Articles
Monday
September 30th 2002 3:30pm
BUGGA!!!
Looks
like it's still "Groundhog Day" for the Sharkies... so
close and Yet so far again. Infront of a Fantastic crowd or nearly
46,000 and more than half Sharks supporter, the boys gave their
all. Unfortunately dropped balls were our undoing along with some
Manderism, but we still could have even over come that if they just
hung onto the ball.
It
was great to see the sea of Black White and Blue out there yesterday,
although some seem to think we were out numbered. I just can't see
that at all. Everywhere I went there were sharks supporters. I must
admit that the Kiwi's were very vocal and had us in that department,
but on thinking about this, I'm beginning to think there were some
strategically placed Microphones in the Kiwi's sections with it
being amplified through the speakers. You would have swarn there
was 25,000 Kiwi's above us in the nose Bleed stands, but there would
have only been 5-6,000 up there. There was also a roaring rumble,
like feet stamping on a wooden floor or bashing signs, but the stadium
is concrete and there was no-one sign bashing up there? More special
effects?
Well,
I enjoyed my day out anyway, It has been 3 years since I've been
to a Footy match, and I now know why I use to love going. Unfortunately
we have to put up with the "Choker" tags, and "36
years and won F*ck-all" for another year. Thank god we beat
the Dragons though, at least we can throw that back in there faces.
I
managed to capture a few pics from the little that the old man video
recorded. There a bit fuzzy because they are from the tape and all
before the game started but here they are anyway... Click to enlarge!
Articles
Friday
September 27th 2002 1:30am
I'M EXCITED
I'm
Sydney bound on Sunday. I talked the ol'man into going to the foorty
on Sunday to help the Sharks supporters out number the Kiwi's. After
the Free Tickets offered to the Kiwi's, I suggested to him that
we should get down there and do our bit to help. He agreed, so it's
a 500km round trip for us. I can't wait now!!
There
have been all kinds of stories going around about the Free 10,000
Tickets offered to ex-pat Kiwi's by Vodafone and a further 10,000
by the owner of the Warriors. (this was actually capped by the NRL
to 15,000 in total, why, I have no idea as they were buying them
and you would have thought that they wanted to get as many people
to the game as possible. The reason given was that Ticketek were
flooded today and they couldn't sell other tickets because of the
lines of people. The computer actually went down for an hour from
the overload)
One
suggestion for this was in retaliation of the adds that the NRL
ran making it an US v THEM thing. The facts are that this deal had
been going on behind closed doors for weeks with Vodafone and it
only got confirmed yesterday. The owner had also promised to use
the money from the Minor Premiership to do something for their fans.
A possible reason the tickets being capped by the NRL is that the
original deal was for the tickets at $12 a piece, so maybe they
bumped the price up to full price for any more and they weren't
willing to pay that. 5000 x $20=The MP Purse of $100,000.
The
funny thing is that a lot of those tickets will probably end up
in sharks supporters hands anyway. I know a few people that are
also ex-Kiwi's but follow the Sharks. They were going anyway and
were happy to line up and take the freebies. Anyway, I think it
was good marketing by the NRL to stir up the pot and use the Aussie
v Kiwi thing to get people out to a game that probably would have
only got 25,000 in a very big stadium that would have seemed empty.
I'm predicting now that there could be 45-50,000+ there and an atmosphere
that will be electric.
Well,
I guess I'll see you all there, I'll be the Big bastard in Bay 110-1,
row 15, Jumping up and down screaming until I can't talk anymore.
I'll have our Dig-Cam there, and try to remember to get some pics
for here too. I should be able to get some of the Army as I'm pretty
Close to them. SHARKIES!!! SHARKIES!!! SHARKIES!!! Uhhmmm, just
clearing my throat J
Articles
Tuesday
September 24th 2002 3:30pm
Here we are
again
It's "Groundhog day"
as we find ourselves back where we were this time last year, 1 game
short of the Grand Final. It's a sad fact that a lot of the sharks
supporters have never been caught up in a Grand Final week, well
there was 97 but even I didn't watch that or care about it as I
was dirty on the Sharks for not giving the fans a say in what direction
we wanted to go, but that's another whole story and history.
There
is nothing like the feeling of a Grand Final week as the whole shire
decks out in Sharks colours. The shops, the Schools, people driving
around with ribbons on their antennas, everyone feels good and the
emotions and excitement and expectation is noticeable everywhere.
