Basically, I have watched every Grand Final for over 20 years (2003 I couldn’t watch live for religious reasons) as I would imagine most footy fans have. But this year I really don’t think I’m going to watch the game.

There are a number of reasons for this.

First and foremost, yes I am a Rabbitohs fan and whilst Manly beat my team fair and square, it was a heartbreaking defeat, after a magnificent season. I don’t blame the players and I’m not angry about it, but it still feels like a bit of a wasted season and I’m still very disappointed about it. Last year the team lost at the same point, but the expectations were different, as was the fashion in which we lost the game.

I have been fortunate enough to have been out of Sydney since the morning after the game last Friday and have basically avoided all Grand Final media and discussion. So yes, there is definitely a sour grapes element to it, but for my own state of mind and ability to completely get over the agonising defeat last week, I feel like it is best for me to avoid watching the big game which my team isn’t in.

Now of course, I’ve never seen my team actually compete in the Grand Final, but it’s only hard to watch if I feel like they actually should have been there… which is fair to say has not been the case until last year.

This brings me to the other sour grapes side to why I’m not watching. Not only is my team not playing, but the two teams that are playing are the two teams I dislike the most. I have joked this week that picking between the Roosters and Manly is like picking between Germany and Japan in 1942. Obviously that comment is over the top and I don’t actually think of those teams like countries we were at war with, but you get the idea.

I don’t want either team to win and I won’t enjoy watching the game. When added to the fact that I’m still sad about my team not being there and it’s a recipe for a miserable experience.

The truth is, when it comes to rugby league, the Rabbitohs matter more to me than the league as a whole. This is not something I can say for other sports as for most other sports I am a fan of the game first and my team second. Taking away how enjoyable it was to follow the Rabbitohs for most of 2013, I actually found the 2013 NRL season uninspiring.

I thought the overall quality of games was down. I found myself having way too many conversations with people about how bad games were as opposed to how good they were. It seems to be a running theme amongst my friends who follow footy that this season sucked from a neutral perspective. Add that to all the scandals related to player behaviour and ASADA investigations and 2013 has been a pretty difficult year to be a rugby league fan.

The only thing keeping me interested in footy this year was the fact that I was supporting a team near the top of the ladder all year. This is why I have a lot of friends who are fans of other teams who were completely out on this season.

In other years where the Rabbitohs weren’t actually competitive, I got my footy enjoyment from just watching all the other games as a neutral and maybe doing well in tipping comps and fantasy games etc. I don’t know how many times I turned off games and went to do something else this year though. It actually makes me sad because half of me feels like I was doing something bad or against my nature as a sports fan.

Combine all these factors together and I simply have no desire to watch the big game and I actually don’t feel bad about doing so. Maybe I’ve just a sore loser that can’t get over that my team won’t be there, but at the end of the day, we watch sport for enjoyment and entertainment and if you aren’t getting any of that, why feel bad about walking away from that experience?

I hope the rest of you do honestly enjoy watching the game and I genuinely hope it is a great game. I wish the best of luck to the fans of Manly and Roosters for the game and I’m sure I will commiserate and congratulate with the losers and winners respectively afterwards. But I’m actually glad to have put the 2013 NRL season behind me and hope we can have a 2014 season of high quality games and no scandals.

Enjoy the game.

The post Maybe I’m Sour, But I’m Not Watching appeared first on Something Clever.

Last weekend, both sides played “September football”. They demonstrated the footballing qualities you need to win finals footy: mental and physical toughness, composure and execution under pressure.

For those of you who missed last weekend, both games were remarkably different.

South Sydney started like a house on fire and before Manly could blink it was 14 nil after 10 minutes. Instead of panicking and immediately trying to play catch up football, Manly slowly ground their way back into the contest, possession began to even itself out and eventually they wore out a South Sydney outfit which ran out of legs. Manly played to its strength (its right attacking edge) and it paid massive dividends in the second half against an inexperienced South Sydney defensive outfit on that side of the field. When Manly hit the front, they were never going to be beaten. Manly showed the mental toughness and composure to come back from a 14 point deficit and when they got quality football in their attacking 20, they executed their plays to a tee. Ignoring the first 10 minutes, it was a mightily impressive performance.

On the other hand, the Roosters led from start to finish and the result was never in doubt. It was an 80 minute performance which had everything…brutal defence, scintillating attacking, all in all while doing the one-percenters which coaches love to take note of – strong kick chase, dominant tackles and pressure on the opposition kickers. Newcastle never stood a chance. They couldn’t get into the contest and as the match went on they looked physically jaded. It was clear they had played their grand final against the Storm a week earlier. When the Roosters had the Knights on the ropes, they put them to the sword.

Turning to this weekend, I think we will witness one of the best and closest grand finals in recent memory. We will not see a repeat of the 4 nil scoreline 3 weeks ago. Sure defence will play a big part, but I expect the attacking prowess of both sides to be far more prevalent.

The Roosters deserve to be the favourites on the back of last weekend and the fact that they are the minor premiers. They are the fresher of the two sides and have a very slight edge in the forward pack in my opinion. However, I think they are false favourites, a statement which the latte sippers won’t agree with.

I believe the “freshness” argument can be thrown out the window for a grand final. Adrenalin kicks in and it’s rare that grand finals are won on the back of fatigue from opponents.

Almost all grand finals are determined by which team’s “spine” outperforms the other. A rugby league side’s spine is its 1, 6, 7 and 9 – its fullback, five-eighth, halfback and hooker. Composure and execution under pressure comes predominantly from these players.

The Roosters spine is comprised of the ageless Anthony Minichello, the barbequer himself in James Maloney, Junior Pearce and Jake Friend. Manly’s spine comprises the snake Brett Stewart, Kieran Foran, double barrel Daly and Matt Ballin.

I think Manly’s spine is slightly stronger and that they have a definite advantage in the No 1 and No 7 jerseys.

Daly Cherry-Evans is the heir apparent to Cooper Cronk in the Australian side and would be a walk up starter for NSW if he was born south of the border. Sure, Junior Pearce has been in good form over the past few weeks but he is yet to convince me that he is an elite footballer able to perform on league’s biggest stage. Sunday night is his chance to prove me wrong I suppose.

The inclusion of Brett Stewart in the No 1 jersey for Manly is huge. His influence on the side last week was enormous. He is a dangerous cog on Manly’s right attacking edge and his team mates appear to grow an extra leg of confidence when he plays. Stewart’s counterpart for the Roosters has been a great player but, being honest, his best footballing days are a long way behind him.

