NRL 2019

@mariner4life said in NRL 2019:

I'm not really sure where i stand on this. On one hand it's been a pretty bad off-season, and the NRL needs to be seen to be doing something. However it also seems to be the NRL are trumping innocent until proven guilty, or over-riding the finding of the courts.

It sounds good on paper but putting yourself at the mercy of the court system doesn't seem like a terribly good idea. Are they really prepared to have guys sit out twelve months while a relatively basic case navigates various procedural delays throughout the court system.

@rotated don’t commit a crime then. Simple

@chchfanatic innocent till proven guilty?
That is harsh on Napa, how many players would have skeletons on the closet. Heaps I reckon. But given the current climate he may feel he got off lightly.

@Paekakboyz said in NRL 2019:

@chchfanatic innocent till proven guilty?
That is harsh on Napa, how many players would have skeletons on the closet. Heaps I reckon. But given the current climate he may feel he got off lightly.

I am not up with the whole story, but what did Napa actually do wrong? From the little I know, he shagged a chick (she consented), it was filmed by a friend and somebody, not Napa, posted the film online. If that's all there is to the story I would say Napa is a victim.

@chchfanatic said in NRL 2019:

@rotated don’t commit a crime then. Simple

That is simple enough, not sure how to avoid simply being accused of a crime though which is what you really need to do to avoid a stand down.

Take something as ridiculous as the Masoe/Umaga handbag incident. The NRL is really prepared to sit their players for one year plus over something like that? Get the right local police and a prosecutor looking to make a name for themselves by perusing charges... and goodbye on year of your career.

I think it really hurts their ability to fight false charges in court and it's not theoretical - it's exactly what happened in the Ben Stokes case. The prosecute perused trumped up charges because there was obvious pressure for him to plead guilty and move on with his career. He had to wait sometime for his day in court where he was rightful acquitted.

@Crazy-Horse if he was a woman someone else would be facing criminal charges

But he gets a whopping great fine

@chchfanatic said in NRL 2019:

@rotated don’t commit a crime then. Simple

Well done, that's remarkably retarded

An average professional sports league would just let the players play and the case go through the court system but the NRL has had nearly 20 years of bad behaviour by their players making it into the public arena.

The players have been warned over the past few years that anything which makes their club or the league look bad would see potential punishment handed down by the NRL.

The NRL is finally handing out those punishments.

@Crazy-Horse the stand down isn’t about Dylan Napa. He was fined for stupidity.
Dylan walker gave his mrs a clip cause she had a go at him about playing PlayStation
Jack de Belin put himself in a situation where he has been accused of rape.
If you they don’t commit these crime then they don’t get stood down.

@chchfanatic said in NRL 2019:

@Crazy-Horse the stand down isn’t about Dylan Napa. He was fined for stupidity.
Dylan walker gave his mrs a clip cause she had a go at him about playing PlayStation
Jack de Belin put himself in a situation where he has been accused of rape.
If you they don’t commit these crime then they don’t get stood down.

Alleged crimes.

@booboo sorry correct

@Sneakdefreak said in NRL 2019:

An average professional sports league would just let the players play and the case go through the court system but the NRL has had nearly 20 years of bad behaviour by their players making it into the public arena.

The players have been warned over the past few years that anything which makes their club or the league look bad would see potential punishment handed down by the NRL.

The NRL is finally handing out those punishments.

Thing is they are putting themselves into positions where alleged crimes can happpen.
Hanging out at bars or casinos at 4am a day or 2 before a rep game.
Spending time with non drug dealers or gang members. Spotted on a video where someone snorts coke in a video.
They just need to make smarter choices with their spare time. Do that and I’m sure 90% of the dramas wouldn’t take place

I found it interesting that the NFL club that Hayne went too had a rep for guys making poor decisions on extra-curricula activities and who they hung out with. Sounded like some pretty solid guys, who hadn't had any discipline issues, went there and went off the deep end. So that points to culture (team/club, but also area) as a big factor. But ultimately it's your decision as to who you call your mates, or who you hang out with.

It's official, Isaac Luke will be a Warrior for the entire 2019 season :thumbs_up: :thumbs_up: :thumbs_up:

yes!! good news.

2018 or 2017 Isaac Luke?

@mariner4life said in NRL 2019:

2018 or 2017 Isaac Luke?

Hopefully 2018 version

Big watch is the contest for the backup hooker/utility role between Roache, Lawton and Cook because Luke isn't an 80 minute player anymore in the second half of the season.

So, lets talk about the NRL's latest retarded idea.

Apparently fans lose engagement when their teams are out of the finals race (shocking i know), so the NRL want to find ways to keep those fans' eyeballs on TV screens.

So, their (completely retarded) idea is to give the top 6 a week off before finals, while 7 plays 10, and 8 plays 9 in a "wildcard" round to see who plays in week one of the finals.

Fucking idiotic.

Last year 9th was the Tigers at 12-12. 10th was the Raiders at 10-14!! yep, that's make the comp better, give a team with a significant losing record a shot at finals.

I for one don't think this goes far enough. If we really want teams engaged, let all 16 teams be eligible for finals. 24 rounds, then a knockout until you get to the GF. More games, all fans engaged for longer. You know it makes sense Greenberg.

