Australian Squad named for England Clash

Tim Sheens has named an unchanged line-up to face England this weekend:

1. Billy Slater
2. Brett Morris
3. Brent Tate
4. Willie Tonga
5. Lote Tuqiri
6. Darren Lockyer (c)
7. Cooper Cronk
8. Nate Myles
9. Cameron Smith
10. Petero Civoniceva
11. Luke Lewis
12. Sam Thaiday
13. Paul Gallen

Queensland have an incredible 10 of the starting 13 players which is a testament to their domination of the State of Origin series for the last half-decade. A seven man interchange has been named with Kurt Gidley, Anthony Watmough, Tom Learoyd-Lahrs, David Shillington, Dean Young, Darius Boyd warming the bench. Sheens is likely to drop Dean Young and I hope Gidley and Watmough. Watmough because Learoyd-Lahrs is forward-utility and Shillington is a beast of a man. Boyd has had Gidley's number for 2 seasons now which should cement his space as to go-to utility back.

It's a fairly widely known fact that England have been without a trophy from a tournament featuring Australia since 1972. Sam Burgess summed it up when he said that England need to perform on the international stage consistently. Sam Tompkins (who is apparently a superstar over there..?) has said that the supposed superiority that the NRL has over the English Super League is a myth.

Sorry to break it to you Sam but there is a distinct difference between the two. It says a great deal that the only poms succeeding are Gareth Ellis and Sam Burgess. Gareth Widdop is registered with the Storm but can't get a run due to Billy Slater. If English players were good enough, they would have been offered contracts long ago. The fact is the Australian youth system is very strong, the NRL is lightyears ahead of any other competition in the world and this leaves England for dead. A comparison is the English Premier League vs. the A-League in soccer - hardly in the same ballpark.

Australia will destroy England this weekend and all this talk of being wary is just media hype and the usual media rigmarole that is required from players in this day and age. Predictions? Australia 30, England 12.

The Greg Inglis Saga

Controversy seems to follow the Broncos in some way during the year, even in the off-season. This time it involves our big signing for next season, Greg Inglis. At least it doesn't involve a camera phone and a nightclub bathroom right?

The guts of it is that while Greg Inglis was up for assault last year and the Storm spent roughly $113,000 ($35,000 of which Inglis owes apparently) on legal fees to clear his name. You'd be naive to think that this was not only to defend Greg but also salvage the Storm brand which copped a massive hit in the wake of the Salary Cap scandal. Greg's argument is that he had no say in what legal action was taken and the Storm hired a QC to defend the player.

I struggle to accept that this is the sole reason they are attempting to scuttle the Broncos deal by not releasing Inglis to sign with the Broncos formally. The NRL is yet to approve the contract pending the outcome of this situation. The Broncos and the Storm have built a solid rivalry over the last few years and it's my belief that they are using Greg as leverage to get their way. Pro tip Melbourne - you can chase these funds without Inglis on your books.

Thankfully some sort of common-sense has prevailed and Inglis has been allowed to start training with the Broncos. Although he is restricted to light duties due to off-season shoulder surgery, it's a step in the right direction. Let's hope Melbourne smarten up and release Inglis formally. It's not like they've done wrong by fans and the game in the past, right?

2010 Broncos Club Awards Announced

Friday Night saw the announcement of the annual Bronco awards at the 2010 Broncos Presentation Ball at the Brisbane Convention Centre. The results are:

Rookie of the Year - Matt Gillett
Defence Play of the Year - Jharal Yow Yeh
Most Improved - Josh Hoffman
Most Consistent - Corey Parker
Best Back - Israel Folau
Best Forward - Sam Thaiday
Encouragement Award - Matt Gillett
Play of the Year - Antonio Winterstein
Player's Player - Josh Hoffman
Player of the Year - Josh Hoffman

It is fantastic to see Matt Gillett receive two awards, even if one sounds like the "I Participated" award that kids get at a Sports Carnival in Primary School. Sam Thaiday and Corey Parker should considering himself very unlucky to not get the Player of the Year award. I think it's blatantly obvious that this year has been the best of Sammy's career and Parker topped the Broncos for Tackles, Points, Hit-Ups and Metres Run.

