The League Media

[RugbyReg]

Mungos will be filthy Hayne was seen presenting jerseys to the Fiji Seven's Team and stirring up a bit of publicity for the Sydney 7's and not the Auckland 9's.

Rugby also back page of the Courier Mail with a cringeworthy heading about the Tongan Thor.


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meanwhile there's going to be a press conference this evening, in NZ, on the eve of the 9s about more player suspensions (including Ben Hunt) for bad behaviour. Keep living the dream, leaguies.

http://www.couriermail.com.au/sport...s/news-story/614342b494e3dd7e22993f12c7769b0a

 

[Pfitzy]

NFL != Global Superstar

 

[Hugh Jarse]

Oscar Wilde was quite prophetic, just forgot one little word.

"Rugby is a good occasion for keeping thirty bullies far from the centre of the city." - Oscar Wilde

 

[waiopehu oldboy]

meanwhile there's going to be a press conference this evening, in NZ, on the eve of the 9s about more player suspensions (including Ben Hunt) for bad behaviour. Keep living the dream, leaguies.

http://www.couriermail.com.au/sport...s/news-story/614342b494e3dd7e22993f12c7769b0a

Total of eight now stood down for 12 months from Origin & Future Origin camps.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/league...rray-as-eight-players-banned-for-curfew-break

League media will spin this as Kevvy Walters drawing a line in the sand after years of Meninga allegedly turning a blind eye to all manner of shenanigans.

 

[liquor box]

I would have thought this would be an indication of a coach who is either not listened to or not respected.


Always tough to be a coach when you make a living from being a clown in the media, it sort of presents an image of not taking things serious

 

[waiopehu oldboy]

FoxSports reporting that roughly half the NRL Clubs are ignoring the ARL's "suggestion" to impose player curfews at the Auckland Nines this weekend (gotta treat the players as adults etc); players quoted as having been told that any bad behaviour is their problem. Heads down, y'all, cluster fuck incoming!

 

[liquor box]

FoxSports reporting that roughly half the NRL Clubs are ignoring the ARL's "suggestion" to impose player curfews at the Auckland Nines this weekend (gotta treat the players as adults etc); players quoted as having been told that any bad behaviour is their problem. Heads down, y'all, cluster fuck incoming!

Abc reported this morning that every team has a police officer to escort them

 

[waiopehu oldboy]

So 16 cops to escort ~320 players. Herding cats would be easier.

 

[wamberal]

Oscar Wilde was quite prophetic, just forgot one little word.

"Rugby is a good occasion for keeping thirty bullies far from the centre of the city." - Oscar Wilde

Twenty six bullies in that case. Plus the interchange bench, of course.

 

[WorkingClassRugger]

An article in the SMH with Sam Burgess about how his time in Rugby made him mentally tougher. Pressure and all. He seems quite careful not to say which he thought was physically tougher.

Until the last paragraph. He mentions he had to work on his passing game, his kicking game. He worked more on his speed and athleticism. He throws in that he was able to spend more time in the gym because he wasn't as sore after games so is also bigger.

Being a better athlete may have had something to do with it. I actually don't think both he and the articles author realise what they've just said. One of if not the toughest and supposed most athletic forwards in RL has just admitted that Rugby has made him a better athlete. And yes, some may say that this is drawing a rather long bow but this actually suggests Rugby players aren't only just better skilled but are better athletes in general.

 

[wamberal]

They are different games with some similarities.


Just about any player from either code who spent time in the other would become a "better athlete".

 

[papabear]

An article in the SMH with Sam Burgess about how his time in Rugby made him mentally tougher. Pressure and all. He seems quite careful not to say which he thought was physically tougher.

Until the last paragraph. He mentions he had to work on his passing game, his kicking game. He worked more on his speed and athleticism. He throws in that he was able to spend more time in the gym because he wasn't as sore after games so is also bigger.

Being a better athlete may have had something to do with it. I actually don't think both he and the articles author realise what they've just said. One of if not the toughest and supposed most athletic forwards in RL has just admitted that Rugby has made him a better athlete. And yes, some may say that this is drawing a rather long bow but this actually suggests Rugby players aren't only just better skilled but are better athletes in general.

He was a backrower playing in the centres of course he is going to have to work on his passing / kicking...

Same would be said for a union backrower coming to play in the centres in league.

 

[wamberal]

However, I think it is fair to say that in rugby most players are expected to be able to pass both to the left and also to the right - in loig quite a few players can only pass properly to one side.

