The Everything NRL Thread

Thorns

Thorns

Hi guys, and welcome to the third rendition of the NRL thread. It's died twice, but with a permanent place for it, I think we can get some discussion going! For those of you who don't know, rugby league is the predominant sport in New South Wales, a state in Australia where I live. It's immensely popular, with more than a million people tuning in to see the biggest game of the year - the Grand Final. I suggest that all Australians and [strike]sheep[/strike]New Zealanders get into it, because it really is a great game! I go for the Canterbury Bulldogs, have since 2003. They're pretty much the greatest team on the planet, and we are staging a comeback this year!

I'll keep this thread updated with interesting news in the NRL world, so check back regularly! seriously this thread can't die

This week's point of discussion is the breach of the salary cap by the Melbourne Storm. They went over the cap by $1.7 million, which can sign on average 9 players. It explains how they can keep Slater, Smith and other high-profile players, and as a result of this breach, they were stripped of the 2007 and 2009 premiership titles, and three minor premiership titles. Pretty brutal, but I think they got what they deserved. The Bulldogs were hit with a hefty punishment in 2002, but we bounced back to win in 2004. What do you guys think is gonna happen to the Storm - the first team to ever lose to the bye?
 
The Storm support in Melbourne was relatively low compared to other clubs, but it was slowly rising and now that this has happened they are going to lose a lot of their fanbase, players will hesitate to play for them in the future etc. I can only see them going downhill from here

Possibly leaving the premiership
 
what has 26 legs and isn't going to climb a ladder?

the melbourne storm


In all seriousness I think that Storm are going to Bankrupt copping a 1.7 million dollar fine and not being able to win for 3 years I think, and looks like Bulldogs have gotten out of their slump
 
Well yeah, I think the punishment is a bit too harsh. I mean its not like the players and the coach knew what was going on, and now they get punished too. I don't disagree with having their points this year stripped and them not being able to gain any more, but stripping them of their premierships is outrageous. Its basically saying that because their team did something wrong, all the achievements and hard work was for nothing.

Sigh, the Cowboys really have nothing but Thurston it seems, and one player can't carry the whole team. The Eels also have a great team on paper, but haven't really been able to deliver. The best news obviously is the Panthers being in second, making a comeback now, after having a few bad or middling seasons. It will still be a tough thing to overcome the Dragons, but we have a reasonable chance I hope.
 
Golden Sun said:
and looks like Bulldogs have gotten out of their slump
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I wouldn't exactly call 9th great either.. The finals are going to be interesting now without Melbourne. They have always been the dangerous team in the finals, one that you had to watch out for. They were always in at least the semis, so it will be rather amusing to find out who will dominate with their absence. Honestly, at the moment, I am picturing a Manly v Dragons final, with either Roosters, Titans (as much as I hate to say it...), Panthers, or Souths in the semis (Who should be 5-1 fyi, not 3-3 >.>). But, as they say, it's only early days.
 
Nah I think the NRL were justified in most of the penalties of removing the premiership and taking away prizemoney, however I feel them making the team have nothing to play for this season isn't the best action. This is because along with prizemoney losses and fines they will have much less people attending games meaning that they will lose heaps of money and potentially become bankrupt. What I would have done was make the storm go on zero points until there salary was in a legal range along with opening an nrl transfer window with the storm. This could still make the storm competitive this year, improve other teams and mean that the storm don't have to pay heaps for player wages for nothing.

Also the Broncos will do a Parramatta except go one better this year :).


My top 8 Predictions are

Dragons
Bulldogs
Titans
Sydney
Tigers
Manly
Souths
Brisbane
 
Holy shit man, they fucking introduce two refs into the game and it's worse. That game had to be the biggest atrocity I have ever seen. Well done Paramatta, you fucking dumb cheating scum.
 
Well we beat the Roosters last week :).

Anyone else hear about the Storm potentially getting their points back this season? There's a big article on it somewhere.
 
Yeah some of my mates were talking about that, although they werent really sure and id like to see the article that justifys why they would do such a thing

Knights are playing the tigers tomorrow, hopefully we can pull off another another win and get on a bit of a streak

go Knights!
 
After watching that match, I re-iterate what I said previously. Fucking seriously, this game is so retarded sometimes..
 
So NSW are completely out-playing Queensland but we're losing...what's new eh? Queensland have to be the most bullshit, luck-reliant team I have ever seen. Honestly, I was expecting us to lose, but that was based on how fucking horrible our team is, not us getting luck-fucked.
 
Frizy said:
So NSW are completely out-playing Queensland but we're losing...what's new eh? Queensland have to be the most bullshit, luck-reliant team I have ever seen. Honestly, I was expecting us to lose, but that was based on how fucking horrible our team is, not us getting luck-fucked.
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QFT. How in the fuck is it fucking played at by Watmough as a charge down attempt when the ball is kicked at his fucking face? Anyway, the way I see it Matt Cooper has been ehh anyway lately - so I would have started Idris over him. I would have also put Idris on the wing, Lyon in the centres, Gidley at five eighth and Hayne at fullback. Having said that, Jamie Lyon is probably the most ridiculously overrated player in the NRL - I'd much rather Jennings in the centres then him. Our backline is potent, but that doesn't fix our piece of shit forwardline, which was once again beaten comprehensively WITHOUT PRICE. Seriously, the selectors have done a pretty terrible job on the whole...
 
Hey, all we have to do is have an accident happen to Thurston....

But yeah MS totally agree on the chargedown bullshit, also a few other shitty ref decisions...seriously let the commentators do the refereeing instead.
 
Without Thurston, you'd still have Prince or Cronk with so I wouldn't say it would really help NSW if Thurston was injured.
 
Did you not watch the game and see him play? Thurston is miles ahead of anyone else as a halfback (even the NSWelshmen), you can't seriously be suggesting that anybody else could really fill his place in Queensland or Australia. If he was on a better team than the Cowboys, like the Dragons, Bulldogs etc. he would have won a few premierships by now..(imagine if he was on the Storm in the past few years, would have screwed up the salary cap shit even more but oh well).

NSW really needs to choose their players better, Lyon at five-eighth, come on.. Hopefully the other Morris brother will be available to play for 2 and 3, move Hayne to fullback, and do something different with Keith Gidley, not sure what but not fullback when Hayne is playing.
 
Sam Burgess so strong, so so strong. Rhys Wesser so good, so so good. Souths are catching up!
 
one of Hayne's worst games this season, he's just out of place on the wing. put Gidley on the wing, he's versatile enough to perform there. Hayne works best at 5/8 for sure
 
hayne is best at fullback, frankly hes crap at all the other games i see him NOT being fullback.
 
The scores for Souths' wins so far in the season:

Vs Sharks 8-30
Vs Bulldogs 38-16
Vs Newcastle 28-10
Vs Canberra 24-26
Vs Wests 10-50
Vs Penrith 42-22
Vs Cowboys 32-4

Anyone else seeing a pattern lol?
 
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