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November 4, 2009

We’ve got the Blues Gus Gould, won’t you be our Dr.Phil?

Filed under: Rugby League — Tags: , , , , , , , , — admin @ 3:19 pm

Across the state, across the country, across the world, people are begging for Phil Gould to return as coach and saviour of the NSW Blues next year. Well between Albury and Townsville they are anyway. NSW needs him. State of Origin needs him. Rugby league needs him. That’s an awful lot of insecure neediness floating around. Come on ‘Gus’, won’t you be our Dr. Phil and save us from our plight?But even if he was to heed the call, would it be enough? Could a ‘Gus’ coached Blues side restore the passion and intensity of this once great annual series? I believe the answer is yes. My only reservation is that handing over the reigns to the restrictive role of coach alone, and expecting miracles, just may not suffice.Gould must be instated as coach, manager, trainer, water boy, masseur, bus driver, tracksuit manufacturer, and anything else he wants. It’s the only way. Things can’t end there however. For this radical proposal to work it must be embraced wholeheartedly on every level. Appoint ‘Gus’ as the referee, video referee, and linesman. His one-off experience at the latter is an added bonus.Let him sing the national anthem, captain both sides and run around with a microphone in his collar commentating the whole shebang. And even with his hands in all those pies (wait, let him sell the pies too) surely League’s biggest personality could somehow still find time to sit back, relax and enjoy the game amongst fellow fans in the grandstand. Who dares suggest that he couldn’t?

Ibanez Will Lead France Again in September for the Rugby World Cup

Filed under: Rugby League — Tags: , , , — admin @ 3:03 am

Raphael Ibanez will once again lead his country into a Rugby World Cup in September, eight years after he led his team to the final in 1999 against Australia.

He retired from international rugby in 2003 after the World Cup semi-final defeat against England, after giving the captain title to Fabien Pelous after the 1999 final which France lost 37-12.

Fabien Pelous has struggled with a knee injury ever since tearing ligaments in the 2004 Heineken Cup final, and is still fighting with it as the 2007 World Cup approaches.

Ibanez came out of retirement in 2005, and helped France to Six Nations title in 2006, before assuming the captaincy again in Pelous’s absence for the 2007 Six nations which France also won.

Ibanez also paid tribute to his friend, Fabien Pelous, from whom he now formally takes over the captaincy. “Fabien has had a tough season. He has been injured for most of the year, and when I took over as captain during the Six Nations, things were a bit unclear. The coach and manager told us both that we are both very important to this team and we both have a really big part to play; but because he has been injured, they want Fabien’s initial priority to be to work his way back to being the first choice in his position.”

As hosts of the tournament, France will kick off the tournament with a difficult game against Argentina on Friday, September 7 at the Stade de France. France will go then on to face Ireland, Georgia and Namibia in the pool stages.

November 3, 2009

We’ve got the Blues Gus Gould, won’t you be our Dr.Phil?

Filed under: Rugby League — Tags: , , , , , , , , — admin @ 4:06 pm

Across the state, across the country, across the world, people are begging for Phil Gould to return as coach and saviour of the NSW Blues next year. Well between Albury and Townsville they are anyway. NSW needs him. State of Origin needs him. Rugby league needs him. That’s an awful lot of insecure neediness floating around. Come on ‘Gus’, won’t you be our Dr. Phil and save us from our plight?But even if he was to heed the call, would it be enough? Could a ‘Gus’ coached Blues side restore the passion and intensity of this once great annual series? I believe the answer is yes. My only reservation is that handing over the reigns to the restrictive role of coach alone, and expecting miracles, just may not suffice.Gould must be instated as coach, manager, trainer, water boy, masseur, bus driver, tracksuit manufacturer, and anything else he wants. It’s the only way. Things can’t end there however. For this radical proposal to work it must be embraced wholeheartedly on every level. Appoint ‘Gus’ as the referee, video referee, and linesman. His one-off experience at the latter is an added bonus.Let him sing the national anthem, captain both sides and run around with a microphone in his collar commentating the whole shebang. And even with his hands in all those pies (wait, let him sell the pies too) surely League’s biggest personality could somehow still find time to sit back, relax and enjoy the game amongst fellow fans in the grandstand. Who dares suggest that he couldn’t?

England is Ready for the Rugby World Cup

Filed under: Rugby League — Tags: , , — admin @ 1:56 pm

The England Rugby Squad left on Monday for the Rugby World Cup that is about to take place in France. The squad took the 75-minute flight to think about all the hopes on being the first team in 20 years to retain the title.

