Just to allay anyones fears, I have scouted him on FM and he isn't much chop...
Just to allay anyones fears, I have scouted him on FM and he isn't much chop...
Well I'll be. Ridiculous.Originally Posted by northern_swan
Oh thank goodness for that!Just to allay anyones fears, I have scouted him on FM and he isn't much chop...
lol this is the lead image on the sports page, this will end well.Cover-up as Price off limits for Wanderers
July 12, 2012
Sebastian Hassett
Under wraps ... GWS' plan for Parramatta rugby league legend Ray Price is in the bag. Photo: Brendan Esposito
WHEN the Western Sydney Wanderers play their inaugural A-League match at Parramatta Stadium in October, don't expect to see rugby league legend Ray Price in the stands - and you might not see his famous statue out the front, either.
That's because the Wanderers are considering covering up Price's statue on match days as part of a plan to lessen the feeling that Parramatta Stadium is a rugby league venue and make football fans more ''at home''.
Exactly how the statue of Price - known during his playing days as Mr Perpetual Motion - will be obscured from public view remains unclear, and Football Federation Australia, which owns the club, has not officially decided whether or not to go ahead with the controversial plan.
There's also an outside possibility the Wanderers' might pull the same stunt as performed at Suncorp Stadium on grand final day last year. On that occasion the statue of Queensland's most revered rugby league figure, Wally Lewis, was cloaked in a Brisbane Roar jersey.
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"In relation to Parramatta Stadium, it's a multi-purpose venue owned by the government, so I'm sure league fans would understand why we would want to make it feel like a real football stadium if the Wanderers play there," a club spokesman told the Herald. "There's a precedent here. The Brisbane Roar put a Roar jersey on the Wally Lewis statute at Suncorp Stadium for the 'Orange Sunday' grand final [in 2011], so maybe the Ray Price stature with a Wanderers jersey for home games is the right idea."
The Wanderers have officially committed to playing only their opening match, against the Central Coast Mariners, on October 6, but it is no secret the club will play most of its matches at the venue once it finalises negotiations with Parramatta Stadium Trust.
While only two A-League matches have been hosted at the venue, it is a stadium dripping with football history, having hosted seven NSL grand finals, between 1986 and 2004.
The FFA insists the proposal to cover up Price's cast is not about insulting rugby league but about maximising football's visual presence. It has already announced plans to rename the stands and terraces during the summer months.
An official told the Herald last month the FFA felt covering up any traces of rugby league was entirely appropriate. ''With all due respect to the Eels, we plan on making this a football venue when they're not there, and somewhere football people feel at home,'' the official said then. ''We're going to be a major tenant, an equal tenant, and they'll have to understand our desire that when we're playing there, we'll be putting our touch on the venue, even if that means covering up some blue and gold.
''I'm sure they won't have a problem with it and I'm sure the stadium trust will like the idea of the Wanderers doing all they can to attract people to Parramatta Stadium.''
A Wanderers fan club representative, Sean Herrett, said the plans had the backing of supporters.
"The fans really love the idea of making sure the Wanderers' home games are played in an authentic football atmosphere and surrounds," Herrett said "We want to have a say about naming the grandstands and the terraces after legends of Australian football, like Johnny Warren.
"Why shouldn't the Peter Sterling Hill be named after Mark Bosnich if the Wanderers play at Parramatta Stadium? Why wouldn't why we also cover up the Ray Price statue? That's up to the fans and the club to decide, but I don't think anything has been ruled out at this stage.''
Yet the revamped main entry to Allianz Stadium will have a greater rugby league and union theme than ever by the time the A-League season begins. Statues of Trevor Allan, Dally Messenger, Reg Gasnier and Ken Catchpole enjoy prime position in the stadium forecourt, next to the new Rugby League Central headquarters.
None have ever been tampered with by the lone football tenant, Sydney FC.
http://www.smh.com.au/sport/a-league...#ixzz20M7Ee5f5
Be interesting to see if any newy legends make the cut.FFA ensures game's rich history is no longer hidden away
One of the greats ... Johnny Warren in action for St George in 1969.
