Cameron Smith

Players In NSW And Queensland Don’t Understand Damage To Game’s Image

By STEVE MASCORD MELBOURNE and Australia captain Cameron Smith has lashed out at misbehaving players who live in cocoon in rugby league’s heartlands and don’t understand how much they are hurting the game in its frontiers. In an eight-day period which has seen NSW prop James Tamou, would-be team-mate Blake Ferguson and South Sydney prop George Burgess all charged by police, Smith said many players in NSW and Queensland don’t understand the harm they are doing. “It’s huge - we’re trying to grow the game in new places like Melbourne and they think they can do what they want,” Smith told Fairfax Media in the Brisbane Botanical Gardens, shortly after the Queensland’s team announcement. “Living down in Melbourne you’re constantly hearing about how far our game is behind and this sort of stuff only adds to that. “The players who live in NSW and Queensland aren’t confronted with that, they don’t see it. “I don’t want to make too much comment on it because it’s been dealt with by the NRL and the respective clubs but it’s disappointing because it’s a few blokes letting the whole game down really. “Nearly the whole competition, except for a few, they uphold their responsibility to the game and to the public. “They can go out and a have a few beers and do the right thing. But it’s these blokes who think they can do whatever they want who let the game down. “For someone to say what they did is OK – they’ve got to have a serious look at themselves.” Smith also defied the conventional rugby league wisdom when it came to the punching ban introduced since Paul Gallen’s attack on Nate Myles two weeks ago. Maroons coach Mal Meninga said during the team announcement media conference he could not guarantee there would be no punches at Suncorp Stadium next Wednesday. Referees coach Daniel Anderson said at the weekend that Smith’s contention on television last week that the Gallen-Myles incident was “not a good look” was taken into consideration in handing down the edict. “He changed the rule because of me? I think it’s a good move,” said Smith. “Probably a lot of people would disagree but I think the sport is moving with society. “It’s unacceptable to go around punching blokes whenever you want now.” Motioning to a junior player in uniform who had been part of the announcement, he continued: “If we want these little fellas playing the sport when they’re 20 years old.... “And kids being born this year, if we want them playing rugby league then we’ve got to be showing their parents that it’s a good game to play and a lot of people would have seen that incident in game one and though ‘oh, maybe I want my kid to play soccer or something else.” “It’s a good move for the NRL to come down hard on starting fights because there’s no place in the game for it now.” Ferguson has been kicked out of the NSW team for indecent assault, Burgess has been stood down by South Sydney for wilfully damaging a car and Tamou was disqualified from Origin selection and suspended by his club for driving unlicensed at four times the legal alcohol limit. Maroons and South Sydney star Greg Inglis told reporters yesterday he knew nothing about the Burgess incident. The Maroons dropped Gold Coast lock Ashley Harrison and Canberra prop David Shillington for a game they must win to keep alive their seven-year winning streak against New South Wales. South Sydney’s Chris McQueen comes into the starting side and Canberra’s Josh Papalii is on the bench with Sydney Roosters’ Martin Kennedy 18th man. “We’ve got a culture of loyalty ... we had to make a touch choice,” said Meninga. “There are young kids poking their heads through who have been in our system for a while. “There was a long 10 metres ... we needed to pick a side with more mobility in the ruck.” On the punching ban, he said: “I understand where they’re coming from with it. “But it’s … [Read More...]

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Thaiday: Ben Hannant’s Not Ready For Origin

By STEVE MASCORD BEN Hannant and Aaron Woods walked off Suncorp Stadium with Origin on their minds last night – and each was greeted with bad news. For Woods, it was being told team-mate Blake Ferguson had been dumped from the NSW Origin II side. For Hannant, it was his club captain Sam Thaiday’s opinion he is not ready for Origin. “I only just heard happened,” said Woods, who in a side beaten 32-12 a 131m metres in 14 runs. “It’s disappointing that someone is of the team but I’m sure whoever comes in will do a good job.” Woods’ stats gave a lie to the theory players – particularly debutants –are in danger of holding themselves back in Monday Night Football if they know … [Read More...]