It will be even more so as the Shire is yet to taste success in
a GF, as so many people keep reminding us. As if we don't know already!!
Well,
all that can be forgotten for another year unless we beat the Warriors
on Sunday. It's true that they have had a rest for this game, but
that can work against you in finals footy. The Warriors have also
had a soft preparation for the big end of year games, playing the
Tigers and the Raiders over in NZ, then having a rest last week.
They were belted from pillar to post the weeks before those games
and may actually be still carrying scares from that.
On
the other hand the Sharks have had 3 tough games, 2 against the
Roosters and 1 against St George, which have toughened us mentally
and physically for what we have to do on Sunday. The Warriors haven't
had much Finals experience either and it is not on NZ soil this
time. CA's tactics of bagging the Sharks all last week seem to have
payed off as well, and instilled a belief in the boys that they
can do it. Lets hope we get everything right this year and that
"groundhog day" is over. Then we can look forward to Grand
Final week and hopefully our first premiership!!
PS:
Get out to the game on Sunday and make it feel like a Home game
for the Boys. Go you Sharkies GO!!
Articles
Tuesday September 24th 2002 3:00pm
Stevo and
BK cleared to play on Sunday
The judiciary found that
Stevo and BK had no case to answer yesterday. I believe that the
right decision was made and consistent with other similar or worse
tackles that have been made recently, with no punishment handed
down.
Reading
the Telegraph today though, you would think that we were being shown
favoritism. I can't believe the crap I read on the Back page today,
and it seems Cronulla have come in for special mention with both
BK's and Stevo's Tackles plastered all over the page. Where was
Mullins "headrip" which was a far worse tackle than either
Stevo's or BK's. Morleys tackle on Beattie last week was far worse
than all three, and that didn't even get a penalty, just like the
one on Saturday a St George player made on a Cronulla player and
nearly torn his head off.
It
seems to me that if there is any favoritism it is towards the Roosters
and if Mullins tackle didn't happen I fear a different out come
may have come. But if they charged BK and Stevo and not Mullins
they would have looked ridiculous. So they let Stevo and BK off
so they could let Mullins off.
You
just have to look at some of the articles last week from the Telegraph,
they also made an issue of the amount of weeks our players have
had off from suspensions and claiming us to be the "dirtiest"
team in the comp. More like the unluckiest and harshest treated
I would say. But I suppose they have to sell papers some how. To
back up what I say further, there are nice pleasant articles about
the Rooster in there and hardly a word about Mullins tackle. I shakes
me head at them...
Articles
Monday September 24th 2002 3:00am
How sweet
it is
We
won the D Day battle. Just like History (1944), we smashed the enemy.
For once we had a ref that let the game flow. Unfortunately, he
made plenty of mistakes also. I was going to tip Mr Bean to get
the Gf this year, but he also had a shocker yesterday, with some
ordinary decisions.
Refereeing
aside, our team stood tall and played well. The defence was excellent,
the attack was better. We had lapses though, but all in all it was
a gutsy performance. It looks like CA's "bag-athon" of
the team all week, hit home and did the trick. They definitely stood
up to be counted. We do have problems though. Stevo is on report
and BK maybe dragged up also. I personally think neither have a
case to answer, but the judiciary has been very unpredictable this
year and nothing would surprise me!!
At
least we shut the Dragons supporters up for the year J
"chuckels"
has sent me some pics of the experience for the night and I am much
appreciated for them and here they are. Click on the pic to enlarge..
Articles
Saturday September 21th 2002 3:00am
It's D day
on the Beaches
Today
we face one of our mortal enemy teams. Well, that's what some of
their and our fans would have you believe. It should be a cracka-jack
game and a nail bitter. If not I hope it's a Runaway win to us so
that the Dragons fans that have been dumping on us will go and hide
in a hole somewhere!!
I
unfortunately wont be able to watch it, there or here, as we have
our annual Volunteer Bush Fire Brigade fund raiser on. As this is
a small country town I live in with 500-600 people and my father
is the Secretary, there is no way out of it. BUGGA!! L We also need every cent we can get as
the new truck wont fit in the old Station and we need an extension.
We are completely surrounded by bush and the NACVBFB are our life
line in a disaster.
I
hope there is an aerial in our Community hall, as I'm taking the
portable TV just incase, but I don't think so. I will however be
able to listen to it on my walkman.