The one person I haven’t mentioned is SBW – the obvious X factor in the game who could well tip the result the Roosters way through a moment of individual brilliance. Manly did a good job containing and negating SBW’s strengths 3 weeks ago and I think they can do so again this weekend

All in all, I am leaning towards a Manly victory.

I expect the game to be that close that it could be a golden point extra time victory. With that in mind, take the $2.25 on offer and if you’re feeling confident, take Daly Cherry-Evans or Jamie Lyon for the Clive Churchill medal.

It’s tragic that the NRL season is coming to an end but at least us league fanatics have the World Cup to look forward to. More to follow on the international front shortly.

The post NRL Grand Final Preview – It’s Manly’s to Lose appeared first on Something Clever.

For some fans this is very difficult, as perhaps they don’t love cricket like they used to and historically cricket was the main way to get through the summer as a sports fan. Nowadays the summer months are about so much more, although it certainly helps if you have Foxtel.

Of course there is one football code that is only just hitting its stride, with the A-League returning next week and the European football season over a month in. The A-League finally gets some Free to Air TV coverage this year with SBS signing on to show one live game a week as well. It will be interesting to see what impact that has on the league in terms of crowd numbers and such.

After a breakout season last year in what was a make or break year for the A-League, it will be fun to see how the league capitalises on that momentum, especially as a few of the young guns of last season moving on to European and Asian football. The Wanderers have sold out of memberships already and if Sydney FC can have a better season too it will do wonders to capture the imagination of the biggest city and TV market in Australia.

Another interesting development for football in Australia is this week’s announcement that Fox Sports have bought the rights to show Serie A and La Liga as well as always showing the Premier League and occasional Championship match. Whilst there are obviously more people interested in the EPL, there are still plenty of fans who want to watch the Spanish and Italian leagues, even more so in a World Cup year so they can see all the big names we will be watching in Brazil.

If football (soccer if that confused you) isn’t your thing though, it’s time to turn our attention to the USA. The NFL is four weeks in and given how short their season is they do a great job of making it feel like every week is so important, especially in December and obviously the playoffs in January. We are also just about to start the baseball playoffs. It has been a fascinating year in baseball where the Red Sox and Dodgers trade ended up being beneficial for both, the Yankees needing to rebuild and Detroit looking like a juggernaut, along with the continued growth of some of the best young players I can remember such as Mike Trout, Bryce Harper and Yasiel Puig.

The baseball season is difficult to watch and follow because there are just so many games and each one doesn’t matter that much, which is the reverse of the NFL. But playoff baseball is incredible as instead of whole games feeling meaningless, each pitch seems like it means the world. As a Red Sox fan I’m super excited to see my team back in the playoffs as October isn’t the same without your team still alive.
Of course the baseball playoffs also mean we are a month away from the start of the NBA and NHL seasons. Even though my Celtics aren’t going to be competitive this year I am still super excited for the return of my favourite sport. There are so many big storylines with a lot of players moving around this season as well as a lot of teams deliberately rebuilding to make a run at the amazing upcoming draft pool, headed by Canadian Andrew Wiggins, but also featuring Aussie young gun Dante Exum.

Of course the Miami Heat will be right there once again to attempt a Threepeat (Trademark Pat Riley), but Derrick Rose is back for the Bulls, the Pacers will be right there again and in the West the Rockets could be amazing if Dwight Howard returns to his form of a few years ago.

The return of the NBA also means my favourite day of the year is fast approaching. That’s right it is Fantasy NBA Draft Day. It has been going for over a decade now and you wouldn’t believe the level of preparation the guys in my league put in before draft day. Microsoft Excel should probably use us in an ad.

I run my team with fellow Something Clever contributor the Piscean Blogger and after an admittedly terrible season last year where everything went against us, we have everything to prove this year. The only concern is my girlfriend having to experience my NBA Fantasy obsession for the first time.

Of course domestically there is the NBL as well if that is something that interests you. It used to interest me greatly but nowadays I am completely out on the domestic basketball league. But that is a story for another time.

Finally ice hockey returns as well. A heavily underrated sport and one that is much easier to follow nowadays due to the quality of TV available. Back in the day it was so hard to watch as you couldn’t see what was going on without big screen or HD, but in 2013 it looks great and Fox Sports actually has half decent coverage. If you haven’t ever really watched the NHL before, I strongly urge you to watch a game and give it a go. You just might find yourself addicted to one of the most fast paced, skilful and physical sports around.

All is not lost with footy going away and players embarking on end of year trips. You just need to embrace all the other sports that occupy October through to March (or beyond). If you are one of those types that haven’t really given a chance to the American games, maybe make this the year to try something new as all these sports are great as long as you learn what is going on and give them a chance.

Here at Something Clever we don’t do Off Seasons.

The post There is No Off Season for Sports Fans appeared first on Something Clever.

We’re down to the real business end of the season. 6 has become 4. 4 will soon become 2. It is preliminary finals time and two mouth-watering battles await us this weekend.

Here are my thoughts on both matches.

South Sydney Rabbitohs v Manly Sea Eagles @ ANZ Stadium, Friday night

Both sides enter this contest in vastly different physical shape. South Sydney will be refreshed after a week off. The break has been invaluable for them and, in particular, their prized possession, Greg Inglis. On the other hand, Manly limp into this game following two extremely physical encounters and a number of their key players will line up on Friday night with some question mark over their fitness.

South Sydney has been a more consistent side than Manly this season and has defeated them on the road in both their encounters this season.

Everything points to a relatively comfortable South Sydney victory but will this play out in reality? The bookmakers certainly think this will be the case. I am not so sure, or confident, for that matter.

South Sydney enter this game as warm favourites. With favouritism comes pressure and expectation. Fans from Mascot to Matraville to Maroubra can smell a grand final appearance and many have already purchased their tickets in anticipation of seeing their side on the biggest stage on the first Sunday in October.

If I have one criticism of South Sydney, it is the fact that their attack is fairly predictable, or for a better word, one dimensional. South Sydney love playing a game of smash and bash. It is a simple, direct game plan which is highly taxing on player fitness, but which can be extremely effective against the lesser physical sides. It is premised on picking a physically intimidating side, with smaller or more mobile players often being the sacrificial lambs.

Such a plan was highly successful against Melbourne two weeks ago. They outmuscled Melbourne in the first 30 minutes of that match and set up their victory. However, they tired noticeably in the second half of that encounter.

Will such tactics be a recipe for success against Manly? I, for one, don’t think so. For one, Manly has a far stronger pack than Melbourne.

