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Logo by Ben Harlum |
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BEST VIEWED AT 800X600 IN IE
My opinions are mine alone and nothing to do with the Official Cronulla site or their opinions.
You just scored TRY number
since July 14th 2002
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NRL Creditability hangs in the balance Time to silence the Dragons Supporters Dogs Salary Cap Breach Anniversary 2 of the best out for the season The aftermath of Chris Chongs article
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Sharks indulge in “wabbit stew”, Dragons Slain by Knights… RIP, Donkeys are proven stupid Asses by an Eel!… Chooks are plucked by Sheep Shaggers, Panthers have Sea Eagle for dinner, Cowboys Lasso a Tiger and The Raiders collar the Doggies!Every single away team won this week! An amazing stat in it’s own right. What a weekend of Footy. It started with the Raiders over the Doggies. They must now be considered as the Masters of the comp. No one gave them a hope, yet the Raiders proved they are more than a match for one of the Heavy Weight favourites of the 2003 comp. Here boy, here’s your collar… That’s a good boy!!… Walkies… Saturday, we had the Eel extend the Donkey run of losses to 6 in a row and 8 out of the last 9 games they have played. This keeps the Eels candle flickering for 2003 as they try to chase down the Bronco’s for 8th spot. It will take some favourable results this weekend though and we should have a fair idea on Friday night if the eels have any hope, as the Donkeys play the Stains. If the Donkeys win, they will be the 8th team, if they lose the Eels will hope its by a fair few as they are 28 points behind on for and against and they play the inform and Comp leading Panthers and will struggle to beat them by a big margin. We also had the Panthers leap out of the ground in the second half at Brookvale and put on 40 unanswered points, turning a deficit 12-26 half time score line into a massive 52-26 Preston Campbell led win. They are now alone on the top of the comp and only need to beat Parramatta on Sunday to rap up the Minor Premiership. If the Broncos go down to the Dragons on Friday night, I expect this game to be one of the games of the year, as Parramatta have hit some form at the right end of the season and will be desperate to make the eight. Similarly the Panthers will be desperate to win. The Sharks finally put the controversy of the last week behind them in a very high scoring game, where neither side could tackle and 88 points were scored. It’s not often a team scores 36 points, as the Bunnies did, and still get beat by plenty. The Sharks also leapt to 12th place and will look to their last game against the Doggies as a warning of what may be next year. If they can knock off the Premiership favourites, they can take some confidence into next year that they will be competitive again. In another surprising turn, Brett Kimmorley made an earlier than expected come back and may have Kangaroo tour aspirations as he is the Australian Coaches favourite and Joey is out for the season and wont be touring, opening up the way for at least a back up role for the halfback spot. The Sheep Shaggers had their revenge in the 2002 Grand Final replay and must now be going into the finals series brimming with confidence after 2 tough and hard fought wins in the past 2 weeks. The Chooks struggled against them and will be praying that they beat the Raiders on Sunday or they will probably face the Sheep Shaggers again first week into the finals, a thougtht I am sure they will be dreading as the Warriors play a tough and physical brand of footy that can leave you sapped the following week. The Knights put the sword to the Dragons and removed the Stain from the 2003 season. The Knights also guaranteed themselves a place in the final 8 and at least a first week show down with one of the Big 4. They are starting to learn how to play without Joey in their team and win a few games. Kurt Gidley is starting to get use to the No.7 on his back also and the Knights may not be decapitated in the first week as many people think. And finally we had the Cowboys lassoing the Tigers and hog-tying them. The Cowboys will finish only a couple of wins out of the Finals and the 2 or 3 close games they lost this year must now be eating away at them. No doubt they will be better for it next year and may even get one of the final 8 positions in the finals in 2004. The Tigers looked like they were planning their end of season trip and didn’t really want to be out there. They also will be looking at 2004 with hope as they have made some good signings for next year and Tim Sheens has done a good job with them this year The Dogs have nothingAny doubts as to the Raiders right to be a premiership threat were answered tonight. Against a team that cheated to build their team over the last few years, Cried like babies when they got busted and proved to have been cheating for years, then the players took a pay cut to stay together and then their fans went on to claim this year that they were robbed last year and should have been the rightful winners of the Comp last year, and will win it this year, some doubt must now be crossing their minds. They
finally met a team above them again, and a REAL premiership hope, after
playing lowly placed teams for weeks and raking up big scores. Unfortunately
for them the Dogs were shown wanting all over the park. They had nothing.
