NRL 2022 Grand Final Discussion

winslow_wong said:
Imagine if they get a three-peat. Pray for another team to rise up next year. The broncos maybe?
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Broncos are fucking miles away from a premiership at present... so if the broncos can't win it, or even be close to competing for it, then panthers dominating the competition is good for us, as it will force NSWRL's hand.

They can't have their entire comp being a one horse race, because it will drive fans away... what's the point of any fans getting excited about the season if you're playing for second. How would Parra fans be feeling right now with their team having just been dominated by the runaway premiers and losing key players next year... meanwhile Penrith are pretty well in tact with capable replacements coming in for the Api's, etc. next year anyway... given they just won every competition across the grades.

There's also a separation of the top 4-6 teams and the bottom 8, so fans of perpetual bottom 8 teams will start turning away, because they know their team is miles off the pace and there's literally nothing that can be done to change that situation given the top teams can vulture away talent from the bottom teams at lower wages.... or shit teams having to pay mass overs for star players to stay (i.e. Ponga).

These issues mean something is wrong.... if Melbourne, rorters or souths steal a premiership from Penrith next year, then NSWRL can put their heads in the sand, spruik their diversity of premiers and continue to run with their "shit teams just need to be better"... whilst not having to put anything in place to close the gap between the top and bottom teams.
 
BroncsFan said:
Broncos are fucking miles away from a premiership at present... so if the broncos can't win it, or even be close to competing for it, then panthers dominating the competition is good for us, as it will force NSWRL's hand.

They can't have their entire comp being a one horse race, because it will drive fans away... what's the point of any fans getting excited about the season if you're playing for second. How would Parra fans be feeling right now with their team having just been dominated by the runaway premiers and losing key players next year... meanwhile Penrith are pretty well in tact with capable replacements coming in for the Api's, etc. next year anyway... given they just won every competition across the grades.

There's also a separation of the top 4-6 teams and the bottom 8, so fans of perpetual bottom 8 teams will start turning away, because they know their team is miles off the pace and there's literally nothing that can be done to change that situation given the top teams can vulture away talent from the bottom teams at lower wages.... or shit teams having to pay mass overs for star players to stay (i.e. Ponga).

These issues mean something is wrong.... if Melbourne, rorters or souths steal a premiership from Penrith next year, then NSWRL can put their heads in the sand, spruik their diversity of premiers and continue to run with their "shit teams just need to be better"... whilst not having to put anything in place to close the gap between the top and bottom teams.
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I think they will lose quite a few promising players tbh because they wont have pathways to the NRL team. Thats an issue with having a young NRL side. They have already lost their best young half because they have other halves playing who havent even hit their prime years. They have lost their best player from the weekends game against the Devils and one of their best young back rowers as well.
 
Wolfie said:
I think they will lose quite a few promising players tbh because they wont have pathways to the NRL team. Thats an issue with having a young NRL side. They have already lost their best young half because they have other halves playing who havent even hit their prime years. They have lost their best player from the weekends game against the Devils and one of their best young back rowers as well.
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They will definitely lose promising players, but their spine is pretty well in tact and is top tier... so they probably only need to keep putting role players around them.

Cleary and his boot ain't going anywhere anytime soon... he's also not demanding $1.5m from Penrith, which he could quite easily get. Yeo is also unlikely to be going anywhere and despite being considered one of the best locks in the comp will probably stay there for well unders.

Edwards is very solid for their system and likely on well unders... and Soni Luke looks to be a solid hooker to take over from Api, although time will tell. I didn't think Kenny looked up to it and thought that may become a hinderance, but Soni came into first grade through the year and looked pretty damn good.

Luai is one that could look elsewhere for good coin, but other than that their spine looks to be largely stable for at least the next 2-3 years... and Cleary's presence means it's top tier for as long as he's there. To me Luai also looks replaceable in their spine as he just has to park himself on the left and manage that edge, whilst Cleary, Yeo and Api (soon to be Soni) run the rest of the field.

For the teams trying to catch up there is a dearth of quality spine players across the comp, so penrith having a top tier spine puts them in the upper echelon of teams.

The ridiculous inflation of player wages means recruiting a good spine will be extremely difficult for the chasing teams... Gutho was after $800k and Moses basically wants as much as Cleary... so teams have to turn to development to catch up and hope they can find a generational player... except the inflated player wages come into play and desperate teams throwing crazy money at them.

For the chasing teams you basically need a generational junior to come through and have immense loyalty to the club, so they'll take unders and allow a team to be built around them.

The exception to the rule would be the rorters who can seemingly buy whoever they want whenever they want and move on anyone they want with no ramifications.
 
I tell you what as a random segue, I was watching the championship final in England yesterday and I still cannot figure out how Lachlan Lam never made it in the NRL. I just feel if he was at any club other than the Roosters, he’d be a gun NRL half right now, he has all the skills and then some. If we are looking for a Reynolds replacement eventually, keep an eye on him. He’d bring his dad too which would be a bit of a coup.
 
the NRL reportedly attracted a record-low national audience of 2.367m.

The OzTam figures were respectable in Sydney, where 837,000 tuned in, but average to poor elsewhere in the country.
 
Foordy said:
the NRL reportedly attracted a record-low national audience of 2.367m.

The OzTam figures were respectable in Sydney, where 837,000 tuned in, but average to poor elsewhere in the country.
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All of the figures haven't come in yet. That's just for FTA. Still got streaming services to take into account.

By the end of the week we should know the total figure.
 
That's down nearly 700,000 from last year's national audience.

