NRL 2010

Oh lol, just checked and it seems I changed my mind and my tip from the Tigers to Manly. Doh! Could have gone outright into the lead!


*sigh*

I'm so glad the NRL is finally here with us. Now I can start winding up the rugby lads again. ^_^

I hate it when you look at your picks and wonder WTF you were thinking. Hah. I don't think I have ever back the Eels, let alone over my precious Dragons! I must have been drunk.



gc.

If you're a broke NRL fan with no Sky TV, check out 'Manly Night Football' on Maori TV every Monday at 9.30pm. They've sorted a deal witrh Manly to screen all their games free-to-air. I think that is fucking brilliant work from Maori TV.

As for Prime TV screening the Warriors replay at midnight on Sunday, are they taking the piss?...seriously.

If I find out any of you support Manly ill come over there and piss on your face!

Yeah that's what they normally do. Last couple of years I have been without sky so waiting up till 11:30-midnight and sometimes later to watch the game became the norm for me.

And then they have the gall to throw ads in every 10 minutes too. :-/

And pre-game and halftime shit... It's a replay FFS no one wants shit analysis just flash the stats up for a few seconds and bang get it underway again. The reason they have half time stats and analysis is to fill the gap, if it's not live there's no gap therefore no need for some dick with no idea to tell me his opinion.

Haha...I should've added I am NOT a Manly fan.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10632479


The fun starts early this year. ^_^

Dude I almost resorted to wandering up to Sport Billys on Sunday

If only some enterprising outfit would sell me a fucking stream.

To be fair, it's actually too easy to bag rugby these days

You can watch the game on nrl.com but it doesn't go online until at least 24 hours after the game. To their credit though, they offer up heaps of different options of viewing. Different highlights packages focusing on different things like atacking plays or defining moments etc.

GB: Yeah totally hehe. It's just not sporting really but it's still fun if Roman is involved somehow. :>

Rattue does it again.. fuckwit.

Of course NRL is more exciting than rugby that's hardly news.. but comparing Zac Guilford with Billy Slater and co? Idiot.

If not Guilford then who?

Which outside back in rugby is as exciting as Slater and co?

Or have I totally misunderstood your gripe?

.

What is this? dalia qouting Rattue?

ol bundy shows up again in Round one of the season... regular as clockwork that boy *wave*

Guilford is still completely and utterly wet behind the ears. His test debut was only a few months ago FFS. Besides he is not the most exciting or promising outside back in NZ rugby, that is blatantly Cory Jane. And in terms of rugby in general - surely Bryan Habana, Sivivatu would be better comparisons.

Not that he was only comparing Guillford against wings/fullbacks anyway:



Idiot.

How many players in rugby are excitement machines like those league players listed there?

Carter? Who else?



gc.

Carter? perhaps a few years back but not anymore.

DC is just a victim of the game he plays. If he had the time that halves get in league he would be amazing.



gc.

Ya true.

Likewise some of union's outer backs. Sivivatu, Jane etc. might be brilliant but it's hard to get excited about it when you see one of them do something awesome once a month :/

While he may have explicitly mentioned Guildford, I rather suspect he was talking about a wider issue.

Get footage of Auckland 2005 - especially playoffs - or Auckland all year 2007.

Excitement? The 2005 final backline was <3 orgasmic <3

So what you're saying is that rugby had some excitement 5 years ago? Cool man.

The most amusing comments in the rattue article come from the union fans: they keep going on about union being a 'thinking man's game', compare it to chess (as opposed to the 'checkers' of league), call league fans unsophisticated with no attention span etc.

Well, the problem here is that these are the same people who give northern hemisphere shit for being boring/kicking too much/playing a forwards dominated game and go on about how they'd much rather watch running, expansive footy. Now, you can't have it both ways. Either you like passing/running football, in which case you have to admit NRL > any game of union. Or, you can say rugby's about all that other boring shit, in which case you should STFU and stop bagging northern hemisphere rugby.

