sidelined

Israel Folau has gone off to join the new GWS AFL club in preparation for their inaugural 2012 season.

It is coup for the AFL but I do question their wisdom. Sure Folau is being paid more for his marketing (far more) than AFL talent but it is very much a short term gain for GWS. Once the 2012 season is under way and Folau’s novelty wears off, the GWS will find that a former league star, who most in the target area for fans out west will know as a Queenslander first, won’t bring in the crowds forever. My feeling is the GWS and AFL have underestimated the task ahead to break a second team in Sydney (especially given the current ratings for AFL) and think throwing money around is a sound strategy.

On the AFL side, Alastair Lynch thinks it is a great coup where as Michael Voss has questioned why the current top AFL players are not getting the same rewards. But my favourite piece is by Tim Lane who states that is a cheap, nasty stunt. At $6 million not exactly cheap but as Lane says:

…how does this fit with a quaint old concept like “love of the game”? The AFL likes to feed off concepts like “love” of football when it suits. Of course there’s absolutely no love in this relationship. This is as close to love as prostitution is, and with all due respect to those engaged in the world’s oldest profession I suspect there’s not a lot of love in it. Israel Folau has absolutely, totally, unequivocally, and any other word that pins down one hundred per cent precision, not come for love. He has largely come for the money. And football folk are expected to feel proud and thrilled. Leave me out.

I confess that I will tune in for the first game or so to see what happens but after that, I’ll tune out as many others likely will. Then what?

If the AFL want to throw ridiculous amounts of money around to attract NRL stars, then let them. I still think the AFL, affected by a sporting code war myopia, have not properly thought through the ramifications for their own game of such deals. You can buy players but can you buy fans?

We had Kimmorely, they had Thurston. What more can you say? I was at the game and from bay 123, Kimmorely tried hard but he just doesn’t have that ultimate bit of class that Thurston can provide. The thing was that the NSW forwards made ground often during the match. But when the attack is predictable and you also keep your best attacking player in the wing for most of the game forward advantage means nothing.

Full credit to Queensland as they were the better side and deserved the win.

Now back to the regular footy.
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It is a ridiculous concept on which to build a game of football. The use of what should be an archaic notion of parochialism to foment such passion is bizarre. It wouldn’t be so bad in Queensland would just accept their lesser status as an off cut of New South Wales but for some reason they think they can be just as good. The blame for all this can be laid squarely at the feet of John Oxley.

Seriously, State of Origin produces a type of league rarely seen at international level and hardly hinted at even in the toughest of NRL games. It produces moments of audacious brilliance and exhilarating games that you remember for years. That is what I love about Origin, that the memories don’t fade. Like how did Wally Lewis win all those man of the match awards? Sure some games he deserved but in other games he was outplayed yet still got the honours. It burns to this very day. And I still remember being in the common room at uni in ’88 watching Origin descend into what was then the traditional all in brawl. Good times.

But onto this year. As per usual, both sides are jockeying for the coveted underdog status. On paper, New South Wales have the better forwards, Queensland the better backs. But that means nothing. You could take a bunch of players from a Queensland cup side, put the Maroon jersey on them and they’d play like hardened first graders. New South Wales are really going to have to play it tough and dominate the ruck to limit Queensland’s opportunity with the ball. They have points in them that New South Wales lack unless Hayne can inject himself into the attack at the right time. I worry that he is on the wing and hope Bellamy has a plan to bring him into the line especially when attacking Queensland’s end of the field.

On the other side, I have no illusions that Lockyer or Petero are too old for Origin. It may be their last campaign but their legs will feel young again when they run out tomorrow night. Thurston’s shoulder may be a worry but even if his shoulder was only hanging on by a ligament he’d keep playing and still produce something brilliant.

I was critical of the New South Wales team but that doesn’t matter now. What does is beating Queensland. and ending this calamitous drought of series victories. In New South Wales’ favour is the stat they have won every series opening game played at ANZ Stadium. The weather forecast does call for rain tomorrow and that will even up the contest but it shall be a cracker of a game. Go the Blues!

And apologies as there will be no live blogging of Origin I this year. I’ll be away from home watching the game in 3-D with surround sound. Yes, I’ll be at ANZ with Bismark (hopefully under shelter).

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League has its fair share of idiots but let’s be thankful that Jason Akermanis bats for another code. The AFL can have the homophobic ignoramus. His column explaining why gay AFL players was just a sorry retread of the usual “some of my best friends are gay but…” arguments. My favourite is that AFL players would be afraid of showering together after the game or training if they knew one of their team mates was gay. Poor petals.