Well,
it's do or die for us and the boys tonight and I'm hoping that they
have a few tricks up their sleeve and BK has his kicking boots on.
I'm pretty confident that we can get them, even if Beattie doesn't
play. A win will once again bring us to the brink of a GF for the
second year in a row.
Simpkins
and Mander have been left out where they belong after their pathetic
displays the last 2 weeks and we have Hollywood. Hopefully that
means a free flowing game and we can get the roll on we need with
this flat attack I find very frustrating to watch, especially when
it doesn't work!!
Well,
I guess all I can say now is GO YOU SHARKIES GO!!!
Articles
Saturday
September 21th 2002 2:30am
Russia V
USA Test match report
One of the biggest crowds
at a footy match last weekend was NOT in Australia, but in Moscow.
This is the best opportunity that the RLIF has ever had to propagate
the game in other countries. It seems that the Russians are starting
to accept and like the game of Rugby League.
Last
weekend the USA Tomahawks played the Russian national team in a
Test team that was a success and hopefully a stepping stone to get
things bigger and better than ever in both Countries. If the RLIF
don't do every thing in their powers now to support these teams
then the game will never grow.
Here
is a report I pinched from the "rleauge International forum"
posted by "ali" who I am almost positive is "aal"
on the Sharks server, and traveling around Europe at the moment.
Note the "Go the sharks" at the end of the post in his
signature J
USA vs Russia Match Report
By Tony Hannan - League
Express, UK
RUSSIA brought the iron curtain down on a
historic and wonderfully uplifting series with a comprehensive 54-10
win over a visibly tired USA at Moscow's cavernous 85,000 capacity
Olympic Stadium on Friday night.
Around 25-30,000 curious
Muscovites fought their way through impressively heightened security
into the Luzhniki - Russia's biggest sports venue - to cheer on
their home country, who proved a class above their American opposition
on the night and look set to become a real force in the game.
It was an evening of firsts.
The first ever Rugby
League international to be played in Moscow. The first ever Russian
Rugby League game of any description to be shown in full on national
television. And the first ever League international to be played
on artificial turf in front of grid-iron posts, quite successfully
as it happens.
Nothing else was artificial about this
bruising encounter.
The pre-match entertainment was terrific
(official: Russian rock groups are actually quite good), with two
giant screens pumping out one of Sky's Super League promotional
videos to the ear-splitting accompaniment of "We Will Rock
You!"
A muddied Andy Farrell, a bloodied Mark Calderwood,
Tommy Martyn sliding in for a try in trademark style, and Robbie
Paul's giant face beaming high over the Moscow skyline. Amazing!
The entry of the gladiators - to Tina Turner's "Simply
the Best", what else? - and the players accompanied a youngster
each onto the field, hand-in-hand, for the spine-tingling national
anthems and one minute's silence for the victims of 9/11 and the
victims of a terrorist attack in Moscow the previous year.
Then the big screen was used to reveal the team list and pictures
of the participating players - not a bad idea for our own Grand
Final - as the excitement mounted. Every shot of a Russian player
was greeted with rapture.
There was a brief rearguard
chant of "USA! USA!" from the touring cast of the musical
42nd Street, before local patriotism dug in, the noise levels rose,
and the valiant Broadway hoofers were forced to admit defeat. They
love to beat the Americans in these parts, you know.
On
the field, Evgueni Klebanov's young, powerful and athletic side
- many of whom have been playing the game since they were children
- proved that they are improving with every passing year.
The blue-shirted Bears were a far better side than Tatarstan on
Monday and, on this showing, will surely be ready to rattle a few
pots come the next World Cup in 2005.
Talented Kazan Arrows
star Robert Ilyasov - this time playing in the second row - again
made his mark with a try, and his giant-sized forward partner Kirill
Kuliomin of the Moscow Magicians brought a noisy and enthusiastic
crowd to its feet every time he touched the ball.
Locomotiv
scrum-half Denis Nikolski had a perfect night with the boot, kicking
nine from nine, as his eager and committed team-mates gave their
weary guests a spectacular big-hitting lesson in Rugby League.
The shell-shocked Americans, who battled hard and picked up
a couple of disruptive early injuries, only had a Danny Bull try
to show for their efforts, as the quick-thinking Russians built
up a formidable 30-6 half-time lead, with centre Sergei Dobrynine
getting the ball rolling with the opening try after just three minutes.
