@antipodean said in Aussie Rugby in general:
Is that a joke? I'd be furious that a donkey like Scott Johnson was appointed to oversee me. At least Chieka has won things as a coach.
I hope they got him cheaper than Scotland did.
He has seemingly leveraged a career off working with Henry and Hansen.
@stargazer said in 2020 All Blacks Squad:
@crucial That's why I referred to (not) having an AB dad. Having ABs in your family seems to get you further ...
Nepotism aside, Devan Flanders is not a name you’d give the hero in a cool movie.
@stargazer said in 2020 All Blacks Squad:
@wairau said in 2020 All Blacks Squad:
when will Niko Jones be an AB? 2021?
There's another up-and-comer, but without an AB dad, who'll compete for the same spot. Devan Flanders has future AB written all over him.
Niko Jones gets first dibs as he has a much cooler name.
@bovidae said in TV Serieseseses:
@bones said in TV Serieseseses:
Ok I'm obviously pretty dim, but last episode of Bodyguard. Poooooo stinky.
I finished watching this tonight. Agree with your comments.
Similar to other shows from Jed Mercurio. Makes things over complicated and dragged out through the middle then to have an overly fast wrap up.
Very similar to each of the Line of Duty series.
Always watchable and you get sucked in but the end never seems satisfying.
@antipodean said in What are you listening to, right now................:
I keep this on repeat lately. Just something real catchy about it.
Three top albums in a row and a staple in many NZ record collections. Drummer Vince Ely played on the Dance Exponents second album as well.
This track is on a few of my playlists.
@mikedogz said in Good podcasts:
https://interactives.stuff.co.nz/2018/12/the-district/
I found this interesting mainly because I grew up in the district nearby, know people related to people involved and worked with my Dad on a farm I believe was part of land owned by key people.
I hate the repetitive aspects of these things but ignoring that this was an interesting listen. The journo is at least very aware of taking things with a pinch of salt and how many people get obsessed with their theories yet from those obsessions they may actually find out some information that has previously been in the dark.
@majorrage said in 2020 All Blacks Squad:
If he keeps going up like he did last year, I'm picking Jack Goodhue as future long term captain.
As much as I hate to say it I prefer the captain to be a forward myself. You need to be closer to the breakdowns to get the feel for the ref and pick up on his comments.
@wairau said in 2020 All Blacks Squad:
when will Niko Jones be an AB? 2021?
Depends on whether he has to follow the Akira pathway or the highlanders reserve one. 
The loose forward mix will certainly be interesting. We are still looking for a long term 6, 8 will become vacant, 7 will depend a lot on whether/when Cane comes back.
If Cane returns and Ardie moves to 8 where does that leave Akira? Still out in the cold?
Put Akira at 8 and one of Cane/Ardie is wasted.
I think 6 at test level is too restrictive for Akira's playing style.
Then there will be new 'stars' to come in like Niko. I can see him taking the role Ardie has had up until this year.
@rembrandt said in Brexit:
Seriously, for those advocating no deal, what’s your plan for Northern Ireland?
https://www.ukipdaily.com/the-northern-ireland-border-myth/
Soft Border with the extra protections described in the link. Make it public that is Britains intention, if the EU kick up a stink then it is totally on them. They are the ones in real trouble here, do they really want to piss off another member?
I’m sorry but that is one of the most facile things I have read on the issue. Reducing the Irish problem to “trade arrangements” is either disingenuous or deluded. The problem isn’t moving goods and services, it is, and always has been, the expectations of the populations of two separate nations occupying one island.
Some (the republicans) demand free movement throughout the island. They have proven over the course of decades that they will resort to murder and terrorism to bring that about and they only stopped because of the Good Friday Agreement. And that was only possible because mutual membership of the EU made the border effectively redundant.
But you have others (the loyalists) who are rabidly pro unionist. They will not stand for a border of any description between Ulster and the mainland and their parliamentary representatives, the DUP have already expressed that. There’s no border between Wales and England, so why do Northern Irish get second class citizenship status, being made to feel like non-UK citizens? And loyalists have been just as violent as the republicans in the past.
Note how, though, the UKIP mouthpieces you linked to avoid mentioning that altogether, yet without it how the fuck will the UK ever be able to stem migration - which let’s face it a majority of Brexit voters wanted ahead of everything else -when anybody who sets foot in Ireland can walk across the soft border to NI then make their way to the mainland at their leisure without further checks?
This though: “Although there is no explicit obstacle to a hard border in the Good Friday Agreement, it could be seen, and is certainly being presented as a barrier by those ideologically opposed to Brexit, as being contrary to the ‘Spirit of Concord’ and the undertaking to remove security installations, though the latter refers specifically to military installations and not civil ones.
A hard border, then, is not prohibited by the peace agreement, though it is undesirable and, more to the point, completely unnecessary.“ ... This takes the cake. No it’s not prohibited. The UK can impose it whenever it wants. But it comes with bombs, carnage and murder, same as it did for 80 years. But hey, someone has to be prepared to take one for Team UK, it’s for the greater good and fuck ‘me, they’re only Irish eh?“certainly being presented as a barrier by those ideologically opposed to Brexit”. No, it’s being presented as a barrier by angry madmen with guns who will murder or maim your children in a heartbeat. UKIP can reduce it to ideology if they want. But the suggestion that this can be overcome through goodwill is laughable. These people have never shown goodwill in their lives.
Utter, utter bollocks.
Isn't the problem with this the same concept as pandering to radical Islamists as discussed at length in the other thread? i.e. law-abiding people having to modify their behaviour / restrict freedoms because other people want to break the law / threaten violence?
Playing devil's advocate here a bit, but Eire and NI are two different countries, and the generic default for this situation globally is a border. Obviously due to history etc its been desirable to give people free movement of the entire island of Ireland, but that isn't feasible now with Brexit. At what point do you just have to back law enforcement / counterterrorism, and hope that societies evolve over generations away from violence?
I know its a very emotive issue for some people, not trying to wind anyone up, my wife is Irish and British so I'm cognisant of the historic issues.
I'm no expert on the troubles but one of the biggest problems is that 'solution' you come up with. The border area itself is 'blended' and putting up a wall and/or relocating people almost always leads to further problems down the track.
I get that it is a shit situation created by history and religion but it is well established and the proof in the pudding is that having no border has worked better than having one.
@bones said in 2020 All Blacks Squad:
@crucial Taylor the dark horse for captain?
Yeah, I considered him too.
Don't know of his leadership qualities but maybe he's one of those guys like Whitelock that is quiet but effective.
I'd love to see BBBR step up. For some reason I think he'd make a great captain but can understand that NZRU would have to pull a pretty huge deal to stop him having at least a sabbatical earner.