Apology to Kenny

[Isotonic]

I'll keep this short because if I ramble I'll end up convincing myself their is something wrong with me. So I watched Sunday's NRL Grand Final thinking it would be another smash and bash affair.

Without going into the specifics I watched on with utter contentment as the Roosters and the Sea Eagles showpiece had everything that is great about Rugby League. It often doesn't all happen in the one game but this Grand Final was brilliant.

The brutal nature is no surprise and is my main attraction however some of the passing and marking was truly brilliant. Sonny Bill is just specimen is a man. He is just a human wrecking ball.

After lamenting the dreary nature of my beloved AFL Grand Final (thanks Ross) I enjoyed seeing such a spectacle.

It is still far too rare to see NRL games of this quality but I would buy myself a Storm membership tomorrow if that is what was dished up week after week. Absolutely brilliant. So my humble apologies Ken... NRL does compete as a spectacle. Brilliant TV sport. I also think the AFL should now copy the NRL and have a night final. So much better.

Now if we can sack all the chess players imitating as AFL coaches we might take back what is rightfully ours. the best day of Australian sport. haha

[Ken Gargett]

nature of a footy comp is that there will always be mismatches and dud games. sadly. especially when it happens in finals. occasionally one of the designated duds does step up. all part of the fun. you do expect finals to be a cut above. usually have something extra but this year, league seemed to have those games. won't always. the roosters/newcastle was a dud but the rest were pretty good. and a good grand final.

i was on a plane - had it taped - we land and one tosser tells us all roosters won. he walked off without a friend and ears ringing and i didn't even get a chance to add my bit. so watched it without the excitement but still a top game.

i reckon manly can feel very very hard done by. they did get that silly penalty try (surely correct decision was no try, a penalty and a sin bin?) but every other decision went against them. i'm no manly fan but i felt sorry for them (that is so out of character for me it is almost like saying you feel sorry for the cowgirls when romo blows another close one - don't hold your breath on that).

the only games that do seem to lift to absolute top standard, year after year (although there have been a few fall short) is the origin. i'm sure that is because it is such a matter of pride and there are only three games a year. if there were 10 a year, there'd be plenty of duds. no player could maintain that intensity.

i might add that having a bit of knowledge re what is going on with the lions in the afl and the disgraceful and dishonest way they are being treated by certain sections of the media, i suspect i will watch very little afl for a very long time to come, if ever. has left me utterly disgusted. though in all honesty, even without that, probably not watch so much anyway. with the league, the origin, the reds, the wallabies, the english soccer and the glorious redskins, there is only so much time.

and a separate issue, how the hell does the draft/salary cap allow sides to turn into perennial duds like melbourne and their ilk, while sydney gets tippett one year then buddy the next? if i want that lopsidedness, i'll watch english soccer.

[Ken Gargett]

ps - and many thanks for the apols. always appreciated.

[Isotonic]

Very true about Origin. It is the pinnacle of League as opposed to the AFL's GF.

I will have to bow to your inside info re. the Lions. The reporting down here has been that the Lions board has been calamitous. Sacked Voss with 3 rounds to go as they thought the Lions would win them all and make it harder to move him on. Only problem was they did it without having the boom new coach secured. That was what was reported down here anyway.

Sydney... what a fiasco. They were given a 10% player retention bonus 20 years ago because they were a rabble and could not retain players. This has continued but has morphed into a 'cost of living' allowance. What a joke! Are the Adelaide teams only allowed to spend 80% of Melbourne clubs salary cap because it only has a pub and an IGA express? The handout to the Sydney teams is grotesque. And they are made sure they never get it again now by getting Buddy to the Swans.

[Ken Gargett]

not that anything i know is not public but what the papers have reported nothing short of disgraceful. a certain afl writer has linked himself to the push by two disgruntled board members and run a campaign. the truth is irrelevant. this bloke is either utterly dishonest or the worst journo ever to put pen to paper. so much that has been run has been so wrong. he must have known but still pushes his interests.

i believe the bloke pushing to take over as chairman was the one that originally proposed the vote to dump voss and is now campaigning it was done badly. the afl's version of kevin rudd.

internally (and no secret, except it doesn't suit the agenda, so never appears), all agreed. they had been thoroughly researching coaching aspects, extremely extensive due diligence for months with voss kept appraised of this and yet the journo, knowing this, claimed knee jerk decisions and so on. also, they felt it not fair to voss to keep him on. matthews had been invited on to the board previously. they still had to play richmond in melb, i think, and geelong at geelong - you'd be a dill to think those were two games you'd win, with or without a coach. roos was never a chance. they had long discussions, all good but my understanding was that family reasons a big part. they knew they had to search for a coach - a lot of candidates will not be involved while a current coach in place apparently.

the current board have turned the club around from a basket case which the afl were nearly prepared to abandon - a lot of the problems caused by a former club official who had people so offside that i believe most afl staff, demetriou etc, could hardly bring themselves to speak to them. i do not know for certain but i believe that the afl has serious concerns re the new potential board and may reconsider further financing, but that is my speculation. i suspect if matthews was there then they would proceed.

the push has nothing whatsoever to do with the interests of the club - just the arrogance of a few. it is terrifying how much it resembles the way rudd destablisied.

[El Presidente]

As an aside...it should be noted that the Lions (current) Chairman is on of ken's great mates

[Isotonic]

Ahhh... and Kenny's outrage falls into place

[Ken Gargett]

doesn't make any of it less true, though.

it is on record that the bloke claiming the club is a mess because they sacked voss is the same bloke that proposed the motion to sack voss, i believe.

[Ken Gargett]

i did suggest to him a few weeks back that he should go off and sign the entire melbourne reserve grade team to long and exorbitant contracts and stuff the lions' cap for years to come, but all i got back was some naff drivel about loving the club and wanting to do the best blah blah blah.

[El Presidente]

doesn't make any of it less true, though.

it is on record that the bloke claiming the club is a mess because they sacked voss is the same bloke that proposed the motion to sack voss, i believe.

The One Golden Rule regardless of codes:

1. If you sack a coach ....lock in the replacement before you sack the incumbent.

...anything else is a mess....

[Ken Gargett]

that is pretty much true.