 |  |  | |
 | |||
 | |||
 | |||
 | |||
Gibbs, Bryce |
  Bryce GIBBS [Player Stats] + Submit additional information or a correction to this player 
Moodie and Gibbs relegated to the Tigers bench Tue April 10, 2007 by Matthew O'Neill Wests Tigers Coach Tim Sheens has named his team to play Cronulla Sharks at Campbelltown Sports Stadium on Sunday, April 15 - kick off 3:00pm. Jason Moodie and Bryce Gibbs have been relegated to the interchange bench with Paul Whaturia and Chris Heighington promoted to the starting side. Whaturia was a last minute swap onto the bench last week with Taniela Tuiaki promoted. Tauaki has been retained in the starting side for Whaturia's return with Moodie missing out on a start. Heighington comes into the second-row with Todd Payten moving into the front-row. Wests Tigers players will wear pink numbers in the game in support of the National Breast Cancer Foundation. 1 Brett Hodgson (c) 2 Daniel Fitzhenry 3 Dean Collis 4 Paul Whatuira 5 Taniela Tuiaki 6 Benji Marshall 7 John Morris 8 Keith Galloway 9 Robbie Farah 10 Todd Payten 11 Ben Galea 12 Chris Heighington 13 Liam Fulton Subs: 14 Dene Halatau 15 Jason Moodie 16 Bronson Harrison 17 Bryce Gibbs Casualty Ward: Ben Jeffery - Knee, R6 Shannon McDonnell - Hand, R10 Double standards for Mason unfair Wed October 18, 2006 by Chris Riediger No doubt this headline is going to get people's backs up before they even read past this intro. Nonetheless, I am compelled to comment on the double standards of the media and Rugby League fans when it comes to Willie Mason. Everyone knows about "that hit", David Kidwell's huge shoulder charge on Willie Mason in the Tri-Nations opener. There has been plenty said in the media about it, and throughout the internet blogs and on talk-back radio. With the exception of Darren Lockyer's objection to the Kiwi's standing over the prone Mason and back-slapping each other until they were blue to go with the black jersey, there has been little or no comment about the way the Kiwi's reacted after the shot. Now, cast your minds back to earlier in 2006. In Round 2 of the season, the Bulldogs took on the defending premiers, the Wests Tigers, in a match with a very strong buildup. There was plenty of talk in the lead-up to the match by Tigers firebrand Bryce Gibbs; he'd gotten the better of Jason Ryles the week before and was talking himself up in the lead-up to the clash with the Bulldogs much-vaunted forward pack. The Bulldogs won the game convincingly in the end, 47-12, but that was overshadowed by crowd violence and some on-field incidents. Of the on-field incidents, the clash between Mark O'Meley and Bryce Gibbs was the biggest talking point. A quick re-cap is that after much fire and brimstone, Mark O'Meley ran at Bryce Gibbs and in attempting to tackle O'Meley, Gibbs got himself knocked-out by the Bulldogs enforcer. A number of his Dogs team-mates slapped him on the back and congratulated him, sending a few choice words in Gibbs' direction until it became obvious that Gibbs was hurt. The fallout over the following week was that Willie Mason was the primary "bad guy", taunting a prone opponent whilst he laid on the floor and inciting the crowd into acts of "violence" as a result. Mason and the Bulldogs club copped plenty about it, something that I thought was incredibly unfair at the time. Come forward to last Saturday, and now we have Mason on the receiving end of a shoulder charge from Kiwi back-rower David Kidwell. Mason, laying prone on the floor after a horrible headclash with the Kiwi enforcer, is taunted and abused by several of his opponents - opponents that didn't know at that time about his verbals during their pre-game haka. Yet, in the fallout post-match, it's been all about Mason "disrespecting" the Kiwi's and the haka, yet precious little has been said about Kidwell and his team-mates and their carry-on at Mason. In fact, there has been some thinly-veiled praise of the incident, suggesting it was a show of the passion the International game so dearly needs. So, why are there two very different responses to two fairly similar acts of competitive gamemanship? Both incidents involved heavy clashes between two fired up players resulting in one player coming off very much second best, and the other getting the congratulations of his team-mates for leaving someone in his wake. One has to wonder whether or not the responses are more to do with the role Willie Mason, the media's favourite "bad boy", rather than the incidents themselves. My personal opinion on both incidents is simple. It's all fair game in the on-field "war" that Rugby League's game so often become. It part and parcel of what makes our sport so special, and I don't think it either incident deserves criticism. I don't care about what "example" it shows the children who watch, it hasn't hurt the generations of children that have come before this one. There is more violence in your average 6:00pm news broadcast than a weekend full of NRL matches, so I don't see what the fuss is.
|
Privacy Policy | Legals | Terminology | Credits Recommended Screen Resolution 1024 x 768 or higher | All times are Australian Eastern time unless otherwise specified
Rleague.com PTY LTD, operated by Rugby League fans James Stewart (Content, Technical development and implementation), Matthew O'Neill (Content) & Chris Riediger (Content)
Rleague powered by Blood Thirsty Fans
Rleague.com PTY LTD, operated by Rugby League fans James Stewart (Content, Technical development and implementation), Matthew O'Neill (Content) & Chris Riediger (Content)
Rleague powered by Blood Thirsty Fans