Tonight at Darling Harbour, football's alumni will gather to celebrate a first. The unveiling of the greatest ever Australian footballer, an event that carries the sanction of someone who might be a candidate, Johnny Warren.
After six months of preparation, which has included public voting and the input of a panel of experts, we'll find out who is in the pantheon of one. There will also be the unveiling of the greatest ever teams (men's and women's), the greatest ever coach and the greatest ever women's footballer.
Warren, of course, won't be there, having died in 2004, but the great man would be delighted to see his foundation involved in the event, which has also been supported by Football Federation Australia.
The guest list will be as interesting as the outcome, and it seems the cold war that has long existed between past players and current administrators continues to thaw.
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Joe Marston won't be there. ''I'm not much good after seven o'clock,'' he says, but he'll be there in spirit, he assures us.
Fact is, the number of former players who still refuse to have anything to do with the game is steadily diminishing. That's a great thing. All we need now is for Peter Wilson, the captain of the 1974 World Cup team, to come in from the cold, then we'll know the hatchet has been buried for good.
The FFA might have spectacularly blown its own centenary last year, but in truth the governing body has been working hard to make up for lost time in acknowledging one of the pillars of the game. Its history.
Those in residence at Whitlam Square deserve credit for making any progress at all. Perhaps for the first time in the sport's extensive history in this country, and recent evidence has emerged that it was played here long before any other football code, there is an organised and orchestrated campaign from head office to examine and enshrine the past. There's the Hall of Fame and now a panel of historians.
The narrative has always been the missing link. Without the momentum of history, football has been handicapped in its battle for recognition and respect. Eventually, when the past catches up with the present, football will suffer nothing in comparison.
Tonight's gala function is another sign of just how fast things are moving. Writers and historians such as Sid Grant, Harry Hetherington and Keith Gilmour were among the first to delve into archives during the 1960s and '70s, but it was the late Eddie Thomson who broke through official apathy in the '80s when, during his time as coach of the Socceroos, he forced through a crucial breakthrough - the awarding of caps.
For the next two decades the process was more miss than hit, but gradually more and more former internationals were given something they could cherish, and in recent years the cap presentations have come thick and fast. So much so, that before the recent World Cup qualifier in Brisbane, the coveted No.1 cap was presented to the family of Alex Gibb, who was deigned to have been the first-ever Socceroos captain, on the inaugural tour to New Zealand in 1922.
That the claim was immediately disputed tells us that history can have different interpretations. But that matters a lot less than the fact that the game has now given the descendants of Gibb a sense of belonging.
That's been the motive behind the FFA's No.1 project, A-League newcomers Western Sydney Wanderers. To engage the western suburbs by recognising the great contribution the region has made to the game in the past. That past extends back to 1880, when the Wanderers played in the first ever recorded match in NSW.
The name, the culture, the colours, the logo are all about the value of heritage. So much so that when the Wanderers play their home matches at Parramatta Stadium next season, the statue of Ray Price might be covered by a hessian bag, and a new statue of a former Socceroo from the west - perhaps a Mark Bosnich or a Paul Okon - will stand alongside in all its glory.
Finally, football is out and proud.
www.smh.com.au/sport/football/ffa-ensures-games-rich-history-is-no-longer-hidden-away-20120711-21wa6.html#ixzz20M94r3c7
Positive article, shame they had to lift it from the Canberra times. Its strange as it was reported on twitter & that's in the public domain, so JG should have been all over it.Smashing Jets win thrills van Egmond
BY CHRIS DUTTON
12 Jul, 2012 04:00 AM
ON TARGET: Jets new boy Craig Goodwin scores one of Newcastle’s nine goals against Canberra last night. Picture: Colleen Petch
GARY van Egmond’s Canberra mission was to make the Newcastle Jets a tight-knit group, and the coach was rewarded when his team romped to a 9-1 victory over the ACT Rockets last night.
The Jets will return to Newcastle today after tearing the ACT representative side apart with some superb play at McKellar Park.
Striker Ryan Griffiths finished with a hat-trick and veteran Michael Bridges scored a double as the Jets slotted six second-half goals in brisk Canberra conditions.