Yep, as would other 5/8ths like Giteau, centres like Conrad Smith and the outer backs already mentioned.

But who cares.. this is the NRL thread. Some big games tonight. Go the Bunnies!

Zing!

5 years is still very recent history bro

Don't get "one season syndrome"!

Great start, concerning second quarter, good second half. Definitely gonna try to catch more NRL this season ^_^

Glad to get the win, but my god the Sharks are terrible.


Seymour! :'(


Also, totally forgot about tips!

There goes your season gummi.

I thought the Warriors played really well. Created more opportunities on attack and looked remarkably cohesive given that they lost their main playmaker. I liked that the approach this time around seems to be to share the responsibility of distribution between Maloney, Hohaia, McKinnon and Moon rather than than relying on just the halfback. It seemed to open up the attack a lot more and dare I say that the outside backs saw more ball last night than they saw all last year.

In saying that, the Sharks defence was horrible. They made some truly horrible decisions on defence that opened them up time and time again. Good on us though for exploiting it. When was the last time we scored 6 tries in a game?




Couple of good games today... Tigers V the Roosters and Manly V the Eels.

+ 1 the warriors looked pretty good last night, if Price come back on form his metres will improve the side a huge amount too I think. I sort of feel that without Price and Evarn the side is missing a big unit to rumble it up atm

Damn Tigers! I was on track for the perfect week.



gc.

lol @ the morris brothers on the weekend

Last few sec's of this clip is hilarious:

Go Warriors! This side is starting to remind me of the 2001 side - not the biggest blokes but scrappy and not afraid to throw the ball around, Heremia, Maloney are promising and Lewis Brown just gets better every game - my new fave player.

Yeah, one of Manu's tries had 2001 Warriors written all over it!

Early days yet, but it does look like they will far exceed my expectations this season

That Morris fight was awesome... Good to see some light heartedness

Lets not get too carried away here fullas. There's some tough games over the next few weeks...

I should have added that my expectations were for them to come stone last, so my post wasn't saying much really

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10633725


Lewis Brown and James Maloney likely to miss this weekends game due to suspension. Not good!

Hohaia to halfback? Or do we give Shaun Johnson his first run at the top grade? Playing against Brisbane in Brisbane would be a hell of an initiation...

Brisbane didn't look to good last night though...

Brisbane will be tougher at home though, and any team with Lockyer, Thaiday, Israel Folou etc can do the damage!

I think we'll struggle with so many injuries tbh

Pricey will be back and Lilleyman is due back as well I think.

Jesse Royal can fuck off from whence he came imo. I like Latimore, he can stay on the bench at Jesse's expense.

lol, who is SneakyPrawn in tipping comp?

Hahahahahaha -- mate just posted this on my facebook:



p.s. made my tips and you fagets are going down! :>

That's an awesome vid!

There was some great footage from the same game of Daniel Anderson absolutely giving it to his players too. I remember the Warriors players saying that there was no tantrum like a Daniel Anderson halftime tantrum.

Benji Marshall was on fire last night!

What a fuckin hiding! Was just like watching the team of 2002 out there today. So many offloads, and GOOD offloads at that. Forwards dominated and clever play from Hohaia and Maloney. Well done to whoever it was in the management who decided to contest the lifting charge against Maloney. That guy deserves a bonus.

What will the Aussie media be saying about us now I wonder? :>

ps. I tipped the Broncs. Now that is one tip I'm happy to get wrong. :>

Hah -- that was all sorts of awesome!

Was gonna post all the players that impressed me in that game, but the list would be too long

edit: ok, so basically everyone except Jesse Royal played a blinder :>

Was actually going to post i thought Jesse was very solid But yeah everyone seemed on song. Loving the retro jerseys. And where has Heremia come from. He suddenly looks like one of the NRL premier hookers. Really enjoyable game

Jesse Royal can get the fuck out imo. Go back to the coal mines... I like Latimore more than him, how about that ball he offloaded to Wade to set up Ropati's first try!

lol maesty -- do you even watch the games?