Manly has also shown this finals series that they are up the physical challenge. The only query for mine is whether the past two weeks has taken too much gas out of their tank.

If the smash and bash fails, I struggle to see where the Bunnies points will come from outside a moment(s) of magic from Inglis. Coach Toovey will be hammering home to his players the importance of limiting Inglis’ involvement, something Melbourne did well a couple of weeks ago.

I certainly don’t think $1.42 South Sydney v $2.95 Manly is a true reflection of the contest. The nucleus of this Manly side has been here and done it before on the biggest stage. Outside of Inglis, it is probably the biggest game each of the South Sydney players have played in their careers. I overheard a former South Sydney great say earlier in the week that this is an even money contest. I tend to agree.

Sydney Roosters v Newcastle Knights @ Allianz Stadium, Saturday night

Like South Sydney, the Roosters enter this game as clear favourite and are expected to progress to next week’s finale. However, I expect the Roosters to handle the favouritism tag far better than their cross town rivals.

The boys from Bondi are littered with talent from 1 through to 13. They are the best defensive outfit and possess the competition’s most destructive attacking weapon in Sonny Bill Williams. They have had the benefit of a week’s break and will enter this fray cherry ripe.

Newcastle are the Cinderella story of this season’s finals series. Most pundits expected them to bow out in Week 1 of the finals but they have continued to defy the odds and ride into the SFS this weekend on a real wave of momentum. As we all know, momentum cannot be underestimated at this time of the year. Take Parramatta and the Wests Tigers as examples of this in the last decade.

Like almost all big matches, it will largely come down to defence. Newcastle has been superb defensively against Canterbury and Melbourne in the past two weeks. However, they face an opposition this weekend that contains far more attacking aces than both of those sides.

The Roosters are not a one dimensional attacking outfit. They can play laterally or direct up the middle. They are dangerous on the left and right edge and have “finishes” who make finding the try line a habit. Jennings and Tuivasa-Sheck are two such names.

Without taking away too much from their achievements so far, Newcastle have arguably defeated two opponents not in the best of form. Canterbury scraped their way into the finals and Melbourne were quite “un-Melbourne like” this finals campaign.

One thing that is assured this Saturday night is that the Knights will turn up. They will stick to their successful strategy of low risk football based around good field position, high completion and defence. Halfback Tyrone Roberts had a blinder last weekend and a repeat performance is needed. However, I don’t think they have the artillery to outscore the Roosters and repelling the Roosters’ attack will be a far greater challenge for them.

I would love Newcastle to win and keep the Buderus fairy tale alive but I just don’t see it happening. They will be extremely brave but I expect the Roosters to get the chocolates and proceed to next weekend’s decider. The Merewether hotel will be jeering at the result but cheering their Sunday and Monday night profits.

The post NRL Preliminary Finals Preview appeared first on Something Clever.

Unfortunately, the on-field action was overshadowed by a numerical howler on the part of the officials in the Sharks v Cowboys match. Let’s hope that the footy, rather than the officiating, dominates the headlines this weekend. The last thing we want to be hearing about are conspiracy theories.

Here are my thoughts on Week 2 of the finals series.

Manly Sea Eagles v Cronulla Sharks @ Allianz Stadium, Friday night

The battle of the beaches kicks off Week 2 of finals action. Both teams enter this contest with injury clouds surrounding key players. Todd Carney has been ruled out and Brett Stewart is in extreme doubt.

Manly to my mind were far more impressive than Cronulla in their respective matches last weekend. Cronulla struggled to get the ascendency up front against the Cowboys despite having a clear advantage in the forwards whereas Manly really muscled up against the Roosters.

Success in September is built on winning the physical battle and defence. Manly proved last Saturday night that they are physically and defensively very strong, limiting the Roosters to a solitary try from a grubber kick. Although their attack was continuously repelled by the Roosters, they do possess many attacking weapons and have the ability to put on many points on the scoreboard.

The loss of Todd Carney is a big blow to Cronulla. Despite being below his best last week, Carney is an X factor type player and a match winner in his own right. In his absence, I struggle to see where Cronulla’s points will come from. Coach Flanagan will be forced to adopt a direct “up the middle” game plan which relies on the likes of Paul Gallen, Andrew Fifita and Co continually getting over the advantage line and creating second phase opportunities for Michael Gordon. If Manly defend like they did last week, they should be able to counter this. I don’t expect Cronulla to play too laterally.

The only concern I have about Manly is if they can rebound physically from their brutal contest 6 days ago. If they can, and I expect they will, they will have too much firepower for a Cronulla side which has already ridden its luck this finals series. Expect Cronulla’s defensive left edge of Jonathan Wright and Sosaia Feki to be worked over and face an attacking avalanche. Feki will likely be peppered by an aerial bombardment from Daly Cherry-Evans so it could be a long night for the rookie.

Manly to win this one comfortably for mine and set up a mouthwatering battle next weekend with sentimental favourite, South Sydney. Northies should expect to turn a good profit in the Shire this weekend.

Melbourne Storm v Newcastle Knights @ AAMI Park, Saturday night

I expect this game to be far closer than Friday night’s encounter. The Knights were particularly impressive in wearing down and eventually overpowering the Bulldogs. They played what you call smart finals football – executing a conservative game plan based around high completion and an accurate kicking game in a nutshell. It was a typical Bennett orchestrated finals performance.

Melbourne put in a mixed performance against a fired up Bunnies outfit focused on exacting revenge. They were caught off the pace early and before they knew it they were chasing the game. To their credit, they slowly worked their way back into the game and were the better side in the second half. At 14-6 down, they were on the receiving end of a horrible video referring decision, a decision which halted their momentum and revitalised a tiring Bunnies outfit. It was a huge decision in the context of the match. If the decision had gone in Melbourne’s favour, I believe the eventual outcome of the game would have been different. But that’s footy for you.

As impressive as the Knights were last weekend, they played an opposition far inferior to that which Melbourne encountered. I have found it particularly hard to establish a form line around the Bulldogs, who have been very inconsistent this season. Melbourne will not hand over the cheap possession that the Bulldogs did last weekend and they are a far more disciplined outfit than the boys from Belmore.

Nevertheless, the game will be an arm wrestle. It will resemble trench warfare and I expect it to be a close, low scoring affair. The likes of Willie Mason, Beau Scott and Jeremy Smith will fancy their chances of dominating their less experienced forward opponents. If Melbourne can match the Knights physicality, a moment of magic from one of the “Big 3” may prove to be the difference.

