Set of Six: The biggest grubs in the NRL
Some players just have a special knack for getting under everyone’s skin. Jarret Filmer pays tribute to the six most notorious grubs currently in the NRL.
John Hopoate. Les Boyd. Danny Williams. The history of rugby league is littered with enough rapscallions and rogues to fill the First Fleet. Their names of these grubs echo through the ages almost as loudly as the Immortals.
A true rugby league institution, a grub is probably best defined as the sort of player who pushes the rules to the limit, engaging in the sort of dirty and aggravating play that makes him adored by his own fans and despised by everyone else. A true grub is as cherished for his competitive streak as he is vilified for his dirty acts.
The retirement of Mick Ennis has left a void at the top of the NRL grub food chain. ‘The Menace’ was a grub par excellence. Indeed, his tenure as the NRL’s pre-eminent irritant was so enduring and indelible it seems possible no future grubs will ever live up to his filthy legacy. But nature abhors a vacuum. Here are his six nearest counterparts.
1. Josh Reynolds
No list of NRL grubs could be complete without the man whose nickname is simply ‘Grub’. Reynolds demonstrates a trait common to many of his fellow grubs: an almost pathological competitiveness that has the unfortunate tendency to boil over into outright filth. His trademark act of grubbery is the foot trip. Reynolds is notorious for flailing a leg out when he has been wrong-footed by a sidestep, an act which he claims is an involuntary reaction. The frequency of his attempted trips suggests he is either a grub of the highest order or he has about the same control over his lower extremities as an epileptic Morris dancer.
Greatest Act of Grubbery: While Reynolds is most renowned for his tripping, perhaps the grubbiest act he has committed was his faux-Hopoate on Aiden Sezer, a shout out to the most perfidious incident of grubbiness in the history of the NRL. Reyolds claimed it was a joke between friends, but there are few acts grubbier than a finger up the bum.
2. Russell Packer
Packer isn’t just a grub on the field – in 2013 a brutal assault saw him jailed for the sort of off-field savagery that would make even Greg Bird blush. His cheap shot on the Panthers Peta Hiku earlier this season shows that while Packer has got his life together off the field he is still a monster on it. While there are certainly heart-warming aspects to how Packer has seemingly put himself back on the right track, he’s still not a bloke you want to see outside the kebab shop at three in morning.
Greatest Act of Grubbery: Assault convictions aside, the grubbiest act Packer has committed on a rugby league field was when he dropped to a knee, slid his George Gregan out the leg of his shorts and relieved himself on the field. Anyone who treats the hallowed turf with the same sort of respect that a Labrador shows for a lamppost is a grub of the highest order.
3. Cam Smith
While Packer and Reynolds are examples of a gladiatorial fury that burns white hot, Cam Smith is the Hannibal Lecter of grubs – cool, calculating and cerebral with just a hint of the cannibal lurking beneath.
Cam Smith’s reputation as perhaps the biggest winner in the history of the NRL is tarnished by his capacity for grubbiness, a trait often glossed over by Queenslanders and Melburnians. Smith has turned whingeing at the referee into an artform, while his Melbourne Storm teams have spent the better part of a decade contorting the definition of a legal tackle into a pretzel. Between the ‘chicken wing’, the ‘crusher’ and the ‘prowler’ an entire menagerie was necessary to describe the Storm’s grubbiness. Smith is the grub-in-chief who uses his reputation to paper over the Storm’s transgressions and bully the referees to overlook his side’s filth.
Greatest Act of Grubbery: While Smith is usually quite stealthy in his grubbery, his most egregious act of filth was blaming Alex McKinnon for the tackle that left him paralysed while McKinnon lay prone on the field. To be fair the Storm skipper didn’t know the full extent of McKinnon’s injury at the time, but it’s still pretty grubby to be more focused on avoiding a penalty than on an opponent’s wellbeing.
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4. George Burgess
The Burgess brothers could have been included as a single entry but in recent times George’s grubbery has clearly exceeded that of his brothers. While his older brother Sam perfected the ‘squirrel grip’, George specialises in a wide variety of raw-boned, northern England grubbery that includes shoulder charges and using his elbow as a battering ram. Burgess’ increasing grubbiness seems to run parallel to his diminished effectiveness as a player – as though he is trying to compensate for his failing form with greater acts of thuggery. George is currently side-lined for a bone-rattling shoulder charge that left Brisbane playmaker Anthony Milford severely whiplashed and turned him into an internet meme. If Burgess continues with his repeated acts of grubbery he faces the prospect of infringing his way out of the NRL.
Greatest Act of Grubbery: In 2015 Burgess copped a contrary conduct charge for heaving a water bottle at Roosters forward Kane Evans – while sitting on the bench. It’s a high-level grub that can earn a suspension while sitting on the pine.
