@Machpants said in World Rugby chairman election:
Ugh nothing like a bit of corruption and nepotism to really help stink the place up
Convicted Fijian killer nominated for key World Rugby role - with French backing
Francis Kean, who is Fijian Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama's brother-in-law, was convicted of manslaughter in 2007.
is there any role Cliff Curtis can't play?
@gt12 said in Argentina Two: Newcastle, 28 November:
Scott Barrett (39)
fuck off
@gt12 said in Argentina Two: Newcastle, 28 November:
Ardie Savea (48)
fuck off
@gt12 said in Argentina Two: Newcastle, 28 November:
Jordie Barrett (22)
fuck off
@gt12 said in Argentina Two: Newcastle, 28 November:
TJ Perenara (68)
fuck off
Welcome back Bart
Try this little known website called grindr. I reckon lions fans will be all over it
Well done Ireland that was awesome. I loved watching you play. Hard, physical, inventive. Absolutely dominant everywhere except the scoreboard which flattered us all day. The constant ball in motion was confusing the AB defence all day, and your breakdown work was friggen excellent. A deserved dominant win built on good work both sides of the ball.
As for the ABS, fucking LOL. Talk about hammered boy. Picking an entire side of guys who can't make a dominant tackle, or get over the gain line, or be physical at the breakdown is certainly one way to play. Was the plan to confuse them by letting them have too much ball? We could not stop them doing what they wanted. Conversely when we had the ball we could do shit because we couldn't get past the gain line
So we kicked it, poorly. Over and over again. Because that's all that Ireland gave us.
Scored a couple of really pretty tries though. Jordan's a fucking star. The first was a hilarious piece of defence we ruthlessly exploited. The 2nd came out of absolute nothing.
The loose forwards were shit. They should be embarrassed the only guy who put a hit on was fucking TJP. Savea is just a non-entity in a game like this. Just a waste of space. The other two tried but just didn't have the ability.
This is humbling and shows exactly where we are. Which is nowhere.
As New Zealand and Australia get set to do battle on the sporting field once again, this time in the Bledisloe Cup, the one-time pinnacle of International Rugby, i think it is only fair that we, as kiwi fans, take a moment to spare a thought for our Australasian cousins. The realists among them are starting to come to terms with the reality that their star has faded, and they are no longer the sporting superpower they once were.
Around the turn of the century, Australia could lay claim to being the best all-round sporting nation on the planet. Not a huge population, they still managed to excel in a number of discipines:
Tennis: Their two best players in Hewitt and Rafter spent time at #1, and won multiple Grand Slams. The Woodies, particularly Woodbridge, could lay claim to being the best doubles players ever. It was a golden time
Cricket: Undisputed kings of all forms, unbeatable at home, nigh unbeatable away, with a host of all-time greats; and in the discussion as the greatest cricket side of all time
The Olympics: Sydney was a triumph of an event, with the home nation taking home 58 medals, including 16 gold. THis flowed in to 2004, where they took their tallies even higher, across a huge number of sports
Motor Cycling: Mick Doohan was coming off 5 straight MotoGP championships, while Troys Corser and Bayliss were winning Superbike titles repeatedly
The Socceroos were assembling their greatest ever side that would eventually get out of the Group Stage of the World Cup, including such luminaries as Cahill, Kewell, Schwarzer, Viduka, Aloisi, Bresciano
And of course rugby. 3 super sides were always at the pointy end. The Reds topped the table in '99, The Brumbies were tussling with the Crusaders for the claim to be the best team in the comp. And this flowed to the Wallabies. '99 World Cup. 01 Lions. Multiple wins over the All Blacks, legit claim to be the best team in the world.
And this isn't an exhaustive list, their league team was more dominant, it seemed no matter what they played, they won. A true golden age.
Compare and contrast with today
In tennis, their two best players are a couple of douchebags universally reviled by their own fans, who can't even be fucked playing at Wimbledon
The cricket side has slipped to 4th in the world records, and closer to little old NZ than the top of the table. Series losses home and away are now the norm, rather than a cause for shock. Players were on strike a week ago because they couldn't afford to buy a 2nd Italian sports car
In the Olympics, Australia's plummet down the medal table has been stark. Medal totals have halved, and again, they are closer to little old NZ than the top of the table.
Do they still ride Motor Bikes? Daniel Riccardo seems like a bit of a dude in F1, but hardly in a position to actually win anything.
The Socceroos are in a fight to qualify for the next World Cup, despite playing a bunch of impoverished nations.
And of course the rugby. Super teams winless against NZ opposition. One team fighting their death in Court. The Wallabies are unable to bank a win at home against Scotland any more. Grass roots on it's knees. A bad Bledisloe series, and the public could switch off, for good this time.
So, dear All Black fans, while you are having your pints this weekend, celebrating the return of test match rugby, and the opening of the once-revered South Hemisphere competition, take a second and commiserate with our trans-Tasman cousins. They are going through a tough time of it, it's never easy getting used to a new reality.
I am fucked if i would sit in a Ryan Crotty stand. The fucking thing would break just before half time.
