You're right, this is all bill slater's fault. How dare he get in the way of the fist of a player from your team?! What was he thinking?!

No playing behind Toovey and Kimmorley shows that he was second fiddle.

I still think Johns is worthy of the award but it wasn't his time. Why has he been pushed ahead of Provan and Mal? Johns isn't even in the Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame. FFS.

:lol: There is so much wrong with the Australian squad to face New Zealand, I don't even know where to begin.

:lol: There is so much wrong with the Australian squad to face New Zealand, I don't even know where to begin.

Actually thought it was the best quality grand final since 2000. There have been a couple of standout performances from teams (Newcastle 2001, Manly 2008) but both teams brought exactly what was expected. Melbourne were mechanical and ruthless, but still brilliant when they needed to be. The dogs were tough, had flair and would have put plenty of points on any other team. For me it all comes down to Cam Smith. Outside of Andrew Johns and Wally Lewis, I have never seen a player have complete control of how a game of football pans out every week, season after season, than he does. It's no coincidence that generally whatever team he's involved in wins. Absolute freak.

Ah, a Chooks man. I can see where you're coming from now. Me being a Souths man definitely gives me a much different point of view :)

Gotta laugh at the question of players being sacked for the stupid comments they made. I'm not sure why exactly Channel 9 were expecting when they rock up to the ground and there's a bunch of young blokes who have been on the piss all night after losing a GF. Add that to the fact they thought it'd be a good idea to fly a chopper over Belmore to get some shots. I mean what the fuck are they doing there in the first place. Mad Monday celebrations really should be off limits to all media, it is never going to end well.

+1. What do they think is going to happen when you have 30 blokes on the piss.

This. The only reason they're there is to get a bad news story. And this is from the so called 'Home of Rugby League'.

I mean there's no excusing what was said, but this talk of sackings is hilarious. It's an issue that should be dealt with internally. This is just yet again another example of the ridiculous pedestal the media and the general public holds professional sportsmen on. They've just lost a GF, leave them to drown their sorrows/celebrate their season in peace.

Edited by sydneycroatia58: 2/10/2012 06:33:55 PM

More than 800,000 in Melbourne watched the NRL grand final

by: Brent Read From: The Australian October 02, 2012 12:00AM

MAYBE the Melbourne Storm is making some inroads after all.

The ARL Commission was shouting from the rooftops yesterday after Sunday night's grand final was watched by an average viewing audience of more than 800,000 in Melbourne _ exceeding the number of people in Sydney who watched the Swans win the AFL grand final on Saturday.

In the battle between the codes to steal the hearts and minds of sports fans in their respective opposition's heartland, this was a victory for rugby league.

The grand final attracted a 59 per cent audience share in Melbourne and, as expected, easily dominated in Sydney and Brisbane. It wasn't enough to eclipse the national audience of the AFL's showpiece, thanks to poor viewing in Adelaide and Perth, but Melbourne officials were enthusiastically hailing the result as a sign the Storm _ and by extension rugby league _ was making a mark in a city dominated by the AFL.

..."It's a sensational message," Storm chief executive Ron Gauci said. "It's just a fantastic result for us. All of Melbourne is behind us."

The match, won by the Storm 14-4, was the most watched since the 2006 decider between Melbourne and Brisbane. It attracted an average national audience of 3.867 million people, significantly below the AFL's average of 4.05 million.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/nrl/more-than-800000-in-melbourne-watched-the-nrl-grand-final/story-fnca0von-1226486177056

There's a rumour flying around that James Graham has turned up to the NRL judiciary and a member of the public has dressed up as Hannibal Lecter and has chased him as he enters the judiciary. I really want this to be true.

He's been found guilty, Judiciary will hand down the sentence after deliberation.

EDIT: He's been given a 12 week ban. Can't argue with that.

Edited by sydneycroatia58: 4/10/2012 09:22:49 PM

After Newtown's emotional win over Balmain in the NSW Cup decider on grand final day, during the proud celebrations at Petersham RSL, captain Khalid Deeb moved to a corner of the room to find Jackson Kelly.

He is a young, severely handicapped boy who is a fixture at every Jets game. Deeb quietly handed him his premiership medal, bringing a tear to the eye of everyone around them.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/low-act-by-disgraceful-dogs/story-e6frexnr-1226489491076

NSW police discover body at Freshwater beach, believed to be Manly Sea Eagles lower grade player

NSW police have on Monday contacted Manly officials over the discovery of a male body, believed to be one of the club's lower grade players.
It is understood the body was discovered at the base of cliffs on Freshwater beach late on Sunday night.

Close family members were made aware of the finding early on Monday morning, before police got in touch with Sea Eagles officials prior to midday.
A player's name has been mentioned from several independent sources, but the coroner is not expected to make a formal identification until Tuesday.
It's believed the body was found still wearing a suit.
With police still investigating the cause of death, Sea Eagles officials have declined to make any comment.

However, it's understood the inquiries relate to a member of this year's NSW Cup squad.
"A crime scene was established and examined by specialist forensic officers while a rescue operation was conducted to recover the man's body," a police statement said.
"Detectives are continuing their investigations into the incident and will prepare a report for the information of the coroner.
"A post-mortem examination will be conducted to determine the exact cause of his death."


Read more: http://www.foxsports.com.au/league/nrl-premiership/nsw-police-discover-body-at-freshwater-beach-believed-to-be-manly-sea-eagles-lower-grade-player/story-fn2mcuj6-1226490740048#ixzz28hxnsbZh