They struggled all night and against a brilliant Raiders out fit, who must
now be firming as one of the favourites. The
last try was at least 1 meter forward the dogs scored from tonight and made
it closer than it actually was. Personally,
I think there are another 2 teams that have a better chance than the Dogs
this year also. Time will tell I guess… I am
looking forward to next week’s game with them and against our rooky packed
team at Shark Park. If we knock them off, I rate them no hope for the GF this
year, and finally hopefully silence their followers about last year! NRL Credibility hangs in the balanceDavid Peachey has been granted leave to appeal his conviction of a Grade 3 Contrary Conduct charge. This has the possibility of the NRL coming out of this looking stupid in this whole fiasco. The case will be heard tomorrow and with an actual “Judge” in charge of the hearing. He is already in agreement that the case has merit to be appealed. The NRL Referee boss, Robert Finch, also dropped Shayne Hayne to Premier League for this week. He was quoted this week as say that Haynes performance was unacceptable. The NRL must be shaking in their boots at the moment. The Judicial system the NRL has in place is full of holes. The people they use to cite, grade, charge and then hear the defense of the cases are nothing more than ex players with an opinion and Jim Hall (did he ever strap a boot on?). An opinion based on their playing days, the NRL rules, or just a gut feeling it seems some times. I will be stunned if the charges laid against Peach are found correct with an actual Judge in control of the case. To add to the farce, the NRL didn’t charge one player from the all in brawl in the Warriors v Bronco’s game from the weekend. If that isn’t bring the game into disrepute then what is? MR Gallop, you just brought the game into disrepute yourself by not insisting something was done about it and threatening $20k fines for any further cases. You had no hesitations fining the Sharks this year, why not the Broncos or the Warriors now? CA was today given notice that the NRL isn’t happy with his comments, and Tallis, who hasn’t even got off his arse to play a game for weeks, is also under the gaze of the NRL for comments in the press. They apparently were both border line for fines!!? I feel tomorrow Peachey will be found innocent of the charges laid against him and the NRL will have egg all over their faces, AGAIN!!! Out of the 3 charges laid on the Sharks players, and totaling 9 weeks, only Dale Newton will miss one week if Peachey’s case is proven “reasonable doubt”. How stupid are the refs, the NRL and most importantly Jim Hall, going to look then? Very stupid if you ask me J Not to mention a few commentators of the game that have carried on like total “drop kicks” over the issues of last weeks game… hey Warren Smith for starters!! Wtf is your problem pal. Did your missus give you a knock back or something? Your article on the fox web page was fit for the trash bin and made no sense what so ever. You tried to be clever, but showed your a fool and opinionated one at that. Neither Sharks nor Zebras are found in the Jungle you goose, as someone on the Sharks forum pointed out! You also carried on like an idiot calling the game and haven’t stopped since… Get a life you tool… Bring on 2004 ffs, I’m sick of 2003 L The Judiciary is right!David Peachey, Come on down… Dale
Newton, Come on down… Rhys
Williams, Come on down… Hi
guys, welcome to the Judiciary Is Right!!. Are we all excited? Yep Yeah
man Hit
me dood Well,
you first task is to pick your charge out of a hat, it will be what you were
charged with, or one less grade of what you were charged with, or two grades less of what you were
charged with, OR the BIG PRIZE, we will be letting you off totally. OK
David step up to the hat and pick your fate… Oh
bugger, you picked the full charge…Your off for 2 weeks! Are
you serious?! Now way mate, I’m sure I don’t deserve that!! Sorry
Dave, but that’s what you picked mate. Your out of here!! Ok,
…………….. but that was a fucking dominant tackle though!! Come
up here big Dale Newton. Dip your hand in to the hat and see what you Get! Man, I’m crapping myself… here we go… WooHoo!! 2 grades less, how good’s that! Well
done Dale, you got one of the Big prizes tonight and maybe back later for the
final round… Come
up here Rhys Williams. So Reece, how confident do you feel, dip your hand
into the hat… I
am absolutely shitting myself Larry… Ok, here I go… OH MY GOD, I got a down
grade of 2 weeks too, can you believe this?!! Well
done Rhys… It looks like the final round is between Dale and Rhys… So
guys I gather your excited about this?! Yep Sure
am OK,
The BIGGEST WANKER IS?… For the big prize, it is between the morons at the Judiciary
and the morons refereeing the games, so we’ll start with you Rhys as you had
the highest win. Ok,
is it Tim Mander? Higher Is
it Tony Archer? Higher Is
it Shayne Hayne Well,
obviously there is nothing lower, so it’s Higher Is
it Jim Hall? YES!!!!! Ding ding ding ding!!! Well-done
Rhys. Ok come up mate, we have to put the choices in order. Oh,
Larry I cant believe this… I’m so excited! Don’t
get too excited Rhys… here are your choices for the biggest wankers in the
adjudicating ranks… Obviously
the Biggest is Jim Hall and we’ll give you that one, so what are the rest? 1
Mander 2
Harrigan 3
Clarke 4
Hayne 5
Archer 6
Simpkins 7 JIM
HALL Oh
gee, um…oh…. 1
Simpkins 2
Clarke 3
Archer 4
Mander 5
Harrigan 6
Hayne 7
JIM HALL Are you
happy with those, lock them in? Yep,
lock them in… OK,
they are locked in… Lets look at number 1… Yes 1
Simpkins How
about number 4? Yes 4
Mander How
about number 2? Yes 2
Clarke How
about number 3? Yes 3
Archer OK
Rhys, for the Major Prize of being able to Kick Jim Hall up the Arse we need
Harrigan at 5 and Hayne at 6… Lets have a look at number 6!? OH, it
was Bill Harrigan… Shayne Hayne is only a wanna be Harrigan wanker… Bad luck
