BYE BYE SHITANTA SPORTS

I'll openly admit that I was thoroughly delighted to see the demise of the UK arm of this utterly shithouse Pay-TV broadcaster, alongside their even more-shithouse customer service operation.

I was never best pleased they'd purchased the broadcasting rights to the NRL and Origin games a couple of years ago because that meant I had to shell out an extra £15 per month on top of my overly-expensive monthly subscription to Sky Sports.

Setanta began by broadcasting 3 live NRL games a week and that included pre-game coverage from Fox Sports Australia or Channel Nine whose presentation is generally far superior to the usual boofhead in a studio that Sky UK used to trot out pretending to know a lot about Australian Rugby League when the trotted-out boofhead in question actually knew feck all and was incapable of discussing any aspect of the games broadcast beyond applying the usual cliches and fatuous comments.

What pissed me off the most was being offered a deal by Setanta to subscribe, which consisted of agreeing to a minimum 12 month contract where the first 3 months were £10 pcm, followed by the remainder of the contract to be charged at £15 pcm. I was politely assured that this was a fantastic deal. I should have known better though. Within a couple of weeks of signing up to Setanta, they suddenly began offering their service at £9.99 pcm with no minimum contract.

I was on the blower fairly quickly to register my disapproval at the package I was on and I politely asked to be switched to a no minimum contract at £9.99 pcm as a gesture of goodwill on their part in return for my long-term and satisfied customer subscription status. Their customer service turned around and basically said 'Tough shit! You signed up to a 12 month contract at the terms and prices earlier specified. We intend to hold you to that contract!' I then banged on about my customer rights and the 14 day cooling off period where I could change my mind about their service but they were very quick to point out I'd subscribed 16 days ago, so again 'Tough shit!'.

At that point, I gave in. I'd lost the argument. They'd got me! However, it was hardly the kind of customer service response that was likely to endear me to the company and so I agreed that I'd continue to fulfil my 12 month contact, but I also pointed out to them that at the end of that 12 month contract, I would be looking forward to ditching the bastards for good. Twelve months later, I diligently waited for Setanta to take the final 12th monthly direct debit from my bank account and then immediately cancelled the direct debit payments. What followed were incessant phone calls and threatening letters from Setanta claiming that my direct debit was no longer working and that I owed them money, to which I continued to maintain that I'd fulfilled my 12 month contract, that they could go forth and multiply, and that I look forward to the day when they go bust. I'm not quite sure how I could owe them several months subscription payments anyhow, since they'd switched me off within 2 weeks of the direct debit being cancelled.

In more recent times, Setanta's coverage of the NRL games had become pretty ordinary and often reduced to just the solitary one game per week broadcast, and without any of the previous pre-game presentations. Edited highlights of German Bundesliga soccer games from the previous week were considered more important to broadcast instead of a live NRL game.

Well they have gone bust now and my opinion is?

Good bleedin' riddance and not a moment too soon! :-)

THE DEPRESSING STATE OF AUSTRALIAN RL CULTURE!

It's been quite some time since I've posted anything on this blog, mainly because I've been too busy with other stuff and also because I spent the best part of last month down under in Australia and New Zealand on my jollies! I'm back now though :-) I make the long trip down under at least once a year (but usually twice) for my annual (or bi-annual) fix of some combo of NRL, State of Origin, Anzac Test and Qld Cup fixtures. Last year I attended the RLWC instead of the NRL Finals.

I travelled down under last month and the idea of attending as many Rugby League games as I could conceivably fit in was no longer to be regarded as an essential and integral part of my holiday itinerary. I decided to spend time in Melbourne followed by Auckland rather than attend the Anzac Test in Brisbane. I didn't even bother arranging the timing of my stays in Melbourne and Auckland to coincide with a Storm or Warriors home fixture. I did make a little effort to book a two night stay in Sydney in the hope that I might cop an opportunity to attend a Monday night NRL game there but it didn't work out because the Storm V Raiders fixture got the Monday night schedule nod in that particular round of fixtures instead. Did I care? Was I bovvered? In short... no. I attended just one fixture over the best part of a whole month down under, an NRL local derby clash between the Brisbane Broncos and Gold Coast Titans, and that was only because a bunch of my Aussie mates wanted to go.

