{"id":355870,"date":"2023-12-27T18:19:30","date_gmt":"2023-12-27T19:19:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=355870"},"modified":"2023-12-27T21:02:46","modified_gmt":"2023-12-27T21:02:46","slug":"first-bloke-nrl-needs-to-change-the-rules-for-wayne","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=355870","title":{"rendered":"'First bloke': NRL needs to change the rules for Wayne"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 2023 NRL<\/a> season produced some of the best football seen, with one of the great grand finals ever as Nathan Cleary<\/a> rescued the Panthers in the dying stages.<\/p>\n

A number of players emerged as superstars of the game, whether they be rookies or rejuvenated playmakers. \ufeff<\/p>\n

Wide World of Sports' The Mole<\/a> has taken a look at the season that was and reviewed the good times of 2023.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Cummins leaves legends in awe as Aussies take control\ufeff<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Mayor ignites interstate stink with bizarre sledge\ufeff<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> NRL investigating Penrith star's Instagram post<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

KEEPING ON AWARD<\/h2>\n

The remarkable Wayne Bennett<\/a> celebrated his 900th game as coach during the year – a record that may never be matched.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

If they ever include coaches in the Immortals, he should be first bloke in.<\/p>\n

HIGHLIGHT OF THE YEAR<\/h2>\n

The grand final<\/a> – unless you happen to be a Broncos fan – a remarkable late escape by Penrith after they seemed dead and buried midway through the second half.<\/p>\n

Nathan Cleary led the revival that saw the Panthers become the first team in 40 years to win a premiership three-peat.<\/p>\n

\"2023<\/p>\n

FEEL GOOD STORY OF THE YEAR<\/h2>\n

The arrival of the Dolphins.<\/p>\n

After missing many of their major recruitment targets, most critics tipped the boys from Redcliffe to win the wooden spoon.<\/p>\n

The side scored an epic win over the Roosters in a memorable debut and competed for much of the season before running out of steam in the run-in to the finals.<\/p>\n

Will be a big chance for the top eight next year.<\/p>\n

WAH WAH WOW<\/h2>\n

The Warriors were another team expected to struggle, but showed a new resilience to make the top four, with a rejuvenated Shaun Johnson leading the way.<\/p>\n

Rookie Andrew Webster was a popular winner of the coach of year award.<\/p>\n

GOOD KNIGHTS<\/h2>\n

The Knights started the season slowly and coach Adam O'Brien was on the verge of getting the sack mid-year.<\/p>\n

But suddenly the Knights started winning – and couldn't stop.<\/p>\n

With Kalyn Ponga in brilliant form at fullback, they won nine straight to storm into the finals, playing superb attacking football along the way.<\/p>\n

\"Tyson<\/p>\n

MOST STUNNING SCORELINE<\/h2>\n

The Tigers won just four games during the season – but one was a mind-blowing 66-18 defeat of the Cowboys at Leichhardt before a delirious home crowd.<\/p>\n

A few weeks later the teams met again in Townsville and the Cowboys took their revenge, scoring a record 74-0 win.<\/p>\n

VEGAS BABY<\/h2>\n

The NRL has come up with some crazy decisions over the years, and playing a double-header in Sin City seemed right up there with them.<\/p>\n

\"Rugby<\/p>\n

But it's really happening, has been getting the game great publicity in the USA and should be a ripper start to season 2024.<\/p>\n

GAME LOOKING AFTER ITS OWN<\/h2>\n

Rugby league has always been a code that took great care of its people, and so it was late in the season when people came from far and wide to hold a function for former grand final coach Daniel Anderson.<\/p>\n

The popular Anderson became a quadriplegic after a freak accident in the surf but he and his family will have no financial worries after former team-mates and officials dug deep to offer their support.<\/p>\n

DAZZLING DOUBLE<\/h2>\n

After a couple of years in the wilderness, Jamayne Isaako produced one of the year's stunning comeback stories.<\/p>\n

\"Jamayne<\/p>\n

Signed by the Dolphins, he scored both the most points (244) and most tries (24) in the NRL – an amazing feat in a team that didn't make the finals!<\/p>\n

BIGGEST IMPROVER<\/h2>\n

Reece Walsh went from a kid with talent to a genuine superstar following his move from the Warriors to the Broncos.<\/p>\n

\"Darius'<\/p>\n

He set the NRL alight with his attacking skills and helped the Broncos to the grand final.<\/p>\n

He should be even better next year\u2026 scary.<\/p>\n

ISLAND BLUES<\/h2>\n

The inaugural Pacific Island Championship, played immediately after the NRL season, was a great success with minnows like Fiji, PNG and the Cook Islands mixing it with the Kangaroos, Kiwis and Samoa.<\/p>\n

It culminated with a memorable New Zealand triumph in the final, thumping the Aussies 30-0.<\/p>\n

WOMENS WORLD<\/h2>\n

The NRLW continued to grow and prosper in 2023, attracting plenty of people through the gates and eyeballs on TV.<\/p>\n

Officials reported a 14 per cent growth in participation figures as well.<\/p>\n

\"Belinda<\/p>\n

2023 also saw the first female referees control matches, with Belinda Sharpe and Kasey Badger given the honour in round 27.<\/p>\n

TACKLING TYRO<\/h2>\n

Sharks forward Cameron McInnes set a defensive record that may never be beaten in July, making 81 tackles in 80 minutes against Penrith.<\/p>\n

Sadly his team-mates didn't follow his example – Cronulla lost the game 28-0.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 2023 NRL season produced some of the best football seen, with one of the great grand finals ever as Nathan Cleary rescued the Panthers […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":355872,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355870"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=355870"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355870\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":355876,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355870\/revisions\/355876"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/355872"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=355870"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=355870"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=355870"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}