Ok, This One Is For The Nrl Fans

[David48]

That James Graham is pretty forward with his gnashers. he looks like he has just jumped out of a Viking Longboat, high on reindeer piss, beserk and ready to ruck and roll.

Now I know who you mean ...

Charged in the Grand Final for biting?

Recent photo below ...

Edited June 5, 2013 by David48

[keddy]

Just a big soppy love bite between consenting adults though Slater does seem to cop a lot, more than most,.but always comes back for more. By the way has there been a James Graham vs Michael Crocker face off yet.That would be pretty colourful

[tjshannonigans]

Pre match entertainment is garbage!

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[tjshannonigans]

FANTASTIC RESULT!

Gallen snotting Myles.. and getting away with it. Australia only

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[ripstanley]

FANTASTIC RESULT!

Gallen snotting Myles.. and getting away with it. Australia only

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Great result for NSW. Gallen is on report. Time will tell.

[David48]

.

My thoughts on the game over in the State of Origin thread HERE

.

[Bikkii]

Go the mighty F@@ckin BLUES ! Dominant all night.

How about Gallen knocking the Chernobyl survivor (Myles) around like he was a rag doll !

Gee, you could be drunk as and not miss a head that size. He is a dog, and got shown tonight by our mighty captain which state really is the boss!!!!

The atmosphere up in QLD next game will be out of control, lets hope our boys have the motorcade on hand to actually make it to the ground.

[keddy]

Merged clubs in the NRL

I'm a bit of a new comer to the Australian RL so this one is for any grizzled veterans who might enlighten me about the merged clubs in the NRL. I'd like to know about the supporters attitude to it. I know there were some bad feeling from the North Sydney supporters when Manly merged with them. It seems Manly swallowed them up and moved on up, What about the attitude of the Illawara and Balmain supporters? Do they feel that they were left high and dry or do they feel part of the new identity of the new clubs..It seems strange to an outsider that a club could merge with their rival and carry on. I know this was rejected in Hull for the proposed merger of the two clubs there. Do the supporters in Sydney shrug their shoulders and think thats part of financial reality and/or there are too many clubs in the area and accept it, or is there some bad feeling, burning away, that some lawyers and accountants have wiped out our clubs at the top level?

[tw25rw]

Merged clubs in the NRL

I'm a bit of a new comer to the Australian RL so this one is for any grizzled veterans who might enlighten me about the merged clubs in the NRL. I'd like to know about the supporters attitude to it. I know there were some bad feeling from the North Sydney supporters when Manly merged with them. It seems Manly swallowed them up and moved on up, What about the attitude of the Illawara and Balmain supporters? Do they feel that they were left high and dry or do they feel part of the new identity of the new clubs..It seems strange to an outsider that a club could merge with their rival and carry on. I know this was rejected in Hull for the proposed merger of the two clubs there. Do the supporters in Sydney shrug their shoulders and think thats part of financial reality and/or there are too many clubs in the area and accept it, or is there some bad feeling, burning away, that some lawyers and accountants have wiped out our clubs at the top level?

I'm both a lifelong Balmain and West Ham supporter..

The merger still pains me, though the success of 2005 tempered that a bit. I'm glad we kept the Tigers identity, but the multitude of different strips and home grounds hasn't won me over. I suppose it was inevitable if the game was to expand outside of Sydney. On the other hand Melbourne have become my second team after living there for a while and regularly going. Long hated Souths and Manly btw.

Imagine if West Ham merged with a rival, eg Charlton, and played home games at UP and the Valley with local derbies at the Olympic stadium and hybrid strips and club names.. Doesn't bear thinking about..

[Bikkii]

Merged clubs in the NRL

I'm a bit of a new comer to the Australian RL so this one is for any grizzled veterans who might enlighten me about the merged clubs in the NRL. I'd like to know about the supporters attitude to it. I know there were some bad feeling from the North Sydney supporters when Manly merged with them. It seems Manly swallowed them up and moved on up, What about the attitude of the Illawara and Balmain supporters? Do they feel that they were left high and dry or do they feel part of the new identity of the new clubs..It seems strange to an outsider that a club could merge with their rival and carry on. I know this was rejected in Hull for the proposed merger of the two clubs there. Do the supporters in Sydney shrug their shoulders and think thats part of financial reality and/or there are too many clubs in the area and accept it, or is there some bad feeling, burning away, that some lawyers and accountants have wiped out our clubs at the top level?

