Bluenose5

Well done Scotland on their victory and celebrations As for Australia well can't really take much out of that match in horrendous conditions really and without a few usual starters. Had to laugh at Genia shivering all game, he just wanted to come off and head into the changing rooms so much!

Good to see the Flyers get one over the Pens today away from home. My predictions are Canucks, Blues, Hawks, Wings, Rangers, Bruins, Devils and Flyers.

To be fair to the Leafs they are only 3pts out of a playoff spot so far so doing fairly well as for my Habs they beat us this morning to add to our miserable season so far. Everyone especially in Canada who doesn't support either the Habs or the Leafs wishes their own team had the support both Montreal and Toronto give to their team, especially Toronto for such a big team to have under-achieved for so long.

Surprised me too. I guess because we just think that because QLD have dominated the State of Origin for the past like 6 series that we think there will be more banana benders in the top 50 list but when you look at it they have got so much success from having a stable origin side that rarely changes players and therefore know each others games alot better than NSW who seem to have a brand new team just about every origin series. As for your Manly I think they wont be in the final again this season but they will still be in the top 8 and make the finals, Des Hasler might have gone but its still the same squad there. Would be funny if the Bunnies did finally win a premiership

No worries Swarley mate. Players with their origin. 1. Cam Smith (QLD) 2. Johnathan Thurston (QLD) 3. Billy Slater (QLD) 4. Benji Marshall (NZ) 5. Paul Gallen (NSW) 6. Cooper Cronk (QLD) 7. Greg Inglis (QLD) 8. Glenn Stewart (NSW) 9. Darius Boyd (QLD) 10. Josh Dugan (NSW) 11. Sam Burgess (England) 12. Jarryd Hayne (NSW) 13. Kieran Foran (NZ) 14. Mat Scott (QLD) 15. Luke Lewis (NSW) 16. Adam Blair (NZ) 17. Todd Carney (NSW) 18. Michael Ennis (NSW) 19. Brett Stewart (NSW) 20. Justin Hodges (QLD) 21. Robbie Farah (NSW) 22. Chris Sandow (QLD) 23. Sam Thaiday (QLD) 24. Terry Campese (NSW) 25. Kurt Gidley (NSW) 26. Daly-Cherry Evans (NSW) 27. Akuila Uate (NSW) 28. James Maloney (NSW) 29. Greg Bird (NSW) 30. Anthony Watmough (NSW) 31. Mitchell Pearce (NSW) 32. Gareth Ellis (England) 33. Issac Luke (NZ) 34. Matt Cooper (NSW) 35. Dave Taylor (QLD) 36. Simon Mannering (NZ) 37. Petero Civoniceiva (QLD) 38. Tariq Sims (NSW) 39. Jamie Soward (NSW) 40. Brett Morris (NSW) 41. Manu Vatuvei (NZ) 42. Michael Jennings (NSW) 43. Kevin Locke (NZ) 44. Jason Nightingale (NZ) 45. James Graham (England) 46. Matt Bowen (QLD) 47. Corey Parker (QLD) 48. Shaun Johnson (NZ) 49. Tom Learoyd Lahrs (NSW) 50. Nate Myles (QLD) All up there is 15 QLD, 23 NSW, 9 Kiwis and 3 English.

Thanks mate. It is amazing that the NZ Warriors dont have anyone in the top 20 even when I think they should especially with the likes of Maloney and Johnson. They are my tip to win the premiership this season because they have so much depth and quality all over the park and the only players they have lost have been Hohaia who wasn't getting much game time anyway and also Heremaia to the SL along with the coach Ivan Cleary to Penrith. They are just a very strong team and if need be can call up quality players from their U-20 Toyota Cup squad who have won that the past 2 seasons. They might have to ground out some games to begin with this coming season with a few big injuries at the moment but they are more than capable of doing it. Unfortunately they are my teams biggest bogey side, especially when its like a home game crowd for them when they play here in Melbourne! There is alot of diversity in that list but its also good to see its not just a list full of us Aussies but there is a good mix with plenty of Kiwis and some English in there too. I never really took much notice of that! To be fair to them they did have Darius Boyd playing for them last season who is the list at #9 who has left to go to Newcastle Knights this coming season along with the coach Wayne Bennett who he follows around like a lost puppy dog.

