- Brought to you by:
About Roy Masters
About Roy Masters
Roy Masters has written for the Herald for over 20 years. He coached first grade rugby league for 10 years, including the longest stint of any coach at St George, and was named Western Suburbs Coach of the Century. An inaugural member of the Australian Sports Commission (1984), Roy still serves on the board, having initiated the program of modified sports for primary school children. Roy is married to Elaine Canty and divides his time between Sydney and Melbourne. An award winning journalist, Roy's latest book Bad Boys exposes the grubby side of the game.
Origin animal a rare beast indeed
There is a certain, specific animal called a State of Origin player and Craig Bellamy is struggling to identify him, even questioning whether he, as NSW coach, fully understands the demands of this annual battle of bad blood and brilliant football.
Clubs feel the heat as managers increase their power and influence
NRL clubs are incensed monies paid to the Rugby League Players Association as part of a collective funding agreement could be used against them to defray the legal costs of players taking action for unfair dismissal.
Barrett is the ugly sister to Andrew Johns's Cinderella
RARELY is a State of Origin match about one man: usually the story is a last-minute desperate try, a video referee's arrogant decision, a heroic play or a brain explosion.
Dedication to series could put paid to independent body for the game
QUEENSLAND'S passion for State of Origin football might have killed off any hopes of rugby league's disparate governing bodies unifying under a central independent commission.
Why Bellamy must take a punt on Mullen
CRAIG BELLAMY was boiling over video referee Bill Harrigan's decision to disallow a try in the eighth minute of State of Origin I in Melbourne but sufficiently composed to publicly praise his beaten NSW team.
Behind the gruff exterior, tales of men in pain, and those who stand by them
The ball sailed 50 metres along the sideline, spinning end over end, an AFL-style drop punt from the boot of Storm halback Cooper Cronk.
NRL splits assets in search of TV gold
TELEVISION rights for State of Origin games will be offered separately to networks, following Wednesday night's record ratings, as rugby league strategists take a pre-emptive grab at the pot of gold the AFL expects to win at its next broadcasting contract.
Hayne a marked man in Melbourne, but here's the catch
All eyes will be on the aerial battle when this year's Origin series kicks off in the home of the speccy, writes Roy Masters.
Manly feud claims top lobbyist
THE bitter, internecine political feuding at Manly claimed its
highest-profile victim with club joint patron, life member and
chief raiser of government funds, Kerry Sibraa, resigning from the
Sea Eagles' board.
Real footy heroes shoot first and ask no questions later
"A MAN of genius makes no mistakes," wrote James Joyce in Ulysses,
a novel as unrivalled and unreadable as some of the Origin stars
selected this week.
Deep North saviour for the Sharks
The Sharks' home crowd on Saturday night was their biggest of the
season, a surprise considering the ugly headlines the club has
generated. But it was not a shock to supporters of the opposition
team, St George Illawarra, who didn't have to travel far from their
district, which effectively surrounds Cronulla.
Reporters have become the moral guardians of football codes
BALMAIN'S 40th anniversary dinner celebrating their unexpected grand final victory over South Sydney was a nostalgic evening laced with a heavy dose of harsh reality.
Past is history for Blues selectors, who must look to the future
WHEN the NSW selectors meet on Monday to choose the team for the first State of Origin match, they can't pick out-of-form players on the basis of "they've never let us down in the past." The Blues have lost the past three series. Everyone has let them down in the past.
Double or nothing: Why the NRL TV rights are worth $1 billion
NRL club bosses will press chief executive David Gallop to demand $1 billion in TV rights fees in the next broadcasting contract following the release of a confidential report showing rugby league has closed the viewership gap on the AFL over the past three years, with both codes having a cumulative audience of 120 million last year.
Life after the Rabbits: Piggins the litigator kicking plenty of goals
RABBITOHS stalwart George Piggins has accepted a defamation settlement offer by News Ltd and South Sydney co-owner Peter Holmes a Court in response to published claims he was involved in "a smelly property deal".
Fitzgerald has lived by the sword and he will die by discord
DENIS FITZGERALD's long career at Parramatta is a test of the two
opposing summations of the life of a controversial figure.
Not war but more than a game when two generals do battle
On the eve of last year's Anzac Day match between St George Illawarra and the Roosters, Dragons coach Nathan Brown summed up the mood precisely, saying: "Those guys dodged bullets, and all we've got to do is dodge tackles."
League's Polynesian powerplay muscles in on indigenous numbers
THE number of Aboriginal players in the NRL has halved since the early 1990s, with coaches keener to recruit Polynesian-type body shapes to combat the brutal collisions of the code.
The Penns and the sword
A letter from Manly Leagues Club's banker will be tabled at a meeting of members on Tuesday night, potentially signing the death warrant for one of rugby league's most successful teams, according to forces lined up against the likely new owners, the Penn family.
Big issue no one is game to tackle
This Easter will see some of the NRL's Pacific Island players attend church and prayer groups and others join their Australian-born teammates at nightclubs, compounding the confusion of administrators struggling to accommodate the diverse cultures of the soaring number of footballers from the south seas.
Keep up to date with the latest NRL news.