http://www.thepunch.com.au/tags/rugby-league/ Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. en Copyright 2012 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:00:12 +0000 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:00:12 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/kiwis-flapping-their-wings-and-they-might-just-take-off/ An NRL superstar is a hero to the town of Whakatane, on the coast of New Zealand’s North Island. His name is Benji Marshall. Marshall grew up there. Part of his family still lives there. He went to the local school until he was offered a scholarship to play for a rugby league team on the Gold Coast when he was 16. “He’s a legend mate,” says the events manager for the Whakatane district council, Mike Van Der Boom. Marshall and his team didn’t make it through to this evening’s Grand Final. But with the New Zealand Warriors through to only their second rugby league grand final ever and the country hosting a Rugby World Cup where the All Blacks are strong contenders for the title, football fever is in the air in Whakatane. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Antony McMullen) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/kiwis-flapping-their-wings-and-they-might-just-take-off/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/kiwis-flapping-their-wings-and-they-might-just-take-off/#item6828 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:00:12 +0000 So Melbourne and Manly have each been fined $50k for their little bout of fisticuffs on Friday night. Good. Maybe that’ll teach them both a little humility. Fact is, the huge all-in at Brookvale Oval on Friday night had very little to do with the faint elbow nudge from the Storm’s Ryan Hinchcliffe which sparked it, and everything to do with the ill-feeling which has been simmering at both clubs for ages. Both clubs consider themselves hard done by at the hands of the NRL – the Storm because of the salary cap scandal and the Eagles because of the Brett Stewart affair. With NRL CEO David Gallop on hand on Friday night, those pent-up frustrations were just too much to contain. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/The-first-rule-of-fighting-clubs-is-cough-up-50k/ So Melbourne and Manly have each been fined $50k for their little bout of fisticuffs on Friday night. Good. Maybe that’ll teach them both a little humility. Fact is, the huge all-in at Brookvale Oval on Friday night had very little to do with the faint elbow nudge from the Storm’s Ryan Hinchcliffe which sparked it, and everything to do with the ill-feeling which has been simmering at both clubs for ages. Both clubs consider themselves hard done by at the hands of the NRL – the Storm because of the salary cap scandal and the Eagles because of the Brett Stewart affair. With NRL CEO David Gallop on hand on Friday night, those pent-up frustrations were just too much to contain. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Antony McMullen) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/The-first-rule-of-fighting-clubs-is-cough-up-50k/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/The-first-rule-of-fighting-clubs-is-cough-up-50k/#item6596 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:00:12 +0000 So Melbourne and Manly have each been fined $50k for their little bout of fisticuffs on Friday night. Good. Maybe that’ll teach them both a little humility. Fact is, the huge all-in at Brookvale Oval on Friday night had very little to do with the faint elbow nudge from the Storm’s Ryan Hinchcliffe which sparked it, and everything to do with the ill-feeling which has been simmering at both clubs for ages. Both clubs consider themselves hard done by at the hands of the NRL – the Storm because of the salary cap scandal and the Eagles because of the Brett Stewart affair. With NRL CEO David Gallop on hand on Friday night, those pent-up frustrations were just too much to contain. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/roosters-lash-their-star-idiot-with-a-feather-again/ So Todd Carney will still be a Sydney Rooster, despite about 183 indiscretions this year. In other unsurprising news, Bondi Beach has waves and airheads. Carney is the troubled playmaker who last year won the NRL’s highest honour, the Dally M Medal. He won that award, and steered the Roosters from the wooden spoon to the grand final in his first year at the club, after a year out of the NRL due to numerous alcohol-related indiscretions. Carney spent 2009 playing park footy at the Atherton Roosters in north Queensland. He lived and worked in a pub, which might sound crazy, but in truth it had the effect of rubbing a puppy’s nose in its own poo. For the first time, he saw drunks through sober eyes, and he said it was a genuine shock. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Antony McMullen) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/roosters-lash-their-star-idiot-with-a-feather-again/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/roosters-lash-their-star-idiot-with-a-feather-again/#item6468 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:00:12 +0000 So Melbourne and Manly have each been fined $50k for their little bout of fisticuffs on Friday night. Good. Maybe that’ll teach them both a little humility. Fact is, the huge all-in at Brookvale Oval on Friday night had very little to do with the faint elbow nudge from the Storm’s Ryan Hinchcliffe which sparked it, and everything to do with the ill-feeling which has been simmering at both clubs for ages. Both clubs consider themselves hard done by at the hands of the NRL – the Storm because of the salary cap scandal and the Eagles because of the Brett Stewart affair. With NRL CEO David Gallop on hand on Friday night, those pent-up frustrations were just too much to contain. