All,
It's not football-related I know, but should help you explain why Sydney-based Rugby League Journo Rebecca Wilson has been getting away with her tripe against our code for so long, she is sleping with the CEO of News Limited.

I'm sure the mods will move this to another section, but I want to highlight it first.

http://www.theage.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/pillow-talk-has-a-place-but-not-in-newspapers-20100430-tzev.html

Pillow talk has a place, but not in newspapers
GREG BAUM
May 1, 2010

IN A column in the Herald Sun this week, Sydney sports journalist Rebecca Wilson damned The Age for its coverage of the Melbourne Storm salary cap humiliation. Ordinarily, no one here would make mention of it; least of any newspaper department should the sports section whinge about a bit of argy-bargy between rival publications.

But early in her piece, Ms Wilson discloses that she is the partner of John Hartigan, chief executive of News Ltd, owner of the Herald Sun, owner of Melbourne Storm, part-owner of the National Rugby League, part-owner also of Fox Sports, the NRL's broadcaster. You might think that any self-respecting editor would have recognised the impossible conflict and spiked the piece then and there. You might also think that the editor of the Herald Sun had no say in it.

Ms Wilson, having primped up the pillows in the Hartigan home, complains because Age reporters Andrew Rule and Tom Reilly found and interviewed Brian Waldron, the elusive former chief executive of Melbourne Storm, repeatedly branded by Hartigan as the ''architect in chief'' of the salary cap rort. ''Waldron should not have been given the oxygen to say a word by anyone in the media,'' fulminated Ms Wilson.

In 2008, Hartigan won a Walkley award for journalistic leadership because of his advocacy of good journalism and the public's right to know. In the Melbourne storm, Waldron's was the one, crucial voice that had not previously been heard. The Age neither endorsed nor indicted Waldron. It reported his views, setting them against those of Hartigan and NRL chief executive David Gallop.

It was good journalism; it honoured the public's right to know. It can only be concluded that Ms Wilson was aggrieved because Waldron's much-dwelled upon account appeared in the The Age, not News Ltd's papers. Ms Wilson understands better than most how much News dislikes to be second with the news.

Besides, when it comes to providing oxygen to the famous and infamous alike, News Ltd has its own hyperbaric chamber. It makes the Herald Sun a formidable rival - ventilating all viewpoints is the foundation of journalism - but it also means it ought not to moralise about who The Age speaks to. Yesterday, for instance, the Herald Sun oxygenated Roberta Williams. Whatever wrong Waldron committed, no one died in the process.

Waldron's most serious and startling allegation is that salary cap cheating is endemic in rugby league. Ms Wilson demands he present his evidence to separate inquiries by the NRL, the police and News Ltd. The NRL can be expected to be thorough. The sanctions it imposed on Storm show that it means business, and the scandal has become too big for it to try to sweep anything under the carpet now. Gallop impresses with his zeal.

But as of yesterday, no complaint had been made to police to prompt an investigation. And News Ltd already has made up its mind, to judge from the words of the partner of the chief executive.

''[Waldron] might well drag a few others with him on his path of shame, but the fact remains that this disgraced administrator is the so-called 'chief rat' [a form of words agreed over breakfast, perhaps?] and he will be brought to account for his actions as a result of current investigations,'' she writes.

But it is improbable that Waldron is the only culpable figure at Melbourne Storm, improbable that he is the only ''chief rat'' in rugby league. With each passing day, it becomes clearer that there is much more still to come. It begs the question posed between the lines of Ms Wilson's column: why is News Ltd so desperate to scapegoat Waldron and leave it at that?

The answer, I'm afraid, is apparent. However much Storm is diminished by this wretched business, so is News Ltd. However much rugby league is diminished, so is News.

Ms Wilson says Fairfax media has ''gone feral'' to uncover links between Storm and the ''highest echelons'' of News Ltd. Not really: the links could not be any more plainly established than they are. News owns Storm, which is why at every fresh turn in this story there appears on television a man from the very uppermost echelon of News who Ms Wilson presumably recognises even when he is wearing something more business-like than pyjamas.