and we’ll see you all next week on, The Judiciary Sucks!!! Oops I Mean… The Judiciary is Right!! GET FUCKED YOU DICKHEADSLucky I waited 3 hours to write this hey?! The Judiciary has once again proven itself to be a total joke in my eyes. Peachey was charged with a Grade 3 Contrary Conduct charge and that was found to be the case? He will miss the last 2 weeks of the 2003 comp. As far as I could see, there were grounds for dismissal on the charge, as the first charge against him was ridiculous… That doesn’t take into account the events that led up to the incident that Peachy was sin binned for in the first place and eventually sent off for either. Shayne Hayne has no idea of the Dominant Tackle rule and that is where the problem arose. Peachy questioned that fact and was sent to the sin bin for “waving his hands about”… he had clearly had enough and was stewing about it when… he turned, pointed and said something to Hayne. Hayne is quoted today as not even hearing what Peach said. In his official report he states that he “presumed’ that Peachy then swore at him. Funnily enough, a few more Sharks players then swore at him for the rest of the game, yet he didn’t send any other player to the sin bin or off. I hope the evidence that was used against Peach is conclusive; otherwise I would strongly suggest that an appeal is launched. We then had the two other charges laid against the “kids” down graded not one grade but 2 grades, making a total mockery of Jim Halls’ original charges and the Judicial process in general. My feelings are that if Jim Hall had the balls to charge the Parramatta player in the first place, and who was ON REPORT, Couch would have also received a holiday. The Judicial system is a total joke now and needs an over haul for next year. Like I said, Get fucked you dickheads at the Judiciary… Fix these problems PLEASE Mr GallopIn the last month a number of issues have raised their ugly heads. The time has come for the NRL men in charge to do something about it, or start to lose the respect of the fans that they have worked so hard to regain. For
mine, the main problems that need urgent attention, and in no particular
order are: 1)
The Salary Cap 2)
The Refereeing Standard in
general 3)
The Inconsistent 10
meters 4)
The Dominant Tackle Rule 5)
The One Radio Station
Rights issue 6)
The Inconsistent
Judiciary Rulings, Grading and Sightings It
would be fair to say that issues 2,3 and 4 are all related, but they vary in
what is needed to fix the problems I feel. Lets deal with them one at a time… 1.
The Salary Cap On one hand we have cashed up clubs with money to burn, crying that they have to release representative players, as they no longer fit under the Cap. On the other hand, we have the poorer teams, that don’t even spend their entitled $3.25 million because they can either not afford to, or can’t find or attract players of representative quality, or also have to let them go as they make representative games and therefore demand more money that they cant afford or then can’t fit under the cap. What
seems strange to me is that 3-4 teams seem to have most of the Rep players in
them and other teams cant seem to find a way to stock their team with them.
What happens is the shit fight that happened over an article written a couple
of weeks ago by Chris Chong. An article that was humorous and a lighthearted dig,
and was taken totally the wrong way by Rooster supporters, due to the
sensitivity of the Salary Cap. The
fact is that there has not been one rise to the Cap or any adjustments to it
since the NRL was formed. Most other organizations have at least a CPI
increase for it’s employees, and lets face it, Football players are employees
also and entitled to a CPI rise. Earlier this month, or last month, a call
was put out by some clubs to increase the Cap by $250,000. Strangely enough
it was all the cashed up rich clubs calling for it. They claimed it was to
help the lower grade players out with more money, but the syncs claim it is
to get more rep players. I don’t think raising the Cap is the answer. What I
propose, and have proposed before, is for a better discount system to be in
place. The longer a player stays at a club the more discount they are
allocated. I have suggested varying amounts of discount before, but with more
thought I feel I may now be getting close to the mark. A
player should get a 20% discount of their contract after they have been at a
club for more than 5 years and played at least 50 first grade games at that
club. If for some reason (like injury etc) they have been there for 5 years
and haven’t played 50 games in 5 years, then the discount should apply once
they reach 50 games. Every year after that, they receive a further 5%
discount. This would mean that after 10 years of service to a club, they
would be entitled to a 45% discount of their contract. What
this would do is bring back some loyalty to the Clubs from the players. It
would give the fans a chance to cheer for their favourite players for their whole careers, it would allow the Clubs
to pay them more as they reach representative levels without affecting the
cap and it would allow the players to retire with dignity at the club they
have spent the majority of their football lives at without having to be lost
to England or early retirement. There are other advantages too I see from
this, like being able to pay a new player with the discount for an
established player, or a lower grade player more, which would satisfy the
Players unions’ issue of late also. Infact, I can’t see any real disadvantages with this. Some might
say that Clubs will have all internationals, but they will be getting older
all the time and if you don’t take on new talent, you run the risk of
becoming stagnant when your team retires and you have to start all over
again. Also any new recruited internationals will have to wait 5 years before
they are eligible for the discounts, so that will limit just going out and
buying a team. You also have Coach and player clashes that help move players
around now, or players wanting to play under certain coaches. This all still
needs tweaking, but I’m sure I’m on the right track. 2.
