Parra can grab it by the neck

Andrew Webster | March 10, 2008

WHILE you're getting all warm and fuzzy and looking at the past in sepia tones and the future through shades because everything is just bright and dandy with this so-called greatest game of all, here's something to have you freefalling to terra firma .. the grapple tackle.

Last month, Storm coach Craig Bellamy dismissed the mere notion that the promised blitz on any "prolonged contact with the head or neck" would not alter the way the game was played.

Yet it must be expected that in the first two months we're either going to see referees popping an eyeball because they're blowing so many penalties, or the wrestle, which has become such a dominant feature in recent times, will go the way of the dodo.

Bellamy has every right to feel aggrieved each time a rival coach fingers his team for slowing the play-the-ball, but if anyone can adapt to change, it's his well-drilled side.

Only Parra will push 'em this year - just as they did on two occasions during the last season, including that absorbing preliminary final when winger Krisnan Inu came within millimetres of taking the Eels within a try of the Storm with six minutes left.

Believe us, the Eels have taken plenty of confidence from going oh-so close to a team most considered unbeatable. And the scary sound of a gunshot in the early hours of Monday, March 3, could also be a turning point, as it sounded distinctly like someone calling last drinks on the players.

In terms of the big picture, this centenary festivus might continue deep into November but it will serve as a stark reminder to all that rugby league is like that old pair of reg grundies: full of holes, sagging in parts, but, really, would you want to strut around the house in anything else?