Roy Masters
Roy Masters is a Rugby League Columnist for The Sydney Morning Herald
Sport in Crisis
Potential for teams to lose their points, or forfeit on eve of grand final
Roy Masters Cronulla players suspected of drug violations likely to be still playing all season.
Rugby League
NRL plans for worst on drugs
Roy Masters Defaulted grand final and internal draft to reinforce ranks of any club stripped of players.
NRL considers nightmare scenario
Roy Masters A defaulted grand final and an internal draft to reinforce the ranks of any club stripped of players because of doping sanctions are among the contingency plans the NRL has drawn up in response to...
League
Lack of Plan B compounds copycat conundrum
Roy Masters Basically, there are two ways for a rugby league team to use the ball: go through the opposition, or around them.
League
Obstruction rule needs a serious rethink
Roy Masters DANIEL Anderson's black-and-white rules on obstruction are designed to cut out any grey but will leave the NRL red-faced.
League
Parramatta deal a boost to students of the game
Roy Masters THE saddest, possibly the blackest, day in rugby league history occurred in 1937, according to a past chairman of the ARL, Bill Buckley.
League
Fallout from doping probe has potential to drag on for years
Roy Masters The Cronulla players suspected of drug violations are likely to be still playing all season, while guilty members of the Sharks football department could be banned for life.
Victorians the big losers in parochial carve-up of Origin fixtures
Roy Masters Rugby league's commissioners were appointed principally because of their independence and business savvy but their recent decisions demonstrate they are simply politicians and as beholden to their...
Roy Masters
A bittersweet victory for the players' coach
Roy Masters Twice in the jubilant Storm dressing room, the coach Craig Bellamy confessed to a strange emptiness.
Tried and proven tactics put a strangle hold on the chain-passing revolution
Roy Masters GIVEN the time-honoured tendency for NRL teams to follow the tactical lead of the premiers, a Canterbury victory in last Sunday's grand final could have led to a sea change in the way the game is...
Roy Masters
Conspiracy theorists still looking for strings
Roy Masters Despite a new commission running the game, conspiracy theories about Sydney's rule of the game persist, particularly outside the New South Wales capital.
Coaches, not subterfuge, are the finals X-factor
Roy Masters 'They obviously want an all-Sydney club grand final,'' one NRL club official texted immediately after the Sea Eagles' controversial victory against the Cowboys a week ago.
Canterbury's crafty defence has opposition seeing double
Roy Masters THE Bulldogs have one of the best defensive records in the NRL, preventing the opposition scoring tries from within 20 metres of their own line.
Not one or two? Your chances are limited
Roy Masters Finishing first or second on the premiership ladder is a colossal advantage under the new finals system.
Dessie's midnight visit pays dividends
Roy Masters A midnight visit to Belmore exactly a year ago convinced Manly's premiership coach Des Hasler he should switch to the Bulldogs.
Grant defends crackdown on shoulder charge on finals eve
Roy Masters ARL Commission chairman John Grant has defended the decision to take tougher action on the eve of the finals against tacklers whose shoulder makes contact with the head of an opponent as Cronulla's...
Getting a tough break in age-old code debate
Roy Masters 'I THINK we've got the crowd,'' former federal treasurer Peter Costello said before the annual AFL finals debate yesterday morning at the MCG.
Politicians insult rugby league by treating it as AFL's poor cousin
Roy Masters Both the Raiders and the Sharks need to win today's elimination final at Canberra Stadium to shore up future support from contrasting stakeholders. Each club has what the other wants.
Storm must pick big pack to counter Manly brawn
Roy Masters Two months ago, none of the other semi-final-bound teams wanted to meet the Bulldogs in the grand final.
Roy Masters
Arts about face: heading to Hobart while AFL looks the other way
Roy Masters You know the world of rugby league has changed irreversibly when 10 players visit a museum the day before a game and complain the art is offensive, even pornographic.
