First off, Tri-Nations squad announced:
Barrett, Buderus, Civonaceva, Cooper, Fitzgibbon, Gasnier, Gower, Hindmarsh, Johns, Kennedy, King, Lockyer, Mason, Minichiello, O’Donnell, O’Meley, Price, Prince, Ryan, Ryles, Tahu, Tate, Waterhouse.
ManlyChief said:
Well it's all well and good for Balmain but I am still waiting for the
MIGHTY BEARS to win a flag.
Maybe next year ...
Hehe, and while we're at it, I have decided that I'll gun for Annandale and University next season. I can't wait!
Bookie said:
First Grade; Boooooooooorrrrrrriiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnngggg. I thought football was gonna be the winner on the day. But other than Chris fucking Heighington at the fucking end, it was pretty fucking boring.
Yeah, that's about right. Felt just like Friday Night Footy.
I said before the game that it would be a hit-or-miss game. It was either going to be really exciting or really crap. It took the course of being the crap game.
Perhaps it's because neither team shows any respect for the ball. Perhaps it's because I'm more of a traditionalist and I would rather see a Grand Final based on defence, discipline, and a final scoreline of 14 - 10. Perhaps it's because there were no supporters for either team at the ground.
Seriously, how many people stuck around for the victory lap? 30,000 tops, and 10,000 were probably bandwagoners. I recall Ryan and Price lifting the trophy last season to be met with thunderous applause and cheering. Last night, Prince lifts it and you barely here a whimper.
Considering that it is a Grand Final, some of the play was just piss-weak. Laffranchi's try ... Richards' try ... the competition has come a long way in recent times, I guess. Now it seems that games end up being 34 - 32 rather than 16 - 14. And woohoo for the excitement (note sarcasm), but the essence of rugby league is being thrown out the window.
Everything started to go pear-shaped when one particular entrepreneur decided that the game of Rugby League is purely a money-making commodity. Super League destroyed the game, and even though it has recovered in terms of profit, crowd numbers etc, the game of rugby league itself has been irrevocably changed, and in my opinion the change has been for the worse.
All that said, though, congratulations to the Wests Tigers. They have deservedly won each of their matches in the Finals' series. Like the Roosters of 2002, though, they showed that the first 20 weeks of the competition mean nothing as long as you can put it together for ten weeks at the end.
If the NRL is to keep a top eight, which they most certainly will do because of the profit motive, they must revert to the AFL's system. However, if it was a decision based on what is best for the game rather than the deep pockets of the NRL, a top five is the way to go.
Anyway. Onto 2006, then.