Anyone know why Gareth Ellis is so upset with Stevo this morning, what's the old fool said now? https://twitter.com/gazellis12/status/7 ... 0671463424 .

Anyone know why Gareth Ellis is so upset with Stevo this morning, what's the old fool said now? https://twitter.com/gazellis12/status/7 ... 0671463424 .

The baffoon was moaning (getting carried away with himself because he was given too much airtime to rant) that the difference between NRL and Super League players is that apart from the odd huge drunken debacle story over there, they all look after their bodies, train hard every day and don't go out on the town until 3 in the morning.

Sam Tomkins rightly said "no, we do look after ourselves the right way" just before Eddie cut him off and ended the programme.

Steve should be given a few weeks off for that. It's slander! And it was right at the end of the show so he's left that thought there with the general public to go away with.

Don't get me wrong they are different physical beasts to Super League boys but he can't get away with that level of unfounded bull!

All will be well. Stevo will apologise tonight and he and Eddie will have some cringeworthy "banter" during the game.

is Stevo wrong? Our game is littered with unfulfilled potential. Just as 30 years ago for every Hanley wringing everything out of every ounce of talent he had there was a Schofield getting every drop out of every pint he had, no there are Ellis' or Peacock or Sinfield making the absolute most of their career, theres a Gaz Hock, or Jordan Tansey losing most of their career to Absolut.

Too true.

You see plenty of them in town on a Friday or Saturday night. Not that the Aussies are any different, but we're kidding ourselves if we think they are all angels and perfect athletes.

But that exact same situation applies in Oz too - with plenty of talented players not making the grade as a result of their attitude.

This isn't the reason for the gap in standards.... It's a fundamental difference in many aspects that affect the environment and culture from Junior leagues right up through to the top level clubs in the UK... There is no quick fix...

Our very best players will get close to or match their best, unfortunately though, we just don't have enough players coming through of that highest standard to create a consistency of intensity - that's where we need changes from grass roots all the way to the top to have more higher calibre players.

The gap below our absolute best players and group of 2nd best players is fairly significant, there just simply aren't enough 'top class' players. In the NRL, the group of 2nd best players are significantly better than ours, and they have far more 2nd best players than us. Part of it is simply a numbers game - more juniors playing = more talent coming through, but also those juniors are learning the game in a better climate, meaning they have better conditions for learning the basics (and pretty much all year round) - then throw in better junior league structures and coaching, and they're simply preparing more players from a young age to become top RL players.

That's then before we even start talking about the media exposure and subsequent money in the game in Aus opening up further opportunities for retaining the best talent (including making becoming a pro RL player the most desirable sporting career path in the first instance), better facilities, better/more sports science/coaching etc etc....

You could even then grow in some biological stuff around body types of Polynesians etc, but I think that's going too far, as elite athletes should be able to overcome issues associated with body types.

To me, what is clear is that players over here having a beer is a ridiculous 'explanation' for why we're getting hammered.

Very well said.

Stevo's is not substantiated by the NRL players who come over here, almost to a man everyone of them who makes comment on the subject says it's almost identical in terms of preperation, facilities, sport science, tactics and technical understanding.

They get better athletes and more of them into their system, they're subjected to a higher level of intensity every game, week in and week out, year in and year out. They don't carry below average players in their squad because they wouldn't get away with it when they played them. Unlike SL teams who are forced to carry below average players for a number of reasons including but not exclusively the salary cap, poor junior systems, not enough kids playing the game.

Mick Stephenson should be forced to appologise and explain his comments, the blokes made a good living for three decades off the back of the very people he's just slandered.

Every other week in Aus a rugby league player makes the tabloids for drunken buffoonery. If anything they are worse than us.

or just better reported.

Exactly!! How many knew that FC's Bowden was in court a few weeks ago for drink driving. If that was in the NRL it would of been reported extensively.

I don't think you have a vast difference between SL and NRL players, but i believe the NRL players are better educated and more aware of their position as a role model than the SL players.

Yes, that kind of tomfoolery just doesn't happen in the NRL.

regards and with thanks,
Catalans Dragons

Oh dear, i'd switched off long before then (although not as early as the Wigan defence did).

Stevo's at least 5 years past his sell by date, the sooner he's gone the better.

Stevo ran a load of bull during the Leeds wire game about sandow saying he was gonna come over and ruin the place and show off and .

