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.

To start, let’s talk about the Origin decider. The Queensland streak remains alive after they hung on to win by two and NSW have to wait another year to try to end the drought. Those who follow me on Twitter or Facebook know that I, like many others, think the biggest issue for NSW was halfback Mitchell Pearce.

The only people I have seen defending Pearce have been Roosters fans and even Roosters fans have been divided on it. I am not questioning Pearce’s heart or effort levels. I think he desperately wants to be the best player he can and gave it his all yet again, but he quite simply isn’t good enough. He is a good defender for his position but NSW need a halfback that can create points and that is something Pearce has not done in five years playing for NSW.

His kicking game is below par and he doesn’t have the dynamic passing or running game. He also didn’t take control of the direction of the team, which lead to many plays that looked like they had no plan.

The argument that a halfback needs a forward pack going forward to be able to perform doesn’t hold water here either as the NSW pack won the arm wrestle. NSW had every opportunity to win game 3 as well as getting the better of the forward back for the last two years in general. Pearce may well be a great guy, but he has had more than enough chances and it’s time NSW make the move they should have made before this series. It’s certainly a popular opinion and I’m not saying anything that hasn’t been said elsewhere over and over, but enough is enough and it’s time the Pearce experiment ends. He just isn’t that good.

Onto the Ashes, where Australia lost the First Test but there were certainly a number of positives to take out of it. From a neutral standpoint it was one of the most entertaining and gripping Tests I have ever watched and whilst Australia ended up on the losing end, it gave me belief that we can absolutely make this a competitive series.

Darren Lehmann’s decision to play Ashton Agar instantly paid off with one of the greatest moments in Test history, with a 19 year old Agar, batting 11 and with Australia in dire straits, getting to 98 (alongside a tremendous knock by Phil Hughes) before holing out trying to get his century.

There is clearly a concern with the top order, which hopefully will be rectified as the series moves forward, but I can’t remember a tail that so consistently wags. Our bowlers are honestly not that much worse at batting than our specialist batsmen are. Which isn’t really a compliment to our batsmen, but is still praise for our bowlers.

As I write this the team for the Second Test was announced and so I had to quickly rewrite this bit about selections for the match. Cowan was axed as expected and replaced by Usman Khawaja, who was the likely replacement. Mitchell Starc also makes way with Ryan Harris getting the nod over Jackson Bird as the replacement fast bowler. Cowan had to go and Starc has been a bit down on form so neither was unexpected. I wasn’t sure whether Harris, Bird or a second spinner would come in depending on the conditions and it’s hard to argue with Ryan Harris getting the nod.

But either way, I’m no longer feeling as down about our chances for the series as I was before the First Test, which is saying something considering we are now officially trailing in the series.

Also a quick point on the whole DRS and Stuart Broad saga. First of all, I think we need to be a bit careful to put all the blame on England, when we got a bit lucky ourselves in the first innings with Agar and the fact that Clarke continues to misuse the review system. That said, Broad should have walked and the fact that he didn’t absolutely makes him a dirty cheat. Also, the on field umpires were atrocious for both sides and this wouldn’t be an issue if they actually did their job at a level even near competent. Aleem Dar is one of the worst umpires I can remember and it baffles me how he continues to get such big matches. He is like cricket’s Jason Robinson.

Onto Le Tour. Whilst some of the individual stages have been exciting, is it just me or is the fact that Chris Froome is so dominant making the race kind of boring. It’s hard to stay up at night knowing the result is already over barring injury. That’s not to take anything away from Froome himself. He was expected to do this and he is delivering in spades and proving that he probably would have won Le Tour last year as well if his team had let him.

I also think raising speculation of him cheating as the media have been doing is ridiculous. It’s an unfortunately side effect of the sport’s history, but Froome has done nothing to suggest he is cheating besides being really, really good. I’d like to think he isn’t cheating because neither are his competitors anymore. However, should he end up in a doping scandal at any stage, it would be tragic and would be another nail into the coffin of the sport for many people.

We also are currently being graced with the presence of English Premier League champions Manchester United, who are here to play an A-League All Stars team this weekend. Then next Wednesday, my beloved Liverpool will be taking on the Melbourne Victory and I am fortunate enough to be traveling to Melbourne to watch the game. I’ve never seen Liverpool play and I’ve never been to a sporting event at the MCG, so to say I’m excited would be an understatement.

I hope to write about the experience next week, so stay tuned for that and remember, ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’.

The post As Bill Lawry Would Say: ‘It’s All Happening’ appeared first on Something Clever.

Overall New South Wales were fantastic and it was exactly the sort of win they needed to allow them to play with confidence for the rest of the series to try and end the Queensland streak. Going into the game, most people seemed to believe that NSW held the edge in the forward pack whilst Queensland had a more dangerous backline and of course held the edge in the all-important spine of 1, 6, 7 and 9.

New South Wales built their foundation on that forward pack and overall they destroyed the Maroon’s forwards, forcing Thurston and Cronk to play on the back foot for most of the game. Guys like Gallen, Watmough and Greg Bird are built to play Origin and didn’t disappoint.

