My wife had an abnormal result on a smear test. Got the dreaded call from the doctor instead of a text.

A closer look shows she has a lesion on her cervix that has 'high grade cell changes', which are pre-cancerous. She will need part of her cervix removed to get rid of it, and then regular tests to confirm they are all gone.

While the whole thing has been stressful, we are both incredibly grateful that it was picked up before it developed further. Cancer really is a fucking bitch.

If any ladies read this (including the hot Polish chicks), get your smears, they are genuine life savers.

Awesome afternoon of rugby (day rugby is so much more enjoyable!!), and so good to finally get along to a test again.

With a 7 year old, 2 year old and a wife 30 weeks pregnant we were not keen on the idea of public transport so we drove to the ground at around 1PM so we could park close(ish). By 1.30 all parks within cooee were gone so we were glad we got there nice and early. Had a picnic, let the boys play for a bit, then made a leisurely stroll down the road to the game.

Wife was decked out in her Wallabies gear, standing out in a sea of black, bless her. A tough afternoon for her lads thankfully, and the 7 year old let her know ALL about it haha.

Atmosphere was great, especially when the ABs clicked into gear after 15 or so minutes. That was an improved performance as you would expect, albeit in far better conditions which helped some of our players thrive.

Best moments of the afternoon was when they brought up Eroni Clarke on the big screen a couple of times. The second time was right after Clarke's epic run that set up Ardie's try and he got such a massive cheer he had to acknowledge the crowd. He looked proud as punch.

Some random thoughts on the game, bearing in mind I haven't seen it on TV:

• I thought 20 points flattered us; but for some more clinical finishing from Aus it could have been a damn sight closer.
• Aus picked up where they left off last week and dominated the first 15. It was only individual brilliance from Beauden and then Clarke that kicked us into gear. It does feel like we are still too reliant on that to get into a game, better defensive sides won't allow that to happen so easily.
• On Clarke, fark me what a performance from the 21 year old. He looks made for test footy. It's highly likely Bridge would have got the nod again if not injured, and without Clarke the ABs would have once again lacked the firepower needed to break open the test. The selections are going to be an ongoing concern with Foster at the helm.
• RM is electric in broken play, which is why I like him on the bench coming on against tired legs. In a tight test he doesn't lead the team around the park, and as we found out last week if the conditions are difficult he can be found wanting big time. That said, Beauden is not exactly well suited to the role either, but he has a damn sight more experience trying. Fact of the matter is we don't have a 10 that can really take control of a game when the opposition defense has come to play like we did with DC.
• Beauden was simply superb in the first half, which helped take some pressure off RM who grew into the game and had some fantastic touches to set us away.
• Frizzel is a very solid player but he doesn't seem to possess the power Akira does. I really hope they give Akira a good crack as he has the potential (only that right now) to be our next Kaino.
• Coles made a real difference and is back to his best (which is better than Taylor's ceiling). Great to see after his serious injury concerns a year or so back.
• ALB is a fantastic all round player and solidifies our midfield big time. He needs to be 12 with JG 13. I can only assume they have JG closer in to help defend the channel as RM is a bit of a liability there.

Overall a really enjoyable game in the sun with both teams willing to play attacking footy. Still a lot of question marks over this AB side, and I can see some very squeaky bum times ahead in Sydney and Brissie, but nice to keep the Eden Park fortress in tact with a comfortable win in the end.

The fact that they’ve picked a team that so many on the Fern wanted makes me nervous. As a collective we have a strong proven record of not having a fucking clue what we are talking about.

I missed the game as my wife decided to go into labor - as a Wallabies supporter I guess from her perspective childbirth is less painful than watching them play the ABs so fair enough.

Have caught the highlights - geez we scored some great tries eh? Squire's was a thing of beauty, the angle he ran and the perfectly timed ball from BBBR. Orgasmic. Also loved how Moody lined up a couple of backs on their goalline and just smashed the fuck through them.

Great to see us put Beauden into some space as well, he's a very different player to Carter but fuck we can tear teams apart if we use him like we did last night.

Well, it must have been an incredibly tough week for the players. All things considered that's a really good effort, never looked like losing. Proud of that effort.

Bridge played well on debut against Japan in 2018 in a BaaBaas style match that was incredibly open (Japan scored a bunch of tries as well). Since then the AB coaches just seemed to fall in love with him, despite never stepping up against any of the top teams. I have memories of him being put in space and doing less than nothing with it, when in a tight test it's crucial that your outsides can make the most of any chances to score. Just really frustrating to watch.

The "hate" for Bridge isn't against him as a person, it's frustration that he continues to be selected above players that offer FAR more on the wing than him. It's difficult to score tries when your wing brings zero attacking threat, exactly the same reason people despised having Jordie on the wing as well. Not particularly quick, no step to speak of, just really offers nothing in that position at the top level.

It was a shame Rieko was affected by injury when the 2019 WC came around, and we didn't have many other options there as the AB selectors just forged ahead with Bridge against all logic and reason. It was one of many black marks against their selections and tactics leading into and during that WC.

And then we had Clarke in absolutely irresistible form after the RWC, but Bridge continued to get selected ahead of him until injury forced the ABs to pick him, and we immediately saw the benefits of having a winger that offers threat with ball in hand out there again. It's just braindead selections and tactics from the AB coaches - most of our ire should be directed at them rather than players like Bridge or Jordie who they keep chucking on the wing when it's clear they don't belong there.

All of the concerns about selections and game plan really came to a head in this match. Argentina just watched the RWC semi and replicated what England did in the hope we hadn't learnt anything from that, which was evident in the way we've played this year.

We had no answers and once again just relied on individual brilliance to try and get us out of a hole. That doesn't work against an organised defense these days, you have to actually do some hard work to create a bit of space for the likes of Clarke and Beauden.

