The General 2010 NRL Discussion Thread

[Google News]

Door closes to UK ''golden handshakes' and Japan

Source:http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=...lden-handshakes-and-japan-20100710-104qb.html

Door closes to UK ''golden handshakes' and Japan
DANIEL LANE
July 11, 2010

FEARS that the NRL's elite players would scatter like vultures to the four corners of the world for king's ransoms from rival codes and competitions have - temporarily, at least - been quelled.

AFL, having already recruited Test stars Israel Folau and Karmichael Hunt, appeared the most likely sport to recruit a marquee player, but the threats from the Australian, Japanese and French rugby unions, and even the English Super League aren't as grave as a year ago due to a combination of the global financial crisis and, in Japan's case, no inclination to ''educate'' league players.

While the Japanese threat is gone, French rugby remained a potential nuisance, the finances in the English Super League meant it was unlikely they'd sign a Thurston or Slater in a hurry, but there was the suggestion that the ARU could consider the NRL's under-20 competition as a talent pool.

Ryan Cross, the ex-Sydney Rooster who played 18 Tests for the Wallabies, predicted former Melbourne Storm player Will Chambers's progress with the Reds could redefine rugby's (league) recruitment policy.

''The ARU said they won't follow the same recruitment pattern [as the past decade] again, but I think the way Will Chambers is playing would mean they'd look at the younger [NRL] players,'' Cross said.

There were concerns last year that the recruitment of former Kangaroo Craig Wing and Cronulla's Fraser Anderson would open the floodgates for cashed-up Japanese rugby clubs to cherry pick the NRL's best.

But former Wallabies coach Eddie Jones, based in Japan, said the inclination from local rugby clubs to invest money - or time - in players who hadn't played that code had passed.

''It's a bit hard because you've only got three spots on the field, you can't have a fourth that you are teaching,'' Jones told The Sun-Herald. ''I doubt very much if we'll see any movement [from league] any time soon.''

Though code jumper Hunt, who played for Biarritz before he returned to AFL for the Gold Coast, warned French teams would court the likes of Billy Slater, Greg Inglis, Cooper Cronk and Cameron Smith with million-dollar rugby contracts.

Earlier this year, Biarritz attempted to lure Kangaroos halfback Johnathan Thurston to France and while he declined the offer it confirmed they're keeping an eye on the NRL. "I think with the amount of money that's in the game over here, they're always on the lookout for talent,'' Hunt said of French rugby. England's Super League has been hit by a number of issues that have made moving north unattractive.

League players are taxed at 50 per cent of all earnings, while a restrictive salary cap has also had an impact on the ''Aussie-isation'' of Super League. Another sticking point was tougher British immigration.

''Three-quarters of the English clubs can't meet their salary cap because they don't generate enough revenue,'' said a Sun-Herald source. ''The days of the golden handshake for Australians are gone.''

 

[Capital_Shark]

How the hell did we lose to souths?

In the fair dinkum department, they are horrible, who loses to the roosters, twice?

You think we have problems at 7, try having that muppet Sandow leading you around

Don't underestimate what Isaac Luke provides to that team, mate.

Also, we were playing like **** when we played them.

I dont think you can call State of Origin and Exhibition match?

Well if your head isn't up your arse, you can't.

 

[Google News]

Footy's dark secret

Source:http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=...otys-dark-secret/story-e6frext9-1225890187564

Footy's dark secret
Ricky Stuart
July 11, 2010 12:00AM

Ben Cousins walked out of hospital - a lesson to us all.

What if he had taken one more sleeping tablet? What if his girlfriend hadn't been there in the morning when he struggled to wake up? What if he had fallen back to sleep without getting to hospital?

What if we don't cop the lesson?

Cousins was once considered the best player in the AFL. He admitted after he got out of hospital that he took a prescription sleeping tablet before going to bed and got the dosage wrong, and that's why he ended up in intensive care and unable to play this weekend.

He ended all the innuendo by immediately requesting a drug test from the AFL, and good on him for doing it.

Some of you might be asking what this has to do with rugby league, and the answer, unfortunately, is a lot more than you would want.

Prescription drugs are the dark threat that hangs over professional sport these days.

There are two reasons why.

The first is that even when used properly, prescription tablets, like sleeping pills, can be a dangerous cocktail in the body of a professional athlete.

For instance, Cousins, by all reports, made an honest mistake.

He took the sleeping tablets because he has trouble sleeping after games, such is the high he is on.

I can understand that.

But it was also acknowledged that he took caffeine tablets before the game earlier that day which, combined with the natural adrenaline the body produces during competition, makes it virtually impossible to get to sleep.

But there is a serious health risk combining these two forms of drugs.

The constant, artificial alteration of the blood pressure in the body dramatically increases the risk of stroke if used over a prolonged period.

The difficulty for us as coaches, as football clubs, as a game, is that caffeine tablets and sleeping tablets are both legal drugs.