@duluth said in Coronavirus - New Zealand:
Just try not to be a retard
is that, like, a rule? 'cause...
fuck i love All Black fans
Not 7 days ago this site was awash with how good the selecting was, how maybe we needed to come around on Fozzie based on the improvement in play, and in players, and the new depth we had created
A week later, after a game we fucking won, and it's "get rid of the guy who last week was the long term answer at 6" and "oh we all knew this was coming with Foster he's shit"
We are fucking insufferable. Well, not me, mainly yous
@taniwharugby said in Coronavirus - New Zealand:
Getting alot of work done though!
you're among friends here mate. No need for the bullshit
Sorry nick and barb, this isn't really aimed at you, you guys haven't gone full whinge (just sort of half)
But fuck this whinging, bleating and crying from the Australian rugby fraternity this year. They should be embarrassed.
My guess is it's born of frustration. This year was not supposed to go like this. The established narrative after the world cup was of a team on the rise. The all blacks were supposed to be going the other way.
Instead its been a horror year. Their super rugby teams were bent over and railed. They got whitewashed by the poms. They list in South Africa, and tried their hardest to lose the game in aus as well. We have given them a nearly unprecedented 3 game mauling. And along the way they've played some mind-numbingly poor rugby, compounded by some strange selecting.
And what have we heard from the rugby community in aus? Not even excuses, just bleating. This weekend had been the worst, fuck me "we didn't get awarded a tryyyyy. Waaaah" in a game you got gaped by 27, and with even an average international kicking performance it's more like 33.
Your media has lost the plot, your coach can't find answers, and all the focus is external. What happens if you win 2 from 5 on tour? Who are you going to blame then?
r/nba - What’s good, r/NBA? Dame Lillard here with Gatorade. Let’s talk about Greatness & the different paths to get there. AMA
3,873 votes and 1,826 comments so far on Reddit
Dame Lillard did an AMA on reddit and it's pretty good. Some great answers to some good questions. Loved the "welcome to the NBA moment" question
oof
Memphis 152 - 79 OKC
Yes OKC rested a couple, but Memphis was sans Morant.
That's an epic bet down
@antipodean i saw that and assumed because it was so stupid it was a simple mistake
Tassie is implementing a vaccination mandate on going to the pub. It's only just coming in
Tassie is 88% fully vaxed
I thought everyone getting vaccinated was supposed to make life return to normal?
@voodoo said in Lockdown Check In:
@jc said in Lockdown Check In:
FWIW, my advice to you guys (coming from someone at the bum end of his career) is you should switch to contracting for yourself if at all possible. I have 2 contracts on the go right now, a SAP installation that will take another year that I WFH for 3 days a week. I’m working another 2 days a week managing a programme for a different organisation where I go into the office and work with a crew I know well and love working with. The social interaction is really important to me as I’m very aware of (and if I’m honest worried about) the fact that in another couple of years that will likely be gone for good.
But the best part about working for yourself is you can largely dictate the terms of your engagement. I was able to say right up which days I would be working and where. Anything mandatory on their part that inconvenienced me, we negotiated, which was pretty much me increasing the rate to compensate.
The best part is I go home / log off at 5pm and I’m done. After decades of 60 hour weeks it is amazing what a difference that makes to the quality of my life. I reckon I’m honestly healthier and happier than I was when I was in my 40s. It has made such a difference in my case that Mrs JC has resolved to pull the pin next year and start contracting herself.
At the moment if you’ve got any talent it's a real seller’s market out there. I’m sure it would be different if I wasn’t financially secure or had dependents but right now I wouldn’t have it any other way.
But get a shit-hot accountant!
Here I was, getting all excited, and you just had to go and ruin it for me didn't you?
i smashed in to that roadblock too
and the shit hot accountant part
@kiwiwomble said in Coronavirus - Australia:
"explosion" is a bit of an exaggeration, 1,400 odd people yesterday, other countries have 10's of thousands
goddam i just knew you would come in here and say something like that
The Premier of my state, once we hit the 80% mark they have decided on, will "open" the borders.
And she'll stand in a press conference with a self-satisfied grin on her face, and say "well done Queenslanders" and she'll reward us with allowing people to visit our businesses, and families to re-connect.
And i will have to physically restrain myself from throwing something at my screen.
@antipodean said in Lockdown Check In:
@mariner4life said in Lockdown Check In:
@taniwharugby said in Lockdown Check In:
this is another reason why work is way better than home
i have that at home...
Look at moneybags here. I'd be shot if I spent that for coffee at home, and that from a woman who started a business exporting coffee from PNG.
she bought it, not me
So Australia is at 87% fully vaccinated. 92% have the first dose. Even the laggard states are 77% fully vaxed. It fucked defies belief that this country isn't completely open, to each other and to the world. States are still putting people in to Quarantine. States are requiring Covid tests for entry (and might still put you in quarantine).
NZ is at 86% fully vaxed, why in the fuck are trans-tasman borders not open?
Why are we all so blasé about this? I do not get it.
This is, without a doubt, the greatest exercise in gaslighting the world has ever seen.
The wife and i were talking about our trip to Tassie this morning, and i straight up said i still don't expect to go. It's in less than a month. how sad is it that this is still a realistic way of thinking?
