Trial (2005) Easts v Souths

[roosterboy60]

Easts Roosters v Souths Rabbitohs

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.

Both Teams will have two reserves for this match
Rules: http://f7s.leagueunlimited.com/rules.asp

Full Time: Wednesday 26th Jan at 9pm (Syd time)

Venue: Front Row Stadium

Crowd: 12,600
REFEREE: Frank

**Referee Blows Game On!**

 

[ozzie]

Roosters team

Corbin&Arden
Fat Mike (c)
Cityrail
RoosterPremiershp2002
St Chook

Reserves:
Waxer
Melon
Ozzie
(Reserves to be confirmed)

 

[Seano]

Souths Team

Rabs
The Way I See it
Pistol
NqBoy
LebaneseForces

Good luck to those posting

 

[roosterspremiers2002]

Retiring on the Run

The end of season 2004 saw the end of an era for quite a few rugby league stalwarts, Brad Fittler being one of the biggest amongst those.
Freddy has captained Australia, New South Wales and Sydney Roosters to glory and he is one of the most respected league identities. He decided to retire to spend time with his young family.
Brad Fittlers(336) loss will be a huge one for the Sydney Roosters and already many people in the know have written the team off, although he has signed on as kicking coach for the season so his guidance will be felt around Moore Park.
But will the likes of the Newcastle Knights cope without their veteran fullback Robbie O'Davis(223), who in 13 seasons fell just short of the Newcastle first grade appearance record of Tony Butterfield's (229).Injury in the last three seasons and missing almost half a season after testing positive to a banned substance in 1998 certainly cost him that record. O'Davis is now working in Real Estate in Newcastle. His last game a Energy Australia Stadium in round 26, was also the last game of another retiree, Scott Sattler (203). His career has spanned twelve years and five clubs, (Gold Coast, South Queensland, Sydney City Roosters, Penrith and West Tigers) but having his best year in 2003 when he made his Origin debut at the age of 31 and making what will forever be known as "That Tackle" on Todd Byrne to almost certainly stop Bryne from making a try and hence being part of the premiership winning team for that season. He finished his career off at Wests Tigers along with long serving Tiger Darren Senter, and veteran Micheal Buettner(262).
Melbourne farewelled players Robbie Ross and Rodney Howe to retirement and Stephen Kearney to Hull in the UK. While Kevin Campion (241) ended his playing career at North Queensland Cowboys before taking up a coaching offer by the New Zealand Warriors.
Penrith lost one of its favourite sons and one of its newer recruits. Martin Lang retired due to plaguing injury at the age of 29, while Ryan Girdler (227) who began his playing career at Illawarra back in 1991 has been hampered by injuries on and off for the last few seasons. Know as the intercept king, Girlder holds the records for most first grade points for Penrith with 1542 and became the first player in first grade premiership history to score 100 points and kick 500 goals. He also holds records that some say will never be broken in state of origin, among these are scoring 32 points in one game, and most tries and goals in a series of 5 tries and 16 goals and 52 points in the 3-0 whitewash that was 2000 SOO.
He has an ongoing arangement with channel 9's Footy Show that will keep him busy for a while.
The Brisbane Broncos will definitely miss the likes of the "Raging Bull" Gordon Tallis (214), who has represented his country as captain once, the Maroons as captain 7 times and captained the Broncos for 3 years.
Love him or hate him, Gordie is a player not easily done without. A neck injury that he suffered in 2002 almost brought his illustrious career to an end on the spot but sheer determination brought him back to compete in 2004.
A Sunday Mail editorial said "Few men have given so much to rugby league as Gordon Tallis....his skill, decency and doggedness were inspsirational at a time when the game was heavily under challenge from rival codes and has been brought low by some disgraceful off-field events. His one-field ferocity won him the nickname the Raging Bull but, off-field, he was modest, measured, decent and fair in his treatment and assesments of his team mates and his opponents.
Other popular players to vacate this last season were Matt Parsons and Russell Richardson both of Newcastle, Jason Death of South Sydney, Jason Moodie, Wests Tigers, and Corey Pearson of Parramatta all parted company with their respective clubs.
But the last word, just like the first belongs to our departing legend.
Mr Brad Fittler, thank you for your undying support, your effortless crusading and your superlative fortitude that you have given the Roosters and fans. For this alone this alone we will miss you and will possibly never see your like grace the Red, White and Blue again.