However the standout was clearly Luke Lewis, who had one of the great individual Origin performances. No he didn’t score a try or have that many highlight plays, but his hit ups, tackles and passes were extraordinary and he never stopped. He rightfully won the Man of the Match award and it was well deserved for a player who often doesn’t get the plaudits of some of his more flashy or exciting colleagues.

On the other hand, I thought Mitchell Pearce had a very mediocre game for a victorious NSW side. Before I get accused of Rooster hating, I thought James Maloney was superb on debut and Michael Jennings was brilliant too. Pearce however, was non-existent. The guy is playing halfback, which if you don’t know, is supposed to be a pretty important position in a football team and yet he seemed to barely touch the ball. When he did he mostly just dropped it off for a forward to take a hit up and my only memory of him throwing a longer ball was when he underthrew a pass to Lewis, which Lewis unfortunately couldn’t reel in.

Pearce is a solid defender and he wasn’t poor there, but he certainly was no halfback either. In such a great team performance his individual effort won’t cop much criticism and I know he won’t be dropped, but it still should be pointed out that we won in spite of him and not because of him. Oh, I also thought Ryan Hoffman had a surprisingly poor game with some bad drops and not much impact.

The standouts for NSW in my eyes were the aforementioned Lewis, the always awesome at Origin level despite his club form Jarryd Hayne, Maloney on debut, the ever reliable Robbie Farah and the “Bash Brothers” Bird and Gallen.

This brings me to the Paul Gallen punching Nate Myles incident. Yes, I understand that Origin has a different atmosphere and level of leniency, but in my eyes Gallen was very lucky to stay on the field. It doesn’t matter if Nate Myles is a dirty player or if he plays for Queensland, Gallen put a deliberate high shot on him and then when Myles got up unhappy about it, Gallen rocked him with two punches.

Would Myles have punched Gal if Gal didn’t do it first? Maybe. But that incident was all Gallen and regardless of what game it happened in, in my eyes it is not on. Had a Queenslander done it to a Blue, all of NSW would be crying foul and especially if it happened to a player from the individual club you support. So the idea of “that’s Origin” is bullshit in my eyes. Rugby league is a contact sport but it is not a combat sport, even at Origin. That wasn’t a fight; it was one player deciding to punch another.

So those fans who genuinely think it was awesome, or if you think it’s great because it happened to Nate Myles, I think you watch football for the wrong reasons and need to reconsider your values. I like a bit of Origin biffo as much as the next guy, but last night was not that. Anyway, NSW got a lucky break, but Queensland have had numerous breaks over the last few years so it was bound to even out and I don’t feel too bad.

Meanwhile, what about on the Maroon side of things? They finally looked old after a near decade of dominating the Origin arena. Their forwards were dominated, Thurston was completely out of sorts and even the Storm ‘Big Three’ struggled to impact the game.

Greg Inglis barely touched the ball and the one time he finally got decent possession he created Queensland’s only try. I doubt they will do it, but I think they need to switch Inglis and Slater in Game 2, at least at various points during the game to get Inglis involved. He is simply too important and valuable to them to not utilise more. Plus he is one of the few Queensland playmakers that can create without the forwards getting momentum first.

As a biased Souths and NSW fan however, I hope he stays at centre, barely touches the ball and simply gets through the game unscathed.

Another takeaway from the game last night is that we have all still played as much State of Origin as Josh Reynolds. I like Josh Reynolds and think he will play plenty of Origin in his career. It is not his fault he didn’t play, nor is it his fault he was selected at all. But this idea of selection a utility player for purely backup reasons and not even using him is insane to me. Origin is the hardest, fastest, most tiring form of footy and NSW are giving up one of their bench spots as a ‘break glass in case of injury’ backup plan.

It is no coincidence that as NSW forwards got tired in the second half; Queensland scored their try and came close to scoring more. Yes we won anyway, but it damn sure would have been a lot more comfortable if we had another player with fresh legs out there. I don’t care if it’s a prop like Tim Grant or a bigger utility that can cover halves like John Sutton, but all 17 positions should be utilised.

A win should never cloud over things that weren’t good just because the overall result was.

Finally, it is being reported that Robbie Farah may have a broken eye socket and is in doubt for Origin 2. That is a nightmare for NSW as Farah is probably the hardest player to replace in the entire team. Go on, name his direct replacement if he can’t play, I’ll wait….

…

Exactly.

Who are our options at 9 without Farah?

Michael Ennis? He’s a mediocre footballer and failed at Origin level already

Josh Reynolds? A good player and would have replaced Farah if Farah came off in Game 1, but he isn’t a hooker.

Mitch Rein and Nathan Peats? Like them both as youngsters but nowhere near Origin level right now and I don’t think either would argue that.

Ryan Hinchcliffe? To be honest I feel like I’d pick Hinchy out of these names even though he is mostly playing lock, but I wouldn’t be happy about it. At least I trust him as a player and feel like he’d handle the Origin cauldron, but the gap from Farah down to the other options is troubling to say the least.

