NFL 2016

booboo

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="antipodean" data-cid="580438" data-time="1463481961">
From Ben Ryan's perspective it's his job to deliver a gold medal for Fiji, not an employment scheme for those who stood in line first. </blockquote>
Whilst I tend to agree with Chris B this is the bit I really don't get. 
I fail to see what he offers Fiji 7s. A player who has never played the game, has put next to zero effort into learning the game, has been actively training to be fit in a way that is completely opposite to how he needs to be for the game just does not seem to be a good outcome for a team setting themselves for a gold medal. 
The cynic in me thinks that there is a dagree of convenience for both sides here. That he isn't seriously in the plans of Fiji, and Fiji aren't seriously in the plans or Hayne. Fiji get some publicity and maybe some cash from Hayne's sponsors. Hayne gets a seemingly viable reason for leaving NFL. 
I expect either a convenient injury or future mutual agreement that he couldn't make that transition in time. 
I look at the Fiji 7s players and do wonder what he supposedly brings that they don't have already in spades.

Chris B.

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="aucklandwarlord" data-cid="580437" data-time="1463481702">
<div>
Wow, not getting on board the Hayne Plane any time soon then?
 
Muscling in last minute is all a matter of perspective though. Have Messam etc all muscled in last minute on the dreams of some of the fringe 7's players? Sure, they've played most of the season with the 7's team, but they have been absent the last few years. SBW essentially "muscled in" on Tohu Harris' spot at the 2013 RLWC at the last minute after he had said he was unavailable. 
 
I place Hayne in the same category as SBW in terms of code-hopping and think it's entirely his choice as to what he does. If Fiji don't want him, they can always say so. I'm sure the team wouldn't be shy in coming forward to tell the coaches and management that, if they really thought he'd be disruptive. 
</div>
</blockquote>
 
Yes - Sonny Bill made a c#nt of himself over the RLWC (IMO, of course) - not for the first time. :)
 
Yes - it is entirely his choice what he does.
 
It is entirely my choice how I regard his choices. I'm not a Sonny Bill fan.
 
It is great to win, but sometimes behaving with a bit of class is better than winning.
 
Actually I recall having a similar discussion (mainly with TR, I think) when Rob Waddell tried to muscle in on the Olympic single sculls boat Mahe Drysdale had qualified while Rob was fucking around being an America's Cup sailor. I was delighted that Mahe won the shootout - albeit when Rob found he had a dodgy heart. 
 
Antipodean - he should have committed months ago - not when he suddenly found then writing on the wall at the 49ers.

Chris B.

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="barbarian" data-cid="580441" data-time="1463482956">
<div>
 
He only played for Fiji because he missed selection in the Aussie team. He may have Fijian heritage, and that's great.
 
But is he Fijian? I don't think so. And I think that is a part of the uneasiness that people have approached this story with.
</div>
</blockquote>
 
And to extrapolate - what odds is Australia paying to win the gold medal? - and did the Aussie coach shut the door on his late entry?

ACT Crusader

It's been on the cards for a while apparently so it is a matter of timing of when he was to join the team for the last couple of legs. 
I really can't see the problem given the way things are with rugby eligibility and the fact players come and go, switch codes, etc as a regular occurrence these days. 
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aucklandwarlord

I would have thought the writing was on the wall with the NFL toward the end of last season when he was cut and no other teams picked him up. The fact he got back into the practice team probably wouldn't have done heaps for his confidence of getting selected again, given there was still the draft to get through

Frye

He ain't been picked in the Olympic squad. Ryan has selected him for London in case he does something miraculous. 
Ryan has nothing to lose. They've basically wrapped up the series already. Hayne has to hit a home run if he's going to be on the plane to Rio, if he doesn't then Ryan has lost nothing but still got a nice little PR boost out of it.

ACT Crusader

Hayne "rested" for London leg [emoji41]

rotated

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="barbarian" data-cid="580441" data-time="1463482956">
<div>
 
He only played for Fiji because he missed selection in the Aussie team. He may have Fijian heritage, and that's great.
 
But is he Fijian? I don't think so. And I think that is a part of the uneasiness that people have approached this story with.
</div>
</blockquote>
 
If you are uneasy about Hayne being Fijian then you will probably have a tough time watching any Australian national teams or Origin.

taniwharugby

I guess we will find out in a few weeks when the Fiji Olympic team is named, and if Hayne misses out we then see Hayne focus on getting himself ready for Fijis next tilt at a World Series crown, and maybe play for Fijis 15s team...

