| Greg Birds Inclusion In The Indigenous All Stars Team Is Disgraceful |
 Just hours after being cleared by the courts of assaulting a female at a night club, Greg Bird has been called into the Indigenous All Stars team.
Having not played in the NRL for about a year and a half now, and having two high profile court cases in which he was on trial (And cleared) of assaulting women, Bird has received an armchair ride into a game that quite honestly I couldn't give a stuff about any more.
Lets make it clear for the lawyers out there, Greg Bird is completely innocent in the eyes of the law. I'm not here to accuse him of anything.
In general, Greg Bird is one of the most disliked players in the game. If you want to know why most people dislike him, go and ask them.
For the NRL to give Bird a walk up start, in a game that was supposed to be voted on by fans is an absolute disgrace!
In a game that is supposed to be a celebration about a number of great things about Rugby League in Australia and New Zealand, we now have an added angle that will completely turn off the causal sports fan and a number of women.
If you want to know why this will make women turn away from the sport, go and ask them.
To think that someone in the NRL thought this would be a good move is completely beyond me. Common sense is obviously not in play with a stupid decision such as this.
There are so many great Indigenous players would thoroughly deserve to take part in this game. Bloke that fans loving watching do well, who are respected members of the community and who would probably give and arm and a leg to play in a game like this and represent the oldest living culture in the world.
Instead, some idiot has made a terrible mistake and no one called them out on it!
This All Stars game is complete and utter rubbish as far as I'm concerned.
If you reach back through the site archives you will see, no one was more enthusiastic about this game when it was announced. I loved the idea, a great concept, one of those "I can't believe this great idea is being done right....and by Rugby League!" moments.
However every step of the way this game has become nothing more than a farce. To the point where Greg Inglis, who has pulled out of this game as well as that ridiculous trail game in England called the World Club Challenge, has been seen surfing while having a supposed hip injury.
I have to watch this All Stars game simply because thats what I do, I talk about whats happening in Rugby League. I know a lot of people who won't though.
You won't find a single women who wants to see Greg Bird given an armchair ride into a game like this.
If you want to know why they are so pissed off, just ask them.
League Freak
|
|
| All Stars Teams No Quite Finalised |
Remember the other day when I mentioned that the NRL had finally announced the NRL All Stars team after 4 months and 578 stages of voting?
Well yeah.....scratch that!
Players are now dropping out of both sides with injuries in what is both a worrying sign for the games credibility and a sign of the stupid system that saw these teams selected in the first place.
This All Stars game is a good will fixture, its a charity event and a chance for the game to highlight that no other sport in Australia is more influence by Australia's Indigenous population.
It is a great idea, but in the modern day world where some players are an injury away from ending up on the scrap heap, clubs and players want NRL glory and nothing else, and most players find it a hassle getting out of bed before 1am for training, let alone playing in a game that is not an earner for them, this is always going to make such a concept a touch sell.
The Charity Shield game between South Sydney and the St George/Illawarra Dragons is is a charity game, but its also a trail mate. Its a chance for both teams to gel, to work on a few things and to get a run.
It barely works.
This All Star game, I really do want it to work, but its going to be an uphill struggle.
The voting on teams for me is a dud. Too many stages of voting and here we are after months of votes and we still don't know what the sides will look like.
At the end of the day if coaches of these teams are selecting half the squads anyway, why not just go the whole hog and cut out the voting process.
League Freak
|
|
| Lote Tuqiri is Officially A West Tiger, Daily Telegraph Has No Interest In Non Rooster |
 I find few things in life more boring than Lote Tuqiri.
A bloke that played Rugby League as a youngster, went chasing money in Rugby Union (Fair enough), spent the whole time miserable and hating it, wrote about a million news paper articles talking about Rugby League and pleading with League players to switch codes, did something in a hotel that upset his missus and saw him get sacked...and now he is back playing Rugby League again.
Seriously, I just don't care about anything he has done or will do since 2001.
Tuqiri has signed a 3 year contract with the Tigers, he is already 30 years old, and they must have rocks in their head.