Melbourne has won their past 7 encounters against the Knights and I expect history to repeat itself, just. A parochial Melbourne crowd will get the Storm over the line and into their 8th preliminary final in the last 9 seasons.

* * *

For the sports multi, take Manly and Newcastle, both at the line.

Something’s got a hold on me and it’s Week 2 finals action – bring it on!

The post NRL Semi Finals Preview – Week 2 appeared first on Something Clever.

Here are my thoughts on Week 1 of the finals series.

South Sydney v Melbourne Storm @ ANZ Stadium, Friday night

Historically, Melbourne has had the wood on the Bunnies. In the corresponding game last season, Melbourne put the Bunnies to the sword. Melbourne’s start was electrifying and the Bunnies could not go with them. The game was over in the first 30 minutes.

The Bunnies this year are a different proposition. They are arguably the competition’s most talented side personnel wise and they play a scintillating, yet structured, brand of footy. Combined with their physical presence, they have been a daunting proposition for most opposing sides. To beat the Bunnies, you need to match them in the arm wrestle and limit the involvement of Greg Inglis.

Inglis is the absolute key to South Sydney. If he’s not fully fit, the Bunnies cannot win the premiership in my opinion. He is their most important player by a country mile. Their whole game plan hinges off him returning the ball strongly and giving them “front foot” possession. This immediately gives their intimidating forward pack momentum which enables the likes of Reynolds and Sutton to attack against a retreating defensive line.

Unfortunately for the Bunnies, Inglis does not appear to be fully fit. He has more tape around his knee than an Egyptian mummy at present.

This presents the Storm with a great chance to knock off the Bunnies this weekend. Craig Bellamy will be drilling in to his players the significance of victory this Friday night…a week off and a home preliminary final. Such a prize almost guarantees the Storm will be right up for this game. Victory, however, will depend on the accuracy of Cooper Cronk’s kicking game. Expect Cronk to pepper the wingers or be willing to put the ball over the sideline or even dead in goal to limit Inglis’ involvement. If Cronk has his kicking boots on and executes accordingly, I expect the Storm’s 9 year winning run against the Bunnies in Sydney to continue, just!

Cronulla v North Queensland @ Allianz Stadium, Saturday afternoon

Only the most optimistic, one-eyed Cowboys fan would have had their team featuring in this year’s finals series 7 weeks ago. Neil Henry was made the scapegoat for a side which had horribly underachieved until then.

Henry gets the axe and suddenly the Cowboys rediscover their mojo. They are now playing with confidence and a kind of carefree attitude which makes them unpredictable, yet extremely dangerous. Their two most important players, JT and the man they affectionately call “Mango”, are firing on all cylinders. The Cowboys are the team with the most momentum in the bottom half of the Top 8. Having won 4 of 6 in Sydney this year, I think it’s fair to say that their “Sydney hoodoo” no longer exists.

The Sharks have performed admirably this season in the midst of adversity. They have done remarkably well to make the finals series, despite the on going distraction of the ASADA investigation. Central to the Sharks’ chances, are the effervescent, Todd Carney. League’s former bad boy has turned a new leaf at the Sharks and for once his footy, rather than off field antics, is doing the talking.

Focusing on tomorrow’s battle, Cronulla has a more dominant forward pack, whereas the Cowboys have more firepower out wide. There are injury concerns over a number of key players going into this contest. Carney has a hamstring niggle, Fifita has a calf strain and Matt Scott is returning from a broken finger.

If it rains, as is forecast, I’m leaning towards the Sharks as the forward battle will be even more important. If it stays dry, it enhances the Cowboys chances greatly and perhaps JT will be the difference. It will be an intriguing battle. Hold off on your bets until the final line-ups are announced.

Sydney Roosters v Manly Sea Eagles @ Allianz Stadium, Saturday night

This will be a brutal affair with very little separating the two sides. It is the most even contest of the weekend in my opinion. Both sides have powerful, yet skillful, forward packs with electrifying backlines. Defensively, they are both extremely sound and the most effective at executing the up and in style “umbrella” defence and forcing attacking units into error.

Daly Cherry-Evans, Jamie Lyon and David Williams are the best right attacking edge in the competition. On the other hand, the Roosters possess the most potent left sided attack in James Maloney, Michael Jennings and Daniel Tupou.

Jared Waerea-Hargreaves is a big loss upfront for the Roosters but I don’t think this tips the scales in favour of Manly. League’s most ill disciplined player, Luke O’Donnell is a capable replacement and an experienced finals campaigner who surely will be ready to make amends for his brain fade against the Tigers a few weeks ago.

What will separate the sides come Saturday night…a simple answer, SBW.

SBW is the best forward in the competition. His ability to offload the ball in the tackle and create second phase play is second to none. He can go to the line and put a player into a gap or steamroll his way through a brick wall. He is the complete footballer and a moment of SBW brilliance could well be the difference on Saturday night.

I also expect home ground advantage to play a factor in this game. Roosters’ fans are notorious for jumping on the bandwagon in good times and Manly supporters don’t like crossing the Spit, let alone Harbour Bridge.

Expect a bumper tri-colours crowd for the main course of the double header. They, together will SBW, will get the Roosters over the line in an absolute cliffhanger.

Canterbury Bulldogs v Newcastle Knights @ ANZ Stadium, Sunday afternoon

I just can’t get a read on the Bulldogs this year. At the start of the season, they were undermanned with the likes of Sam Kasiano, James Graham and Ben Barba on the sideline. With a near full strength line up, I expected them to gather momentum in the latter half of the season and charge into the finals as a serious premiership contender.

To the contrary, they have limped in to the finals with a series of mixed performances. Opponents this season have been able to effectively counter their short passing, lateral game plan. For the Bulldogs to win this weekend, Sam Kasiano and Ben Barba both need to have blinders. Kasiano may, but I can’t see Barba doing so. Injury combined with multiple off field distractions have dominated his season. He is nowhere near the player he was 12 months ago. I can’t see him turning the tide and rediscovering his 2012 touch this week.

On the other hand, the Knights come into Sunday’s encounter with some nice momentum. They are almost the forgotten side of the Top 8 with very few pundits expecting them to seriously challenge for the premiership.

They may be affectionately called Dad’s Army, but I really like the make-up of their side – a good balance of experience and youth, often a successful recipe at this time of the season. Jeremy Smith and Beau Scott provide some real steel to their forward pack. Tyrone Roberts is a much underrated halfback and I expect him to neatly steer the Knights around the paddock, showing experience beyond his years. Having the most successful finals coach of the modern day era plotting the Dogs downfall is also an invaluable asset for the Knights.