745 words including heading.
Stats courtesy of Big League Annual
and quote from The Sunday Mail.....sept 12, 2004

 

[rabs]

rabs takes it up for Souths

Penrith's Pommy Pair

Anyone old enough to remember the Penrith Panthers of the mid 70’s will know that the grand mecca “Panthers” leagues club we know today was preceded by a modest building located opposite the swimming pool where the K-mart centre now stands. The club was very prosperous and money was never a problem when it came to looking after the football team. I remember being taken into the leagues club weekly by my nana for a meal when I was about 10 and then she’d head off for a fiddle on the pokies while I salivated over the Honda mini trail that could be had for a few thousand “Panther Stamps”. She bought me an autograph book and being a regular at the club she was able to get all the players to sign it for me. They were all there – Terry Wickey, Glen West, Ray Blacklock, Peter Langmack and so on. Two of the autographs belonged to the English imports Mike Stephenson and Bill Ashurst.

The 70’s were the times that Penrith had acquired the unflattering moniker of “Chocolate Soldiers”, able to play for a bit but always melting away in the second half. Not long after signing for Penrith the two Poms received news that Manly had hammered them 70-7 at Penrith Park. Maybe they thought it might be better to stay in England but thankfully for fans like myself the two men came out to play in the soccer style jersey of vertical brown and white stripes. I still love that jersey more than anything they have come up with since.

Opinion was divided as to the value the two poms provided to the team. Stephenson was generally regarded as the better buy of the two for his leadership skills and providing direction from dummy half while Ashurst was a classy ball playing forward who could turn a game when his mind was on the job. He also kicked a mean around the corner goal, one of the first of these proponents to be seen in Australia. The problem with Ashurst was that his mind was not always on the job however he showed up often enough to stay with the Panthers for more than 4 years before heading home after spitting his dummy once too often. Rumour has it that Ashurst was getting busy with Stevo's woman and this led to the two men having a falling out. Then there was the time Ashurst’s mother came out to Australia to visit him, while watching a game Bill got a caning from the referee who on leaving the field copped the wrath of Mrs. Ashurst’s handbag!

Poor old Penrith – they deserved better, they had quite a few dud buys in the 70’s and 80’s such as All Black Kent Lambert. These two Englishmen however were class footballers and they really should have led the club to more success than they achieved in this period. In 1974 the Panthers made the midweek competition final known as the Amco Cup in its inaugural year. They lost to Western Division 6-2 who were coached by the legendary St. George winger Johnny King, anyone from this era would crack a smile at the mention of “TV Ted Ellery” – Western Divisions bald super sub who would always come on in the last quarter and throw himself into the game with gusto. In the competition proper the team still hung around the bottom of the table but Stephenson and Ashurst provided many good performances for the diehard fans.

The best game I saw involving Stephenson and Ashurst was in 1975 at Penrith Park against St. George. The game was going the way everyone expected with Saints leading 19-0 with 16 minutes to play. The fans were streaming out the gate but I stayed to witness one of the greatest comebacks ever seen. Tries were worth 3 points back then so the Panthers needed at least 4 converted tries to win the game in 16 minutes! Well Bill Ashurst proceeded to carve them up and the Panthers raced in not 4 but 5 tries, all converted by the big second rower to win the game 25-19! It was a great moment but one has to wonder what might have been if he’d played to his potential every week.

Mike Stephenson is well known as a commentator in English Super League and Bill Ashurst was recently quoted praising Adrian Morley’s achievements in Australia. These two men were Penrith’s Pommy Pair.

747 words incl. title

 

[Saint Chook]

The Easts new, very young rookie takes the ball for the first time up to the rabbitohs line...
----------------------------
Life after the great ones

For many teams, past and present, an era of great success is one that is graced with champions of that era. Many teams of this age are now experiencing what life is like, after they have left. There are teams who rely on their hero’s, there are teams that are well rounded, and don’t particularly rely on anyone individual. However every now and then, a team is graced with a player, so unique, and so gifted they become reliant on that player to carry the team to success. Many a time the team experiences greatness when they are in the presence of an individually gifted player, a player that has natural leadership ability; a certain air about them.

