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

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...

IS GARETH ELLIS RIPPING UP THE NRL?

According to numerous feckwitts Gareth Ellis is ripping it up big style in the NRL for the Wests Tigers. And the feckwitted propaganda doesn't stop there either. There's even a few Aussie no-mark feckwitt journos who have also got in on the act proclaiming Ellis is like "Pommy Granite", who has played 80 minutes for his third consecutive match and he's in "the NRL's top five tacklers" despite suggestions he wouldn't be able to handle the Australian conditions. The only truth in all that is that Ellis has indeed played the full 80 minutes in three consecutive NRL games.

In my search for the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, I checked out the official player stats on the NRL website and discovered that Ellis's tackle stats thus far are 38 tackles against the Raiders in Round 1, 27 tackles against the Cowboys in Round 2 and 21 tackles against the Roosters in Round 3, producing a grand total of 86 tackles over the three NRL games he's played in. Do 86 tackles correspond to Ellis being in the top five tacklers in the NRL thus far? The answer is NO! Here is the list of the Top 25 tacklers in the NRL up to, and including NRL Round 3:

1. Nathan Hindmarsh (Eels) - 154
2. David Stagg (Bulldogs) - 140
3. Dallas Johnson (Storm) - 140
4. Cameron Smith (Storm) - 121
5. Nathan Friend (Titans) - 120
6. Luke Douglas (Sharks) - 114
7. Sam Thaiday (Broncos) - 107
8. Matthew Keating (Eels) - 107
9. Nathan Smith (Panthers) - 106
10. Feleti Mateo (Eels) - 105
11. Anthony Tupou (Sharks) - 104
12. Glenn Stewart (Sea Eagles) - 104
13. Dean Young (Dragons) - 96
14. Ian Henderson (Warriors) - 96
15. Craig Fitzgibbon (Roosters) - 94
16. Jeremy Smith (Dragons) - 94
17. Trent Waterhouse (Panthers) - 94
18. Robbie Farah (Tigers) - 93
19. Ben Hannant (Bulldogs) - 92
20. Isaac De Gois (Knights) - 92
21. Matt Prior (Dragons) - 92
22. Ashley Harrison (Titans) - 90
23. Anthony Laffranchi (Titans) - 89
24. Andrew Ryan (Bulldogs) - 89
25. Matt Hilder (Knights) - 87

So Ellis doesn't even make the Top 25 tacklers in the NRL so far and resides outside of that select group. Nor does he make the Top 25 in terms of hit-ups or metres gained either.

None of this is an attempt to rubbish Gareth Ellis's contributions in the NRL for the Tigers because in my opinion, he's doing about as well as can be expected at such an early stage in his career down under. His future looks promising and I'm confident he will go from strength to strength in the NRL and make a bloody good fist of it.

However, some people (mainly feckwitts of course) need to gain a sense of perspective. In the wake of England's finest players disastrous World Cup followed by Leeds Rhinos being dismantled on every level in the WCC by Manly, there's a desperation to cling on to any news that places Super League and Super League players in a positive light. It just happens to go without saying that such desperation often beds in nicely with feckwittery and talking complete and utter bollox.

In my most humble and thoroughly researched opinion of course ;-)

PS: 38 tackles in Round 1, 27 tackles in Round 2 and 21 tackles in Round 3. I hope that isn't a sign of a downward trend in workrate on Ellis's part, though I'm sure he will appreciate just how tough it is backing up week in, week out in the NRL.

PPS: Oh, and Gareth, quit taking the bait from gobshite tosspot sledgers like Willie Mason. 21 tackles this weekend suggests you were spending way too much time chasing him around the pitch. Just concentrate on doing the job you're paid to do. TIA.

WILL JORDAN TANSEY MAKE HIS ROOSTERS DEBUT NEXT WEEK?

I've never quite got this? And I still don't. In fact I thought it was a joke when the rumours first surfaced last season that the Sydney Roosters from the NRL were interested in signing Jordan Tansey from the Leeds Rhinos.