Rugby League was never out of the news whilst I was there. It occupied more than the usual reams of column inches in all the newspapers and it was invariably the top news item on every TV or radio channel news bulletin or notable current affairs programme. Unfortunately, not much of it was about the game itself but depressingly more about the seedier and sleazy underbelly of the sport and what high-profile people in the game get up to in their spare time, which quite frankly is nothing to be proud of at all.

The news was full of allegations of sexual assault on a 17 year old young female by the NRL's current marketing pin-up boy Brett Stewart. The NRL had to suspend their main season 2009 advertising campaign because Stewart featured prominently in it! Then there was the complete and utter implosion of the Cronulla Sharks club where it emerged that a number of their players had indulged in group sex with a young 19 year old female in a Christchurch motel back in 2002. This included one of the most high-profile and highly paid of RL media personalities who played for the Sharks back then. One of their current players then tested positive for a banned substance (I'm surprised he had the time to imbibe or inject anything given he was busy attempting to sue the pants off his former club for wrongful dismissal unless he was paid compensation of $100k), their halfback had been suspended for alcohol-fuelled, off-field indiscretions, their skipper was sacked from the captaincy role due to racist remarks made to an opposition player during a game, their sponsors were pulling the plug on their financial support in droves, and just to cap it all off, their CEO had punched a female employee of the club and urged another female employee of the club to give him a good spanking! If ever a club epitomised the brainless, boozy, macho, misogynistic, racist, rotten-to-the-core culture of the game in Australia, it was Cronulla. Given the current climate, Willie Mason being caught on camera (above) having a leak outside a nightclub ought to be regarded as nothing more than light relief.

With all this crap unfolding whilst I was over there, alongside the memory of other sleazy incidents that had taken place at Coffs Harbour and Fortitude Valley, I'd simply had a gutful and lost my appetite for turning up to any game down under.

I very much doubt the culture of RL is much different among clubs and players in England. The only difference is that incidents don't get reported or scrutinised like they do in Australia due to the much lower profile the game receives from the media in the UK. After all, it didn't take long for a well-known and highly-capped GB and England international to go looking for sleazy, extra-curricular activities whilst on tour with the RLWC squad last year. He even had the testicular fortitude (one wonders if he needed the boost of any help there?) to organise it all on Facebook prior to his arrival in Australia. He may have been judged a 10 out of 10 between the sheets, but his on-field performances in the RLWC most definitely rated no more than a 3 or a 4, which pretty much correspond to his ordinary match ratings throughout the rest of his highly overrated international career.

REVIEW ON ENGLAND'S WORLD CUP FAILINGS ANNOUNCED!

Take a good look at this photo...

RIGHT HERE ---------------->

What is it saying?

What is it telling you?

And who is that bloke?

All shall now be revealed.

The bloke in the photo is Richard Lewis and he is the Executive Director of the RFL. He's got the top job in the game in this country and he has the power to initiate change... to make things happen... for the good of the game... allegedly!

He and the RFL recently announced a thorough review of the embarrassing and spectacular failings of England and their dire performances in the Rugby League World Cup last Oct/Nov. After all, searching questions needed to be asked. Where and why did it all go wrong? Why did England get tonked by Australia 52-4? Why did they get tonked by New Zealand twice? Why did they struggle to scrape past Papua New Guinea in a game they were very fortunate to win?

The review effectively asked the players why they were shit in the RLWC, and this is what they came up with:

1. Players said they did not perform to their full ability.
2. Although there were different social groups the players said these did not affect team performance.
3. Players and coaching staff felt they needed more time together on the training field in advance of the tournament.
4. Injuries pre-tour affected the balance of the squad.
5. Players recognised a greater need for emphasis on sports science.
6. Rule interpretations, which were only agreed the week before the tournament, were a factor.