What Ms Wilson's column highlights, what the Melbourne Storm story highlights, is what uncomfortable bedfellows media companies and sporting organisations make, and how hopelessly compromised each or both sometimes become under their shared sheets. It highlights the certainty that when the hand that feeds belongs to the same beast as the mouth that bites, how can anyone feel comfortable?

Ms Wilson's partner illustrates this: in that extraordinary media conference to announce Storm's punishment in Sydney last week, and in other appearances since, it was never clear who he was speaking for: News, or the NRL, or Storm? It still isn't. But it is clear who Ms Wilson is speaking for. News knows this: for some time, it has been manoeuvring to extract itself from its shareholding in the NRL. It was also said to be looking to sell out of Melbourne Storm, until the salary cap scandal trashed Storm's worth and obliged News to make a commitment to its future: anything else would have looked like the abandonment of a stricken rugby league club by the code's chief promoter and financier.

Nothing will change. Nothing can. For better or worse, media companies fund big-time sport now, lavishly. It makes a lot of people rich, and a lot of people squirm, and sometimes they are the same people.

This week, it led to the extraordinary pass in which a sporting organisation found itself embroiled in a massive scandal, and the partner of the boss of its media patron assailed a rival media company for its coverage, as if she was somehow independent, and we ended upon the sharp end. Oh well, we're big enough to take it. In the meantime, we look forward to more of Ms Wilson's pillow talk next week. Not.

As I said on an earlier thread, this Storm cap rorting story really IS football-related, because these are the same media people who have been trash talking football for a generation. This is why we cannot get football on free-to-air TV, this is why we get a crap PAYTV deal with Murdoch, this is why huge swathes of the Australian population think "soccer" is a game for sheilas, wogs and pooftas.

Did anyone see the news about the riot at an NRL game this weekend? This is from the Fairfax media:

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/nrl-clash-marred-by-brawling-arrests-20100501-tzz1.html

The Herald Sun match report, of course, does not even mention it:

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/nrl/parramatta-eels-beat-canterbury-bulldogs-26-10-in-nrl-round-seven-match/story-e6frfgbo-1225860818014

Imagine if that were an A-league game!

Scum, the lot of them.


Edited by GazGoldCoast: 1/5/2010 09:13:47 PM

You're right Gaz, imagine if this happened at a football match....

You'd think the CEO of a huge company could find someone to screw who doesn't look like a man.

Seven people arrested, 15 ejected, with "more arrests outside the stadium" - you think that's nothing?

[-(

I just agreed with you mate...:-k

Ah, OK. I thought you were sarcastically highlighting the sore thumb... Sorry.

Agreeing with me. It's never happened before, no wonder I was shocked! ;)

Fkin ck skn mthr fkn, cross country wrestlers, thats what there game is cross fkn country wrsetling

Hey, I was shocked myself...:lol:

Karma is the sweetest thing ever.

every time i read anything written by rebecca wilson, it makes me want to head but either my computer screen or the paper

Maybe she has talents which we are all missing?

I love it.:cool: :cool: :cool: :cool: :cool: :cool:

Given that Murdoch/Fox also control (through the TV deal) SANZAR it's no wonder that Waldron was given the bum's rush at the Melbourne RU franchise.

These people really are corrupt - it's no surprise, honestly. When they talk like they are bed fellows with the sport, it's no surprise they often are, and this one literally.

She, like Channel Seven with the NSL coverage, goes to such lengths to denigrate our game - it takes alot of effort and such effort is fueled because they see an advantage gained from within their quarters, from where they fester. It's all brownie points, gold badges from those that pat their back, after people like her have rubbed theirs, aswell as spitting sideways at our game.

Media whores, as in, tarts for the NRL, or AFL, certainly. But 'in bed' with them aswell, well, just shows how committed to the cause they are!

These people are 25 hour NRL, or AFL, people and they're supposed to be 'Sports' journalists. Why aren't they just called 'NRL' or 'AFL' 'propagandists' which they so clearly are - as that's all they love, because that's all they know!