 

[I like to watch]

In league,quite a few players do not have a 'passing licence',
And are not authorised to pass the ball to anyone!

 

[papabear]

In my very biased opinion.

Ball players
League Players
will tend to be better short passes of the ball, in terms of long passing they both have similar skill sets in terms of long balls, although, league players tend to rifle it out to the winger to give him a choice to stay outside or step back in to score the try because this pass is mostly employed 10 metres out.

Kicking, more flat type kicks into space or mid field bombs or grubbers. Not much going by the way of torpedoes or angled kicks out on the full from the 22 trying to grab the most yardage.

Union players
short passes are ok, but on the whole not as strong, beale and cooper are good at it, its not the passing that is weak, its the sleight of hand and drawing the man that is lax. Long passes are very good, though they tend to be out a fair bit in front, wanting to put the man in the space outside the defender. Though this is changing a bit.

Kicking
as above different types of kicking. due to different requirements in the game.

I was going to do this for each position, but tbh I have work to do.
suffice to say the different games require different skills, league players on the whole will always tend to be better at the tackle, run, pass type stuff.. because that is what the game is.. union players will be better at the possession type stuff because there is more of it then a play the ball.

 

[terry j]

league players on the whole will always tend to be better at the tackle, run, pass type stuff.. because that is what the game is.. union players will be better at the possession type stuff because there is more of it then a play the ball.

personally I don't see it. I think that was the whole thrust of posting the interview, to combat entrenched fixed ideas of this nature.

I think you are a league guy who also watches rugby. Maybe you are right? OR, maybe you are seeing the stereotype.

I, for one, (being honest tho I hardly watch more than five minutes of league a month say) don't see these examples of 'better tackling' in league (for example) To me, most of the time (or at least during the small amount of viewing) the league tackles are incredibly soft. A guy runs into three others who hug him, sometimes to the ground.

there used to be the big dramatic 'tackles', but removing the shoulder charge (as that was usually what they were) has taken that impression away.

Rather I see that in rugby the tackles are effective, get the guy to the ground and so able to contest the ball. That is not to say there are never bone crunching tackles in rugby, there are many.

Anyway, of course I too could be viewing thru my own tinted glasses, with very limited time watching league. I just see broad brush strokes like these as part of the code war and have very little to do with reality.

 

[WorkingClassRugger]

In my very biased opinion.


I was going to do this for each position, but tbh I have work to do.
suffice to say the different games require different skills, league players on the whole will always tend to be better at the tackle, run, pass type stuff.. because that is what the game is.. union players will be better at the possession type stuff because there is more of it then a play the ball.

Very biased. Perhaps once upon a time some 30 years ago the above statement may have been true. But it most certainly isn't now. You may not have noticed but there's actually quite a lot of that tackle, pass, run stuff in Rugby as well. The biggest difference in the space available. League players have twice as much as their Rugby counterparts.

 

[Pfitzy]

league players on the whole will always tend to be better at the tackle, run, pass type stuff.. because that is what the game is.. union players will be better at the possession type stuff because there is more of it then a play the ball.

That is unmitigated rubbish. Individuals are better at tackling, running, or passing. The games as a whole don't determine that, particularly as the NRL has evolved into low-risk running at the opposition for four tackles, then letting the quarterback do his thing.

Tackling is roughly equal, but defense in the NRL doesn't appear to be a strength these days - knowledge of space on the outside flank is fairly ordinary by a lot of players, and cover defense inside the 20m is very inconsistent. Sometimes it is so good that only kicking can produce a try. Other times it is so bad that 2-on-3 becomes an overlap because of poor communication and technique.

 

[Gnostic]

Funny in my poor memory I thought the greatest ball players in League history Stuart, Fairfax, Lewis all came from Rugby.

You can see what era I'm from and I'll freely admit I haven't watched League since my team was kicked out of the comp, Newtown. No big kerfuffle about preserving the history and traditions of the competition when they did that, even though Newtown was a foundation club.

 

[Strewthcobber]

Funny in my poor memory I thought the greatest ball players in League history Stuart, Fairfax, Lewis all came from Rugby.

You can see what era I'm from and I'll freely admit I haven't watched League since my team was kicked out of the comp, Newtown. No big kerfuffle about preserving the history and traditions of the competition when they did that, even though Newtown was a foundation club.

You should get back down to Henson Park Gnostic. The Jets put on a great game day.

The game's better at that level anyway

We take the kids a couple of times a year with my brother in law, who lives locally.