I don't understand this thinking that having dominant teams is a weakness. I mean, I do actually get it and I agree with it, but why is it never applied to other sports?



Would journalists say that a great weakness of the premier league is that only a few teams are a chance? Brazil and Germany have featured in just about every FIFA World Cup final there has been but that's never cited as a weakness in the sport. Ditto for football and tons of other sports.



It's a positive article but you can tell it was wrote by some yawnion type based on the opening propaganda.

Huw Richards reports on rugby union as well as rugby league, for the Financial Times as well as the New York Times. But he has always been appreciative of rugby league and the skills of rugby league players. A few years ago he wrote a marvellous account of the final game of one of the Kangaroo Test series against England for the FT. It was a match that featured one of Darren Lockyer's most brilliant international performances. I gave a copy to Wayne Bennett (who I think must have been the Kangaroos coach at the time) and asked him to pass it on to Darren. It was trophy room stuff.

I just noticed that this article will be published in the International New York Times (formerly known as the International Herald Tribune), not in the print edition of The New York Times proper, which is published only in the USA and Canada. This makes it less likely that President Obama and Vice President Biden will read it. However it guarantees that it will be appearing on the streets of Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East in a timely manner. The big money men of Europe, Asia and the Middle East should be advised on how and where to watch the game.

really is no pleasing some people

Gold!

Not the kind of people you particularly care for?

Im sure one or two slipped through the net but "hundreds of thousands" is an exaggeration of the highest order.