Lol, let's please NOT go there, she makes us sick enough as it is - we've long been sick of her!

Infact really, I don't even know who she is - It's more an 'Eastern States' thing I guess. I 'vaguely remember' her from that old show, 'The Fat,' and know from somewhere that she was the sister of another sports reporter, Jeff Wilson, but that's it. The only time I ever hear OF her, is from 'football people' like on here and I rarely hear stuff FROM her, or from where she lurks, generally.

Ignorance is bliss I guess.

BTW Maybe our (And even SBS') 'outrage' when she 'says stuff' is partially why she does it - because it gives her 'more press' and maybe even 'more views/readers,' where otherwise she wouldn't. So by responding/actually reading her crap, we are fuelling the monster. Don't feed the monster. Pay no attention to it and the monster may disappear, atleast for those of us who chose this philosophy, world view. The Monster only exists because of the attention we give it.

Edited by GloryPerth: 1/5/2010 10:45:20 PM

That's the first thing i thought when i read it, but really if you think about it, it's probably just Bill Clinton syndrome: When a powerful, yet very busy man wants to get some on the side he opens the door to his office and summons the first woman to walk by..

But i'd much rather Monica Lewinski and an impeachment than fornicating with that idiot.

I'll second that !!!!
Rebecca Wilson looks like she shaves with a cheese grater ...

Good work MDM, this is definately football related!

The Offsiders took her to task this morning about her lack of credibility.

Undercover player? :-"

Great article from Greg Baum. He's definitely treading the moral and intellectual highground in their ongoing battle.

I always wondered how Rebecca had a job there. And a job that simply toes the News LTD line. She doesn't do any reporting, she's just given a free reign to comment on anything and everything.

We all suspected it, now it's been proven.

Baum does a good job. Word is that ABC's Offsiders gaver her a public and open grilling about this on TV this morning, good on them if true.

Think u can watch the segment here:
http://www.abc.net.au/sport/offsiders/content/2010/s2888061.htm
I'll be interested to watch it but cant until later tonight.

Good catch, j_pav. Worth a watch!

Ms Wilson boasts that she's not a reporter anymore, after 30 years in the business, she gets paid for opinion and that's what she's doing. Obviously, the fact that she sleeps with the News Ltd CEO has nothing to do with it! Then she completely refuses to acknowledge any suggestion of conflict of interest, without realising that nobody actually cares what she's saying about the Storm issues because she's clearly conflicted.

There's a segment before that with four guests on the panel, three of which slam News and the Storm. Then Ms Wilson says this is the biggest sports story since Ben Johnson, and things are clearly worse than News Ltd pretended, but it's still somehow all the fault of the "chief rat".

http://www.abc.net.au/sport/offsiders/content/2010/s2888050.htm

Let's be honest - the Chief Rat is Rupert Murdoch.

Her, News Ltd, the Daily Telegraph agenda and the NRL administration got ripped a new one this morning

Now we're getting somewhere. This is the time to bring down News Limited and its bias against our code, step on it, they've been exposed, now let's finish them off.

I just had a look at the blogs over at The Roar, thinking they would be all over this, but it's strange that nobody seems to be talking about it. Seems the NRL folks are either swallowing the News Ltd version hook, line and sinker, or burying their heads in the sand.

Mind you, I did get a laugh out of this:


Haha! FUBAR, much??!!!

Hah that offsiders clip is hilarious, watching the articulate and well balanced journo from The Age talking to the rough retarted redneck Rebecca Wilson from News Limited, they really epitomise their newspapers. I just wish the presenters went for the throat a little more, RW got off pretty lightly I thought.

Ms Wilson is so tough, anyone shagging her would have to scrape the barnacles off before commencing proceedings.

I just hope FFT readers realise that this cozy NRL media monopoly is just one small example of how Murdoch's agenda has gone unchallenged across a wide range or major issues - including the Iraq War, Australia's support of Israel, and our kow-towing to US empire - over the past decade and more.

It's the same dynamics at work here.