The Jets have spent this week at the Australian Institute of Sport, where van Egmond was head coach before joining Newcastle.
“It wasn’t just about the game, it was getting away with the players and using the AIS facilities with players living with each other so they’re used to each other on and off the football park,” he said.
“This [training] component is a lot more game-orientated.
‘‘We trained hard the past two days because we wanted them under fatigue so they could carry out the instructions, and to their credit their attitude and performance was excellent.”
The Jets had beaten Northern NSW State League heavyweights Broadmeadow 3-1 in their only previous trial game.
They were not expected to be troubled by the Rockets’ part-timers.
The Jets opened the scoring after just five minutes when Griffiths pounced on a loose ball to give his team the lead.
But the Rockets unexpectedly hit back when Alex Oloriegbe received a gift from the Jets defence minutes later.
Griffiths got his second from the spot before half-time and new recruit James Brown added to the tally to give the Jets a 3-1 lead at the break.
From there the floodgates opened and the Jets’ fitness and finesse dominated.
First it was another new signing, former Melbourne Heart left-back Craig Goodwin, who blasted home a shot from outside the box.
Substitute Bridges extended the lead when his shot was deflected over the goalkeeper’s head.
The Rockets’ task was made even harder when defender Nick Hamilton was sent off with 18 minutes remaining.
James Virgili scored then crossed accurately for Griffiths to complete his hat-trick with a close-range header.
Bridges earned and scored a penalty in the 90th minute before youngster Mitch Oxborrow completed the rout in injury time.
Swiss defender Dominik Ritter was solid in his 20 minutes, and Van Egmond said he was still searching for more attacking options.
“Really happy with the attack, we’ve got some good competition for places and competition breeds success,” he said. “We’ve got another one or two places for attackers, so from a coaching perspective I’m pretty happy with where we sit at this moment.”
Van Egmond started with Griffiths at the point of the attack flanked by Virgili on the left and Brown on the right.
Virgili had a hand in several of the goals in a promising showing after earning few opportunities in the senior squad last season.
Jets starting line-up: Ben Kennedy; Scott Neville, Tiago, Josh Mitchell, Craig Goodwin; Ben Kantarovski, Ben Pepper, Ruben Zadkovich; James Virgili, Ryan Griffiths, James Brown.
http://www.theherald.com.au/news/loc...px?storypage=0
can't believe they haven't written the story on the thomas hitzsperger/carlton cole rumour yet!
OK
Dillon hasnt found the foz again yet...
can't believe they haven't written the story on the thomas hitzsperger/carlton cole rumour yet!
Amigos Aarau
I hope people logged on and voted for reg date
Reg was a dead set legend that should be celebrated with the highest esteem in the Hunter and Australia.
I did not vote as I didn't know about the poll. But I can't believe they would allow something like that to be influenced by a poll anyway. Idiots from Sydney and Melbourne always nullify the validity of any poll.
And idiots voting in polls don't have good memories so you can guarantee that a public vote would likely see Cahill or Kewell as the greatest Australian player of all time.
I certainly did!
I'm OK with the stand renamings but not the covering of statues.
That can only mean angst amongst the bogans and any "sockah" statue put up will be torched or defaced.
Yeah i'm with you. The guy has a statue there recognising his achievements, many of which were at the ground.
Leave it be.
We would all be pissed it another code covered the statue (assuming there was one) of one of our heroes. If Football wants respect from other codes, it needs to show some, and covering up a statue is not how you get respect.
Not to mention the potential fans this would put off in the area.
Strange move and one that would be best left alone.
Why the hell would they even talk about doing this, they're CREATING a situation. Wow.
Deadset stuff up by club or FFA for even mentioning it.
I will defo be reminding you of this post when the prick scores a hat trick against us in Rd 2Just to allay anyones fears, I have scouted him on FM and he isn't much chop...
As he can remind you of this one, if he doesn't!I will defo be reminding you of this post when the prick scores a hat trick against us in Rd 2
We dun 5000 members!!!
http://www.footballaustralia.com.au/...-Members/48078
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