I expect streaming to be up and I'd expect it to bump it up to 2.9 million, but that's still well below the 3.596 million combined number.
 
It's more than likely going to be down from last year's GF, but COVID also played a part last year with the lockdowns so it resulted in more people being home to watch it.

It's around the same mark as GF ratings pre-lockdowns and I think the fact that two Western Sydney teams that most fans outside of those clubs hate was also a factor.
 
I just think last year was a more intriguing match-up. Even without Latrell, Souths defeated Penrith earlier in the finals and with Bennett & Marshall involved it had a wider appeal. It ended up being a better game as well, whereas this was basically over after 15 minutes.

I think Cowboys-Panthers would have drawn a better rating. It would have still been down on last year's but not as disasterous.
 
I have no wish to death ride my own chosen sport, but V'landy is destroying the very fabric of our game with his 'on the run' rule changes. Another couple of seasons like the last one and the game will start to hemorrhage huge numbers of fans.

i have went from 31-year season member to attending only two games this year and one of them was in Canberra.

The game is in serious decline.
 
Foordy said:
then we'd have to go through the whole nepotism debate again
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Oh dude, why would you think I care about that? Regardless, Lachlan Lam is an amazingly talented half. Unfortunately for him, he was at the one club in the league who churns through good young halves.
 
That Penrith team are light years ahead, looks like they have been kept together as a group for many years and the player pathways at Penrith are just crushing it.. Doesn't make a difference who coaches that team they are going to win, 3 GF's in a row...
 
Ryan Matterson has chosen to take a 3 match ban instead a $4k fine for his grapple tackle in the GF

he says:

“I just feel $4000 is pretty hefty considering I have already paid nearly $4000 in fines already this year for things that are absurd,” Matterson said.

“At the end of the day I’ve got personal things to worry about outside of rugby league. I just didn’t think it was warranted …

“If you do something wrong at work, they don’t take money off you.
“At the end of the day, I didn’t do anything wrong. I’m playing rugby league, it’s just getting quicker and quicker and people are getting stronger and stronger – and the game keeps changing rules.

“The fines need to go.”

Matterson said he was shocked that he received a ban when Panthers playmaker Jarome Luai escaped sanction after appearing to strike out at an Eels player with his foot.

“It didn’t make sense to me,” Matterson said.
“At the time I thought it was definitely a penalty, but I didn’t think it would go much further than that.

“It makes you think ‘Where is this game heading?’ ”

Matterson said he was stunned that any sanction above an on-field penalty was warranted.

“To be honest, the way Dylan backed in towards me and kept driving his legs, I tried to get his head out,” Matterson said.

“He just kept backpedalling – I’m not going to let him backpedal 100 metres. So I had to stop him. There wasn’t much in it. It was the typical look of a crusher tackle, but there was no pressure involved.

“I was very shocked they said four weeks [if Matterson had gone to the judiciary and be found guilty]. I guess that’s what they are cracking down on.

“To be honest, four weeks for that incident itself is blown way out of [proportion].

“You’ve got to have more consistency. There’s a lot of things that are getting swept under the carpet.”
 
Foordy said:
Ryan Matterson has chosen to take a 3 match ban instead a $4k fine for his grapple tackle in the GF

he says:

“I just feel $4000 is pretty hefty considering I have already paid nearly $4000 in fines already this year for things that are absurd,” Matterson said.

“At the end of the day I’ve got personal things to worry about outside of rugby league. I just didn’t think it was warranted …

“If you do something wrong at work, they don’t take money off you.
“At the end of the day, I didn’t do anything wrong. I’m playing rugby league, it’s just getting quicker and quicker and people are getting stronger and stronger – and the game keeps changing rules.

“The fines need to go.”

Matterson said he was shocked that he received a ban when Panthers playmaker Jarome Luai escaped sanction after appearing to strike out at an Eels player with his foot.

“It didn’t make sense to me,” Matterson said.
“At the time I thought it was definitely a penalty, but I didn’t think it would go much further than that.

“It makes you think ‘Where is this game heading?’ ”

Matterson said he was stunned that any sanction above an on-field penalty was warranted.

“To be honest, the way Dylan backed in towards me and kept driving his legs, I tried to get his head out,” Matterson said.

“He just kept backpedalling – I’m not going to let him backpedal 100 metres. So I had to stop him. There wasn’t much in it. It was the typical look of a crusher tackle, but there was no pressure involved.

“I was very shocked they said four weeks [if Matterson had gone to the judiciary and be found guilty]. I guess that’s what they are cracking down on.

“To be honest, four weeks for that incident itself is blown way out of [proportion].

“You’ve got to have more consistency. There’s a lot of things that are getting swept under the carpet.”
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But but we are told by some posters on here and by Vlandys that the game makes good attempts at being fair and equitable and that league is in the best state its ever been in.

This sort of comment from a player...I mean...who could have seen it coming?
 
Gillett suffered a fractured neck from a tackle that applied pressure to the head/neck. Players have come close to having their careers cut short as a result of them. I don't think Matterson can complain too much about being charged and suspended for it.

 
Super Freak said:
Gillett suffered a fractured neck from a tackle that applied pressure to the head/neck. Players have come close to having their careers cut short as a result of them. I don't think Matterson can complain too much about being charged and suspended for it.

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How much responsibility falls on the bloke backpeddling into the tackle though?
He KNOWS that putting himself in this position will achieve one of two outcomes.
1 - he makes a ton of ground.
2 - he milks a crusher penalty.
 
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