I'm a Manly supporter and we hated it with such a fury when they made us merge with our arch rival. People stopped going to watch and we had one of the worst sides to ever run onto Brookvale Oval. It was a shame for both teams, and for RL in general. I use to love going to North Sydney Oval for the local derby. 15 thousand and the place was busting at the seems. Great atmosphere though!

[keddy]

Merged clubs in the NRL

I'm a bit of a new comer to the Australian RL so this one is for any grizzled veterans who might enlighten me about the merged clubs in the NRL. I'd like to know about the supporters attitude to it. I know there were some bad feeling from the North Sydney supporters when Manly merged with them. It seems Manly swallowed them up and moved on up, What about the attitude of the Illawara and Balmain supporters? Do they feel that they were left high and dry or do they feel part of the new identity of the new clubs..It seems strange to an outsider that a club could merge with their rival and carry on. I know this was rejected in Hull for the proposed merger of the two clubs there. Do the supporters in Sydney shrug their shoulders and think thats part of financial reality and/or there are too many clubs in the area and accept it, or is there some bad feeling, burning away, that some lawyers and accountants have wiped out our clubs at the top level?

I'm both a lifelong Balmain and West Ham supporter..

The merger still pains me, though the success of 2005 tempered that a bit. I'm glad we kept the Tigers identity, but the multitude of different strips and home grounds hasn't won me over. I suppose it was inevitable if the game was to expand outside of Sydney. On the other hand Melbourne have become my second team after living there for a while and regularly going. Long hated Souths and Manly btw.

Imagine if West Ham merged with a rival, eg Charlton, and played home games at UP and the Valley with local derbies at the Olympic stadium and hybrid strips and club names.. Doesn't bear thinking about..

Indeed, the thought of merging with Charlton merging with us, really doesn't bear thinking about. It was bad enough when they had to locate temporarily to our place with hoardes of them standing at the end of Upton Park platform,, taking down the numbers, before walking down to the ground. As for Balmain I understand they still operate as a seperate club in a lower league. Do they they still pull in a few numbers for those fixtures? Do a few die hards boycott the merged club? The St George Illawarra set up seems even stranger; like us merging with Ipswich.. Is there not enough money or support to keep these clubs seperate? At least with the Souths they had a bit of supporter's action against these corporate scunts and got them themselves reinstated. I think of the Rabbitohs as the equivalent of WHU; located in the run down part of the city, passionate die, hard support. a lot of people's 2nd favourite club (which can be a curse) and a couple of meglomaniacs using every PR trick to get the club in the media eye!.Anyway I'm happy to follow it in Thailand and one day I'll try to get over for a couple of games.

Merg

I'm a Manly supporter and we hated it with such a fury when they made us merge with our arch rival. People stopped going to watch and we had one of the worst sides to ever run onto Brookvale Oval. It was a shame for both teams, and for RL in general. I use to love going to North Sydney Oval for the local derby. 15 thousand and the place was busting at the seems. Great atmosphere though!

That would piss me off if I were either one of those supporters.. Who is/are behind these decisions? They're trying to kill the heritage of the sport. Though in Manly's case they seem to have kept their identity and their ground better than some others

[charlieboz]

In the mid 90's they had the super league 'war'. Basically Rupert Murdoch wanted Rugby League for pay tv in Australia, couldn't get it so started a new competition with half the players and teams (pretty much every team outside of Sydney, except 1, and a few of the big Sydney clubs). They where going to revolutionise the game, blah, blah blah.

When the competitions merged together a few years later they had to get rid of a few teams as there where too many (the powers that be said). So they gave money to any teams that merged and created a set or rules/conditions (crowd attendance, sponsorship levels, etc) to decide who stayed. Teams then joined together as they probably would not have been the team to make the cut (Balmain and Western Suburbs, Steelers and Dragons) and did not want to be kicked out. Hence the merged clubs.