I expect Mad Monday festivities to be in full swing in Belmore next week with the Knights living to fight another day.

Good luck if your team is still alive in 2013 and happy punting!

The post NRL Finals Series Preview – Week 1 appeared first on Something Clever.

Today I was supposed to write part two of the column I started on Monday and discuss the goings on in NRL finals and AFL finals and it would be a nice and easy piece before this weekend’s matches. But NOOOOOOOOO Ricky Stuart has to come out last night and confirm the terribly kept secret that he is going back to Canberra to coach the Raiders.

I couldn’t pass up the chance to discuss this because it really does blow my mind, hey Ricky.

Somehow, Ricky Stuart is about to coach his fourth NRL club (not including NSW State of Origin and Australia), which means he will have coached a quarter of the clubs in the NRL. He only just started at Parramatta and was one year into a highly paid three year deal to rebuild the Eels, but now he is abandoning ship after one of the worst seasons imaginable to go to a club that waited too long to fire their coach and former Stuart teammate David Furner. The whole thing is a fiasco.

A lot of Parramatta fans are upset about this as it’s just another bad moment in a season that couldn’t get worse; however I think those fans are missing the point. The only upside in this whole thing is for Parramatta fans because they just got out of paying two more expensive years to the most overrated coach in the history of rugby league. It is win-win for Parra as they get out of his contract without having to buy him out, but also hit the necessary rock bottom to have the clear out of players they so desperately needed.

Whilst they may be at rock bottom, if I were an Eels fan I would be smiling today as everything can only get better from here. Next season won’t be easy, but they bring in talents like Corey Norman, Nathan Peats, Justin Hunt and unless he backs out of his contract Will Hopoate returning from his Mormon mission. They are going to make a very enticing backline (and hooker) and if they can get their pack in order they might just have a foundation to move forward.

Supposedly Neil Henry is getting the job and whilst Henry did a poor job getting the best out of the Cowboys this season until after he was told he was not being re-signed, he has a decent enough history. I don’t think I would have hired him were I in charge of the Eels, but I don’t think he is necessarily a disaster.

Speaking of disasters, that brings me back to Mr Stuart.

I cannot for the life of me figure out why this man is held up as such a fantastic coach that teams are fighting to pay him big dollars to coach their club and why some fans are desperate to get him or keep him. The man was a tremendous player but has been coaching for over a decade now and has one of the least inspiring resumes of someone with that many years under their belt.

Let’s look at what he has done shall we.

His career started off with the best season of his coaching career when he won the Premiership as a rookie coach with the Roosters in 2002. Ignoring the fact that the Bulldogs had the salary cap scandal that year which made life a bit easier, the main reason they won that title was because Phil Gould (and Graham Murray) not only built a fantastic squad, but he was holding Stuart’s hand the entire way and practically coaching that team. Say what you want about Gould as a media personality, and many people have, but he was and probably still would be an incredible football coach.

Every Roosters fan I know gives credit for that title to Gould and Fittler, not to Stuart. The Roosters made the next two Grand Finals with that incredible team but fell one game short both years. Now I guess that three year run must be why some rate Stuart as a coach, but then Stuart and Gould had their falling out, Gould left the Roosters and everything fell to shit for poor old Sticky.

He left the Roosters with a winning record and 3 Grand Final appearances, so it reads well, but knowing how good the squad was and how instrumental Gould was, the statistics tell a story that reality struggles to back up. He moved on to the Sharks for the 2007 season and I guess because expectations are low and because the Sharks did at least play defence under him, people act like he was a good coach there too.

Again, most Sharks fans I know never rated him either.

Again he left before the end of his contract and with poor relationships with many at the club including players and board members. By the end of his four years at Cronulla he had an amazing win percentage of 45%. They had one good year in 2008 where they made the preliminary final, but they were never able to reach those heights again.

After leaving that job he took the NSW Origin coaching job and we all know how unsuccessful that turned out, so we will leave it at that. On the subject of representative coaching, he also had the 2008 World Cup drama when coaching Australia when he lost the final to New Zealand and then was fined $20,000 for a post-match outburst before stepping down.

Then this year he returned with Parramatta. I must admit, whilst I didn’t think he would do a great job I figured he would at least get them defending as his Sharks team had and been a bit competitive. But no, the team not only didn’t defend, but they looked like they couldn’t care less for much of the season. Stuart handled the clear out saga terribly and turning a lot of the team against him and amazingly a club that got the wooden spoon in 2012 managed to play even worse in 2013.

Somehow his reputation wasn’t damaged beyond repair by this and yet again he leaves a club of his own accord and not at the end of a contract.

The Raiders have a very talented playing roster. They need a hooker desperately, but have enough talented players that they can work it out. Whilst they made week 2 of the finals last year, they have probably underachieved under David Furner given how talented their squad is and how much of a factory their Holden Cup team is and has been going back to when they won the first Toyota Cup.

I applauded their decision to finally end Furner’s tenure, but now I feel like they have jumped from the frying pan into the fire.

We will have to wait and see how they perform under Stuart, how well he incorporates their next generation of stars into the side and whether he can get the players to be disciplined on and off the field. They no longer have the Blake Ferguson, Sandor Earl or Josh Dugan distractions so everything is set up for Stuart to have every opportunity to succeed.

But surely if he fails yet again, there won’t possibly be a fifth team desperate to hire him. He currently holds a 51% win percentage heavily weighted by those first three years at the Roosters. But those seasons were a decade ago and it’s been all downhill since then.

For some reason NRL clubs look at Ricky and think he is so fine and that blows my mind.

The post Oh Ricky You’re So Fine appeared first on Something Clever.

Success comes at a price.

Premiership winning players demand more value, attract more interest from rival clubs and often are the beneficiaries of performance based contract incentives.

This causes a successful club to face significant the salary cap pressures and forces it to make some tough personnel decisions.

Ultimately, the result is that players leave or are released and clubs are back to square one, that is, forced into a rebuilding phase, in pursuit of their next premiership.

The difficulty with rebuilding phases is that they require patience from supporters and club decision makers alike. Sounds easy in theory, but proves to be difficult in practice. This is because rugby league, like most sports today, is a results driven business, which is largely determined by on-field success.

This places a coach in a difficult predicament when he or she is faced with rebuilding a club.

If on-field performances are poor, the coach comes under increased pressure to turn around the team’s performance quickly. This may lead to a departure from the long term plan which the coach is in the process of implementing.

