• Tackling Cronk a No-No Says Long Lived Andrew Johns

    NRL immortal Andrew Johns has less than complimentary things to say about the play of Adam Blair in the preliminary final, labeling Blair as “a coward for his late shots on Cooper Cronk during the 30 – 0 shellacking the Melbourne Storm laid on the Brisbane Broncos at AAMI Park.

    On a Channel Nine telecast following the game, Johns called one ofBlair’s tackles, “The cheapest shots there is,” perhaps recalling some of his playing days where he was not always known for spending lavishly on his own tackles, but immortal status is supposed to grant immunity from such accusations, at least for the lifetime of that immortal.

    Blair is expected to be confirmed as a New Zealand Warrior this week, so Warriors CEO Cameron George was quick to defend Blair.

    Johns also harkened back to earlier this year, when fellow-immortal Johnathan Thurston, when the NQ Cowboys half demanded that officials afford more protection for play makers.

    Well, gents, rugby is a rough game, played by large men moving at high speeds, changing directions unpredictably, and generally, intent on wreaking havoc on opposing players.

    Cameron, neither a legend nor an immortal, had a different view. Everyone is going to have a view on those type of tackles but if it falls within the rules that is fine and at least we have got a player that is actually chasing and committed to doing the right thing for his team,” George told the Herald on Sunday.

    George is hungry to supply the Warriors with something they seemed to have lacked in recent years, aggression, which during the intimidating Warriors’ years from 2001 – 2003, was abundantly present.

    Hopefully, the NRL is not headed in the direction of the Yanks’ NFL, where the protection afforded to elite quarterbacks has led to indignant outcries to, “Put dresses on them.”