But now we ask, what happens to that team once they are gone. For the roosters, this is a task that may become all to trying to overcome. Brad Fittler was the turning point of the club. When he joined them at Bondi Junction, a certain aura had arisen, triggering an era which will not be forgotten for good and bad reasons roosters fan one and all. The task now is to continue from this platform he has set up at the club, to become a force of this time, not just the bridesmaids.

The roosters are not the only club that has been touched by the presence of true playing ability. The Newcastle Knights have experienced not for the first time in recent years, the chink in their armour that is left when Andrew Johns is not on the field. For the past two years, they have felt the effects of being “Johns less”. After missing the 2003 finals series due to bulging discs in his neck, the next blow occurred early season 2004, when he had to depart early due to injury to his Anterior Cruciate Ligament, very painful indeed. The Knights were disposed of first week of the finals series by the Roosters, but it wasn’t until next year they would find out really how hard it is to continue on without the player on the field that makes all the difference. For the vast majority of season 2004, the knights felt it in a very big way, what it is like without that special player.

So what does this mean for other teams? The roosters are one team that are yet to prove that the depth of their club, out weighs the impact of Brad Fittler, both in skill and mentally. The Canterbury bulldogs are another team that will be without their inspirational leader in Steve Price. Can they do it next year, without him being there to guide them throughout the season? These are all questions that will be answered after the hectic state of origin period. For now we can keep guessing and assuming circumstances for each club.
--------------------------------
477 words

 

[Pistol]

Pistol breaks out in the open for Bunnies

The Closed Stadium

There are many components that make up a game of rugby league, and any other game for that matter. The players, the fans, the food, the beer, the coach and the big sleeper in this case, one most people wouldn’t think of as being a vital part, the stadium configuration.

There are many stadiums around the world that are considered world class, and many that are not. However one thing eludes most critics in deciding how to rank these stadiums and how they discriminate them. I am talking about the ATMOSPHERE.

The bigger the stadium and hence the crowd, is often thought to generate a bigger atmosphere. Stadiums such as Telstra Stadium, The Nou Camp (Barcelona’s home ground in the La Liga), San Siro (home of AC Milan and Inter Milan), The Bernabau (home of Real Madrid), the newly renovated Suncorp Stadium, Old Trafford and of course the perennial favourite, Wembley. Let me be the first to tell you it is not entirely true. It is the way the stadium is built. The general construction of the stadium plays a big part in the generation of the atmosphere. More often than not, when a stadium is built with the grandstands virtually on the pitch, it creates a feeling of being in the action. But to a bigger extent, the stadium roofing is a very important factor. When we find stadiums which are “closed”, stadiums especially in England like The Valley (Bradford Bull’s home ground), The Jungle (Castleford’s home ground) and Headingly (home of the Rhinos), we find that the construction of these fortresses are different to grounds like Leichhardt Oval, WIN Stadium, and Penrith Park.

These Australian grounds are great for atmosphere because they are close to the action but their designs are somewhat different to their English counterparts. They are not “closed”. They are quite open. The sound escapes through the open air. Whereas the grounds from England mentioned in this article are closed. They have stands, which extend to the corners, with no openings. This means the sound reverberates around the ground, enhancing the noise factor. So in effect, the crowd seems larger than it is. The ground capacity of the The Valley, The Jungle and Headingly are 20,000 on average. But even with a crowd of about 5-10 thousand, and they are all cheering loudly, the noise itself is added ten fold. In effect creating the illusion of a crowd of 20,000 at Penrith Park, capacity at Leichhardt or WIN Stadium.

Every player who walks out onto the pitch, every fan in the stands and every viewer at home, wants to be part of a game where the interest is surreal. Games like the State of Origin and the Grand Final produce such a great interest in them that any fan would dare not watch anything else, or be elsewhere. The reason is simply because of the atmosphere. The players on the field, the noise the crowd generates in response to the action, which in turn produces adrenalin that surges through our veins is absolutely sensational. It is simply because the crowd is on top of the action. It feels like a cliff-hanger no matter what the score line and therefore my interest is hooked.