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/nsw-bloated-smug-delusions-of-grandeur/ I stood at a tin urinal alongside Mal Meninga once. I know it’s true because at some stage later that evening, post-urinal, amidst the hazy celebrations following a Queensland Origin win in Brisbane circa 1982, and having toasted the victory at several of the city’s nightclubs, I got a tattoo that extended up my inner calf and over the knee joint. It reads: “I stood at a tin urinal alongside Mal Meninga.’‘ Now what happens at the urinal stays at the urinal. I can only say that it was a thrill to be so near a champion footballer who, just hours before, had been tearing up Lang Park on behalf of the state. And suddenly there he was in the nightclub water closet, a bullock balanced on its hind hooves, staring into a cluster of deodoriser balls. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Antony McMullen) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/nsw-bloated-smug-delusions-of-grandeur/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/nsw-bloated-smug-delusions-of-grandeur/#item6294 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:00:12 +0000 So Melbourne and Manly have each been fined $50k for their little bout of fisticuffs on Friday night. Good. Maybe that’ll teach them both a little humility. Fact is, the huge all-in at Brookvale Oval on Friday night had very little to do with the faint elbow nudge from the Storm’s Ryan Hinchcliffe which sparked it, and everything to do with the ill-feeling which has been simmering at both clubs for ages. Both clubs consider themselves hard done by at the hands of the NRL – the Storm because of the salary cap scandal and the Eagles because of the Brett Stewart affair. With NRL CEO David Gallop on hand on Friday night, those pent-up frustrations were just too much to contain. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Maroon-to-the-bone-and-desperate-for-a-moan/ After coaching the Queensland State of Origin team to a record sixth State of Origin win last week, Mal Meninga wrote a controversial Courier Mail column in which he essentially said “nyaah-nyaah-nee-nyaah-nyaah.” He is also reported to have said “they said it first, Miss” and “I never” and “I know you are but what am I?” Before taking up the Origin coaching role in 2006, Mr Meninga was previously known as the man with the shortest serious political career in history – yes, even shorter than Julia Gillard’s. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Antony McMullen) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Maroon-to-the-bone-and-desperate-for-a-moan/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Maroon-to-the-bone-and-desperate-for-a-moan/#item6270 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:00:12 +0000 So Melbourne and Manly have each been fined $50k for their little bout of fisticuffs on Friday night. Good. Maybe that’ll teach them both a little humility. Fact is, the huge all-in at Brookvale Oval on Friday night had very little to do with the faint elbow nudge from the Storm’s Ryan Hinchcliffe which sparked it, and everything to do with the ill-feeling which has been simmering at both clubs for ages. Both clubs consider themselves hard done by at the hands of the NRL – the Storm because of the salary cap scandal and the Eagles because of the Brett Stewart affair. With NRL CEO David Gallop on hand on Friday night, those pent-up frustrations were just too much to contain. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/champion-team-sends-a-champion-bloke-out-in-style/ “Sometimes you just can’t account for champions.” With these words, uttered after Queensland’s first try, Nine commentator and rugby league ego-in-chief Phil Gould summed up why Queensland won State of Origin III, and with it, an unprecedented sixth straight series That first try was so classy. Billy Slater slipped the ball away when held by two players, Johnathan Thurston held the ball just long enough to create confusion, then poked through a beautifully-weighted grubber for Greg Inglis. There wasn’t much room in the corner. Inglis never needs much room. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Antony McMullen) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/champion-team-sends-a-champion-bloke-out-in-style/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/champion-team-sends-a-champion-bloke-out-in-style/#item6232 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:00:12 +0000 So Melbourne and Manly have each been fined $50k for their little bout of fisticuffs on Friday night. Good. Maybe that’ll teach them both a little humility. Fact is, the huge all-in at Brookvale Oval on Friday night had very little to do with the faint elbow nudge from the Storm’s Ryan Hinchcliffe which sparked it, and everything to do with the ill-feeling which has been simmering at both clubs for ages. Both clubs consider themselves hard done by at the hands of the NRL – the Storm because of the salary cap scandal and the Eagles because of the Brett Stewart affair. With NRL CEO David Gallop on hand on Friday night, those pent-up frustrations were just too much to contain. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/why-queensland-care-more-and-nsw-couldnt-care-less/ NSW has the Snowies, Queensland’s got the Reef. We’ve got Byron Bay, they’ve got Noosa. Sydney has the Sydney Opera House, Queensland has, um, the Stockman’s Hall of Fame in Longreach. NSW has the tiny border town of Jennings, pop. 130, Queensland’s got the neighbouring town of Wallangarra, pop. 385. Wallangwhere? Wallangarra, thank you very much, the town which is the symbolic home of the one Queensland commodity which NSW can never seem to match. Passion. Wallangarra is where Qld State of Origin legend Billy Moore grew up. Actually, he was born in Tenterfield NSW, because the base hospital is closer than the one in Stanthorpe, on the Qld side of the border. But as Moore told The Punch this morning, “my Mum assures me I was rushed over the border before the oxygen had time to affect my lungs.” feedback@thepunch.com.au (Antony