I have been a season ticket holder at Penrith for the past 20 years and before that was a Cronulla fan for the 30 years I lived near there. Having previously watched the game in England for 20 years I always loved to see English players come and play here. Dave Bolton was the first player I saw out here at Balmain in 1969. He won the GF with them that year against Souths.

C'mon Avenger, surely crown green bowls comes after snooker !!!

Aussies took our game and made it great, its not just the sheer fact that they are streets ahead in in terms of the speed and intensity of the game but the tactical element is great to watch, some of the set plays are a joy to watch, we see elements of it over here with the likes of Saints at times but nowhere near enough. Must admit, as a few others have said until lockdown I never really bothered with the NRL, but I prefer to watch it anyway over SL now.

For me it's a pity Sky won the rights to show NRL games because when Premier Sport had it they showed every game every week plus magazine shows like the Footy Show and Matty Johns show, both great to watch...so much so that my wife enjoyed watching them yet hates watching rugby or any sport. Everything about the game is better, especially the commentators who don't drool over which team is winning (unlike Terry 'state the bleeding obvious' O Connor & co) but give great commentary sprinkled with excellent one-liners.

Unfortunately, my NRL fix is now reduced to Sky deciding which games I can watch, usually Storm, Panthers or Roosters cos they're the 'form' teams.

Sky sports is now I believe owned by Comcast a north American media company, that's probably why we are getting less Aussie rugby and more basketball shown and even in depth analysis of behind the scenes basketball programmes, at least with Premier sports you got to see every game even at a cost which if you watched every game didn't work out that much.

Been hooked ever since mid 80’s you could rent dvds from blockbuster in Wakefield used to train Saturday morning then spend the afternoon watching 2 or 3 games from a young age. My team are the Eels and would love to go over and watch them. Wakefield always seem to do well from Parramatta ranks.

He wouldn’t need to dominate over there as the team would be geared to his needs. Also that’s a myth, plenty of Aussie wingers are not especially big, many are like Johnstone, very fast and athletic but not especially physical.

TJ would rip it up in Oz if signed by a team that suited his style and avoided his only real weakness which is injury.

Also Tom is bigger than what most think and a lot of wingers in Aus are of a similar build. Hope he stays with us but if he does move I hope it’s to Australia where I believe he would rip it up. Couldn’t bare watching him playing against us in the SL.

TJ s main weakness vasty is his defence in the sense that he can tackle well but he can’t defend. If he goes to a team where the coach can help him with his positioning then he can do very well, don’t think the Aussies for one minute will not work him out they will go at him and go at him. If someone over here with a brain in their head would of coached him correctly and he’d maybe had a bit of luck with injuries he might be England’s winger now.

I hope he goes and does well he owes us nothing and I honestly believe the time is right for him, he’s stagnating with us he needs a new challenge and and a club with some ambition to push onto another level.

No way am I trying to put Johnstone down I rate the kid highly have done in his early academy days but I thought vastman knew a lot about Aussie rugby league but from his comments I don't think he does good as he is Tom won't get the space he does here and all the aussie defences are tough to go round

I mentioned at work that I'd like a roosters shirt and was told there is a guy in Castleford market who will either have one or will get you one. Have to say I haven't been yet but plan to soon if possible

If it's coming from Cas market it's more likely to be a chicken costume than a Roosters shirt

Cheers Sam! I know the stall that you mean; just as you go into the market hall from Carlton Lanes end . He usually has quite a stock of Aus club shirts hanging up. It wasn't particularly a Roosters shirt that I coveted, altough they're the side that I've "adopted" , but their colours (RW&B) are obviously the same as Trinity's. This season's Roosters jersey design would make an ideal choice for us next season imo.

I spent 6 years of my life in Australia, have you? I have been a fan ever since. I used to get sent videos from Channel 9 games in the 80’s from friends when most British RL fans only ever saw touring teams. So o know Aussie RL very well and not just the NRL.

Yes there are plenty of physical freaks in the NRL but there are plenty of wingers built like Tom who are just as good including some recent internationals.

Some are a tiny bit faster, others a bit stronger but TJ is the complete package. He’s hardly a dwarf at 6’ and 15 stone, yet he has pace to burn and superb balance combined with a great instinct a desire. Above all he’s got a unique gift, he’s not just an athlete he’s an acrobat. Others do score those kind of tries but none with the regularity or level of difficulty that he does and I mean none.