England has had a chain of humiliating losses since beating Australia in the 2003 final and has sunk to seventh in the world rankings. Even with 13 players in its squad who were at the last tournament, the team is rated as low as a 33-1 shot to win the title.

“The French games proved the level we are at is not good enough,” captain Phil Vickery said at Heathrow airport. “But we are not far away. We will go to France and give a good account of ourselves.”

The team has been trying to adapt to the faster dynamic game played by the title contender New Zealand, while the team is not as good as it was four years ago or group rival against South Africa this time.

Coach Brian Ashton has some good backs at his disposal, such as centers Mathew Tait and Dan Hipkiss, but his squad selection is not that good on the cautious side.

England opens against the United States on Saturday before facing South Africa, Samoa and Tonga. A quarterfinal, most likely against Australia, could be as far as England gets.

“We must have no regrets,” Vickery said. “I hope no one in the squad looks back on the tournament with ‘if onlys’ or ‘could haves,’ because it is too late then. We must give everything we have got and hopefully we can spring a few surprises.”

Will 2009 be ‘The Year Of The Parramatta Eel?’

Filed under: Rugby League — Tags: , , , , , , , , , — admin @ 9:14 am

Parramatta are continuing the amazing turnaround of their season with another win in the finals series. Last night Friday 18th September, they defeated the Gold Coast Titans 27-2 in Sydney at the Sydney Football Stadium. Next week they will play the Bulldogs for a place in the Grand Final. This is an amazing turn of events for Parramatta who where 2nd from the bottom of the table in June.

Parramatta fans have waited a long time for a Grand Final win and I now believe that they can do it! To win last night after losing Daniel Mortimer early in the game was a sign that they can continue on after losing a key play maker. Daniel Mortimer was injured in the first few minutes of the game. He was hit after placing a kick and now has a hip injury. Hopefully he will be recovered in time for next Friday night’s blockbuster against the Bulldogs at ANZ Stadium in Sydney.

Early History

Parramatta Rugby club was formed in 1879. In 1900 the club merged with Western Suburbs to play in the Sydney district competition. The home ground was Cumberland Oval.A district rugby league competition was started in 1909.Other clubs were formed throughout the district.In 1936 Parramatta put forward a proposal to join the New South Wales Rugby League Premiership competition. The only club to accept the proposal was Western Suburbs and they were the club that would lose the most if Parramatta joined. The proposal was rejected. Further plans to pursue entry into the competition were put on hold by the start of World War II.In 1946 after the war was over, Parramatta again applied for entry into the competition. This time they were accepted.The first premiership match was played against Newtown at Cumberland Oval on 12th April 1947 in front of a crowd of about 6,000. Parramatta lost 12-34.They wore blue jerseys with a gold hoops around the middle and across the sleeves and white pants.Parramatta were not very successful in the early years, becoming wooden spooners six years in a row between 1956 and 1961. They made the finals in 1962 to 1965. Wooden spooners again in 1970.Their first success was in 1976 when they won the Pre-Season cup beating Manly-Warringah in the final.

The early nickname for Parramatta was ‘The Fruitpickers’ because of all the orchards in the district at that time.In the 1960’s rugby league journalist Peter Frilingos suggested that Parramatta should be called ‘The Eels’. The word Parramatta comes from the aboriginal word Barramattagal which means ‘place where the eels dwell’.'The Eels’ was officially adopted in the 1970’s.

The Parramatta Eels

Parramatta Stadium

Parramatta played at Cumberland Oval until 1981 when they won their first premiership. The last match played there was against Manly (I was there too!).After the premiership win, the grandstand which was to be demolished was burnt down. (I was there too but I didn’t do it – I was in the club celebrating)During the 1982 – 1985 seasons Parramatta used Belmore oval as a temporary home ground while the new stadium was being built on Cumberland oval.The stadium was going to be much larger than it is but this was stopped by the ‘Friends of Parramatta Park’ who protested loudly over the development.The first match played at the new stadium was on 16th March 1986. Parramatta won 36-6 over St George. The capacity of the stadium is only 20,000. It did have a larger capacity before the hilled areas were filled with seats.The largest crowd at the old Cumberland oval was 22,470 on 26th April 1971 when Parramatta played South Sydney.The largest crowd at the new stadium was 27,243 on the 17th August 1986 when Parramatta played South Sydney.The largest crowd since the seating of the hill area was 21,141 in 2006 when Parramatta played West Tigers.