5. Kenny Edwards
Edwards might not yet be one of the most notorious grubs in the NRL, but he is certainly trying. A troubled player who bounced around several clubs before making his first-grade debut, Edwards’ grubbiness seems to stem from his inability to control his temper. He returned from a seven-match suspension for domestic violence last weekend only to became the first player to be sin-binned for slapping an opponent. He was then caught on camera taking out his fury on a chair in the Eels locker room. This is hardly the first instance of grubby behaviour from Edwards – while playing for the Dragons NYC he was accused of biting an opponent, and he’s been a regular visitor to the judiciary ever since. It’s almost like Edwards is playing grub bingo – the way he is going he’s only an eye gouge and a ‘Hopoate’ away from a full house.
Greatest Act of Grubbery: Edwards managed to get banned for a season in the Gold Coast lower grades when he wasn’t even playing. While acting as a trainer for Southport Tigers under-17’s he apparently repeatedly incited his side to fight the opposition. It takes a special kind of grub to cop a huge ban for encouraging grubbiness others.
6. Paul Gallen
In recent years the Cronulla Sharks have been ‘Grubs R Us’, employing the likes of Michael Ennis, Andrew Fifita and Greg Bird while also being embroiled in the peptide scandal. There is just something about the blue, black and white that inspires players to commit breathtaking acts of filth. Perhaps the biggest grub of them all is also the best Cronulla Shark of all time: Paul Gallen.
‘Gal’ is a classic grub. He takes almost puritanical umbrage when anyone mentions that peptide scandal and then plays innocent while dishing out a relentless mix of stiff arms and high shots. He scores highly for his ability to pull off some of the dirtier underhand filth in the game and then act with righteous indignation when anyone suggests that he might have overstepped the line. Last weekend’s diving scandal highlighted exactly how massive a grub Gallen truly is – not only is he willing to blatantly bend the rules of the game, he acts with complete indignance when he is called out on it.
The most telling factor in Gallen’s grubbiness is how much he loves the filth. He positively revels in it, and if his grubby antics manage to upset the opposition then so much the better. Cronulla and New South Wales fans describe Gallen as ‘tough’ or ‘uncompromising’. Everybody else calls him exactly what he is: King of the Grubs.
Greatest Acts of Grubbery: Gallen has committed a slew of grubby acts, both on and off the field. Some examples: elbow-dropping Josh Maguire, ripping stitches out of Anthony Laffranchi’s bandaged face and racially abusing Mickey Paea. But perhaps the grubbiest act he has committed was verbally abusing a young fan during the peptide scandal. Pulling out stitches is one thing but it’s hard to blame an act of filth on ‘white line fever’ when it happens in a hotel lobby. Grub.
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Comments on RugbyPass
It’s a good, timely wake up call for NZ Rugby (seem to be a few of them lately!) - sort out the bureaucratic nonsense at board level. We can’t expect to stay the number one option without keeping fans/players engaged. We’ve obviously been bleeding players to league for years but can’t let the floodgates open (although I think this headline is hyperbolic as it’s a result of a recent Warriors pathways system where they are tracking things more closely) Understand the need to focus boys on rugby if they’re at a proud rugby school too, don’t think it’s harsh at all re Barakat in Hamilton. Reward the committed players with squad positions. An elite 1st XV system in NZ has done more for league than they even realise, think it’s good to protect our game further.
6 Go to commentsDon’t pay a blind bit of notice to Lukie… he likes the sound of his own voice and is always looking for something controversial to say. He has been banging on about Leinster's defensive system all season like he knows something Jacques Nienebar doesn’t. Which is the reason why he didn’t apply for the job obviously
14 Go to commentsWho got the benefits out of Schmidt, Lowe, Aki, and Gibson Park?
14 Go to commentsWhat’s new its a common occurrence, just the journos out there expecting a negative spin. The outcome will be beneficial to jordie and Leinster. The home grown lads hav got some experience to step up to and be more competitive, that or spend the 6 months keeping the bench warm.
