Super League Predictions

Well I was nearly right, I tipped Wigan and Leeds to win the trophies, I just got them the wrong way round! Full marks to Leeds for hitting form at the right time of the season!

Time to start up again!

Hi there, its time to start the blog up again! Take a load of time off in order to finish the phd and now Im in a new job, now everything has settled I will have to start blogging again!

2011 Super League Preview

It’s that time of year again, the start of another season of the greatest game of all, rugby league. Super League XVI kicks off at the Millennium Stadium on the weekend of 12-13 February with all 14 clubs playing under the roof at Cardiff.

Last year’s champions Wigan look set to be the team to beat again this season. Michael Maguire’s side have added Ryan Hoffman, Jeff Lima and Brett Finch from Aussie side Melbourne Storm to what is an already strong team. Watch out for their monstrosity of a new shirt however!

Their nearest challengers could be Warrington. The challenge cup winners have signed Joel Monaghan, who made an abrupt exit from the NRL due to an unfortunate scandal which isn’t suitable for a student paper to report (a quick search on Google will tell you more!). Warrington have always appeared to have a tendency to choke in the big games in Super League, though the back to back Challenge Cup win suggest that they have the temperament for the big occasion.

Staying in Lancashire, Saint Helens have a new Aussie head coach, with Royce Simmons taking charge. Much will depend on their exciting half back combination of Leon Pryce and Kyle Eastmond, whilst James Graham will continue to drive the hard yards up front. However, this year they lack the Knowsley Road effect, with their homes games being played down the road at Widnes, whilst a new ground is built.

Closer to home, 2011 is a big season for Bradford Bulls. Having dispensed with the services of Steve McNamara following two poor seasons, Mick Potter is at the helm and has totally revamped the squad in order to reverse the Bulls dip in fortunes. The Bulls will be looking to get back to challenging for trophies, following two years in the wilderness. Patrick Ah Van already looks to be a star in the making on the wing.


Leeds too have a new Head Coach, with Brian McDermott taking over from Brian McClennan, who has returned to New Zealand. The Rhinos dipped last season after 3 consecutive Grand Finals wins, and doubts remain over whether they have the ability to go the distance with what us an aging squad; a cup run is their more realistic chance of silverware this season.

At the other end of the table, there is great concern for Wakefield. The club have had well documented financial problems which has seen them go into administration and therefore start with a points deduction, whilst their search for land to build a new ground continues to run into difficulties. This has forced Coach John Kear to build a squad of young British players. A 40-16 defeat in a pre-season friendly to Bradford demonstrated the potential failings of this squad. Whilst there was no lack of effort, the quality and depth just isn’t as strong as the other competing teams. Indeed the money problems can be seen to having an effect on the players. Speaking with halfback Sam Obst after the game against Bradford, he told me that the financial situation is at the back of the player’s minds, but they are merely trying to focus in what they can control on the pitch, in order to try and bring some joy to the Wakefield supporters.

The importance of the 2011 season regards the super league licensing decision. There is no promotion to, or relegation from Super League, with clubs having to apply for licences every 3 years. 2011 sees the next decision on which teams are awarded Super League licenses. At the moment Wakefield appear favourites to lose their license with Widnes favourites to take their place. Such a decision would cause controversy as two other Super League clubs, Harlequins and Crusaders have both suffered recent financial problems, with Crusaders also starting minus points following a period of Administration. Indeed there is an accusation from some fans that the governing body, the RFL, is helping teams in development areas more than teams in the traditional rugby league heartland of the north of England. However, it can be argued that the Super League needs to have the presence in London, Wales and France in order to develop the profile of rugby league. Indeed, Sky are keen for the game to have a wider presence, so the presence of a London team such as Harlequins and the Wrexham based Crusaders side is crucial to the continued funding from Sky, which appears essential to the development of the Super League competition.


My predictions for the 2011 season
Super League winners: Wigan

Challenge Cup winners: Leeds

Why current players dont make great pundits

Anyone listening to the inquest on Test Match Special will have heard the problem of current players acting as pundits on sporting events. Taking away the fact that Geoffrey Boycott’s rant at Broad was a little ludicrous, it did display that current players will not be able to offer their own real views on what has happened, but will churn out the party line. Broad spoke of taking positives from the game and looking to build momentum, which Boycott described as rubbish. Indeed, Boycott described everything about England’s performance as poor or rubbish, without offering a great amount of further insight, no doubt to the delight of TMS listeners who play Boycott Bingo (http://www.flickr.com/photos/testmatchspecial/4910566798/). Yet, current players are never going to be able to offer their own personal opinion if it could affect their relationship with the team, Broad would never single players out for criticism, these players are going to be team-mates for many years and indeed many will be his friends. Broad would not risk upsetting the England team and management for the sake of a few sound bites on the radio. The same situation is often seen on Sky and on Match of the Day 2, where current pros are in the studio. In these cases, they are never going to risk upsetting current players for fear of getting a bad reputation in the industry.

