POST GAME [2022 State of Origin - Game 2] NSW vs QLD

[Jedhead]

That's the thing, all the rules are BS and applied inconsistently.

I enjoy a bit of soccer, the rules are clear. Direct contact to leg - foul, first contact with ball - no foul, offside is clear as day no interpretation bs, the ball either cross the line for a goal or it doesn't.

How do you explain NRL rules to a newbie? It's fucking impossible. Oh he held down too long, but then the next set the other team holds down for longer each time? That's a head high hit but it's play on, but the next head high is a penalty. Offisde from kickoff only gets penalised once a month, all the other times we ignore it. Are teams going back the 10? Sometimes, but they only get penalised sometimes.

If the game wants any hope of being professional we need to have more black and white interpretations in particular around the ruck where there is the most wiggle room for the ref to control the game.

A simple fix would be, 3 seconds from first contact with defender, is automatically held and all players must release within 2 seconds. I'm not saying that's a perfect fix, I haven't given it that much thought, but right now the refs have way too much control over the result.

In Soccer, refs can't change the result without being obviously corrupt, in the NRL the refs just go back 9 instead of 10, give the other team an extra half second to hold on, no one is any wiser but the result is almost guaranteed to swing to the advantaged team.

No coincidence then that the head of Australia's most corrupt sport as far as betting goes is moved in to our sport. Just a few short years after his move I can barely catch the game between ads for Neds, 365, Ladbrokes, sportsbet, etc. etc.

 

[McHunt]

No coincidence then that the head of Australia's most corrupt sport as far as betting goes is moved in to our sport. Just a few short years after his move I can barely catch the game between ads for Neds, 365, Ladbrokes, sportsbet, etc. etc.

I'm not a fan of the racing industry or sports betting - I wouldn't be at all bothered if both were banned - but V'landys deserves praise for the NRL's handling of the pandemic. That was no small feat and the NRL led the way in world sport. Helped, of course, by our Federal and State Governments locking down ports and borders. I'll give him that much.

I know it's against site policy to say anything positive about the NRL, but credit where it's due.

 

[Jedhead]

I'm not a fan of the racing industry or sports betting - I wouldn't be at all bothered if both were banned - but V'landys deserves praise for the NRL's handling of the pandemic. That was no small feat and the NRL led the way in world sport. Helped, of course, by our Federal and State Governments locking down ports and borders. I'll give him that much.

I know it's against site policy to say anything positive about the NRL, but credit where it's due.

I think he and his team made a few major stuff ups and the way I saw it if the Qld govt had not shown great tolerance there would have been no NRL comp.

No surprise that it was Queensland that saved the NswRL‘s bacon. So credit in this instance for the shitbag is not warranted in my book.

 

[McHunt]

I think he and his team made a few major stuff ups and the way I saw it if the Qld govt had not shown great tolerance there would have been no NRL comp.

No surprise that it was Queensland that saved the NswRL‘s bacon. So credit in this instance for the shitbag is not warranted in book.

That's just mean spirited. No one, anywhere in the world, got the pandemic 100% right, but the NRL did an amazing job. And so did the QLD and Federal Governments.

 

[Sproj]

I'm not a fan of the racing industry or sports betting - I wouldn't be at all bothered if both were banned - but V'landys deserves praise for the NRL's handling of the pandemic. That was no small feat and the NRL led the way in world sport. Helped, of course, by our Federal and State Governments locking down ports and borders. I'll give him that much.

I know it's against site policy to say anything positive about the NRL, but credit where it's due.

I reckon this is a massive fallacy. He literally returned the comp a week or two before some other comps. He literally did what every other comp did, just a bit faster and they all did it better. Getting in first (even that is not exactly true on a global scale I don't think) doesn't mean getting in best. I am pretty sure anyone with half a brain could have done what he did if they were given the same power he was given.

I remember saying at the time I was massively sceptical of all the love he was getting and so I may well be biased against him and if so I am sorry. But look at the following decisions he has made that has made the game WORSE overall:

- Removes a ref (they were struggling with two of them)
- Brings in an almost universally hated 6-again rule with little forethought or planning and results in an almost overnight inundation of one-sided results
- Brings in a high shot crackdown that ruins one of the NRL showpiece weekends with inexplicable inconsistency in penalties / sin-bins and send-offs that further derail some teams' seasons due to over the top ban lengths
- Said decision results in some teams losing due to over the top interpretations of said crackdown (we were a victim of this)
- Introduces a mercenary loop hole that results in some of the bottom teams losing stars to contending teams at the back end of years
- Allows the Melbourne Storm to have legalised gambling agreements with players that do not need to be disclosed
- Introduces incessant gambling advertisements into league coverage that makes games almost unwatchable and is universally hated
- Hastily announces a 17th team with nowhere near enough time to get ready
- Totally ignores Perth which is SCREAMING out for a league team

There are more to add here but I am supposed to be working.

Now compare that to his positives:
- He got the game back a week or two before other codes - Woohoo!

