Craig Wing: One of Many?

Craig Wing is undeniably a fantastic rugby league player, however he is not the youngest player in the league. If he can attract a deal from Japanese Rugby Union worth $700, 000, what are they willing to offer the younger superstars of our game such as Thurston, Boyd, Hodges or Hayne? It is only a matter of time before these players begin to chase bigger numbers. Thurston has already been offered a deal worth one million dollars a season and it will be interesting to see if he accepts it, if he does, I believe this will cause a landslide affect and more and more players will begin to depart to Japan.

Rugby League cannot afford to lose anymore players to the English Superleauge or to Rugby Union whether it be overseas or in Australia. Will Chambers, who has shown promising signs during his time at the Storm, has decided to switch codes come 2010, along with Fitzgibbon and O’mealy who have both signed contracts with the Superleauge worth much more than their Roosters contracts in the NRL. This money problem has to be solves, too many players, both young and old, are getting away. Look at the likes of Matt King, Adrian Morley and Danny Buderus just to name a few. These days, when I turn on the English Superleague on a Sunday afternoon, I know most of the players with the exception of the 2 or 3 actual Englishmen who are in the teams. Why? Because the NRL is the new breeding ground for Superleague and International Rugby Union. It must stop.

The NRL needs to show players loyalty and treat them with respect to ensure that more players return. Let’s hope that the young players who have sought more money elsewhere will follow in the foot steps of Matt Rogers, Wendell Sailor and Tamana Tahu and return to out game.

Justin Hodges: Public enemy number one

Justin Hodges is one of those players who, as of last Wednesday, will be forever hated by all NSW supporters.  Whether he be making death threats to Kimmorley, the smallest player on the field, or trash talking NSW spectacular game 3 win..Hodges has proved himself to be an arrogant player with no sportsmanship. 

Firstly, threatening to slit Kimmorley's neck in hand motions..is that really an appropriate gesture to make during the most televised rugby league game on the season?  Young children look up to football players and we cannot condone the behaviour that Hodges displayed..it's not good for the game.  My second problem with Hodges is that he always manages to pick on the smallest players on the field, I'd like to see him start a fight with someone like Trent Waterhouse, Willy Mason, Mark O'mealy or Fui Fui Moi Moi...there is no doubt in my mind that he would run away like a scared child.

There is no room in rugby league for arrogant players that believe they are above everybody else.  Don't get me wrong, he is a fantastic player however incidents like the "slitting throat" actions in origin shift the focus away from his abilities as a player and instead place a negative target on his head...the NSW fans did not appreciate his actions, as can be seen by the number of facebook groups that have started such as the "we hate justin hodges appreciation society."  It's not good for his image as a player or the image of rugby league that has already had a hellish year as it is.

Finals Prediction

The top eight that we currently have in the NRL is, in my opinion, a clear indication of the teams that will be playing finals football come September.  These teams are, in order: dragons, bulldogs, titans, storm, knights, cowboys, panthers, eagles.  The only 2 teams that may threaten the top eight are the broncos and possibly the rabbitohs, which would see the panthers and eagles slip out. I think the grand final is going to be played between the dragons and bulldogs...undeniably the two most "in form" teams this season.  Semi finalists will include the knights and the storm.

This finals series is promising to be a great one.  After the year that rugby league has had, all the bad press, criminal charges and insane off field antics, fans are in desperate needs of a quality month of intense finals football and I have a feeling they are not going to be disappointed, the football being played this season is fast paced and entertaining, setting the foundations for an exciting grand final.

Fittler's sacking.

Brad Fittler will forever be regarded as one of the Sydney Roosters' favourite sons.  However, last night he was fired as head coach as of the end of the 2009 season.  His successor? None other than Brian Smith, Newcastle Knights Coach.  

I think Brad Fittler was thrown into first grade coaching prematurely after Anderson's resignation and therefore has not been able to reach his potential as a first grade coach.  I hope that this is not the end of his coaching career because I believe his light hearted attitude and ability to relate to the players makes him a valuable member to any NRL team.  

That being said, Brian Smith is a fantastic coach and is exactly what the Roosters need after a horrible 2009 performance that so far seems them alone at the bottom of the ladder. Smith has a history of large player clean outs.  He then finds players that most coaches would overlook and turns them into super stars.  Hopefully what Smith did with the Knights can be reproduced at the Roosters.

Fittler was an amazing player and in time will become a great coach, I hope someone in the future gives him the opportunity to show what he can do.