Souths did not merge and where kicked out but took it to court a couple of years later and where allowed back in. This is part of the reason a lot of people like them, they are seen as the underdogs who fought the rich and won (also they have been so bad for so long that for a proud club to now be making a comeback is always a good story, like when the Tigers won in 2005).

This is a really basic summary, please don't anyone jump down my throat if I have forgotten anything (in case you did not know Keddy it is still a sore point with a lot of RL supporters in Australia). Lastly, go the Raiders!

[charlieboz]

Also the reason Manly kept their identity better is that they are no longer part of a merged team; the merged team was disbanded and the Bears where kicked out of the competition and Manly allowed to stay in. Not sure how/why they where allowed to stay in but not the Bears but a lot of Bears supporters I knew in Sydney have never gotten over it and refuse to support RL to this day. Hopefully if they bring a new team into the competition it will be on the Central Coast of NSW and they will be called the Central Coast Bears as has been mooted a lot in the press

Edited June 8, 2013 by charlieboz

[keddy]

Thanks for that Charlie, Yes, I can well see that this fiasco of merging clubs must be still a sore point for many RL supporters in Australia. It has happened to a couple of lower league clubs in Assciation Football in England; Dagenham and Redbridge, Rushden and Diamonds but at the higher lever it would be totally unacceptable, it would be easier to merge Israel and Palestine though maybe it's easier to keep these clubs afloat and independent; bigger crowds, more money etc

[StreetCowboy]

Is the NRL franchised, like the RFL?

In England, the association football leagues are big enough that no matter what mishaps befall a club, there is a space for it, somewhere down the divisions. In Scotland, Rangers have shown the resilience that a well-supported club can show as it slips down the leagues, though I suspect their creditors may have been wishing Ibrox was properly auctioned off...

On the other hand, smaller clubs like Inverness Thistle and Caledonian have to decide whether their own parochial rivalries are more important than success on a bigger stage.

SC

[David48]

SC ... I'm not exactly sure what you mean by 'franchised'.

The 2 Clubs that had the heavy corporate hand (News Corp) were Brisbane Broncos and the Melbourne Storm.

The Brisbane Broncos are/were listed on the Australian Stock Exchange and just last week, the Melbourne Storm was sold to a consortium from New Zealand.

[tw25rw]

SC ... I'm not exactly sure what you mean by 'franchised'.

The 2 Clubs that had the heavy corporate hand (News Corp) were Brisbane Broncos and the Melbourne Storm.

The Brisbane Broncos are/were listed on the Australian Stock Exchange and just last week, the Melbourne Storm was sold to a consortium from New Zealand.

Hope they don't try to move Melbourne storm away from Melbourne. They have a loyal supporter base in a city that has always been hostile to all things rugby..

[ripstanley]

In the mid 90's they had the super league 'war'. Basically Rupert Murdoch wanted Rugby League for pay tv in Australia, couldn't get it so started a new competition with half the players and teams (pretty much every team outside of Sydney, except 1, and a few of the big Sydney clubs). They where going to revolutionise the game, blah, blah blah.

When the competitions merged together a few years later they had to get rid of a few teams as there where too many (the powers that be said). So they gave money to any teams that merged and created a set or rules/conditions (crowd attendance, sponsorship levels, etc) to decide who stayed. Teams then joined together as they probably would not have been the team to make the cut (Balmain and Western Suburbs, Steelers and Dragons) and did not want to be kicked out. Hence the merged clubs.

Souths did not merge and where kicked out but took it to court a couple of years later and where allowed back in. This is part of the reason a lot of people like them, they are seen as the underdogs who fought the rich and won (also they have been so bad for so long that for a proud club to now be making a comeback is always a good story, like when the Tigers won in 2005).

This is a really basic summary, please don't anyone jump down my throat if I have forgotten anything (in case you did not know Keddy it is still a sore point with a lot of RL supporters in Australia). Lastly, go the Raiders!

I have followed Souths since 1969 when they lost to Balmain in the Grand Final. When they were kicked out by the ARL I was so pissed off I started following Sydney Swans in the AFL. Now I follow both clubs. Go South Sydney.