 

[BroncsFan]

That's just mean spirited. No one, anywhere in the world, got the pandemic 100% right, but the NRL did an amazing job. And so did the QLD and Federal Governments.

The only thing they stuffed up with that initial return in the pandemic was introducing the 6 again rule and the various changes they implemented as part of it... all seemingly in the name of "entertainment" purposes.

There's potential the "network partners" pushed a mandate onto them as part of reshaping the tv rights deals and that's what they came up with... or maybe Ch 9 / Fox powerbrokers were able to push some of their agendas onto them i.e. scrap 2 refs, increase fatigue, etc. in order to get the tv deals over the line and that's where all the parties landed to get things moving again... but in a world where the only entertainment for literally millions of people isolating at home was whatever they could load up onto their screens, they shouldn't have had much of a leg to stand on.

I think for a time NRL was basically the only televised sports competition on tv in the world... it forced AFL to dump whatever plans they had and pivot to anything to get their product back up and running, and at whatever cost.

I think AFL were originally planning to "do the right thing" and leave their product on the shelf and wear the financial hits. I think they were mainly going down this path to pander to the media, but also because they had the bank to be able to do that and outlast NRL... if NRL had followed them down that path they would pretty well go bankrupt and AFL's biggest competitor would be gone. I think that's what AFL were planning.

They changed their tune pretty quickly when NRL announced they were coming back.... showing their true nature... but of course that was largely swept under the rug.

I think that mindset and approach of V'Landys should be applauded. If he's not there with his bullish approach and openly leaning/leveraging/lobbying on state governments to get the comp going, then NRL is in a completely different spot right now compared to basically the status quo it's currently able to enjoy.

Imagine if it was a pissant like Greenburg, with zero network or connections, trying to handle covid alone... the comp would probably be dead and AFL would be getting rammed down our throats on the daily.

 

[Sproj]

the comp would probably be dead and AFL would be getting rammed down our throats on the daily.

I argue this would have been the best result. WAIT, HEAR ME OUT!!!!

If this had have happened, it would have resulted in a massive review at what went wrong and maybe, just maybe, league would have been reborn as a better competition under a far more professional organisation as a result and the game could have actually eventually grown instead of a slow implosion on itself.

 

[Jedhead]

That's just mean spirited. No one, anywhere in the world, got the pandemic 100% right, but the NRL did an amazing job. And so did the QLD and Federal Governments.

Just because I disagree with your summation and view it from a different perspective makes me “mean spirited” get a grip ffs. Who died and made you the arbiter of sense and morality.

Delusions of grandeur or what.

 

[BroncsFan]

I argue this would have been the best result. WAIT, HEAR ME OUT!!!!

If this had have happened, it would have resulted in a massive review at what went wrong and maybe, just maybe, league would have been reborn as a better competition under a far more professional organisation as a result and the game could have actually eventually grown instead of a slow implosion on itself.

I get the idea that a super league is what's needed to reshape the competition into something better (primarily less Sydney teams and less of an East Coast centricity (probably incorrect use of the word, but whatever)), but in a world where the NRL dies or is damaged so badly that it's bought out and revived... I think it loses too much of what built it and stigma would be created... and they would lose too much ground to AFL to ever fully recover.

No doubt the product on its own sells itself, but they've pretty well only just managed to get itself onto even footing with AFL, in terms of revenue and visibility in the market.

Before the big deals with Fox the NRL were having to fight off ESL, Super Rugby and European Rugby (and even AFL) to be the number 1 sporting comp for their players... at the moment all of those comps appear miles behind if it came to poaching a current superstar like Turbo, Teddy, Cleary, Haas, Fifita, etc. away from the sport.

If NRL "died" during Covid all of a sudden every player under contract is looking for a new job and the game is basically back to semi professional status where the peak athletes can get a better pay day elsewhere... that's a huge barrier to overcome and re-establish yourself as a comp again.

I just can't see how they would be able to overcome that unless some multi-billion dollar private investment came from the clouds and was able to somehow recreate the same'ish competition that can immediately:
- recreate a talent pool (assume poaching from the sports you've just lost all your talent to because your previous comp died and they've all defected elsewhere)
- create a connection to its target audience (especially a Sydney audience that you're planning to cull probably half the teams and history from in order to expand elsewhere)
- re-establish the tv revenue back to its current level to sustain the competition (need to pay the players so they don't start defecting again)

I just can't see it happening, because you're going to have to sacrifice something from the above after letting the competition die. Also a huge risk tampering with the Sydney audience... we all fucking hate the Sydney-centric nature of this competition, but choosing which portion to cut out is a very delicate decision.

It's needed, but I don't know the Sydney politics to know which clubs "should" be excised.

 

[McHunt]

Just because I disagree with your summation and view it from a different perspective makes me “mean spirited” get a grip ffs. Who died and made you the arbiter of sense and morality.

Delusions of grandeur or what.

Nah, the NRL did a fantastic job to keep the competition running during a global pandemic. You can give them that much credit. Come on, you can do it. You can whinge about everything else, but just this one thing.

It can be nice to take a break from the overwhelming negativity.