Over Coaching

Is there such thing as "over coaching?" I've heard this term used a number of times when it comes to high profile players who are out of form and not shining as they usually do.  Recently it has been suggested that players such as Roy Asotasi and Israel Folau have been lacking in form due to over coaching by the staff involved with their respective clubs.  Both cases are extremely different so I will focus on each of the two players individually.

First I will talk about Roy Asotasi.  He is a strong runner of the ball and has always seemed to get over the advantage line, encouraging second phase play with his fantastic off loads and line breaks.  However, recently he has begun adding some footwork into his game, as Gould puts it..he has begun "dancing" in front of the defence before he reaches them.  As a consequence, he has been unable to make strong meters and has come up with an increasing number of loose carries.  I believe that Asotasi has been told to be more "creative" in the way he hits the ball up and as a result, he is failing to make those strong meters that once came so easily.  In other words, he has been over coached.  The Rabbitohs staff have forced him to change his playing style which has affected his overall performance as a player.  They should just allow him to hit the ball up as he pleases and eventually, those line breaks and offloads will come back into his game, hopefully with a few less mistakes.

Folau is a different story.  He is wasted on the wing.  Folau stays on his wing and waits for the ball to come to him.  There is no denying he is an incredible athlete with an instinct for scoring spectacular tries and always seems to be in the right place and the right time.  However, the line he runs has to be fixed.  He needs to be coached to come in and find the ball instead of letting the ball find him.  For example, look at Roosters winger Shaun Kenny Dowall.  He is always coming in field in search of hit ups and opportunities to hit the ball up.  I believe Folau would be a greater asset to his team if he adopted some more creativity into his game, but I believe he is told to stay put on his wing and wait for the ball, yet another example of over coaching.

This could all just be in my head, but I believe that some of the league's great players could be performing on a whole new level, they could be greater than we know...we just have to allow them to do what they do best and not try and control their natural game too much.

state of Origin Game 3 2009: Review

Game 3 - without doubt, the best of the series. It had it all - biff, send offs, concussion, 2 sin bins and an 8 point try...what more could you ask for?

The Blues put in an amazing effort and although Queensland brought themselves back into the game on a few occasions, NSW held out in a gutsy performance. I think the selectors finally got it right this time however I am concerned that this team is not a team of the future, given the age of the halves combination.

There were many exciting moments in this game. Waterhouse's hit on Price, which saw him being stretchered off the field resulted in him being sent off for the game. Creagh and Thaiday both found themselves in the sin bin for 10 for a series of biffs. And when Thurston, aiming for the "ball," "accidently" kicked winger David Williams in the head, Origin saw its first 8 point try awarded, with Gidley getting both conversion attempts.

Apart from some weak defence, especially Morris shooting out of the line creating a large gap for Hodges, NSW played a very good game and were able to limit the number of early points that QLD scored. Watmough was undeniably the best player on the field and Hayne once again had a fantastic game.

NSW definately put some proud back into the Blues camp and this win will definately give them confidence going into next years series, however they still have a lot to work on! Blues half back, Kimmorley said "I think we've got a lot of pride back for New South Wales tonight, especially for any member who was involved with this team this year."

I look forward to see what both teams can come up with next year!

State of Origin Game 3 2009: Preview

In games one and two this year, due to a lack of cohesion and very sloppy goal line defense, QLD have scored early, easy points and despite courageous fight backs in both games, NSW was never able to recover from these early onslaughts of points.  If NSW can start the game strong and come up with the first couple of tries, leaving QLD scoreless in the first 20 minutes of the game, I think NSW has a slight chance of winning the game, as impossible as that sounds. 

However, I am concerned that the team is going to lack cohesion in both offence and defense due to the number of changes made to the side in important positions. Phil Gould made an interesting point on the Sunday Roast last week.  He said that Newcastle coach Brain Smith has a tendency to take on players that most people would disregard and then coaches them into strong ball players.  He went on to say that if Smith chose the team from the beginning, it would be an entirely different outfit of under rated players and those who stay out of the headlines.  I agree with this and believe that NSW should have perhaps focused on those under rated players to be included in the side.

That being said, the team chosen for game 3 has a nice balance to the side and Kimmorley brings both consistency and experience to the team and his kicking game will be welcomed because he has the ability to find the grass on most of his kicks, keeping Billy Slater just that little bit quieter on his kick returns.

Hayne and Watmough have been NSW best players so far in my opinion and both will have to have big games to keep NSW in the contest and perhaps restore a little pride back in the NSW camp.