Roy Masters on Craig Bellamy - League HQ

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.

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League

The good and bad bits of ref chief's new rules

Roy Masters The Roosters were at the second coaches meeting with referees' boss Daniel Anderson, held last week before Thursday night's much-anticipated season-opener between the foundation clubs, while the...

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League

Hot topic: should the season kick off at night?

Roy Masters Islands in the oceans may drown and the Antarctic ice shelf melt but climate change takes on an immediate meaning for coaches when it affects the scheduling of games.

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Roy Masters

Short-term goals win out for Bellamy, Storm

Roy Masters Craig Bellamy has opted for immediate short-term team success in Melbourne over guaranteed long-term personal security and stability with St George Illawarra.

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.

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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.

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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...

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.

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Why succeeding often means failure

Roy Masters IT'S preferable to be the coach who follows the coach who follows the legend. Just ask anyone who followed Jack Gibson, particularly after his appointments at Eastern Suburbs (two premierships) and...

Roy Masters

Fine line between danger and putting head on the block

Roy Masters When Tom Raudonikis coached Wests in the mid-1990s, he discovered a novel way of motivating his team.

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Fullbacks on the rise in the modern-day pecking order

Roy Masters Magpies greats, such as Noel Kelly and Tom Raudonikis, will gather at the SCG today for the foundation club's annual reunion, before shuffling across to Allianz Stadium on arthritic knees to watch...

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It's tough to wrestle with stats: NRL's top teams have balance just right

Roy Masters Super coach Wayne Bennett is in unfamiliar territory with the Knights, the legendary premiership winner having one of his worst starts to a season in his 26 years in the top grade.

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