waiopehu oldboy
George Smith (75)
^^^^^^^^^ to be fair Channel 9 are all over it, lead item on Today & interviews to come with Raylene Castle (Bulldogs CEO), Todd Greenburg (NRL bigwig), former ref(s) etc.
For my various sins I was forced to watch the last part of the Souths v Bulldogs match yesterday.
It will be interesting to,see what the media make of the way the dogs players spoke to the red after the match deciding penalty.
Lots of 4 letter stuff directed straight at the official. I think there might have been 2 red cards in our game, as it was there was 1 binning.
Bottles were thrown by the crowd injuring an official and narrowly missing another.
I doubt the league media will see the connection between the vociferous and highly threatening abuse by the players and the acts of violence perpetrated by the crowd (including a king hit in the crowd leaving the ground) and the dissent shown on the field.
We are in a much better place on this.
What the ref SHOULD have done was send the abusive pommy bloke from the field ASAP, but again this can't happen because refs have been putting up with it so long, for fear of upsetting the powers that be.
NRL - "the family game" - yeah right!
For some reason,the media covering the game have a ridiculous attitude towards refs.
They complain incessantly about refs errors,then they complain incessantly about the time the video refs take in their attempts to ensure they give correct rulings.
Last night the Dogs players took the legs out of a player who had kicked the ball.
Their immediate response was,as it was not deliberate,there should be no penalty.Apparently reckless or negligent behaviour can never be penalised.
The kicker is out for 4 or 5 months.
This is such a ridiculous thing for them to say. How many times do we see players chasing a high kick, making accidental contact with the player while in the air and not only getting penalised but lately in NZ games binned for it. It was careless and dangerous.For some reason,the media covering the game have a ridiculous attitude towards refs.
Last night the Dogs players took the legs out of a player who had kicked the ball.
Their immediate response was,as it was not deliberate,there should be no penalty.Apparently reckless or negligent behaviour can never be penalised.
The kicker is out for 4 or 5 months.
I also am astounded at the number of comments I have read defending those fans who threw bottles because apparently they were justified in being upset and frustrated by the refs. Holy Shit!! Its appalling.
465 less refs this year according to Hinds. Not sure of usual annual turnover or games per week but that sounds like a lot.Thus far most media are concentrating on the bottle throwing fans and have yet to draw the link between the on-field abuse and harrassment of the referee and what followed. Both those players screaming and fingerpointing at the referee should have been sent off not sin binned.
465 less refs this year according to Hinds. Not sure of usual annual turnover or games per week but that sounds like a lot.
How long before 15 years will think it's ok to yell, swear and wave your arms at the ref if you don't like what happened at an "important moment"?
Judging by some of the things I have seen on the sporting field and in other arenas, many already do think that. The behaviour they see from these so called "professionals" just reinforces that its ok.
Can you imagine league players calling the ref 'sir'? Or the captain politely asking which player infringed so they may address them themselves?
Refs in all sport make mistakes, hell I know I have. But no-one deserves the kind of crap those league players throw at them. I say it every year watching Origin (the only league I watch all year), the way the players are allowed to speak to the ref is just disgusting. Especially now all the mikes and cameras broadcast every word.
Push to introduce rugby league into Sydney's elite GPS schools
Rugby league officials have declared their ambition to introduce the sport into the elite Greater Public Schools, whose manicured fields have been reserved exclusively for rugby union for more than a century.The 15-man game has been the only rugby code offered to students since the Athletic Association of the Great Public Schools of NSW first met and decided to put it on the curriculum at a landmark meeting at the Gunsler's Café in Circular Quay in 1892.But after being on the outer for 123 years, there is a push for league to also be an option for the prestigious Sydney schools association comprising St Joseph's, Sydney Grammar, The Armidale School, Shore, Sydney Boys High, Saint Ignatius, Kings, Newington and Scots."We should be an inclusive sport, we should find ways of getting all the school bodies involved in playing the game," NSW Rugby League chief executive David Trodden told Fairfax Media."We shouldn't confine ourselves to any particular group of schools just because historically they have been schools which have supported rugby league."For me, it would be a great thing thing if we got to a point where the GPS schools played league in some format or competition."Laurie Daley is best known as the coach of the Blues, but it's another mentoring gig which has put the GPS issue on the NSWRL's agenda.Daley has been coaching his son's rugby league side, Brothers, in the North Sydney junior rugby league competition in recent years.Will Daley recently began high school at Joeys but he and his league mates – many of whom have also joined GPS schools – wanted to continue playing the 13-man code."That has caused some thinking about some way to get the GPS schools to be involved in rugby league as well," Trodden explained."You wouldn't run a rugby league [tournament] in competition with their existing rugby union competition."There are a whole lot of things you could do – you could start out with a knockout competition so that you're not talking about a full season. Then you could gauge their level of interest. It's certainly worth thinking about."Some of rugby league's most promising young players have come from renowned rugby nurseries.Parramatta sensation Tepai Moeroa, described by club legend Peter Sterling as being "as good as any young forward that has come through in the last decade", is a product of Newington College.So too is Wests Tigers hooker Joel Luani and Joey Lussick, the Australian schoolboys union representative who also played SG Ball for Manly during his school days.Some of Australia's biggest sporting stars have crossed the divide during their professional careers.Sam Burgess, Sonny Bill Williams and Israel Folau made their names in the NRL but are now enjoying stints, with varying success, in union. Others who have made mid-career switches include Wendell Sailor, Lote Tuqiri, Mat Rogers and Timana Tahu, all of whom returned to league."It used to be the case that you never went from league to union and when you went from union to league you could never go back," Trodden said."These days there is a regular interchange and going to and from sports gives more career options. It seems a natural progression that at junior level there would be a greater likelihood of guys playing both games as well."The way our SG Ball and Harold Matthews seasons are structured at the moment, starting early in the [year], it's possible for some of those guys to combine playing in the Harold Matthews and SG Ball competitions with going to those schools as the GPS season doesn't go full on until later in the year."The sporting facilities at many at GPS schools – some employ sports scientists and provide students with cutting-edge equipment such as hyperbaric chambers – is the envy of NRL clubs.The union fraternity has long looked down on its working-class counterparts, making fun of the "mungos" for boorish off-field behaviour.However, it's hoped the NSWRL's ambitions will break down barriers and increase league participation with what has been to date an untapped talent pool.
If he felt that strongly, maybe Laurie Daley could have sent his son to Marist at North Sydney where league is the only rugby code that they play.
Oh no it's popularity even spreads to the far regions of the North of SydneyIs Union strong only in Eastern Sydney?