The Grapple

Grapple Global returns to Austrayan shores in the aftermath of a perfect sporting weekend, delivered via the nation's oval shaped codes. Perfect why, you asketh? Well, we'll tell'eth. It's not the results, although they are spectacular for Roosters/Knights/Lions/Wallabies fans. It sure aint the gruesomely medievil injury incurred by the NRL's golden boy. And there's no f**king way anything resembling perfection will ever come from the whistle of Wallaby nemesis Andrea Piardi.

No friends, it was soul music playing the sounds of sporting wonder. It was a convergence of 3 regular foes across 4 glorious games, crackling with the energy of glory and despair, faster than the biggest coaster at the theme park, and far more entertaining.

So pop an ear or two over the latest Grapple'isation of everything right, wrong and mildly inaccurate about the phenomeena that unfolded over the final weekend of September.

Heroes return, technology tests, opinions flow, insight dazzles.

The Grapple is back from a short hiatus. All hail our new emperor, PVL Palpatine.

It's a delightful tonic for a wounded state. Going down in a humbling to the Blues in a cauldron decider is heavy hitting for Queenslanders.. so our heroes figured why not cheer them all up by going all in with a heavy hitting Queenslander?

Even the Bluest of Blues will get a tickle from the tales spun by the one and only Trevor Gillmeister.

Our heroes have done well.

Don't worry about Origin 3, 2026 Queensland fans. A minor blip in an illustrious history full of devastating warriors. On that note, enjoy this deep dive into the life, career and inner most everythings of one of the Maroons greatest hitmen. They call him the axe for a reason, and our heroes have a bloody good chop at finding out what makes him tick. Dig it, or if you're Trevor Gillmeister, cut it in half.

Lewis to Miles, Miles in the clear, TRY time.

A version of the above was a very frequently used line in the 80's, as the REAL inventor of the flick pass cemented his legend in one of rugby league's most storied backlines.

Gene Miles almost didn't make the journey from Townsville to Brisbane when the BRL came calling. The fact he did was a win for the rest of us. Strap yourself in as our heroes go deep with 'Geno' on his career journey, from the halcyon years of the BRL, to the birth of the Broncos, Kangaroo Tours, and Wally's go-to guy in the legendary Maroons backlines of the concept's golden ago. Part 2 of a 3 part special state of Origin series- DIG IT.

A series won a series lost,

A sacred setting, a twisting plotm

Maroon and blue, the chase and the hunt.

And a whistleblower who apparently doesn't hate a punt

Time to grapple with Ashley Kleins tough week, state of origin, and Australia's best ever FIFA World Cup display.

Time to work out who wins Origin 2 and why the league press carves out conflict narratives, not unlike villainous media mogul Elliot Carver in the 1997 Brosnan Bond entry Tomorrow Never Dies. 'Tell me James, do you still sleep with a gun under your pillow?'

And, for fans of the 90’s spoof classic Hot Shots 2, time to work out why we bought helium.. Instead of air.

Life. Grapple. Dig.

'That's not a try, that's a miracle.'

An especially special State of Origin adjacent special from our heroes, who go deep with Maroons legend Mark Coyne. From the BRL in the 80's, NSWRL in the 90's, to THAT try, it's a Grapptacular lens into some vintage rugby league folklore. And it's all yours. Tell your mates. Go the Maroons.

And so we arrive at a critical juncture

Premiers buckling like a cyclist with a puncture

FIFA takes over, Ben Stokes goes on a bender

As Aussie crickets crisis reaches a crescend..a

Studio transition pains have forced our heroes into a hibernation at an inopportune time of year. Only a marginal amount of time is wasted getting asses back into gears and the Grapplers are back into it, despite dealing with a few ongoing auditory and technical pieces of evil that they can only express widespread listener apologies for. 

Origin is well and truly afoot and the teams are dissected with the gentle touch of a year 8 biology student tearing into an unsuspecting mouse corpse. A reverant Mt Rushmore of all time great Origin finishes takes us all down a nostalgic hallway to piece together just why this concept is so bloody enduring. The NRL is broken down into 3 convenient QLD based teams for analysis, while the FIFA world cup is analysed with the analytical depth of a petri dish by by the same year 8 kid who ripped the mouse apart a few sentences ago. Our Grapplers may have lost a bit of touch with the world game since the 2006 world cup but they will join millions of others in firing up for a foreign winner of personal choice, while riding the Socceroos as far as they can manage. And hopefully having more luck in covering it all than Somalian ref Omar Artan had getting into the host country.

Elsewhere, cricket is still happening and Australia’s proud history of the odd colored clothing calamity marches on in Dhaka. Amid it all, a pause, a nod, and a sincere hat tip to the Rabbitohs and NRL world for its outpouring and recognition of Jai Arrow’s awful plight. In a season where the fans have been dealing with more emotionally confronting headlines than most.

But there is always hope. Because there is always Grapple.

Its that time of year, state vs state, mate vs mate

Bill's team looks good, Lozza’s is strong, but who’s will be great?

Amongst all this the game is under heavy fire, the best judges have grave fears

All we can say at The Grapple.. we’ve been telling you this for years….

A year ago.. this sydney born, bondi raised pom could only dream of being suspended in an origin match

NEXT week… his dreams of completely ruining his teams fortunes comes true.. in a wash of sky blue

Northward… and it's a little blonde haired halfback from Ippy

That's right NSW… ANOTHER one., Go FUCK yourselves

Because Sam hadn't even Walked on to an origin field before the comparisons began

Driving the narrative… the rugby league media.. besotted with the fact a bloke who isn't very tall and has light shaded hair comes from a town with a population of just under 300K… and plays rugby league

COULD it be… that this one town… drenched in an obsession with the sport… could produce not one, but 2, little blond haired champion halfbacks in the space of 50 years, whilst the whole state of NSW, all 7 million of you half wits, struggles to produce 1

He’s blonde and he’s shorter than most… but he’s blonde.. and he kinda reminds us of another bloke. Whos name wasn't walker.

And don't forget.. Allan Langer also came from Ipswich. We could’ve dragged him home from an English Nursing home to beat you f&cktards..but we don't need to. Because we've got A LITTLE BLONDE HAIRED CHAMPION FROM IPSWICH.

Time to grapple with WALKER

The Chiefs have got their guy, what about the bears?

In more ways than one, down the barrel Bellyache stares

the NRL reckon. the games are not  too fast and injuries are down..

 The more Annersley  digs, the more he just look likes a clown

It's a time of great expansion and industry. From the wharves of Wollongong to the gold mines of the Papua New Guinean highlands, wealth flows between the hands of the governing noble class.

On the Isle of Aus, a pair of sullen heroes brood in typically robust fashion about the man intrigues of the sport known in ancient Latin as 'rugba lego.' They investigate the nuances of contracting and the likelihood of rebellions surviving the forthcoming harsh winter.

As silver crosses oceans and boroughs back home cry foul, the kingdom of NRL forges on with its bold charter. The power radiating from the forge of Moore Parkia doth spell short sightedness, and a brewing storm of great strength from the east. 

Jurisdiction remains centralised to the capitol, and its shrewd and severe sovereign V'landyssss.For it is sovereign V'landyssss casting greedy eyes on swift battlefield victories, without thinking of the toll on the standing army's of his kingdoms 17 ancient houses. The iron fist remains firmly on the throat of what once was a game, and our heroes are the only ones who can possibly stop it.They just need to find their courage.And some new sponsors.