who you support

Well structured essay with a gentle, easy beginning, a solid middle holding the main part of the story and a nice sharp point in the tail.

Score: 88



Mzilikazi – A little boy’s pilgrimage.

A young boy’s perspective on a memorable game. Lots of personality in this essay, a lot of work put into it and a lot of humour too. Liked it very much.

Score: 87



Not So Silent Bob - Love/Hate… Well, mostly hate

Vigorous criticism of certain disliked players. Competently written and occasionally even amusing.

Score: 84



Yakstorm – What happened to patience in Rugby League.

Good point, well made. Smart article.

Score: 88



TOTAL: 432





Bulls



Broncoman – Supporting a Winning Team

Light-hearted article on how to show everyone you support a winning team. Funny. Well set out but some odd grammar (too many commas, not enough full stops and apostrophes) brings the mark down.

Score: 84



Broncocloete – The Art of Field Goals

Informative and interesting. Displays good breadth of football knowledge. Well written all round.

Score: 89



Striker – Interpretation

Thoughtful article and some good points raised but too many writing mistakes to ignore.

Score: 84



Diehard – The Battle of Brisbane

I hate nitpicking really good essays over simple grammar and spelling mistakes. This is an interesting topic with balanced discussion, well thought out and clearly argued points, close to the best of the round if only it was less rushed and better edited.

Score: 87



TOTAL: 344



Rhinos 432 def Bulls 344



Poster of the Match: Broncocloete for the Bulls

 

[broncoman]

Thanks to the ref for the marking, much appreciated...
well done to the Rhinos who deserve their win, i know you guy have been doing it tough but theres real potential, so good luck for the end of this season and for next.

 

[bartman]

Cheers Mystique. Congrats to BroncoCleote for Player of the Match! Solid posts all round.

Don't let this part of the season get you down Bulls. You've done great in a debut season as a team with all debutante players. Teams like ours that have struggled at times this year with the depth to get five posts in each time will be better for it in the future.