You can keep your “9’s” competition, your Indigenous All stars vs Maori Ferns, and other trial matches, for me the NRL season starts with the annual Charity Shield.
Mudgee again plays host to the Rabbitohs and Dragons on Saturday night with a sell-out crowd expected for the annual clash. The Rabbitohs have won the last 5 on the trot and the bookies rightly have them as firm favourites.
St George Illawarra are coming off a strong 38-12 victory over Newcastle in their first trial, while Souths managed to grind out a 28-24 win against the Eels, albeit with their reserve grade team on the paddock.
Many years ago I was fortunate enough to meet one of my all time favourite players and NRL legends, Graeme Langlands. I met him at the Cauliflower Hotel Redfern and we were having a few beers and a chat. He had just returned from the Phillipines and was helping out doing some coaching at Souths. I asked him what they had him doing. He said “they got me training this young kid called Craig Wing on how to be a fullback. They reckon he’s got potential”. The rest is history….. Souths could use Changa now……
The big questions
- Can Latrell Mitchell (the talk of the off season) slot into the fullback spot in his first club game?
- Will Wayne Bennett crack a smile ? (And not just that cheesy grin he occasionally sports).
- What sort of impact can Issac Luke make to the Dragons team after the loss of Cameron McInnes
- Will Paul McGregor let Shane Flanagan into the coaching box ? (Maybe after he goes through a metal detector ?)
- Will my mate Shane Flanagan ever crack a smile ?
Enough for now. Looking forward to feed you this sort of tripe all season. Now there’s something to look forward to.
Go the big red V