Neither is banned under the World Anti-Doping Agency's drug policies.

When you combine this with the pressures of performance, and the fact that competitors want whatever edge they can get, you can see the temptation for the players.

You only need to look at those wrist bands some players are wearing, because of their claims they increase strength, to understand how players are looking for whatever advantage is available.

Nobody is sure whether the bands actually work or are just a trick of the mind, but why take the risk?

A similar attitude is taken with the caffeine tablets before a game.

But who considers the dangers when combined with sleeping tablets?

I can tell you now, we do not prescribe sleeping tablets at the Sharks.

But I need to keep an eye on my players.

We all do.

This is a difficult subject to talk about in rugby league. Some people might even say it is irresponsible to raise the claims.

It is not common in rugby league, but let's keep working on this to make sure it does not become common.

I have seen it with my own eyes and it is a very ugly sight. I would hate to think it becomes common.

So is it irresponsible to raise it, and make it a topic we should address sooner rather than later, or is it irresponsible to ignore it and hope nothing ever comes from it?

What would the AFL be faced with now if Ben Cousins hadn't pulled through?

We need to treat this seriously.

Because the other problem, the dark secret of professional sport, is the use of some sleeping tablets as a social drug.

Some players, young men, are combining prescription sleeping tablets with alcohol as a substitute for the illicit drugs used by other people their age. They know that while their mates' choice of drug won't pass a drug test, to say nothing of being illegal, these kinds of drugs aren't illegal in professional sport. This is a problem spread across all the football codes, not just rugby league.

It is seen by some as a viable alternative, and it worries me.

Over my nine years as an NRL coach, including rep sides, I have coached a lot of players.

And I must say I have coached players who have turned up at training remarkably fresh given that I have known they have been out all night.

The problem is there is no easy solution, and it is hard to police.

I am practically certain these players do not understand the health risks associated with what they are doing.

One of the drugs often mentioned was the drug that Heath Ledger used when he died in New York.

Officially, he died of an acute overdose of prescription drugs. How easy would it be to make such a mistake, particularly when alcohol is also involved?

Last week I spoke to an NRL doctor who told me this drug was particularly dangerous.

Clubs can't be expected to chaperone their players when they head out for the night. Yet by the same token, when young players leave home and come to our club we have a responsibility to look after them.

How do we look after them?

There is no answer, other than vigilance and education.

It needs to start with us at the clubs, and all the NRL clubs need to buy in by simply banning their doctors from handing out prescription sleeping pills.

By making them difficult to obtain, a player who persisted with their use would have to go searching for them, causing him to wrestle with his conscience.

Too often in rugby league we have to live our lesson before we can learn our lesson.

Ben Cousins' close call is a wake-up, a lesson we can learn without our own pain.

 

[BUZ]

Dead set Rick.

Anyone who knows anything about anything knows that the the two reasons you give are ignorant to reality.

The answer to curbing recreational drug use lies in the following question.

What is so wrong with reality that people feel the need to alter it?

 

[Mark^Bastard]

I've been thinking about how the NRL wants to have each team play each other twice with a longer season to increase the money in the sport.

One big problem with that is that any new teams in the comp would throw that idea out the window.

At the moment there's 192 regular season games a year.
They wanted 240 games.

I reckon have 20 teams that play each other once. That's 190 regular season games, about the same as we have now. But to compensate for that have a top 12 finals system and more rep / exhibition games as these are the big ratings earners anyway.

And have no byes. Just have weekends off. If there's only 19 regular season rounds anyway then teams no longer have to be put out by origin and tests.

It'll mean that weaker clubs like the Sharks can stay around in the future and there's less pressure on startup clubs like for example a club in Perth.

 

[BUZ]

Oi... Stop stealing my ideas.

What I propose, is a bit more from left field. I propose to not change the finals system at all! (not yet anyway).

I propose some other changes that would affect the semis from a different angle. All of them probably belong in other threads too .

Include 4 new teams to make a 20 team comp (I'm not making any suggestions on who these teams should be).

Each team play each other once (with the home/away to be spread over two seasons), which would effectively make a 19 game competition.

Every team gets 2/3 weeks off per season, and all at the same time. So no bye points.

During these weeks off are when Rep games are played. So none of this unfairness of playing origin depleted sides.

Co-ordinate it all so that there are proper lead up games to Origin (ie City/Country for both NSW and QLD, and perhaps even something with the Bartercard Premiership). These games would be full on rep fixtures where players are properly vying for Origin/Test selection.

As for TV games during these NRL weeks off, we would have the rep games, but this is also where NSW Cup, NYC, QLD Cup, and the Bartercard Premiership can be promoted to the big time.

^^^^^^ This proposal would take a lot of management and co-ordination granted, however looking outside the square, there can be double headers (played on the same field), perhaps a free to air game on a Tuesday, Nine replace the Footy Show/Sunday Roast with televised games (even a gala League Sunday with games televised from 9am to 11pm) etc etc.

