Roy Masters
Roy Masters is a Rugby League Columnist for The Sydney Morning Herald
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
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
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
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.
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.
Roy Masters
Whistle-shy referees could affect finals results
Roy Masters It's a truth acknowledged by most rugby league fans that referees keep the whistle in their pockets at semi-final time.
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
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.
The brain game provides one of many challenges for today's coaches
Roy Masters A neurologist friend tells me there is a part of the brain that actually grows in adulthood.
Out of favour, out of friends
Roy Masters God so loved the world, he didn't send a committee. He sent himself.
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.
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...
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.
