Author: KARL

Welcome G&GRs, another day where we stop reflecting on last week and look forward to the weekend to come. If your team’s on a bye it means they won’t gain any points; however, it also means they won’t lose any either, and that might just be enough. Brad Thorn leaving the Reds at the end of 2023Love him or hate him (and I absolutely love the guy) his time in charge of the Reds comes to an end this year. Our very own Nathan W writes here about the legacy of Thorn moving on after six years in charge. The…

Happy Wednesday, team. Another few hours of basking in the glory of last week before we start facing up to the weekend games ahead. If your team’s on a bye then you have an additional week of wondering what might’ve been and could they just possibly have got across the line. Another league convert. But this time hoping for NZ – Nice to dreamAs written here on Fox Sports, Dolphins young gun Isaiya Katoa is open to following in Roosters star Joseph Suaalii’s footsteps in switching to rugby union, but only for the chance to play for the All Blacks.Although…

Sorry you had to get me twice in a row but I’m away next week so Yowie and I swapped. What a huge weekend of rugby it was last week. However, it’s time to put that behind us and start looking forward to the games for this weekend and what they’ll bring us. Who will we remember for good reasons and who will we remember for bad reasons?Australian player in concussion lawsuit welcomes new tackle height limitAs reported by Georgina Robinson here in SMH, not everyone is against the directive to reduce tackle height. Former Rebels and England flanker Michael…

Well, after what was an almost underwhelming weekend of rugby where Super Rugby tried, and failed, to compete with a league initiative (again), we can get back to home teams playing games at home and enjoy the rugby where we want it.Last week is gone and now it’s time to look forward. Note: I’ve deliberately not mentioned the Savea Issue. Others will want to make time out of thatThe Sua’ali’i Saga continuesReported here in that other site, the saga for Joseph Sua’ali’i continues as he appears to be set to reject rugby and accept a $750K contract to continue with…

As we get closer to the weekend and the opening round of Super Rugby Pacific I can almost feel the tension in the air. No hump day feelings today as last week was nothing and this weekend is everything.Brumbies ready to push for Super Rugby titleAs reported in Rugby News here Allan Alaalatoa is excited rather than intimidated with meeting the Waratahs first up at the new Allianz Stadium. He’s loving the “buzz” around rugby at the moment saying “It’s everywhere… and that’s awesome” He further said that “As players, we want to be performing in front of full stadiums,…

Welcome back, team. Life is just so much better with good rugby on TV. I must admit I did enjoy the 7s rugby and watching the skills of some of these players, especially the women, was just an awesome experience. But Six Nations is just something else. As from 12:00 today last week’s games become memories of what was or could have been and we now start looking forward to what this weekend will bring.Aaron Smith’s and Beauden Barrett’s moves to Japan confirmed3 things we learnt from the Six Nations Opening RoundFrom Stuff in NZ here news that will warm…

So here we are, games all played for the year and it’s that time when we can sit back and reflect on the year that was. I hope you enjoy my last post for the year, it’s been a lot of fun doing this and the banter has, for the most part, been awesome. Special thanks to Yowie for stepping up and sharing the load with me as work wouldn’t allow me to do this every week. I’m thinking about a refereeing piece to put up over the break just to keep the site going so check in occasionally as…

Welcome to Hump Day fellow G&GRs. A day when we can start leaving the despair of the weekend behind us and start building up the hope and anticipation of the weekend coming. Or can we? With the plays that went on last weekend do any of us really have any expectation of a change this coming weekend? It seems to me that we’ve been spending a lot of time hoping for some positive changes, dreaming of wins we should actually expect but ever more falling further and further into the despair of having our expectations dashed yet again. As a…

Welcome team. Last week’s games can now be put to rest as we look forward to this weekend with some anticipation that the drivel we saw last week will be rectified. Or is it with a level of apprehension that we think the same poor performances will continue and so we approach the weekend with more hope than expectation and already mentally prepare ourselves for the worst with the hope that we will be pleasantly surprised?NZ Rugby to reduce height of tackles in club and 1st XV rugbyNew Zealand has taken the bull by the horns and will introduce new…

Welcome to Wednesday team. That day of the week where the morning is still filled with the reminiscence and disappointment of the weekend just gone and where, in the afternoon, hope again raises its head as we get closer to another two days off work when we can watch rugby again.This week it’s the Women’s Rugby World Cup in NZ and the As v Japan again. Happy hunting teamWorld Rugby outlines legacy plans for women’s growth amid world record crowdWorld Rugby CEO Alan Gilpin is hoping a world-record crowd at Eden Park on October 8 can be used as a…