On point 1 - What is their recent historical record of results in internationals down under during the Super League era touring as either GB or England? Against New Zealand, they've played 8 times and lost every one of them! Against Australia, they've played 5, won once and lost the other 4 convincingly. One win and twelve losses then! That's quite a depressing record of not performing to one's full abilities down under, assuming that is the case. On the other hand, it just might be the case that they do perform to their full ability but the ability they possess just isn't of a high enough standard against superior opposition?

On point 2 - The Saints and Leeds players didn't gel on tour socially. I'm pleased that bullshit excuse for failure in the RLWC has finally been laid to rest.

On point 3 - Prior to the RLWC, didn't Tony Smith and Jamie Peacock claim England's preparations for the tour had been excellent and that no stone had been left unturned in preparing the side?

On point 4 - Which England players missed out on the tour through injury? Sam Burgess and Sean O'Loughlin are the main two, then there's Gareth Raynor, Andy Lynch and Kirk Yeaman. You know what? Had they been fit, I don't think their inclusion in England's RLWC tour squad would have made a blind bit of difference to the results.

On point 5 - Yep, they need to adopt a more sports scientific approach alrighty, but right now it's just a buzzword or a soundbite to give an appearance of actually doing something.

On point 6 - Rule interpretations and southern hemisphere referees were to blame for your pisspoor results were they? For gawds sake! Perhaps it's time for Super League rule interpretations to fall in line with proper Rugby League rule interpretations which everyone else subscribes to, huh?

The RFL's review of England's failings in the RLWC resulted in a Seven Point Plan to deliver future international success. However, there is a major problem with the whole review process and it's objectives to deliver that success. Nowhere has anyone identified one of the main reasons for repeated international failure, and guess what? One of the main reasons for failure is staring Richard Lewis right in the face on that photo above. And it's that whole different ballgame written in black and white on the screen. And it's called Super League! It ain't competitive, it ain't played to any degree of intensity comparable with the NRL, the playing standards are comparatively poor and our top players aren't tested week in, week out. Super League doesn't prepare our players for the huge step up in intensity and class required to compete successfully at international level against the Aussies and Kiwis.

And it's the Super League clubs and their CEO's who run the game (not Richard Lewis) and it is they who call all the shots. It is the clubs who adopt short-term strategies for success by signing a multitude of overseas players who, for the most part, are well past their sell-by date by NRL standards and surplus to requirements there, hence denying home-produced young players first grade opportunities to progress at Super League level, thus diluting the English talent pool available.

International playing standards and performances can only ever mirror the playing standards set in the respective domestic competitions in which the players ply their trade. I guess that's why the RLWC Final was contested by two international sides whose players almost exclusively (apart from Thomas Leuluai) ply their trade in the NRL.

WORLD CLUB CHAMPIONS STILL DOING IT TOUGH!

Current World Club Champions Manly Sea Eagles who destroyed the reigning Super League champions Leeds Rhinos last month are sitting pretty at the bottom of the NRL Ladder after four rounds of that competition. I'll allow others to draw their own conclusions as to where Super League playing standards sit in relation to the playing standards being set down under.

NRL Ladder after Round 4

	P	W	L	D	B	+/-	Pts
South Sydney Rabbitohs	4	3	1	0	0	50	6
Gold Coast Titans	4	3	1	0	0	28	6
Canterbury Bulldogs	4	3	1	0	0	28	6
St George Illawarra Dragons	4	3	1	0	0	22	6
Brisbane Broncos	4	3	1	0	0	6	6
Penrith Panthers	4	2	2	0	0	12	4
Newcastle Knights	4	2	2	0	0	2	4
Melbourne Storm	4	2	2	0	0	1	4
New Zealand Warriors	4	2	2	0	0	-12	4
Sydney Roosters	4	2	2	0	0	-14	4
Parramatta Eels	4	2	2	0	0	-18	4
Wests Tigers	4	2	2	0	0	-24	4
North Queensland Cowboys	4	1	3	0	0	8	2
Cronulla Sharks	4	1	3	0	0	-20	2
Canberra Raiders	4	1	3	0	0	-29	2
Manly Sea Eagles	4	0	4	0	0	-40	0

SAINTS MAKE IT FOUR IN A ROW!

