Rookies & Records: Round 1 Delivers NRLW Thrills! NRLW Weekly
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ABC News
4 hours ago
- ABC News
Rugby League 26 video game developer hits back at criticism from players who 'should know better'
The boss of video game developer Big Ant Studios has hit back at criticism of the newly launched Rugby League 26 game, following high-profile players slamming the release. Some players, including Sydney Roosters prop Millie Elliott and State of Origin star Kennedy Cherrington, have criticised their likeness in the game, while issues with the gameplay and the inability to use players in their real-world positions have also caused backlash. Issues ranged from retired players being highly rated, to stadiums being in the wrong cities, while gameplay was also highlighted on social media. Ross Symons, chief executive of Big Ant Studios, hit back at the criticism of likenesses in Rugby League 26. "The ones that are talking should know better because, frankly, they've made statements that really are reasonably outrageous, because we have gone around the world, even to the north of England, just to scan women in game," he told the ABC. "Eighty per cent of our sponsorship money goes to women's sport. We take it extraordinarily seriously. "We actually travelled to capture NRLW players specifically in captures up to Townsville and everywhere. "They were told, 'Please, please be at the shoot because if you're not at the shoot, you won't look like you'. We were very clear. Symons said Big Ant Studios would be attending the NRLW Magic Round to conduct more facial scans to add to the game. "We have offered to capture as many players who would like to sit in the chair. And sitting in the chair takes 45 seconds," he said. Rugby League 26 was highly anticipated, as it came eight years after the last iteration, Rugby League Live 4. Cherrington described the game as "half-finished", while social media was flooded with gamers reporting glitches and errors. Symons said some of the issues stemmed from a compressed rollout timeline, which required the developers to submit the game for disc printing two months before the launch date. He also said that despite calls from the public, delaying was "not an option we were given" and that online multiplayer feature issues were temporary. "Then the product we want people to have is ready with a day one patch, because things change," he said "Even in sport itself, just the nature of sport where things change, where rosters change, injuries occur, ratings change." Big Ant was also criticised for its inability to manage demand on its servers, which locked players out for hours. Symons said the demand for the game was six times higher than expected, and said it had outsold video game franchise members Assassin's Creed: Shadows, Death Stranding 2: On The Beach and Donkey Kong Bananza. "It is number one by a margin and our servers also had that problem." Despite the backlash about Rugby League 26 from users, the fact there is a game for a code played predominantly in just three countries is noteworthy. A large part of that, and the reason for an eight-year hiatus, was the commercial viability of making a game for a relatively small market. Big Ant Studios was the recipient of the Digital Games Tax Offset (DGTO), introduced in 2023 to encourage local game development studio investment in Australia, which allows companies to claim back 30 per cent of qualified Australian expenditure. This funding model is similar to other schemes designed to encourage local filmmaking, and Symons says this program "allows us to take risks that we otherwise couldn't take". "The world would call the AFL, the same with NRL and to some extent cricket, a niche sport. It's our lifeblood and we love it, but no one else wants to make these sports games. "That's where the DGTO really, really does help, it enables to tell Australian stories and in particular, Australian sport because I don't think Australian sport gets a title if it's not for things like the DGTO because it just becomes not commercially viable." Big Ant Studios also made the AFL and cricket video games, as well as a tennis game based around the Australian Open. The Sydney Roosters were approached for comment but did not respond before publication.