I still can't get my head around Foster getting the top job when we have blokes like Rennie and Robertson in the mix. You just cannot tell me Robertson wouldn't get more out of this group of players than Foster. Honestly the mind boggles.

Anyway some further random thoughts:

• the loose trio mix is just so obviously wrong it hurts. Akira, Cane, Sotutu. End of story. Idiot selections.
• as above we actually need to pick players that can match up physically in the early exchanges. And then implement a game plan around that; we are simply not going to win the game in the first 40, we should be setting the foundation with good aggressive forward play to generate space for our backs later in the game. This is just rugby 101 surely.
• Cane is a bloke you would follow into the trenches, but his decision making has left a lot to be desired so far. The quick tap Weber took was a stupid play, but he was getting no direction from the captain. I still think he's the right man for the job but he has a bit to learn.
• Mo'unga again struggled and made errors when under pressure. It's a recurring theme with him unfortunately. A rock star on the front foot or in broken play, but against a well organised and aggressive defense he becomes a possum in the headlights.

There's not actually much more to be said about this game that hasn't been said in the previous weeks. The All Blacks had gone stale under Hansen and we decided to go for continuity with Foster. It's going to be a rough couple of years to say the least.

@Tim

@kiwiwomble said in Memes:

@tim said in Memes:

seriously...can you explain?

I get it but don't think any of you guys are nearly online enough to understand the evolution of the meme format. It's tier 7 online stuff that the general population won't understand. This goes for most of Tim's memes.

@nta said in Coronavirus - Australia:

@no-quarter said in Coronavirus - Australia:

@nta said in Coronavirus - Australia:

There was a request for a permit that was denied. So they did it anyway.

Do you mean they requested a permit to hold a protest?

So I'm told. They got told it wasn't on due to turn public health orders.

Ah OK. Like the BLM protests I'm not surprised they went ahead anyway, that's kind of the nature of protests especially when it's anti government / anti establishment.

@nta said in Coronavirus - Australia:

There was a request for a permit that was denied. So they did it anyway.

Do you mean they requested a permit to hold a protest?

@nepia said in Coronavirus - Australia:

@voodoo said in Coronavirus - Australia:

@canefan said in Coronavirus - Australia:

@voodoo said in Coronavirus - Australia:

@nepia said in Coronavirus - Australia:

@voodoo said in Coronavirus - Australia:

@nepia said in Coronavirus - Australia:

@voodoo said in Coronavirus - Australia:

@nepia said in Coronavirus - Australia:

Hey Sydney based posters, did anyone know about this protest ahead of time?

I only knew about it when friends messaged me saying they could hear it near their places.

I assume it was set up via FB or some other such social media. It's weird that media weren't reporting on it before it happened as it seems so coordinated that they would have come across it.

We knew about it because the mum of my oldest kids friend was going... She's a hippie anti-vaxer, I imagine she would have been mortified at how it turned out, but even so my kid ain't playing with her kid for 14 days!!!

How do you think she would have expected it to turn out?

I think she thought it would be a few hundred hippies walking 2m apart. They follow all the rules, she just doesn't agree with them. I doubt she thought there would be 10k of them being violent and abusive to the cops

No matter what she thinks that was still them not following the rules. They were all gathering as a group to march, it doesn't matter if they're 2m apart.

I wouldn't be hung up at all if they were distancing properly. No different than the thousands of folk on the beach concourse. They're crossing within 15cm of each other.

Which would have never happened of course, because the marchers are people who don't give a shit about the rules....

Are they? Is that what they're all like mate? That's a bit of a pompous statement. Those who genuinely believe in freedoms and liberty and resent the government treating us this way, locking us into little zones around our homes? Those who have lost their jobs, their businesses, their savings?

Are they expected to suck it up? Do they not have a right to process?

Obviously the way it turned out was fucking wrong, I'm not condoning it at all. But I wouldn't unfriend anyone for assuming the protest was going to be different and went along.

You said she was specifically going to protest, that's not the same as people walking on a beach. A protest is a gathering whichever way we look at it. Gatherings are not allowed for public health reasons. I can't meet 10 of my friends out even if we stay 2m's apart. I can't travel more than 10km from my house to meet these friends. None of those protestors should have been able to do the same.

I can be sympathetic for the reasons of some who might have wanted to protest (not all because lots of the signs on show were clearly not from people wanting to express their financial stress) but until the public health issue is over they should't be violating rules, rules that are in force with the aim of getting us back to normal.

What they did wont help us get out of lockdown quicker, as you noted a page earlier it could mean we could be in lockdown longer.

@voodoo said in Coronavirus - Australia:

the willingness of government to just take away our freedoms and liberties like this.

I don't understand this opinion at all. The NSW govt with support of the Federal govt went out of their way to not go into lockdown.

What do you think back to normal looks like? The talk coming from governments sounds like we will all need vaccine passports and will have to accept being locked in our homes should a new variant appear. And who knows what the plan is with the borders?

None of that sounds normal to me. That sounds like massive government overreach. That sounds like we're giving up freedoms to incompetent (at best) and/or power hungry politicians who none of us would trust as far as we can throw.

The protests aren't against the vaccine. They are against governments forcing citizens to take the vaccine, and they are even more against governments locking down the country all the time. Labelling these people retards for protesting to retain their freedoms is just too simplistic for me - there's some very valid points that should be properly discussed, throwing insults is just childish. Also, these protests are happening all over the world right now, it's not just a fringe group of extremists. Although the more governments try to just dictate the terms to people, the more extreme people will become.

I know the meme but don't know who it is referencing?

Edit - a dig at Pitbull's that tend maul kids?

Makes you realise how little it matters who is actually president.