And after a half-time interval that included an encouraging
exhibition of junior boys and girls playing Rugby League, the Bears
took up where they left off, running in another four tries to the
USA's one to ecstatic cries of "Ole, ole, ole! Russie! Champions!"
from the partisan home support.
If their flags, cheering
and singing were anything to go by, the crowd seemed to like what
they saw. And especially important that was, given the high number
of hugely influential politicians and business figures - including
the Minister of Sport - sat in the VIP seats.
A good idea,
too, to explain the rules of the game, and many of the more obscure
refereeing decisions as the game progressed.
The mind
boggles as to what can be achieved for Rugby League in the Russian
Federation if there is a will from the international game at large.
Then again, given the string-pulling power of the people
in charge here, they'll probably do it anyway.
Disappointed
American National Rugby League President David Niu conceded that
his side had been well beaten on the night, but insisted that the
week-long tour - taken as a whole - had been an immensely valuable
one for his gallant troops.
"Absolutely," he
said. "For our players and the growth of our League
back
in the United States, this has been a great experience. Not just
on the playing side, but also in developing a positive response
in the guys who travelled here."
"They are really
down at the moment on the back of that performance, but I have absolutely
no doubt that when these guys get back to the States they will take
nothing but positive messages with them. If you are half an athlete,
you are going to ask, 'why can't I have some of that?'"
Cue a speech from the aforementioned Minister of Sport: "This
is a great opportunity for world Rugby League," he told his
appreciative audience. "Rugby League has been going for over
100 years, but it is not very big in this country. We hope, in future,
that it will be very popular in Russia and that this game will be
the first step towards that."
Make no mistake, Rugby
League is not a major sport in the Russian Federation - yet! But
the groundwork is being done, the financial and
political clout
is there, and conditions are ripe for take-off.
So what's
it to be, then, Rugby League International Federation?
The brink of a glorious new dawn for the sport on a par with Australia
at the turn of the last century? Or yet another wasted opportunity,
perhaps the biggest of the lot so far?
Get this reporter
a stiff vodka!
GAMESTAR: Giant second rower Kirill Kuliomin
looks as though he is carved from the toughest Siberian rock.
GAMEBREAKER: Roman Ouchinnikov's 24th-minute try made it 18-2
and gave the battle-weary Tomahawks no way back.
TOP TACKLE:
USA winger Chris Craig's eighth-minute tackle into touch on Robert
Ilyasov
MATCH FACTS
RUSSIA
1 Oleg Sokolov
2 Rinat Shamsutdinov
3 Sergei Dobrynine
4 Vladimir
Ouchinnikov
5 Vadim Fedchuk
6 Victor Nechaev
7 Denis
Nikolski
8 Petr Sokolov
9 Roman Ouchinnikov
10 Alexander
Lisenkov
11 Robert Ilyasov
12 Kirill Kuliomin
13
Evgueni Bozgukov
Subs - all used
14 Igor Gavrilin
15 Ilgiz Akhmedshin
16 Fillip Romanov
17 Andre Jukor
18 Victor Lebedkov
19 Vladimir Altunine
Tries: Dobrynine
(3), Ilyasov (9), Bozgukov (28, 71), R Ouchinnikov (24), V Ouchinnikov
(39), Lisenkov (42), Sokolov (52), Gavrillin (61)
Goals: Nikolski
9
USA
1 Rich Portale
2 Vea Ofa
3 Greg Stelutti
4 Nigel Dacre
5 Danny Bull
6 Michael Mulvihill
7 David Niu
8 Ed Woodbridge
9 Yasukazu Seto
10 Justin
Zadnik
11 Dave Divalerio
12 Shane Mains
13 Robert
Balachandran
Subs - all used
14 Hayden James
15 Chris
Craig
16 Chris Cahill
17 Allen Chmielewski
18 Mike
Edwards
19 Zac Padgett
Tries: Bull (34), Mains (56)
Goal: Dacre
Rugby Leaguer & League Express
Men of the Match:
Russia: Kirill Kuliomin
USA:
Danny Bull
Half-time: 30-6
Att: 30,000 est
Penalty count: 6-13
Referee: Dino Vikas (Australia)
_________________
Go the Sharks
Articles
Monday
September 16th 2002 3:30pm
Week1 Finals
conclusion
The
first week of finals are over and two teams are no longer with us.
