SATURDAY’S State of Mind Nines in Yorkshire have been called off. Twelve teams were to complete in the tournament at Shaw Cross Sharks to promote the mental health charity but promoter Brett Turner says the withdrawal of a couple of teams convinced him that perhaps he should have waited until 2019 to launch the concept. “We had some drop outs…
By STEVE MASCORD YOUR correspondent has learned in recent times that it’s very hard – probably impossible – to conduct business in the same industry as you are operating as a journalist. Being a reporter is like being in a bike gang; it’s harder to get out of than get into. It’s self-evident that if you have a commercial interest…
NORTH Brussels Gorillas scored an overtime try to take out a dramatic and at times controversial Rotterdam Nines tournament at the Sparta Rugby Club. The scores between the Belgian side and England’s Eastern Rhinos were 14-14 at end of regulation time in the final on Saturday, with a runaway try securing a famous win. But earlier rounds had been marred…
SWEDEN Roosters have taken out the Oslo Open Nines, beating rugby union team Sagene in the final; now it’s onto Rotterdam. Wearing Sydney Roosters jerseys, the Swedish Nines squad had a few close calls on the way to the decider at Sandvolleyballanlegget. They played Porsgrunn twice during the day’s play, edging past the Pirates 6-4 and 12-6. Sagene made the…
By STEVE MASCORD PERHAPS it’s just because I’m looking at it somewhat from a distance but the scene around the NRL seems to have changed more over one off-season than at any time since 1998, when the two warring comps came together. I say from a distance because, while I have pretty much split the last three years between Sydney…
By STEVE MASCORD ISN’T it funny how different people can be from correspondence to meeting them in person? From communicating with Colin Kleyweg on Facebook, I imagined the man who is attempting to pilot Red Star Belgrade into Super League to be a quiet, studious, slight, blond-headed Australian of Scandinavian extraction. The impression comes from his surname and the way…
By TERRY PASCOE A DOMINANT performance by the Souths-Logan Magpies has seen them defeat the Wynnum-Manly Seagulls 40 – 6 at Davies Park, West End. After two straight losses in the Intrust Super Cup, the Souths-Logan halves pairing of Guy Hamilton and Sam Scarlett looked too much for an error riddled Wynnum-Manly. Wynnum-Manly’s defensive line looked unbreakable in the first…
By STEVE MASCORD EARLIER this week, I spoke to a friend of mine who describes himself as “an idealist”. If you’ve read this column before, you’ll realise we swing wildly between being that and a lamentable cynic. In fact, there’s not much in between those two poles here. But the thing is, my friend has a bit to do with…
By STEVE MASCORD RUGBY League, so the old maxim goes, was born out of rebellion and is doomed to forever rebel. How can you mount a good argument for sucking it up and toeing the party line for the greater good when we owe our very existence to a bunch of quarrelsome gentlemen who gathered at the George Hotel on…
By STEVE MASCORD I STILL think of the Leeds Park Plaza as a brand, spanking new hotel but the internet tells me I had my longest on-the-record encounter with Steve Folkes there 13 years ago. When Canterbury held a season launch at Pyrmont at the start of the 1998 season – the one that brought the Australian game back together…