Gideon Haigh is the guys name I think...a very good journalist and a bit of a cricket nut I believe. I think he might actually be a Pom.

I'm sure when Rupert hears that Gastric Gaz the True Warrior is on his tail, he will cower under his office desk and do no more evil. The world is a safer place with........... "Gastric Gaz"

For real???? nahhh mad!!! :lol: :lol: :lol:

News Limited is corrupt...full stop! they are the ones who made Melbourne Storm cheat its salary cap...its just they doing quite alot to cover this whole story up so that they dont get into trouble...and in the mean time are trying really to put our sport down for good cos they feel threated by our sport...they dont want our sport to make a impact those dinosaurs!!!! SHAME NEWS LIMITED SHAME!!![-x [-x [-x

Edited by Barca4Life: 2/5/2010 07:48:17 PM

Edited by Barca4Life: 2/5/2010 07:48:35 PM

Good, it's a disgrace. It's another reason to HATE the NRL.

The FFT readers will be right, unfortunately the rest of Australia only look at the pictures.

Meanwhile, as Wilson proudly announces her relationship with John Hartigan, Mrs Hartigan is battling terminal cancer. Classy Rebecca, very classy. Couldn't wait a few more months, huh?

Got a link for that?

Yes, not classy. But facts should speak - Hartigan has been separated from his wife since mid 2007. Wilson and he have been on for a while.

duplication

Edited by Yet Another User Name: 3/5/2010 12:24:45 AM

Hartigan's common interest with La Wislon in matters relating to Uganda have been an open secret for the best part of three years (being mentioned in the SMH in Dec 2007).

As his relationship with Gerri Sutton had broken down before her illness it seems a little unfair to tax them with being inconsiderate.

What is wrong is that Wislon has used her column and other media outlets to spruik the virtues of RL (R Murdoch prop, J Hartigan manager) without disclosing the relationship.

No, Im sure he`s Greek:)

As I watched the Outsiders program yesterday morning,I was shocked at Rebecca Wilsons revelation (to me anyway)of her relationship to John Hartigan.
It crystalised how someone as caustic and repulsive as Ms Wilson ever gets any print or air time.
More importantly it also reveals the extent of News`s manipulation and control of the Australian sporting landscape.
Unfortunately the job football has ahead of it to get any traction in the broader community now seems much harder than even I had imagined.
Of course all of this has been said in previous posts before me,however Id just like to add that I think if we football fans of the world game want to see it succeed in Australia we have to do something about it ourselves, like make another effort to bring an extra person with us to as many home games as we can.
We need to do whatever we can to help our respective clubs try and survive in a fight that may last decades.
The fact that News thinks nothing of underwriting the Storm to the tune of $6 million year in year out with no repayment required just indicates the forces the A-league has to contend with.
Finally if Rugby Union can get a $475 million deal from pay tv then the next payday for football would at a guess have to be bigger if we were on an even playing field,but thats one big IF!

That wasn't the ARU that got the 437 mill. 5 yr contract, it's Sanzar. For telcasts in 3 countries including all super 15 and test matches. The 437mill. is shared by ARU, NZRU and SARU.

Yes your right Skeptic,but its still a15 team comp across three countries and only a national sport in 1of them (New Zealand), because the majority of the South African populace follow football not rugby. On that basis I beleive the next football rights deal should be greater than the Rugby one.
One of the main reasons Ben Buckley was recruited to head FFA was his expertise in getting the best tv rights deal possible for football. The day A-league clubs can have a $4 million grant from the FFA then you`ll begin to see the real emergence of football in Oz.

I saw an NRL fan commenting that this whole Storm salary cap fiasco has actually been a huge boon to News Ltd sales! Hard to argue with that. The more venom Ms Wilson can generate, the more attention her columns get, etc. How do you beat that kind of totally cynical business model?

