“Wally punted a line dropout!” “He did what?” I yelled to myself. I was listening to a conversation between Queensland State of Origin great Gene Miles and Andrew Moore of the ABC on the radio. Miles was telling a story about how his Captain, Wally Lewis, (during a state of origin match that was so wet that drop kicking was almost impossible), instead of doing a legal … [Read more...]
Nathan’s Future – Will Cleary Jump Ships to The Super League?
I saw half a dozen media articles last week that suggested that Nathan Cleary is considering a possible future career jump to the Super League. Really? The Super League? I doubt it. He’s a talented bloke and, no doubt, money isn’t everything to the best Rugby league player in the world, but do the pundits seriously expect us to believe that Nathan would be willing to halve his … [Read more...]
Didn’t see that coming! – NRL Grand Final 2023
Socrates doesn't normally comment on common, garden variety, pro sports news... but he got his analysis so wrong, on this occasion, that he couldn't keep himself away from his keyboard. How did your prediction go? Did you predict the NRL Grand Final scenario? Over to Socrates for his description of the one he got wrong. The third scenario… the one I didn’t see coming… was … [Read more...]
Socrates and the cranky coach…
Socrates is sitting on the steps at the local gym when he notices one of the Australian National Rugby League’s (NRL) most famous veteran coaches approaching the front door. The coach sees the old hooker/philosopher and realizes that it’s too late to turn around and run off… but he isn’t in the mood to be harassed by the busybody sports thinker today. Socrates doesn’t miss a … [Read more...]
To smash or be skillful? Can good defense be coached or are accidents like the Latrell Mitchell and Joey Manu incident inevitable?
My soccer playing eight-year-old daughter walked up to her (elite rugby player) seventeen-year-old cousin and asked… “Hey Haz? What do you do when you play rugby?” “I smash people,” responded Haz. While I figured that there was probably a bit more to Haz’s defensive responsibilities (at the top end of schools representative rugby) than his brief description provided, … [Read more...]