sidelined

Guest Post: Fabian Dal Santo kindly set the following post in regarding what seems a brutal cycling event. But the Aussies toughed it out and did very well. Follow the links to get an idea of the event. I’m sure not going to be complaining about my 45 minute RPM class tomorrow.

Thanks Fabian.

The World 24hr Solo Mountain Bike Championships were held the other weekend in Canmore, Alberta, Canada. An extremely strong Australian contingent went over, including last year’s overall third place getter Jeff Toohey and the current Australian 24hr champion Jason English. Others going over included Mark Fenner, John Claxton and Troy Bailey. Overall the Australians completely dominated the race, taking out first place in 4 divisions including the first 4 places in the Male Elite.

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One positive aspect of the Sonny Bill imbroglio is that attention has been turned to what the NRL needs to do to strengthen the game. Some pundits (Andrew Johns for example) have argued that Perth and Adelaide need to included in the competition. However, this would be a huge mistake for the NRL. Now before Adelaideans and Pethites feel I’m selling them short let me explain.

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Defecting to the game that supported the Vichy government has a nice touch of irony don’t you think? As agents of those cheese eating surrender monkeys circle player-manager, rugby league marches on. And this week round 21 looms, the finals almost within reach. The question is what is more cruel to fans? Having your finals hopes extinguished once and for all or having your team continue winning keeping whatever faint hopes alive?

This round may reveal the answer to that question. During the week I visited all the clubs, picked a few players and did some phrenological investigations to determine this week’s likely winner. The results are over the fold.

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As Bismarck mentions Sonny Bill Williams has broken his chain, dug under the fence and off to join second division French rugby union club Toulon. And if we never see Sonny again in the NRL it won’t be Toulon for most of us.

The main reason seems to be $3 million for two years work. Sonny Bill was on $450,000/year contract with the Dogs until 2012. There is more to this story of course and over the next few days expect both the Bulldogs and Sonny Bill’s camp to give their (differing I bet) sides to what has happened. But leaving your club when they are struggling is not a good look. And this from a person who criticised Willie Mason for leaving the Dogs last year. The mote is firmly implanted in you eye Sonny Bill.

Until we get more, I’ll leave the rest of speculation to any behind the scenes shenanigans alone. What we need to do is try and stop this mid-season contract breaking code jumping. Some ideas to generate discussion:

1. Stop contracts with “get out’ clauses. A contract is a contract. If a player breaks it they should be penalised.

2. Place third party contracts outside the salary cap. But make them proper third party contracts that if they fall through, the clubs are not allowed to make up any shortfall. If a player or manager reckons they can do the biz then they can wear the risk.

3. Exempt from the salary cap any player with 10 years or more service to one club. Start to reward loyalty. A system of grading brought in when player reaches five years could also be considered for further reductions.

There are other suggestions so what do the Sidelined readers reckon?

The past few days haven’t been great for rugby league. Players from the Raiders and the Bulldogs have been up to no good. If only the NSW media would turn a blind eye to player shenanigans similar to what happens south of the border (yep, that is sarcasm you detect).

But the image of league should not be sullied by the actions of a few players. This weekend will see those that stay out of trouble, which is most of the players, advertising the game in the best possible way. By playing footy.

It is the business end of the season. Seven rounds to go. For a few clubs the faint promise of finals footy will be extinguished with a loss. Plenty to still play for. I’ve cast the dowsing rods over the form guide so lets see who shall win.

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An early version as once more I find myself in a heathen land. Which could make it any where in Australia outside the Sydney CBD at the moment but in my case it means Melbourne once again.

But sipping a Belgian beer earlier this evening (one can only drink so much VB) I over heard a conversation of hope. Some pagans were discussing the merits of league over rugby and in this town of unenlightened, league was high on the merit order. Sure there was a comment that the aesthetics of league can’t match AFL, but that will change when we find a Victorian Constantine.

A pleasant hearsay followed by some Greek lamb cutlets and a meeting with the delegate from Delphi to help with some NRL oraclising. Results over the fold.

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Mark Gasiner has decided to chase the filthy luchre all the way to Stade Francais (lurv the pink). Good on him and good riddance. Money Bags Gaz has tried the “I’m gonna play rugby if you don’t give more money whinge” before but this time, he ended up playing rugby.

He will say it wasn’t about the money but that would be like saying WYD is not really about trying to gloss over a decrepit, authoritarian cult based on a load of superstitious mumbo jumbo with the joy of brainwashed youth.

Let’s get one thing straight. MBG was a good centre but he wasn’t a great centre. Meninga, Rogers, Cronin were great centres. MBG had nothing on the all round skills of those greats.

The one bit of sympathy I can find muster is for the fact that the third partly deals were not honoured. Speaking of third party deals, here are some words from the NRL’s chief muppet, David Gallop:

“Sponsors are not clambering to pay players on an individual basis.”

He says the NRL always looks at third-party agreements in players contracts.

“The rules are clear. If you guarantee a player will get a payment from a third party, it’s tantamount to paying the player and has to be included in the [salary] cap,” he said.

I’d say the fact that third party payments are included in the salary cap limits players going out and finding them (and vice versa). Solutions are needed to funnel more money to the players.

One obvious problem is the short sightedness of Sydney clubs bemoaning the pokie tax. You knew it was coming. A good CEO would have made efforts early on to look for new revenue streams to counter the effect (Hello Dennis!).

But Gallop reveals a similar myopic view. Why should third party deals be part of the salary cap? The salary cap is needed. But if a player is marketable enough then he should be allowed to exploit that. If some commercial entity wants to use a player for marketing purposes then I don’t see the problem. Having this part of the salary cap is wrong.

Saints CEO, Peter Doust, did some outside the square thinking and asked why couldn’t players play rugby in the NRL off season? Injury and player burn out aside, the question Doust should be asking is “How in hell did we agree to a contract with such an escape clause in the first place?”

Yes blogging gets you a worldwide audience (in theory) but there is something nice seeing you name in old fashioned newspaper print. But that needs to be pushed aside to concentrate on the weekend at hand. There are no more byes left and teams are looking at September now. It will be intense. There will be drama and there will be lots of footy.

The mystic runes have been consulted and the results over the fold.

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Origin is done and dusted for 2008. As the sound of gloating washes south from the border and over the Tweed, the rest of us can get on with the serious business of the run to the finals. Just 10 rounds to go now and only 6 points between 1 and 8. Manly, The Roosters and the Sharks share the lead on 24 pts. The Storm just below in 22 pts. But these teams are not safe. A dip in form could see them slide down the ladder rather quickly. At the other end, the Warriors, the Rabbitohs, the Bulldogs and the Cowboys are desperate to avoid the wooden spoon. Pride makes games for those teams just as important as those still in the hunt for the eight. There is a lot of great footy to come.

The tea leaves have been consulted and all is revealed over the fold.

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Yes folks. Live blogging of Origin III will be here on Wednesday night. It will start sometime between 7:30 and 8:00pm with the ceremonial bagging of Ben Ikin.

I wonder if NSW win Ikin be so depressed that he will stop commentating. And with the ceremonial bagging of Ikin live blogging of Origin is back..

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