England players represent a tiny proportion of the SL as a whole and a number of them play in the NRL - how is it the likes of Cooper, Widdop, Hodgson etc can still perform in the NRL at a high level with a shorter pre season

Lets not forget these are PROFESSIONAL sportsmen who are PAID MONEY to play the game.

These are not people who work full time in an office and train twice a week.

Its NO excuse for poor fitness nor playing too many games meaning they are crap.

This is NOT soccer.


PS - Roosters put 40 on Skints. Roosters are 2nd bottom of the NRL - go figure.

Played 50 minutes today, and scored a nice try in a good win against Brisbane.

Still not playing his best though, he should have tackled Roberts on his try (but so should Mansour to be fair) and could have had another had he drifted inside later in the game

No working full time in an office and training twice a week is far, far easier.

Soccer has exactly the same problems as RL. Poor amateur and youth coaching and too many games in too short a time period.

Very very few RL players aren't fit enough. We're talking less than 0.5%.
They might not be conditioned in the right way. They might be too big, or not big enough. But there's a tiny proportion who aren't fit enough.

These fellas are taking massive impacts that are far in excess of anything that happens on an amateur pitch and they're taking far, far more of them. It doesn't matter how well prepared you are for that there is a limit as to how quickly you can recover from it. We've all felt a bit sore the next morning after an amateur game. These lads are struggling to get down stairs and to walk the next morning and the effects last until about the Tuesday or Wednesday after a Friday night game.

No, these definitely aren't people who work in an office and train twice a week.

There was some shocking defence in that game.

Hardaker did ok, a few slip up's, isn't looking outstanding. Defo a personal pass mark. But can't see Penrith giving him a deal over one of their juniors.

Hardaker got to Roberts and should have brought him down. Its a shame he didn't because it was very good play for him to get across field to be in a position to make the tackle. He still looks a bit behind the general play, which is understandable, but looked far more comfortable in the centres.

I reckon he'll be in the NRL next year. He's playing off the bench because whilst he's not quite there he can cover 1-5 which is pretty handy. An off-season would give him the chance to bulk up and train at fullback, which is still where I think he'll end up.

The Cowboys nearly put 40 on us. Cowboys are 3rd top of the NRL. Leeds are 4th bottom of Superleague - go figure?

Er, yeah.

I think you miss the point.

Looked to have some good chemistry with the bulk of the Penrith players - particularly Moylan - but he also appeared to have that at Leeds despite allegedly being a disruptive influence off the field.

You don't have to be a bad / unpopular person to be a disruptive influence. I'm sure we all know someone at work who is a top bloke but acts like a clown all day and generally messes around and distracts people. That's all well and good when things are going well, but when the going gets tough you need rid of these people.

Assuming he wants an NRL gig he'll be working as hard as he can, which given his performances this year for Leeds is almost certainly not the case for most of the year.

m.nrl.com/hardakers-10-weeks-to- ... fault.aspx Not sure what people make of this? This makes it sound like Zak was always coming back. That's not how I saw it.

m.nrl.com/hardakers-10-weeks-to- ... fault.aspx Not sure what people make of this? This makes it sound like Zak was always coming back. That's not how I saw it.

Agreed. Reading between the lines it reads more as though he's accepted no NRL team is going to offer to buy his contract out from Leeds. It doesn't really sound as though returning would be his preference, more like he'll have no choice.

If he does return, hopefully he'll have his head screwed on. He's had a bit of a reality check in the NRL, where he's not a star or anywhere near being one.