Oh, and more sexy time videos coming out too. There won't be a player available for round 1 at this point.

@mariner4life

So the top two seeds will go final round/bye/play off/bye/play off/play off?

@Cyclops said in NRL 2019:

@mariner4life

So the top two seeds will go final round/bye/play off/bye/play off/play off?

you think they have thought that far ahead?

But yea, pretty much.

Depending on your thoughts around rest/momentum, it's either a huge advantage, or a huge disadvantage.

It's not gone too badly for the AFL top seeds so far i don't think.

To really maintain interest they should give one of the wildcards out based on a fan vote and the other one to the 'most deserving team' as judged by a panel of experts.

@Cyclops said in NRL 2019:

To really maintain interest they should give one of the wildcards out based on a fan vote and the other one to the 'most deserving team' as judged by a panel of experts.

Yes! Phil Gould; Joey Johns; Mark Geyer; Ray Hadley; Justin Hodges; and Daryl Halligan!

I'd have thought if they wanted to keep the players busy in order to avoid the "off season" debacles, they'd not give them weeks off and the season would be 52 weeks long.

@mariner4life said in NRL 2019:

@Cyclops said in NRL 2019:

To really maintain interest they should give one of the wildcards out based on a fan vote and the other one to the 'most deserving team' as judged by a panel of experts.

Yes! Phil Gould; Joey Johns; Mark Geyer; Ray Hadley; Justin Hodges; and Daryl Halligan!

Ooooh, how about the origin winning coach and captain is on that panel too!

@Cyclops said in NRL 2019:

@mariner4life said in NRL 2019:

@Cyclops said in NRL 2019:

To really maintain interest they should give one of the wildcards out based on a fan vote and the other one to the 'most deserving team' as judged by a panel of experts.

Yes! Phil Gould; Joey Johns; Mark Geyer; Ray Hadley; Justin Hodges; and Daryl Halligan!

Ooooh, how about the origin winning coach and captain is on that panel too!

now you're thinking!

and Todd Carney

Season begins this week with Team Naming Tuesday.

Another mini-scandal, this time with the Warriors. Isaiah Papali'i is stood down for round one due to something away from the pitch.

@Sneakdefreak said in NRL 2019:

Season begins this week with Team Naming Tuesday.

Another mini-scandal, this time with the Warriors. Isaiah Papali'i is stood down for round one due to something away from the pitch.

View embedded content

What time does Team Naming Tuesday happen ... do I have time to sharpen my knives?

ah yes, Round 1 of the season after the Warriors performed reasonably well.

This should get nice and ugly nice and early.

@Nepia Around 5pm. You'll have to get in line because word is Solomone Kata will be paired with David Fusitua on the right edge in round one.

@Sneakdefreak said in NRL 2019:

@Nepia Around 5pm. You'll have to get in line because word is Solomone Kata will be paired with David Fusitua on the right edge in round one.

Apparently Luke is out as well.

Anyway, I always thought I was the head of the anti Kata-Kearney Jnr queue.

@Sneakdefreak said in NRL 2019:

@Nepia Around 5pm. You'll have to get in line because word is Solomone Kata will be paired with David Fusitua on the right edge in round one.

@Sneakdefreak said in NRL 2019:

Season begins this week with Team Naming Tuesday.

Another mini-scandal, this time with the Warriors. Isaiah Papali'i is stood down for round one due to something away from the pitch.

View embedded content

Drink-driving offence is the "mini-scandal". Pales in comparison to the Aussie clubs.

@Sneakdefreak said in NRL 2019:

@Sneakdefreak said in NRL 2019:

Season begins this week with Team Naming Tuesday.

Another mini-scandal, this time with the Warriors. Isaiah Papali'i is stood down for round one due to something away from the pitch.

View embedded content

Drink-driving offence is the "mini-scandal". Pales in comparison to the Aussie clubs.

will Greenberg write him a character reference?

Former Cowboys legend Ben Barba having a meltdown on Aussie news:

ouch, I'm sure it's made for great copy but it does feel a bit like shooting fish in a barrel. Wonder how close Barba came to actually popping him?

@Sneakdefreak Worth noting ( video is geoblocked) that those journalists often hound people well beyond what is considered normal discourse. They bait people to an unacceptable to get their soundbite.

Look, Barba has got what he deserved after his behaviour. He's lost his career, and he's back to just being an average nobody.

But in this instance he's getting stitched up and Ch9 got exactly what they want. Look at that photo, the journalist is between Barba and the drivers seat of his car. He would have badgered him, asked him "do you feel lucky your missus isn't pressing charges" and then when a guy that has lost everything explodes, it's a "gotcha" and you can spin it how you want.

For all their "tut tutting" and "won't someone think of the children" the media would have been laughing their asses off over this offseason. High 5s all round in the editing room. Look at those sweet sweet clicks just rolling in.

Agree 100%

I had missed that the reporter was blocking him getting into his own vehicle. Reckon they must have sent out the reporter with the most punchable face aye.

@mariner4life The Aussie media are far more ruthless in their baiting tactics. I'm surprised though that more media haven't hounded Barba for the past few weeks.