Australian Rugby / RA

[Crashy]

Jeez he's carrying on a treat. Real fire and brimstone stuff. Gould first says he never watches rugby... ever. Then says 'from what I can see, the games of rugby league and rugby union have never been different'.
so you do watch rugby Phil you dumb mungo.
Loving watching in this implosion - first firing up at protocols to reduce concussion now this massive tantrum

 

[Rob42]

Jeez he's carrying on a treat. Real fire and brimstone stuff. Gould first says he never watches rugby... ever. Then says 'from what I can see, the games of rugby league and rugby union have never been different'.
so you do watch rugby Phil you dumb mungo.
Loving watching in this implosion - first firing up at protocols to reduce concussion now this massive tantrum

Enjoy it while it lasts. Next week there will be a new outrage for Gus to be exercised about.

 

[Rebel man]

Modern day League players greatly overestimate their ability. They are no longer professionally fitter nor are big hits limited to League. Not very many of them at all would succeed in Rugby Union - particularly League forwards and inside backs. As a generalisation it has usually been only outside backs who have been able to make a transition. The advanced and more numerous skills needed in Rugby Union and the complexity of the game where every component is a contest is beyond the capability of most Leaguies. If I was Rugby Australia I would not be offering contracts to any League player who was not an outside back and did not have a high quality Rugby Union background before being poached by League.

I agree but every rugby league player will be trying to use union to push their price up

 

[Wallaby Man]

The publicity this has drawn this week is commercial gold. Rugby is in the news again. One thing Gould is right about, every time Sua'ali'i does something someone will be mentioning rugby in the same sentence.

 

[Marce]

I’m tipping its Penisini

I think so. Did he play at centre in Kings?

 

[Marce]

Modern day League players greatly overestimate their ability. They are no longer professionally fitter nor are big hits limited to League. Not very many of them at all would succeed in Rugby Union - particularly League forwards and inside backs. As a generalisation it has usually been only outside backs who have been able to make a transition. The advanced and more numerous skills needed in Rugby Union and the complexity of the game where every component is a contest is beyond the capability of most Leaguies. If I was Rugby Australia I would not be offering contracts to any League player who was not an outside back and did not have a high quality Rugby Union background before being poached by League.

For some reason Eddie wants Asofa Solomona, he played rugby in NZ all his life as second row and backrow. I agree that most of League can't play in specific positions like tight-five but in terms of athleticism they are monster and I bet most of them can beat/match Aussie Super Rugby players in physicality

If you take a young Corey Parker or Matthew Scott and put him in a rugby pathway. Why wouldn't they be good Rugby Union forwards?

 

[Marce]

Nathan Cleary on Union

Throw the kitchen sink at Cleary. That would be incredible. Wonder who it is. Doubt someone as big as Cleary, would be cool for Asofa-Solomona, though he is already 27, would prefer someone a couple years younger.

I would put more money in this guy than in Sua'ali'i or Penisini. With game time he could be a real threat at international level. An accurate kicker, what the WBs need the most, physicality enough to withstand hit by big boys and with game time he can learn too much and he's still young (25)

He's currently the best kicker in the NRL, so he's probably a more capable kicker than most of the 10s WBs in the last 10 years, an important attribute at international test level

Ranking each club's goal-kicking stocks for 2023

NRL.com looks at the goal-kicking options for all clubs leading into Round 1 and for the 2023 season.

www.google.com

Is there any other goal-kicker in the game you could depend on to save your life with a conversion than Nathan Cleary? His remarkable career average suggests there isn't with his past two season's efforts sitting at a remarkable 85.4%. The Panthers have a suitable back-up to Cleary with Stephen Crichton in the side for another 12 months while Jarome Luai and Kurt Falls are also options at the club.

That what you need for a Wallaby flyhalf

 

[Sword of Justice]

Kicking with no possibility of a charge down is much easier though. Less time pressure and you can get a little closer.

Still, I'd be very interested in having him tested at a super franchise that isn't my favourite one.

 

[Realrugby63]

Nathan Cleary on Union


Throw the kitchen sink at Cleary. That would be incredible. Wonder who it is. Doubt someone as big as Cleary, would be cool for Asofa-Solomona, though he is already 27, would prefer someone a couple years younger.

I can’t wait to see all the union players trying to sign with the NRL or who move overseas. I happen to know multiple players who are incredibly pissed off at the $1.6 mil deal so it will be interesting to see how this plays out.

 

[qwerty51]

Are they pissed off they're not good enough to earn 1.6 mil?

