An American view on seeing Rugby League for the first time.
Posted: Thu May 28, 2015 12:16 pm
An Americans view of Rugby League - Slightly different to the tight shorts view of the AFL
Cam Inman
FOX SPORTS
May 28, 2015 9:00AM
CAM INMAN covers the San Francisco 49ers for the Bay Area News Group. After hearing so much about State of Origin since Jarryd Hayne’s NFL switch, he decided to watch his first game.
SANTA CLARA - California is my state of origin, which might explain why I had never watched an Australian rugby league game until now.
I quickly found myself fixated Wednesday on the spectacle that was Queensland’s 11-10 win over New South Wales in the State of Origin opener.
Those men were old-school tough. That match was tense to the last second. The sport, it has gained an overseas fan.
In 15 years of covering the NFL from the San Francisco Bay Area, I’ve watched America’s most popular sport grow enormously. It’s becoming bogged down, in the process, as both updated safety measures and constant referee interaction diminish the gladiator element.
No pads makes for a gladiatorial contest, which impressed NFL writer Cam Inman. Picture: Gregg Porteous Source: News Corp Australia
Perhaps that’s why it was so refreshing to watch the Blues and Maroons bang their non-padded, helmet-less bodies for 80 bruising minutes, at a hurried pace. Along the way, teamwork proved essential, and sportsmanship should be applauded, if merely for the lack of taunting opponents or harassing officials.
If the NFL looks more like this in 10 years, I wouldn’t be surprised, as long as more points are scored.
All of which makes it more intriguing to follow Jarryd Hayne’s attempt at a NFL career with the 49ers after his success with Parramatta and NSW.
What follows is as amateur an analysis as possible. It will take more than a couple hours of television viewing to master rugby-league rules. But I’ve made a career out of watching and sports – and writing about many of which I’ve never played - so here are some quick observations:
-- Hayne’s former New South Wales club came out strong, sternly ready to defend last year’s results. That intensity lagged after halftime, however, and the exhausted Blues were fortunate to lose by only a point. Queensland’s attacks kept coming and coming.
-- These aren’t your NFL-style tackles, where too often defenders want to knock out their foe with a hard hit. Here, gang tackles rule. Bodies are brought down by multiple players, often with arms lassoed around necks while elbows sneakily are wedged into backs. Spear tackles are illegal, just as they are in the NFL.
-- Breakaway runs are scarce. This is how the old NFL must have been before the forward pass sparked today’s offensive fireworks. Josh Dugan, however, made his mad dash count when he raced nearly 30 yards before his kick bounced up to Josh Morris for NSW’s first try. Some players look more suited as NFL offensive linemen and tight ends, rather than quick-footed running backs, which Hayne is attempting to become.
-- Ah, the video referee. Yes, replay challenges have become incorporated more and more in American sports, in a positive way. Best part here is that the verdict comes across on the stadium’s video board, along with an ad for Kentucky Fried Chicken (which was founded in my late grandmother’s hometown).
-- Blues captain Robbie Farah got body slammed onto his left shoulder, and he kept playing. Queensland’s Johnathan Thurston got flipped by two defenders, and he tried a 45-metre penalty kick. Tough guys, there. As tough as trying to score around the edge against the Maroons.
-- Cooper Cronk scores the first try, and finishes the Blues off with a field goal. Cronk? Oh, like Gronk? That would be Rob Gronkowski, who helped the New England Patriots win the last Super Bowl. Should have made that connection and placed a wager.
-- Why aren’t more field goals attempted? That question is best meant for the Blues. In a related note, the 45-degree angle kicks after tries offer the type of challenge the NFL needs. It’s better than simply moving point-after kicks back 15 yards, which is what the NFL decided to do last week.
-- The head coaches aren’t on the field and instead sit in a suite behind glass? Many NFL assistants do the same but not the head coaches. Must cut down on player/coach confrontations that reporters exploit.
-- A line you’ll never hear in a NFL broadcast: “The chicken wing could be the only reason for that penalty.”
-- A line I may borrow if the 49ers offense struggles like NSW: “You can put the sprinklers on at the other end of the field. There’s been no play down there.”
-- Amazing how those jerseys don’t rip. Reminds me when Canterbury rugby shirts were an American fad, decades ago. As for the rest of those uniforms, short shorts haven’t been seen like that in American sports since those on a NBA court, decades ago.
-- Fox Sports’ pregame coverage offered cool, different approaches than most NFL games, and that goes beyond last year’s clip of a teary-eyed Hayne saying: “It’s been a long time.” Interviewing the captains after the coin flip and the coaches from their locker rooms extended the hype. Updating the “wagering lines” is understandable, and so un-American, as pro sports here pretend as if no one gambles on them outside of Nevada (where it’s legal). Also, voyeurs get spoiled with cameras spying on locker rooms before the game, after it and at halftime.
-- There’s a beauty in not needing officials to mark where a ball was downed after every tackle, as players simply trust each other enough to carry on and keep the game moving forward – or backward with those passes.