St Helens secured their fourth Challenge Cup in a row today when they defeated the Leeds Rhinos 22-18 at Headingley in front of 17,689 supporters, the vast majority of them being season ticket holders in attendance, courtesy of a free ticket.

Having dispatched their only realistic competitive rivals from Super League, they are now in a position to toss it off against vastly inferior opposition for a further 3 rounds before tossing it off at Wembley against inferior opposition to collect the trophy again.

Is there any team still left in the Challenge Cup who are capable of producing the shock result and knocking Saints out? Wigan perhaps? Warrington? Catalans? Wakefield? Castleford? Hull KR? Huddersfield? Salford? Hmmm... OK, I guess not then.

Saints dominated Leeds for the most part and the scoreline didn't really do them much justice. The absence of Sean Long didn't appear to hinder them in any shape or form as they shifted stand off Leon Pryce to scrum half and second rower Jon Wilkin to stand off. Wilkin thoroughly earned his MoM award for his unstinting efforts in both attack and defence, and he even kicked a couple of astonishingly peachy 40/20's in the process.

Leeds have some major problems to overcome. They haven't replaced Gareth Ellis, Clinton Toopi or Nick Scruton from last season and their squad depth appears rice-paper thin this year. Lucky for them the vast majority of games in Super League don't test them each week because every time they've been tested thus far, they've come up way short and been beaten comprehensively on each occasion... in the WCC against Manly (who are currently residing at the bottom of the NRL ladder) and against Saints twice.

CEO Hetherington has messed up big style on the recruitment front during the off-season because he didn't do his homework. Buderus might be a good signing in terms of a 'flashy big name' to appease the feckwitts, but his sequence of long-term injuries over the past two or three seasons are suggestive of an unhealthy long-term outlook. Then there was the attempt to sign "First Choice Frank Pritchard" as a replacement for Gareth Ellis which was quickly hushed-up once the deal fell through. I mean we can't have Leeds glorious CEO being shown up for failing to get his man, now can we?

Attention then quickly switched to signing "Second Choice Greg Eastwood" - who miraculously transmogrified into First Choice Greg - LOL! - courtesy of Hetherington's very own sycophant and spin-doctor-in-place-journo at the YEP. "First Choice... I mean Second Choice Greg" then had his Visa application to ply his trade with the Leeds Rhinos rejected, so he's now signed a three year contract with the Canterbury Bulldogs in the NRL, though according to the usual spin doctoring at the YEP, "Second Choice Greg" still remains as a possible signing for next season. Of course he might still sign for Leeds next season... oh, and pigs might fly!

Given the lack of credible competition for the Top 2 in Super League, Leeds will get another crack at the Super League title against Saints in the Grand Final at Old Trafford in October. That will be the opportunity to set the record straight again, but right now things don't look too promising without a couple of much-needed signings... preferably a second rower (who shall be the "Third Choice" if he ever materialises) and a right centre to add some essential depth to the squad.

Challenge Cup winners just the once (1999) for Leeds over the past 31 years then. Not exactly a flash record for a club of the size and ambition of Leeds. Never mind... it's only a Mickey Mouse competition anyhow, so who cares? ;-)

PS: AP does regard the Challenge Cup as a Mickey Mouse competition in it's entirety, full stop! Feckwitts only regard the Challenge Cup as a Mickey Mouse competition when their team has been knocked out! Nuff said.

SUPER LEAGUE GRAND FINAL 2009

Thought I'd get in early by announcing details of the Engage Super League Grand Final for 2009, and it comes as no surprise whatsoever that St Helens and Leeds Rhinos will face each another yet again for a third successive season at the Theatre Of Dreams on Saturday 10th October. Tickets for the Leeds Rhinos V St Helens Grand Final 2009 are already available for purchase.