But sure enough, it turned out to be true and they did sign him on loan. I'll be fucked if I know what they see in him. Maybe there's some hidden talent there they've identified on videos or DVD's or summat? Maybe they've identified that it ain't too late to teach him the basic skill sets and produce a player of some quality? That certainly wasn't ever gonna happen over here as we've produced very little in the way of quality players during the entire Super League era.

Anyhow, Jordan hadn't yet made a big enough impression in any of the Roosters pre-season trial games to gain a first grade NRL berth this weekend, and instead was shipped off to the Roosters feeder club, the Newtown Jets in the NSW Cup where he was selected to play at five eighth. He scored a consolation try near the end as the Newtown Jets were hammered 42-10 away against the Shellharbour Dragons.

However, the Roosters took an even bigger hammering this weekend in NRL Round 1 at home to South Sydney, to the tune of 12-52! So who knows? Perhaps plenty of Roosters first graders might be getting the chop this coming week and Tansey might get his NRL chance in Round 2?

Watch this space :-)

SUPER LEAGUE - IT AIN'T RUGBY LEAGUE!

Rugby League is my favourite sport. Depressingly, I havent seen a great deal of Rugby League being played at Super League level for a very long time.

What happened? When did it happen? Where did it all go wrong? Who was responsible for it? When was tackling practically outlawed? Who decided the ruck area should no longer be contested? Who decided teams ought be kept as far apart as possible? Whose idea was it that our players have no requirement to be equipped with even a basic set of skills in either attack or defence? Who are those people who are obsessed with the idea of a low intensity, free-flowing and allegedly entertaining style of Super League which is practically devoid of any skill, class or creativity, and which usually consists of five scoots of ten metres or more per set of six from dummy half in wide open spaces? Or the occasional flat pass to stationary backs... once again, in wide open spaces?

An opposition defender merely has to touch or tap an attacking player these days and he's deemed tackled... the referee's voice booms with 'TACKLED!... MOOOOOOOVE!... GET BACK!... GET AWAY!... SURRENDER! All in the quest for yet another tediously quick PTB in wide open spaces and yet another tedious scoot of 10 metres or more from dummy half or first receiver.

I wasted a tiresome 10 minutes of my life on Friday night watching some of the Leeds V Wigan game on Sky. And yes, you guessed it... no intensity... lots of wide open spaces... no desire for any player to tackle any opposition player, or perish the thought, a penalty will be awarded because the defender didn't MOOOOOOOVE!... GET BACK!... GET AWAY!... SURRENDER!... within a nanosecond of brushing an opposition player.

There was one instance of Rob Burrow crabbing and jinking across field for what seemed like an eternity, where no Wigan player either couldn't be arsed, or just dare not attempt to tackle him for fear of giving away a penalty for having the audacity to encroach upon Burrow's personal space (FFS!). After several seconds of crabbing jinks under no pressure whatsoever (there was no Manly or Anthony Watmough hovering around NRL-stylee on this occasion to legally smash him), Burrow puts up an ordinary bomb (under no pressure) and Ryan Hall collects it (under no pressure) and scores a try in the corner. According to those clowns on Sky (Eddie & Stevo) it was all SUUUUPPPPEEEERRRRBBB! From Burrow, it was sheer skill of the highest calibre... it was world class stuff.

Fuck off! It was crap.

We've seen plenty of evidence of late with regards to just how far our Super League game lags behind the Australians and Kiwis from the NRL. The RLWC was an absolute disaster for England. Our very best players were shown up for having no skill sets in attack, no idea how to unlock opposition defences at the highest level, utterly clueless and naive in decision making and defence, and no idea whatsoever of even reading something as simple as angled dummy runners or second man plays. The very same shortcomings of our players were once again exposed by Manly in the recent WCC, and quite frankly it's embarrassing.

I have to watch the NRL to see some real, competitive and classy Rugby League these days, where the ruck area is actually contested... where real skills are on show. If I want to see some real Rugby League in this country where tackling hasn't yet been outlawed in the quest for what is deemed in feckwitt circles as entertainment, then I have to watch the local amateur RL scene. It might not be fast paced, but at least it's honest, it's contested, and it still resembles the sport of Rugby League which I enjoy.

The Aussies do play a version of Super League but they happen to be mostly mates of mine over there who play it for fun. They call it Oztag :-)