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Booze-free launch to NRL 2010 BRAD WALTER
March 4, 2010 .
Aye, aye skipper ... the 16 club captains parade on a barge at yesterday’s launch of the 2010 NRL season. The NRL announced it has secured extra sponsorship revenue this year. Photo: Ryan Osland
ASKED if he felt the Eels had a stronger team this season than when he led them on their stunning run to last year's grand final, Jarryd Hayne told reporters: ''Yeah, a lot of the boys can lift a lot more weights, so they're stronger.''
A year after Johnathan Thurston kicked a ball off Sydney Tower into The Domain where Brett Stewart officially launched the 2009 season just 36 hours before disgracing himself at a boozy Manly function, there was little alcohol or glitz and glamour when the NRL did so again yesterday.
Just bad jokes.
''There's no truth to the rumour that Willie [Mason] and I will be doing a reality dieting show in the boardrooms of Australia, called My Boardroom Rules,'' said NRL chief executive David Gallop in reference to Mason's criticism of the ''fat businessmen'' on the Roosters board who wanted him out of the club.
In a deliberate shift away from the up-market functions that have launched the season since Greek singer Yanni entertained a 1000-seat black-tie dinner at Sydney Entertainment Centre in 1995, yesterday's event doubled as a media opportunity with two leading players from each club taken to ANZ Stadium for a morning of photo shoots and interviews followed by a buffet lunch.
NRL officials say the season has been under way since the All Stars match on the Gold Coast on February 13 and the anticipation of fans is already sky-high.
''The competition is going to be closer than ever, it is going to be more exciting than ever and I can't wait for it all to start,'' Gallop told the small audience of players, club chiefs and journalists.
''Who isn't interested in how Sam Burgess is going to go at South Sydney or how Benji [Marshall] and Lote [Tuqiri] are going to go at Wests Tigers? Who can't be fascinated in Todd Carney, Greg Bird and Willie Mason, and how they will go at their new clubs?''
Or whether Hayne can back up the remarkable feats that last season elevated him to superstar status. ''I'm not sure, we will have to wait and see,'' Hayne said. ''I've trained pretty solid through the pre-season so with a bit of hope and a bit of faith … it would be fantastic. The end of the season was massive and if I get close to there again I will be happy but I think the main thing this year is just consistency and playing consistent football.''
March 4, 2010 .
Aye, aye skipper ... the 16 club captains parade on a barge at yesterday’s launch of the 2010 NRL season. The NRL announced it has secured extra sponsorship revenue this year. Photo: Ryan Osland
ASKED if he felt the Eels had a stronger team this season than when he led them on their stunning run to last year's grand final, Jarryd Hayne told reporters: ''Yeah, a lot of the boys can lift a lot more weights, so they're stronger.''
A year after Johnathan Thurston kicked a ball off Sydney Tower into The Domain where Brett Stewart officially launched the 2009 season just 36 hours before disgracing himself at a boozy Manly function, there was little alcohol or glitz and glamour when the NRL did so again yesterday.
Just bad jokes.
''There's no truth to the rumour that Willie [Mason] and I will be doing a reality dieting show in the boardrooms of Australia, called My Boardroom Rules,'' said NRL chief executive David Gallop in reference to Mason's criticism of the ''fat businessmen'' on the Roosters board who wanted him out of the club.
In a deliberate shift away from the up-market functions that have launched the season since Greek singer Yanni entertained a 1000-seat black-tie dinner at Sydney Entertainment Centre in 1995, yesterday's event doubled as a media opportunity with two leading players from each club taken to ANZ Stadium for a morning of photo shoots and interviews followed by a buffet lunch.
NRL officials say the season has been under way since the All Stars match on the Gold Coast on February 13 and the anticipation of fans is already sky-high.
''The competition is going to be closer than ever, it is going to be more exciting than ever and I can't wait for it all to start,'' Gallop told the small audience of players, club chiefs and journalists.
''Who isn't interested in how Sam Burgess is going to go at South Sydney or how Benji [Marshall] and Lote [Tuqiri] are going to go at Wests Tigers? Who can't be fascinated in Todd Carney, Greg Bird and Willie Mason, and how they will go at their new clubs?''
Or whether Hayne can back up the remarkable feats that last season elevated him to superstar status. ''I'm not sure, we will have to wait and see,'' Hayne said. ''I've trained pretty solid through the pre-season so with a bit of hope and a bit of faith … it would be fantastic. The end of the season was massive and if I get close to there again I will be happy but I think the main thing this year is just consistency and playing consistent football.''
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