The Tigers have a good junior base that is producing a lot of good young players. The thing about good young players is that they are cheap and there is always the possibility that by the end of their first contract you actually have a State Of Origin player earning $70,000....invaluable in the salary cap era.
Tuqiri wouldn't come cheap. Sure, he won't have been able to demand a salary figure he got in Rugby Union, but seriously, would he even consider playing Rugby League again for anything less than $250,000 a year?
So you spend a fair wack of your salary cap on a 30 year old Rugby Union winger who will still be on the books in 2013.
Not the smartest move a club ever made is it?
League Freak
|
|
| Willie Mason Is A Cowboy, Daily Telegraph Loses Interest In Non Rooster |
 You see, fans, coaches, club officials and the media can talk as much crap as they like about a player. At the end of the day, as long as he can still play football, he will always come out a winner.
As the season draws closer and coaches change their mindset from preparation that will lead to open ended success, to worry that not enough has been done and it would take nothing to have the season from hell, players who have become a bit of an outcast will get looked at, considered and eventually become hot property.
Not wanted? He ended up having two clubs chasing his signature and squeezing him into their tight fitting salary cap!
Now the Cowboys are a very interesting team this year. They have a few things to watch for.
Firstly, Neill Henry has stepped down from his State Of Origin duties to concentrate on getting the team back to the finals. The Cowboys have been a real dissapointment for about five years now, they need a huge turn around.
On top of that they have to do enough to convince Jonathan Thurston to take less money to stay in Towneville, and yet show him they have a team that is capable of letting him lead them to the top.
The problem the Cowboys have is, they have relied for too long on everyone else castoffs. Players other clubs let go, the Cowboys make feature players in their side.
It can work, but you need a fully fit wizard in Matthew Bowen (Who hasn't been fit for two years), you need Jonathan Thurston at his best and you need your next level down players to be pulling their weight.
Mason is now one of those next level down players. Not a star, not finished as a football player, but the end is neigh.
I think Mason will be a good buy for them, and I think if he is not rushed into a big role at the club he can really surprise a few people.
Keep in mind he has a major surgery a few years ago, last year showed glimpses of his best at a terrible club....2010 might see him get some of his old self back. I think he has the ability to play Origin again.
The Cowboys have rolled the dice, it will be interesting to see how the gamble pays off. The prize, Thurstons signature.
League FReak
|
|
| 2010 Four Nations Draw Released And It Is Strange |
 Normally we don't see the the draw for a major international Rugby League competition until a few weeks before the bloody thing kicks off, however this time around the IRLF (ARL/RFL) have taken time out from meetings in Singapore in high priced hotels to get a draw out early.
The 2008 World Cup was a success as far as crowds went and that basically come down to really focusing games in areas where they would get the biggest crowds.
It looks like this time around the Four Nations with mostly be based in New Zealand, with the Final based in Brisbane to attract the biggest crowd.
Below is the draw, take a good hard look at it:
2010 Four Nations Draw
Oct 23, New Zealand v England, Westpac Stadium, Wellington
Oct 24, Australia v Papua New Guinea, Parramatta Stadium, Sydney
Oct 30, New Zealand v Papua New Guinea, International Stadium, Rotorua
Oct 31, Australia v England, Melbourne, venue TBC
Nov 6, England v Papua New Guinea and New Zealand v Australia, Eden Park, Auckland
Nov 13, Final, Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
Its good to see the World Cup winners and current World Champion Kiwi gets to finally see a bit of Test football played in their country finally.
Westpac Stadium always seems a bit cold to me. There have been a few Test matches played there over the years and I honestly feel that its always been like a neutral venue.
International Stadium at Rotorua, I can honestly say I have never heard of the place but its good to see a Test match in a new venue.
The double header at Eden Park is the one I really don't understand.
Firstly, having a double header just completely trashes Test football. Having England and PNG play as a lead in to the "Big Game" is a disgrace.