The Refereeing Standard in general Of the
6 issues I have nominated, this is the hardest one to fix. The problem is
that you can’t just pluck First Grade quality refs out of the air. At the
moment we have Bill Harrigan as the top ref and daylight second. Of the
others, and if your not a Sharks supporter, Clarke, Simpkins and Mander would
be the pick, but they have their weaknesses also. The
problem is that the game is getting faster and faster and I don’t think one
ref can control everything any more. Also, the way the refs seem to coach the
players all the time instead of just refereeing wouldn’t be helping either.
I’d also suggest they take the familiarity out of the game and go back to
calling the players by their numbers not their names. They should also not
speak to any players but the Captains or through the Captains and give the
Captain the same respect when they are questioning a decision that they want
from them. 3.
The Inconsistent 10 meters This
has been a problem for decades. All teams try to get an advantage from this.
They either stand slightly off side, or break from the line early. If the
players aren’t doing that, the refs are either only getting them back 7-8
meters or taking them back 12-13 meters, or one side they allow to get away
with offside play and the other they penalise the crap out of. I
think that this responsibility needs to be taken away from the refs and given
to the Touch Judges to police. This may even require 2 more Touchies just for
this if need be, or perhaps 1 more ref on the field who only polices this. He
could however advise the main ref on other matters if requested from the ref,
like Touchies do now. Soccer use their touchies to police offside, why don’t
we? Believe me, the players will soon learn to respect where the touchie is
standing if he keeps putting his flag in the air! 4. The
Dominant Tackle Rule This
was brought in late last year and it seems for only one reason and for one
person and one team. Gus Gould had a big cry to the NRL about the Sharks
tactics at the time, and it is no coincidence that the 11 match-winning
streak was stopped when this new rule was applied the same week the Sharks
played the Roosters. The rule was supposedly there already, but was never
used. It was ment to stop people diving into
tackles so they could play the ball faster and get a roll on and force other
teams to back pedal. It was also an important part of Chris Anderson’s flat
attack at the time. After
last weekend, this rule should be thrown out, plain and simple. Parramatta was doing exactly what Cronulla did last year, but the Sharks were the ones being penalised and denied the dominant tackle. It has become a blight on
the game, as the rule is too open to interpretation and it seems to vary from
ref to ref, team to team and week to week. Just plain and simply GET RID OF
IT FOR NEXT YEAR!! Or tomorrow would be better so no games are affected by it
in the Semi’s. This will also alleviate more pressure off the refs. 5.
The One Radio Station Rights issue Enough has been said on this on the forums over the past month for me to know that it was a big mistake allowing exclusive rights to one radio station. When the License comes up for renewal, the NRL should allow anyone that wants to broadcast live calls of the game to broadcast them. We have the farcical state of the station with the rights, only calling 2 games a week, and producing a program that is very irritating to listen to before the games and for 5 and a half hours on Saturday. It is almost an embarrassment for the game, and that’s why the rights should go to whoever wants to call the game, it may force them to take a good long look at their show. It was funny once, but now it is crap! 6. The Inconsistent
Judiciary Rulings, Grading and Sightings I doubt the NRL would find one fan, player or coach that didn’t think that this is the worst part of the NRL at the moment. You just have to shake your head in amazement at some of the grades and charges laid. The points system is also flawed and needs to be looked at, especially the part where you take the early plea but challenge the grading and win. You should then be allocated the points for that grading in the first place and then have to discounts applied. As far as the inconsistencies in the charges, I just don’t even know where to start with them. We have the farcical scenes of Saturday night where Peachy faces a grade 3 Contrary Conduct charge yet you have Ben Kennedy absolutely giving it to a ref last week and nothing is done. You have the rather high grading of the 2 High tackles by the Sharks players, yet nothing done about the Parramatta player for the exact same offence, and this goes on week after week with all teams. It’s a bloody mess and they need to over hall the whole thing. One suggestion I do have is that if a player is placed on report, they should front up at the judiciary anyway and explain why they shouldn’t be charged. So there you have it. That’s the main problems I see in the game at the moment… what do you all think? Email me dribbler@sharksfan.com.au The farce continuesTo add to the farcical events of Saturday night, 3 Cronulla players were charged with various charges. David Peachy was charged with a Grade 3 Contrary Conduct, Daley Newton was Charged with a Grade 3 Careless Tackle and Rhys Williams with a Grade 4 Careless tackle. In what must rank up there with some of the ridiculous decision from Hayne on Saturday night, Mr Hall chose not to lay any charges against a Parramatta player for a High tackle that was no less careless than the Newton one. Why? Did the NRL intervene and tell him not to? What other logical reason can there be? All this does is make the NRL and it’s judicial system look a bigger joke and more inconsistent than everyone already sees it. Are the NRL just trying to make an example of Cronulla in general? Only Mr Gallop and Mr Hall know the truth behind this. It all now starts to reek of conspiracy and I will be watching with interest to see what is done about Shayne Hayne’s performance on Saturday, as his performance was the catalyst for what then eventuated. However, he is not totally to blame for the debacle of the second half. People
are keen to lay some of the blame on the players for flagrantly ignoring the
rules and the spirit of the game, but as the events about Saturday start to
unravel, it seems there is a third party involved in this mess. Chris
Anderson, the coach of the Sharks, apparently gave Peachy instructions to
strongly complain about Haynes interpretation of the dominant Tackle rule if
he continued to ignore our Dominant Tackles. He did and the rest is history.