I think relentless sarcasm is a good option! :lol:

Youve touched on a truth there Gaz. The News Limited NRL business model I reckon is based on
adversity. Its a win win situation. Sells papers and makes stars out of the players.
Spectator no#s and Footy show ratings have roughly doubled following the Storm scandal.
Storm memberships have gone through the roof.
Rebecca herself on offsiders mentioned she was at the home Storm match and the atmosphere was beyond anything she's been at "including grandfinals and State of origin".
News have jumped on this and are now peddling the line that Storm have been harshly done by.

Its a perfect solution and focus for them as Storm were a real credibility problem. Losing $6m p/yr, terrible crowds, ratings and a perception they only exist to boost the tv deal.
Its also a welcome distraction from the bigger conflict of interest issue.

Look forward to the continuing exposure of the massive News Lts conflict of interest and outing the real chief rat Rupert Murdoch. :D
Of course we'll only hear of these issues in non news ltd. media.

The owner of the most powerful and wealthy media empire in the world with annual revenue of $US30 billion, a man with world leaders clambering for a place in his crowded pocket like flies to a sheep's crutch and a man that makes and breaks governments.
This man is to brought to account over an nrl salary cap rort? Best of luck. [-o<

But of course, the down side is that News Ltd will have to pay massive $$$$ financial penalties for breaking the cap over many seasons, right???

Oh, wait. News Ltd own the NRL, so they won't be paying any serious penalties.

Anyway, as Ms Wilson says, it was all somebody else's fault. We'll have an investigation, and by the time it's over, everyone will have forgotten what it was all about anyway.

Sounds a lot like the Murdoch-sponsored invasion of Iraq, doesn't it?

Have we all "moved on" yet?

No No Rebecca Wilson actually sucks Rupert Murdocks cock every freakin day for the past 30 years just for her to keep her job and be used as bait for Rupert Murdock to use :lol:

You know it's ironic that that the Storm 'rorted the cap' for 'those players,' to win 'those NRL titles,' which in the end hardly made an indent in the AFL's heartland, and where 'those players' few in Melbourne would have heard of, been aware of their/all of their, names.

Normally with these things you would ask if it was worth it, but for especially a 'non heartland' team, again, was it REALLY worth it?

False ownership, False club, false team, false results, false history, false existence... false premise?

BTW They should investigate the Brisbane Lions, who won four AFL titles in a row - the thing is the AFL openly favour, incentivise those teams etc... It's all fabricated, brining in the players, none are 'homegrown, hometown boys' - heck the clubs may awell be based on Mars.

I suppose Gold Coast United are in danger of a similar scenario, but I think they've learnt very quickly in the harsh climate for the code in this country, that it doesn't work, it NEEDS to be community up, local, not like it does in the insular, but well over inflated codes like the two I've highlighted and heck AFL are going to do it again in GCU's very own region. Heck alot of circular irony in a way. Gold Coast United are going to be out 'GCU'ed' by the AFL, but they're also going to show them how it's done, but it's not a fair even deal, because the AFL will be super boosting that team even before the start - Guaranteed that damn GC AFL franchise will be winning AFL 'Finals' within 5 years and title contenders/winners within 10-15.

So atleast Gallop, the NRL, have been willing to be so open, to the point of unpleasant embarrassment, ugly truths?

I don't see the AFL being soo honest, they're very happy within their bubble - they don't have the constant battles NRL does, they will keep hammering away at the NRL's heartland, letting those expansion franchises spend all and sundry to not only survive, but out compete their rivals in the market, and buy up AFL winning squads.

Heck good on the NRL, but f the AFL - They're no innoncents, not by a long shot - When will the day be when their clubs, especially those 'non heartland ones' will be exposed?

It won't happen, they're such arrogant ambitiously arseholes, every self inflicted blow the NRL suffers, the AFL has an evil chuckle. Their 'sins' as in manipulating the competition, aren't sins, they're advocated, the done thing!

It's an open secret, the Melbourne AFL clubs etc... just begrudgingly accept it!


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rupert_murdoch

Goes top down, doesn't it?

'A fish rots from the head down.'

The guy 'became a Yank' to buy Fox and everything else ever since, including that piece of work, Fox News Channel, wow the Melbourne boy is a 'real patriot' ain't he? And who can forget that 'Super League' fiasco of the mid 90s and even I remember 'of' that despite being a West Aussie (I remember the brief appearance of the Western Reds).

