For the benefit of the international game beyond the pacific I would love this to a highly competitive series. Unfortunately, if John Bateman is considered one of the best 24 players England have available to select from, I fear they will have 50 put on them in every test. He is not even NRL...
He didn’t drink schooners. Vodka and orange was his drink of choice. The 15 is about right though. Hard to judge harshly the high shot. It’s the way the game was back then. Play on.
There is not a team in the comp that would pay Purdue or Nawaqanitawase more than Bula. Bula is probably fair value at around $800K per, the other two would be lucky to get within $50k of that.
No club has bought a premiership since the 70’s when Manly silvertails raided Western Suburbs and Roosters raided Souths. Most premiership clubs identify talent early and develop them into a winning squad. Buying a Monte Burns all star team hasn’t worked in the NRL era.
I think Pat Richards, Loti Tuquiri, Taniela (too briefly unfortunately) might have something to say about that, but he has been a great signing and worth the coin we paid for him. One of our best all year, consistently starts sets well for us and goes looking for a ton of work. He’s not perfect...
Only place he’s getting $1M per is back with ARU. He’s potentially an elite winger, which at best gets him to $650k, a possible centre option which maybe gets him to $750k, but who’s gunna sign him as an untried fullback?
Pretty sure Jerome has won 4 NRL premierships as a key spine player. Pretty sure Dylan Brown has won none. Similar players in some regards, but objectively JL is the more accomplished and at $1.2M is better value than DB at $1.3M.
Just watched the 2005 tribute on NRL.com.
A few things stand out;
1. How good was Scott Prince for the Tigers. One of our all time best and underrated I reckon.
2. Benj and Robbie X factor. Hard to contain and just natural footballers.
3. Tim Sheenius - a shame it hasn’t ended well with the...
Perhaps the most entertaining brand of footy in the NRL era. A mix of individual and team brilliance and a never die wondering approach. That was the real Sheenius on display.
So the bottom 6 in penalty differential are all currently top 8 sides. What does that tell you about the cynical nature of coaches. Give away penalties to stall opposition momentum and defend it. Wonder if you ran the same analysis on sin bins? Do the sides that give away the most penalties also...
Should have beaten Souths and first go against Warriors. Two relatively straightforward dropped balls over the line cost us in each. I can overlook May’s drop vs Warriors. He’s more than paid up for that every week. Less forgiving of Galvin’s. Hope he does it again in a critical moment in an...
Any team that knows they’re finishing top 4 goes all in for the win that year, particularly when the comp is as wide open as this one. They thought Galvin would improve their chances of winning right now. It was and remains a gamble.