The coach may be tempted into quick fix solutions to turn around performance in the short term and to help reassure his or her own position.

Steven Price, coach of the Dragons, is one person currently facing this dilemma. The Dragons brand is built on the premiership glory it tasted in the 1950s and 1960s. It is a club whose supporters have very high expectations and demand constant success.

Price has been forced to rebuild the club following the Bennett era. However, the cost of rebuilding has meant that the Dragons have performed very inconsistently this season.

Inconsistent performances have led to increased scrutiny surrounding Price’s future at the club.

Price is trying to orchestrate a long term plan to turn the side into a premiership contender once more, but appears to be doing so with one eye firmly focused on this season’s results.

Price is clearly feeling the pressure of expectation.

This has led to Price preferring experience over youth when it comes to team selection.

Such an approach appears to be at odds with a rebuilding policy. For example, Price has persisted in playing veteran, Nathan Fien, at halfback this season, despite the arrival of the talented 2012 NYC Player of the Year, Josh Drinkwater, during the off-season.

Fien has been an excellent contributor to the club and is a deserving premiership winner. However, he is a dummy half and plays his best footy there.

The decision not to blood Drinkwater is a perplexing one.

Perhaps there are behind the scene reasons dictating this decision.

However, it is at odds with the rebuilding process which the club is embarking on.

Where the Dragons finish on the competition ladder this season is irrelevant, but the coach appears not to see it that way.

Price knows that he will be closely judged on this season’s results, despite the fact that he has been given the task of rebuilding the club’s playing roster. Such are the high expectations of the Dragons faithful.

Is committing to a rebuilding phase and experiencing short term pain acceptable in the results driven world of modern day sport? The decision making at the Dragons in recent times tends to suggest it is not.

The post Is rebuilding realistic in the business of sport? appeared first on Something Clever.

Firstly the challenge that is Blake Ferguson. You know Blake is a problem when despite his obvious footballing talents, the fans of both clubs he has played for now despise him, as Sharks fans hate him for how he left citing he wanted to play for a title contending team, and then left to the Raiders who at the time were no better than the Sharks.

Raiders’ fans now hate him for how much of a problem he has been off the field and the lack of respect he has shown the club in trying to leave, as if it isn’t his own fault he is in this situation. I am not going to spend the time writing out all of Blake Ferguson’s incidents and troubles because the list is too long, but at the end of the day they mostly come down to attitude, immaturity and alcohol.

With David Furner now sacked as coach of Canberra and Ferguson’s contract giving him an out due to that fact kicking in after the season, it is expected he will leave the club and most likely move back to Sydney, with numerous clubs being linked with him. Funnily enough, one of the clubs heavily linked with him are the Sharks, who definitely could use him on the field, but their fans would have to swallow a lot of pride to accept him back.

The question is, is Blake Ferguson worth signing? In the short term the answer is almost definitely yes, given he clearly is a super talented player and only 23 years old. My Rabbitohs are another team rumoured to be sniffing around him, as if we could use a player at any position it would be a strike outside back. As a fan of a club rumoured to be after him I am conflicted about signing him.

Half of me wants nothing to do with a player that has had countless chances, is facing a sexual assault related charge, just got done speeding with a suspended licence whilst being AWOL from his club and is overall completely unreliable and could cause much more trouble than he is worth, especially when the club doesn’t really need him.

The other half of me thinks that his talent is clearly obvious, he is fixable in the right environment and that he could grow up soon. Plus if there is any NRL club with the environment to help him, the Rabbitohs would arguably be it for several reasons. First and foremost the club under Michael Maguire has a very strong culture with players who keep each other in line and don’t tolerate the sorts of things Ferguson has been doing. Regardless of talent players are treated the same as evidenced by veteran Nathan Merritt being stood down for a week during preseason for sleeping in late. Secondly the club has a strong Indigenous culture both inside the playing group (Inglis, Merritt etc.) as well as in the community. If Blake Ferguson can be saved, Souths could be the best place for him.

The problem with the above sentence is the word ‘could’. I am still not convinced he is worth it, given it is possible he could destabilise a club that is successful without him. If the club do happen to sign him, I will welcome him and look forward to seeing him on the field, but I won’t fully embrace him until he earns our trust. I will always be waiting for the news that he is in trouble and has been stood down, suspended or even had his contract torn up.

Whoever does sign him is taking a massive risk and I hope for the sake of the NRL as well as Blake personally that he rewards them for taking that risk and gets his shit together.

That brings me to Sandor Earl. Obviously I have to be very careful what I say about this case as there is a lot we don’t know and a lot still to come out. What we do know is that Earl has now admitted he took as well as trafficked an illegal peptide and is going to be banned for it. If he gives up all the information he has then he might have his sentence reduced.

The news here is not the fact he took the peptide. At the end of the day Sandor Earl isn’t a huge name and he had been linked to the scandal for a while now. The news is the fact that he was supplying others with the peptide as well. I read elsewhere that other players haven’t been linked to his supplying, but I’m sure there is a lot more to come out.

Either way it is good to see the NRL and ASADA finally catch someone in the NRL, especially someone linked to Stephen Dank and I hope it is the start of them actually taking action against those they have evidence against as well as leading them towards evidence against those they can’t yet prove did it.

This saga has been going on long enough now that we need to start seeing action beyond a few accusations against clubs or players. The Sharks situation needs to be dealt with soon, whether that is taking action or dropping the charges (I can’t see the latter happening) and I’m sure there are other clubs and players being looked into.

If nothing else, I hope this saga has scared players into not only not deliberately cheating, but also into being more diligent about what goes into their body, regardless of who suggests it to them. Whilst I feel sorry for any player that took an illegal substance on the advice of someone they legitimately believed they should be able to trust and might have a legal recourse because of that, they still should do their own research into things to know what they are putting into their body.

The specific peptide Sandor Earl has been done for is actually a bit scary. There are reports linking it cancer and also how experimental it is. Is a football career even worth that?

For now however, Sandor Earl’s footy career, not just here but even his French rugby career he was supposed to be embarking on, is on hold. What happens to Blake Ferguson however is still very much up in the air. The 2012 glory days of Dorguson feel like a lifetime ago and both Earl and Ferguson may one day be viewed as a cautionary tale.

The post A Bad Time to be Dorguson appeared first on Something Clever.

First and foremost, as the team name suggests, the team must be captained by Ben Roberts. Most of you can probably assume why, but I’ll explain in more detail when we come to him.