McMullen) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/why-queensland-care-more-and-nsw-couldnt-care-less/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/why-queensland-care-more-and-nsw-couldnt-care-less/#item6080 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:00:12 +0000 So Melbourne and Manly have each been fined $50k for their little bout of fisticuffs on Friday night. Good. Maybe that’ll teach them both a little humility. Fact is, the huge all-in at Brookvale Oval on Friday night had very little to do with the faint elbow nudge from the Storm’s Ryan Hinchcliffe which sparked it, and everything to do with the ill-feeling which has been simmering at both clubs for ages. Both clubs consider themselves hard done by at the hands of the NRL – the Storm because of the salary cap scandal and the Eagles because of the Brett Stewart affair. With NRL CEO David Gallop on hand on Friday night, those pent-up frustrations were just too much to contain. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/punch-on-open-thread-26-05-2011/ The State of Origin happened last night, and it’s fair to say The Punch Team sank a schooner or two as the Blues nearly won, but didn’t. Did you watch. Do you care? What else is on your mind? You know how this works. Share it here. And be nice to those of us who are New South Welshies. Or don’t… feedback@thepunch.com.au (Antony McMullen) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/punch-on-open-thread-26-05-2011/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/punch-on-open-thread-26-05-2011/#item5932 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:00:12 +0000 So Melbourne and Manly have each been fined $50k for their little bout of fisticuffs on Friday night. Good. Maybe that’ll teach them both a little humility. Fact is, the huge all-in at Brookvale Oval on Friday night had very little to do with the faint elbow nudge from the Storm’s Ryan Hinchcliffe which sparked it, and everything to do with the ill-feeling which has been simmering at both clubs for ages. Both clubs consider themselves hard done by at the hands of the NRL – the Storm because of the salary cap scandal and the Eagles because of the Brett Stewart affair. With NRL CEO David Gallop on hand on Friday night, those pent-up frustrations were just too much to contain. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/I-respect-Chris-Sandow-and-wish-him-every-success/ The story of Chris Sandow is well known to those who follow even a little rugby league: he’s bloody tiny, has a heart the size of Queensland, and when he does actually make contact with opposition players, they certainly know it. He was the league’s top rookie in 2008, has won matches almost single handedly, divides critics and fans alike, and after four years, he is leaving the Souths Sydney Rabbitohs, the Club where he has made his professional debut, to join the Parramatta Eels. I first met Chris at the southern end of Erskineville Oval as the sun set on a hard training day for the prospective Rabbitohs under 20’s side. I had been asked to meet the new group of promising juniors, and had been well backgrounded on the squad, particularly “Chrissy” as he was already known. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Antony McMullen) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/I-respect-Chris-Sandow-and-wish-him-every-success/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/I-respect-Chris-Sandow-and-wish-him-every-success/#item5817 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:00:12 +0000 So Melbourne and Manly have each been fined $50k for their little bout of fisticuffs on Friday night. Good. Maybe that’ll teach them both a little humility. Fact is, the huge all-in at Brookvale Oval on Friday night had very little to do with the faint elbow nudge from the Storm’s Ryan Hinchcliffe which sparked it, and everything to do with the ill-feeling which has been simmering at both clubs for ages. Both clubs consider themselves hard done by at the hands of the NRL – the Storm because of the salary cap scandal and the Eagles because of the Brett Stewart affair. With NRL CEO David Gallop on hand on Friday night, those pent-up frustrations were just too much to contain. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-big-thing-that-happened-in-newcastle-last-night/ Mining magnate Nathan Tinkler has a very BIG presence in Newcastle. He also has a very BIG bank balance. And as of last night, he has the green light for his $100m takeover of the Newcastle Knights NRL team. That’s BIG money. Tinkler’s people had to secure the approval of 75 per cent of Knights members last night. They achieved this comfortably, with 97 per cent of the 2,500 who turned out voting in favour of the Tinkler takeover. That’s a BIG endorsement. The future of Knights CEO Steve Burraston, who originally opposed the bid, is now unclear. As the picture below the fold shows, he too is a very BIG figure in the Hunter region. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Antony McMullen) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-big-thing-that-happened-in-newcastle-last-night/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-big-thing-that-happened-in-newcastle-last-night/#item5536 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:00:12 +0000 So Melbourne and Manly have each been fined $50k for their little bout of fisticuffs on Friday night. Good. Maybe that’ll teach them both a little humility. Fact is, the huge all-in at Brookvale Oval on Friday night had very little to do with the faint elbow nudge from the Storm’s Ryan Hinchcliffe which sparked it, and everything to do with the ill-feeling which has been simmering at both clubs for ages. Both clubs consider themselves hard done by at the hands of the NRL – the Storm because of the salary cap scandal and the Eagles because of the Brett Stewart affair. With NRL CEO David Gallop on hand on Friday night, those pent-up frustrations were just too much to contain.