They should have played that game in PNG, it would have been amazing for the game in PNG. I would suggest that didn't happen because the heat up in PNG coupled with the atmosphere would have seen England get thrashed, and lets face it, its a good move for the games administrators to try and falsely prop up England's standing in the game at the moment.
Australia will take on PNG at Parramatta stadium which I think is a good move. I'll be there! The SFS would have been too big of a venue for this game and Sydney HAD to have at least one game.
I think Australia vs England will be played at the....erm...Docklands, Telstra, Etihad Dome, or what ever the under cover stadium down in Melbourne is called these days.
Getting 31,000 packed into Melbourne new rectangular stadium would be fantastic, but they will be able to get more in over the road.
As for the final, you can't pass up Lang Park really. Once again, I'll be there in attendance.
It should be an interesting competition but I have a feeling its gonna get very ugly for England.
League Freak
|
|
| League Freaks 2010 Super League Season Preview |
 Well the Super League season has just kicked off and I supposed I really should make a few predictions and we'll see how I've done at seasons end.
I find Super League season previews very boring, simply because we all know right now who is likely to win the bloody thing!
I throw in my Challenge Cup, Man Of Steel and Biggest Story Of The Year predictions just to add a little somfant to the mix.
Still I'm here to do this because no where else does season previews, right?
Now lets look at where all the teams stand and predict a few awards!
Regular Season
Leeds Rhinos
You know summer is here when Leeds players allow the sun to shine out of their arses.
Thats right, the man with the sloped forehead is back for another "challenging" season.
I really don't know what to say about Leeds, same old same old I guess. They will make the final of the Challenge Cup and they will make the Grand Final. They should probably win both. Prediction: 1st
St Helens
People talk about St Helens being in a rebuilding phase....what a load of rubbish. Lets face it, Saints could run their academy side out and probably finish in the top four.
I'm kinda hoping for St Helens sake, and the sake of English Rugby League in general Kyle Eastmond really has a good season and is allowed to settle into what every position suits him best (I think standoff but it will probably be Halfback).
They will have a good season. Prediction: 2nd
Warrington Wolves
Having signed every man and his dog and with accountants with more fiddling ability than an RBS insider, Warrington is primed for a big season....just like every other season.
I think they will go ok, probably end up being the third best team this year behind Saints and the Whinoes. That is a worry because someone will have to break it to club owner Simon Moran that the people around him are so terrible that he needs to buy the rest of the clubs in SL to actually win something. Prediction: 3rd
Catalan Dragons
I think the men from cheese land are going to have a pretty decent season. I have a feeling the Four Nations will have done wonders for their French players, and they have bought well as far as imports go too.
They won't set the world on fire by any means, but they will make the finals and I think they could be a real pain in the backside for the top sides. Prediction: 4th
Huddersfield Giants
Nothing pulls a team together like getting some chick in a hotel room and pulling....wait.....forget I said that.
Nathan Brown is gonna have to juggle things for a while but I'm sure he'll manage. It will be interesting to see if they are able to improve on last year. I can see them sneaking into the finals. Prediction: 5th
Bradford Bulls
He was best known for being a choker in the NRL but I have a feeling Matt Orford is going to be perfect in Super League. Less pressure, less expectation, he might go missing when it matters most but he will still be the key man for Bradford in the games they win.
I'm tipping them to make the finals, but I don't think much of their lineup. Its mostly on the back of the different Orford should make. Prediction: 6th
Wigan
Normally I'd say that they are going to struggle, just based on their lineup, but a new Aussie coach is a good sign for the club.
I don't know anything about him but he has ticked all the right boxes. An unknown assistant coached from a top NRL coaching staff. He has come in and thrashed them during the pre-season, its all good right there.
I think for me Wigan will surprise just based on the different McGuire makes, however I still see them as a fringe finals team. Prediction: 7th
Hull KR
Hull's B team, or as they are known around Hull "The red and white embarrassment", have had bragging rights for a while over the A side over in the west. I think they will once again go better than Hull FC, but that might not matter a damn considering they now have less money than than a brothel close to Tigers Woods' house. Prediction: 8th
Hull FC
If there is one way to revitalize a team its to buy a 33 year old halfback with a droopy eye, an Australia prop forward who was so bad his last placed team just asked him to go away mid season and not come back, and an old second rower with more mileage in his legs than a donkey at Blackpool!