14 Go to commentsI’m all for speeding up the game. But can we be certain that the slowness of the game contributed to fans walking out? I’m not so sure. Super rugby largely suffered from most fans only being able to, really, follow the games played in their own time zone. So at least a third of the fan base wasn’t engaged at any point in time. As a Saffer following SA teams in the URC - I now watch virtually every European game played on the weekend. In SR, I wouldn’t be bothered to follow the games being played on the other side of the world, at weird hours, if my team wasn’t playing. I now follow the whole tournament and not just the games in my time zone. Second, with New Zealand teams always winning. It’s like formula one. When one team dominates, people lose interest. After COVID, with SA leaving and Australia dipping in form, SR became an even greater one horse race. Thats why I think Japan’s league needs to get in the mix. The international flavor of those teams could make for a great spectacle. But surely if we believe that shaving seconds off lost time events in rugby is going to draw fans back, we should be shown some figures that supports this idea before we draw any major conclusions. Where are the stats that shows these changes have made that sort of impact? We’ve measured down to the average no. Of seconds per game. Where the measurement of the impact on the fanbase? Does a rugby “fan” who lost interest because of ball in play time suddenly have a revived interest because we’ve saved or brought back into play a matter of seconds or a few minutes each game? I doubt it. I don’t thinks it’s even a noticeable difference to be impactful. The 20 min red card idea. Agreed. Let’s give it a go. But I think it’s fairer that the player sent off is substituted and plays no further part in the game as a consequence.
3 Go to commentsThose are pretty good draws for the two top Aussie teams. I certainly wouldn't want my Chiefs to have a quarter final in Brisbane. None of the top teams will want the Crusaders.
1 Go to commentsHonestly, I am a bit lost here …. Ireland - RSA was (at least in my opinion) perhaps (from a purely technical / rugby-skills-show point of view) the pinnacle of the RWC2023 - almost flawless playing (putting aside the kicking of RSA which was the difference between the two teams), rugby at it’s very best …. if I were a Bok and after the game some Irish lads came around saying “see you in 5 weeks same place”, I definitely wouldn’t have thought of it as being in any way “arrogant”, rather a sort of jolly “if we both continue to play like this, no one could stop us” - besides, few of us fans would have, at that time, been surprised to see the same teams playing on 23 september and 28 october 2023 ….. well, we all know Ireland chose to hit a slump to keep the QF curse alive …..
136 Go to commentsThere’s value gleaned from having an All Black star running and training with your team. How many games he starts (or even where he plays in the backline) will be decided on a week by week basis based on the needs for that week. But the overall learning and growth for all concerned, I’d think, is massively beneficial. Especially for Irish players.
14 Go to commentsSon, whith just " raw athlete “ , you are able to beat “ better rugby players “ by 74 points…. May be England should recruit in athletics….
1 Go to commentsPffft. It’s not a one-way street bud and Irish teams don’t seem to have had an issue taking kiwi players previously.
14 Go to commentsParticularly great to have captain Scott Barrett back after going off last week for the Crusaders. Codie Taylor a real leader and mighty Tamaiti Williams join Fletcher Newell in the front row. Those 2 will make a big difference. Great bench with the likes of Tom Christie, Jamie Hannah etc who are playing well. Should be a great derby.
1 Go to commentsDoes a blitz defence not have a weekness against a well-placed grubber kick, perhaps angled cleverly. All the defence is up and the full-back can only cover so much ground. Thoughts?
28 Go to commentsWhile Iose is destructive in the Canes set-up, he is not big for an international 8 and could struggle against the top teams. With his speed, he could be developed into a seven but, as Ben points out, he doesn’t show a scavenging game with the Canes or make dominating tackles. Sotutu has shown a step up this year and attitude plus motivation seems to be the big areas of growth. Deserves another AB shot imo.
3 Go to commentsNaholo is my only question mark for this side. He wasn’t the only one who had a forgettable game against the Brumbies but he was passive, defensively poor and generally lacked energy. Needs to get a whole lot busier for me. I would have liked to see Sullivan on that wing with Higgins on the bench (if staying with a 6-2 as BeegMike points out on here!)
3 Go to commentsWell, I am sure that Eben said exactly what he meant to say, exactly how he meant to say it. Does he strike you as a man that doesn't know arrogance when he sees it. He should know it because he has shaken the arrogance out of many foes before.
136 Go to commentsPls get it into your thick arrogant heads that the final was played by two Southern Hemisphere teams. The best against the best and that Argentina was just unlucky otherwise non of the Northetn Hemisphere teams would have seen the light of day.
136 Go to commentsAs long as New Zealand youth are involved in sport they are passionate for, and are well supported, it’s all good. I love league as well as rugby. NRL clubs have long since scouted the First 15 competitions, the NH and Japan scout super rugby and NPC. It’s a miracle there’s any players left for the all blacks to pick from.
6 Go to commentsI'm a Bok fan, so I don't say this lightly, but he is one of my all time favourite players. I am really going to miss watching him play. Thanks for many great memories. You are a true legend of the game.
3 Go to commentsBest way to deal with all of this is to play another game.
136 Go to commentsIt’s 12-15 games Luke. Ringrose has barely played in 2024 and Henshaw and Keenan have also been out for spells in the same time period. There are always injuries and for younger players to play with the likes of Barrett will be great for them. It’s just looking for negatives where there are none.
14 Go to comments