Post by rus on Sept 5, 2007 20:02:56 GMT -5
Here is a surprise from a SMH journalist:
Why league is king of the codes
Paul Sheehan
September 6, 2007
www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/why-league-is-king-of-the-codes/2007/09/05/1188783319579.html
AT THE END OF THE DAY
AdvertisementTHE 2007 footy season has seen rugby league blow rugby union off the park as a spectacle. And I say this as a rugby diehard. I may have one eye, but I'm not blind.
While rugby continues to shamble along with complex laws, a confusing club competition, too many Tests, too many boring games, and too many prima donnas in the ranks of referees and administrators, the National Rugby League has retooled its product and expanded its competition in a way that is both dynamic and organic.
While the Rugby World Cup is about to start - and the Wallabies are one of the four teams that could win it but are also quite capable of bouncing out in the quarter-finals - in Australia it will unfold under the shadow of the NRL finals.
The key to the re-emergence of league as a crowd-pleaser has been the offload. Teams, coaches and players are committed to keeping the ball alive, after years of numbingly predictable one-out charges up the middle.
Off-loading the ball in the tackle has been revived, and suddenly dozens of players are making last-second off-loads that have added a spectacular dimension to the game.
Two things have happened to help this along that transcend coaches and rules. The first is the Melbourne Storm. What a brilliant organisation that has turned out to be. Even though they are based in an insular, self-absorbed, Aussie-Rules-obsessed city, with an insular, provincial news media, the Storm have created a product so good that even Melbourne has noticed, if not the Melbourne media.
I hope Melbourne win the comp. They were the best last year and are the best again this year. They produce their own stars, and the emergence of Greg Inglis and Israel Folau leads naturally to the second development that has changed the game, the emerging dominance of Pacific islanders.
Professional sport is about naked elitism. Rugby is about strength plus speed. This is natural selection at work, as islanders have traditionally combined size, speed and flair.
However, one bad thing about league has not changed. They still can't hang on to the bloody football. Last weekend, the 16 NRL teams managed to give away the football a total of 161 times, or 20 times per game. Given that there were an average 77 possessions per game, more than one in four of those possessions ended with a dropped ball. That is absurdly high. Don't blame the off-loads. What this statistic confirms is that in a 16-team competition, the skill level is spread pretty thin.
Why league is king of the codes
Paul Sheehan
September 6, 2007
www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/why-league-is-king-of-the-codes/2007/09/05/1188783319579.html
AT THE END OF THE DAY
AdvertisementTHE 2007 footy season has seen rugby league blow rugby union off the park as a spectacle. And I say this as a rugby diehard. I may have one eye, but I'm not blind.
While rugby continues to shamble along with complex laws, a confusing club competition, too many Tests, too many boring games, and too many prima donnas in the ranks of referees and administrators, the National Rugby League has retooled its product and expanded its competition in a way that is both dynamic and organic.
While the Rugby World Cup is about to start - and the Wallabies are one of the four teams that could win it but are also quite capable of bouncing out in the quarter-finals - in Australia it will unfold under the shadow of the NRL finals.
The key to the re-emergence of league as a crowd-pleaser has been the offload. Teams, coaches and players are committed to keeping the ball alive, after years of numbingly predictable one-out charges up the middle.
Off-loading the ball in the tackle has been revived, and suddenly dozens of players are making last-second off-loads that have added a spectacular dimension to the game.
Two things have happened to help this along that transcend coaches and rules. The first is the Melbourne Storm. What a brilliant organisation that has turned out to be. Even though they are based in an insular, self-absorbed, Aussie-Rules-obsessed city, with an insular, provincial news media, the Storm have created a product so good that even Melbourne has noticed, if not the Melbourne media.
I hope Melbourne win the comp. They were the best last year and are the best again this year. They produce their own stars, and the emergence of Greg Inglis and Israel Folau leads naturally to the second development that has changed the game, the emerging dominance of Pacific islanders.
Professional sport is about naked elitism. Rugby is about strength plus speed. This is natural selection at work, as islanders have traditionally combined size, speed and flair.
However, one bad thing about league has not changed. They still can't hang on to the bloody football. Last weekend, the 16 NRL teams managed to give away the football a total of 161 times, or 20 times per game. Given that there were an average 77 possessions per game, more than one in four of those possessions ended with a dropped ball. That is absurdly high. Don't blame the off-loads. What this statistic confirms is that in a 16-team competition, the skill level is spread pretty thin.
