I met a couple of Canberra Raiders when I was in year one at school. It was a uniform free day and I happened to be wearing my Canberra Raiders jersey. Two up and coming Raiders players were visiting to promote Rugby League at the grass roots level. The players happened to be Ricky Stuart [Read more]
Almanac Rugby League – All goes to script
September 6, 2011 by 2 Comments
So here I am, sitting in my house in Melbourne, straight off the plane from a business trip to India, with a mate from England, ready to watch a game of footy between a team from Queensland that everyone in NSW hates playing a team from NSW that everyone in Australia (outside of Manly) hates. [Read more]
Almanac Rugby League – A Day for Darren
September 6, 2011 by 2 Comments
Tickets for this match sold out weeks beforehand, in fact well before I was asked to review it for the Almanac. So I watched on the big screen in the lounge after an earlier sumptuous lunch. With pen and paper poised and radio on hand to get comments from ABC Grandstand, I was up for [Read more]
Almanac Rugby League – Free of the rubbish and smiling
September 5, 2011 by 1 Comment
I love rugby league. A few years ago, I was asked by a neighbour whether I had watched the Bledisloe Cup. I explained that I had not, because it clashed with 13th placed Penrith playing 14th placed North Queensland in the mud, in front of 5,000 people. He still thinks I was joking. And so, [Read more]
Almanac Rugby League – Weyman sets the Dragon’s tone
September 5, 2011 by Leave a Comment
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 – The battle for the wooden spoon
September 4, 2011 by Leave a Comment
The excitement last week of Parramatta’s extra-time loss fuelled the Golden Girl’s fire to make it to Skilled Park for the final match of the season for the Eels and Titans. The fact that it was also the final of the Wooden Spoon- a dreaded consequence of a poor season – made it an appealing [Read more]
Almanac Rugby League – A noble rugby league tradition
September 4, 2011 by 5 Comments
For good or ill, I am an optimist, so despite another disappointing season from Canterbury and a reliance on either a Friday night draw between South Sydney and Newcastle or a Rabbitohs win followed by a mammoth Bulldogs win, I still thought there was hope for Canterbury. Mathematical chance, I believe they call it. That [Read more]
Almanac Rugby League – Finals Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder
September 4, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Come back to 1995 with me for a moment. The ARL expanded their competition by introducing four new teams – the Western Reds, the South Queensland Crushers (featuring the incomparable St John Ellis), the Auckland (subsequently New Zealand) Warriors and the North Queensland Cowboys. With my early childhood years split between Mackay and Brisbane, I [Read more]
Almanac Rugby League – Hope is a glorious thing
September 1, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Strangely a game with no sense of ‘The Grudge’. This on the most hate-fuelled, bloodthirsty, full-mooned weekends in recent memory, some say in a decade, strangely with this match post ‘Battle of Brookie’ the only game without a ‘Let’s get it on’. As usual, New Zealand were referred to as the ‘Dark Horse’ of the [Read more]
Almanac Rugby League – Bumper Farrell and a deep Dragons dislike
August 30, 2011 by Leave a Comment
On a day better suited to surfing than Rugby League, St George Illawarra faced the foreign invasion from New Zealand, in a Warriors side keen to improve their chances of hosting a home semi-final. The Dragons had a mission of their own: to snap a five game losing streak which had seen them fall from [Read more]
Almanac Rugby League – A Potted Rugby League Memoir Part II
August 30, 2011 by 2 Comments
A POTTED PERSONAL MEMOIR (part 2) Returning to Queensland in 1984, it seemed like there was something different in the air when it came to rugby league. It didn’t take long to figure it out – State of Origin! I was familiar with the concept because the Australian Rules fraternity in the southern States had [Read more]
Almanac Rugby League – A day of answers
August 30, 2011 by 1 Comment
Travelling to Suncorp Stadium to the watch the Broncos and Rabbitohs on Sunday, I am blissfully content to be taking in what promises to be an entertaining fixture. I am in one of those truly liberated states where I actually have an open mind about the result and am just looking forward to the [Read more]
Almanac Rugby League – A sad farewell for a unique champion
August 30, 2011 by Leave a Comment
At the risk of plagiarism, I have to confess that this week’s game between the Panthers and the Raiders was one of the worst games I’ve ever seen. Chris Parkinson seems to have had a similar viewing experience for the Raiders game last week. Despite the scrappiness of the game, however, and the tangible frustration [Read more]
Almanac Rugby League – Monday night is punt night
August 30, 2011 by Leave a Comment
The Wests Tigers entered this match on the back of a 6-0 winning streak and only a mentally-ill pundit would have tipped anything but a Tigers victory. I would have thrown “Titans diehard” in the above category but I think there are about as many of them as there are genuine Gold Coast Suns and [Read more]
Almanac Rugby League – An ugly win is still a win
August 29, 2011 by 1 Comment
It was a balmy night, with the threat of light rain. Nevertheless no rain eventuated. Johnathan Thurston and Gavin Cooper were sick leading up to the game. Both had a stomach virus. Ashton Simms was ruled out with niggling knee problems. Cronulla were fortunate to have exciting playmaker Albert Kelly back in the fold after [Read more]
Almanac Rugby League – A Knight to forget
August 29, 2011 by Leave a Comment
The Knights somehow lost to the Bulldogs after leading 22-6 at halftime and Ben Barba put his hand up for try of the year honours. Since getting a clip over the ear for using the term ‘mongrel’ too much at my first Knights home game in ’88, I have been a Newcastle diehard. I’ve got [Read more]
Almanac Rugby League – Spooky stuff at the Royal in Tumut
August 29, 2011 by 1 Comment
Liam Hauser Canberra versus Penrith rugby league clashes always bring back a distinct memory for me, even though I am a Queenslander and support the Brisbane Broncos. The first Grand Final I ever saw was in 1991 when Penrith downed Canberra 19-12 as Royce Simmons had a fairytale finish to his career. As an [Read more]
Almanac Rugby League – Dragons find some fire at last
August 29, 2011 by Leave a Comment
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 – A costly call
August 29, 2011 by Leave a Comment
I write this feeling like a bitter and twisted man. Hopefully by the end I have come round. The Warriors have had their season ripped apart by the most abhorrent refereeing decision of the year. Sorry if that sounds a bit over emotive but that’s what it feels like for a Warriors fan that will [Read more]
Almanac Rugby League – A Manly boy in the City of Churches
August 29, 2011 by 2 Comments
Residing in a ‘non-league’ state means you have to go the extra mile to get your fix of the Greatest Game of All. It’s not in the papers, it’s not on the news and it’s certainly not talked about in the pub or around the watercooler on a Monday morning. Living in Adelaide for the [Read more]
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