Today’s news is brought to you from the great Soap Dodger, Keith. Being both old and a Pom he has no idea of technology and so I’m posting this on his behalf. Note at the end is a list of G&GR rugby players. If you’d like to be included send your particulars to Keith in the comments section. The Good? The Bad? and The Farkin’ Awful? Desperate times call for desperate measures and I can’t think of anything more desperate than, in the absence of our famed weekly correspondents, calling on a Soap Dodger to fill a hole. Once more…

Sorry for the delay team. I woke very early to return from NZ and had an appointment that took longer than expected. I’m getting old, which while being infinitely better than not being able to, does mean I get tired quicker these days and last night I crashed before I could write this. It’s certainly been an interesting last 5 days and with everything leading into the game of revenge this weekend I thought I’d add an opinion piece just to settle things down. Now I know there are some here who will take this to the ultimate level but…

Not quite the half way mark for the next game but time for the anger and disappointment of the last game to sink down and for some hope to gently start rising again as we contemplate what changes are needed to move the Wallabies forward. ‘Give these guys a chance’: Ex-Wallaby’s World Cup message for next gen amid No.10 crisis If there’s a player who knows what the next generation of Australian rugby stars might be feeling like at present it’s Berrick Barnes. On the basis of one starring match in his first season, against the Highlanders, he was plucked…

Welcome to the week before what will be a major game for the Wallabies this season. Make no mistake about it, this week is a defining game for the Wallabies this year. Win and they are on track for a good season. Lose and their season is looking like going downhill. If they lose questions will be asked about the players, selections, coaching team and management. However, it’s Wednesday which means it’s the day we put the disappointment of the last game behind us and we start looking forward with hope to the game this weekend. Good luck for the…

Sorry for the delay today team. Been a busy week and I still haven’t managed to watch last weekend’s games yet – hopefully today. However, today we stop reminiscing about last week and start looking forward to this weekend. Can the Wallabies continue their good run? Will the ABs fall again, and if so what will this mean for Foster? Wallabies focused on backing up ‘special’ performanceWith a great start to the RC despite injuries, late withdrawals and a slow start the Wallabies are now concentrating on backing up this week and maintaining top spot in the RCLast week was…

Right team, as from 12 today it’s time to stop with the disappointment of the past and start looking forward to the next game. It’s been 10 days since we played England and it’s 10 days until we play Argentina. Let’s look forward not backwards. Not a lot of information on where teams are at for the upcoming games and so there isn’t a lot to say about them. About all I’ve got is that I think the Wallabies need to beat the FISMs and at least 1 game against both the DDF and the ABs to be setting things…

Welcome to Hump Day. That day where the disappointment of last week slowly gets overtaken with the anticipation of the weekend’s games. Being the middle of the week it’s also a time for reflection and so today I’ll also attempt to answer a couple of the more talked about issues that came out of the games last week. Spoiler Alert! I’m a biased referee and (mostly) on the side of the referee so if you’re wanting to get confirmation on how it’s the referee’s fault and the laws are killing the game go read that “other site” – or possibly…

Welcome to another edition of the GAGR. It’s been a quiet weekend allowing time for reflection as we build up to the 1st Internationals of the year. Like all of you I’m hanging out for this one and hoping that DR has got the boys ready to give the Soap Dodgers a good smashing.Injuries in the Wallaby CampIt is more than 8 English straight wins since Jones took over in 2016 and this is not something that sits well with Australian supporters. Soon enough all the amateur selecting that’s happened so far this year will give way to the real…

Welcome to Hump Day team. Weekend and finals rugby getting closer while we still manage to bask in the glory of the week just gone. Some big games last weekend and certainly my SuperBru competition had a couple of games where no points were scored by any of the participants as the results were way different to expected.Not mentioned below but congratulations to the Australian men’s 7s on their latest win. They fought a good fight and never gave up. Well done.Some quiet complaints against the Rebels not playing for the Force In a post that seems to be just…

Welcome fellow rugby lovers. That beautiful game that embodies so much of which is good in this world. Remember from 12:00pm today the week only gets better as the weekend and more rugby approaches.Nic White commits to Brumbies, Australian Rugby until 2023In news that will please most Wallaby fans as well as Brumbies fans Nic White has turned down a reported $1.0m deal from Japan to stay with Australia until after the next Rugby World Cup. With rumours swirling he would once again make the move overseas, White believes he still has plenty to achieve for club and country.”I’m really…