But hang on... ain't 2009 going to be the strongest, the toughest and the most competitive Super League ever, with so many competing teams in with a golden opportunity of lifting the trophy and becoming champions? If you believe all the bullshit hype on Sky Sports and elsewhere, you might arrive at such a conclusion. If you're equipped with even a rudimentary knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses of each club in Super League, you'll know that there's St Helens, Leeds and the rest who are just there to make up the numbers.

There are five divisions in Super League in 2009.

Super League Division 1: St Helens and Leeds.

Super League Division 2: Daylight!

Super League Division 3: Hull, Hull KR, Wigan, Warrington, Bradford, Wakefield, Harlequins, Castleford, Catalans and Huddersfield.

Super League Division 4: Daylight!

Super League Division 5: Celtic Crusaders and Salford.

Even the bookies agree with this as they quote both St Helens and Leeds at odds of 11/10 or Evens to win the Super League crown this season. Hull are the third favourites at 22/1, Wigan are 33/1, Bradford 50/1, Warrington 66/1 and Catalans 200/1. Celtic Crusaders and Salford are so embarrassingly poor they don't even rate a quotation.

In my most esteemed and sagely opinion, St Helens and Leeds of Super League Division 1 will both finish in the Top 2 yet again and there'll be about a 10 point gap (daylight!) between the club finishing 2nd and the club finishing 3rd on the ladder. At the bottom end of the ladder, Celtic Crusaders and Salford of Division 5 will fight it out for 13th and 14th place, and there will be a significant points gap of about 10 points between the 12th placed club (daylight!) and the 13th placed club. Super League Division 3 will provide plenty of excitement for the feckwitt majority as 10 clubs compete for six play-off places (3rd to 8th) and for the privilege of just making up the numbers in the play-offs. Super League Division 5 will just be plain and simply embarrassing.

By my calculations, there are only 2 fixtures remaining this season which will have any significant bearing on where the silverware will end up this season. And they are?

1. Leeds Rhinos V St Helens, Challenge Cup Round 4, Sunday 5th April, 2009.
2. Leeds Rhinos V St Helens, Super League Grand Final, Saturday 10th October, 2009.

The winner of (1.) above may suffer some kind of Super League handicap as they switch focus to the Challenge Cup once a month and take their eye off the Super League ball, so to speak, but they'll still finish 1st or 2nd on the ladder and contest the Grand Final. For St Helens, this 4th Round clash on Sunday is their Challenge Cup Final. If they beat Leeds at Headingley, they'll win the Cup again for the 4th year in succession. If Leeds win this Sunday, they'll be red hot favourites to go all the way, but considering their pisspoor, underperforming, choking record in the Challenge Cup during the past decade, they may stumble and fall against one of the Super League Division 3 clubs.

Exciting innit?

Not really.

MANLY PROPPING UP THE NRL BASEMENT!

When Manly ripped the Leeds Rhinos apart in the WCC a month ago at Elland Road, it was proclaimed by many that they were one of the best (if not the best) ever NRL teams to visit the UK and challenge the very best of Super League. There was no shame in losing to them. After all, they'd trounced Melbourne Storm in the 2008 NRL Grand Final to the tune of 40-zip!

Such unenlightened views somehow serve to help ease the pain of defeat for many feckwitts... erm, I mean... supporters of the super duper, it just gets better and better each year, Super League competition.

Interesting that this marvellous Manly team who defeated the Rhinos with such ease in the WCC with only 40 minutes of match fitness under their belts should now find themselves at the cellar-dwelling end of the NRL competition having played 3 games and lost all 3. They've been beaten by last seasons 16th placed wooden spooners the Canterbury Bulldogs in Round 1, then by the NZ Warriors at home in Round 2, and now they've been beaten at home by the Penrith Panthers who make a regular habit of residing in the lower reaches of the NRL ladder more often than not.

Of course, it goes without saying that Super Duper League teams like the Leeds Rhinos would still be very competitive if they played in the NRL competition instead. They'd be seriously challenging for the top positions on the ladder as well as all the top honours down under.

No, really.

Meanwhile... in the real world...