The RL Australian schoolboys team was announced on Friday.
17 players names, 13 of them from NSW, 3 QLD and 1 ACT. Two come from traditional Rugby schools, Newington and Oakhill College.
http://m.nrl.com/australian-schoolboys-rugby-league-team-named/tabid/10874/newsid/87890/default.aspx
Imagine if the Rugby schoolboys team was 76% NSW kids. All hell would break lose
All hell has probably broken loose north of the tweed.
Nearly as good as the utter amazement in league circles at the Ipswich Jets playing a continuity game instead of 5 grunts-and-a-punt league. Other teams can't keep up with it. They're stunned! Amazed!
Looks like half-decent rugby to me, without the rucks.
You could be on to something there. I would love to watch some half-decent rugby. Don't see very much of it these days.
In the space of two hours on Sunday the NRL showed everyone just how wrong it’s got things when it comes to using the sin bin.
Less than 24 hours earlier our rugby union counterparts underlined that with a couple of exclamation points and a big old smiley face thrown in for good measure.
Look up professional foul in the dictionary and there you’ll see Marika Koroibete, clearly and inexcusably holding Titans winger David Mead back from a bouncing ball, denying him a better than even money crack at a try.
“If he doesn’t go to the sin bin, the sin bin’s dead,” Andrew Voss mused in commentary.
The officials confirmed the obituary by not even awarding a penalty for the incident, and later on the same day Knights big man Jeremy Smith danced all over the sin bin’s grave by committing a clear professional foul on Michael Jennings and remaining on the field as well, though he did at least cop a penalty.
The NRL could follow rugby’s lead when it comes to professional fouls. Source: FoxSports
But over in the rah rahs the sin bin is alive, well and being used as it should. In Saturday night’s Bledisloe, three players were given 10 minutes to think about what they had done — Wallabies Sekpoe Kepu and Nick Phipps, and his All Blacks opposite Aaron Smith.
Granted, the Smith high tackle wouldn’t have copped more than a penalty in the NRL, but in union it was pretty standard fare.
The Kepu and Phipps infringements were blatant professional fouls aimed at preventing the Kiwis from taking advantage of a scoring opportunity and got what they deserved.
And as Big League editor Fiona Bollen pointed out on Twitter, not one of three binned players, or any of their teammates, complained about the calls.
Over 100 years ago league broke from the 15-man code in the name of professionalism, now it’s time to follow their lead on professional fouls.
Agree. The standard of refereeing in the NRL this season has been shocking. As Andrew Voss said, the sin-bin's dead. The refs cop out by putting players on report when they should be binning people a lot more. Every game has professional fouls, shoulder charges etc, that get punished with penalties. Plus, the arguing with the referees sickens me because the game never used to be like this.Hang on a minute. Something positive?
http://m.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nrl-s...punish-foul-play/story-e6frf3ou-1227478722915
Haven't all the mungoes gone crazy for Hayne's first outing in NFL pre-season?
I know nothing about the game, but understand the magnitude of the challenge. I wish him all the best, but I wish the bloody knuckle-draggers would stop pretending this is the NRL striking a blow for anything.
Hayne seems like a fairly level-headed bloke, with a good attitude. All the credit goes to him, not the gang-raping, drug-fked pack of woman-beating shit bags that get the headlines back here.
Anyone who's crowing over his run doesn't understand the how American Football works. He's adapted quickly. Yes. But his run had more to do with good work of his offensive linemen than any great deal of skill on his part. He was presented with a hole provided by an excellent block. After that any Rugby/League back worth his salt should have made the metres he did. They're are 11 players on each side. Most caught up in the scrimmage. Past that and compared to the Rugby's it's open spaces. If anything it showed that he lacks the pace to be a wide receiver or an effectively kick returner.