Why do I think the game is rigged??
All you have to do is look at the selection criteria for each team....while the Aboriginal All Stars get to pick the very best they possibly can from the aboriginal race (which if you have seen the team is a stack of stars of the game), the NRL All Stars team is picked by the terrible system of the fans picking two forwards and two backs from every team and then the most voted players across the board are selected.
How about they give the people a full list of every other player in the NRL and let the people slot the chosen players into position just like the process for the Aboriginal side. Just like last year, there will be players in the side that a pick simply to make up the numbers and not because they are the genuine NRL All Stars.
I think it has been intentionally done this way...would there have been a second All Stars Game if the NRL All Stars had trounced the Aboriginal Side on 'thier ' big day. I dont think so.
I think that the Aboriginal All Stars have such a good side that they could stand up to the best of the rest , so this feared annihalation would never eventuate. If this is a real All Stars Game...get the real All Stars on the field.
Replies
The article above has comments from both Gallop and Indigenous All-Starts coach Laurie Daley saying that the public have made some good choices.
It's the Australian public that choose the IAS.
For those with an Aboriginal background, it's a chance for them to represent their people, culture and heritage.
It's a fantastic initiative and thank goodness we have guys like Preston Campbell who first raised the idea.
1: Slater
2: Hayne
3: Kenny Dowel
4: Gordon
5: Uate
6: Lockyer
7: Carney
8: Shillington
9: Smith
10: Moi Moi
11: Lewis
12: Smith
13: Creagh
14: Luke
15: Taylor
16: Burgess
17: Weyman
Being a pre-season fixture does it really matter who wins??
If you are NOT selecting players to win the game - what the hell are you doing?
Why can't ALL remaining non indigenous player be considered for the AS?
IF it is nothing more than a "promotion" then why is it being marketed as a contest and not an "exhibition" match?
Simon says - it is rigged and for the exact reason you have stated - "the contribution made to it by Indigenous Australians"
Why bother watching a match when you already know who the winner is going to be?
That's not to say that the game is rigged though. By 'rigged' Simon implies that the NRL have preordained the result - no matter which players take the field - and that simply would not be the case. I agree that under the selection criteria, the All Stars team is at a disadvantage but, again, being a celebratory game, the idea is for fans of each of the 16 clubs to see one of their players representing in this match. Obviously, in Origin and Test football, that isn't always the case.
Besides, the same criteria was in place last year and both teams were relatively evenly matched. I didn't hear anybody complaining then!!
Personally, I don't want to see this game take on anywhere near the significance of Origin because of the risk of developing 'bad blood' between Indigenous and non-Indigenous players. Let's face it, at Origin time, New South Welshman and Queenslanders hate each other - and after Origin 3 in 2008, several Qld players couldn't wait for a square up against the likes of Brett White and Ben Creagh. Imagine if that 'dislike' were to transcend to racial grounds??
It would be an unmitigated disaster so perhaps by making this game a little disingenuous via team selection protocol isn't necessarily a bad thing!
Imagine if a Club loses 3 top line players from a pre-season exhibition match - not happy Jan.
It's done like that deliberately, so that the spread across all teams is even, but also, so that as you say, there are no injuries to a club's star players.
-
1
-
2
of 2 Next