We can even go back to the grand opening of the Sydney Football Stadium (Aussie Stadium as its known now) to get a grasp of the feeling of being inside the action on the pitch. The previous year Manly defeated Canberra in the last grand final held at the SCG. Whilst the SCG held fond memories for those who grew up watching grand finals there, it had something missing. The fans were too far away from the action and it wasn’t closed in. This new stadium took care of that. And the first grand final held there saw one of the most controversial moments in grand final history in the opening minutes. Balmain’s English import, Ellery Hanley, was taken out by at Terry Lamb haymaker that floored the gifted Englishman. It went unpunished by the officials on the day but the crowd didn’t miss it at all. Balmain supporters created such a noise it was deafening. Not that Hanley would have known, he was being helped off the field without a clue as to what was going on.

To have a truly complete league experience, you can’t go wrong with a closed stadium. Some like it big, but don’t discount the intimacy of the smaller more compact closed arena.

This article is 750 words long (including the title)

 

[nqboy]

THE GODS OF MY YOUTH – MEMORIES OF THE FOLEY SHIELD

Growing up in Mount Isa in the seventies, I loved my footy, the pinnacle of which was the performances of the mighty Miners, the Mount Isa rugby league side in the Foley Shield. The Foley Shield was for teams from all over North Queensland from Cairns to Mackay and west to the Isa.

I was a ballboy, earning pocketmoney keeping the touch judges company for six club games each Sunday. And the Foley Shield home games were my favourite times. I was young and it’s 30 years ago, but here goes with some of my memories.

Blokes like Vern and Frank Daisy, Wanderers legends who played into their 40s around NQ. Both hard as nails, dirty as stick flicks and great with the ball in hand. Vern was a tough ball-playing second rower who could break the line himself or put any one of four supports through various gaps he created with a variety of sleight-of-hand passes. Frank was a fast, hard-running fullback. Between them, they personified the glorious talents of aboriginal players, they did things that the rest could only dream of doing.

Bruno Cullen, these days CEO of the Broncos, was a big, hard-running centre with the ability to send his teammates away, a-la Mick Cronin. Nathan Fein’s dad, Arthur, was a tough prop with Brothers and Black Stars. Steve Bax, a utility back with the Town club, used to win the 1500m run every year. Paul Laffin was a game and clever half. Dennis Yamaguchi, another blackfella with a fabulous attacking game at 5/8.

And John Grew, a bloke who came to town in the mid-70s for work and in the next three years captain-coached Mount Isa to three Foley Shields AND three different club sides to the premiership. A hard working, goal-kicking second rower, he wasn’t as flashy as some but he was held in high esteem by his peers.

Mount Isa was tough mining town and places like Townsville were the big smoke to us so it was great to beat them so regularly. I’m not sure of the stats but it seemed like we won the Foley Shield 5 or 6 times in the 70s after breaking through for our first win in 1969. If we didn’t win, we were always thereabouts.

The miners had a trick that was played so many times, locals came to expect it. If we won the toss, we’d elect to kick off and kick the ball the required 10m like a rugby union kick-off. Our forwards would rush through, regather on the full and then put together a passing rush that often resulted in us scoring off the kick-off or at least in that first set of six. The perfect opening to make our opponents feel really inferior and it usually led to a big win.

A bloke called Johnny Moran used to call the games on the local radio station, 4LM. Sometimes the table would be set up on the roof of the grandstand, most times it was on halfway about 5m from touch. Me and my mates would crawl in under the table and listen to the commentary while we watched the game. One day, when we were very young, Mount Isa put on a great try from halfway through numerous sets of hands which brought the crowd to their feet. Johnny Moran rode the try in on his call and then added, “And now we’ll replay the try for you (the listeners).” We didn’t know too much about technology, but we’d seen replays on ABC’s cricket telecasts and we got all excited thinking the players were going to line up and run through it again. Alas, Moran pulled a plug out of one hole, stuck it into another one and all we got was the commentary. Bugger.

I left Isa in the mid-80s and haven’t been back. In those days, all of the sugar towns had sides who used to venture out our way to receive their ritual flogging. These days, the sugar towns are dying of urban drift and have joined the comps in Townsville, Cairns and Mackay. MIRL has gone under, excluded from the Foley Shield in 2005 because of travel expenses, changes in work place practices and infighting in the local administration.

It’s a shame, but it was great while it lasted.

 

[fat_mike]

Fat_mike hits it up for the mighty Roosters

Can i borrow a cup of sugar? and your half back!