Throw in a hopeless coach and hey, its all looking good. If they can finish mid table, they are doing well. Prediction: 9th
Wakefield Wildcats
I always find the best way to start a year is to put out a press release saying "Its ok, we are not shutting up shop!".
Wakey won't do anything at all this year besides put out about 30 press releases saying they will be moving into a new stadium soon, once its build...and they find someone to pay for it. Prediction: 10th
Harlequins RL
Some years I think the Quins are going to go well and surprise a few people. This is not one of those years I'm afraid.
With a totally hopeless coach and a lineup that didn't really add anyone they badly needed to during the off season, I think we will see them have an average year in 2010. Its not good... Prediction: 11th
Salford City Reds
Now playing out of their brand new stadium they have every.....hold on....
Salford really have been put in their place recently by everyone, and worst of all, they are still coached by a bloke that knows less about the game than Dwayne Chambers. Still, at least they now have a massive loan to pay back to Salford City Council!
Another crap year? As if I needed to make a prediction on that! Prediction: 12th
Castleford Tigers
Imagine being Wakefields poor cousin. Actually, in Wakefield I think you marry your poor cousin!
When the most eventful thing to happen to your club in the last 6 months is that your coach lost a finger, you know its going to be a long, drawn out, painful season. Prediction: 13th
North Wales Wrexham Crusaders
At this stage I could probably play for the Crusaders. They had to rebuild from scratch and its a minor miracle they have been able to field a team at all. They will bring in more Australian reserve graders but last place belongs to them. Prediction: 14th
The Wrap
Grand Final Winner: Leeds
Is it really any great surprise? This is a two horse race this year.
Challenge Cup Winner: St Helens
They are pretty good at stealing one over their bigger rival at the time.
Man Of Steel: Matt Orford
Another Aussie wins it, it will be between him and Hodgson.
Biggest Story Of The Year: Player Goes To Jail
I have no one in mind but I just get the feeling that someones gonna do something so stupid that they finally end up in jail.
So how did I do? We'll find out in October I guess!
League Freak
|
|
| Assistant Coach Bets Against His Own Team As The RFL Fail To Protect The Game |
I find very few things in this game completely outrageous. Maybe its the the way Rugby League throws up a yearly does of atrocities, it numbs you to certain types of news.
Every so often though I read about something so ridiculous and I can not believe the lack outrage it causes.
The BBC is reporting that Ex-Oldham assistant coach Mark Cass has been given a 12-month ban by the Rugby Football League for illegal betting.
Cass placed best on Rugby League matches over a two year span, including betting on ten games Oldham was involved in.
Cass placed bets against Oldham including one bet of £400 on Oldham to lose a match against Dewsbury by more than 18 points. They covered the spread and he got the cash.
Cass claimed he had put the bets on for a friend....
Now, that the RFL found out this was going on is great, well done to them. That he was eventually punished, fantastic.
I can not believe this person was not given a life ban from all levels of Rugby League in the UK. He deserves nothing less!
The Rugby Football League is in charge of many things, but above all else it is their job to protect the integrity of the game.
At its most basic level they do this in the form of rule enforcement. They dictate pitch size requirements, what shape of ball is, how many players are allowed on the field at any one time, basically its the reason why we have sporting organizations. They are there to stop a sporting contest descending into a farce because we have a centralized body that we all join and we play by their rules.
The integrity of the game, any game, is paramount.
When you have somebody in the game that is cheating, its terrible, and they have to be punished swiftly and be given a ban that is long enough to deter anyone else from ever cheating in the same way again.
When the Canterbury Bulldogs were found to be cheating by spending millions of dollars over the NRL salary cap in 2002, the club lost all its competition points. They were fined, they had a further suspended fine hanging over them and basically anyone involved in the decision to cheat was run out of the game.
On top of all that, its fair to say, the NRL, fans and the media kept their foot on the throat of the entire club for many years after that.