Didn't want to clog up the Super League thread with non-SL Rugby League stuff so thought I would dig this old thread up and post it in here. For anyone who has any sort of interest in the NRL, the Sydney Morning Herald named their top 50 players in the NRL list. Like always there is some controversy as to who should be where etc but here it is anyway. I added the teams next to who the player plays for. 1. Cam Smith (Melbourne Storm) 2. Johnathan Thurston (NQ Cowboys) 3. Billy Slater (Melbourne Storm) 4. Benji Marshall (Wests Tigers) 5. Paul Gallen (Cronulla Sharks) 6. Cooper Cronk (Melbourne Storm) 7. Greg Inglis (South Sydney Rabbitohs) 8. Glenn Stewart (Manly Sea Eagles) 9. Darius Boyd (Newcastle Knights) 10. Josh Dugan (Canberra Raiders) 11. Sam Burgess (South Sydney) 12. Jarryd Hayne (Parramatta Eels) 13. Kieran Foran (Manly Sea Eagles) 14. Mat Scott (NQ Cowboys) 15. Luke Lewis (Penrith Panthers) 16. Adam Blair (Wests Tigers) 17. Todd Carney (Cronulla Sharks) 18. Michael Ennis (Canterbury Bulldogs) 19. Brett Stewart (Manly Sea Eagles) 20. Justin Hodges (Brisbane Broncos) 21. Robbie Farah (Wests Tigers) 22. Chris Sandow (Parramatta Eels) 23. Sam Thaiday (Brisbane Broncos) 24. Terry Campese (Canberra Raiders) 25. Kurt Gidley (Newcastle Knights) 26. Daly-Cherry Evans (Manly Sea Eagles) 27. Akuila Uate (Newcastle Knights) 28. James Maloney (NZ Warriors) 29. Greg Bird (Gold Coast Titans) 30. Anthony Watmough (Manly Sea Eagles) 31. Mitchell Pearce (Sydney Roosters) 32. Gareth Ellis (Wests Tigers) 33. Issac Luke (South Sydney) 34. Matt Cooper (St George Illawarra Dragons) 35. Dave Taylor (South Sydney) 36. Simon Mannering (NZ Warriors) 37. Petero Civoniceiva (Brisbane Broncos) 38. Tariq Sims (NQ Cowboys) 39. Jamie Soward (St George) 40. Brett Morris (St George) 41. Manu Vatuvei (NZ Warriors) 42. Michael Jennings (Penrith Panthers) 43. Kevin Locke (NZ Warriors) 44. Jason Nightingale (St George) 45. James Graham (Canterbury Bulldogs) 46. Matt Bowen (NQ Cowboys) 47. Corey Parker (Brisbane Broncos) 48. Shaun Johnson (NZ Warriors) 49. Tom Learoyd Lahrs (Canberra Raiders) 50. Nate Myles (Gold Coast Titans) I think Matt Scott and Adam Blair should be ranked higher than they are and I think Michael Ennis and Sam Burgess shouldn't be in the top 20. Shaun Johnson should be ranked better and same with Akuila Uate.

Have to give us credit when it is due too though, we have played very well and its not all down to India playing bad. Got to laugh at the Indian media whingeing about the WACA curators giving the wicket a traditional blessing the night before the start of the 3rd test

I agree with you, just saying banning Canadians wont help it at all. Crosby would get in and then get another hit and be out injured for another stretch, one of the softest players going about. Get more Habs players in!

Then you would have an all-star game without any Canadians. Did anyone see the HBO 24/7 series of the Flyers/Rangers lead up to the winter classic? If you can I suggest you watch it, its a good insight into what the players and management go through in the regular season. There was a series for the Caps/Pens winter classic game last season too.

Welding masks? Same could be said about our team 2 years ago with an ageing team and basically a near enough whole changing of the guard happening with lots of retirements which is why we are now in the rebuilding stage.

Chef-key Kooky

Not a footballer but a rugby league player over here by the name of Petero Civoniceva gets called Petrol 70c a litre.

As a_mac has said Parra and Manly have a big rivalry so better sticking with Parra cant stand Manly being a Storm fan myself haha NSW have made a huge improvement since Ricky has been back in the hot seat and it was quite obvious they were pinpointing their attack down QLD's right wing but Jennings and Uate I felt did a much better job on the other side compared to Gasnier and Morris. Wouldn't be suprised however if the blues won game 2 in Sydney but QLD winning back up in Brissy, disappointing to hear there is still 20k tickets still to be sold for the Sydney game, whats with fair weather Sydney fans?

I think the top 4 contenders will be the flyers, wings, pens and canucks. Tampa although faltering a bit of late will always be a darkhorse. Anything can happen though, look at last season for instance the Caps were high flying a bit like Vancouver is at the moment and then got pumped out of the playoffs straight away by the 8th ranked Habs and the eastern conference final was played between the two lowest ranked teams in the playoffs so playoff form is a must and not just regular season form. As for the Habs was good to see us get a win today against NY Rangers to keep us within touch of Boston thanks to the Pens knocking them over.

