Author: Nick Wasiliev

It’s been a while between drinks, but The Dropped Kick-Off is back again for another sesh on the airwaves. With all the focus on the Wallabies-Ireland series, it’s easy to forget that a few weeks ago it was announced that the Greater Sydney Rams had been removed from the NRC. Add in the loss of the Penrith Emus, and things are looking tough for those rugby fans in Western Sydney clubland. For this week’s episode, Nick W (Wazzy) and Nick H (Harty) sat down to talk with Twitter and GAGR favourite, Rouse Hill Rugby Club president Nick Pfitzner (Pfitzy) to examine…

The series is well and truly alive… The Green and Gold Rugby Podcast is back for another week, with Matt, Hugh and Jamie sitting down to dissect the second Wallabies-Ireland test match, and talk about what will prove the difference in the series decider in Sydney this weekend. The Five Burning Questions 1. What went wrong for the Wallabies? 2. Who stood out? 3. What changes do we make for Sydney, if any? 4. Should the TMO be put back in the box? 5. What were our other thoughts from the other matches of the weekend?

Friday’s Rugby News sees the squad for this weekend, another edition of club corner, Cheika being disappointed and a contrast of grassroots. [one_half last=”no”] Back in the ring (rose)! Lansdowne TrophyLet’s get ready to rumble! Ladies and gents, it’s that time of the week again, so let’s see what the go is for the weekend. The Wallabies head into round two with the Irish, and Michael Cheika has named an unchanged squad for the first time in his forty-six games in charge of the green and gold. The lads will be up against an Irish squad full of their strongest…

Is this what hope feels like? The Green and Gold Rugby Show is back for another week, with Rugby Reg, Hugh and Matt examining the Wallabies’ fantastic performance over the weekend against Ireland, as well as looking ahead to a crucial clash in Melbourne. The Five Burning Questions 1. Is this the strongest Wallabies performance since the World Cup? 2. Who stood out? 3. What do we expect from each team for the next game? 4. What caught your eye from the other games of the weekend? 5. Were there any other general rugby observations?

Friday’s Rugby News sees the Wallabies and Force squad for the weekend, club corner, Schmidt showing respect to Aussie young guns and Stewart taking no chances. [one_half last=”no”] Wallaby Way The Wallabies announced their squad yesterday for the first test against Ireland in Brisbane, with a couple of surprises thrown in. Brandon Paenga-Amosa and Caleb Timu will debut in the starting side, while man-of-the-hour Pete Samu has been named to debut off the bench. Aside from that, Michael Cheika is going for experience over potential, with the likes of Sekope Kepu earning starts over Taniela Topou. The Pooper has also been recalled into the…

The wait is over. With the Wallabies-Ireland test series fast approaching, Rugby Reg, Matt and Jamie came together to chew the fat on the upcoming series. For the Irish perspective, they were joined for the first time in four years by Murray Kinsella of Irish sports journal The42, to give us insight into what’s going on in the enemy camp. Oh, and we also had some time to chat Super Rugby too. WARNING – infrequent coarse language

Friday’s Rugby News sees the squads for the weekend, more from club corner, the Wallabies locking in a new sponsor and an honest question to ask of Brumbies fans. [one_half last=”no”] Super Sixteen Ladies and Gents, it’s round sixteen and it’ll only be us, the Kiwis and the Japanese stepping out on the paddock this weekend. So without further ado, let’s go! Kicking off is the Rebels, who will head across the ditch to Auckland to play the Blues. The Stockade has had pretty good last fortnight, with a win in Canberra and a demolition of the Sunwolves in Melbourne last…

Friday’s Rugby News sees the matches for the weekends, our weekly edition of club corner, Slipper being stood down and crises at Foxtel and the Brumbies. [one_half last=”no”] Backin’ the Boys Yes, ladies and gents, it’s that time of the week again, so without further ado, here be the squads: The Rebels kick off festivities down at AAMI Park when they face a resurgent Moon Dogs outfit who has knocked off the Reds and Stormers in as many weeks. The Rebels themselves have come off a bye after their win against the Brumbies in Canberra, and are welcoming back the…

Friday’s Rugby News sees the matches for the weekend, club corner, Cheika confident in Folau and Gordon pushing for a win. If you haven’t already checked it out, take the time to have a read of Jamie Miller’s article “Australian Rugby: How to stop it Failing Upwards.” [one_half last=”no”] Squads out on the town And here we are friends. Once again, the rugby is back on this weekend, and we have plenty to talk about. It’s a pity there’s no Force match on this weekend to lift our spirits, so the boys in Super Rugby are going to have to put on…

Thursday’s Rugby News sees rugby’s private schools under threat, teams being included and omitted from the World Cup, Cheika on Folau’s comments and Gibson still feeling satisfied. [one_half last=”no”] AIC look to AFL, NRL League is on the march in Brisbane. Rugby Australia says it will welcome the challenge of Rugby League, with the Australian Independent Colleges (AIC) announcing they would offer league and AFL in a formal competition on a two-year trial basis during the winter season. Schools traditionally would only offer rugby union and soccer as their two winter sports. However, this move will see schools like St Laurence’s College, Iona College …

