The men’s NRL returns on Thursday night, kicking off the season with Penrith, who I am told won last year’s grand final, playing Manly. This small market duel is an odd way to start the season but it seems they are actually quite good and no one wants to watch the Broncos lose by 50… Read More A Deep Dive into the 2022 NRL season
The Bulldogs finished season 2021 in last place with a pathetic 3-21 record and a points difference of -370. Scoring just 14.2 points per game in the Vlandoball era, a number inflated by a last round thumping of a hapless Tigers, puts a strong case for the Doggies to be one of the worst attacking… Read More A Shallow Dive into the 2021 Canterbury Bulldogs
You’ve read me wank on about the second Brisbane team, anti-siphoning legislation, Super League reform, the state of the international game, other sports, my usual critical schtick and award voting systems but now it’s time to talk about actual football. The numbers have been run, in largely the same fashion as last year, and the… Read More A Deep Dive in to the 2021 NRL season
It’s BiG bRaIn EsSaY week on pythagonrl.com. I’ve written a series of approximately 75% thought-out, unpolished essays about somewhat obvious and/or somewhat unhinged things that probably belong on The Roar but I’ve decided to use my own platform to get off my chest. If I know my audience, you are likely Australian and likely have… Read More Big brain essay #4: The World’s Games
It wasn’t a particularly pleasant year to be a Broncos fan. I think the only upside of the experience of the club winning its first ever wooden spoon, before the likes of Manly, Wests Tigers or St George Illawarra, is that we can put to bed the idea that Sydney rugby league rivalries matter in… Read More A Shallow Dive into the 2020 Brisbane Broncos
After a dominating win over Great Britain, followed by a tough and exciting win over Australia, some extremely exuberant pundits decided that Tonga were the best nation in the world and worthy of Tier 1 status. Putting aside the fact that a poor island nation of 100,000 is not capable of generating enough native talent… Read More Tonga are still a long shot for the 2021 World Cup
Fortunately for almost all of my readers, I have reached the limit of the French taught to me in one semester of university in just the title. I’m still not sure if I should have used the definite article, so this post will be in English but it will be about French rugby league. This… Read More Qui va gagner Elite 1?
Using the same format I used during the rep weekend, this is the finals preview-ish post. I didn’t get to do all the analysis I wanted to because I’ve run out of time. By the time this gets published, I should be somewhere in or around California starting my honeymoon, which I think should probably… Read More Stats of Six: Is 2018 the worst top eight in NRL finals history?
Let’s get it done off the bat: Ruan Sims didn’t follow the rules. She had to be at the game and she wasn’t. I don’t blame her. It was a punish of a game to have to sit through for anyone other than Eels fans. I don’t think the actual votes cast are going to… Read More The Dally Ms are a wank, let’s use StatScore instead
Two weeks ago, you may have (but almost certainly did not) read my Complete History of the NRL: Nerd Edition. Actually, there wasn’t much to read in the way of words and for those who aren’t so inclined to dealing with Elo ratings, Pythagorean expectation and counting premierships, possibly because you’re an Eels fan and… Read More A Complete History of the NRL
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