The Grapple

Grapple Global returns to Austrayan shores in the aftermath of a perfect sporting weekend, delivered via the nation's oval shaped codes. Perfect why, you asketh? Well, we'll tell'eth. It's not the results, although they are spectacular for Roosters/Knights/Lions/Wallabies fans. It sure aint the gruesomely medievil injury incurred by the NRL's golden boy. And there's no f**king way anything resembling perfection will ever come from the whistle of Wallaby nemesis Andrea Piardi.No friends, it was soul music playing the sounds of sporting wonder. It was a convergence of 3 regular foes across 4 glorious games, crackling with the energy of glory and despair, faster than the biggest coaster at the theme park, and far more entertaining. So pop an ear or two over the latest Grapple'isation of everything right, wrong and mildly inaccurate about the phenomeena that unfolded over the final weekend of September.

Heroes return, technology tests, opinions flow, insight dazzles.The Grapple is back from a short hiatus. All hail our new emperor, PVL Palpatine.

It's a delightful tonic for a wounded state. Going down in a humbling to the Blues in a cauldron decider is heavy hitting for Queenslanders.. so our heroes figured why not cheer them all up by going all in with a heavy hitting Queenslander?Even the Bluest of Blues will get a tickle from the tales spun by the one and only Trevor Gillmeister.Our heroes have done well.

Lewis to Miles, Miles in the clear, TRY time.A version of the above was a very frequently used line in the 80's, as the REAL inventor of the flick pass cemented his legend in one of rugby league's most storied backlines.Gene Miles almost didn't make the journey from Townsville to Brisbane when the BRL came calling. The fact he did was a win for the rest of us. Strap yourself in as our heroes go deep with 'Geno' on his career journey, from the halcyon years of the BRL, to the birth of the Broncos, Kangaroo Tours, and Wally's go-to guy in the legendary Maroons backlines of the concept's golden ago. Part 2 of a 3 part special state of Origin series- DIG IT.

A series won a series lost,A sacred setting, a twisting plotmMaroon and blue, the chase and the hunt.And a whistleblower who apparently doesn't hate a puntTime to grapple with Ashley Kleins tough week, state of origin, and Australia's best ever FIFA World Cup display.Time to work out who wins Origin 2 and why the league press carves out conflict narratives, not unlike villainous media mogul Elliot Carver in the 1997 Brosnan Bond entry Tomorrow Never Dies. 'Tell me James, do you still sleep with a gun under your pillow?'And, for fans of the 90’s spoof classic Hot Shots 2, time to work out why we bought helium.. Instead of air.Life. Grapple. Dig.

'That's not a try, that's a miracle.'An especially special State of Origin adjacent special from our heroes, who go deep with Maroons legend Mark Coyne. From the BRL in the 80's, NSWRL in the 90's, to THAT try, it's a Grapptacular lens into some vintage rugby league folklore. And it's all yours. Tell your mates. Go the Maroons.

And so we arrive at a critical juncturePremiers buckling like a cyclist with a punctureFIFA takes over, Ben Stokes goes on a benderAs Aussie crickets crisis reaches a crescend..aStudio transition pains have forced our heroes into a hibernation at an inopportune time of year. Only a marginal amount of time is wasted getting asses back into gears and the Grapplers are back into it, despite dealing with a few ongoing auditory and technical pieces of evil that they can only express widespread listener apologies for. Origin is well and truly afoot and the teams are dissected with the gentle touch of a year 8 biology student tearing into an unsuspecting mouse corpse. A reverant Mt Rushmore of all time great Origin finishes takes us all down a nostalgic hallway to piece together just why this concept is so bloody enduring. The NRL is broken down into 3 convenient QLD based teams for analysis, while the FIFA world cup is analysed with the analytical depth of a petri dish by by the same year 8 kid who ripped the mouse apart a few sentences ago. Our Grapplers may have lost a bit of touch with the world game since the 2006 world cup but they will join millions of others in firing up for a foreign winner of personal choice, while riding the Socceroos as far as they can manage. And hopefully having more luck in covering it all than Somalian ref Omar Artan had getting into the host country.Elsewhere, cricket is still happening and Australia’s proud history of the odd colored clothing calamity marches on in Dhaka. Amid it all, a pause, a nod, and a sincere hat tip to the Rabbitohs and NRL world for its outpouring and recognition of Jai Arrow’s awful plight. In a season where the fans have been dealing with more emotionally confronting headlines than most.But there is always hope. Because there is always Grapple.