Danko Jones - Rock And Roll Is Black And Blue

DANKO JONES – Rock And Roll Is Black And Blue

Album review: DANKO JONES – Rock And Roll Is Black And Blue By STEVE MASCORD THIS reviewer first saw Danko Jones opening for Hardcore Superstar in Manchester a decade ago. It was spellbinding, this swaggering braggart sweating all over the first 10 rows as he tore through impossibly catchy tales of road life. It was […]

Slash

SLASH, Thebarton Theatre, Adelaide, 2012

Live review: SLASH at Thebarton Theatre, August 28 2012 By STEVE MASCORD NEW Year’s Eve in Las Vegas. A Tuesday night in Adelaide. After just three songs, they are neck-and-neck. This reviewer did not set out to compare the Slash show at Thebarton Theatre last night to Guns N’Roses all-bells-and-whistles outing at the Hard Rock Hotel […]

Van Halen – “You Really Got Me (live)”

From KFC Yum! Center, Louisville, February 18 2012

WHITE LINE FEVER PODCAST: Episode 46

LOUDMOUTH: January 2013

@Loudmouthcolumn DRUMMER Brian Tichy and guitarist Rob Caggiano have quit Whitesnake and Anthrax respectively on a seismic news day for hard rock and heavy metal. Tichy, who dislocated a shoulder in a mountain biking accident before New Years, wants to devote more time to his Something Unto Nothing (SUN) project with Sass Jordan – but […]

Motley Crue

MOTLEY CRUE: Feeling Minnesota (1990)

By STEVE MASCORD THE mercury in Minneapolis is plunging mercilessly past zero as Middle America wallows in snow. Vince Neil, however, is waltzing down the hotel corridor towards his multi-room penthouse in a sleeveless v-neck shirt and blue boxer shorts. His dirty blonde hair spews out from under a neatly reversed baseball cap, just like […]

Hoad brothers

Kings Of The Sun Hit Back At Axl Rose, Search For New Singer

By STEVE MASCORD AFTER finally responding to Axl Rose 24 years after the Gunners front-man kicked him out of the Sydney Entertainment Centre, Kings Of The Sun drummer Cliff Hoad is looking for a new singer – to replace his brother. The Gold Coast rockers wrote themselves a little piece of Oz Rock history in […]

Interview: NICK BARKER

Aaron Woods/weststigers.com.au

NRL round 14: BRISBANE 32 WESTS TIGERS 12 at Suncorp Stadium

By STEVE MASCORD LIKE rivals Shane Flanagan and Michael Maguire before Origin I, Wests Tigers coach Michael Potter is no fan of one of his players having to turn out in a club game knowing an Origin jersey is waiting for him if he gets through unscathed. But there was no suggestion NSW new cap […]

Cameron Smith

Players In NSW And Queensland Don’t Understand Damage To Game’s Image

By STEVE MASCORD MELBOURNE and Australia captain Cameron Smith has lashed out at misbehaving players who live in cocoon in rugby league’s heartlands and don’t understand how much they are hurting the game in its frontiers. In an eight-day period which has seen NSW prop James Tamou, would-be team-mate Blake Ferguson and South Sydney prop […]

Far & Wide

FAR & WIDE: Number 28

By STEVE MASCORD AN interesting and mysterious yarn popped up in the wake of the United States-Samoa Test in Hawaii a couple of weekends back. Ten members of the Samoan side, all picked from the domestic competition, failed to board the plane home. Initially, there were fears they had deliberately gone AWOL in America but […]

Travels

TRAVELS: XIV

By STEVE MASCORD LAST Friday night at the Parramatta-Sydney Roosters game, I was off for something greasy and disgusting to eat when I saw a familiar face. Not only did former Eels, Adelaide, Canterbury, South Sydney, St George Illawarra, Cronulla and Crusaders prop Adam Peek acknowledge me as he walked past but when he was […]

Cameron Smith

Players In NSW And Queensland Don’t Understand Damage To Game’s Image

By STEVE MASCORD MELBOURNE and Australia captain Cameron Smith has lashed out at misbehaving players who live in cocoon in rugby league’s heartlands and don’t understand how much they are hurting the game in its frontiers. In an eight-day period which has seen NSW prop James Tamou, would-be team-mate Blake Ferguson and South Sydney prop […]

Discord

DISCORD 2013: Edition 26

By STEVE MASCORD SHOULD pre-meditation be taken into account when punishing incidents of foul play in rugby league? Last night on The Back Page and NRL 360, Jarryd Hayne and Robbie Farah each seemed to confirm Paul Gallen had mentioned Nate Myles in the lead-up to Origin I in relation to perceived sleights against the […]