The award for Most Consistent was awarded to Parker couldn't be more accurate - Parker has turned into one of the pillars of this team, similar in the way that Andrew Ryan has done for the Bulldogs for a number of years.

Hoffman was clearly the biggest winner of the night and while I agree that he has a successful year, I find it difficult to believe that Hoffman deserves Player of the Year. Player's Player is obviously the players' choice so we can't really argue that and Hoffman improved out of this world this season. Player of the Year though? Parker or Thaiday's form this year was far better than Hoffman's as far as I'm concerned.

That's about all from the Ranters at this point - to keep yourself entertained and for a good laugh, have a read of the Fox Sports NRL Awards.

The 2011 Broncos draw released.

Maybe I lied when I said there would be not much to cover until the Tests. The NRL draw has been released for the 2011 season. The matches are:

Round Date Opponent Home/Away
1 Mar 11 - 14 Cowboys Home
2 Mar 18 - 21 Raiders Away
3 Mar 25 - 28 Titans Away
4 Apr 1- 4 Panthers Home
5 Apr 8 - 11 Knights Home
6 Apr 15 - 18 Roosters Away
7 Apr 22- 25 Wests Tigers Away
8 Apr 29 - May 1 Bulldogs Home
9 May 7 - 9 Storm Home
10 May 13 - 16 Panthers Away
11 May 20 - 23 BYE -
12 May 27 - 30 Sea Eagles Away
13 June 3 - 6 Sharks Away
14 June 10 - 13 Raiders Home
15 June 17 - 20 Dragons Home
16 June 24 - 27 Rabbitohs Away
17 July 1 - 4 Eels Away
18 July 8 - 11 BYE -
19 July 15 - 18 Titans Home
20 July 22- 25 Storm Away
21 July 29 - Aug 1 Sharks Home
22 Aug 5 - 8 Warriors Home
23 Aug 12 - 15 Cowboys Away
24 Aug 19 - 22 Knights Away
25 Aug 26 - 29 Rabbitohs Home
26 Sept 2 - 4 Sea Eagles Home

For those of you who don't want to (or can't be arsed) reading the list, the key sections are weeks 1-10 where for some reason we play the Panthers twice(!), the Storm, the Roosters, the West Tigers and the Titans. Origin time we don't have too bad of a run really (excluding the Dragons and potentially the Raiders) but the run home is fantastic. The Sharks, Warriors and Rabbits at home and the Cowboys/Newcastle away. Lets hope we get into a good enough position to capitalise on that run home.

Keep an eye out at RedHillRants.com for a review of the Broncos presentation night on October 8.

Another season is over,,

Well, I should probably give up on predictions. As you probably know, St George Illawarra dominated the Sydney Roosters 32-8. To be fair, based on the first half alone my prediction was pretty spot on. What I cannot believe is the performance of the Roosters after they came out of the sheds to face the second half. St George did step it up a cog so I give credit for that but honestly, the Gatton Under 7's could have put up a better battle.

The highlight for me was Frank-Paul Nuuausala in defence at the back-end of the first half. Each hit was an absolute bone-rattler and packed 110% intensity. That is what Rugby League is all about as far as I'm concerned.

Poor old Brian Smith missed out - to Wayne Bennett again. This win seals the deal for Bennett as the game's greatest coach but I really feel for Brian Smith. Hopefully his time will come before he hangs up the coaches clipboard.

Lastly the Australian squad for the Four Nations has been named. Justifiably only two Broncos have been named - Sam Thaiday and the Australian captain, Darren Lockyer. In great news for the club, 4 players qualified for the Young Kangaroos - Gerard Beale, Dane Gagai, Corey Norman and Tariq Sims (Sims has signed for the Cowboys in 2010 however).

Australia plays PNG on the 24th of October, we will bring you a review of the potential demlotion closer to that date. Until next time readers, Waldo.