40/20 [FortyTwenty, Inc.]

How Rugby League works is changing. From now on every minute matters and every team will have the chance to fulfil its potential.

For more info, see: http://www.extraordinaryrugby.com/

Rugby League - An Extraordinary New Era http://www.extraordinaryrugby.com/ We're changing how Rugby League works. From now on every minute matters and every team will have the chance to f...

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40/20 Review of 2012
(FortyTwenty, Inc. are a sports leadership and event management company based in Somerville, Massachusetts. We run 3 Rugby League teams as well as a Soccer team)

Here is our Rugby League review of 2012:

Things needed to improve from 2011 if we were to have a successful year so in early 2012 we set about making big changes for the Boston 13s and Oneida FC. A 40/20 Director of Coaching was brought in and we recruited well both locally and internationally including former NRL player Dustin Cooper.

Off the field we set about improving things too. We renewed our deal with Kukri Sportswear who provided great playing and training wear for all of our teams in 2012. We also moved Boston 13s and Oneida FC practices and games to Steinbrenner Stadium at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). For those of you that don't know, MIT is ranked as the second highest university in the world after Harvard (Which coincidentally is just 5 minutes from MIT). What an honor to develop a partnership with such a prestigious university!

The first game played in 2012 wasn't at MIT but was in Cranston, RI and involved the 3rd team in our stable, the New England Immortals All Star team. The team is made up of representatives from the 4 New England clubs in the USARL: Boston 13s, New Haven Warriors, Oneida FC & Rhode Island Rebellion. Unfortunately the boys had a tough day against a talented British Royal Marines side and lost 68-12. The 13s and OFC players selected for the Immortals were: Jon Mixon, Tim Prata, Jesse Pearce, Greg Richer, Dan Green, Tam Tran and Matt Troila-Kelliher.

USARL 9s - 19th May in Cranston, RI: The Boston 13s traveled to Rhode Island to take part in the USARL 9s event that featured most USARL teams and the touring New Zealand Police side. On the day the 13s handed debuts to some exciting talent that had been recruited over the off-season: Shane Begin, Casey King, Trevor McKenzie, Jesse Pearce, Rey Berkin and Trent Pirihi. The boys finished a credible 3rd place for entering with such an inexperienced roster. The New Zealand Police won the competition and wowed all with their skill levels as well as their Haka which they performed before the final!

USARL - June: Both the 13s and Oneida FC opened the season with 5 games each in June. Oneida struggled early with 3 defeats (Boston x2 and @ Jacksonville Axemen). However those defeats turned out to be against the best two teams in the USARL and OFC got back on track in round 4 and 5 when they defeated Baltimore 68-28 and followed that up with a tremendous 44-20 defeat of 2011 USARL finalists the New Haven Warriors.

Boston 13s on the other hand set the early pace in the USARL with wins over Oneida FC (x2) and New Haven in rounds 1-3 setting up a huge clash in round 4 at MIT Steinbrenner Stadium versus the also unbeaten Jacksonville Axemen. 13s took an early lead and by the 4th quarter were leading 32-20. Jacksonville however produced a remarkable fightback and ended up winning out 36-32 in the end. All credit to the Axemen for a fantastic turnaround! The 13s rounded off June with a convincing 58-22 win in the New England grudge match versus Rhode Island Rebellion.

USARL - July: After the July 4th bye weekend both teams struggled to get into gear in round 6. Oneida traveled and were defeated by the Rhode Island Rebellion and the 13s suffered a shock 34-30 defeat in the nations capital to a physical DC Slayers team.

The last 2 USARL rounds saw our young Oneida team struggle again with defeats at Philadelphia and at home to DC Slayers who needed a win to make the playoffs. All credit to the boys though who finished a credible 6th place after finishing 8th and last in their inaugural year in 2011.