If a player is highly paid and badly underperformed then their salary will be considered as part of the reason they are eligible for the team. So whilst some may argue a player isn’t the worst at his position, if they are supposed to be really good and are paid accordingly, then they are preventing their team using that money better elsewhere.

Also a very important factor is the player has to have played some first grade this year. They don’t have to be first choice, but they have to be regular enough to warrant mentioning. For example (and to prove the lack of Rabbitohs isn’t purely a bias thing) but had Shaune Corrigan played first grade this year as he did last year, he would have been an automatic inclusion in this team.

The players on this list all seem to get a lot of criticism from footy fans when watching their games and many/most of them are even disliked by fans of their own team, which is the truest test of sporting inadequacy.

Also I have chosen a starting 13, a bench of 4 and then the (dis)honourable mentions fill out the NRL sized 25 man squad.

So without further ado, I present to you the 2013 Ben Roberts All Stars.

Starting Lineup:

1. Steve Michaels (Gold Coast Titans) – Michaels isn’t a natural fullback and has probably played the least amount of first grade in 2013 of any player on this list, but every footy fan I know thinks Michaels is a terrible player, whether it be at the Titans or previously at the Broncos. The fact I am playing him out of position at fullback is more a testament to the fact that I don’t think any legitimate fullback has been poor enough to warrant selection. The league is full of strong fullbacks at present and Michaels will have to do as he needs to be in the team somewhere.

2. Shaun Kenny-Dowall (Sydney Roosters) – The only Rooster in the team given the strength of their squad, SKD is the bane of the existence of most of my friends who support the Tri-Colours. He had one great season in 2011, which got him a big contract extension, but has since regressed back to the mistake prone liability he always was before. He is talented, but he constantly seems to take more off the table than he brings to it. The Roosters have the depth to drop him, but seem to stick by him no matter what; although there were rumours they were looking to offload him. He fills a wing position as he can play wing or centre and we have two centres to come.

3. Jarrod Croker (Canberra Raiders) – Croker is a pretty good attacking player and a decent goal kicker. But his defence is really subpar, his attack doesn’t seem to make up for it and the Raiders have such great young talent in his position that I always wonder why he is picked ahead of their other options. I have spoken to a few Raiders fans and some completely agree with me whilst others still like him. But I’ll take the fact that some agree as confirmation.

4. Ben Pomeroy (Cronulla Sharks) – This selection was easy. When I told a Sharks fan I was writing this article the response was that Pomeroy and one other player (coming up later) absolutely had to be selected. Pomeroy is supposed to be a solid defensive centre but he honestly isn’t that good defensively and has never been good at attack. He is very similar to Kenny-Dowall in terms of his errors and brain explosions and Sharks fans can’t stand him. When I thought of doing this article, Pomeroy was never in doubt.

5. Nathan Stapleton (Cronulla Sharks) – OK so I am not trying to pick on the Sharks here and Stapleton isn’t their first choice in the position. But the Sharks do not have a good backline and Stapleton since coming into the team has been poor every time I’ve watched them play. He is small, but doesn’t seem to make up for his lack of size elsewhere. He struggles under the high ball and defensively without being a particularly dynamic attacker. Also I don’t know why he plays ahead of Nathan Gardner who is a very good player. Anyway, this was a tough selection, sorry Nathan.

6. Ben Roberts (Parramatta Eels) © – The captain of the team in perpetuity. Pretty much everything that needs to be said about Ben Roberts has been said, but basically he is the running joke of the league. The fact he won Man of the Match a couple weeks ago made me and others I’ve spoken to literally laugh out loud. Roberts LOOKS like he should be good. He looks like an athlete, he is fast and he even has the sporting genes by being Tim Cahill’s cousin. But seriously he is so bad. Maybe he is a winger or centre who has been played in the halves for years for some odd reason, but I can’t do justice in writing to how bad he is as a half. He also has a tendency to be that guy who kills it when he gets dropped to NSW Cup, but then looks like a bad park footballer at NRL level. Bless you, Ben Roberts.

7. Robert Lui (North Queensland Cowboys) (VC) – Robert Lui makes this team both for on field and off field reasons. First on the field he is talented in attack but shows it too infrequently. When he burst onto the scene at the Tigers he looked like he could be good, but then his defensive issues and bad decision making caught up to him. Speaking of bad decision making, he also shouldn’t be allowed to play NRL at all. The guy viciously assaulted his girlfriend (pregnant one of the times) on Mad Monday TWO YEARS IN A ROW. The specifics of the case make me sick and seeing him play during Women in League round made a farce of the entire cause. It kills me that the only good game I’ve seen from him in 2013 was against the Rabbitohs recently.

8. Fuifui Moimoi (Parramatta Eels) – This one might be contentious as he is a cult hero and does run the ball hard. However, Moimoi is an example of a lot of sizzle with not enough steak, especially this season. The Eels are terrible right now in part because of how much their forward pack has been getting killed. Moimoi runs the ball hard, but he constantly gets “turtled” onto his back leading to a slow play the ball and he can be very lazy in defence. He has one thing he does well and then undoes a lot of that elsewhere. Parramatta are having a clear out this offseason and I would include Moimoi in the list if I were building their team.

9. John Morris (Cronulla Sharks) – This is the other Sharks player my friend who supports the Sharks included with Ben Pomeroy. How John Morris has over 250 NRL games baffles me. He simply isn’t good at football and never has been, regardless of where he plays. Now that he is older he is also slower than ever and I can’t think of one thing he actually does well. Offers nothing in attack, is a mediocre defender and doesn’t even seem to provide that “guides the team around the park” type of leadership people like to talk about from veteran playmakers. He was an automatic selection in this team and probably would have made the team for the past decade.

10. Adam Blair (Wests Tigers) – Well I’m sure many of you predicted he would make the team. Playing him at prop, where he has played a bit, because I needed the back row room. Blair is one of the highest paid players in the league and if not for that alone he would have been dropped several times. I liked him a lot at the Storm and thought the Tigers signed a good player, but so far he really has looked like a product of the Storm system. He doesn’t look like he has his head in the game right now and if the Tigers could find a taker I’m sure they would love to offload his contract, even if they have to pay a portion of it.

11. Mark Minichiello (Gold Coast Titans) – I watched the first part of the younger Mini’s career closely when he was a Rabbitoh and I feel like I understand the player he is. He gives it is all every week and tackles hard. But he still misses tackles with bad defensive reads, negating how many tackles he does make. Add that to the fact that he has hands like feet and it pains me to say that Mark has become a liability. I like him, but I am trying to be objective and whenever I see him play nowadays I tend to find myself shaking my head.

