NRL is back on again !!

April 6, 2018

Gone with the cricket ... now to the NRL, then again it is now Round 5 of the competition. There was a small mishap on my behalf of the first round game against the Broncos at Jubilee Oval. Security pulled me up and said I could not bring in my camera unless I had a media pass. I contacted the club and met their requirements to bring in a camera with a lens of no greater than 200mm and for non commercial use. I brought in my 70-200mm and I am not selling these photos or attempting to profit off the NRL.

So here we go ... Back to my normal seat on the northern end of Jubilee Oval, that's right not OKI .. not WIN nor is the oval called UOW !!! this was Gypsy's 250th NRL game and they are all for the RedV. Great effort for a champion player, an ornament to the game.

There is no Sam Burgess but I think this is the first time I have seen GI play at Kogarah in real life.

Most of the running of the game was on the other side of field, when I mean running I generally mean all the tries and action tended to be on the southern side of the ground, so there was not a great deal of pics to take but who cares ! the Red V won !! that's 5 in a row and hopefully this leads to a happy year !!

Nightingale taking one up for the team in his 250th NRL game with his specially signed jersey

It's 2-0 and Vaughn is ready to take the kick off

Ben Hunt happy with proceedings 6-0 after Aitken try

Dufty the recipient of a Ben Hunt handoff to lead to a try

Applying more pressure on Souths after the try by Dufty

Surging run by the man made for Origin ... Jack De Belin

Would have been nice to push the crowd over the 17000 mark

Jimmy Graham looking for that elusive try

Frizell going hard even in the 75th minute

Congrats Gypsy on 250 games !! great contribution by him tonight

ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA 16 (E Aitken M Dufty tries G Widdop 4 goals) bt SOUTH SYDNEY 12 (G Inglis C Walker tries A Doueihi A Reynolds goals) at Jubilee Oval. Referee: Gavin Badger, Peter Gough. Crowd: 16,709.

New sports adventure ... the Socceroos !

March 26, 2017

Today was a day to allow me to have a good opportunity to see a Champion player and person, Tim Cahill. The amount of following he brings along where ever he goes is phenomenal. Soccer Australia must be thanking their lucky stars after Cahill agreed to come back to play in the A league as his profile is huge and so many kids are interested to play the world game just because of him. I'm not trying disrespect all the other Socceroos, though even some one as old as me was enticed to drive across the bridge to see Tim train!

Anyways .. kudos to Soccer Australia, and extra special kudos to the players being so professional in their approach.

Final stretches by the players before warms ups

Cahill leads the team off for stroll and applause to the fans that turned up

Y... M... C... A... are they dancing or what

Back to the Footy ...

March 4, 2017

Round 1 of the 2017 NRL season started last Thursday and my beloved Dragons kicked their season off on Saturday against the Penrith Panthers. If you follow the experts the two teams are headed towards different ends of the table by seasons end. Penrith are expected to finish in the top 2 with their skillful yet youthful side who have had another year of experience, where as the Dragons are expected to finish in the bottom 2 as the side on paper does not look a lot different than last year except for a few new purchases.

So with that said it was looking like a bleak, rainy, wet, and cold Saturday afternoon at Kogarah Oval. I got myself comfortable on the Northern end of the ground where I have sat in the same seat for 3 years. Not the best seat in the house but it gives a view close the action without a media pass. I need to find out how to get one of those!

Photo kit wise it's all the same equipment except I got myself a 2nd hand Canon 1.4x Mk II extender to give my 70-200mm a bit more reach. I get 280mm @ f/4.0 now which is still not ideal but hey... its the cheapest way in to the market for a 300mm. No where to rent the Sigma 120-300mm f/2.8 unfortunately so I'm still saving my pennies.

Here are some pics, I'm a bit rusty so nothing seemed to be tack sharp. At the moment I'm blaming myself and not the equipment. So here are some pics for you to enjoy

I get close but the visiting side always warms up on the Northern end of Jubilee. Peachy and Cartwright warming up

No warm up here, no one calls Hiku and Moylan go for an early bomb

Dragons one the front foot early in the first half. Penrith seemed a little flat. Thompson getting involved early and steams on to a short ball to make 4-0

Forwards are really going forward today for the Dragons, but the backs are making it a game of it too

Josh Dugan on the charge early taking a hand off McCrone

It's all in the eyes, Paul Vaughn making a strong debut for the Red V.

Tim Lafai out in the open spaces, which was something rare last year

P train they were yelling out at the ground. Awesome go forward from the props

There was tough defence too, Gypsy helping out the skipper

Widdop didn't do much of this yesterday, his running game was back and reaped in the dividends with 2 meat pies

Frizell was not to be out done by his 2nd row partner, took the line on all game

Thompson goes over for his 2nd meat pie of the day

Waqa Blake goes up high to defuse a bomb

Jack de Belin, contract extension ... shows what he is worth with a powerful run to get over the line

Celebrations all around the try scorer de Belin, but he is no where to be seen

That's half time, the Dragons showing some enterprise with the ball and using it well to be ahead at half time 18 - 4. 2 tries to Joel Thompson and one to Jack de Belin. Rain has held off, let's hope the Dragons continue with their form in the 2nd half.

The less photos in the 2nd half will be a good sign as the Dragons run down Southern end of Kogarah oval and I don't have that angle.

Te Maire Martin tries to spark up his side. Running in to traffic close to the line

Waqa Blake on the charge... not looking good for the Dragons here

Cleary steps inside Frizell, heading towards the try line

The view Russell Packer has when heading into the Panther's defensive line

After Thompson scores his 3rd the right side back 3 give the crowd a well deserved applause to making it out to the oval as it was a wet Saturday before the game started

Hopefully not celebrating too soon, 10 to go and up by 32 points

Former Dragon trying to lift his Panthers late in the game, Trent Merrin takes the line on

Winners are grinners, Nene McDonald successful as a Dragon in his first NRL game in the Red V

A real positive result today 42-10 winners. Dragons go forward was excellent and they used all that domination in a positive manner to score some really nice tries and weren't always relying on putting the boot to the ball to cross the white line, which was pleasing to see.

It's the first game of the year, and it's a long season. If we see more of this then it can be a promising season ahead. Not getting ahead of myself but it's always a good week ahead if your footy team wins!

Dragons 42 (Joel Thompson 3, Gareth Widdop 2, Jack de Belin, Cameron McInnes tries; Gareth Widdop 7 goals) def. Panthers 10 (Waqa Blake, Tyrone Peachey tries; Nathan Cleary 1 goal) at UOW Jubilee Oval. Half-time: 18-4 Crowd: 7,283.