Discord

DISCORD 2013: Edition 20

By STEVE MASCORD ON Saturday afternoon in sunny Huddersfield, the locals’ Joe Wardle put one or two on the chin of Leeds’ Carl Ablett and was sent off. Wardle was subsequently banned for two matches after entering an early guilty plea. It was the first dismissal of his career. A few hours earlier at Parramatta […]

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NRL round two: CANTERBURY 20 PARRAMATTA 16 at ANZ Stadium

LIVE BLOG: Fulltime: CANTERBURY 20 PARRAMATTA 16: Well, a game that was loose in the first half became a scoreless dogfight in the second. Michael Ennis almost scored on the bell but Sam Perrett put a foot into touch in the lead-up. “It was disappointing in the second half with some of the errors,” said […]

NSW - Trent Merrin 2

The A-List: TRENT MERRIN (St George Illawarra, Country & New South Wales)

By STEVE MASCORD IN journalism, we like epiphanies. The process of truths slowly dawning on individuals makes for particularly dreary copy. On the other hand, the masses can never get enough of near death experiences, learning from the errors of others and getting a stern talking-to. Morality tales have been around just about as long […]

Discord

DISCORD 2013: Edition 26

By STEVE MASCORD SHOULD pre-meditation be taken into account when punishing incidents of foul play in rugby league? Last night on The Back Page and NRL 360, Jarryd Hayne and Robbie Farah each seemed to confirm Paul Gallen had mentioned Nate Myles in the lead-up to Origin I in relation to perceived sleights against the […]

Rugby League World June 2013

BONDI BEAT: June 2013

By STEVE MASCORD AS a rugby league fan – probably in Britain – reading this, it’s entirely possible you can’t completely avoid soccer. You may have a soft spot for your home town club or for a Premier League outfit. And while Rugby League is your passion, you’ll have more than a passing interest in […]

NRL logo

THE WRAP: NRL Round 14

By STEVE MASCORD “As scandals go, it certainly has the potential to be the worst in Origin’s tumultuous 33 years – and that’s saying something” It’s the view of the doyen of State of Origin reporters in the wake of news NSW winger Blake Ferguson has been charged with indecent assault and kicked out of […]

RLW 19 2012

RLW MEDIA RELEASE: Issue 19

POORE OUT, RAP FOR JT AND MANGO, DEFIANT SEARLE, STUART LINKED TO DRAGONS, TARIQ DETERMINATION, AGENTS OF CHANGE PARRAMATTA prop Justin Poore is set to leave the club before the June 30 deadline, the Mole reports in today’s Rugby League Week. Canberra are favourites to sign Poore, who hasn’t really settled in since moving from […]

RLW 5 2012

Fifteen Years Of The NRL

By STEVE MASCORD HAS it really been that long? If you haven’t read or heard anything about this being the 15th year of the NRL, don’t be too surprised. When the National Rugby League was formed out of the ashes of the Super League War at the end of 1997, officials didn’t want it to seem […]

The Big Issue

THE BIG ISSUE: #47

By STEVE MASCORD STATE Of Origin is a con. Our greatest contest is built on a giant hypocrisy whose time is just about up. This column is not chiefly about whether its author was offended by Paul Gallen stiff-arming, then repeatedly punching, Nate Myles last Wednesday or about whether the incident was bad for the […]

Far & Wide

FAR & WIDE: Number 28

By STEVE MASCORD AN interesting and mysterious yarn popped up in the wake of the United States-Samoa Test in Hawaii a couple of weekends back. Ten members of the Samoan side, all picked from the domestic competition, failed to board the plane home. Initially, there were fears they had deliberately gone AWOL in America but […]

therealsteavis - View my recent photos on Flickriver
Far & Wide

FAR & WIDE: Number 28

By STEVE MASCORD AN interesting and mysterious yarn popped up in the wake of the United States-Samoa Test in Hawaii a couple of weekends back. Ten members of the Samoan side, all picked from the domestic competition, failed to board the plane home. Initially, there were fears they had deliberately gone AWOL in America but […]

