@gt12 said in All Blacks 2022:
@Old-Samurai-Jack said in All Blacks 2022:
For all the "Foster bashing", it isn't coming from a very passive media who seem quite subdued. The Breakdown was deliberately obtuse and shallow (Access to AB camp on their mind?). It seems the obvious flaws in the ABs are being analyzed by fans, blogs, and overseas media.
100%
The NZRU must have journalists afraid of access with the ridiculous lack of critical rugby journalism in NZ. It's a tragedy and must be contributing to the issue.
Further, we don't seem to have any rugby journalists who actually can (and/or will) analyse the game.
We don't even seem to have any journalists who are prepared to call on those (ex)players or coaches who could do it.
The access issue is real; you can see the likes of Hinton and Knowler itching to tee-off but holding back enough to remain in good favour. There are journalists/opinion writers who challenge NZR, coaches and individual players (Rattue, Reason) but they tend to get rounded on and dismissed as clickbait merchants by the rugby public, and get disbarred by NZR.
In terms of true rugby analysis, I can't help think this is one consequence of what Dylan Cleaver described as the 'hollowing out' of NZ sports journalism, simply because no money.