It also now seems that Anderson was the one that told the players to stand
offside late in the second half and also gave the order for Sullivan to take
the shot at field goal. Anderson is even quoted as saying that Haynes
decisions were a joke, and it now seems he treated them as such. So to those
that were so fast in blaming the players, just remember who controls them! I
await with interest to see what will happen today and what direction the
Sharks take in defending the players. I expect they will take an early Plea
on both Williams an Newton as there is no doubt as to there guilt, maybe they
will contest the Grading of the charges as once again they seem excessive
when compared to similar tackles this year. I hope they also protest the non
charging of the Parramatta player as his tackle deserves a “Holiday” as well.
Just on Newton, he has just returned from suspension for the exact same thing
and needs someone to work on his technique over the summer or he will be of
little use if he spends most of his time on the side lines and leaves us down
a man in what could be a vital game. On
Peachy’s charge, I hope they take it to the judiciary and fight the charge.
This will force Hayne to defend his actions in what seems in-defendable now.
Every paper, radio station and TV program was suggesting that Hayne lost the
plot and shouldn’t ref another first grade game for a while. Mr Finch, the
referee’s boss, even is quote as saying his performance was unacceptable and
that he would be calling in ALL the ref’s today to view the tape of the game
and treat it as a “what not to do” tape, and discuss strategies to combat the
events from happening again. One
thing is fore sure, I’ll be watching with interest to see what happens. Shayne “the Payne” HayneHas
there EVER been a more incompetent performance from a First Grade ref in the
history of Rugby League. You would be excused for thinking it was a test
between Australia and France, in France, or perhaps Barry “the grass hopper”
Gomasel was in-charge of a State of Origin game again from the 1980’s. No,
this is 2003. The competition is the NRL and the game was between the Eels
and the Sharks and it was a nothing game before hand, well so one thought.
From the out set it seemed that something was amiss. Sure, the Sharks were
again guilty of the usual dumb penalties in the first half, but what we got
pinged for the Eels were allowed. Some of the gutsiest tackling I have seen
from a Sharks team ever, happened in the first 20 minutes. We were denied any
ball and any roll on. We had to withstand wave after wave of attack from the
Eels. The Sharks rooky laden side stood fast, stood tall and tackled their
brains out. We actually scored First too! The
last 20 minutes of the first half only gave a slight hint as to what was
in-store for the Second half. Shayne Hayne started the Eels on their roll on
with piggyback after piggyback of penalties and one-sided decisions. The poor
guys started to buckle under the pressure and were looking for a rest come
halftime. We found ourselves down 24-4. We
were lucky in the first half. The Second half was only young when Shayne
Hayne then, what can only be described as a major brain explosion, called
Peachey up for a chat. Peachey was waving his arms about when discussing the
question with Hayne and then got sent to the sin bin for “waving his arms
about!!?”… He trotted off and called Hayne a cheat on his way. Hayne then
called him back, but Peackey ignored him and continued off up the tunnel.