Cameron Smith

Players In NSW And Queensland Don’t Understand Damage To Game’s Image

By STEVE MASCORD MELBOURNE and Australia captain Cameron Smith has lashed out at misbehaving players who live in cocoon in rugby league’s heartlands and don’t understand how much they are hurting the game in its frontiers. In an eight-day period which has seen NSW prop James Tamou, would-be team-mate Blake Ferguson and South Sydney prop […]

Canterbury - Josh Reynolds

NRL round 13: CANTERBURY 36 NORTH QUEENSLAND 26 at 1300smiles Stadium

By STEVE MASCORD JOSH Reynolds says he still doesn’t know the difference between Origin and club football but North Queensland coach Neil Henry reckons only nine of his 17 players who took on Canterbury are even up to first grade standard. Unused NSW reserve Reynolds laid on the try that put the Bulldogs in front […]

Canberra - Blake Ferguson

NRL round 13: CANBERRA 30 BRISBANE 18 at Canberra Stadium

By STEVE MASCORD BLAKE Ferguson promised to stay off the roof of the NSW team hotel if he is reunited with Josh Dugan for Origin II after the Canberra centre made a booming return to club football in the Raiders’ big win over Brisbane. The Broncos’ premiership campaign is on life support after a 30-18 […]

Melbourne - Craig Bellamy

Bellamy Says Some Aussie Clubs Still Don’t Take WCC Seriously

AS the World Club Challenge looks to return to Australia and then expand, victorious Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy last night admitted some NRL premiers still don’t take the concept seriously. Bellamy was speaking after the Storm held off Leeds 18-14 at Headingley, making them the first Australian club to win a WCC decider three times […]

Power List

WORLD RUGBY LEAGUE POWER LIST: Year Two

By STEVE MASCORD WE certainly picked the right time to kick off our World Rugby League Power List in 2012 – if only because it bore little resemblance to rankings we now present to you 12 months later. Last June, the game had just lost NRL chief executive David Gallop, who went to the FFA, […]

p1_cover

How International Rugby League Will Look Over The Next Five Years

By STEVE MASCORD CANBERRA can be rather fetching in Autumn. And it’s in Australia’s capital, late last month among the yellowing leaves and ring roads, that the Great Britain rugby league team was fetched back from the history books. The rumours have been around for quite some time but when the World Cup executive met […]

KC Stadium, 4.45pm

Four Nations: ENGLAND 28 NEW ZEALAND 6 at KC Stadium

By STEVE MASCORD THE Kiwis’ Four Nations title defence finished prematurely yesterday with no regrets but coach Stephen Kearney issued a stern warning to errant hooker Issac Luke and utility Thomas Leuluai admitted some of his team-mates may have resented Rangi Chase chosing to play for England. The World Cup holders were comprehensively beaten, 28-6, […]

Aerosmith

AEROSMITH: About To Get A Grip (1991)

By STEVE MASCORD WE HAD to break the ice, so we DID it,” a buoyant Steven Tyler explains, when asked how he spent his first night in Australia. The pretty blonde make-up woman next to him doesn’t bat an eyelid. “Yeah, we did it… and, boy was it good,” she says with an unmistakably sordid […]

LOUDMOUTH: January 2013

@Loudmouthcolumn DRUMMER Brian Tichy and guitarist Rob Caggiano have quit Whitesnake and Anthrax respectively on a seismic news day for hard rock and heavy metal. Tichy, who dislocated a shoulder in a mountain biking accident before New Years, wants to devote more time to his Something Unto Nothing (SUN) project with Sass Jordan – but […]

Loudmouth masthead

LOUDMOUTH: July 26, 1989

Compiled by STEVE MASCORD DIESEL will drive your dollar twice as far next month following the announcement of a second show on the Rock N Roll Tour for the Hordem Pavilion on Wednesday August 16. What’s more, lasi time we looked there was still a cuppla seats left for the first gig on August 15. So […]

Motley Crue 1

MOTLEY CRUE: Bounty Or Mutiny? (2011)

By STEVE MASCORD “I really don’t understand what Mick’s talking about. Maybe he took the wrong pill that day.” The man at the other end of the telephone is Vince Neil, the 50-year-old singer from Motley Crue. He seems unimpressed with his guitarist, Mick Mars. I am in Philadelphia, at baggage claim. Vince is in […]

Motley Crue

MOTLEY CRUE: Feeling Minnesota (1990)

