This article was first written for and published by NRL.com.
I am absolutely convinced that being a sports fan has taken years off my life.
On Wednesday night, watching State of Origin Game II took off another couple of years.
Origin scheduling lets the young guns shine
This article was first written for and published by The Roar.
At this time of the rugby league calendar, State of Origin absolutely dominates the news. I still find it incredible that three games played between two states manages to capture the attention of the rugby league community for a sustained period of at least eight weeks every year.
From the moment the season kicks off, fans are naming their respective State of Origin squads and it almost seems like club football is forgotten in the lead-up to each of the three games.
Ladies who league: The importance of mental health
This article was first written and published for NRL.com.
I know plenty of men that grew up in a world where there were very specific character traits you had to exhibit to be a man.
Messaging like this was common – men do not express emotion. Men are bold. Men are brave. Men do not show weakness. Men are strong, and above all, men do not cry.
Walters finally has the guts to make necessary changes
This article was first written for and published by The Roar.
After the New South Wales Blues defeated the Queensland Maroons with a final score of 28-4 in the opening game of this year’s State of Origin series, many declared that the Queensland Maroons dynasty was finally over.
Were New South Wales fans premature in that prediction? Perhaps. But after the Blues absolutely dominated Queensland in Game I, forgive New South Welsh-people everywhere for being a little bit cocky – we’ve had precious little to celebrate for the last decade.
Ladies who League – Redemption and role models
This story was first written for and published by NRL.com.
A very good friend of mine often describes rugby league as a ‘pantomime’. And it’s a pretty accurate summation. In any given week our game is the source of plenty of joy, much madness and a constant state of controversy.
In most cases at the centre of the joy, the madness and the controversy are our players – and what a diverse bunch they are.
Des’ Canterbury no longer the Dogs of war
This story was first written for and published by The Roar.
Sunday afternoon’s game between the Penrith Panthers and the Canterbury Bulldogs was one of the strangest matches I have watched in 2017.
After being heralded as Premiership favourites at the start of the year, the Panthers went into this game having made wholesale changes to their squad. With Peter Wallace out due to injury, Mitch Rein finally made his Panthers debut at hooker.
Women’s Sport Weekly Wrap: Origin double header on the cards
This article was first written for and published by The Roar.
I have a confession to make. Netball has never been a sport I have taken much interest in.
It started in school when during term three my options for sport were hockey or netball. I opted for hockey and throughout my teenage years and into adulthood my interest in hockey meant I never watched netball on television and knew very little about the Australian Diamonds.
That all changed quite suddenly last year when Samsung released the ‘Rethink Role Models’ campaign. If you haven’t taken a look at that campaign, I encourage you to do so because it has slowly become my favourite sporting campaign ever. It is especially powerful if you are the parent of daughters.
That time I met Blake Austin at the Auckland Nines
The Canberra Raiders are a club that I have tremendous respect for.
It is no secret that for me, what happens off the field for a sporting team is just as important as what happens on the field and in my years of supporting rugby league, the Raiders are a club that have taken player behaviour off the field just as seriously as they have their performance on the field.
Why a Sharks win meant so much to me
I should begin this story be absolutely reaffirming that I am and always will be a Parramatta Eels supporter first.
Over the last 24 hours though, you may have seen me out and about in a Cronulla Sharks scarf. You may have heard me singing ‘up, up Cronulla’. You may have seen me celebrating as if it was my team that had just won a Grand Final.
Last night, it was not my team that won a Grand Final, but the Cronulla Sharks are always a team that have always been special to me. Last night’s victory meant a tremendous deal to me and I would like to share why.
Farewell Parramatta Stadium, thanks for the memories
This article was first written for and published by The Roar.
People often ask me where my interest in rugby league began.
I grew up in a house with two brothers and a dad – all of them sport crazy. After the Konstantopoulos kids played sport on a Saturday morning, sport would be on the television screen, whether it was cricket, rugby, AFL, the Olympics or horse racing. But the most common sport to grace our television screens was rugby league.
When I was eight years old, I remember wanting to spend more time with my dad and brothers on the weekend. I would see them sitting together on the lounge to watch the footy together so thought that might be a good place to start.