There was also more controversy in 2 of the games. We started off
on Friday night with the Sharks and the Chooks. Same teams as last
week, same result as last week, same crap refereeing as last week,
different ref to last week. It looks like that Mander and his bum
chum Simpkins have really got it in for the Sharks. They both have
one set of rules for one side and a different set for the other.
On top of this Simpkins awarded 2 dubious tries to the Chooks that
clearly were not tries without going to the 3rd Umpire, and we had
2 or 3 scrutinized by the 3rd Umpire and disallowed. Add the fact
that Noddy left his kicking boots at home with 0 from 5 attempts
and we scored 5 tries a piece, the Chooks have played to their best
for both games, the bias refereeing and our own poor form, then
all is not lost if we meet them in the GF. Will be interesting to
see if Morley is cited for his high tackle or trip on Beattie also.
The lost left us vulnerable to being out of the finals and a few
nervous days wait. Indeed we may now have a weeker side of the draw
to make the GF with the Dragons winning.
The
second Game of the weekend produced the first casualty, Parramatta.
The Broncos and the Eels played in an entertaining game that either
side could have won. The Broncos triumphed to eliminate the Eels
for 2002. The night game between the Dragons and the Knights was
also full of controversy. There was also a suspect try awarded to
the Dragons as well as a late tackle on Joey that has ended his
2002 season with cracked bones in his back. Bailey came in as the
third tackler when the tackle was almost over and as Joey was going
down and Bailey slid into the tackle, his knee got Joey right in
the middle of the back. He struggled on for a few minutes but was
clearly in trouble and left the field shortly after. I must say
though that it did'nt look deliberate in anyway although he finds
himself on report. I suppose a case could be argued that it was
at least careless and possibly reckless as there was no real need
for him to add to the tackle anyway. Every one up here in Newcastle
are spewing about it as they know their chances of defending their
title take a nose dive without Joey. Gidley may find himself cited
as well for a spear tackle as well as another 'lifting" tackle
by a Dragons player also. It will be interesting to see what the
judiciary do today.
So
with the Dragons winning it meant a stressful wait for the Sharks
to see if the Warriors would crack in the Finals pressure cooker
or would play like the Minor premiers they are. They started off
well and I started to breath easy until about 10mins before half
time when the Warriors seem to be looking for half time. The Raiders
scored 2 tries to put them right back in the game 10-14. They came
out and were competitive for the first 10 minutes of the second
half also, but then Ali Louatiti came on and scored after being
there for only 15-20 seconds. It was all down hill for the Raiders
from their as they watched their 2002 season slip away at 10-36.
They scored a couple of late tries but it was too late. So the Sharks
live to fight another day, and what a fight it will be. We play
our mortal enemies the Dragqueens on Saturday. With only 2 games
on this week here's hoping that the refs are Hollywood and Mr Bean,
and Mander and Simpkins are reffing 1st Divvie.
Late
Note: As I was about to upload this story, I heard on the news that
all players were found with no case to answer except Morley who
has to face the Judiciary over tripping Beattie.
Articles
Friday
September 13th 2002 2:30pm
Week in review
Games
The
week started off with some interesting games last weekend. The Dogs
triumphed in their "Grand Final", as many people thought
that would be the Grand Final this year until "Doggie-gate"
got the Dogs turfed out. The Warriors bounced back with some form
just in time for the Finals and as it turned out a minor premiership
victory, Congratulations Warriors!!. Canberra did what they have
done to many teams down at the "Grave Yard" this year
and beat Melbourne into 8th place. The Rooster beat the Sharks for
4th place and a Home Ground Final (well the less I say about this
game the better). North Qld showed that Parramatta are still struggling
for form. Penrith absolutely belted Manly out of the Finals in what
ex Shark Jason Ferris described as a "pathetic" display.
The Dragons showed real Finals footy to dismantle any plans that
Newcastle had of winning the Minor premiership.
Mad
Monday.
The season ended for many
teams after last weekends games and some of the Dogs wasted no time
in celebrating their Mad Monday on Saturday. Big Willie Mason got
plastered and made a complete goose of himself culminating in doing
a runner on a cab fare. How thick is he, like he isn't recognisable
at all is he? Big Willies manager also stated that they hadn't signed
with the Bulldogs yet and rumours abounded that he was seen talking
to Ando and a possible link to Cronulla for next year. To date he
still hasn't followed the lead of most of his team mates and resigned
yet.
