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Warriors technically banned from Masterton

June 28, 2017, 4:05 pm By Joel Leave a Comment

In case you weren’t aware (and if you weren’t, where have you been?), rugby union people are dicks.

In the latest example of rah-rah’s dickliness (it’s a word, we’re using it), the Warriors must overcome needless red tape in order to play a 2018 pre-season clash in Masterton, due to a stipulation in the Trust House Memorial Park contract that no rugby league be played at the ground, according to Stuff.

To be fair, the local council doesn’t think it will be an issue, with their economic development manager, Kieran McAnulty saying that “I think it’s really just a relic from a long rivalry between the two codes”.

“I don’t see it as an issue, and I’d be surprised if it was still New Zealand Rugby’s policy.”

Of course, he’s surely right – rugby league has been played at far bigger rugby union grounds than Masterton, such as Westpac Stadium and Eden Park, but the rule is still noteworthy, if only to raise awareness of the lengths that rugby union has historically gone to in order to cripple their rivals.

The most notable example is in France, where in the 1940s, rugby union officials, in conjuction with the Nazi-aligned Vichy regime, conspired to ban rugby league in France; seizing the assets of rugby league clubs, and in many cases directly giving them to rugby union. This was a move from which the French game has never recovered, and for which French rugby has never apologised.

“What happened under Vichy should never be forgotten, if only to prevent such a thing happening again,” said French rugby league figure Louis Bonnery in 2007. “It was a traumatism from which rugby league never recovered morally, or in terms of public recognition in France.”

“We were not even allowed to call ourselves ‘rugby’, but only ‘jeu a treize’ [the 13 game] until the 1990s.”

So, yes. Rugby union people are dicks, apparently on both sides of the equator. (And we hope this raises awareness of it.)

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Filed Under: History, NRL News and Rumours Tagged With: New Zealand Warriors News

Life After Cronk: The Thurston Eleven

April 12, 2017, 7:48 pm By Joel Leave a Comment

Last week, Cooper Cronk announced that he’ll be leaving the Melbourne Storm at the end of the 2017 season and moving to Sydney. The Storm, while no doubt disappointed, didn’t seem particularly concerned by the news. There was a sense of ‘business as usual’ coming out of Melbourne. Storm coach Craig Bellamy said that they planned to have a meeting to discuss what to do next, and that even then, “whatever comes out of that meeting, that’s not going to be 100 percent what’s going to happen”. This was refreshingly candid from the Storm boss, but also surprisingly calm. But then again, why wouldn’t they be?

[Read more…]

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Filed Under: History, NRL Features & Analysis Tagged With: Cooper Cronk, Johnathan Thurston, Melbourne Storm News, North Queensland Cowboys News

Business Time: When your team last won a finals match

September 5, 2016, 5:25 pm By Joel Leave a Comment

Ahead of the first week of NRL finals, The Obstruction Rule takes a trip down memory lane and remembers the last time your team tasted finals glory. [Read more…]

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Filed Under: History, NRL Features & Analysis Tagged With: Brisbane Broncos News, Canberra Raiders News, Canterbury Bulldogs News, Cronulla Sharks News, Gold Coast Titans News, Manly Sea Eagles News, Melbourne Storm News, New Zealand Warriors News, Newcastle Knights News, North Queensland Cowboys News, Parramatta, Penrith Panthers News, South Sydney Rabbitohs News, St George Illawarra Dragons News, Sydney Roosters News, Wests Tigers News

Connecting Coaches: Six Degrees Of Kevin Walters

July 11, 2016, 11:22 pm By Joel 2 Comments

When Kevin Walters was handed the reins of the all-conquering Queensland Maroons late last year, many rugby league pundits found themselves asking ‘Why Kevin Walters? How is he qualified to coach the greatest team of this generation?’. His supporters pointed to his experience as head coach of the Catalans Dragons in the Super League, and his time spent as an assistant at the Melbourne Storm and Brisbane Broncos. But what if Kevin Walters earned this job long before he took up his various coaching positions? Long before he’d even hung up his boots? What if Kevin Walters earned his stripes the first time he stepped onto Seiffert Oval in 1987, and unwittingly into the centre of the rugby league universe?

[Read more…]

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Filed Under: History, NRL Features & Analysis Tagged With: Canberra Raiders News, coaches, Craig Bellamy, Kevin Walters, Laurie Daley, Mal Meninga, six degrees

Loser Rankings: Comparing the NRL’s finest losers

June 27, 2016, 2:54 pm By Joel Leave a Comment

The 2016 Newcastle Knights are bad. Real bad. As in, historically bad. In fact, if they fail to win 2 more games over the remainder of the season, they’ll surpass the 2003 & 2006 Rabbitohs for having the worst season record in NRL history. But, does that make the Knights the worst team of the modern era? And how can we measure the levels of ineptitude delivered by some of the game’s most awful teams? [Read more…]

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Filed Under: History, NRL Features & Analysis Tagged With: ARL, John Hopoate, Kyle Warren, Loser Points, Loser Rankings, New Zealand Warriors News, North Queensland Cowboys News, NRL, Penrith Panthers News, South Sydney Rabbitohs News, Super League, Wests Tigers News, Wooden Spoon

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