Almanac Rugby League

The Almanac Rugby League Crew

If you’d like to publish a rugby league story on The Footy Almanac website, please contact Ian Hauser.

 

If you’d like to join the Footy Almanac’s rugby league email list to receive our regular
Thursday updates during the season and occasional updates in the off-season, contact John Harms in the first instance.

 

The Footy Almanac’s coverage of rugby league features a team of four regular columnists:

Ian Hauser provides a round by round preview/review and comments on specific players/incidents.
Matt O’Hanlon (Prop by the Sea) offers a quirky take of the week’s happenings on and off the field.
Mark Shannon (The Prospector) comments on various issues in the code, both historical and current.
Russel Hansen (Rabbit in the Vineyard) gives a specific take on South Sydney’s progress.

as well as numerous other occasional contributors.

Our collection of articles appears below. The first article was published in 2010.

 

Almanac Rugby League – Chosen Ones

March 17, 2012 by 2 Comments

Jack Straw is a recluse but not completely. The house he bought on Jubilee Avenue in the early fifties sits dilapidated but now he rarely leaves the comfort of it. He walks down to his beloved oval, Jubilee Oval five or six times a year to watch the “mighties” go round, as he calls them. [Read more]

Almanac Rugby League – NRL Round 2, 2012: Manly v Tigers

March 13, 2012 by Leave a Comment

There is a saying of the Buddha that “Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned”. It’s true. Ever since the Round 21, 2011 clash between Manly and Wests Tigers I have been unable to use my [Read more]

Almanac Rugby league – NRL Round 2, 2012: Gold Coast v Canberra

March 13, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Building a side with locals juniors by Chris Parkinson It’s not always easy being a Raiders fan; it seems like a lifetime ago that the Green Machine was at the peak of their powers. Canberra was a different place back then, buses were painted in the team colours and school tuck shops served up lime [Read more]

Almanac Rugby League – Reunion Rugby League

March 12, 2012 by 2 Comments

By Pete Abela The last time I went to the footy with Robbo was on the 2nd of July, 1989. The match on that occasion was between South Sydney (who would go on to be minor premiers) and Penrith (who finished second that year, but bombed out of the semis). In those days, the Panthers [Read more]

Almanac Rugby League – March: the month of shared hope

March 5, 2012 by Leave a Comment

March is a legitimate contender for my favourite month of the year. In no other month does the concept of hope resonate more strongly. Hope that my tipping competition exploits and ongoing duels with bookmakers will prove victorious over the winter months. Hope that via another skill-based medium, that of fantasy football in its multiple [Read more]

Almanac Rugby League – A Year of Lowered Expectations

March 1, 2012 by 2 Comments

October 3, 2010 is a night that will stay with me for the duration. When Nathan Fien dived over the line with ten minutes to play in the NRL Grand Final, giving the St George Illawarra Dragons an unassailable 24 point lead, I was able to sit back in my seat for the remainder of [Read more]

Almanac Rugby League – Nine? Nein

February 27, 2012 by 1 Comment

Rugby league’s broadcast right are up for grabs next year and it may be the case that Channel Nine’s 22-year hold on free-to-air league will come to an end. Now, what’s the word I’m searching for here? Schadenfreude? Close, but that’s not quite it. Um, let’s see. Ah yes, I’ve got it. Yippee! As a [Read more]

Almanac Rugby League – NRL Punter’s Guide

February 24, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Nick Tedeschi has produced an e-book for NRL punters. Click on the image for details. Nick TedeschiNick Tedeschi was the chief rugby league writer at Punting Ace for five years after a career in politics and bookmaking. He has written freelance for a number of organisations including Back Page Lead, Crikey and Betfair and now [Read more]

Almanac Rugby League – Hope is all we have

February 14, 2012 by 2 Comments

  by Paul Connolly     “Hope is necessary in every condition,” Samuel ‘Magic’ Johnson once wrote. “The miseries of poverty, sickness, of captivity, of being a Sharks fan, would, without this comfort, be insupportable.”   Keen scholars will realise that I added the bit about being a Sharks fan. (After all, there’s about a [Read more]

Almanac Rugby League – 2012 Indigenous All Stars Team Named

December 16, 2011 by Leave a Comment

From Peter Hulthen The 2012 Indigenous All Stars team is: 1. Ben Barba (Bulldogs; Goreng Goreng) 2. Jharal Yow Yeh (Broncos; Margany) 3. Greg Inglis (Rabbitohs; Dunghutti) 4. Justin Hodges (Broncos; Indigenous tribes of the Cairns region) 5. Nathan Merritt (Rabbitohs; Wiradjuri) 6. Johnathan Thurston (c) (Cowboys; Gungarri) 7. Chris Sandow (Eels; Bigambul/ Gubbi Gubbi) [Read more]