Almanac Rugby League – Uncle Max: the coaches’ coach

Glen Humphries from the ‘Illawarra Mercury’ shares the story of his Uncle Max, a man who coached various teams for over four decades but never at the very top level. He was too smart to do that!

Almanac Rugby League – The fairytale continues

For a lot of people the main focus of this game involves Wayne Bennett and Darren Lockyer. The pair established a strong relationship when Bennett coached at the Broncos, slotting him in at fullback early in his career before moving him to five-eighth – and moulding him into an international in both positions. But more [Read more]

Almanac Rugby League – Dragons/Tigers: The link between footy and the dishes

There has been precious little written about the link between the NRL finals and washing dishes. Perhaps because I’m the only evidence of this link. At half-time in last year’s grand final, with the Roosters leading 8-6 in a tight game I was a ball of nervous energy. With more than three decades of waiting [Read more]

Almanac Rugby League – Weyman sets the Dragon’s tone

What proved to me that Wayne Bennett is a coaching genius was the signing of Michael Weyman when he headed to the Dragons in 2009. For the record, I was aware of Bennett’s record of success with the Broncos (being a Dragons fan in 1992 and 1993, it’s impossible not to). But it was only [Read more]

Almanac Rugby League – Dragons find some fire at last

I’m sure there are worse way to start a footy game. But after seeing the first few seconds of the Dragons clash against the Warriors at WIN Stadium, I’m hard pressed to come up with any. Dragons captain Ben Hornby placed the ball on the kicking tee to start the game, walked back, ran up [Read more]

Almanac Rugby League – Dragons go close

I don’t miss too many Dragons games. Whether live or on TV or even on the radio I’ll make a serious effort to catch the game each week. I’ve even been known to submit to that unique form of pain – watching a match you’ve recorded earlier that evening even though you already know your [Read more]