Briefing notes I
My word, English Paw Patrol sucks so hard
Welcome to The Maroon Observer, a weekly newsletter about rugby league, Queensland and rugby league in Queensland.
Programming notes
While I’m on “holidays” in “England”, service will be reduced. It is difficult to write a full newsletter if you don’t have access to one-half of the newsletter’s remit.1 In lieu, we’ll keep it light and tight.
Things that happened
Peter V’landys’ Racing NSW was audited by the state government’s audit office. They found that publicly-funded projects delivered under the Racing for the Regions program were not run well. Funds were comitted before being officially approved, some projects were completed before funding was made available and there were governance issues whose summation I won’t bore you with. I don’t think these count as significant and that plenty of other public departments would have a similar level of foibles in their procurement, although the lack of oversight from the racing minister and the lack of regard PVL has for justifying the work that he does is very clear. Just chuck it on the pile of PVL mismanagement for later.
In between a hilarious assumption that the lack of print coverage of the NRL in one Perth newspaper matters and news that the NRL clubs are unclear if they will have to pay tax on their PNG bribe expansion fee, NRL club bosses call for meeting with Graham Annesley over frustrations with rule changes. Unclear if this is going to be a “we just want CoNsIsTeNcY” type deal or if they are going to go after the refs or if someone has the balls to point out the obvious. That the meeting doesn’t involve V’landys means nothing meaningful will change. Wayne Bennett urges NRL to fix blowout crisis with radical kick-off rule change, so that should rule him out of being listened to.
There’s definitely something weird about the way the results are unfolding in NRL 2026 that is different to previous seasons. Individual games have been relatively unpredictable in terms of final result but the margins are still elevated (2026 is still on pace with 2021, both at 17.4 points per game through six rounds). While in previous six again-heavy seasons, the typical game has seen a team (usually from a specific handful) get on top after 60 minutes and then blown the doors off, this season rewards whichever team wins the early coin flips for set restarts with control of the game much earlier in proceedings. People will try to blame the refereeing for this, pining for a return to early 20s footy, without going back and re-watching how bad that 2020-22 period was.
Add Moana Pasifika to the pile with the Sunwolves, Jaguares, Melbourne Rebels, Worcester, London Irish, Wasps, the South African exit from Super Rugby and the disaster of Welsh mergers to the ever growing pile of rugby union failures in the 2020s. Moana Pasifika is a great example of what happens when a franchise is contingent on government and governing body funding for a set period.
Titans launch Chargers-inspired heritage jersey. Looks neat but not neat enough for me to attempt buying one. Gold Coast fans might want to look away for the next bit but this is your heritage? A team that was around for three years? That made finals once, in a second tier league? That's what you want to go with? The fuck did the Chargers ever do, other than look period appropriate?
What to do with the post-Easter lull? Speak to Shane Richardson, then Steve Johnson, then Peter V’landys and finally Ben Ikin. Slap a few million dollar price tags and a couple of bombshells on it, pull together a fantasy team and you’ve manufactured five stories from nothing while restating the obvious (another Queensland NRL team would probably do ok). Even the other guys can get in on the act.
Brisbane introduces ‘tall over sprawl’ strategy in bid to meet housing demand for next 15 years. Just letting everyone know, if you make unfavourable comparisons to world cities in Asia, it comes off as super racist. Singapore seems fine. I presume we just need an underclass of poorly treated migrant labourers to provide us (that is, white people) with the lifestyle to offset the frictions caused by increased density. Also, a bunch of towers around Carindale, or even in West End, doesn’t really compare to Asian cities.
Stats pop
The competition pages have been updated to round 5 on The Almanac. I realise round 6 has subsequently happened but go check it out anyway. Note that club pages will be updated at the end of each season.
The usual disclaimer on player stats applies: the live regression underpinning denominators is subject to sample size, so can change a quite bit later on, and may need a revision in any case as the stats seem overwhelmed by try scoring. The next couple of weeks will be working on a combination of a) nothing (most likely), b) advanced metrics to fill out the paywalled part of The Almanac, or c) Super League stats.
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Intermission
Not the biggest zoo guy in the world but Singapore Zoo gets a solid 3.5/5 from The Maroon Observer. It needs to be air conditioned though.
Upcoming slate
Nickelware
Read this
Eye Test - The return of expected run metres and the Cowboys, plus Storm, Wahs and Tigers
Campo - How Wests Tigers veteran Alex Twal defied the odds to transform his NRL career
Beyond the Goalpost - Khaleesi
One Percenters - The Buffering Wheel
The Sportress - Six again: Another week in paradise
Storm Machine - Game 747 – S29E06 Review
Notes
New head coach for Fiji Bati is imminent, with Rajesh Singh now confirmed as chairman of the FNRL. Still no announcement as far as I’ve heard but interesting that at least two of the ten teams in this year’s men’s World Cup don’t have coaches in April. Depending on who the coach is, the Fiji NRL wants a team in NSW Cup either next year or year after. For reference, the Silktails are 5-46-1 in Jersey Flegg since 2024.
Be THE Dragons. It’s the coverage that Dave Riccio brings that makes the NRL special.
Jacek McLaurin breaks silence from hospital with emotional vow to walk again
Munster & Grant Are Coming to Rockhampton for the opening of the new Browne Park
Peter Dutton appointed to Queensland Investment Corporation board by LNP government. It would be a shame to waste the leadership talents of a man who delivered an historic landslide to the other guys.
I am not paying for Watch NRL given I already pay for Kayo and I don’t seem to have access to Sky Sports.