In essence, what I am getting at here, is when it is rep season, and all the stars are on show, put the future stars into the limelight at the same time. Promote the game of Rugby League.

This rough system would make changes to the finals make up. Rather than 50% of the NRL teams making the Finals, now only 40% would. That goes some way to alleviating the "rewarding mediocrity" tag. Also, playing every team once, and no players being forced out of those games due to rep duties would lead to a more fair Top 8 positioning.

On a bigger note...It would also effectively lift the Salary Cap by 25%. Giving a short term solution for the player exodus to other codes/leagues/competitions.

Currently, the NRL Salary Cap is at $65.6M (16 teams X $4.1M). By having 20 teams, the Cap will be raised to $82M. That's a $16.4M addition that can help towards keeping players in the NRL.

The introduction of these 4 teams will help spread the elite player talent around, and introduce more fringe players to the show. These two things alone can help provide for more open and entertaining games.


I have no proposals about where the funding will come from to support the 4 new teams (yet ).

 

[Mark^Bastard]

Haha that is very similar, though I was suggesting the finals series should be longer not shorter.

 

[Murphy]

Hard Day At Work


Spent the day at parramatta stadium for work, watched the eels train today,
pitty it wasnt shark park
i guess i can not complain
had hindmarsh and cayless give us a run down on where they are at the moment. They are very confident at the moment of winning the comp and winning it for cayless,found hindmarsh pretty funny,
also heard from a guy called hayden noales who is the co ordinater for there strength and conditioning he also trains green and that female discus champ??
found it pretty interesting on how much planning goes into each player, his biggest influence was wayne bennett in the kiwi scamp for the world cup campaign that won it in 08 he said he has never found anyone who can lift players like he can, thought id share



if the mods can make the pic a bit bigger i would appreciate

 

[Jigsaw]

Thats awesome, what do you do exactly if you dont mind me asking?

 

[Murphy]

Store Manager at Woolies, South Penrith
Had the Coke Footy Finals launch there today in the cumberland lounge,
the ultimate grandfinal experince is the prize have been to 2 07 and 08 nothing beats grand final day when ur being Mc by Tallis Mortimer and locker,
they present you with the jesery of your choice grab a photo with and and when the nsw cup final finishes they take you down on the field for photos,
you get a poster of it
the 07 grand final is where i discoverd sport ears
you are treated like royality for the day love the granny

 

[SharkBoy]

that's ****ing awesome

get me a job

 

[Jigsaw]

Store Manager at Woolies, South Penrith
Had the Coke Footy Finals launch there today in the cumberland lounge,
the ultimate grandfinal experince is the prize have been to 2 07 and 08 nothing beats grand final day when ur being Mc by Tallis Mortimer and locker,
they present you with the jesery of your choice grab a photo with and and when the nsw cup final finishes they take you down on the field for photos,
you get a poster of it
the 07 grand final is where i discoverd sport ears
you are treated like royality for the day love the granny

I commend you. To become store manger at woolies isnt easy and take alot of hard work. Congrats for reaching that mate!

 

[Murphy]

thanks bud no big deal though,
i saw that tom humble in full flight today he is quick

 

[Special K]

NRL players can't lift as much as normal people because they have to train differently due to the physical nature of footy.

Some clubs don't let their players bench over 200kg for example.

 

[Murphy]

i am deadset amazed when listening to hayden speak about the training routine that happens for each player and how they run a session and the players will do the session but depending on the player it will happen in different ways to suit the training of the player no realised how much prep work and thought was involved

 

[mjef3966]

Store Manager at Woolies, South Penrith
Had the Coke Footy Finals launch there today in the cumberland lounge,
the ultimate grandfinal experince is the prize have been to 2 07 and 08 nothing beats grand final day when ur being Mc by Tallis Mortimer and locker,
they present you with the jesery of your choice grab a photo with and and when the nsw cup final finishes they take you down on the field for photos,
you get a poster of it
the 07 grand final is where i discoverd sport ears
you are treated like royality for the day love the granny

cool!! Im just a stones through away from their @ Cumberland Hospital! if ever you guys want free parking when going to watch a game at parra park at the Cumberland Campus.

 

[chunk67]

i am deadset amazed when listening to hayden speak about the training routine that happens for each player and how they run a session and the players will do the session but depending on the player it will happen in different ways to suit the training of the player no realised how much prep work and thought was involved

can you give some examples of the routines? id love to know what a player does in a fitness sess

 

[bort]

i am deadset amazed when listening to hayden speak about the training routine that happens for each player and how they run a session and the players will do the session but depending on the player it will happen in different ways to suit the training of the player no realised how much prep work and thought was involved

True.

 

[gando2230]

were they learning the Hayne plane?

 

[Ibanez]

Hayne is much bigger up close, aye Murph? (assuming you saw him)