Royal was awful in that 1st half!

Jessie Royal wasn't quite the worst player on the field... that was Joel Moon. We'll be a much better side when Seymour is back. Maloney is surely the buy of the season, but also where the fuck did Heremia come from?! Dude is fucken awesome!

Broncos played that second half like a wooden-spoon contending side, was awesome to see us take the rare opportunity to absolutely smash them!

Any news on Vatuvei?

Also re: the front row, Rapira has been on sterling form this year, and I've always liked Russel Packer. Assuming Pricey can get back to relatively good form we'll have a sweet pack IMO.

Latimore looked great yesterday, he reminds me of Ian Roberts. Tall, Rangy and not someone you want to run at

Prtty sure Jesse was mistake free and made good yards. Im not exactly a fan but he seems solid enough for this lvel. But again, a fit Price will make a huge difference

Oh yeah....I just remembered, I only saw the 2nd half

well actua;lly I did catch the reply of the 1st half later that night... but i was kinda blazed/tired/disinterested

Pretty sure *Re-Action* was at the game, damn him.

Picked vevery game this weekend so far

Agreed on Joel Moon. The guy just isn't a NRL class five eighth. Centre sure but he doesn't belong in the halves. Heremaia played a few games last year but worked really hard over the off season on his fitness and skills and also on his positional play. He was a converted halfback last year, this year he has trained as nothing other than a hooker. Henderson better be wary. Heremaia has been playing 80min games!

There was an interesting article in the Star-Times about the change of approach to the pre-season training this year. It was all about the fitness. They started training early and didn't touch a football until late december. I think it shows, we look a lot fitter and more mobile out there. Matulino for example, lost 4kgs and looks a lot sharper. Last year he bulked up and became a bit of a plodder.

Oh and fuck you Nacoa. My tips have been awful. How the fuck could you have picked the previously absolute crap Bulldogs to get over the previously red hot Roosters???

pretty clear that the dogs would have been very keen to get their 1st win of the season -- they're far too good to lose 3 on the trot. Roosters, on the other hand, were likely suitably overconfident. Upset was on the cards for all to see! :>


p.s. maestro, did you make your tips last week or forget like me?

Felt it was only a matter of time...

Oh sure. Hindsight is 20/20 motherfucker.




Damnit.

FUCKEN BOOOM CUNTS >>>> WE NAILED THOSE CUNTS!!! BEST GAME TO BE AT EVER!!!!!!!

I'm liking this Maloney kid. Only 7 ish NRL games under his belt? Dang, the kid's got confidence to go with his game. Let's hope he keeps this up.

Hahahahahaha! Did anyone see the debutant from the roosters fuck up on the weekend? Wish there were decent replays on youtube, but this is all there is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxGpPRwLyMw#t=1m05s


Such a sick thing to happen in your 1st game

I loved that game!!

One of the best parts, watching all the ozzies leaving the grand stand haha

Fuck you Nacoa!



gc.

was that guy who just fell over himself makig a hit up the debutant? Saw that on CGW last night as well and pissed myself. Never seen that before sooo awesome

I won a whopper for getting all 8 right, it's for Hungry jacks though?? Wonder if I can use it for Burger King?

You tipsters and your weekly coin-tosses.. It's all about Fantasy NRL on Fox.

I think youll be dissapointed nacoa

Anybody in oz want it then? can send the link

yup send it.

http://www.footytips.com.au/cfm/ft/engine/engine.cfm?fg=promos&ff=whopperVoucher&sportId=2&round=3&nobranding=1

try that and see if it works?

i'm guessing you have to be logged on to your acc nacoa

Interesting article from Sterlo on nrl.com about how he wants to change the rules in regards to kicking. He's arguing against the negative tactics shown by teams electing to kick the ball dead and start with a static defensive line from the 20 rather than give fullbacks like Slater, Hayne etc the space to kick return. He's wrong with one thing though. He mentions that it started to appear a couple of seasons ago, ACTUALLY Mr Sterlo, the Kiwis were the first to employ that tactic in the 2005 Tri-Nations while in England. It was one of many awesome tactics Bluey McClennon concocted in that awesome series. Credit where it's due sir!

ps. So which game are we all going to watch in a pub somewhere this season? So many experts in this forum, add a little beer and it'll be a hell of an entertaining (read: loud and argumentative) evening/afternoon.

