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The ARU should help out the Eels

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Mustafa

Chris McKivat (8)
The NRL is a basket case. Their World Cup is a joke and you have players dictating on what country they want to represent
 
Marcelo

Marcelo

Ken Catchpole (46)
Mustafa said:
The NRL is a basket case. Their World Cup is a joke and you have players dictating on what country they want to represent
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The NRL has the best ball carriers of both codes, even better than NZ rugby. They have more players and more money. The NRL is larger than the ITM Cup, the most important rugby tournament in NZ. In 2003, two of the best NRL ball carriers switched to Union and went straight to the Wallabies starting XV, Lote Tuqiri and Wendell Sailors, at the time, the Wallabies were the best rugby team in the world, the latest years of the last Gold Era. Look at the Waratahs, their 2 top scorers are League players: Tuqiri & Folau. The problem about League players is the breakdown and the set pieces, they don't have piggies who can play at front row and push at the scrum time but they have tremendous athletes that, with proper training, would be top class Union forwards like Brad Thorn
 
Lindommer

Lindommer

Steve Williams (59)
Staff member
MHCS said:
The NRL has the best ball carriers of both codes.....
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They may have the best ball carriers but league players' passing skills are getting worse. Not surprising, really, as modern league is becoming increasingly risk-free due to the pressure on coaches to succeed, the first thing they implement is "no mistakes", similar to American Football. There was a discussion last year how the number of passes per match in contemporary league is decreasing and what can be done to reverse this. Sorta conforms to my theory modern league is an endless sequence of biff/bash/barge/pass/run/kick. I don't think I've ever seen Sam Burgess pass the ball fer instance. Have a squiz at some of the Classic League matches on Foxtel to see what league was like when players were encouraged to pass the pill, it was quite palatable. AND players tackled around the legs and ankles, not the current version of group cuddles from the waist up. McMahon's tackle last night when he put a Brumby on his arse, Kellaway's covering tackle around the ankles in the corner last week, when was the last time we saw tackles like those in league?

The effect this holding the ball and removing any skill to offload in the tackle's washed over to rugby, a lot/most of our talented youngsters play some league in their junior days where not passing is drummed into them. Junior league matches can be played with just a handful of talented players, the not-so-talented ones don't see the ball match-in match-out, even for a whole season. That's why some junior comps award extra points for a try that resulted from more than two passes. There was one instance in the second half when a Rebels player broke through the Brumbies backline and progressed down the right hand side with a winger next to him and the fullback to beat. A skilful player would've passed to the winger IN SPACE, kept his line straight up the paddock and took the ball back with no one on front of him. But no, the lad carted the ball up and took the tackle. I see this taking the tackle every week in junior and senior rugby, doing league-style hitups when there're players in space who could advance their team's cause with a bit of imagination and a lot of skill. Some years ago when I was more involved at West Harbour they had a centre in first grade WHO NEVER PASSED THE BALL! On enquiry I found out he played league on Sundays. For years we succeeded against the rugby powerhouses due to our more skilful backs, that's not the case today. I blame the omnipresence of league.

The version of rugby league we've been served up in recent times is endlessly boring, I can't watch much of it.
 
wamberal

wamberal

Phil Kearns (64)
I'm with you Lindommer, I played junior loig, and used to absolutely love watching it, in person, and on the old Saturday night replay on ABC.


But now I'd rather watch paint dry.


Sadly we appear to be in a minority.
 
Strewthcobber

Strewthcobber

Mark Ella (57)
I say this with affection, but.....

old.jpg
 
WorkingClassRugger

WorkingClassRugger

David Codey (61)
Lindommer said:
They may have the best ball carriers but league players' passing skills are getting worse. Not surprising, really, as modern league is becoming increasingly risk-free due to the pressure on coaches to succeed, the first thing they implement is "no mistakes", similar to American Football. There was a discussion last year how the number of passes per match in contemporary league is decreasing and what can be done to reverse this. Sorta conforms to my theory modern league is an endless sequence of biff/bash/barge/pass/run/kick. I don't think I've ever seen Sam Burgess pass the ball fer instance. Have a squiz at some of the Classic League matches on Foxtel to see what league was like when players were encouraged to pass the pill, it was quite palatable. AND players tackled around the legs and ankles, not the current version of group cuddles from the waist up. McMahon's tackle last night when he put a Brumby on his arse, Kellaway's covering tackle around the ankles in the corner last week, when was the last time we saw tackles like those in league?

The effect this holding the ball and removing any skill to offload in the tackle's washed over to rugby, a lot/most of our talented youngsters play some league in their junior days where not passing is drummed into them. Junior league matches can be played with just a handful of talented players, the not-so-talented ones don't see the ball match-in match-out, even for a whole season. That's why some junior comps award extra points for a try that resulted from more than two passes. There was one instance in the second half when a Rebels player broke through the Brumbies backline and progressed down the right hand side with a winger next to him and the fullback to beat. A skilful player would've passed to the winger IN SPACE, kept his line straight up the paddock and took the ball back with no one on front of him. But no, the lad carted the ball up and took the tackle. I see this taking the tackle every week in junior and senior rugby, doing league-style hitups when there're players in space who could advance their team's cause with a bit of imagination and a lot of skill. Some years ago when I was more involved at West Harbour they had a centre in first grade WHO NEVER PASSED THE BALL! On enquiry I found out he played league on Sundays. For years we succeeded against the rugby powerhouses due to our more skilful backs, that's not the case today. I blame the omnipresence of league.

The version of rugby league we've been served up in recent times is endlessly boring, I can't watch much of it.
Click to expand...


Several years ago while living on the edge of existence (Karratha, WA) in lieu of Rugby I played a season of League. Now something I always did and was considered good at was offloading in the tackle while growing up playing Rugby. I had played a bit of League at school and was encouraged to keep that up (though, it may have had something to do with my coaches also being Rugby men), so it was much to my surprise when in my first hit up I stuck my arm out and wrapped it around the lead tackler and offloaded the ball into my 5/8 hands that everyone sort of just looked at it for a second. Like it was inconcievable that it was likely to happen.

The idea of second phase play was just so foreign. Even when it came to defending it. If I wasn't brought to ground immediately I could get an offload off most everytime. Fortunately, my brother was also playing so on my second hit up when I did it again he made sure to hit it at speed.

What made it more bizzare was after a couple of games others started to try to emulate it with rather poor results. That's when I realised that offloading in contact wasn't just something many of these guys had coached out of them but something that they never learned to do in the first place.
 
waiopehu oldboy

waiopehu oldboy

Stirling Mortlock (74)
BarneySF said:
But not Wallabies eligible right because he's played 7s for Fiji?!


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Correct. Also he's leaving NRL 'cos they wouldn't bend the Origin eligibility rules to suit him so I'm not sure I'd want him in my setup even if eligible, way too much of a Prima Donna IMO.
 
BarneySF

BarneySF

Bob Loudon (25)
waiopehu oldboy said:
Correct. Also he's leaving NRL 'cos they wouldn't bend the Origin eligibility rules to suit him so I'm not sure I'd want him in my setup even if eligible, way too much of a Prima Donna IMO.
Click to expand...

True but it does stymie my wish of a fully Fijian-Wallaby backline


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