Now, that was cheating. That was going out and looking to gain an unfair performance advantage on the field of play.
What Cass did is on a whole other level.
For a coach to bet on games he is involved in.....to bet against his own team, I can not think of a worse betrayal of the players, the fans of the game in general.
He was only an assistant coach, but this is someone who holds an important role within the game. Someone who is trusted by players to do everything he can to help them get the best out of themselves. Someone who's one goal should be to lift the overall performance of the club.
A coach betting against his own team is the ultimate betrayal of everything sport is about!
If this type of betrayal of the game can happen, if the games core values can be undermined to this degree, and all it amounts to is a 12 month suspension, then something is terribly wrong.
The nonnegotiable starting point for a ban should have been a life ban, from all levels, and any capacity in the game. No playing, no coaching, no training.....he should be black banned from the game all together.
Harsh....not at all.
This is someone who cares so little about the sport that he was willing to stab it in the back for a bit of extra cash. £400 is a decent sized bet, especially for a game between Oldham and Dewsbury. That was just one bet too.....there were plenty of others.....this guy made a lot of money doing this and you have to wonder what effect a coach who needs his team to lose by 18 or more points can have on his teams performance.
Its a slippery slope, and we all know what betting against your own team eventually leads too....
Back in 2004 I said that both Sean Long and Martin Gleeson.should have been banned for life for placing bets against their own team to lose a Eastern Monday game against the Bradford Bulls.
St Helens fielded a weakened team against Bradford in preparation for their Challenge Cup Semi Final against Huddersfield the following game. Long didn't take part in the match.....Gleeson did.
They were each fined £7,500 and ordered to pay £2,205 costs. Long received just a three month ban, Gleeson got a four month ban.
These fines and suspensions were completely pathetic and no sort of deterrent to any other players, coaches or officials looking to place similar bets.
Now, six years on, and with about the greatest undermining of the games integrity at hand, the Rugby Football League have once against come up with a completely inadequate response to a matter that is as serious as it gets.
When the paying public starts to question the integrity of a match, that is it, game over. Knowing that players, coaches and officials can make many thousands of pounds by betting against themselves and potentially changing the result of a match....well, who wants to watch a sport that allows that.
This is going to come back and bite the Rugby Football League in the arse. They have dug their own grave with a ban that in now way shows the seriousness of this matter and does nothing to prevent it from happening again.
Every single fan of this great sport should be completely outraged that the people in charge of protecting our game have failed in their most basic duty.
League Freak
|
|
| NRL All Stars Team Finally Announced |
Well it only took three months and 25 stages of voting, but the 2010 NRL All Stars team has finally been announced.
Over 50,000 fans took part in the voting process which I think needs to be simplified and streamlined the next time around.
The squad includes a players from every NRL team as well as the Australian and New Zealand Captains and Vice Captains.
They will take on an Aboriginals All Star team on the Gold Coast.
The game is played in a couple of weeks time and will basically be the first game of the entire Australian Rugby League season.
Anyway the team is:
The Official 2010 All Star Team
Billy Slater (Melbourne)
Israel Folau (Brisbane)
Michael Jennings (Penrith)
Matt Cooper (St George Illawarra)
Manu Vatuvei (New Zealand)
Darren Lockyer (Brisbane)
Benji Marshall (Wests Tigers)
Adam Blair (Melbourne)
Cameron Smith (Melbourne)
Dave Taylor (South Sydney)
Anthony Watmough (Manly)
Gareth Ellis (Wests Tigers)
Luke O'Donnell (North Queensland)
Kurt Gidley (Newcastle)
Anthony Tupou (Cronulla)
Nate Myles (Sydney Roosters)
Alan Tongue (Canberra)
Luke Bailey (Gold Coast)
Josh Morris (Canterbury)
Jarryd Hayne (Parramatta)
I'll be interested to see if any players withdraw from the side in the lead up to the match. That will be a big indicator as to how the players and their NRL clubs view the importance of this game.