Frye

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="ACT Crusader" data-cid="580608" data-time="1463564131">
<div>
Hayne "rested" for London leg [emoji41]
</div>
</blockquote>
 
Haha well that's annoying.
 
Apparently he'll decide on the final makeup on Friday though.

Frye

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="rotated" data-cid="580615" data-time="1463584150">
<div>
If you are uneasy about Hayne being Fijian then you will probably have a tough time watching any Australian national teams or Origin.
</div>
</blockquote>
 
Well he's playing the London sevens leg now.
Pretty hilarious to hear Australians (ie Peter Fitzsimmons) complain that it's not fair on the guy missing out.
 
I'm sure not a peep would be made if he had ousted an Australian from the Australian squad.

booboo

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Don Frye" data-cid="581127" data-time="1463769082">
Well he's playing the London sevens leg now. 
Pretty hilarious to hear Australians (ie Peter Fitzsimmons) complain that it's not fair on the guy missing out. 
I'm sure not a peep would be made if he had ousted an Australian from the Australian squad.</blockquote>
 
I think there would have been. Perhaps not as much though. And at least he is Australian ...

Frye

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="booboo" data-cid="581129" data-time="1463769987">
<div>
I think there would have been. Perhaps not as much though. And at least he is Australian ...
</div>
</blockquote>
 
Hayne is more Fijian than Speight is Australian.
 
Or Fekitoa is a Kiwi for that matter.

canefan

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="taniwharugby" data-cid="580620" data-time="1463597687">
I guess we will find out in a few weeks when the Fiji Olympic team is named, and if Hayne misses out we then see Hayne focus on getting himself ready for Fijis next tilt at a World Series crown, and maybe play for Fijis 15s team...</blockquote>Someone in the NRL is filling a brown bag as we speak

antipodean

Hopefully the Tigers 
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NTA

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="canefan" data-cid="581132" data-time="1463775564">Someone in the NRL is filling a brown bag as we speak</blockquote>
He's probably got enough peptides already... 
OHHH you meant money.