Matai's try was complete bullshit. Give ya'self an uppercut, video ref.

Reckon. That was what broke our back too.

In any case, I didn't think we had done enough to win though. We dropped too much ball, looked directionless on attack, lacked structure and looked real flat all game. Tate suggested after the game that the last few weeks had taken their toll. Hopefully they can get up for next week...

To be honest, cut of the green didn't roll our way, in saying that, I don't think we deserved to win that game, the amount of metres the Manly back row make are insane...

still just in front of ya in tipping Dale

Pfffft, missed a week and still beating most of these useless cunts! :>

Far out you've raced back into contention!

Nacoa: That would be the "rub of the green."

Thats is one of the worst attempts at mixing metaphors that i have ever seen. srsly

Matai shouldn't have got the try, but that's no excuse for us losing. We simply had slow ball and zero penetration on attack (we looked like the 2009 side). I'm surprised we managed to keep the scoreline so close - I guess Manly didn't play their best either.

Yep. I'm having a fkn shocker. I'm doing better in the S14 picks FFS.



gc.

Mine was a golf analogy

Manlys style of football will nearly always own ours, unless we find some way to convince the ref to play an enourmous 10

Matai's try was a massive WTF?!?! How could anyone think that was close to be a try?

Although the Warriors decision making was ridiculously poor, turning down a numbe rof kickable penalties when there was nothing in it, then at the end 8 points behind with 3 minuites to go they opt to go for th ecorner rather than kick for goal? WTF!?!?!?! Luck shouldn't be allowed to captain after that... They kick the goal they are 6 points behind and have 1 or 2 possessions in which to score a converted try and send it to golden point. Instead they go for the corner, mess it up completely, and even if they had scored the try they would need to score again. The maths were really simple and yet they just didn't get it, they were gifted 2 points to put them back to a try and yet they got stuck in some stupid MUST SCORE TRY mentality.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10636634

Price is going to give up at the end of the year.

I 100% disagree with you there Jono. There is simply no point in going for a penalty with 3 minutes left on the clock. Try or bust. Then you can at least entertain the idea of a scoring play to win.

If there was more time, like say 10 mins, then yes, go for goal. But not with 3!

I don't understand that logic tbh... For me get the 2 points on the board, get the ball back from kick off, go all out for the try to tie it up. It would waste 1 minute kicking the goal as there would be about 30 seconds needed for the kick, then the ref would probably stop the clock as Manly waste a bit of time with the restart. Then there's 2 minutes left and they'd have the ball back and all the pressure is suddenly with Manly who need to hold them out.

Two words bro. Field position.

2 minutes is enough left for ONE set. That's it. Would you rather have that one play in an attacking position or working it out from your own line? You might get lucky and get one or two more tackles after that but I wouldn't bet on it.

3 minutes is just not enough time realistically for two scoring plays. To suggest that it is is belongs in fantasy land.

Agree Dalai.. it's not Union. The right/obvious decision was definitely to go for the try attempt.

Beau knows Benji. This is GOLD.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqrEp4DAYzA

That's awesome!


I have a good feeling about this weekend boys. I sense the Warriors are gonna be a lot stronger and come out a lot harder despite the injury issues. There will be a big sense of occasion for Pricey so there will be no shortage of motivation!

Ungh, Ropati out so we have a whole new left hand side... :-/


Huge game from the Titans last night. Came back from 12 points down to dominate the Storm for the entire second half and win by 4 points. All this without Scott Prince!

Haha! Told you fuckers! Now who got THAT tip wrong?