If I’m forgetting anyone please let me know.

Anyway, NSW got a fantastic result in Game 1 and look like a great chance to finally reclaim the Origin crown. I’ll just spend the next three weeks praying to the great cockroach in the sky that Robbie Farah is back in time for the next instalment.

The post Turning Blue appeared first on Something Clever.

Dubbed as the most anticipated series ever – which is what it is labeled as every year.

New South Wales have the double home ground advantage at ANZ Stadium this year as the Queensland juggernaut look to make it 8-straight series wins.

Year after year, prior to Game 1, the endless banter crosses from both sides of the boarder. Everything from wins, to history, to players, to how may teeth you have, it just goes on and on.

The most publicised and sensitive debate is player eligibility. Who rightly belongs in a Blue or Maroon jersey?

The difference between having one of the greatest player of all time wearing the wrong colour can result in a generation of losses to those claiming to be “screwed over”.

It causes confusion globally as to what the rules really are, especially when people from other countries play for either the Toads of the Roaches. To be selected for Origin football you must be classed as “Australian”. I highlight that word, as the theory can be very confusing.

As and example, Jarryd Hayne has represented Fiji (and New South Wales), Tonie Carroll has played for New Zealand (and Queensland), the list goes on.

It all comes down to the age you moved here, where you played juniors, where you first played representative football blah blah blah. Did you know that one of the all time Origin greats for QLD, Gordon Tallis, played his first representative game for NSW?

I want to focus on the international players making themselves available for Origin. That’s right, they have a choice. Some like Sam Kasiano have stayed loyal to New Zealand, others, like Josh Papalii have not.

We need to raise a few questions as to why the loyalty is being brushed quicker than water off a ducks back. Why would you turn your back on your homeland?

The answer is firstly the opportunity to play representative football at the highest level. Yes, International representation is the highest level but the quality of football is the difference.

Secondly, players from the likes of Tonga, Samoa etc don’t have that high quality, frequency and popularity like State of Origin. I watched Game 2 of last year’s Origin series at a Bar in Barcelona, Spain. There’s no way that would happen for a Cook Islands vs. Papua New Guinea match. Players want to be in the spotlight and play in the best games. The dangling carrot is too large for them to ignore.

It will only get worse over time as (easily) over 60% of players in the National Youth Competition (Holden Cup) are of Polynesian heritage.

Keep the above debate in mind as I move to another problem that arises at Origin time; the BYE.

The weekend just gone, Round 12, of the NRL Telstra Premiership had a total of 4 games with the remaining 8 teams putting their feet up to accommodate the Origin period.

Last night, a depleted Brisbane Broncos outfit was crushed at home to the last placed New Zealand Warriors 56 – 18.

Was it a surprise? In round 23 it would be, absolutely! During the Origin period? Not a surprise at all. In fact, the Warriors were the favorites to win. This was due to Brisbane missing a large chunk of their squad who are in the Queensland team.

The National Rugby League have put the clubs in a “catch 22” situation. Players are being rewarded for their playing ability with Origin representation but their club is significantly weaker and will be punished for the premiership race in their absence.

There have been suggestions of having a stand-alone weekend just for the State of Origin so the clubs can remain at full strength. I think this would be an unsuccessful move as the average punter wants to see more than 1 game of footy in an 11 day period.

I have an idea that would (to a degree) solve both the eligibility and skeleton squads at club level. If not solve, then work towards change for the better.

My theory is this:

Keep the State of Origin as its traditional Wednesday fixture and give every NRL club a BYE on the weekend that follows.

During that NRL weekend off, Australia and New Zealand would host a Pacific Nations Tournament consisting of Papua New Guinea – Cook Islands – Samoa – Fiji – Tonga – New Zealand North Island – New Zealand South Island – Australian Prime Ministers teams.

The National Youth Competition would also play their Under 20’s State of Origin series during that weekend.

These teams would play a 3 week tournament on the weekend that follows the Wednesday Origin. The structure of that tournament would be for a discussion at another time.

This would not only provide at least 5 games over the weekend (what the Rugby League fans want) but International rivalries and more frequent representation for those countries who are currently limited to a minimal amount.

Would this tempt those who choose to play Origin over their home country to reconsider? To wear their home colours and have the honour of representing their people? I think so.

It would also introduce the young players from the NYC into representative games at a younger age and give them experience, which will make them better players when they make it to the NRL. Over all result – a stronger NRL competition.

Imagine Fiji vs. Cook Islands at Allianz Stadium; Samoa vs. Tonga at Suncorp Stadium; NZ North vs. NZ South in Wellington; Australia’s PM vs. PNG in Canberra. The massive amounts of multiculturalism that forms these great nations would come together and celebrate in the name of Rugby League whilst enjoying their sporting rivalry.

Low ticket prices and more merchandise sales will create a financial domino effect into club membership growth because more people are being involved in the game through culture.

At the end of it all, the players go back to their club, the normal Premiership rounds recommence, the clubs are at full strength and the race fore September is back on.

Just a thought…

The post Assessing the Negatives of Origin Football appeared first on Something Clever.