We wait with baited breath now to see if Parramatta can beat the Bulldogs next week. It will be a tough game for the Eels, beating the 2nd placed Bulldogs and the ground will be packed to the rafters for what should be a spectacular game. I can’t wait!

Rugby Six Nations Cup: Spain Could not Win Over Romania

Filed under: Rugby League — Tags: , — admin @ 9:14 am

Spain was only one step to win over Romania, one of the teams that recently participated in the 2007 France World Championship ranked seventh amongst the European powerhouses disputing the Rugby Six Nations tournament.

The Romanian team has clearly been a strong force as they have won twenty-four of the twenty-five games played in the tournament; the team is completely renewed after the Rugby World Championship.

During the first part of the game the Spaniard team played one of their best games in the last seasons; being able to take advantage over the Romanians, but remained without forces in the second part. At the end they did not know how to pull through their best tricks despite the rival had one less player.

The Romanian forward always kept one step ahead of the Spaniard player. Gratton failed two blows and a transformation in the first part but overall the Spaniards knew to put up a fight against the Romanians. Spaniard Bohorquez, who was injured, had to be replaced by Serrano.

During the first twelve minutes Poparlan opened the scoreboard for the Romania and Camacho answered with the first point for Spain before the first half an hour. The Romanian coach changed his two midfielders, Calafeteanu and Dimofte, and opened the entrance for Andrei and Dumbrava, and he proved to be right.

On the other hand, Spain’s forces failed in the second half. Spain’s English Coach Ged Glynn tried to change strategies but were the Rumanians who managed to do it the task. The Spaniards not ready to yield yet were on the verge of adding five points but were stopped just one meter from the mark line.

One of Romania’s players Mersoiu was asked to leave the field but this wasn’t too advantageous for Spain that continue to struggle and returning the ball to the Rumanians.

At the end of the game, the Spaniards had the last opportunity to score, Sempere shot the ball out the band and the Rumanians recovered the ball again.

In spite of the loss, Spain gave again a good image and a great environment and managed to show that the road ahead since the arrival of the English coach is the right move for the sport of rugby at a national level.

November 2, 2009

Chicago Sports and Fitness

Filed under: Rugby League — Tags: , , , — admin @ 4:06 pm

There is one thing that Chicago is known for above all others, and that is sports. Whether it is the recent World Series Champion Chicago White Sox, the dynasty of the Chicago Bulls, the Original Six team of the Chicago Blackhawks, or the loveable losers known as the Chicago Cubs, sports is big in Chicago.
Naturally, those that enjoy the sports of Chicago love to talk about sports. People will gather at parks, clubs, pubs, libraries, and even the sidewalk to talk about Chicago sport problems and triumphs. They will devise their own plans for how to get the Bulls winning again, get the Bears rolling, or the Blackhawks scoring. Sometimes you may not want to go out to talk to people about the sports in the city, or you may not know of anyone who may enjoy the sports of Chicago.
A number of hot topics have come from the Chicago Bears and their unique brand of fans or the long rivalry that they have had with some of the most dominant teams in the NFL. Even some of the former players of the Chicago Bears have elevated to a near mythical status with their odd nicknames and also their incredible approach to a sport that embraces the harsh winters and the brutality of the grin iron.
There are few that can forget the six time NBA Champion Chicago Bulls and their dynamic duo of MJ and Pippen. Both of these incredible figures were the focus of media attention and countless discussions by those that truly enjoy the sports of Chicago. Even the addition of Rodman brought forth a new nickname for the three key players and also for the dominance that they had in the league. In the final two runs for the Championship, as “Superman” (Jordan) and “Batman” (Pippen) took control of the games, it was “Rodman” (Rodman) that was able to confound and control Karl Malone and stem the offense of the Utah Jazz. Some may say that the duo and their couch found a way to bring out the best in an oddity in a professional sport.
Perhaps the one area of sports that has always been a focus in the media and also in Chicago has been the Chicago White Sox and the Chicago Cubs. There have been few cities that have two professional sports and there are even fewer that have had the rivalry that the Chicago White Sox and the Chicago Cubs have had. This has even been a focus on television shows and movies as the rivalry is one of legendary status.