Hayne then said he was off for good!! Danny
Nutley then copped the Hayne treatment a minute or 2 later and was also sent
to the bin. We then had the farcical scene of Dale Newton being sent off a
minute later for a Head High tackle that was hardly worse than any other
similar tackle this year, and certainly no worse than the one from a
Parramatta player in the first half that was only placed on report. There
were Brawls that went on at this time also. But when it came down to playing
Footy, the out numbered Sharks had no hope. It was a farce and the Eels ran
in try after try to end up winning 74-4. I personally
would have walked the team off when Newton was walked, as it was pointless
continuing anyway. To show the stupidity of the decisions, when the Sharks
were down 54-4, they had a shot at a 1 point field goal when 40mtrs out as
that seemed as close as Hayne was going to let them get to the Eels try line. Tomorrow,
no doubt, we will hear how it was entirely the Sharks fault and Hayne was
entitled to do what he did. FINCH will no doubt review the events and then
claim on Monday that Hayne had a good game. My
thoughts are that He should be banished to the Jim Beam cup for at least 5
years. If Pauline got three years in the can, he deserves 5 in the pleb
grades!! Sharks leave the Dragons hanging by a threadAfter a disappointing year the game played on Saturday night between arch-enemies, the Dragons and the Sharks, was a chance for the Sharks fans to take something from 2003. Bad
blood has stewed between the two teams ever since the Sharks broke away from
the St George Dragons in 1966 and joined the NSWRL competition in their own
right in 1967 as the Cronulla Sutherland Football Club. This culminated in
the World record (until recently) of 11 wins in a row in the end of year
Grand Finals, of any sport and at the highest level of that sport, ending. To
further inflame the hatred between the two teams, in 1997 Cronulla chose to
play in the Super League competition when the Rugby League war broke out in
1996. This was fueled by Pay Television, which was in it’s infancy at the
time, looking for premier sports to add to there programming so as to entice
viewers to pay TV. St George stayed with the NSWRL and a new and much more
bitter hatred intensified between the two fan bases. To
further fuel this rivalry in 1998, when the war was over and they joined back
together and formed the National Rugby League (NRL), certain criteria and
obligations were undertaken by both sides of the war and the teams left in
the competition. The main concession was that teams had to be cut from the
comp or merge to have a maximum of 14 teams, as that is all that News Limited
would help finance. There was a mad scramble of meetings between all the
Sydney clubs to try to patch up past problems and find equal ground to set up
Joint Ventures and stay in the competition in some form that their fan base
could follow. The natural merger would be with a club that was next to or
near you. This sounds simple and logical, but in reality a lot of teams were
sworn enemies with their neighbours, as was Cronulla and St George. The
merged teams however were guaranteed a place in the competition, extra funds
to help set it up in the first year and concessions to the Salary Cap, so
they could pay out contracted players from both teams when they were culled.
This proved too tempting for some of the clubs that were struggling at the
time and may have thought that they could be one of the teams culled when the
criteria was applied. St George, the once mighty club was one such club.
Cronulla on the other hand were in a lot better position and in not much
danger of being one of the teams to be chopped. I would love to have been a
fly on the wall at THAT meeting, to discuss a joint venture, between the
executives of both clubs as I’m sure Cronulla would have held all the aces,
with our own ground, position on the table, stabilized financial position,
strong juniors and fan base. A hint of what may have been said in that
meeting happened a few years later when the then CEO of the Sharks, Peter Gow,
asked a St George/Illawarra supporter for a look at his old and signed St
George jumper, while sitting in the restaurant after a local derby game there
that day. Gow then produced a pair of scissors and chopped up the jersey,
which also lead to his sacking from the club. Obviously that merger was never going to work and the Dragons went looking else where, presumably to Souths first as they were their other neighbour but as it turned out were going to stand-alone or die, but the Dragons eventually found a willing participant in the Illawarra Steelers. They formed the St George Illawarra Dragons, using the St George jersey and the Illawarra socks and until this year played all home games down at WIN stadium. This made all of the history of St George just that, history, a fact the St George part of the merger refuse to accept. Also a lot of them consider the merger to be a take over and there is a definite split in the fan base because of this. On Saturday night this was highlighted for all to see when a brawl erupted between the St George Illawarra fans, leading to the arrest of 5 people and various charges being laid upon them. The catalyst for this was the great win, 25-16, by the under-strength and rooky filled Sharks over the Dragons who were desperate to keep their final 8 hopes alive. The Dragons supporters started to sing the old Steelers song and then all hell broke loose. The Sharks fans left very happy that they might have nailed the final nail into their coffin for 2003 opening up a 4-point gap to the next nearest team to the Dragons. They do however have a very slim hope of pulling off a miracle still, as they play all 3 of the teams above them on 28 points in the next 3 games, with the Storm this week, and the Joey less Knights the week after and both being home games. Their best bet is to catch the Knights, as they have a better for and against. They will then have to play the Broncos up in QLD. So it is a tough ask, but still mathematically possible. All Cronulla will be cheering on the Storm this weekend to cut half way through the thin thread of hope they have and the Knights to cut it the rest of the way the following week. All in all It’s just another Dick at the WALLPink Floyd
