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.
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.
League
Team spirit: how Blues can reach Origin nirvana
Roy Masters When NSW coach Laurie Daley finalises his team after this weekend's NRL round, he will try and include as many fit players from the Blues 2012 Origin squad.
League
ASADA wants access to mountain of ACC evidence
Roy Masters Cronulla players are likely to be still arguing with the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority this time next year, when Essendon players will have already served their suspensions.
League
Daylight separates quick and dead slow
Roy Masters With the top four NRL teams threatening to break away, the challenge is to bring them back to the pack.
Show Me The Money
Wests Tigers board rift could spill on to the field
Roy Masters IF EVER the title of this column is appropriate to an issue in sport and business, it is the impasse at Wests Tigers.
LEAGUE
Stars and young hopefuls growing apart
Roy Masters The recent deaths of two young players raise questions about the disconnect between an NRL team and its feeder teams, compared with the days when there was strong mentoring by senior players across...
LEAGUE
When it comes to money, not all clubs are equal
Roy Masters THE AFL has a future fund and the Rugby League Commission plans one, seeking $200 million in savings over the life of the new broadcasting contract.
Masters
Turning Judas on teammates only way to mitigate bans
Roy Masters NRL and AFL players guilty of doping infractions have almost no chance of escaping without sanction, and will be required to inform on a teammate or a member of a club's football department to...
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
Sharks feared doping before Dank left
Roy Masters An email trail linking the four sacked members of the Sharks' football department demonstrates they feared possible doping breaches at the club at least two months before May 29, 2011, when sports...
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
Wests unite as joint venture remains anything but cosy
Roy Masters A $2.3 million debt has triggered personnel changes at Wests Tigers, with a more significant long-term realignment of ownership expected when joint venture partners, Western Suburbs, are asked to...
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...
League
Pet peeve: NRL clubs make mockery of memberships
Roy Masters Rugby league has an ignoble history of creative counting - fictitious crowd figures, salary cap manipulation, exaggerating injury tallies, even miscounting tackles.
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.
Cronulla coach 'knew of doping'
Roy Masters Club directors believe five knew about alleged doping procedures and kept them hidden.
League
Sharks allege cover-up
Roy Masters The Cronulla Sharks board stood down coach Shane Flanagan and sacked four other key staff members because the directors believe they knew about alleged doping procedures at the club and kept it...
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.