“I wish we had a player like Willie mason in our team. Even if it’s just for half the season. He’d definitely make a difference”. Wouldn’t it be great if the dogs lent him to us? Lol”

And with that discussion a mate and me came to talk about something that I have wondered about for years in rugby league. Inseason player loans. Just like in the English premiere league where a player can be loaned out to others clubs for a set numbers of months. Think about it, how good would it be to see your team loan a player from the opposition. Having to overcome that enemy mentality usually set-aside for opposition players, being a supporter of the club who loaned out a player and seeing one of your own in enemy colours. The tribe mentality that goes with league would be alive and well.

Of course the big problem with it would be how to police it in terms of the salary cap. The answer to that would be simple, the two teams would no doubt agree on a loan fee for the said player and that would be included in the purchasing teams salary cap at the end of the year. Much like the way teams pay the wage of a player while at another club like Craig wing and Todd Payten when they moved to the roosters and west tigers respectively. The players club of origin would still pay the wages but the club who is loaning the player would pay a fee for the player, which would cover the players wage and give a little percentage back to the loaning club. This would also strengthen the competition in terms of spreading the talent around and adding depth at each respective club. It could also help clubs decide to pursue certain players by loaning them and testing to see if they fit their clubs image and culture.

Like in the English premiere League players who are out of favour with the club management can be loaned to other clubs where the players looks to be given a second chance before being thrown to the scrap heap. I mean who knows what could come of a mid season loan, ageing players could return to their glory days and great form with a new lease of life at the new club, young up and coming talent could try to establish themselves at the new club. But with all ideas we need to look at the negatives to this concept also.

Imagine being a coach at a club and seeing one of your players killing it at another club because they are on loan, or seeing one of your young lower grader stars playing out of his skin against you. It would be the most frustrating things to witness one of your own flock turning out against you despite still being contracted to your club and putting in a blinder against you. Another negative I can see is the fans and their displeasure at also seeing one of their own donning enemy colours. Fans are incredibly tribalistic about rugby league and a mid season loan would no doubt be seen as traitorous by the majority. Another side of the story could be would the fans welcome in an outsider to their team.

Many could argue that rugby league and particularly the NRL doesn’t have a big enough competition for this type of system and that could be true but I don’t really think you need a huge competition to encourage a loan system for players. You just need willing clubs players and administrators. I have no doubts that struggling players could welcome this idea, as it would stand to give them a new lease on their careers and a chance to prove their abilities to their current club.

It’s merely a concept brought up over drinks and discussed further to see how it could benefit our great game. Things like spreading the talent, adding depth and overall team strengthening are the definite positives that could come from this concept and in my opinion the positives of this concept far outweigh the negatives. Strengthening the competition overall would make for great Rugby league which is something we can all agree on is only good for the great game.

Like I said it’s just an idea.


word count 726

 

[Orca]

What can we do to stop the ESL and RU from Raids?

the 13-year-old is running out in the number 6 jersey on debut for Easts.

Everyone has seen teams like the London Broncos, Hull etc, buy out our players like Mark McLinden, Luke Dorn, Steven Kearney and Richard Swain the list goes on and on.  It seems at the end of this year it will be the same deal as well.  It looks to like the all ESL clubs and the ARU are all after our players instead of growing they own youngsters into superstars.

There is only 1 home grown superstar in the ESL is Danny McGuire imo.

The problem is that these ESL clubs and ARU and stashed up with money and the NRL is falling behind.

The NRL needs to start acting by first of all doing these 3 stages:

Stage 1: Bring up the salary cap.

How does it work?  The NRL Salary Cap is $3.25 million for the 25 highest paid players at each Club.  If each player were paid an equal amount, they would get $130,000 each.  Each Club can exercise its discretion in relation to how much individual players are paid providing that in total the payments do not exceed the $3.25 million Cap.


Why have a Salary Cap?  The Salary Cap has two primary functions. The first is to assist in "spreading the playing talent" so that a few rich Clubs cannot simply out-bid poorer teams for all of the best players.  The NRL believes that if a few Clubs were able to spend unlimited funds in such a way, it would both reduce the attraction of games to fans, due to an uneven competition, and drive some Clubs out of the competition.  The second primary reason for having the Cap is to ensure Clubs are not put into positions where they are forced to spend more money than they can afford in terms of player payments, just to be competitive. The enforcement of the Cap ensures players at all Clubs have a similar opportunity to compete under comparable conditions.