By STEVE MASCORD THE mercury in Minneapolis is plunging mercilessly past zero as Middle America wallows in snow. Vince Neil, however, is waltzing down the hotel corridor towards his multi-room penthouse in a sleeveless v-neck shirt and blue boxer shorts. His dirty blonde hair spews out from under a neatly reversed baseball cap, just like […]

Slash

SLASH, Thebarton Theatre, Adelaide, 2012

Live review: SLASH at Thebarton Theatre, August 28 2012 By STEVE MASCORD NEW Year’s Eve in Las Vegas. A Tuesday night in Adelaide. After just three songs, they are neck-and-neck. This reviewer did not set out to compare the Slash show at Thebarton Theatre last night to Guns N’Roses all-bells-and-whistles outing at the Hard Rock Hotel […]

Danko Jones - Rock And Roll Is Black And Blue

DANKO JONES – Rock And Roll Is Black And Blue

Album review: DANKO JONES – Rock And Roll Is Black And Blue By STEVE MASCORD THIS reviewer first saw Danko Jones opening for Hardcore Superstar in Manchester a decade ago. It was spellbinding, this swaggering braggart sweating all over the first 10 rows as he tore through impossibly catchy tales of road life. It was […]

P1040238

MICHAEL MONROE: Finnish But Just Starting (2011)

By STEVE MASCORD THERE’s a neat news angle from this chat with Michael Monroe. But it’s only a fraction of the actual story. Read the full story at sludgefactory.com.au

WLF dinkus

WHITE LINE FEVER Column: Four

By STEVE MASCORD THIS time last year, Darren Lockyer and Jamie Peacock were tackling each other in the Four Nations. Yesterday, they met in London to tackle the vexed issue of rugby league’s eligibility rules. Of course, the retired captains of Australia and England (Peacock is still playing for Leeds) had a little prompting from […]

Travels

TRAVELS: XIV

By STEVE MASCORD LAST Friday night at the Parramatta-Sydney Roosters game, I was off for something greasy and disgusting to eat when I saw a familiar face. Not only did former Eels, Adelaide, Canterbury, South Sydney, St George Illawarra, Cronulla and Crusaders prop Adam Peek acknowledge me as he walked past but when he was […]

Puig Aubert

The Year Players And Referees Walked Off Mid-Game – Repeatedly

By LYLE BEATON A REVIEW of the French sporting press out of Paris during the early 1950s reveals an interesting story about rugby league and one of the strongest French club teams of the day, Marseille. The 1952-1953 season saw Marseille involved in something of a running battle with the French Rugby League hierarchy, as […]

South Sydney - logo

RLW Season Review: SOUTH SYDNEY

By STEVE MASCORD THERE’S one stark fact that tells the story of how South Sydney’s season ended. Insiders say the bunnies didn’t have a soft tissue injury for the entire season – until their halfback tore his hamstring 26 minutes into the preliminary final against Canterbury. “And we were matching the Bulldogs, set for set,” […]

retired - Phil McKenzie

Legend Q&A: PHIL McKENZIE

By STEVE MASCORD More than 20 years before Rangi Chase, Jack Reed and Chris Heighington, you were an Australian picked in a Great Britain squad.. “Yeah, way back in 1990, I was approached by the Rugby League over here and asked if I’d make myself available. I think that was before they even realised I […]

Hamish Neal

FIVE METRE GAP: Round Six & Rep Weekend

By HAMISH NEAL Like the way of the five metre gap in defence, reviewing the points from the NRL you may have missed from round six and the representative weekend. WITH the representative weekend taking centre stage last weekend, Five Metre Gap, will take this chance to assess some of the season’s action to date, […]

Cameron Smith

Players In NSW And Queensland Don’t Understand Damage To Game’s Image

By STEVE MASCORD MELBOURNE and Australia captain Cameron Smith has lashed out at misbehaving players who live in cocoon in rugby league’s heartlands and don’t understand how much they are hurting the game in its frontiers. In an eight-day period which has seen NSW prop James Tamou, would-be team-mate Blake Ferguson and South Sydney prop […]

P1020444

M3: The Last Of The Great Hair Metal Festivals? (2011)

By STEVE MASCORD TED Poley has a sportscar. I can only assume he wants you to know this, since the lead singer of Danger Danger has insisted he be interviewed by Classic Rock standing behind it, with the motor running. We had encountered Poley after his band’s set at M3, arguably the last pure hair […]