Tim

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote">[b][url=http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/24/sports/football/nfl-tried-to-influence-concussion-research-congressional-study-finds.html]N.F.L. Tried to Influence New Concussion Research, Congressional Study Finds[/url][/b] 
By JOHN BRANCH, MAY 23, 2016 
When the N.F.L. agreed in 2012 to donate tens of millions of dollars to concussion research overseen by the National Institutes of Health, it was widely seen as a positive turning point in footballâ€™s long history of playing down the long-term effects of brain injuries on players. At the time, the league said that it would have no influence over how the money was used. 
But the league and its head, neck and spine committee worked to improperly influence the government research, trying to steer the study toward a doctor with ties to the league, according to a study conducted by a congressional committee and released on Monday. 
â€œOur investigation has shown that while the N.F.L. had been publicly proclaiming its role as funder and accelerator of important research, it was privately attempting to influence that research,â€ the study concluded. â€œThe N.F.L. attempted to use its â€˜unrestricted giftâ€™ as leverage to steer funding away from one of its critics.â€ 
The N.F.L., in a statement, said it rejected the accusations laid out in the study, which was conducted by Democratic members of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. â€œThere is no dispute that there were concerns raised about both the nature of the study in question and possible conflicts of interest,â€ the league said. â€œThese concerns were raised for review and consideration through the appropriate channels.â€ 
It is the latest in a long history of instances in which the N.F.L. has been found to mismanage concussion research, dating to the leagueâ€™s first exploration of the crisis when it used deeply flawed data to produce a series of studies. 
In this case, some of the characters are the same, including Dr. Elliot Pellman, who led the leagueâ€™s concussion committee for years before he was discredited for his questionable credentials and his role as a longtime denier of the effects of concussions on players. 
Others are more recent members of the leagueâ€™s concussion committee, like Dr. Richard Ellenbogen, co-chairman of the leagueâ€™s committee on brain injuries. According to the congressional study, he bid on the research grant, then directly lobbied the National Institutes of Health to discredit the work of Dr. Robert Stern, the Boston University neurologist to whom it was awarded. 
In the end, the N.I.H. did not receive the $16 million from the N.F.L. that it expected for Sternâ€™s research, the study found. And Representative Frank Pallone Jr. of New Jersey, who oversaw the study, accused the N.F.L. of trying to influence research that it promised to support without interference. 
â€œThe N.F.L.â€™s troublesome interactions with the N.I.H. fit a longstanding pattern of attempts to influence scientific understanding of degenerative diseases and sports-related head trauma,â€ Pallone said in a statement. â€œThe N.F.L. must recognize the importance of this ongoing, impartial research, and live up to its funding commitments to N.I.H.â€ 
Results of the study were first reported by ESPN. It also criticized the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (F.N.I.H.), a nonprofit intermediary between the N.I.H. and its private and public donors, for not â€œadequatelyâ€ buffering the relationship between the N.I.H. and the N.F.L. 
The 91-page study said the N.F.L. funded the first four research projects by the N.I.H., but it made an issue over a proposed fifth. The N.I.H. recommended a study to characterize chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or C.T.E., in high-risk adults over the course of three to five years. C.T.E., a degenerative brain disease, is caused by repeated blows to the head. For now, it can only be diagnosed posthumously, and has been discovered in roughly 100 deceased former N.F.L. players. 
A year ago, the N.I.H.â€™s National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke concluded a peer-review grant process and recommended that Sternâ€™s proposal be chosen. The research was expected to cost $17.5 million, with $16.3 million of it funded by the N.F.L. 
Stern, a professor of neurology and neurosurgery, is director of clinical research for Boston Universityâ€™s C.T.E. Center, a leader in the budding research of the disease. It was the work conducted at Boston University, along with a few others, that propelled the issue of concussions into the national consciousness over the past decade. 
The N.F.L. long had an uneasy relationship with Boston University, as the league denied the effects of concussions for years, even as evidence and public pressure grew. Without admitting wrongdoing, it settled a class-action lawsuit brought by former players for about $1 billion. Earlier this year, at a congressional hearing, Jeff Miller, the N.F.L.â€™s senior vice president for health and safety, admitted to a link between football and brain diseases like C.T.E. 
The congressional study released Monday said the N.F.L. tried to pressure the N.I.H. into steering the grant away from Stern. 
â€œThere are many of us who have significant concerns re B.U. and their ability to be unbiased and collaborative,â€ Pellman, who spent 13 years as chairman of the N.F.L.â€™s Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Committee from 1994 to 2007, wrote in an email to Maria Freire, president and executive director of the F.N.I.H. 
Pellman said several others with ties to the N.F.L. were concerned by the choice, too. Among them, he wrote, were Ellenbogen and Betsy Nabel, the N.F.L.â€™s chief medical officer. They and others also took part in a conference call with N.I.H. officials, and some followed up with calls and emails to discredit the Stern proposal. 
The N.I.H. moved forward with Sternâ€™s proposal. The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke reaffirmed in a September meeting that Stern had no conflict of interest and that his proposal received the highest score in the grant application review. 
But over the next several months, the N.F.L.â€™s Miller and the F.N.I.H.â€™s Freire debated the leagueâ€™s commitment to funding the research. The league ultimately said it would provide $2 million for the first year of the study. The N.I.H. declined the offer and said it would rather use its own money and reserve the $16 million for future research. 
The congressional study blamed the F.N.I.H. for â€œfailing to effectively fulfillâ€ its role by allowing league officials to directly lobby with the N.I.H. and not holding the league to its financial commitment. 
â€œA series of misunderstandings and disputes might have been avoided had F.N.I.H. reminded the N.F.L. of its obligation to fund the studyâ€ under the original agreement years before, the study concluded. 
The study by Democratic members of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce began in December, after reports that the N.F.L. was backing out of its promises to fund concussion research objectively.</blockquote>

Huge Carrot

Von Miller finally signs extension with Broncos, Brady gives up appeals and takes his 4 game suspension, oh and I went undrafted this year which I'm putting down to old age or the fact I got utterly ragdolled in a game on the front lawn over summer. Not the kind of thing the scouts wanted to see apparently.
 
Glad to see that old Sneakdefreak guy has been taken to the retirement home and won't be showing up for Fantasy season this year

Dice

Football is back!
 
Some highlights from the first week of pre-season.

Sneakdefreak

One preseason game in and it's obvious the 49ers are going to have a pretty good, young defence but absolutely no offence. 6-10 season I predict.

The Silver Fern

NFL 2016