You know it's interesting that 'Mr Super League' owns an NRL Franchise really, but I suppose that's why the league IS the NRL, not ARL, like it used to be.

Edited by GloryPerth: 4/5/2010 04:05:24 AM

It's taken the events of the last fortnight to make the Storm feel truly at home in Victoria.

Despite all the success, most people here now stick up for the Storm now.

For 12 years they were fighting for decent media space and in less than a fortnight they have got all they wanted.

The Storm are now more at home in Victoria than ever before.

Hmm I watched that Offsiders clip (ABC Sports Discussion Program) and they were saying the same thing - Melbourne people were hearing and identifying with the names of star Storm players that they never would have come across before the last two weeks. They were also saying, as a few are probably, along the lines of how perverse it is that people are backing, supporting these players, this club, when some of them are known cheats.

And the stuff about them even competing in the comp - It's ludicrous and punishes the little credibility the comp has left - they SHOULD be suspended and their featuring on the field just mocks the league, especially that thrashing of the Cowboys. But I DO understand that a suspension of 12 months 'could' kill the club, but given the 'communal reaction' one wonders if that would be the case - because all the controversy has had the reverse it seems.

TBH As a non-RL person from a non-RL heartland, I've been more and more feeling sorry for the NRL, over the years, even though in a few ways they're hardly worth feeling sorry for, especially given the struggles of our code compared to their mainstream success. But they have fallen so far, having battered themselves internally, with such regular occurrence, often evens off the field, but many related to on the field too.

I did some basic reading on RL a while ago, to get a basic understanding of why and how there was the split of RL from Union, back around latter 19th century.

Rugby League was built on, founded on, professionalism. Commentators in recent times have often remarked how when RU became professional in the late 80s, gradually since then, especially from the late 90s, they have been able to poach RL players through offering better wages. For a long time the difference between Union and League WAS that the former was Amateur, retaining those Amateur ideals not unlike how Cricket did for a long while, while League was professional since the start. League being professional gave it that advantage and perhaps differential to the much more International, free flowing game, Union.

But suddenly that differential is gone and suddenly Union has the money now too and RL's dominant/monopolistic place on the landscape is slipping, as their big brother, the old boys, reassert themselves.

I know I'm kind of drawing a long bow here, but, perhaps fundamentally, RL, with it's founding, basis, within professionalism, kind of sets in a endemic corruption that comes inevitably with professional sport. It NEVER had that innocence of the 'amateur ideals' that the other old school British codes had, well certainly not like that of Cricket or Rugby - Association Football became professional quite early though. I don't mean to say that the sport is fundamentally corrupt or what have you, just through it's professional origins/birth it's understandable in a way that it may be more susceptible, given it's never had a history different from that, so underhand dealings and practices etc would've always been there since day dot, just like with Association Football when it became professional. The sport's culture has never known a world outside professionalism. Though today in the modern era, all the codes have had professionalism for a while, so the distant past is hardly an excuse.

Culturally, RL is and has always been, since its inception, a game of the working class, where Union was from more the elite, private schools, with their 'amateur ideals.' The unruly vs the ruling class, the ruling class is coming back now, Super 15 making great strides to take a bigger slice if the pie. Interestingly, in the AFL heartlands, Aussie Rules, while also a working class game, never had that superior older brother, though Union did and still does, feature in the private school system, but has tended to have little appeal/traction in the wider public, particularly those working classes.

Lol That Underbelly stuff was in Melbourne, maybe that's what this Storm stuff is - They're the Melbourne Underbelly of the NRL! All that gangland stuff etc... these groups normally have working class roots, or location, aswell. The brown paper bags etc... are maybe just the done thing there? :p Though all the recipients are NSWmen, QLDers and even Kiwis- I guess they were paying top dollar, over AND underhand, for the top hitmen though. ;)

Edited by GloryPerth: 4/5/2010 06:17:10 AM

You could be describing GCU's audacious attempt to win in their first year with dollars, razamataz and a squad to better most. The difference being the failure of their preparatory work, a mind set of 'just add water - instant successful club' and Palmer's reluctance to continue if success doesn't come without the hard yards.
In GCU's defence, though, the aleagues policy of seemingly rushed expansion at all costs has encouraged a climate of less than ideal business decisions. I think they need to slow the hast and use far more caution. What's the big hurry?