Its that time of year, state vs state, mate vs mate Bill's team looks good, Lozza’s is strong, but who’s will be great?Amongst all this the game is under heavy fire, the best judges have grave fears All we can say at The Grapple.. we’ve been telling you this for years….A year ago.. this sydney born, bondi raised pom could only dream of being suspended in an origin matchNEXT week… his dreams of completely ruining his teams fortunes comes true.. in a wash of sky blueNorthward… and it's a little blonde haired halfback from IppyThat's right NSW… ANOTHER one., Go FUCK yourselvesBecause Sam hadn't even Walked on to an origin field before the comparisons beganDriving the narrative… the rugby league media.. besotted with the fact a bloke who isn't very tall and has light shaded hair comes from a town with a population of just under 300K… and plays rugby leagueCOULD it be… that this one town… drenched in an obsession with the sport… could produce not one, but 2, little blond haired champion halfbacks in the space of 50 years, whilst the whole state of NSW, all 7 million of you half wits, struggles to produce 1 He’s blonde and he’s shorter than most… but he’s blonde.. and he kinda reminds us of another bloke. Whos name wasn't walker.And don't forget.. Allan Langer also came from Ipswich. We could’ve dragged him home from an English Nursing home to beat you f&cktards..but we don't need to. Because we've got A LITTLE BLONDE HAIRED CHAMPION FROM IPSWICH.Time to grapple with WALKER

The Chiefs have got their guy, what about the bears?In more ways than one, down the barrel Bellyache staresthe NRL reckon. the games are not  too fast and injuries are down.. The more Annersley  digs, the more he just look likes a clownIt's a time of great expansion and industry. From the wharves of Wollongong to the gold mines of the Papua New Guinean highlands, wealth flows between the hands of the governing noble class.On the Isle of Aus, a pair of sullen heroes brood in typically robust fashion about the man intrigues of the sport known in ancient Latin as 'rugba lego.' They investigate the nuances of contracting and the likelihood of rebellions surviving the forthcoming harsh winter. As silver crosses oceans and boroughs back home cry foul, the kingdom of NRL forges on with its bold charter. The power radiating from the forge of Moore Parkia doth spell short sightedness, and a brewing storm of great strength from the east. Jurisdiction remains centralised to the capitol, and its shrewd and severe sovereign V'landyssss.For it is sovereign V'landyssss casting greedy eyes on swift battlefield victories, without thinking of the toll on the standing army's of his kingdoms 17 ancient houses. The iron fist remains firmly on the throat of what once was a game, and our heroes are the only ones who can possibly stop it.They just need to find their courage.And some new sponsors.

The dragon lords did gather.. authoritarian their intent Shitting out excuses.. as out Flanno went  While the kings of men and women bask upon their thronesGazing afar to a land of mist, shadow, and royal bonesFor it is in England the claim of supremacy shall be stakedA super duper investment.. as the turf underfoot doth quake..*********************Tis the winter of sporting discontent, and late is the hour of our grappling this week.A new power is rising.. and it sure as shit isn't coming from head office of St George Illawarra. The dragons bosses have given a blueprint in masterful mismanagement and have got the whole thing all sides of arse up. Flanna-gone smells a bit like a festering Ennis, and the belatedly announced Young replacement has stopped short of an AI generated image of himself as the lord and saviour in his mission to have the fire breathers soaring once more. Where was the NRL on the North Korea style press conference anyway? No one knows.England is in the crosshairs and reasonable efforts to restrict training contact to less than 100 minutes for men and 85 for women are rightly discussed as thresholds unlikely to already be widely met (and news that broke months ago for clubs) - another hat tip on actioning without action on that front.Rugby league and rugby union are enemies according to many ex players and media voices, it's a rhetoric with the same amount of damage potential as the News Corp journos mission to unseat as many coaches as possible as quickly as they can. Lomax is forcing his way into wallaby conversations, but sure guys, let's talk about the insult to both codes that he and fellow code hoppers supposedly represent. And for the love of mercy, wont someone cough up and save Moana?One of our heroes errantly fancies himself as a master tipper, the other confuses Super rugby franchises, but both speak with passion and insight that you're unlikely to have served up at the cheap buffets of mainstream press.So sizzle away grapplers, your fearless weekly smackdown shows no signs of faltering, and the crosshairs will always find their mark.Love. Live. Announce your coach. Grapple.