That is not to say that homophobia does not exist in the NRL. I’m sure it does. However, most players would not bat an eyelid if a team mate came out. All that counts is what you do on the field. If a player did have an issue with the sexual orientation of a team mate then that is that player’s issue. To hide because of ignorance and intolerance is a sad state of affairs. Hopefully some players will come forward as did Ian Roberts and, more recently, Gareth Thomas in rugby and break down unneeded, unwarranted lingering bigotry.

Now for this week’s lottery of tipping.
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Well, at the moment I couldn’t pick the winner in a two horse race even if one horse was missing a leg and its jockey was a sumo wrestler. But I can turn to speculation about the make up of the New South Wales Origin team.

It is easy to be an armchair selector. And it seems just as easy to a Blues selector. There seems to be no accountability for the dubious selections over the past few years that have partly lead to the four series defeats in a row. Laurie Daley’s selection ideas are puzzling. He was a great Origin player yet he seems to have forgotten to apply what he learned to selecting the right players. It seems more a case of playing favourites than picking a side to beat Queensland.

Bellamy is the other problem. I still haven’t forgiven him for picking Steve Turner on the wing for a game a few series back. Turner only got into the side as he was a Storm player. He had a poor game and that thankfully ended his origin career. Bellamy has a right to push for players to be selected but like Daley, he has some strange ideas on who should play Origin.

So who should play Origin in game one for NSW? I have some ideas that will have no influence on the NSW selectors but they should.
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A training ovals around the city this week, you could hear NRL players learning the words to The Internationale as murmurs about a strike took hold. The cry was heard from the players as they demand fair pay for a fair day’s play plus agent commission. Eric Grothe Jr took to the streets to sing protest songs. His guitar painted with the slogan “This machine kills wabbits” (Jarrod Sammut did the painting), Grothe sang how “This land is your land, this land is my land, from Dairy Farmers Stadium to AAMI park, from Parramatta Stadium to SFS, this land was made for you and me.” Stirring stuff. And if the players did strike it would back fire on them. There is sympathy for the players in their quest to earn what they can from the game but any public sympathy would be quickly eroded.

Onto this week’s attempt to find a winner (sorely needed after last week’s debacle).
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Sideliners, here is the disturbing image I hoped to never have to see.

My nephew playing ru — God, I can’t even say it – rugby union.

He went to live for a few months in the south-west USA with family. I knew my sister’s brother-in-law coached a local yawnion team but little did I know that this — to quote Big Harto — Chief Rat in the Ranks would recruit my own flesh and blood. He left a delightful teenage geek, utterly indifferent to team sport of every kind, unless World of Warcraft counts. He returns as … I don’t even know what.

They say he “enjoys it” and “wants to keep playing when he gets home.” !!! I’m a little comforted by the certain knowledge his country state high school surely doesn’t have a rah rah team. Checkmate, kiddo!

As Bedsy as my witness, I will never have children if this is the heartache they cause.

I love this time of year. Winter is starting to get warmed up and you can tell that the footy season is in full swing when Matt Cooper make his now traditional announcement that he couldn’t be buggered to play in the City v Country game. He is injured but will make a miraculous recovery to play the next day. I’m more intrigued by the City v County game than the test given Origin spots are up for grabs. Some great battles should come out of this game. And speaking of Origin, the first game is on May 26th. Alas, there shall be no live blogging of game I this year as I’ll be out at ANZ enjoying the game live courtesy of Bismark.

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Well, it looks like that the salary cap scandal has hurt league so bad that the test this Friday in Melbourne is a sell out. Just imagine how many tickets they would have sold if there was no shenanigans with the cap.

If there was some sort of nuclear holocaust all you would have left is cockroaches playing rugby league. You can’t kill either.

The Aussie team is pretty much as expected. The axing of Folau may hasten his departure but as long as he continues to much around and not commit to league he doesn’t deserve the privilege of wearing the green and gold. Cronk is natural choice for the half back spot as he under rated. His understanding with Slater and Smith will hurt the Kiwis.
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And it is 7 days since the NRL had a salary cap scandal. But the Storm still dominate the back pages and surely in weeks to come as more dodgy deals arise from the stygian depths to be cleansed by the light. A shame as the game showed some rude health last weekend. Melbourne fans got emotional with their team and provided some great support. A big crowd turned up for the Anzac Day game and how good was it is see a packed CUA Stadium last Saturday? As Richard Hinds wrote in today’s SMH, league is very hard to kill.

Onwards ever boldly to the tips.
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