The
Dally M's.
The Dally M's for 2002 were
on and no surprises that the NRL's pinup boy was awarded a record
3rd Dally M. What was surprising was the margin he won it by. In
what can only be described as a very dubious tally, Joey was 8 points
clear of the field. He was 8 points clear when the Dally M's went
secret in round 16 and obvious to everyone except the judges and
the Newcastle supporters, did not have that good a final 10 games.
Not as good as Noddy had anyway who was 8 points behind him at round
16 and finished 9 points behind him?? WTF?? That wasn't the only
suss decision on the night either with some of the other awards
raising more than a few eyebrows. Cronulla didn't get 1 award L.
Suspensions.
Nathan
Cayless was found to have a case to answer for his grade three Careless
high tackle. The Parramatta and NZ Captain went into the Judiciary
hearing with Joey's QC confident of getting a favourable decision
as Joey had the week before. The tackle also looked less dangerous
than Joey's deliberate swinging arm, as the person he tackled was
falling at the time of impact, but once again the Farce that is
the Judiciary showed total inconsistency in not only finding him
guilty but also failing to down grade the tackle. Cayless will now
miss 3 games and unless Parramatta make the grand Final his Telstra
season is over. He could also miss the test at the end of the Premiership
if Parra don't at least make the Preliminary finals. I can almost
here the Kiwi's crying foul from here with what seems one set of
rules for our (possible) captain and theirs. Thankfully Noddy was
found to have no case to answer after a few worrying days of wandering
and waiting.
"Doggie-gate"
Once
again the Dogs seem to have found a loop hole to crawl into to allowing
them to keep most of their team intact. apparently if they all take
an 8-9% pay cut they will be able to get under the cap for next
year. That part is fair enough but they have promised the players
that if they make the Finals then the Dogs will pay them a bonus
of the amount they lost from their contracts. This would then roll
over and count on their 2004 salary cap. The NRL has ratified this
and says all is above board. I think it stinks as the team they
have wouldn't be there in the first place if they hadn't cheated
to get them in the first place, meaning they have basically escaped
penalty for cheating for years other than getting caught out this
year and stripped of their points. Lets just hope they don't make
the finals next year.
Finals
kickoff tonight.
Heres
hoping that Friday the 13th is bad luck for the Chooks and good
luck for us. In what is bound to be another tooth and nail, hard
fought game tonight I feel that we just need an even Ref that either
polices both sides or neither in the offside and play the ball areas.
We need to hang onto the ball and just tackle like we did in the
first half and I am confident we will wear them down to finish on
top of the Chooks, leaving them to the mercy of the teams above
them to keep them alive in the finals. It is possible for the loser
of this game to be eliminated if 2 teams below us win. Good luck
Sharkies and get out there and scream your lungs out for the boys.
Articles
Thursday
September 12th 2002 4:00pm
Chooks
grease up for a reaming
Either
way the Chooks are in for a reaming this weekend. The Mighty Sharks
will have no trouble bending them over on Friday night and giving
it to the Chooks. Rumour has it that a high profile media entrepreneur
linked to the Chooks has offered to shout them all a free reaming
down at the Real WALL if by some miracle they beat the Sharks on
Friday night. A special appearance will be put in for the boys by
a certain Ref (who wont be there to hold their hands this week)
for them to do with as they wish. I hear he likes his ear getting
blown in and cuddles for foreplay first. So either way they are
in for a reaming.
The
loud mouthed wanker with the faggy white boots has threatened to
call Peach names all night. OHH!! what a big toughy he is hey!!.
This is the same guy that crapped himself in a State of Origin game
and couldn't hang onto the ball, then got dumped and will probably
never play for QLD again.  What a faggot. No wander Bennett dumped
the poof back to 3rd grade last year. I think Peach will be the
one sledging on Friday Night. Same goes for that wanker with the
big bank account and bigger head that leads the Chooks around the
park. What an over rated tosser he his. He's playing the right position
though in that team as being the ball distributor it makes him the
'Chook Feeder' in the team and we all know what a Chook Feeder is
J.
That
brings us to the other 'Chook Feeder' in their team who has a wounded
'Wing' at the moment. I would call it a 'Limp wrist' actually and
we all know what a limp wristed person is also J. Then we have the 'powder puff
boys' the so called engine room of the team. They couldn't beat
time with a stick. I have seen tougher "guys" walking
down Oxford street with make-up and a skirt on. Maybe that was one
of their boy friends.