As Mopsey has pointed out he needs to up his defensive game a little but let’s not exaggerate he’s hardly a liability. Again despite your myth making there are plenty of NRL wingers wo make a great living who’s defence is far more suspect .

One thing I can tell you right now is that underneath the veneer of the very best most NRL players are no better than there British counterparts. Ricky Stuart has worked that out. They just need refining. There are dozens of SL players who could make it at some level in the NRL because that’s what the NRL does, it makes the best of players where as SL basically destroys most. Many players such as Mike Cooper went up about 3 levels on joining the NRL.

TJ is already there, in an NRL environment he will improve dramatically and if he remains injury free will become a star very quickly.

HTH

I have access to NRL 247 so don’t miss a match if I don’t want to. TV shows are really good. I would recommend anyone who likes a bit of comedy watch Fletch and Hindy or not the NRL news on YouTube.

Johnstone might not have the physicality of Maika Sivo but his pace, agility and finishing prowess In the right NRL team would see him more than hold his own imo

Would much rather have tj if i was an eels fan than blake ferguson hes rubbish and doesnt justify his huge wage the best club tj could probably go to is one that uses wingers well so playing off sean johnson at sharks moses at eels and even williams at raiders would all suit his style and knowing players like croker and whitehead there could help out with defence

Sivo’s form of late is shocking and so is the other side in Ferguson. Eels would be a good fit for TJ as both off contract end of next season and Ferguson is way over paid for what he does. He’s only just got 2 tries this season and has had some really bad games and wasn’t performing when the Eels were on fire.

If you want authentic nrl gear I get all mine from a site called lovell rugby they do every club shirt and bits of training gear hoodies and they do all state of origin stuff aswell they are a UK based company and normally very quick with delivery never had no problem buying from them top company

By heck vasty tha spent a bit of time on that old lad I hope your right and I'm proved wrong but I feel after years of experience playing and coaching the game I don't have to live in Australia for 6yrs to give an opinion of a rugby situation like I say that's only my view if it happens the proof of the pudding will be in the eating

I don’t wish to be overly insulting but years of coaching and playing in the British game is hardly a badge of honour - certainly when talking about the Aussie game.

When it comes to coaching they are simply light years ahead, if you had spent some time in Oz you’d probably realise what an inadequate boast you’ve just made.

I doubt more than half a dozen British coaches cut hack it in Australia, none at SL level. You tend with your bombast to explain the reason why.

Not a boast old cock just a fact don't know what action you ed done on a rugby field in your condecenting life but one thing you can't teach me about is rugby league

Coaches from across the world share best practice, new methods, ideas using new technology and just about anything that advances the efficiency of coaching. Gone are the days when the only way to access innovations brought in by a coaching genius from the NFL was to go spend time in his presence at a Miami Dolphins training camp.

Being a coach at the highest level is a talent, it’s honed by experience and enhanced opportunities to work with other talented coaches in a variety of environments. It isn’t exclusive to one competition or nation just because they have a higher profile and more money!
The best coaches willingly share their insights with the coaching community, they don’t keep it secret in the hope of maintaining an advantage.

So your assertion that NRL Coaches are “Light years ahead” is quite frankly naive and out of date!

I’ve spent time with current NRL coaches, former NRL coaches who have worked over here and plenty of U.K. based SL coaches and there’s little to no difference between 99.5% of them in terms of knowledge, their coaching processes and their day to day methods.

Do NRL coaches enjoy greater access to world class facilities, do they work with more talented players throughout their learning process, of course they do. Have they got larger teams of highly qualified assistants taking care of the minutia of the daily processes & analysis that we simply can’t afford over here, again yes they do. It makes them more efficient, it means they have time to spend on individual development of players but it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re a better coach, it means they have a more advanced coaching environment.

Does a career enveloped in that kind of environment make Craig Bellamy & Trent Robinson the best two coaches in the world 100% yes, IMO without a doubt but they were also two of the most naturally talented coaches before all that. Would Brian McDermott or Shaun Wane have been as good given the same environment, quite possibly.

The cross disciplinary abilities of the average UK based Rugby League Coach is very much on a par with the average coaching levels in Australia. Give them the same opportunities to coach within the same environments and they’re just as knowledgeable and talented.

Brilliant summing up avenger but I was only casting an opinion based on yrs of watching playing and coaching or great game