 

[Slim 293]

I can’t wait to see all the union players trying to sign with the NRL or who move overseas. I happen to know multiple players who are incredibly pissed off at the $1.6 mil deal so it will be interesting to see how this plays out.

Oooooooh... what other goss was dished out at mother's group this week?

 

[Marce]

Kicking with no possibility of a charge down is much easier though. Less time pressure and you can get a little closer.

Still, I'd be very interested in having him tested at a super franchise that isn't my favourite one.

He's a hell of a player. I saw Wallabies 10s with 10% of his abilities. And many who couldn't kick to the posts, a main feature if you play at 10.

At fifth tackle you kick the ball knowing that a big prop is gonna hit you. That's not easy

 

[Doritos Day]

I can’t wait to see all the union players trying to sign with the NRL or who move overseas. I happen to know multiple players who are incredibly pissed off at the $1.6 mil deal so it will be interesting to see how this plays out.

I love this. Seemingly every rugby player in Australia, New Zealand, England and Wales is headed for France and Japan - at a time where the JIFF regulations are tighter than ever and Japanese teams are pulling back on so-called sabbatical deals.

Someone tell the Top14 they need another six teams.

 

[PhilClinton]

I can’t wait to see all the union players trying to sign with the NRL or who move overseas. I happen to know multiple players who are incredibly pissed off at the $1.6 mil deal so it will be interesting to see how this plays out.

Thats a bit of a laugh because no Australian rugby player is going to walk up to a French team and demand $1.6M and get it paid, nor will any NRL team pay that, so I’m not sure where these so called pissed off players are going to be paid?

Maybe it’s a lesson in economics for some of those blokes. I wonder how many of them watch other sports, for example the NBA and do they blow up about the marquee players on each team earning $40M a season when most of the roster earns around $5M-$10M a season?

Professional rugby players in particular are quite privileged in that in Australia many of them have walked a very specific pathway i.e. private school rugby, pathway program, signed by a club. What they don’t realise is that if the game doesn’t start throwing some bombs and making moves outside the box, there won’t be anyone getting contracts in Australia in the future. Getting Eddie on board and this signing have already made our game more relevant in Australia than it has been for the last 10 years.

 

[The Ghost of Raelene]

I can’t wait to see all the union players trying to sign with the NRL or who move overseas. I happen to know multiple players who are incredibly pissed off at the $1.6 mil deal so it will be interesting to see how this plays out.

Let them try. I love my Rugby but there would be a handful of Super Rugby players at most that would make an NRL match day squad. Even less in the forwards. Hope they enjoy playing for Wentworthville v Newtown.

 

[Derpus]

Are they pissed off they're not good enough to earn 1.6 mil?

I mean - presumably he means they are pissed not because they want 1.6m specifically but think they are generally underpaid and should be getting more.

 

[PhilClinton]

I mean - presumably he means they are pissed not because they want 1.6m specifically but think they are generally underpaid and should be getting more.

And that's where they'll start losing the fan base if that kinda stuff is true.

I imagine anyone who genuinely feels slighted by this contract is probably a high achiever already in rugby and one of the better paid players, so you'd think they're clawing in the range of $500k-$750k a year.

It's a lot of money compared to the average Australian wage and the fans know the current Super Rugby product isn't exactly winning people over with viewership numbers or physical bums in seats at games. The Suaalli deal is as much about bringing him across as it trying to get people actually seeing rugby as a game where the best of the best want to play in this country.

 

[Derpus]

And that's where they'll start losing the fan base if that kinda stuff is true.

I imagine anyone who genuinely feels slighted by this contract is probably a high achiever already in rugby and one of the better paid players, so you'd think they're clawing in the range of $500k-$750k a year.

It's a lot of money compared to the average Australian wage and the fans know the current Super Rugby product isn't exactly winning people over with viewership numbers or physical bums in seats at games. The Suaalli deal is as much about bringing him across as it trying to get people actually seeing rugby as a game where the best of the best want to play in this country.

Yeah agreed - just thought that nuance was worth noting.

 

[Wilson]

Still not sure where I land on the Sua'ali'i saga, but I absolutely love this take:

Wallabies should take their pick of the Bulldogs litter if Gus will tell rugby code-hoppers to ‘go now’

Loyalty in professional sport only goes so far.

www.theroar.com.au

Just start offering Bulldogs stars money to screw with Gould, drive their prices up if they stay, force him to back down on the "just leave now" or potentially get a gun who's otherwise off market. Hell, just start leaking negotiations with a bunch of them and watch him erupt.

 

[The Ghost of Raelene]

RA should hire someone just to write an article a day to keep these anaphylactic reactions coming.