The salary cap is the main reason for the NRL clubs are having so much trouble trying to keep their youngsters to play for their club.  The salary cap needs to be raised so the clubs have more money to use and keep their players in the game.  The main reason for players going overseas or to RU to play is the huge salaries, and a higher salary cap would help the clubs secure their youngsters.  After reading that you can see that we need to push up the salary cap more to accommodate our players and stop the idea of overseas because at the moment it is more overseas = more money.  The NRL to adjust this.

Stage 2: Bring in a system to keep youngsters secures till an appropriate age.

Have a contract which the Players have the option to sign to keep them in the NRL till a appropriate age the reason is for this is that if we produce a superstar eg.  Sonny Bill Williams then 1 year later after his contract ends he will get offered a huge sum of money to play for RU or ESL then another year later the NRL will produce a superstar and the same process will happen again.

Stage 3: Cut the idea of a draft.

If the draft came in the clubs would have to say goodbye to their feeder clubs and this would be a huge disadvantage.

In the past year we have seen some players like Sonny Bill Williams, Karmichael Hunt, Anthony Topou, Jerome Ropati, Brett Stewart and Joe Williams become superstars just to name a few.  So here is a list of players that I have put together that the NRL should act to make sure these players are secure from the ESL and the ARU (with the new Perth team coming into the Super 12 in 2006).

Karmichael Hunt: Was seen as the NZ Fullback but turned his back on them and chose to represent Australia.
Sonny Bill Williams: Already rated in the top 5 in the world after just 1 year in the NRL.
Reni Maitua: Bulldog utility.
Ben Creagh: Dragon Rookie
Gary Tupou: Been seen as the next BIG thing in New Zealand.
Anthony Tupou: Been suggested as a future Aussie International.
Benji Marshall: Been Known as Kiwi Future Halfback.  (Halfback or 5/8
Iosia Soliola: A Future Kiwi Centre.  (Centre)
Marcus Perenara: Hasnt even played NRL and was in the New Zealand train on squad.  (Halfback)
Jerome Ropati: Already been rated New Zealand player to success (Backline Utility)
Peewee Moke: Young Fijian on the rise.  (Centre/Back Row)
Dene Halatau: Already Play for NZ at Hooker (seen as a back rower at the Tigers.  (Back Row/Hooker)
Bronson Harrison: Tigers Rookie of the year and in the Train on squad for New Zealand.  (Back Row)
David Faiumu: Future Kiwi International (Back Row)
Joe Williams: Being seen as the rising youngster in Australia.  (Halfback)
Ashton Sims: Dragons Rookie who could prove to be a lot to handle if he combines with Ben Creagh at the Dragons in 2005.
Josh Davis: Young Kiwi Centre (Centre).
Rangi Chase: Young West Tiger Player.
Todd Carney: Seen as the future of the Canberra Raiders.
Cameron Phelps: Young Exciting Back who has been selected in the WCC.
Jamie Soward: Young Rooster 5/8 who kicked a 45m winning drop goal in Jersey Flegg last year.  (5/8)
Marshall Chalk: Young Canberra winger very good at scoring tries (Wing).
Brett Stewart: Young Manly Fullback is proving to be one of the quickest in the NRL
If the NRL does not act quickly RU in 2006 and ESL will raid the NRL.

Remember my suggestions are just ideas.

Orca running down the sideline, hes past 1 defender, now 2 breaks through the tackle and scores!

 

[Orca]

oh quote from the NRL.com website. sorry.

 

[ozzie]

AN NRL FAN ACCORDING TO GARP

I guess all rugby league supporters live a life a bit like me. Garp had a different way of looking at life and I Guess all supporters do.

This is the week in the life of Ozzie and I would say most people could relate to it.

Well here I am in the off season and dying to know what is happening with my team. I am hanging out for any news as long as it is good.

I, as a dedicated Rooster supporter . living in the country, doesn't know what is happening in the big smoke so I buy the Telegraph, go to the library to read it (the toilet) and scan every page. No story on my club so I go back down the street for the Sydney Morning Herald - back home and into the library and find no story again. Rats!! another $2.40 wasted.