12. Ben Creagh (St George Illawarra Dragons) – This could be the most controversial selection in the entire squad. Some Dragons fans adore him and he has played numerous Origins over the years. Also, in his younger days I thought he was a very good player. But I’m sorry to say that the 2013 version of Ben Creagh is simply not a good footballer by any calculation and obviously he is being paid like a very good one. He used to be that player who did well at NRL level and failed at Origin, but now I watch him play and he isn’t even that. He falls off tackles, drops balls, gives away penalties and doesn’t make much of a positive impact anymore. Not all of that can be attributed to having poor halves or a poor coach.

13. Matt Prior (St George Illawarra Dragons) – A much easier selection from the Dragons back row. Have heard numerous Dragons fans over the years scream at the field or their TV screen to berate Prior when he does something boneheaded. He looked a talent as a junior and as a rookie, perhaps even a Creagh 2.0… unfortunately he then morphed quickly into the player Creagh is now and not the player Creagh once was. Plus I recently heard him called a lookalike for Princess Diana and now I can’t see him as anything else.

Interchange:

14. Chris Sandow (Parramatta Eels) – Many would say Sandow should be starting in this team over Lui and if it wasn’t for Lui’s off field behaviour I may have done it that way. I hope Sandow gets the help he needs in rehab, he is a very gifted attacking player and if he gets his head on straight and a decent team around him, he will be ok. He may never live up to the contract he is on, but he could be a good player if he gets himself sorted, but for 2013 he has to be on this team.

15. Braith Anasta (Wests Tigers) – I never understood this signing by the Tigers. Like I understand they wanted a veteran leader and name, but did they not watch Anasta last season? This is not a criticism of his career or talking about whether he was overrated back in the day, but the fact is in 2013 there is a giant fork sticking out the back of Braith Anasta. He is done. No Roosters fan was sad to see him go and no Tigers fan was happy to have signed him. Those instincts have proven true and I have seen nothing from Anasta this season to suggest he has anything left. He will have a good career in media after he retires and he should get into that full time next season rather than continuing to basically steal money from the Tigers, a club that can’t afford it.

16. David Taylor (Gold Coast Titans) – OK so I have included several players that used to play for my team and have since left, but I don’t think I’m being unfair including them. This one is pretty self-explanatory in much the same way the Adam Blair selection is. Taylor was an Origin player and a dynamic attacking weapon, signed as a star recruit on big money and has fizzled badly. He has looked unfit, somewhat uninterested and just hasn’t gone on with it at the Titans. A lot of Rabbitohs fans weren’t devastated to lose him as even though he could be a match winner, he could equally be a match loser and had a tendency to dominate games against weaker opposition and disappear against the good teams. His talent is unquestioned, same for his size, but until he decides he really wants to be a dominant player he simply won’t be one.

17. Tony Williams (Canterbury Bulldogs) – I’m going with back to back monsters on the bench with the Coal Train and T-Rex. I could almost copy and paste the Taylor paragraph here as well. High profile recruit, coming off an Origin and Test season, changes clubs and a seeming lack of interest or mental toughness derailed him. Whether he got complacent after getting paid or other issues are at work, T-Rex is on huge money as a very mediocre player in 2013. Probably the biggest flop of this season’s new recruits.

Honourable Mentions/Filling out the Squad:

18. Joel Romelo (Canterbury Bulldogs) – Romelo is an angry little man. He is constantly starting things with bigger, better players when he simply isn’t that good. There would be a place for that mongrel if he offered more than that.

19. Matt Keating (Parramatta Eels) – A lot of what I said about John Morris goes for Keating. Probably because he learned under him. Keating just isn’t good and I don’t know what else to say.

20. Kris Keating (Canterbury Bulldogs) – Kris is at least the better of the Keating brothers, but that’s not saying much. Finally was replaced by the much better Trent Hodkinson and the ‘Dogs are much better off.

21. Shaun Berrigan (Canberra Raiders) – Another player with a fork in his back. Once was a good utility player and Origin selection, but nowadays playing hooker at the Raiders he has looked horrible. Raiders need a hooker in the worst way and I’d move McCrone there and bring up Cornish at half.

22. Dane Tilse (Canberra Raiders) – Tilse is super tall and looks like he is a good player, but then he is so soft. He often falls as soon as he hits the defensive line and he gets tired and starts falling off tackles or missing them completely. Also good for some knock-ons and penalties. Not to mention something that allegedly happened back in his Newcastle days, which I always think about when I see him (he was never tried or convicted and I am not saying he did it, just that I think about the story and allegations).

23. Jamie Buhrer (Manly Sea Eagles) – Remember when he was selected for Origin last year and everyone laughed and cried at the same time? He may never have deserved the selection but he seemed like he was headed in that direction, right? Well this season I haven’t seen him actually do anything. What happened?

24. Nathan Fien (St George Illawarra Dragons) – It was very difficult for me to leave Fien out of the 17, but couldn’t drop those ahead of him. Fien is terrible. He was once a decent bench hooker but he was never a good halfback and at his age he is a really, really bad one.

25. Vai Toutai (Parramatta Eels) – This might be tough on a rookie playing for a terrible team, but I wanted another outside back and whenever I’ve seen Toutai play this season I have trouble seeing him ever getting it. He is big and strong and all that but doesn’t actually seem to have any idea when it comes to actually playing footy.

Coach: Neil Henry (North Queensland Cowboys) – Henry gets the nod as coach for just how badly his team underachieved and the fact he is being replaced at the end of the season because of it. On paper the Cowboys have a great team and they also have one of the best home field advantages in the league. There is no way the Cowboys should miss the finals and even if they end up scraping in it won’t justify how badly they underachieved, which has to fall on the coach.

Assistant Coaches: Steve Price and Ricky Stuart – Both are coaching teams with mediocre playing rosters, but they also have to wear a lot of the blame themselves. Price has done nothing to improve the Dragons since getting them job and they play so uninspired. Ricky should at least have gotten the Eels on the same page and playing hard and doing what the Sharks did when he was there. But he hasn’t even gotten close to that level of effort or structure from them.

If you are still reading this, congratulations for getting through my thoughts on the worst team in the NRL. I would love to hear your thoughts on players you would include, who I was too harsh on or anything I missed.

And finally, a special thanks to Ben Roberts. Keep being you buddy.

The post Ben Roberts All Stars appeared first on Something Clever.