Rugby League, I'm not sure if it's my favourite sport but it's pretty awesome. Picking a favourite sport is a near impossible task for me, I love a fair few but rugby league's one of the only sports that I feel comfortable writing something like this about. She's been a big old NRL season, on the back of a World Cup which wasn't amazing but satisfied our international rugby league cravings and now we've almost gone full circle with the Four Nations just around the corner.

The NRL had us all gasping for air after the first few weeks. A few rule changes allowed for a more up tempo style and with no shoulder charges or punches allowed, we still had an uber physical contest. The on field action was largely pretty good, any time you get a season that was as competitive as the one just gone, you have to be happy. Sure a few teams sucked, but those teams faced some major adversity and if nothing drastic happens in the off season, next year could be even better as the bottom could rise a bit.

We can't ignore the lack of common sense shown by officials. They bring in this new rule of a quick tap after a 40/20 and besides that drama with the Parramatta Eels, we saw every week a ref stopping players from taking a quick tap for whatever reason. What's the point? There are a few rules like that (20 metre restart with 7 tackles after a missed penalty etc) that need tinkering. Let's just pay Phil Gould to go in, apply common sense and get out ... hopefully alive.

Rugby league is a game that's trying to build and expand, but dumb rules just hold it back and show that we're not as progressive as we think.

Punching, fights, a bit of how's ya uncle? All good, nothing wrong there. If you throw a punch go to the bin. Simple. If you understand the consequences and you're still willing to sock a bloke, all power to you. I mean it's a win/win - we get entertained by seeing a bit of a scuffle with punches and there's a punishment showing that it's not ok to punch people no matter if you're in the streets or in the NRL.

I'm going to stay clear of concussion. It's a monster taking over the sporting world, so if you're reading this, read my thingy ma jig about concussion as well.

In the NBA, they're eagerly awaiting a new TV deal to bring in a whole lotta cash to the league. The NRL is in a similar position but we've gotta wait a bit longer. That raises a massive question for me as in a few years, the world and the internet could be a totally different beast. Apparently ratings were down this season and as the likes of Channel 9 and Fox Sports as well as Telstra who do the online stuff, try to figure out how to get the NRL on all platforms it could dramatically change the shape of any sort of deal. They would have to figure out how it's going to work with the internet moving at such a pace, they're going to have to do what they're doing now a hell of a lot better and if TV ratings (a flawed practice) don't back up the big bucks, who knows what will happen? The NRL needs to look at the NBA. The NBA give you pretty much everything you need on Youtube, no bullshit, no gimmicks, just what you need. If you want more, you pay. Anyway that's a few years off but something to keep an eye on, I'll do it for you anyway.

When you consider that this was the first season there's been a team from Papua New Guinea in the Intrust Super Cup, it's hard to label 2014 as anything less than a failure. We tend to always look at the top to see how the game's going, but having a team from PNG do pretty well in a 2nd tier competition is awesome to see. Next steps? Why not look at the other islands in the Pacific? Rugby seems to ignore the islands, so why don't rugby league step in and get things moving there? Maybe a team from Samoa or Tonga or Fiji in either the Intrust Super Cup or NSW Cup? Why don't we get some New Zealand teams involved in regular competition against team's from the islands? There's a market there, there are the athletes, there are people who want to see heroes, they wanna see a pathway. So why don't we as the rugby league community offer it to them?

The Holden Cup, it needs to be put in its place. However, it needs to still exist which I'm not sure it will. The Holden Cup needs to be ranked below the Super Cup and NSW Cup, which in many Aussie clubs it probably is but it's something that the Warriors are starting to change. The order of things needs to be changed - oh you're doing well in the Under 20's? Let's see how you go in the NSW Cup, then we'll judge you. The NRL got a quick win when the Under 20's was introduced - players wanted to be on TV, they wanted that recognition so they were willing to jump over from rugby to get that chance (for example). For the NRL to maintain a solid foundation, the Under 20's or any competition the bring in to replace it must be below reserve grade footy. That will raise the standard of both those levels of competition thus making the NRL a more sustainable competition.

The NRL isn't in a bad spot. I've felt critical of David Smith as the top dawg of the NRL, but I think he has good intentions. He's also switched on, he's got Todd Greenberg running the football side. Smith will get the NRL financially crisp, while Greenberg provides the expertise that Smith doesn't have. That's very much a wish as much as it's a statement, I am not yet 100% convinced.

For a wider look at the State Of Rugby League (not NRL stuff) read here.