Edited June 8, 2013 by ripstanley

[tw25rw]

I'm a bit out of touch now, but there was a team called Balmain-Ryde-Eastwood who wore Balmain colours. The mergers were all linked with the Superleague fiasco and were hated at the time. I still begrudge the clubs that went to Superleague. They are only now finally getting rid of Murdoch's dirty hands from the game.

If you ever get to Sydney, pay a visit to a Leagues club. They are big social clubs/casinos linked to the football club but who probably generate more money. My local one was Wests Ashfield. I don't know why English clubs don't do something like that.

Indeed, the thought of merging with Charlton merging with us, really doesn't bear thinking about. It was bad enough when they had to locate temporarily to our place with hoardes of them standing at the end of Upton Park platform,, taking down the numbers, before walking down to the ground. As for Balmain I understand they still operate as a seperate club in a lower league. Do they they still pull in a few numbers for those fixtures? Do a few die hards boycott the merged club? The St George Illawarra set up seems even stranger; like us merging with Ipswich.. Is there not enough money or support to keep these clubs seperate? At least with the Souths they had a bit of supporter's action against these corporate scunts and got them themselves reinstated. I think of the Rabbitohs as the equivalent of WHU; located in the run down part of the city, passionate die, hard support. a lot of people's 2nd favourite club (which can be a curse) and a couple of meglomaniacs using every PR trick to get the club in the media eye!.Anyway I'm happy to follow it in Thailand and one day I'll try to get over for a couple of games.

[keddy]

As you probably know, there used to be that members building behind the old South Bank though it was not used to it's potential or developed like, for example, the huge complex that the Rabbitohs used to have. However didn't they end up selling that? As for the Irons In the future I hope they'll be a bit more space to develop that kind of thing near the Olympic stadium unless Barry Hearn or Sheffield Utd take an injunction against it. .

BTW Do people follow the NRL on cable or satellite in England in any big way?. In Chiang mai you can watch the RL Superleague on cable and the NRL nationwide in Thailand on True/Setanta though a live union game aways takes preference over the NRL They then show them in the middle of the night. .

[ripstanley]

As you probably know, there used to be that members building behind the old South Bank though it was not used to it's potential or developed like, for example, the huge complex that the Rabbitohs used to have. However didn't they end up selling that? As for the Irons In the future I hope they'll be a bit more space to develop that kind of thing near the Olympic stadium unless Barry Hearn or Sheffield Utd take an injunction against it. .

BTW Do people follow the NRL on cable or satellite in England in any big way?. In Chiang mai you can watch the RL Superleague on cable and the NRL nationwide in Thailand on True/Setanta though a live union game aways takes preference over the NRL They then show them in the middle of the night. .

The complex I think you are talking about was the South Sydney Juniors Rugby League Club. This was totally independent of the South Sydney Rugby League Club. The old Souths Sydney is now known as the Rabbitohs. Us old supporters still refer to them as South Sydney.

[keddy]

As you probably know, there used to be that members building behind the old South Bank though it was not used to it's potential or developed like, for example, the huge complex that the Rabbitohs used to have. However didn't they end up selling that? As for the Irons In the future I hope they'll be a bit more space to develop that kind of thing near the Olympic stadium unless Barry Hearn or Sheffield Utd take an injunction against it. .

BTW Do people follow the NRL on cable or satellite in England in any big way?. In Chiang mai you can watch the RL Superleague on cable and the NRL nationwide in Thailand on True/Setanta though a live union game aways takes preference over the NRL They then show them in the middle of the night. .

The complex I think you are talking about was the South Sydney Juniors Rugby League Club. This was totally independent of the South Sydney Rugby League Club. The old Souths Sydney is now known as the Rabbitohs. Us old supporters still refer to them as South Sydney.

I think you're splitting hares and it's not very bunny

[tw25rw]

As you probably know, there used to be that members building behind the old South Bank though it was not used to it's potential or developed like, for example, the huge complex that the Rabbitohs used to have. However didn't they end up selling that? As for the Irons In the future I hope they'll be a bit more space to develop that kind of thing near the Olympic stadium unless Barry Hearn or Sheffield Utd take an injunction against it. .