It never happened, he came over with his head up his due to the wau things had ended with Parramatta. No big statement, but expectations I suppose. It was a flat out lie from stevo though

It doesn't come as any surprise to anyone that Stevo talks nonsense. Whether it's tactical and technical points, comments about the state and organisation of the sport or his latest outburst on player behaviour, he's thirty years behind the modern game.

The Sky production team is a cosy cabal led by Neville Smith into which no independent thought must be allowed to permeate which exposes it for the circus sideshow it is. Jon Wells apart, the whole thing needs ripping up and starting again, but as long as people keep watching and subscribing it won't happen. That people who watch and understand the game were left goggle-eyed by Trent Robinson's level of tactical analysis on Friday says it all. It stands out not because it's ground breaking or innovative, but because it's head and shoulders above the normal garbled nonsense you get from Clarke, Carney, McDermott and O'Connor.

Sky has got lazy across its range of commentary and punditry. Just look at the buffoons on Soccer Saturday, or the work of Niall Quinn and Alan Smith for example on its football coverage. It knows it has little or no competition (Michael Owen on BT Sport? Please) so can just jog along providing the subscriber with a half-d service.

the difference is for every one over there that messes up there are another hundred to take their place

I agree and the one thing when people complain about the laziness of Sky's RL coverage.....whilst true, people think it's just our sport. TBH I think Sky Sports across the board has become lazy with their coverage of all sports coverage, programmes and News channel (oh let's see what some footballer just tweeted....f' off)

Sky seem to be padding out their schedule more and more with highlights of 30 year old football matches rather than the magazine type shows they used to screen. I assume this is to save money on production costs after paying over the odds for the last football rights.

Stevo's retiring at the end of the season isn't he? Eddie's play by play commentary is actually OK in my opinion. If you had him next to Carney and Wells, who provide a good tactical insight, then there'll be less 'banter' and it would come across as much more professional. Phil Clarke and Stuart Cummins add nothing. Barrie and Terry just contribute to the northern image we're stuck with.

Couldn't agree more. Eddie is ok when calling the game, barring his odd shootouts and 'witty' banter. But, the real crux is the lack of professionalism and try to hard 'banter.' We need to ship out the current studio panel and let Jon Wells and Brian Carney host the matches. We also need to get rid of Angela Powers on the sideline, always seems to be tongue tied.

Not sure how Stevo has kept a job for so long. Complete tool.

Cant just be going and making sweeping statements like that. There are stories about players in incidents on both sides of the world but there are also hundreds and hundreds of players that don't get into trouble. Don't be tarnishing everyone just because of a few idiots!

The players over here seem to be less friendly to canines.

Massive overreaction (as usual) from people who scrutinise Mike's every word. I was watching at the time, he was making the point that players over there are a lot more professional than they were in the not too distant past and problems are few and far between these days.

This series is a case in point; remember the days when the WCC was just a big knees-up?

Not really a very good example. Hanley learnt to look after himself after a stint in jail.

I've said before, Sky have put all of their energy, time and broadcasting money into Formula 1 and have put all their profits into Premier League football clubs.

F1 has it's own channel and they follow the races around the world all season with what must be a gigantic army of people and nal of technology they take with them from wherever they go. It cost them £455m for the live rights for F1, never mind all the money they must spend on the broadcasting of it with all the people they employ and the technology they use. Then Sky dish out £81m to each Prem footy club each season.

What we're left with is the likes of Dwight York and Niall Quinn giving utterly zero insight into the game of football. They've lost the Champions League, they don't show all La Liga games 'as live' like they used to (Barca v Atleti a few weeks ago wasn't the live broadcast and last season viewers had to sit through the first 15minutes of El Clasico with Guillem Balague giving us updates in the studio because Sky didn't pay for the rights to show the whole game live). They're losing rugby union by the year, they've lost the NBA, they sacked off rugby league NRL/State of Origin/Championship/Boots'n'All/Super League Superstars/the one hour All The Tries prog which is now just half an hour...and just offer up two or three live games a week with no other programming of our sport and other sports fans, even football, don't get what they used to for their Sky subscription.

Sky have are losing the plot with their sports programming. Every sport is being thinned out and trimmed down to accommodate the huge money going into F1 broadcasting and Prem football clubs(not broadcasting).