League Freak
|
|
| The Disgusting RFL Refuse To Pay The Four Nations Champions Their Prize Money! |
There is a Golden Rule in Rugby League that states: If you wanna f*cking it up, leave it to a Pom.
So goes every single thing the Poms touch when it comes to Rugby League, it is like they have a national commitment to Rugby League disaster.
This time around the dirty, soap dodging whingers have failed to pay any of the prize money to the victorious 2009 Four Nations Champions, the Australian Kangaroos, who won the competition by destroying yet another English team in one of their closest fought finals against the old foe in years....46-16.
The Rugby Football League, who no doubt have been accumulating interest on the $220,000 in prize money they have been withholding, basically just kept their dirty, stinking mouths shut and hoped the incredible athletes that make up the Kangaroo's lineup would just, you know, forget about the $10,000 per man they are entitled to by destroying England once again.
It got to the point where individual player managers and then eventually the Australian Rugby League were forced to contact the Rugby Football League and demand these payments are made.
Of course, more than two months after the event, the RFL are still playing petty, stupid games, saying they are still calculating hotel costs the Kangaroos squad incurred during their long, drawn out, cold, wet stay in Northern England.
Now I've never accused the Poms of being smart, get ten of them in a room and they would be flat out having two IQ points to bang together as they sing God Save The Queen. However, they haven't worked out what was missing from the mini bar by now, something is terribly wrong.
Any decent hotel will give you a list of what you owe them before you even leave. In fact I know people that are not me that have spend hundreds of dollars on room service and pay per view porno-graphical movies in just a couple of days stay.
Any time someone hands you an itemized list that shows you like Spaghetti Bolognese and watched "Teen Sluts 15 - Lesbian Edition" five times in 48 hours, you pay the extra and walk to the taxi as fast as you can!
So the Rugby Football League KNOWS what was spent by the Australian players, they just haven't paid up because like all Poms, they are a bunch of tight arses and most likely, criminals.
The thing that worries me is that these morons think they will be able to run the 2013 Rugby League World Cup!
If these stupid, arrogant, self important losers can't work out a room service bill, how they hell are they going to be able to coordinate a large scale international sporting competition?
Oh, thats right, they have already shown they can't do that by the crippling financial disaster that was the 200 Rugby League World Cup!
At the end of the day, if you want something done right, you don't ask a Pom to do it.
Hence, the Golden Rule....
League Freak
Link:The Daily Telegraph - Poms Won't Pay Our Kangaroos
|
|
| Would A Super League Fan Day To Kick Off The Season Work? |
In 2008 the National Rugby League organized a massive Rugby League fans day as Sydney's Olympic Stadium.
It was set out to commemorate the fact that the game would be turning 100 in Australia.
Every player from every team was in attendance (Not and easy feat in a one of the worlds most widely spread domestic competitions as far as geography goes!) and they all got together for a massive photo.
I attending on the day and thought it was pretty good.
They had tents set up outside the stadium for every NRL club, a number of lower grade clubs, State Of Origin, the World Cup, the Footy Show and just about anyone else you can think of.
After the league wide team photo, players went to their respective team tends to sign autographs.
I think a concept like this would even be better suited to Super League, and would have more of a benefit too.
The chance to sell team merchandise, sign people up as season ticket holder, and just the general atmosphere that could be generated, it would be fantastic.
English Rugby League fans are very different to Australian ones.
In Australia we are all very tribal, we enjoy the game, but for us its more about entertainment.
In England, sure there is that tribal factor, but at the end of the day I always get the feeling English fans feel part of a greater collective, the fans over there are a community in themselves and we don't have that in Australia.
I think it would be fantastic for this community to be able to come together to kick off the new season, no games on the line, just a day that all fans can go out and celebrate the game, meet up and get excited about the coming season.
I think Super League went some way to testing the waters on this idea with a few things they did at the Trafford Center this year, however, I'd like to see them go bigger and really make it an annual event.
Obviously weather is a factor, so an outdoor venue isn't the way to go if it can be avoided, but surely there are venues across the traditional Super League belt that could host such a day and it still be cost effective to the RFL.