The sad thing is it has been worth it for the storm. I guess the moral of the story is cheating does pay.



The AFL is in worse than the Storm, its the administrators not the clubs that are fixing the results of the competition. They are trying so hard to take the game to the whole country that it isn't a game any more, its more like the WWE.

In fact RL in both the UK and Australia was for most of its history only semi-professional. Initially the break from RU was over payments for "broken time" ie. where clubs paid a player who had wages docked for not working on a match day (6 day weeks back then) and as a result of injuries. Even until the 1980s even top players worked in real jobs although some enjoyed sinecures working for Leagues clubs as cellarmen etc. My mum for instance bought her meat from Noel Kelly's butchers shop.

RU was not as lillywhite as they would have you believe. There was the phenomena of "boot money" which was often substantial and much more than RL match payments. Barry John was once asked why he had not "gone north" and responded that couldn't afford to.

RU may have been more "international" than RL but it is doubtful if it was more free flowing. Anyone who has ever sat through the frequent penalties only matches where the ball never made it past the five-eighths/stand-offs could attest to that.



Edited by Yet Another User Name: 4/5/2010 10:49:19 PM

Really interesting discussion.

But I wouldn't be feeling sorry for RL GloryPerth. They have shown over many years the bigger the scandel the bigger the crowds. RL owns Sydney summer and winter and always will.

My wish is for Sydney FC and the A League to grow and become be a real option for Sydney sports lovers and to start filling the SFS.

As a league fan in league heartland. Theres nothing I hate more then when the damn ref has to blow his whistle... Unless we're defending lol

Thanks for informing us. I suppose I did paint it a little black and white from my outside perspective.

And oh you have reminded me now, how could I forget?! With some discussions over all those league controversies, it was brought up by some older players that in their day they DID have jobs on the side, skills, responsibilities etc... But somewhere along the line (80s), like the AFL, they have become fully professional players since 17 years of age fresh out of high school. So the NRL have faced the same issues when it comes to the new approach to the player/life balance over the old.

And I suppose you are right, as I have seen both, but as an outsider, RL can be naturally 'stop-start,' with the 5 tackles, defence go back a few metres thing, then boot the ball high up. I guess it's a faster more powerful game. But Union do have those rolling scrums, line outs etc... which seems to keep things moving, generally (Though scrums often have to be retaken). But yeah, especially in less favourable conditions, some sides do tend to do the back and forth kicking thing, which is hardly entertaining.

And with Rugby's history I suppose one can wonder why Union took off in NZ, South Africa, France and other places, while League didn't? Is it because Union had that slight head start of years over league, the nature of those exporting it (class of people - Soccer were the British coal miners, working class around the world, Cricket the gentlemen, elite...), the nature of the game itself? Even within the UK, League is still predominantly confined to England's north, with the game not having much of a foothold elsewhere, not compared to Union.

Edited by GloryPerth: 5/5/2010 04:45:48 PM

Only 3 titles. They lost the last grand final to Port in 2004.

^ Doh, thanks. Though it still seemed 'extra ordinary' at the time, even though the team had 'inherited' a star player or two from their Fitzroy Lions merger a few years earlier.

It's all about the concessions, incentives they get etc...

I watched that thing about this NRL fiasco on SBS' Insight last night and one of the league journos even pointed out, you could put the Sydney Swans side by side with Storm and while the Swans (Or anyone) would not look as bad, they too still receive alot of incentives from the League, to slant things their way. The AFL boosts their expansion franchises, with draft picks etc... alot. Same goes for the Lions ofcourse.

