PM's blackout

The oft-heard refrain from other rugby league-playing countries about Australian contempt for international competition will only grow louder following the television blackout of Saturday's Prime Ministers' XIII game in Port Moresby. The match was broadcast live in PNG; the League's initial response to our enquiries citing technical difficulties doesn't wash. The only viable reason we can find is that the rights holders for the NRL second preliminary final did not want it to go up against their talking heads previews, even though the AAMI Park game didn't kick off until more than an hour after full-time in the 58-0 win by the Australian PM's side. Domestic footy trumps the international game again – and you wonder why we always talk about conflicts of interest.

Thirsty work

2GB commentator David Morrow became a viral sensation over the weekend with his assessment of a forward pass call against Blake Austin in the second preliminary final. Thousands of people listened when Morrow's comments were posted on Soundcloud by the New Zealand Herald. "There is nothing wrong with that pass!" Morrow raged. "You idiot on the sideline, go and read the rule book! Out of the hands, it's gone backwards. That is not a forward pass, you clown! I'm sick of these idiots…. That's how disgraceful this stupid Bunker has become. That is an obvious decision where they can over-rule it. Even though they can't over-rule on forward passes, there was a classic case where, if they had any brains at all, they'd over-rule that decision. But they haven't. Because they're too stupid. The game is in wrack and ruin because of the idiotic refereeing that is so pathetic."

Milking claims

In the interests of context, reporters covering games often underplay press conference comments which – in isolation – would give them a juicy yarn. One such comment came from Cameron Smith on Saturday night, when he was asked about pre-match criticism of the Storm's tackling techniques. "Unfortunately, a couple of their blokes laid down looking for penalties tonight but that was out of our control," said Smith. Mid-week, that's a back page. But it was a very small part of the evening. Sharks veteran Luke Lewis, meanwhile, finished his ABC interview over the weekend with an unusual request. "When you're giving out that man of the match next weekend, have look at me, eh?" he said. "I need that $200 Harvey Norman voucher." Host Andrew Moore had to remind him. "We don't do that at the ABC."

No footy means more popularity for Slater

Billy Slater wasn't shy about offering opinions on Channel Nine on Saturday night, reasoning the Canberra Raiders could have scored more points against his Melbourne Storm with a more carefree approach and predicting a 60-point grand final. Despite missing almost the entire year through injury, Slater has gained more Twitter followers than any other NRL player this year. Melbourne, South Sydney and Gold Coast have the top players on Twitter according to data released by the social media giant. Cronulla had the highest percentage growth of followers and Marshawn Lynch visiting South Sydney was the top tweeted rugby league video.

History beckons – but what history?

Is this Cronulla's first grand final since 1997 or 1978? The victors of wars are supposed to write the history and News Corp did win the TV rights to rugby league, but the 1997 decider of the rebel comp, won 26-8 by Brisbane over the Sharks, seems to be more denigrated with every passing year. That's despite the fact the Broncos won the first reunited competition the next year. Likewise, if Melbourne win on Sunday it will be their third premiership but their fifth success in a decider, due to two premierships being stripped for salary cap abuse. The Sharknado decider is also the game of asterisks.