Without
"That" ref to suck their weenies and hold their hands
I don't even see the Chooks getting close, unless "That"
refs bum chum was threatened with no nookies for a week if he doesn't
penalise the Sharks out of the game. That is the only hope I see
for the Poofs from Bondi Cum Friday. Can't wait to hear what a certain
"goose" has to say as his team is getting mauled also
J.
Final
hint to the Chooks, Take plenty of Vaso and KY gel, they tell me
it helps relieve the pain, although I'm sure they are all broken
in by now.
So,
whats for Dinner on Friday night? Red Rooster for me  and Humble Pie for the Roosters and their loud mouthed
wanker fans, all 6 of them.
Articles
Wednesday
September 11th 2002 11:30pm
Finals
are upon us
The
big end of the year is upon us already and I'm glad to say that
we will be part of it. After our loss last week we find ourselves
playing the Roosters on their turf. I can't see this being a real
problem though, as we have already beaten them once this year there
and we will definitely play better than we did last week. Also Mander
wont be in control either, although the stories of his replacement
playing huggies with Mander all night at the Daily M's is a bit
of a worry.
The
full Draw this week is
Sharks V Chooks at Aussie
Stadium Friday night.
Donkeys V Parra at ANZ Stadium
Saturday arvo
Knoughts V Dragqueens at
EAS Saturday night
Sheep Shaggers V Raiders
at Ericson Stadium Sunday arvo
I
must say I am very disappointed in channel 9 not televising one
game live. Although we do get 4 hrs of Footy on Saturday night in
a row, it is still disappointing to not be seeing the games live.
For
our perfect scenario we need the Raiders to beat NZ, The Knights
to beat the Fags from Kogarah, Us to bent over and Ream the poofs
from oxford street and Parra to ride the Donkeys into the ground.
This would mean both the Frags and the Poofs would be eliminated,
making me a very happy little Sharks supporter. Then I will hit
there web forums and give them as much shit as they have been giving
the Sharks on our forums both at "The Bar" and at the
rleague forum. Even if they both lose and parra and the Raiders
don't I can go give them some of the same we have been copping.
I'll
try to get some sort of a draw together in the next day or so, so
I can follow who plays who in the coming weeks a bit easier. This
McIntrye system is pretty confusing to follow in the first couple
of weeks.
Articles
Monday
September 9th 2002 11:30pm
Sharks suffer
blow in finals prelude
To
say I feel gutted is an understatement. I hate losing like any Footy
supporter does but it feels even worse when you were cheated of
that win. In one of the most one sided refereeing performances I
have seen, Tim Mander seemed to only ref one side all night. He
continually turned a blind eye to the Roosters standing off side
and laying all over us in the tackles. Yet when we did the same
thing he had no hesitation in penalising us.
I'm not saying we didn't
deserve to be penalised either. I'm saying that East's were doing
the exact same thing but getting away with it. The last time I felt
like this was the last game we lost against Penrith. Archer was
the Villain that day and awarded a try to Penrith that clearly wasn't
a try among a host of other mistakes and got dropped for months
for it. Lets hope Mander suffers the same fate. It was like he was
under instructions to do this even. Ray Hadley and Blocker Roach
both commented on the one sided refereeing also and they are just
commentators.
To
make matters worse, we didn't play that well and may have lost anyway.
Mander just made sure we did. I felt that they were also playing
too flat, like we were in our losing streak, and hope they learnt
something from Saturday and go back to the "Deep flat attack"
that started to work well for them. This will eliminate intercepts
like Freddy's (which in my opinion was offside) and allow us to
get a roll on with the rushing defence of the Roosters. I would
also like to see them put in a few chip kicks when in mid field
to make the Roosters think twice about rushing up on us. Other than
the poor handling, caused by the roosters being offside and us rushing
passes, it was hard to be critical of the guys because Mander just
wouldn't let them get going and frustration started to creep in.
I actually didn't watch the last 20 minutes as I had had a gutfull
of Mander by then. He penalised us for only being back 12mtrs instead
of 13mtrs and I just hit the remote off button and went back down
stairs.