The winter classic was a good game. Caps fully deserving of their 3-1 win and could easily have had another if Chimera hadn't of missed that wrap-around. Some decent hits in the game too. As for the Habs, we haven't been faring too well lately and have gone into a bit of a rut. Our 7 game roadtrip wasn't great and we got beat in OT today by the Thrashers at home. Still hanging in the playoffs spots though and would rather us go into a slump now rather than later.

Yeah thats very true, I was living in Toronto at the time and working at the Maple Leafs when all the news broke out and plenty of Leafs fans live in Hamilton as it's not too far from downtown Toronto and the GTA and no NHL team there to follow so Leafs looked at it as another team nudging into a big market for them. With the Quebec Nordiques however it wont be quite the same situation as they have already previously played in the NHL and in Quebec City not all of them are Habs fans as lots of them were old Nordiques supporters. Quebec City is obviously an entirely different city to Montreal and their residents are very proud to identify themselves as being from the capital fo Quebec and the rivalry would resume between them plus its a hockey mad place. All 3 places would be great for the NHL and I'd like to see any of them get a spot in it.

The Pens winning streak has come to a crashing end today losing to the Flyers 3-2. Philadelphia were much stronger on the forecheck which helped them today, lots of good pressure by them. Was good to see OV get in a bit of a bust-up in the Rangers game obviously trying to spark his team to life, same thing Sid did back in November to get them on a winning streak. As for the Habs I just hope we get our game back tomorrow when the Flyers visit as they will be looking for revenge from their last visit to the Bell Centre.

Unfortunately the Habs have just been beaten by the Leafs at the ACC. The match wasn't a classic by any stretch. We just never turnt up in the 1st period and the Leafs to their credit took advantage of that to snatch 2 goals. Closest we ever came to scoring in that period was when we got a breakaway with Cammy missing a clear shot. At least he made ammends in the 2nd with a good goal. Was good to see Alex Auld get a game in goals which is quite rare. Leafs got their 3rd goal late on in the 3rd period with an empty net. To be fair they deserved their win and I wish we had of turnt up in the 1st period and we may have got something out of this. Looks like a decent read, will have to look out for it. To be fair though there is no such rivalry between Scottish/Protestant Canadians and French Canadians these days, especially in hockey. The only rivalry/animosity that there is really is some of the francophone community would rather Quebec be seperated from Canada. There was talk last year that a team would be set up in Hamilton in Ontario if there was going to be a spot left by Phoenix if they folded there but nothing came of it. I would much rather see the old Quebec Nordiques enter the NHL again if this was to happen rather than a team in Hamilton or Winnipeg but I agree it should go to Canada though.

That would be me. I have lived in both Montreal and Toronto and have never heard such a thing about Catholics and Irish supporting Montreal and Protestants and Scots supporting Toronto, religion has nothing to do with sport over there. By the way I dont pick who I support in any sport based on religion if thats what your getting at?

Habs had a good 5-1 win against the Devils yesterday even though the Devils are struggling its always good to get a comprehensive scoreline, just hope we back that up back at the Bell Centre again the Sharks tomorrow. Also good to see Vancouver finally record a win against Chicago, especially a shut-out in Chicago too.

A nice 2-0 victory over the Leafs today at the Bell centre. Keeping the Leafs to a shut-out is great as there are always usually plenty of goals in these games. Still sitting top of the Northeast but have Boston breathing down our necks, at least them along with Buffalo got beat today aswell.

Watched the Habs-Flyers game yesterday too and was good to see us get a shut-out. Carey Price was umbelievable in goals aswell. Looking forward to the Leafs coming to the Bell Centre on the weekend, bring them on! Edit: NY Rangers vs Boston Bruins looks like it could be a good game, hope the Rangers belt them.

I dont dislike Crosby at all, I just have never really liked the Pens even before they made the Stanley Cup final two years running. I read today that the NHL will be using a draft type system for the All-Star game where two team captains will be voted for and then they have a night where they do a draft like system picking players for their team, could be quite interesting.

Good past 2 games for the Habs Our win over Vancouver at the Bell Centre was a very close game but we did well on the penalty kill which plenty of teams struggle against the Canucks at and we have struggled in general at so far this season so was a welcome change. Was really good to see us beat bitter rivals Boston today 3-1 especially in Boston. Helps us too that division rivals Ottawa and Buffalo both recorded defeats today. Im with you SuperAlly that I cant stand the Pens either and like to see them get beat.