Make North Queensland Great Again
Changes were finally made to North Queenslandโs flailing line-up which has seen them hit rock bottom, literally, sitting dead last on the ladder (alongside Parramatta and Canterbury) at the halfway point of the season.
Amongst those dropped were grand final heroes; Justin OโNeill, Lachlan Coote, Ethan Lowe and Antonio Winterstein. Javid Bowen returns to the side after a couple of months spent player Intrust Super Cup with Cairns based affiliate Northern Pride, Kane Linnett is promoted to the starting side after returning from injury on the interchange bench last fortnight, Ben Hampton โ who has been one of the clubs best this season โ returns on the interchange bench.
Scott Bolton also returns from injury, replacing the out-of-form Lowe โ who was tipped to finally crack the Queensland Origin side at the beginning of the season โ while Michael Morgan also returns from injury, replacing Coote at Fullback.
Miraculously however is the exclusion of young gun Mitch Dunn. Dunn was one of North Queenslandโs best in their win over Manly a couple of weeks ago and I struggle to believe he doesnโt deserve a spot on the bench for the struggling Cows.
Game couldnโt be in better Shape
Plenty of journalists and broadcasts involved in rugby league media would try have you believe that this NRL season has been one of the worst in recent memory and that the game is languishing as fans fall out of love with the game as the referees continue to โdestroyโ the game they love.
The harsh reality for this select of people however is that they couldnโt be more wrong. Crowds have never been bigger, the NRL have recorded a record number of memberships and the game continues to break free-to-air and pay TV ratings.
Meanwhile, the fans Iโve spoken too couldnโt be more happier than with the way the game has been officiated this year and that itโs the most unpredictable, fun and enjoyable season in years.
The only blight on the game, I believe, is the handling of the broadcast deal in 2015. The largest television deal in Australian history which saw the NRL rake in 1.7 billion dollars, before blowing the cash before season 2017 was even at its end. In comparison American sports entertainment company, the WWE, brokered a 1-billion-dollar deal with Fox Sports in the U.S over the same period (five years) with experts regarding it as one of the biggest deals in American History.
Retirement Fever Hits NRL
With Cameron Smith announcing his shock retirement from representative football last month, a flurry of players have followed suit. Maroon greatsโ Billy Slater and Darius Boyd have both announced their retirements from representative football at seasons end as have Kiwi pair Simon Mannering and Russell Packer.
This morning, Penrith Pantherโs supporters were also rocked with the announcement that fan favourite, Peter Wallace, was hanging up the boots effective immediately.
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