News.com.au
5 hours ago
- News.com.au
Lachlan Galvin will have backing of entire Bulldogs squad as the youngster faces his toughest challenge yet in the blue and white
The Tigers might be out for blue blood this weekend, especially with extra motivation by the name of Lachlan Galvin, but one Bulldogs great says the youngster has nothing to fear. 'There's a simple way to put it. There's no doubt that a lot of focus will be on Lachlan Galvin this weekend,' Fox League's Michael Ennis told 'There'll be high emotion, that's obviously been built up … and on Sunday, it all comes to a head. And so no doubt, he'll be nervous. 'For Lachie, the one thing that I know from Canterbury is once you pull on that jumper, you're all one. Tigers vs. Bulldogs is LIVE and Exclusive with no ad-breaks during play on Fox League, available on Kayo Sports and Foxtel | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1. 'It's obviously really important that when Lachie comes into the sheds on Sunday that he knows he's got his teammates and his senior players standing right beside him and he will. That's one thing that Canterbury do well.' Galvin has been at the centre of many a headline this NRL season after his controversial exit from the Tigers. Earlier in the year the club announced well in advance that the youngster wouldn't be at the club beyond the 2026 season after multiple failed attempts to re-sign him on a club record deal for a teenager. Whispers swirled of a dossier of grievances against coach Benji Marshall and a lack of love for the playing group, including premiership winner Jarome Luai, with Galvin's agent Isaac Moses agitating an early release that saw him land in Belmore. Luai, who came from Penrith this season to help Marshall lift his side, became embroiled in the drama after posting to his Instagram story during the saga taken to be a swipe at Galvin. Luai later clarified it was more a directive of his own 'team first' mentality. Luai has also come out this week and declared himself a Tiger 'for life' as he prepares for the much-awaited matchup. Meanwhile in Belmore, after being eased in over a handful of rounds the highly touted five-eighth has now taken over the halfback reigns from Toby Sexton for his new title-contending side midway through a defining part of their season, and handled the task well. But his biggest challenge now lies in the shape of his former team come Sunday when the Dogs and the Tigers meet for the first time since his departure. 'They had an elite kid coming through this system that they'd brought through and debuted. Then obviously with what Jarome's been able to do for Penrith, you thought, well, this could be a really good combination,' Ennis said. 'Didn't work out that way. 'There's no doubt Jarome is an enormous part of the Tigers, and I thought he handed himself really professionally this week when he was asked questions around it. 'While there will be high emotions, I don't think there'll be any dramas. Another unlikely halfback named is Canterbury's 18th man, Mitchell Woods. The highly touted future halfback has risen through the ranks in Belmore and impressed the club throughout his stints in Jersey Flegg and NSW Cup, earning his place in the squad. Where his place is in the squad given Matt Burton and Galvin's form is too soon to tell, but former Dogs hooker Ennis believes his being around the squad from now gives the youngster a perfect early taste of what could come in 2026 and beyond. 'When you've got someone of that quality and you see such potential in, it's a really good opportunity to be able to take them along for the journey,' Ennis said. 'There's a lot of things that go into it, from your diet, to your recovery, to your training while you're away, all those little things. So it's a great experience 'Clearly they think he's getting close and getting ready.'
The Age
7 hours ago
- The Age
Injury fears for superstar forward; Dogs' bite matches their bark as they rip Giants apart
Go to latest Pinned post from yesterday 1.25am Kingsley laments the Giants' worst game in his time as coach Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge has lauded his team's dominant 88-point thumping of the Giants that his counterpart Adam Kingsley conceded was their worst display in his three-year tenure. A sizzling six-goals-to-one opening quarter set up the landslide victory against a sloppy Greater Western Sydney, who lost Toby Greene, Josh Kelly and Jack Buckley from last week's comeback win over Sydney, but had plenty enough talent to perform better than they did. Making matters worse for the Giants, reigning Coleman medallist Jesse Hogan struggled with a foot injury throughout the match and is in doubt for next week's clash with North Melbourne. The Bulldogs had 37 scoring shots to GWS's 14, in a go-to-whoa thrashing that spiked their already-mighty percentage to 137.3, which trails only Adelaide's 146. Twin towers Aaron Naughton and Sam Darcy feasted with five goals apiece – after combining for 13 last week – while skipper Marcus Bontempelli (27 disposals) and Tom Liberatore (26) excelled in the midfield and ruckman Tim English starred in the ruck and helped kick-start the demolition with two first-quarter goals. '[There was] absolutely nothing to be unhappy about tonight,' Beveridge said after his 250th game in charge. 