-- I need to go on a beer run before State of Origin 2. As an impartial and neophyte observer, I’ll buy both XXXX and Victoria Bitter. Cheers, mates.
Cam Inman
FOX SPORTS
May 28, 2015 9:00AM
CAM INMAN covers the San Francisco 49ers for the Bay Area News Group. After hearing so much about State of Origin since Jarryd Hayne’s NFL switch, he decided to watch his first game.
SANTA CLARA - California is my state of origin, which might explain why I had never watched an Australian rugby league game until now.
I quickly found myself fixated Wednesday on the spectacle that was Queensland’s 11-10 win over New South Wales in the State of Origin opener.
Those men were old-school tough. That match was tense to the last second. The sport, it has gained an overseas fan.
In 15 years of covering the NFL from the San Francisco Bay Area, I’ve watched America’s most popular sport grow enormously. It’s becoming bogged down, in the process, as both updated safety measures and constant referee interaction diminish the gladiator element.
No pads makes for a gladiatorial contest, which impressed NFL writer Cam Inman. Picture: Gregg Porteous Source: News Corp Australia
Perhaps that’s why it was so refreshing to watch the Blues and Maroons bang their non-padded, helmet-less bodies for 80 bruising minutes, at a hurried pace. Along the way, teamwork proved essential, and sportsmanship should be applauded, if merely for the lack of taunting opponents or harassing officials.
If the NFL looks more like this in 10 years, I wouldn’t be surprised, as long as more points are scored.
All of which makes it more intriguing to follow Jarryd Hayne’s attempt at a NFL career with the 49ers after his success with Parramatta and NSW.
What follows is as amateur an analysis as possible. It will take more than a couple hours of television viewing to master rugby-league rules. But I’ve made a career out of watching and sports – and writing about many of which I’ve never played - so here are some quick observations:
-- Hayne’s former New South Wales club came out strong, sternly ready to defend last year’s results. That intensity lagged after halftime, however, and the exhausted Blues were fortunate to lose by only a point. Queensland’s attacks kept coming and coming.
-- These aren’t your NFL-style tackles, where too often defenders want to knock out their foe with a hard hit. Here, gang tackles rule. Bodies are brought down by multiple players, often with arms lassoed around necks while elbows sneakily are wedged into backs. Spear tackles are illegal, just as they are in the NFL.
-- Breakaway runs are scarce. This is how the old NFL must have been before the forward pass sparked today’s offensive fireworks. Josh Dugan, however, made his mad dash count when he raced nearly 30 yards before his kick bounced up to Josh Morris for NSW’s first try. Some players look more suited as NFL offensive linemen and tight ends, rather than quick-footed running backs, which Hayne is attempting to become.
-- Ah, the video referee. Yes, replay challenges have become incorporated more and more in American sports, in a positive way. Best part here is that the verdict comes across on the stadium’s video board, along with an ad for Kentucky Fried Chicken (which was founded in my late grandmother’s hometown).
-- Blues captain Robbie Farah got body slammed onto his left shoulder, and he kept playing. Queensland’s Johnathan Thurston got flipped by two defenders, and he tried a 45-metre penalty kick. Tough guys, there. As tough as trying to score around the edge against the Maroons.
-- Cooper Cronk scores the first try, and finishes the Blues off with a field goal. Cronk? Oh, like Gronk? That would be Rob Gronkowski, who helped the New England Patriots win the last Super Bowl. Should have made that connection and placed a wager.
-- Why aren’t more field goals attempted? That question is best meant for the Blues. In a related note, the 45-degree angle kicks after tries offer the type of challenge the NFL needs. It’s better than simply moving point-after kicks back 15 yards, which is what the NFL decided to do last week.
-- The head coaches aren’t on the field and instead sit in a suite behind glass? Many NFL assistants do the same but not the head coaches. Must cut down on player/coach confrontations that reporters exploit.
-- A line you’ll never hear in a NFL broadcast: “The chicken wing could be the only reason for that penalty.”
-- A line I may borrow if the 49ers offense struggles like NSW: “You can put the sprinklers on at the other end of the field. There’s been no play down there.”
-- Amazing how those jerseys don’t rip. Reminds me when Canterbury rugby shirts were an American fad, decades ago. As for the rest of those uniforms, short shorts haven’t been seen like that in American sports since those on a NBA court, decades ago.
-- Fox Sports’ pregame coverage offered cool, different approaches than most NFL games, and that goes beyond last year’s clip of a teary-eyed Hayne saying: “It’s been a long time.” Interviewing the captains after the coin flip and the coaches from their locker rooms extended the hype. Updating the “wagering lines” is understandable, and so un-American, as pro sports here pretend as if no one gambles on them outside of Nevada (where it’s legal). Also, voyeurs get spoiled with cameras spying on locker rooms before the game, after it and at halftime.
-- There’s a beauty in not needing officials to mark where a ball was downed after every tackle, as players simply trust each other enough to carry on and keep the game moving forward – or backward with those passes.
-- I need to go on a beer run before State of Origin 2. As an impartial and neophyte observer, I’ll buy both XXXX and Victoria Bitter. Cheers, mates.