The
only good I can see coming from this is that the pressure to keep
the winning streak going is now off. We also didn't play our best,
had nearly half as many completed sets of 6 than the Roosters, the
Roosters pretty well played as good as they can, Mander was totally
biased and they still only won by 12! Apparently when we finally
did get some ball at the end we started to show what we could do.
Hopefully
CA has a few tricks up his sleeve for them on Friday in the return
match.
Articles
Saturday
September 7th 2002 2:00pm
All is not
so "Rosy" in the Dogs camp
So,
after the euphoria of last nights win settles down and the realisations
that all the Dogs have to look forward to is next year, rumblings
and rumours are starting to leak out that some "KEY" personnel
will not be taking a pay cut for next year.
On
2GB today they announced that Braith Anasta, a major player in "doggie-gate",
has been asked to take a $70,000 a year pay cut for the next 3 years.
This means he stands to lose over $200,000 in that 3 year period.
His manager is set to knock the request back and other players are
set to follow suit. This will then more than likely have a complete
break down of any pay cuts being accepted by all the players, as
several have been quoted, in the past few weeks, as saying "it's
all in or none in." Would you take a pay cut knowing that others
your playing with haven't? Of cause you wouldn't!
This
is set to tear the whole 2002 squad apart as estimates range from
6-11 players having to be cut from the squad to fit under the cap.
This intern will cause further repercussions as all contracts will
have to be honoured meaning they will struggle to get under the
salary cap as all payments are included in the salary cap anyway.
This will bring further penalties and fines next year and could
even cause them to struggle to actually start next year if the NRL
take a hard line on one of their demands in the findings handed
down.
I
feel however the NRL will be sympathetic and show leniency to them
if they have genuinely shed a lot of players and are showing that
they are doing everything in their power to meet the NRL demands.
They will be granted a 1-2 year concession on any overpayments to
players shed otherwise it will be impossible for them to meet that
part of the demands if players refuse to take a pay cut.
One
thing is for sure, they wont be buying any players for a few years
and will struggle next year on the field if these rumours are true.
This I feel is the fairest part of the demands that the NRL handed
down, as it will punish them for years as they try to rebuild a
team that was built by Cheats in their administration over years
and would/should have never been together in the first place.
Articles
Saturday September 7th 2002 4:00am
Sharks v
Roosters
Firstly, I'd like to say
that I am a very happy Shark! I finally got my computer back on
Wednesday. It "frizzled" 3 months ago in an electrical
storm and I wasn't even here at the time. I put a claim in on our
house insurance and finally have it back, and I must say bigger
better and faster than ever.
I
have been using my mums spare Lap top for the past 3 months and
it is a piece of crud. I finally got to see what my Page actually
looks like for starters. It looks great compared to a dim 12"
Laptop monitor and looking at it in a 17" screen that 'snaps'
to my commands.
Unfortunately
it is going to take me weeks to get everything back to anywhere
near to what I had on it before it went BOOM!!, but at least my
CD-ROM is now a CD-R/CD-WR so I can save the files as I get them
again. I also can't wait to load Q3 Arena back up and go and "smoke
some arse", especially with my new G-Force4 3D card instead
of my Voodoo2 card plus all the other improvements with speed I
now have. It was well worth the wait and cost me nothing.
Oh,
shit I was talking about the Game on the weekend wasn't I, soz!!
I'm just exited J
Well,
this is Probably the pick of the Games for the weekend other than
last nights game. I was dirty that it wasn't going to be on Free
to air TV for the Sunday Game until I realised that even if it was,
this prick of a place would have taken the Knights v Dragons game
anyway if it was on at the same time. All it means is I have to
go upstairs and listen to my ol'man bitch about the ref all game
J. I might listen to Ray Hadley
call it in my head phones and watch it (well that gives me the shits
also, his call is 2-3 seconds ahead :-/ but it will be better than
listening to the ol'man the whole game). He is one pessimistic cantankerous
old fart at times, I'll tell ya!!
The
main challenges for us are, obviously, to stop Freddy for starters.
The forwards need to get the role on we have had in the past 3 months
and hopefully our backs, led by Peach and BK, will do the rest.
We also need to tackle like the Dogs did last night. That was a
top effort for most of the game by them.
I'm
just hoping the boys ride the 19-20,000+ crowds emotions and give
us a victory I am fairly confident we will get anyway. It must be
said though that the Roosters do have a good record at Toyota Park
for what that is worth. We should damage that record This arvo though.
We
Can then do it all again next week J |