The 13s finished the regular season like a runaway train. In round 7 they traveled to Baltimore and won out 100-0 and a home game with Philadelphia Fight in round 8 would determine who secured a home playoff tie between the 2 teams. A resounding 44-10 victory wasn't enough to secure a home tie and the 13s would travel to Philadelphia in the USARL semi-finals. The 13s were in the playoffs for the 2nd time in their 4 year history and looking dangerous!

USARL - August: August in the USARL is finals time and the 2012 finals were always going to be special for us with 40/20 winning the tender early in 2012 to host the USARL Championship Game at MIT Steinbrenner Stadium. Before that though, our Boston 13s had to travel to 2011 USARL champions Philadelphia Fight to try and book a place in the final.

The game was played on Saturday 11th August and the 13s boys were too strong on the day. A fantastic team performance earned a 58-18 win and a rematch with the Jacksonville Axemen in the final. Jacksonville defeated DC Slayers 58-0 in the other semi-final setting up a clash of the titans!

For the final, Steinbrenner Stadium was packed to the rafters to witness the USARL's finest in action. The 13s raced out to a 10-0 early lead but the Axemen hit back strong. MVP Matt Keely was hugely influential for the Axemen and Australian center Nathan Tait crossed for 4 tries to make it a tough ask for Boston to respond. The 13s did however, with a well worked try for Mike Bozza and a superb try by import Mick Wilson from a Dustin Cooper kick. The 13s were just 2 points behind going into the last quarter but Tait's 4th try of the afternoon killed off the 13s comeback. The final score being 28-22. The Axemen lifted the trophy aloft but all credit to the 13s boys. They finished 6th in 2011 and improved in 2012 beyond all everyone's wildest dreams.

Best wishes to everyone for a fantastic 2013 and plans are currently in place for a huge season both on and off the field here in New England. Stay tuned to Facebook, Twitter and Youtube for news on developments for our teams in early 2013.

We would also like to use this opportunity to pay tribute to the founder of 40/20 and our 3 teams Mr Mik Shammas. Mik has moved on to work in the family business in Lebanon but will still play an important role in steering the 40/20 operation. Best of luck in your new venture Mik and you will surely be missed here in Massachusetts.

Facebook: www.facebook.com/FortyTwenty
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/FortyTwentyInc

Zak and Josh Fist Pumping Christmas Charity Special

.. courtesy of Super League TV

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ANGRY NRL stars have hit out at a proposed worldwide ban on shoulder charges, with Wests Tigers captain Robbie Farah calling for a review of the decision.

After outlawing the controversial tackling technique at an ARLC meeting on Tuesday, officials revealed they had already been in contact with their counterparts in England and other countries in an attempt to have the shoulder charge banned from all levels of the game next year.

But players and fans launched an immediate campaign against the ruling, with NRL stars taking to Twitter to condemn the decision.

'They will ban tackling next,'' Parramatta's Jarryd Hayne tweeted.

Many players complained that an element of the game that made league unique would now be lost.

''There's nothing better than seeing someone get smashed by a shoulder charge. What a joke,'' Tigers prop Aaron Woods tweeted.

New Roosters five-eighth James Maloney described the ban as the ''worst decision ever made'', while teammate Frank-Paul Nuuausala tweeted: ''Might as well play uppercut yourself. Gonna play soccer now.''

NSW and Cronulla captain Paul Gallen said he was in ''shock'' and noted that most of the highlights reel shown at this year's grand final breakfast featured shoulder charges.

''We don't want players getting hurt, but it's taking some of the toughness out of the game,'' Gallen told Triple M. ''When you have a look at the highlight reels they're all big hits, the fans love shoulder charges.''

Farah told the radio station he wanted the decision overturned. ''It's a bit surprising. I think it should still be a part of our game,'' he said. ''When executed correctly, they're a crowd pleaser; they love it. Your own teammates get a lift.

''I'd like to see it reviewed somewhere down the track and maybe bring it back in some time.''