And like the Storm with Victorian/Homegrown players, after all these years, how many, what proportion, of the Sydney Swans are NSWmen/Sydneysiders and what proportion of the Brisbane Lions are QLDers/from Brisbane?

Ah the old 'Barassi Line,' still there:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barassi_Line

Interestingly, ironically even, the few NSWmen and QLDers in the AFL, some notable guys are playing for Victorian, SA or WA clubs instead - like Nick Riewoldt, who's a Gold Coast boy, has been star and captain of St Kilda for a few years now - So hard to just up and abandon them for this new franchise where he grew up, even though that would be ideal for the AFL and their marketing of the game within that market - 'Hometown hero, comes home,' or some such.

Edited by GloryPerth: 5/5/2010 05:16:20 PM

and have you seen the size of her balls 8-[

I loved Rupert Murdoch's comments on this the other day. Basically he said he was "SHOCKED!" and News Ltd had done nothing wrong, in fact Hartigan was the guy who brought it all to public attention (yeah right), and he was sure the whole thing would blow over soon.

So what about your involvment, Mr Murdoch? Do you think News Ltd should review its close ties to the NRL?

"I'm afraid I'm a bit too far removed. I don't know enough about it."

The Chief Rat has spoken!

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/murdoch-suspects-storm-were-not-the-only-club-rorting-the-cap-20100505-uapu.html

News Ltd's executives John Hartigan and Peter Blunden (HWT gauleiter) have come under fire from a judge in the Victorian Supreme Court today.

In giving judgment in an unfair dismissal case the judge opined:





It will be interesting to see how the Oz, the Hun and the Daily Tell-a-lie handle this story and whether they will urge the Victorian DPP to charge these blokes with perjury.

More at Crikey

well all very interesting there, i reckon news limited are right up there with the rorting,know all about it and the scapegoat has been identified.......

i stopped following rugby league when the scrums were made non contestable and the video ref came onboard......

the video ref is definately to protect sports bet and to manipulate the betting syndicates, all rigged , fully rorted.......

and as for rebecca wilson, i had to stop listening to VEGA 95.3 cause her voice made my skin crawl...........and her views were those of an ignorant male...........

Meanwhile in other news... newspaper circulation declining fast...

Most News titles are down substantially in Jan-Mar compared to last year but the Herald Sun and DT have lost less than others. This could be because they give away a lot of free copies and supermarkets don't send back returns.

See Mumbrella

Edited by Yet Another User Name: 14/5/2010 04:47:40 PM

News Limited lost its court case in Melbourne today. News (or should I say, the News owned Herald and Weekly Times) was found guitly of wrongful dismissal of Peter Blunden, ex-Herald Sun Editor.

Story here: http://www.theage.com.au/business/media-and-marketing/sacked-editor-guthrie-wins-case-against-herald-sun-20100514-v2mj.html?autostart=1

Actually Murdoch's papers are more resilient than others because his readers are imbeciles who cannot use the Internet. And now he wants people to pay for his trash online! [-x

What I thought was really interesting about this story lately was that News Ltd refused to support the Storm's legal action against the NRL.

Or course, in effect News Ltd would have been suing itself, but since they claim they knew nothing, and they cannot prove it was all the Storm's fault, it's quite clear that they just don't want any more investigation here. Move along, folks...

And of course they swear, like OJ Simpson, that they will continue with their own investigations until the "real culprits" are uncovered. Mmmn, yeah. Don't expect to see too many of those stories in a hurry. Not in a Murdoch paper anyway.

Finally, it's interesting that the Storm are going to push ahead suing the NRL on their own. So will that end up with another very messy public exposure of News Ltd wrongdoing? Or will Uncle Rupert make a nice big out-of-court settlement magically appear? Hmmn? I'm backing the second option.

Oh, but wait a minute. If News Ltd own the storm they can just sack whoever wants to sue the NRL! Problem solved.

This is also worth noting (with apologies for getting even further away from football):
http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/visiting-hours-are-over-kev-time-to-get-back-on-the-job-20100514-v4co.html


Edited by GazGoldCoast: 15/5/2010 06:48:00 AM