NRL General Discussion Thread - 2016

[Marty Deutschmann]

Don't be surprised to see bird playing fullback for the sharkies.

Word is barba is the fittest he's been in a while but i never trust the "ben barba is back on track" statements. They've never paid out on their promise yet

 

[Broncoman]

 

[Broncoman]

Don't be surprised to see bird playing fullback for the sharkies.

Word is barba is the fittest he's been in a while but i never trust the "ben barba is back on track" statements. They've never paid out on their promise yet

Well what else is he/they supposed to say?

"Yeah i'm on the outer, overrated and overpaid, not even close to the best back in my team etc"

 

[Big Pete]

It appears as if Hadley won't be apart of the Ch. 9 commentary team.

Check 55 minutes in...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJNhtfebZgo

 

[broncos4life]

It appears as if Hadley won't be apart of the Ch. 9 commentary team.

Check 55 minutes in...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJNhtfebZgo

Santa got my letters!

 

[Unbreakable]

He also mentioned Warren Smith, who currently is employed by Fox Sports.. Maybe he's making the switch to Nein?

I could settle for a trio of Ray Warren / Warren Smith / Mat Thompson.

 

[ningnangnong]

Freddie doesn't get much love on here, but I think he's a legend. Love his laidback, not so serious style.

 

[Big Pete]

Agreed ning.

Once you get past his obvious bias, he's actually got a decent mind for the footy and isn't afraid to give his opinions on controversial topics.

That's why the Sunday Footy Show is a must watch for me. Being able to sit down and listen to Freddy, Joey and Sterlo talk footy is incredibly comfortable television.

 

[abashii]

Freddy talks footy? Every time I've watched it, which admittedly isn't that often, he's off his chops blathering at random and giggling to himself. He's a dead set space cadet.
If he could be kept on a tight leash it might work but I don't see him as anything other than the third man to play off two regular people a la the Sunday footy show, and as sideline colour.
If he was a main caller it'd 80 minutes of non jokes, muffled sounds and a strange fascination with Mitchell Pearce.

 

[tommy]

Sunday footy show is 1000x better than Thursday one . They actually spend time talking footy .

 

[Super Freak]

Yeah the footy show is garbage.

The Grand Final special was garbage. Dedicated a small amount of time talking about the game then spent the rest of the show looking at their stupid segments and jokes throughout the year.

One of the reasons why I like the sunday footy show and the matty johns show, because they actually spend a large portion of their air time talking about footy and big news in the rugby league world.

 

[Big Pete]

Freddy talks footy? Every time I've watched it, which admittedly isn't that often, he's off his chops blathering at random and giggling to himself. He's a dead set space cadet.
If he could be kept on a tight leash it might work but I don't see him as anything other than the third man to play off two regular people a la the Sunday footy show, and as sideline colour.
If he was a main caller it'd 80 minutes of non jokes, muffled sounds and a strange fascination with Mitchell Pearce.

Oh god Freddy as a play-by-play commentator. :laugh:

Nah, I just like him as a talking head. Him and Joey bounce off each other really well and there were times last season where they came off as footy nerds, talking up really underrated players that rarely get a mention in the media.

There's definitely a bit of bogan in Freddy - it comes with being a westy but I think he plays the space cadet aspect up to get a rise out of Ray and loosen the team up. When he wants to be, he can be serious and make genuinely good points.

Yeah the footy show is garbage.

The Grand Final special was garbage. Dedicated a small amount of time talking about the game then spent the rest of the show looking at their stupid segments and jokes throughout the year.

One of the reasons why I like the sunday footy show and the matty johns show, because they actually spend a large portion of their air time talking about footy and big news in the rugby league world.

It's been garbage since the 90s.

Strangely, it was around the time they took Hadley off the show that it really began to deteriorate. Back then, it had a really nice balance and then they got caught up in all the Anti-Ad, No Talent Time, Daredevil Dudes, That's Gold etc. etc. stuff which made it into a poor man's Hey Hey.

The M. Johns show is definitely better, but it felt watered down being on two different nights. The comedy was alright, but the footy discussion was all over the shop. Fletch, Gordie and Hindy offer next to nothing in that department, leaving it to Brandy and Matt. Maybe it's just my bias showing, but I thought Brandy was fine last year - he seemed genuinely confident in the Broncos from the start and was willing to cop a bagging for it. Matty just seems to chase headlines and his 'mail' is usually off. To me, it seems like he's trying too hard to be entertaining and isn't trying to impart his knowledge on the game. I mean, this is a guy who worked with Melbourne as their halves coach - he isn't as stupid as he lets on with the game of Rugby League yet when he's giving an opinion he tends to piggyback a lot without thinking about it.

 

[abashii]

Oh god Freddy as a play-by-play commentator. :laugh:

I hadn't clicked the youtube link when I wrote that post, so I thought people were talking about Adolf as a replacement for Hadley.

As you say, Freddy makes for a good talking head but he's like hard drugs: often found with Joey Johns, great fun in small doses but have too much and your brain will melt and run out of your ears.

 

[Broncoman]

Anything that will get Hadley off the commentary team is great, hope they get Gilbert of as well. Hadley pretty much ruins the game for me and Gilbert is as useless as an ashtray on a harley when it comes to commentating.

 

[Super Freak]

So, the NRL said they will crack down on players that don't play the ball properly. You either play it with the foot or get penalised.

If they do, I wonder how much that will hurt the Roosters?

 

[Cult]

The Roosters will be fine until they start cracking down on forward passes.

 

[Big Pete]

It will last three weeks, at which point a game will go down to the wire, a big name player will play the ball incorrectly and everyone will blow up at the referee because he did his job.

This is how it usually goes

*indiscretion happens*
Phil Gould: Well, this is unbelievable. We've been here for 77 minutes? 78 minutes and the man with the whistle decides he has to decide the game.

*replay airs*

Awwwww no, no, no, no! That's not a penalty Rabbits. Fans don't come to the game to watch the referee! They come to the game to watch two teams go at it! And I can't blame the men with the whistle. They're just following orders. It's the out-of-touch administration that doesn't know the first thing about football.

Disgraceful.

Media: Trent, what did you make of that penalty with two minutes to go.

Robinson: You know I can't comment on those calls. However, I doubt we'll see those type of calls for the rest of the season.

Phil Rothfield: The NRL is a disgrace! Poor lil Timmy travelled 500 miles to watch his beloved Roosters lose, not at the hands of the Cowboys but by the incompetence of the officials and the asinine rules.

*Wednesday*

Sterlo: Earlier today the NRL announced that they would be scrapping the controversial play-the-ball ruling, in what I feel is the best move for the game moving forward. I know we've got to respect the officials, but by the same token, a bit of leniency and discretion is required so that the fans at home get to enjoy the game. Moving forward, and I'm sitting here with the magnificent Manly #7, Daly Cherry-Evans and now Daly, can you please tell us what happened to your team-mate Nate Myles on the weekend?

It's like clockwork.

2007 and 2013 with obstructions, 2011 with kicking behind the line, 2009 and 2014 with ruck interpretations. Unfortunately the game seldom commits to anything and by the time July rolls around, the game is completely different and all the usual suspects are doing well.

And yet, silly rules like the torso try and the seven tackle restart remain.

 

[Super Freak]

I think you pretty much nailed Gus & Sterlo.