Understanding my blog stats

So I had a look at my recent stats for blog visitors and saw the following countries had visited the page, which included visitors from Iraq, Singapore, the US, Australia and Japan amongst others. This surprised me somewhat, given the nature of my articles, however the multi-talented writer Munaza Kulsoom has provided me with some reasons as to why this is the case!


Singpore: a bored business man, who was bullied by daddy into finance when all he wanted to do was play darts.
US: ex -pats starving for something that isn't about obama being muslim.
Japan: they love british sport and more ex-pats.
India: yorkshire backpackers who hate cricket.

I'd particularly like the Singapore reasoning to be true! Although I shall be writing about cricket soon so my Yorkshire backpacking friends will be disappointed!

Munaza's blog can be found at
http://postcodedabsurdity.blogspot.com/2010/12/more-personal-signs-of-winter.html

please go and visit it, as she is ace!

Sports Personality of the Year – Time for Taylor?

The line up for the 2010 Sports Personality of the Year has been announced and the name of Phil Taylor has been included on the list of candidates, which also features sporting luminaries as David Haye, Jessica Ennis and Graeme Swann. Taylor’s inclusion is based at long last on the recognition that he is simply the greatest player to play the sport of darts. For years Taylor has been at the top of his game, without as much as a nod from the BBC. So what has changed amongst the powers that be, which allows Taylor to take his place on 2010’s list?

1. The image of darts
The old argument, ‘darts isn’t a sport, it’s a pub game’ etc. Certainly there is no doubt in the feeling that bosses at the beeb and many newspaper editors have viewed darts with a certain amount of snobbery over the years, particularly throughout the 80s and 90s. Indeed, the absence from Taylor on many shortlists from national papers demonstrates this attitude. However, the PDC has taken the sport of darts to a level whereby the amount of money on offer to darts players means that a career as a professional player is eminently achievable. Furthermore, new young players in the scene such as Jelle Klaasen and James Wade are a world away from the image of overweight lads drinking and smoking on stage in between throws. As a result, players are now fitter than ever, as on stage conditions can be merciless for overweight players, as was sadly seen with Andy Fordham in his clash with Taylor in 2004. Taylor himself has acknowledged the need to go to a gym and get himself in better state for tournaments.

Moreover, as a consequence of the rising profile of the PDC, the crowd figures for events such as the Premier League are increasing year on year. Darts players are now becoming well known in households across the country and events on TV attract some of the best viewing figures at Sky. Phil Taylor will now be known to the millions of people, and guest appearances on programmes such as Coronation Street will only enhance his profile.

2. The achievements of Taylor himself

In 2007, Taylor lost in the first round of the Las Vegas Desert Classic and World Grand Prix to Mark Dudbridge and Adrian Gray respectively, prompting suggestions that his reign as the king of darts was coming to an end. Yet Taylor re-designed his darts with his manufacturers Unicorn, and came back stronger than ever, winning the 2009 World Championships with a record average and dominating the major tournaments. The highlight of this resurgence came in the final of the Premier League in May 2010, when Taylor hit two nine-dart finishes on his way to regaining the trophy. Such a feat had never before been witnessed and was testament to the hours of dedicated practice that Taylor puts in between each tournament. Such commitment and domination deserves to be rewarded given that Taylor continues to overcome challenges to his no.1 spot from players such as Raymond van Barneveld and James Wade. Indeed the manner in which Taylor has dominated van Barneveld has seen the Dutchman’s form drop considerably due to an acknowledgment that he couldn’t live with Taylor in big matches.

3. Thirdly, the list of competitors Taylor faces in the 2010 SPOTY is not strong. Some candidates such as Jessica Ennis are more likely to win the event in 2012, whereas David Haye has probably lost support given the nature of his win of Audley Harrison last month.

It would appear that Taylor’s main rivals will be the golfer Graeme McDowell, who has enjoyed a successful year and possibly Graeme Swann, who may have spun England to regaining the Ashes by the time of the announcement of the results in December. Certainly, it would seem that 2010 would be an appropriate time to acknowledge the achievement of a true British champion.

Revealed! Those World Cup hosts

2018 - Russia
2022 - Qatar
2026 - The Falklands Islands
2030 - Papua New Guinea
2034 - Isle of Man
2038 - Sepp Blatter's back garden