'I think we've been pretty honest [this year]. Our players keep fronting up and giving their all. We understand the criticism around not necessarily being able to eke our way further up the ladder and beat some teams above us – we've just got to own up to all of that. 'Tonight was another one that the application was there, right across the 23 players, and obviously, a terrific start, but the cold, hard facts say that we need to keep winning, so it's one down and then a handful to go.' The Dogs provisionally leapfrog Gold Coast to move into eighth spot ahead of the Suns hosting Richmond on Saturday afternoon. They end the season against Melbourne (MCG), West Coast (Marvel Stadium) and Fremantle (Marvel Stadium). Beveridge bemoaned the Dogs' inconsistent defensive effort in their narrow loss to Adelaide three weeks ago, but they poured the pressure on the Giants from the outset and had five goals off turnover by quarter-time. 'Our back six or seven have been beaten up a bit with the critique of them and the emerging players, and the evolution of that line alone,' he said. 'But, we all take ownership of that because ultimately, you need your midfield group and your forward group to contribute to your defensive system, and I think everyone stepped that up a little bit. 'There are some levers we're pulling to make sure we tighten it up a bit. Some of that's simply decision-making off-ball, and how much we value that phase of the game, and I think tonight, we were pretty good at it … to keep a pretty threatening forward line to that score [44 points], but also to limit our exposure there.' The Bulldogs improved to 2-8 against the current top eight, although both wins were over GWS, including a 32-point win in Canberra in round seven. But their record is not as bad as it reads, given six of those losses were by 16 points or fewer, and the other two were by 21 and 22. There was a seven-minute stretch in the second term when the Dogs kicked three goals and won 32 disposals without the Giants touching the Sherrin. Thirteen GWS players, including Jesse Hogan, Sam Taylor, ex-Dog Jake Stringer and Aaron Cadman, had won four disposals or fewer midway through that quarter in an insipid display not befitting a team with premiership aspirations. The Giants' percentage sunk from 118.4 pre-match to 113 after a match they lost the contested possession battle by 51 and ended a six-match winning streak. 'We got belted in the contest, plain and simple. I think maybe minus-51 in the end, and you can't really compete when you're getting belted like that,' Kingsley said. 'You're always trying [to turn things around]. Problem is, it's never one thing that's the issue while you're losing contest – it's usually a handful, if not more, and you're trying to sort of feed that into the players, and we were just off tonight. I don't know why. 'The Bulldogs are clearly playing for their season, and it just felt like we weren't, and so that's disappointing, from our perspective. 'Obviously, they were really strong, and they've been like that against us in the past, for a number of times that we've played them. They're a bit of a hump that we haven't been able to get over in the last couple of years.' Kingsley said they would 'move on quickly' from the Dogs defeat and had the chance to respond against the Kangaroos, but there is no certainty that star spearhead Hogan would play. 'Hogan's a bit sore with his foot. He couldn't really move around throughout the game,' he said. 'We thought it'd be a little bit better than that, but he got a little bit of a knock early in the game, when he tried to launch, and it sort of flared up a little bit for him. He did his best to manage that, but it was a pretty tough night for him from a pain perspective.' Toby McMullin was subbed out in the second quarter with a suspected ankle syndesmosis injury. yesterday 1.25am Kingsley laments the Giants' worst game in his time as coach Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge has lauded his team's dominant 88-point thumping of the Giants that his counterpart Adam Kingsley conceded was their worst display in his three-year tenure. A sizzling six-goals-to-one opening quarter set up the landslide victory against a sloppy Greater Western