I think its time for the RFL to really start to think about promoting the sport in a bigger way. I think at times its very easy for a defeatist attitude to overwhelm the English game.
At times there is a feeling the game is too small or gets overwhelmed by other sports...so why bother or waste time. The problem is, the game in the UK needs to go those extra steps because of the problems it does face.
What ever the case, I think there is a good chance to add a good event to the Rugby League calender. Whats the worst that could happen?
League Freak
|
|
| I'm Sorry But Something Very Strange Is Happening Here... |
 Imagine if you will for a moment that you make a living writing about the game of Rugby League.
During the season work is good. There are few sports in the whole world that produce as many stories and as much drama as Rugby League does. There is always a rumour to chase, always a lead to follow up, and if all else fails you can call a player manager, ask if he has anyone off contract he wants to pump up and write the inevitable "Player XYZ is going to Rugby Union/AFL/Soccer/Interpretive Dance" story.
Its all going strong and then....nothing. The International season finished and there is stuff all to write about.
You sit there twiddling your thumbs, trying to find anything at all you can write about and show your Boss that you are not just a useless hunk of meat for 6 months of the year.
So did Brett White get Married? How about that All Stars game in a few months time? Where is Paul Carriage these days?
Hell even for a genius like me, the off season is a wasteland of nothingness with very little to really talk about. I'm not in the business of pumping out rubbish just for the sake of having the site tick over, if there is nothing interesting going on, I won't write about garbage just for the sake of it.
However, over this off season, keeping an eye on the news, something has caught my eye....
The Sydney Roosters have had a ridiculous amount of news written about them.
This hasn't just been a case of one team getting a bit more coverage than everyone else, and sure, their off field behavior has contributed. However the amount of puff pieces done by the media on the Roosters is so far out there it must be addressed.
I first noticed it when I read the third article about how Todd Carney had changed his was an was now a good bloke back in November. Then it was almost daily articles about how Willie Mason was not with the club any more and was getting paid to basically stay at home.
Then it was the Daily Telegraph of all newspapers actually writing articles about how Brian Smith was turning the Roosters around.
We had the whole "Bondi Roosters" thing and then the line of how the clubs was working hard to be better behaved.
Channel Nine announced it would cover the Roosters first five games of the season, unbelievable for a team that come last in 2009 and has the smallest supporter base of any team in the competition.
Its was all a bit much really, a bit over the top. Why were so many news agencies pushing the Roosters line?
Then in the last few days, the Daily Telegraph exploded into something that looks like a Roosters Newsletter!
Just look at their current Rugby League news stories:
Of the ten new stories listed there, six can be directly related to the Roosters, and that's not even showing that they had Braith Anasta in to do their Live Blog yesterday!
If it was a popular club I would say its fair enough, the paper is catering for the supporter base and more people will read these stories as a result. However, as I pointed out, this is the club with the smallest supporter base in the competition, a team that was 16th out of 16 in 2009!
Forget the idea that someone was pushing Todd Carney, a lot of people are pushing the Sydney Roosters, and that makes me wonder why!
Why would a new organization push one club so much?
It opens up a lot of questions, but worst of all, it puts a question mark over the integrity of these news organizations. I'm not saying anything had happened to get the club some publicity, but it looks terrible. At the very least someone should have said "Ok, that's enough puff pieces about the Roosters, what else have you got for me to look at".
What ever the case may be, the Roosters have somehow founds more free publicity over the last few months that most teams receive over the course of a whole year.
Not bad for a team with no fans, no juniors and who can't play!
League Freak
|
|
|
| Login |
Not a member yet? Click here to register.
Forgotten your password? Request a new one here.
|
|
| Users Online |
 Guests Online: 4
No Members Online
Registered Members: 123
Unactivated Members: 1
Newest Member: easygoing777
|
|
| NRL Expansion Race |
1. South East Queensland
2. Gosford/North Sydney
3. New Zealand
4. Perth
5. Central Queensland
6. Adelaide
7. Papua New Guinea |
|
|