couldn’t have summed it up better, with my slight adjustment J The
WALL, the official Roosters forum, has had a link to this page for the last
few days. Dozens of people have hit this site to see the TRUTH about the
article that has caused an absolute storm, from there. I went there as
“bugga” (another of my aka’s) and gave my side of the story. That thread was
locked. I then started another thread, which was also promptly locked, but
not before a few people there had their say, that I can’t answer now. Well,
I’m answering you guys here, because you’re still hitting this page!! How do
I know this? This page has “Hit
Box” on it. It is a prog that tells me all kinds of stuff about the people
that come here. One of the functions is that it gives me the URL’s that the
hits come through to my page. The Rooster’s are the biggest hitters in the
last few days. I put
the article on this page because if it wasn’t somewhere to be read, then the
“Urban Myth” syndrome takes over and “Hear say” blows the whole thing out of
Proportion. As you
can see, it WAS a tongue in cheek article. It was a ribbing for the Roosters
and aimed at the game played last Saturday. There are ridiculous, and funny
things written in it, like the freezing of the betting for the spoon (South’s
have it in the bag), the suggestion that the finals will have to be replayed
and all the players will have to go back to their old clubs etc... It
also mentions the phrase “If this rumour is true” 18 times and the word
“Rumour” 22 times. It’s a piss take you dickheads. Why is this so sensitive to you? Is there truth to the
rumour or something? Get
over it and move on with your lives. I would also like to suggest that the
poster that calls himself “The BRAIN” actually acquires a brain!! Jealous of
what you knob?! Jealous of your
non-humour? Jealous of your supporters? Jealous of your JUNIORS? J J J I’m
sure not every Chooks supporter is so thin skinned as not to see the funny
side of THAT article… This
thread is now LOCKED Time to Silence the Dragons supportersThis
Saturday the Sharks have the opportunity to help end the Dragons chances for
2003, of making the finals, relegating them to “also ran’s” as well. This
would be a major coup for the Sharks, as bad blood still boils between the 2
teams, dating back to 1967, when the Cronulla Sutherland Districts Football
Club was formed. Saint
George has since merged with the Illawarra team. Loosing all of their
identity and history to the National Rugby League competition along the way.
Certain die-hard supporters refuse to accept this fact and continually
bombard the forums with their out of date and untrue ideals. For the St
George fans that may come here, get over it!! You club does not play in the NRL comp. Your team merged
in 1998 with the Illawarra Steelers and became the St George/Illawarra
Dragons who have a 5 year history… J I
noticed a very funny pic on the Sharks forum, that “supershark” made, called The
Wizards of Oki. Gee I hope I don’t get sued for this, but I’m going to post
it here. Well done and very funny stuff mate J
I must say though that without BK in our team, it will be a good win. The Knights without Joey, even if we do beat them, will struggle to make the finals and the Drags may still scrap through to the finals, even with Parramatta neck and neck with them for the rest of the games? Bulldogs Salary Cap Breach AnniversarySaturday
marks the anniversary of the biggest scandal to hit the NRL and possibly
Rugby League ever. It ranks up there with the Super League break away, and
the RL break away from Union in the first place, as the most dramatic things
to ever happen to our beloved game. The
Telegraph has 2 full pages dedicated to the anniversary in today’s paper, and
they didn’t even break the story!! There has been a rumour circulating in the
last few weeks that a club is $750,000 over the cap. The finger was initially
pointed at Newcastle and they openly defended the accusations and explained
all allegations, when one of their managers left the club and had a bone to
pick. The NRL has since cleared them of these allegations. The
finger was then pointed at the Sydney Roosters, and the rumours persisted. It
actually lead to Chris Chong then writing his tongue in cheek article that
has caused other dramas in the cyber community, as expressed below. I also
feel that after suspending the wooden spoon betting a week or so ago, due to
South’s having it in the bag, the betting agencies then realised that they
may get caught with their pants down again, like they did last year when the
dogs lost their points and won it, and reinstated every other team at 250/1,
just incase we have a similar event this year. This just fueled the rumour
further. One
thing is for sure, the Bulldogs are starting to look the goods for the battle
in the finals this year, as they feel they have some unfinished business left
over from last year. 2 of the best out for the season Andrew
Johns and Brett Kimmorley both announced today that they would not be
returning this year to the playing field. For Johns, it means he will not be
Captaining the kangaroos at the end of the year to England either. This
now means that the Knights will struggle to make the finals without him. The
Knights have a shocking record playing without Joey, 9 wins from 24 starts,
and it must be worrying the Coaching staff and fans. Johns is in a neck brace
with a protruding disc in his neck and has taken the only logical step. After
all, his life is more important than the Knights and football. Brett
on the other hand, seems to have finally done the logical thing and announced
doubt of him returning this year. He is still recovering from a broken jaw
and only started to eat solids again a week ago. He then suffered a ruptured
testicle on the weekend, which required immediate surgery, and would have
knocked most males flat on their backs for weeks and squealing like a baby.