Sydney, who lost Toby Greene, Josh Kelly and Jack Buckley from last week's comeback win over Sydney, but had plenty enough talent to perform better than they did. Making matters worse for the Giants, reigning Coleman medallist Jesse Hogan struggled with a foot injury throughout the match and is in doubt for next week's clash with North Melbourne. The Bulldogs had 37 scoring shots to GWS's 14, in a go-to-whoa thrashing that spiked their already-mighty percentage to 137.3, which trails only Adelaide's 146. Twin towers Aaron Naughton and Sam Darcy feasted with five goals apiece – after combining for 13 last week – while skipper Marcus Bontempelli (27 disposals) and Tom Liberatore (26) excelled in the midfield and ruckman Tim English starred in the ruck and helped kick-start the demolition with two first-quarter goals. '[There was] absolutely nothing to be unhappy about tonight,' Beveridge said after his 250th game in charge. 'I think we've been pretty honest [this year]. Our players keep fronting up and giving their all. We understand the criticism around not necessarily being able to eke our way further up the ladder and beat some teams above us – we've just got to own up to all of that. 'Tonight was another one that the application was there, right across the 23 players, and obviously, a terrific start, but the cold, hard facts say that we need to keep winning, so it's one down and then a handful to go.' The Dogs provisionally leapfrog Gold Coast to move into eighth spot ahead of the Suns hosting Richmond on Saturday afternoon. They end the season against Melbourne (MCG), West Coast (Marvel Stadium) and Fremantle (Marvel Stadium). Beveridge bemoaned the Dogs' inconsistent defensive effort in their narrow loss to Adelaide three weeks ago, but they poured the pressure on the Giants from the outset and had five goals off turnover by quarter-time. 'Our back six or seven have been beaten up a bit with the critique of them and the emerging players, and the evolution of that line alone,' he said. 'But, we all take ownership of that because ultimately, you need your midfield group and your forward group to contribute to your defensive system, and I think everyone stepped that up a little bit. 'There are some levers we're pulling to make sure we tighten it up a bit. Some of that's simply decision-making off-ball, and how much we value that phase of the game, and I think tonight, we were pretty good at it … to keep a pretty threatening forward line to that score [44 points], but also to limit our exposure there.' The Bulldogs improved to 2-8 against the current top eight, although both wins were over GWS, including a 32-point win in Canberra in round seven. But their record is not as bad as it reads, given six of those losses were by 16 points or fewer, and the other two were by 21 and 22. There was a seven-minute stretch in the second term when the Dogs kicked three goals and won 32 disposals without the Giants touching the Sherrin. Thirteen GWS players, including Jesse Hogan, Sam Taylor, ex-Dog Jake Stringer and Aaron Cadman, had won four disposals or fewer midway through that quarter in an insipid display not befitting a team with premiership aspirations. The Giants' percentage sunk from 118.4 pre-match to 113 after a match they lost the contested possession battle by 51 and ended a six-match winning streak. 'We got belted in the contest, plain and simple. I think maybe minus-51 in the end, and you can't really compete when you're getting belted like that,' Kingsley said. 'You're always trying [to turn things around]. Problem is, it's never one thing that's the issue while you're losing contest – it's usually a handful, if not more, and you're trying to sort of feed that into the players, and we were just off tonight. I don't know why. 'The Bulldogs are clearly playing for their season, and it just felt like we weren't, and so that's disappointing, from our perspective. 'Obviously, they were really strong, and they've been like that against us in the past, for a number of times that we've played them. They're a bit of a hump that we haven't been able to get over in the last couple of years.' Kingsley said they would 'move on quickly' from the Dogs defeat and had the chance to respond against the Kangaroos, but there is no certainty that star spearhead Hogan would play. 'Hogan's a bit sore with his foot. He couldn't really move around throughout the game,' he said. 'We thought it'd be a little bit better than that, but he got a little bit of a knock early in the game, when he tried to launch, and it sort of flared up a little bit for him. He did his best to manage that, but it was a pretty tough night for him from a pain perspective.' Toby McMullin was subbed out in the second quarter with a suspected ankle syndesmosis injury.