 

[McHunt]

The only thing they stuffed up with that initial return in the pandemic was introducing the 6 again rule and the various changes they implemented as part of it... all seemingly in the name of "entertainment" purposes.

There's potential the "network partners" pushed a mandate onto them as part of reshaping the tv rights deals and that's what they came up with... or maybe Ch 9 / Fox powerbrokers were able to push some of their agendas onto them i.e. scrap 2 refs, increase fatigue, etc. in order to get the tv deals over the line and that's where all the parties landed to get things moving again... but in a world where the only entertainment for literally millions of people isolating at home was whatever they could load up onto their screens, they shouldn't have had much of a leg to stand on.

I think for a time NRL was basically the only televised sports competition on tv in the world... it forced AFL to dump whatever plans they had and pivot to anything to get their product back up and running, and at whatever cost.

I think AFL were originally planning to "do the right thing" and leave their product on the shelf and wear the financial hits. I think they were mainly going down this path to pander to the media, but also because they had the bank to be able to do that and outlast NRL... if NRL had followed them down that path they would pretty well go bankrupt and AFL's biggest competitor would be gone. I think that's what AFL were planning.

They changed their tune pretty quickly when NRL announced they were coming back.... showing their true nature... but of course that was largely swept under the rug.

I think that mindset and approach of V'Landys should be applauded. If he's not there with his bullish approach and openly leaning/leveraging/lobbying on state governments to get the comp going, then NRL is in a completely different spot right now compared to basically the status quo it's currently able to enjoy.

Imagine if it was a pissant like Greenburg, with zero network or connections, trying to handle covid alone... the comp would probably be dead and AFL would be getting rammed down our throats on the daily.

It was a fucking triumph keeping the lights on. The NRL deserves a standing ovation for it.

The rule changes and whatnot, different subject. Lot of different feelings about those depending on who's doing the feeling. Doesn't hurt to tweak the game and see what works. That's what separates Rugby League from Rugby Union.

 

[McHunt]

I reckon this is a massive fallacy. He literally returned the comp a week or two before some other comps. He literally did what every other comp did, just a bit faster and they all did it better. Getting in first (even that is not exactly true on a global scale I don't think) doesn't mean getting in best. I am pretty sure anyone with half a brain could have done what he did if they were given the same power he was given.

I remember saying at the time I was massively sceptical of all the love he was getting and so I may well be biased against him and if so I am sorry. But look at the following decisions he has made that has made the game WORSE overall:

- Removes a ref (they were struggling with two of them)
- Brings in an almost universally hated 6-again rule with little forethought or planning and results in an almost overnight inundation of one-sided results
- Brings in a high shot crackdown that ruins one of the NRL showpiece weekends with inexplicable inconsistency in penalties / sin-bins and send-offs that further derail some teams' seasons due to over the top ban lengths
- Said decision results in some teams losing due to over the top interpretations of said crackdown (we were a victim of this)
- Introduces a mercenary loop hole that results in some of the bottom teams losing stars to contending teams at the back end of years
- Allows the Melbourne Storm to have legalised gambling agreements with players that do not need to be disclosed
- Introduces incessant gambling advertisements into league coverage that makes games almost unwatchable and is universally hated
- Hastily announces a 17th team with nowhere near enough time to get ready
- Totally ignores Perth which is SCREAMING out for a league team

There are more to add here but I am supposed to be working.

Now compare that to his positives:
- He got the game back a week or two before other codes - Woohoo!

Fucking hell, can we just take a break from whinging for just a second, and give credit to the NRL for leading the way in setting up a framework for sport during a global pandemic.

The NRL did it first. It was a massive deal. Thank you Peter V'landys.

All the other shit, yeah yeah yeah. I did say it's banned to say anything positive about the NRL in here, and you proved it. **** me dead, and they reckon the Poms are whingers.

 

[tommy]

hope they’re paying you well mchunt. Nrl and cm.

 

[Sproj]

Fucking hell, can we just take a break from whinging for just a second, and give credit to the NRL for leading the way in setting up a framework for sport during a global pandemic.

The NRL did it first. It was a massive deal. Thank you Peter V'landys.

All the other shit, yeah yeah yeah. I did say it's banned to say anything positive about the NRL in here, and you proved it. **** me dead, and they reckon the Poms are whingers.

Legit question, why do the NRL 'deserve a standing ovation'? I want details.

 

[tommy]

vlandis Mates at the betting companies were probably all in his ear hurry up we need more money, get some games going.

 

[McHunt]

Legit question, why do the NRL 'deserve a standing ovation'? I want details.

You could've had two years of no rugby league. That was the soft option.

 

[McHunt]

View attachment 19011

hope they’re paying you well mchunt. Nrl and cm.

If you hate the NRL and the Courier Mail, you hate the Broncos.

QED.

 

[tommy]

If you hate the NRL and the Courier Mail, you hate the Broncos.

QED.

Spoken like a spokesperson….

Would you give a standing ovation to a bloke that broke your priceless mantelpiece but then mowed your lawn as compensation?