Its that time of year when civil war erupts on the Eastern Seaboard of Australia. Yes its State of Origin time again. However there is just as much news happening else where around the world. The French are coming close to the end of their season. The NRL keeps throwing up some amazing scores and super league is coming along nicely. Some news on the drop out of Belgium from the European Bowl and some house keeping.
So you have to be living under a rock or on another planet not to be aware of the fact that State of Origin is just a week away now. This is the annual civil war that erupts between Queensland and New South Wales. The Blues will be looking to stop the rot this year, while Queensland are looking to make history. This week the teams were announced:
The NSW State of Origin team is: 1. Kurt Gidley (c) – Newcastle Knights, 2. Brett Morris – St George Illawarra Dragons, 3. Matt Cooper – St George Illawarra Dragons, 4. Timana Tahu – Parramatta Eels, 5. Jarryd Hayne – Parramatta Eels, 6. Jamie Lyon – Manly Warringah Sea Eagles, 7. Brett Kimmorley – Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs, 8. Michael Weyman – St George Illawarra Dragons, 9. Michael Ennis – Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs, 10.Josh Perry – Manly Warringah Sea Eagles, 11. Trent Waterhouse – Penrith Panthers, 12. Ben Creagh – St George Illawarra Dragons, 13. Anthony Watmough – Manly Warringah Sea Eagles, 14. Jamal Idris – Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs, 15. Tom Learoyd-Lahrs – Canberra Raiders, 16. Luke Lewis – Penrith Panthers, 17. Brett White – Melbourne Storm
The QLD State of Origin team is: 1. Billy Slater (Melbourne Storm), 2. Darius Boyd (St George Illawarra Dragons), 3. Greg Inglis (Melbourne Storm)
4. Willie Tonga (North Queensland Cowboys), 5. Israel Folau (Brisbane Broncos), 6. Darren Lockyer (Brisbane Broncos), 7. Johnathan Thurston (North Queensland Cowboys), 8. Matthew Scott (North Queensland Cowboys), 9. Cameron Smith (Melbourne Storm), 10. Petero Civoniceva (Penrith Panthers), 11. Nate Myles (Sydney Roosters), 12. Sam Thaiday (Brisbane Broncos), 13. Ashley Harrison (Gold Coast Titans), 14. Cooper Cronk (Melbourne Storm), 15. David Shillington (Canberra Raiders), 16. Neville Costigan (St George Illawarra Dragons), 17. David Taylor (South Sydney Rabbitohs), 18th man – Ben Te’o
However Timanah Tahus words earlier in the week have brought my anger upon him. He has gone and devalues the Kangaroo Jersey and International rugby league by saying “… this NSW jersey personally means more than any I wore representing my country in Rugby. Means more than playing with the Kangaroos.” I am sorry but the national jumper is worth more than any state jumper. For that comments I hope he never gets selected for the Kangaroos ever again, since it means nothing to him.
Round 10 was completed over the weekend. The big surprise was the absolute thrashing that the Tigers received at the hands of Souths 50-10. It was one of the worst performances ever by the Tigers. Cronulla though loosing 34-14 to Penrith were valiant and never gave up. The Local derby in Queensland had 40,000 watch the local side romp home against the Gold Coast titans at Suncorp stadium 28-6. St George were too strong for the Bulldogs 19-6. The Warriors beat the Cowboys 24-12 and the Storm were back to their winning ways against Canberra 17-6. Newcastle thumped the Roosters 34-18 while the herig=tage round was ended by the Eels overcoming a plucky Sea Eagles outfit at Brooky 19-12.
| Team | P | W | D | L | B | PD | Pt |
| St George | 10 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 124 | 16 |
| Penrith | 10 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 72 | 14 |
| Gold Coast | 10 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| Manly | 10 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 71 | 12 |
| Sth Sydney | 10 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 55 | 12 |
| Parramatta | 10 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 12 |
| New Zealand | 10 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 1 | -19 | 10 |
| Sydney City | 10 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | -33 | 10 |
| Wests | 10 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 1 | -49 | 10 |
| Canterbury | 10 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 8 |
| Brisbane | 10 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 0 | -25 | 8 |
| Newcastle | 10 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 0 | -28 | 8 |
| Canberra | 10 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 1 | -69 | 8 |
| Nth Queensland | 10 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 0 | -62 | 6 |
| Cronulla | 10 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 1 | -123 | 6 |
| Melbourne | 10 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 74 | 0 |
Round 14 of the super league has been completed. Bradford beat Wakefield 29-10 and Leeds overcame Warrinton 26-26 bringing them back into the top 8. Hull eat Catalans 28-14 and St Helens lost to Salford for the second time in two years 42-34. Wigan just out lasted Huddersfield 38-30 while the Crusaders were crushed by Rovers 54-10. Harlequins were also on the winners dias with a good 40-24 win over Castleford.
| Team | P | W | D | L | B | PD | Pt |
| Wigan | 14 | 12 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 250 | 24 |
| Warrington | 14 | 10 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 242 | 20 |
| St Helens | 14 | 10 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 180 | 20 |
| Bradford | 14 | 8 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 16 | 17 |
| Huddersfield | 14 | 8 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 140 | 16 |
| Hull FC | 14 | 8 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 21 | 16 |
| Leeds | 14 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 60 | 15 |
| Hull KR | 14 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 | -32 | 14 |
| Wakefield | 14 | 6 | 0 | 8 | 0 | -69 | 12 |
| Castleford | 14 | 5 | 0 | 9 | 0 | -98 | 10 |
| Crusaders | 13 | 5 | 0 | 8 | 0 | -124 | 10 |
| Harlequins | 13 | 4 | 0 | 9 | 0 | -164 | 8 |
| Salford | 14 | 4 | 0 | 10 | 0 | -182 | 8 |
| Catalans | 14 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 0 | -240 | 4 |
In the first round of play offs, Carcassonne beat Limoux 31-10 and Pia just beat UTC 25-24. In the semi Finals of the Elite 1 Lezignan beat Carcassonne 54-12 and Limoux lost to Pia 20-38. So this sees Lezignan proceed straight to the Grand final and Carcassonne and Pia will fight it out to see who will join them.
So Unfortunately Belgium had to drop out of the European Bowl tournament so the Bowl will be contested only By Norway and Malta. I asked Danny Kazandjian from the RLEF why they dropped out and no other team was brought in. he said the Belgians felt that they were not up to the task administratively as first thought and it has been too late to get any replacement as the deadline for internationals has passed. Everyone concerned felt that its best just to have the two nations compete.
No real news on Catalonia or Estonia getting internationals either. Again Danny said that the Estonians are free to organise their own matches and the RLEF is in discussion with the Catalonians on how to best serve them.
So the revamp of the website continues, with the new logo and now looking to get the results section more streamlined. There is also a new forum I am setting up at http://www.rugbyleagueinternationalscores.com/forum and I will be building this up more over the coming days.
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