So onto the Internet I go to see what has been written about my club and criticise anyone who has written about my club and feel better..now for breakfast.

Well what's next - onto the radio. 2KY , the sports breakfast show.

Now I tend to get personal - and in my case I am seething that nothing has been spoken about the Roosters. Still listening to 2KY again, I walk down the street to get the Canberra times to see if anything is in that paper. I swear at all the other idiot fans who come onto 2KY who put my club down and applaud when someone with a bit of sense comes on, a Rooster supporter of course. Go Clive.

Dashed. I sit in the park and bin the Canberra Times because the only thing good about that paper (like the Sydney Morning Herald) is that if you don't like the person sitting beside you in the bus - you can hit him in the nose opening the paper.

OK, 2KY Breakfast show is over, and I am suffering withdrawal symptoms.

Down to the sports store I go - what is on special?? They are giving away some club jumpers - How much for a Rooster Jumper?? "Full price my son, he says"...and how about those photos - "$200.00 he answers" I state that he is joking but I can see the glint in the store keeper's eyes..."he's suffering withdrawal systems he says to himself - just like the twenty sucker fans from the Cowboys, Brisbane, Bulldogs etc."

The Newsagent hasn't got the latest edition of the Rugby League Week but how would the new edition of Inside Cricket do... He doesn't look to pleased when i tell him to stuff off. But I have to realise it is off season.

What to next?? Work in the garden or go back onto the Internet - Back onto the Internet I go and read all the usual crap - "You cheated the salary cap", "You stoled all our Juniors" And wonder about their intelligence. No its been said before so why both - but my fingers creep towards the keyboard and a strange force takes over......

Well I think to myself I wonder if any books are on special at the library - so down the street I go again - good books - let's see what is on special. Oh no, old books on the Raiders, St George and other clubs - all but Easts.

So I help them fix the windows while the police wait for me outside - I wonder if any of them follow the Roosters?

How desperate do we really get - how many days to go before the season starts - this is a bit like the Phony War..lets get on with the real stuff.

I hope you can all relate to this saga - according to Garp (my wife also thinks I am paranoid)

 

[ozzie]

had to post as reerves busy

 

[Willow]

Ref Blows Fulltime.

 

[ozzie]

as this only a trial and" the way I see it " didn't post in the right plac" - I am happy for his post to be scored...how can players learn??

 

[The Way I See It]

Thanks mate,i thought i posted in here and didn't realise i stuffed up.

 

[The Way I See It]

The Mighty Five Dock

When I was 9 I played the greatest game of all in rugby league. Five dock RSL was a remarkable side as we went through undefeated and then went to New Zealand.
The Kiwi sides put in a tough side when they put on 13 year olds against us 9 year olds, we won 40 to 10 in a Domination through our brilliant attack.
We first played Bay of plenty which is Rotarua. The city stank of the sulphur through the ground and it made a few players sick. This fun park we went to had a mini bike track and a few rides. I was running around the park and fell through sticks and leaves into boiling hot water, my leg was severely burnt.
So the next game we played was against Marsden just north of Bay of plenty.
I couldn’t play that game as I was wrapped up in bandages.
The mighty Five dock won 44 to nil as they again dominated the whole game.
5 hours later that same day we played against Mount Cook in Auckland so I wanted to play and show the coach that my leg won't stop me from playing.
He put me on the field and I tackled like a machine and hurt two of there best backs with ribcage carnage. Mount Albert was a quick side as they had the fastest 9 year old in Auckland, He won the regional in his age and man this guy was as quick as lightning, he’s name was Latini Mousa. The rain started pouring as we went on to the field and Lightning was not only in the air but on the footy field, we scored off the kick off and thought how easy this will be, then five minutes in the game Mousa intercepted the ball and scored there first try. Mousa got the ball off the kick off and ran around our whole team and it was the first time we were behind in New Zealand. At halve time the score was 20 to 12 and we new we needed to lift our game and cover this Mousa, so the first play of the second half Vaea Talia who played for south’s in first grade later on in his career came from an offside position and absolutely caned Mousa.
So with Mousa off the field for a short time we scored 2 tries and Mount Albert scored none. Mousa came back on the field and tried to step me but
to no avail as I grabbed his jersey and threw him hard onto the ground and snapped his arm. I felt terrible as I had never seen a broken arm before. We won the game in the end and won convincingly 38 to 24.
After the game we went up to the pub to play pool and the bar attendant wanted my jersey to put up in the pub, so I agreed and had or still got my number 9 jersey at Mount Albert hotel. They let kids in the pubs at that time.
We played more games and won them all in great fashion. Our last game was against Northland combined a team that put there best players together through there zone.
I will always remember Vaea Talia for this game as he won it for us.
The score was 12 all as one minute on the clock was left and Vaea threw off about 7 players as he rampaged through there defence and scored the final try to make it 18 to 12.
We conquered New Zealand and conquered the Balmain competition going through undefeated for the year and then backed it up the next year and went to Queensland and dominated once again.

