Re: NRL : Thu Mar 18, 2021 11:28 am  

Jack Burton wrote:

I'm not convinced by the 'we need our best players playing in the NRL for England to improve' argument. Sending our best players over just makes our competition weaker. I'm not sure it makes them that much better either. The Australian media love Josh Hodgson, but he's still the 4th or 5th best hooker England have.

Whilst i agree with your comments on Hodgson i think playing in the NRL must improve players and it certainly improves their bank balance.

Any player willing to give the NRL a crack deserves respect for getting out of a comfort zone.

As ive said before though, you cant compare the 2 competitons
The NRL should be better by a long way
We cant compete financially with them.

Re: NRL : Thu Mar 18, 2021 12:45 pm  

When I went over for the WCC in 2018, a mate who I stayed with showed us around Melbourne and took us to the amateur club he played for (Sunbury Tigers), and no wonder they are light years ahead of us. Just the amateur clubs over there are ridiculous with the facilities they have and pool of players to choose from. Them leagues Club's have casino's in them, it's pretty surreal when you compare the two. What you notice is though, that a big number of players are Islander's that the Aussies pinch from being kids.
The coach told us that there's roughly 40 clubs in a 20 mile radius. There's the difference!

Re: NRL : Thu Mar 18, 2021 1:07 pm  

Another cracking match this morning. Given the conditions it was played in, it had no right to be that entertaining.
I know I shouldn't do it but I can't help draw comparisons to matches we see over here when it's chucking it down.

Re: NRL : Thu Mar 18, 2021 2:13 pm  

Superb standard today in those conditions.
Gutherson and Papenhuyzen both brilliant at FB along with Sivo on the wing.
Forwards were great to watch and I particularly like the look of Papilil (sp) for the Eels.
The one I think is over rated is Munster who seems a bit of a flat track bully to me.

Re: NRL : Thu Mar 18, 2021 2:17 pm  

Regardless of the conditions, it was one of the best games i've seen in a while! 835 total tackles, 88% and 80% completion rates, nearly 3400 total run metres with plenty of expansive play. Intense game from start to finish. We need to bottle that game and sell it. I wanted golden point just to be able to watch it for longer!

Re: NRL : Thu Mar 18, 2021 2:25 pm  

chapylad wrote:

The one I think is over rated is Munster who seems a bit of a flat track bully to me.

Disagree on this. There's not a better 6 in the world IMO. Today wasn't the conditions for an attacking 6 to shine though and when he took the line on he still asked questions. It was just one of those games where the the halves couldn't really get on top because it was so evenly matched in the middle and the conditions didn't allow for the skill players to take a hold of the game. Last week he was just as instrumental as Papenhuyzen against a good Souths team and all last year there wasn't anyone who played as consistently well as him in his position.

Re: NRL : Thu Mar 18, 2021 2:33 pm  

I think Super League does really well given the resources it has. Not every game is amazeballs but plenty are. We still have clubs with a real connection to their local communities. Some of the people attracted to, and shaped by the sport in playing it are remarkable.

We are halfway competitive at international level when we don't have much right to be really.

It will do us all the power of good to get games back on, crowds back in stadiums and then I guess it's up to all of us as fans to really get behind the sport as we recover from COVID world.

Re: NRL : Thu Mar 18, 2021 3:42 pm  

KaeruJim wrote:

I think Super League does really well given the resources it has. Not every game is amazeballs but plenty are. We still have clubs with a real connection to their local communities. Some of the people attracted to, and shaped by the sport in playing it are remarkable.

We are halfway competitive at international level when we don't have much right to be really.

It will do us all the power of good to get games back on, crowds back in stadiums and then I guess it's up to all of us as fans to really get behind the sport as we recover from COVID world.

Common sense on here...
Can't believe what I'm reading.....

Re: NRL : Fri Mar 19, 2021 7:56 am  

Solid first half on the Central Coast. High completion rates again. Can't say thr warriors excite me though. They look like they're going to rely on their forwards this year so might fall flat when they play the bigger teams. Newcastle have impressed me the first game and a half though. Didn't have them in my 8 before the season but they look more than capable from what they've shown in the first 2 weeks

Re: NRL : Fri Mar 19, 2021 5:37 pm  

Harrigan wrote:

Regardless of the conditions, it was one of the best games i've seen in a while! 835 total tackles, 88% and 80% completion rates, nearly 3400 total run metres with plenty of expansive play. Intense game from start to finish. We need to bottle that game and sell it. I wanted golden point just to be able to watch it for longer!

Brilliant game.