Rugby is Such an Easy Game – When You Have Mastered the Basic Skills

Filed under: Rugby League — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , — admin @ 4:06 pm

Rugby Union is a very demanding game, placing very rigorous demands on players physical and mental attributes. Most amateur players however perform very poorly in respect of rugby-specific fitness tests, due predominantly to poor training habits and lack of correct skills training by coaches. It’s stop-start nature demands that players have high levels of speed and explosive power, as well as having the ability to recover quickly between sprints. Rugby is such a simple game – score more tries than your opponents. To achieve this, your team must win possession of the ball by dominating lineouts, scrums, rucks and mauls, and every other facet of the game where the ball is contested. For YOU to dominate a game, you need to be competent in the skills of evasive running, kicking, passing, catching and tackling. Strength is an obvious requirement to play the game, however it is not the only goal for a player. Exposive power is equally as important to develop speed and acceleration and to develop the fitness demands for tackling and jumping. As a player, it is your responsibility to put in the time and effort needed to master the basic skills and be in best physical condition. As in life and other pursuits, absolute commitment is required if you want to be the best you can. To excel nowadays, players must master the basic skills AND improve speed, strength and power. Fitness, strength, power and mastery of the basic skills is what makes one player stand out from the rest of his team-mates.

Got Room? The Rugby World Cup Is Closer Than You Think!

Filed under: Rugby League — Tags: , , , , — admin @ 1:37 am

Attention rubgy fans! Are you an aficionado of “the ruffian’s game played by gentlemen?” Are you thinking about heading to France for the 2007 Rugby World Cup? Surely you want to be on hand to see if England will keep their champion standing, or watch as some other country wrests the top spot away from them. France, Australia, and New Zealand were right in there for the 2003 Cup; they will surely be back in force. And who knows? There is always the possibility that a team could come out of nowhere and prevail. No way you want to miss any of that action!
If the thought has turned into a definite plan to attend some if not all of the September 7-October 20 mega-event, you better get your tickets (one place you can try is the main event site at www.france2007.fr). But don’t stop there! Now is also the time to nail down your living arrangements. Wait too long, and the search for good accommodations will make you feel like you’re in the middle of a scrum yourself.
If you are anywhere near serious about getting as immersed in the games as you can, the last thing you want to do is deal with arranging multiple accommodations and then bounce around from venue to venue with luggage in hand. Your best bet for maximum rugby enjoyment is to rent a short term apartment for the duration of your visit and use it as your base camp. And your best bet for base camp is Paris.
With the great train service and central location of the French capital city, having an apartment that you can call home will let you make forays into the countryside to take in however many games your stamina can handle and then return to regroup. You can easily ride the Chunnel train to get the Cardiff and Edinburgh games if you are a real hard core fan. Sometimes, though, you won’t have to travel too far: A number of games (including the semi-finals and finals) are scheduled at venues in the Paris metro area.
With all the advantages of Paris (oh, and there are other interesting things there besides rugby stadiums), there is one disadvantage: vacation apartments will be at a premium, if they aren’t already. Places with good amenities in interesting neighborhoods and enough space for your whole party are getting snapped up as you read this.
If you are any kind of rugby fan, you have a responsibility to be in the best shape possible to go nuts rooting for the team(s) of choice. This means that you need to pay as much attention to your between-game experience as you do to your in-stadium one. Your best strategy? Follow up your ticket purchase by nailing down a place you can hang out between games. Right now.

November 1, 2009

The Next Household Name in Rugby

Filed under: Rugby League — Tags: , , , , , , — admin @ 8:07 pm

Rugby has always had a strong core of support in the UK, but the success of England in the World Cup and Wales in the Six Nations has elevated the sport to even higher levels, making household names of many of its stars.

Talking of household names, how many people will struggle to find a suitable and original present for their dads this Father’s Day? GettingPersonal.co.uk, the web-based gift shop, might have the answer for rugby loving dads.

Some dads fantasise about being behind that amazing last-minute drop kick that brings home the cup for their nation or club. Since it’s a fantasy that’s unlikely ever to come to fruition, he can at least have his dreams propped up with a little digital imagination. GettingPersonal.co.uk have launched a rugby-lover’s calendar just in time for Father’s Day.

What makes this calendar special is that the dad’s name or a short message can be made to look like part of a spectacular rugby event with new levels of realism and seamlessness.

So come Father’s Day, dads will be able to see stands and stadiums named after them, themselves as team sponsors, their name in the sports headlines or they could even have their name spelt out in finest Twickenham mud next to a battle-worn pair of boots. And as the calendar starts on Father’s Day, it’s got a whole 12 months till full time.

The Personalised Rugby Calendar is available in either a desk or a wall hanging version and is only £14.95.

Brand new from GettingPersonal.co.uk – the calendar also has a front cover message of up to 150 characters so it’s even more personal!

Go on, make him smile with one of GettingPersonal.co.uk’s fantastic personalised Fathers Day Gifts…

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