Netherlands v Sweden - Match Preview

By -
Netherlands v Sweden - Match Preview

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Drama in Sport

By -
I remember saying to a friend of mine a few years ago that you couldn't beat International RL for drama in sport. I'm deliberately writing this in the middle of the competition and I still think this is true. We could do with some more variety and more unpredictability but for sheer entertainment, International RL is great When, when, when will the English team perform to their true potential. Sam Burgess and Gareth Ellis have been stars in NRL this year and there are plenty more like them. Graham, Roby, Westwood, Tomkins etc are great players in SL if they can just do themselves justice on an international stage. Greg Eastwood has been very ordinary all year in SL but he performed well when it counted. Australian administrators please note. I’ve just said that Greg Eastwood performed when it counted i.e. in an international match. They are the pinnacle of any sport and should be treated as such. Anybody who treats a...
Read more

Dickie's Meadow

By -
This week I have been watching, recently departed RFL supremo Richard Lewis, giving interviews in his new role as Wimbledon CEO and have been reflecting on his time in office. There is no doubt that he provided much needed stability when it was very much needed and RFL revenue has increased under him.  Dickie Lewis has presided over the introduction of the licensing process which has resulted in improved facilities and increased professionalism at SL level. He will be remembered for an expansion of the international game throughout the northern hemisphere and I believe this will bear fruit in the future. While the financial situation has improved at the RFL (although in my opinion  it started from a very low base and needs to increase much more) we have witnessed the Crusaders debacle, the Stobart non-sponsorship and now the problems at the Bradford Bulls. London still play in front of very low crowds (3600 v Leeds yesterday) and they along with other clubs are struggling...
Read more

Trying to Put a VAR Genie Back in a Bottle

By -
 When VAR was originally introduced, the idea was that it would be used to avoid "clear and obvious" errors and who could doubt the wisdom of that. Unfortunately, mission creep has occurred on a massive scale and now VAR (or TMO, video ref, big screen) is used on such a massive scale that it is allowed to disrupt games to a far greater extent than originally envisaged. We have reached a point where sport is no longer recognisable. The flow and continuity of the game is disrupted and any drama is often dissipated.  This is true for all major football codes (soccer, union and league) but it is particularly a problem in soccer where decisions are often analysed to such a minute degree that the game can be interrupted for up to ten minutes. This takes place in winter and players are left standing around in pouring rain or freezing cold. Spectators suffer in bad weather too and they are often oblivious to the VAR decisions being made. Obviously, accurate decision making is importa...
Read more