He is without doubt one tough little bastard. But there is no point to him
returning this year as our chances of making the finals are gone anyway and
we need a fit and healthy BK next year, for what is looking like a much
better year than this one with the players recruited so far. All
the best on your recoveries guys. Tuesday August 12th
2003 The Frigg’n Salary CapDue to
the recent events, I now feel I have to re-visit my thoughts, from last year,
on the salary cap that is in place for the NRL clubs. The salary cap is a
joke in my eyes. Every club with money to spend looks at ways to get around
the rules that are pertained in it. It is then up to the NRL auditors to find
the loop holes that the clubs use. Every club that doesn’t have money has to
kiss their improved, long term or “hunted” player’s good-bye. Last
year I suggested that a discount system should be in place for all clubs with
long term and loyal players. Yeah, I realize there is some sort of discount
in place, but they have to be there for 10 years or something, and it is a
pittance. My
suggestion is that all players be granted a discount after 5 years at a club
where they play “X” amount of games in first grade in that first or following
years. They then get a 30% discount after reaching 5 years at a club. They
then get a further 10% discount on the Salary Cap for every year they stay at
that club until they are exempt. That means they would have to be there for
12 years!! This would instill some loyalty into players once more. Fans could
look forward to following their favorite players, and not have them shipped
of to the bush or England when they reach their “use by” date, or reach
representative status and the club can’t afford them any more. It’s
one thing to try to even the comp out, but why should clubs be disadvantaged
for their hard work, with juniors that make the grade and they developed or
faithful players that came to the club and stayed, for it? The
NRL has to do something soon about the bleeding of talent from the clubs. I’m
not professing that what I have suggested is the answer, but I’m sure I am on
the right track with these ideals… Come on Mr. Gallop, surely you can see
this also!! Tuesday August 12th
2003 The aftermath of Chris Chongs article
The forums are abuzz with the events of recent days. The only people that seem truly upset about the article are the Chooks supporters. Most others see it for what it was ment to be, a tongue in cheek, light hearted dig at the Chooks. The fact that it mentions the freezing on betting for the wooden spoon to set the tone of the article should have been the give away for anyone with a brain and a sense of humour. Of cause the betting has been frozen on the spoon, Souths cant NOT win it… There are only 4 games left and they are 10 points behind. Do the math people!! This
article has been like gold for hits on my meek sight, smashing all records,
with over 450 hits yesterday alone. Funnily enough, the next biggest day for
hits was in the middle of the Salary Cap breach by the Bulldogs last year,
when I wrote a tongue in cheek article myself call Who wants to be
a Millionaire and put a link up to it on rleague’s NRL Discussion forum.
Not one Bulldogs supporter complained about it, well one said my site sucked,
but it does, so hey. J A few
said it was funny, even though they were shattered from events happening.
After recent events I would have second thoughts about even doing such and
article now. I have
also noticed that this page is linked in a few threads on other forums too.
There is a response to a thread on LeagueUnlimited’s
forum, by one of the owners of rleague,
and he gives his feelings on things and an insight into what they are doing
to get rleague forums back on line. This is the second page, and the response
is down the bottom from James
Stewart I also notice a link on rlfan
the sister site to rleague. The Knights also have a Thread
on their forum discussing it. On the
Sharks forum the Moderators are advising caution about what you post and are
moderating like never before. There is a Thread there
also discussing what has happened. One thing is for sure, this has a lot of
forum operators edgy and watching carefully what rleague do in response. The
funny thing about all this is that the Chooks forum is one of the most
abrasive, abusive and out right slanderous around, yet one of them has caused
all of this to happen L They are
also patting themselves on the back for the closure of the rleague forums. If
rleague do bring them back up again, I would seriously consider removing the
Rooster Forum and ban all Rooster supporters in retaliation! They seem to have been waiting for a
chance like this. Sunday
August 10th 2003
Controversy Plus An article posted on RLeague has caused
a storm. Infact it has also led to the shut down of the rleague forums. The
article was written by Chris Chong aka Genius Freak, a Sharks supporter, for
the Sharks Den and was ment to be a
light-hearted, tongue-in-cheek article and a bit of a ribbing for the
up-coming game held on Saturday against the Chooks. As usual some numb nut chooks supporter,
who posted it on their forum, called the WALL, took the article to heart. He
then complained to the owner of the site, posted a message in the Cronulla
forum at rleague and today emailed Ray Hadley about advise on suing someone
about it. Ray assured him there were legal precedence’s for this kind of
thing if they deemed it defamatory and wanted to pursue it further. Ray also
gave an example of him having to ring the owner of that site and asking him
to remove a thread in the forums or face legal action. Ray then went on further and suggested
that perhaps the owner should seriously consider removing the forum from the
Web page, as 24hr policing of that site is impossible, and also suggested
other forums consider doing likewise due to legal repercussions from posters
defamatory comments. 3 hours later, RLeague pulled the plug on the forums at
the Grandstand indefinitely. That forum was the biggest forum for
Rugby League posters and members, and if they have pulled the plug on that
site, one must ask how long before others follow suit? As I have no problems with the article
and do have a sense of humour and can see the article for what it is, I am
going to post it here for you to read and make up your own mind about it! Written by Chris Chong Now I don't usually publish wild rumours and innuendo in my
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