Are You Ready For Some Football?

Greg Inglis on the fly last season

We are just over a week away from the start of the NRL season and to me the offseason has felt like a lifetime. Of course rugby league is once again in the news for reasons besides the actual game, as yet again the face of the NRL season launch has found himself in an off field situation, however I am not going to be discussing that particularly issue while we don’t know all the facts. It’s not entertainment and it’s not worth speculating publicly about.

There is so much to look forward to in the 2013 NRL season and I thought I’d share my thoughts on what I’m excited about:

• OK so this first one isn’t exactly the footy itself, but for the first time I will be playing Fantasy NRL in the draft format traditionally associated with American fantasy sports. It has existed in Australia before this year, but for the first time that I know of it is available for free (because who in their right mind would pay to play fantasy sports?) and if you know how obsessive I am about my Fantasy NBA, I am going to be just as bad when it comes to Fantasy NRL. Although I must admit, in light of recent developments, I’m glad we postponed our draft date.

• For the first time since I wasn’t a toddler the Rabbitohs go into a season with legitimately high expectations. A top four finish with a rookie coach and rookie halfback in 2012 has Rabbitohs fans excited and expecting the club to challenge for the premiership in 2013. It’s a bizarre feeling for a fan not used to success, at least in this sport and after attending the Charity Shield last Friday, my excitement levels to watch the Rabbitohs in 2013 could not be higher.

• A new era in State of Origin. Ricky Stuart is no longer the coach of the Blues and after being very critical of his decisions as coach in 2012, I am hopeful that the Blues will have a real opportunity to end the drought. Queensland is still going to be just as competitive and won’t hand it over, but hopefully Laurie Daley can become the NSW version of his old Canberra teammate Mal Meninga. I know I’m biased but it’s not in the interests of State of Origin for this domination to continue as it has as if one horse always wins in a two man race, eventually the race itself is no longer interesting.

• The new era in refereeing. Harrigan and Raper are out and Daniel Anderson is in and by all accounts, fans and pundits have been impressed during the preseason so far. Refs have been given more licence to make decisions, which should empower them and give them confidence and also they are now required to give an opinion when referring to the video ref. It remains to be seen how it goes, but it can’t be much worse and if it is a noticeable improvement then it will do wonders for the game.

• This one is less excitement and more general interest, but how will the league go without the shoulder charge. Players are bound to do it on occasion almost out of muscle memory and instinct and how they are punished will be of note. Also worth following is how TV networks respond to big hits them they happen, as historically they love promoting the big collisions, both during the game and in their promos and now those big collisions aren’t even legal. Will the game actually suffer like many predict? Or will it simply be a topic of conversation for a few weeks and then no one will care anymore?

• The rookies. Every year I love watching the kids I’ve seen dominating the Toyota Cup (now the Holden Cup, which is going to take some getting used to) coming up and taking the NRL by storm. My favourite young gun who I’m hoping gets plenty of NRL game time this year is Edrick Lee of the Raiders. He debuted in first grade against my Rabbitohs last year, but if he gets his chance in a pretty deep Raiders backline, he is going to be a big-time fan favourite and excitement machine.

• The inevitable controversy. This is weird, but sometimes it can be fun to get angry or worked up about a particular issue in footy. Whether it’s refereeing or rules or a team or whatever else, there will surely be something that gets us debating and arguing over the course of the season and whilst in the moment it might be frustrating, it’s part of what makes us love sport too.

• My team has Greg Inglis. You know… in case you forgot.

What are you excited about heading into the 2013 NRL season?