BTW Do people follow the NRL on cable or satellite in England in any big way?. In Chiang mai you can watch the RL Superleague on cable and the NRL nationwide in Thailand on True/Setanta though a live union game aways takes preference over the NRL They then show them in the middle of the night. .

The complex I think you are talking about was the South Sydney Juniors Rugby League Club. This was totally independent of the South Sydney Rugby League Club. The old Souths Sydney is now known as the Rabbitohs. Us old supporters still refer to them as South Sydney.

i seem to remember Souths Juniors also provided some money to the NRL club. Provided loads of players as well.

[tw25rw]

As you probably know, there used to be that members building behind the old South Bank though it was not used to it's potential or developed like, for example, the huge complex that the Rabbitohs used to have. However didn't they end up selling that? As for the Irons In the future I hope they'll be a bit more space to develop that kind of thing near the Olympic stadium unless Barry Hearn or Sheffield Utd take an injunction against it. .

BTW Do people follow the NRL on cable or satellite in England in any big way?. In Chiang mai you can watch the RL Superleague on cable and the NRL nationwide in Thailand on True/Setanta though a live union game aways takes preference over the NRL They then show them in the middle of the night. .

The supporters club is still there. Never been in, but it looks like a shack. Even the Boleyn is more appealing.

[StreetCowboy]

SC ... I'm not exactly sure what you mean by 'franchised'.

The 2 Clubs that had the heavy corporate hand (News Corp) were Brisbane Broncos and the Melbourne Storm.

The Brisbane Broncos are/were listed on the Australian Stock Exchange and just last week, the Melbourne Storm was sold to a consortium from New Zealand.

By franchised I mean that there is no automatic promotion and relegation; the top team from the lower division may be invited to join,or an artificially generated new team may be invited - like Celtic Crusaders. Franchising avoids teams yo-yoing between divisions; Widnes, who arrived in Superleague last season (although that season they were not top in the Championship, I think) finished bottom, but this season are doing much better.

Similarly, the membership of the PRO12 in Europe is fixed, while the French and English leagues have promotion and relegation.

So is there promotion and relegation from the top division of the NRL?

SC

[David48]

^^ There is no 2nd division in the NRL.

You finish bottom at the end of the season, you get an early shower and a 'Wooden Spoon' for your efforts.

The lower competitions are based on different criteria.

[Bikkii]

Also the reason Manly kept their identity better is that they are no longer part of a merged team; the merged team was disbanded and the Bears where kicked out of the competition and Manly allowed to stay in. Not sure how/why they where allowed to stay in but not the Bears but a lot of Bears supporters I knew in Sydney have never gotten over it and refuse to support RL to this day. Hopefully if they bring a new team into the competition it will be on the Central Coast of NSW and they will be called the Central Coast Bears as has been mooted a lot in the press

The reasons Manly stayed in the comp and not the Bears were quite a few. Larger crowd numbers, globally known (within RL stakes), financially better off, far more succesful and lets not forget the team everyone (besides us Manly supporters) loves to hate! This hatred alone (began by Roy Masters and his Wests), still lives on and is great for the game.

I am all for the Central Coast Bears! I have voiced many times in polls and to others how I wish this was the next team included. Big area, big Rugby League following. Alas, looks like we are heading for another Brisbane team. I like the idea of a Papua New Guinea side too. Talk about passion. This country has its highest amount of beheadings around Origin, grand final time depending on which team they support, crazy!

[keddy]

The second Brisbane side has a bit of an unfortunate nickname, 'The Bombers'. I would have thought the Bucaneers or the Bastards would be a better choice . If they did come in, it would be pretty interesting to see where they would draw their support from. Would any Bronco's fans jump ship? Would they get support from another part of the city? Are there a lot of people already in Brisbane who don't like the Broncos.who would follow the new boys?

As for the Bears would the old north Sydney crowd commute and watch them play at their new location?

If it was a team from PNG what would would they call them? The Headhunters?

[tw25rw]

I think it's a waste of time having another Brisbane team in it. They should have another go in Adelaide or Perth rather than trying to move in on an established team's turf. The Crusher's didn't last long previously.

[keddy]

Good comeback and result for the Tigers, TW! You must be well pleased with that.