Words 628

 

[frank]

Trial, January 2005

Easts V Souths


Easts Scores


roosterspremiers2002 - Retiring On The Run
732 Words
A well researched piece detailing the departure of some of rugby league's favourite sons. The focus on Brad Fittler at the start tied in nicely with the emotional ending.
A couple of grammatical errors dragged the score down a little. Good effort.
Score - 75/100

Saint Chook - Life After The Great Ones
477 Words
A short piece lamenting the loss of Roosters stalwart, Brad Fittler and other key players for the Knights and Bulldogs. The author wonders if these teams will be able to cope without their leaders.
Good, solid article which could have used a bit more detail given the word limit of 750. Some disjointed sentences and a couple of grammars affected the score.
Score - 70/100

Fat Mike - Can I Borrow A Cup Of Sugar? And Your Halfback!
737 Words
Controversial article exploring the possibilities of a player loan system in the NRL. The author looks at the pros and cons, bringing up some interesting points along the way. Well written and thought out.
Score - 82/100

Corbin&Arden - What Can We Do To Stop The ESL And RU From Raids?
767 Words
Extensive piece looking at the problem of player poaching. Good idea that unfortunately gets lost in translation.
A lot of spelling and grammatical errors affected the score.
(Note - The word count with the quote included is 966. This would have severely affected the score so I've left it out. However, the word count is still 17 words over. For future reference, any quotes used will be included)
Score - 64/100 (Penalty 5 Points) = 59/100

ozzie - An NRL Fan According To Garp
647 Words
Conversational piece documenting a day in the life of a rugby league fan. Entertaining, but seems a little rushed and not up to the author's usual standard.
Score - 70/100

TOTAL - 356/500


Souths Scores


The Way I See It - Mighty Five Dock
604 Words
A blow by blow account of the author's trip to New Zealand as a young rugby league player.
Numerous spelling and grammatical errors pulled the score down which is a shame as it's a pretty good yarn.
Score - 61/100

rabs - Penrith's Pommy Pair
747 Words
Historical piece documenting Penrith's purchase of two English players in the 1970s.
Very Well written and entertaining. The author does a great job of transporting the reader back to the era of the Chocolate Soldier. Great stuff.
Score - 88/100

Pistol - The Closed Stadium
750 Words
A piece on the importance of a good, atmospheric stadium in which to watch and play rugby league. The author compares famous overseas grounds to some Aussie counterparts.
Great original idea, well written. Well done.
Score - 86/100

nqboy - The Gods Of My Youth - Memories Of The Foley Shield
730 Words
An historical account detailing the author's memories of his childhood in Mt Isa. Gives a great sense of what it was like to grow up watching country rugby league and the hard men who played it. Great stuff. (Don't know how you remembered all those names!)
Score - 86/100

TOTAL - 321/500

Result - Easts 356 def Souths 321

Man Of The Match - rabs, Souths.

*Note* Because this is a trial, several indiscretions were overlooked. However, in a normal season match, these things would be penalised.
It is up to the captains to make all their players aware of the rules and regulations of Forum 7s, but new players would do well to have a peep themselves - http://f7s.leagueunlimited.com/rules.asp
Otherwise, a good entertaining match all round. Well done to all players and good luck for the coming season!

 

[Orca]

sorry fellow easts didnt have a too good run today.

 

[ozzie]

thanks Frank - you were right imy article was rushed 20 minutes as I was advised late of reserves not posting... well done team - a learning curve for all of us..

I will be gone for a week to Sydney and will get back to you all.

I hope most of you enjoyed the experience...Thanks Souths for the trial - it gave new posters a chance to learn.