However, Sydney Roosters doctor John Orchard applauded the ARLC for the ruling.

''Given the concussions this year, it was good management to act to make game safer,'' he said on Twitter. ''If the NRL players wanted to keep the shoulder charge, they needed to ALL stop hitting others in the head. 2012 - too many of them went high.''

A review overseen by Roosters chief executive Brian Canavan found there had been 71 shoulder charges last season - of which 12 had resulted in the player making contact with the ball carrier's head.

Coincidentally, the Roosters have signed Sonny Bill Williams, considered the best exponent of the tactic before his departure to rugby union in 2008, and he recently told Fairfax Media the shoulder charge wasn't a problem if executed correctly.

Warriors fullback Omar Slaimankhel tweeted: ''The hitman is back in the NRL and they have already banned the shoulder charge. Not cool.''

Canavan's report said shoulder charges made up 0.05 per cent of the 142,355 tackles this year and less than 4 per cent of those resulted in injury to the attacking player, but with the average player now four kilograms heavier and 12 millimetres taller than a decade ago the injury risk was high.

The report also found the average G-force of the shoulder charge (measured from accelerometer data taken from GPS tracking) was 76 per cent greater than a conventional head-on tackle (10.682 compared with 6.056).

''We believe this is the time to eliminate a potential risk,'' NRL interim chief Shane Mattiske said.

SHOULDER ARMS ...

‘‘Worst decision ever made ... BANNING THE SHOULDER CHARGE ... if u don’t like the contact sport we play ... maybe MARBLES would be more up Ur alley.’’ James Maloney (Roosters)

‘‘If the shoulder charge is taken out of the game. We should just play soccer this is a joke. Don’t like it don’t play the sport.’’ Josh McGuire (Broncos)

‘‘Almost 100% sure that 100% of the players were happy with how the rules were! ???’’ Wade Graham (Sharks)

‘‘What d hell,just heard d news about the shoulder charge band.R u serious?Thats wat makes out game more entertaining.’’ Krisnan Inu (Bulldogs)

‘‘No tackling will be next.’’ Jarryd Hayne (Eels)

‘‘There was no better feeling getting shoulder charged first run of the game! Sad day for rugby league!’’ Bryce Gibbs (Sharks)

‘‘Is it just me or does it seem like we are doing everything we can to wreck the .’’ Luke Patten (retired)

‘‘Can we also play with a spherical ball?’’ Sam Burgess (Rabbitohs)

‘‘They should ban the ball from rugby league! And play with a fluffy Teddy bear! .’’ Josh Cordoba (Broncos)

‘‘In the famous words of Tana Umaga, this is Rugby (League) not tiddily winks.’’ Adam Henry (Roosters)

‘‘Not fussed by its extinction but an SBW game now might be like going to a PSY concert with no Gangnum!’’ Joel Caine (retired)

Players up in arms as ARLC outlaws the shoulder charge rugbyleaguehq has all the latest news and results from the world of rugby league

The ARL's decision to outlaw the "shoulder charge" is becoming a hot topic, with names such as name such as Robbie Farah, Jarryd Hayne & Dustin Cooper, all disagreeing with it.

Players up in arms as ARLC outlaws the shoulder charge ANGRY NRL stars have hit out at a proposed worldwide ban on shoulder charges, with Wests Tigers captain Robbie Farah calling for a review of the decision.

2013 is set to be a truly historic year for Rugby League Football, all over the world. Not only will it be the Rugby League World Cup 2013 RLWC, but the ARL has disseminated a new rule outlawing the "shoulder charge" (which is anticipated to be adopted throughout all Member nations of the RLIF), "and" the NRL is excepted to name is new CEO!

How do you feel these changes (amongst others unknown) will impact and shape the future of The Great Game?

NRL's new no-name CEO not passionate about rugby league ARL Commission chairman John Grant insists "the deal has not been done" with a new chief executive - but says the game should be prepared for a leader without a passion for rugby league.