Wednesday’s Rugby News sees the Kiwis looking to the Pacific, Beale looking to Western Sydney, Fakaosiliea looking towards Centrelink and Samu potentially looking towards the Wallabies. If you haven’t already, take the chance to have a look at Jamie Miller’s piece where he examines every nook and cranny of Australian rugby. Whatever can be said, he says it. Read it, share it and support it. [one_half last=”no”] NZ looks to Pacific The Kiwis have decided to consider launching a Super Rugby side in the Pacific, but it’s for a reason that will surprise many of you. The Kiwi government wants to…

Monday’s Rugby News sees the results from the weekends, more excuses from the coaches, more on Moody and the ref incident, and the Leinster picking up honours. [one_half last=”no”] Murphy’s Law You know, last week I asked myself: how much worse could it get? Well, this week we found out. Everything that could have gone wrong went wrong. No way were the Reds going to lose to the Sunwolves right? No way are we hitting that level of crap? Well, the Moon Doggies showed up and played some outstanding footy, sending the Reds home with 63-28 smack in the face and their tail…

Friday’s Rugby News sees the teams for the weekend, club corner, more on the two most disgruntled players in Aussie rugby right now and the Force picking up a big signing. [one_half last=”no”] The boys are back in town It’s Friday, the rugby is back on and all five of the Aussie teams are back in action this weekend. Three of them are against international opposition, so without further ado… The Reds are heading to Tokyo to play the Sunwolves as the first match this weekend. In what has been an interesting buildup, JP and Ruan Smith have been dropped from the squad…

Thursday’s Rugby News has Izzy walking the line, the Waratahs embracing the underdog, Castle having a plan, and more on Quade Cooper. [one_half last=”no”] Ya pushin’ me over the line It was an interesting night when Raelene Castle sat down for Kick & Chase on Fox Sports. It comes after the latest controversy involving Israel Folau, one that I really didn’t want to talk about yesterday. Izzy has recently got into hot water again for sharing a video from the late evangelist christian David Wilkerson. The video is intercut with the “need to get right with god”, with images of rainbow flags and burning clocks.…

Wednesday’s Rugby News has the Brumbies denying Cooper a lifeline, SANZAAR denying SA will bail, Nathan Charles talking his European stint, and Hamish Stewart officially out of the u20s squad. [one_half last=”no”] No lifeline for Cooper Over the last twenty four hours, it has been hoped that Quade Cooper would be jumping ship and potentially finding a home down in Canberra with the Brumbies. Joe Powell mentioned it. The media has talked about it. However, now the Ponies have confirmed that Cooper won’t make the trip down to the nation’s capital, not because they don’t want him, but because Cooper refused. Dan McKellar reportedly approached…

Monday’s Rugby News has the good and the bad from the weekend, more on the Tahs performance, Andy Friend losing faith, and more on World Series Rugby. [one_half last=”no”] Absolute Extremes That has got to have been one of the most fascinating weekends of rugby in this country for a long time. So I’m going to start with the positives. That Force-Fiji match. What. A. Game. Check out our review here.  On Saturday at 1pm I sat down to watch it on 7mate and was treated to something really special, a game played in fantastic spirit in front on 19,466…

Friday’s Rugby News sees the squads for the weekend, club corner, chewing the fat with Harry Johnson-Holmes and Super Rugby going stateside. [one_half last=”no”] The Game Goes National Well, look who’s back! It’s fantastic to see the return of the Western Force to Aussie rugby. After the year WA fans have had to go through, to come out the other side and see that they’ll be taking the field tonight against the Fiji Warriors will really be something special. On that, Nick H and I sat down and chatted to scrumhalf Ryan Louwrens ahead of tonight’s clash on our brand new podcast show ‘The…

Darkness rises from the Crash Ball. Now light rises to meet it.  With Matt and Reg on a break and Hugh hanging out with Alan Jones on the GAGR yacht,  it is up to two blokes called Nick to bring you the latest in rugby, straight from the horse’s mouth. The Dropped Kick-Off is the Michael Parkinson of Green and Gold Rugby Podcasts, an occasional personal chat show where we sit down to chew the fat with prominent figures in Aussie rugby. To kick off our first ever episode, we head west to celebrate the return of the Western Force. Ahead of their first game against…

When it comes to Waratah players, few wear their heart on their sleeve as much as Harry Johnson-Holmes. The young prop has experienced a rapid rise in Australia’s system over the last few years, having been part of the NSW and Australian U20s squads, the Sydney University Shute Shield team and the NSW Country Eagles in the National Rugby Championship. His successes led to him picking up a contract with the Waratahs this year.  Ahead of their crucial clash against the Blues, I sat down with him to talk about the Waratahs and his own progress in the game. Transitioning into…

Thursday’s Rugby News sees the Rebels finally have a logo, the Force eligible for the national team, the start of a new day in Western Sydney, and shots fired across the ditch. [one_half last=”no”] New Sponsor The Melbourne Rebels started this year off the back of a whirlwind of controversy, with a new squad, a new coach… and no sponsor. Well, now they finally have one. Rugby Victoria announced yesterday that they have teamed up with Legacy Property and Investment Group on a two year deal, and with that comes “a program of community initiatives designed to promote inclusion and…