Well how good!

A tremendous day for NZ Cricket, a wonderful day for New Zealand.

For me personally there's a couple of reasons why I watch sport, of course there's the love of the game and the enjoyment of watching skilled people do something really well . But there's also a part of it which is just enjoying the triumph of the human spirit.

I watch sport for those moments of enjoyment when perhaps people/teams aren't as talented, or aren't as good but the people who just work a little bit harder, give a little bit more and succeed.

After the true heartbreak of the ODI final I wouldn't have blamed any of them for not being able to get out of bed or succumb to the thinking that "were just not meant to win one". I'm so glad that so many of those people that were there in 2019 on and off the field were there today share and enjoy the moment. Because it's a great story, it's a great moment of a team overcoming adversity and bad luck, of picking themselves up off the floor and succeeding.

It is a true story of the triumph of the human spirit.

I'm immensely proud of this team and the manner in which they won and the values of hard graft, humility and the simply dogged determination to keeping grinding out a result no matter how grim it is. It's just really nice to see the "good guys" win.

Admittedly I'm a new poster and must forewarn that future posts certainly wont be as poetic as this but dammit!! Today is a special day!!

The "All Wokes" is still open as an option, with a logo of a volvo driving soccer mum and a mascot named Karen.

Feel a little sad tbh, she was a great lady the epitome of someone who simply did their duty - often at times under the most intense scrutiny one could face. A throwback to the days where people would simply do what was needed to be done without fuss or complaint.

She was grace and class and hard working, right to the end, a remarkable woman.

Trying for a different take on all of this I don't particularly think that the current mess were in is all Fosters fault but we are simply watching a dynasty in decline.

It's kind of like arguing that Romulus Augustulus was the worst emperor of Rome as he was the one there when Rome finally fell apart - this would provide endless and circular debate for months.

However I do think it's fair to say that the dynasty from Henry to Hansen to Foster was simply one link too far.

Dynasty's ultimately fall apart due to their own hubris, a lack of new idea's, risk aversion due to not wanting to change what's worked in the past, inability to self critique and ultimately sitting on their own laurels till everyone else catch's up and then passes them by.

I think this is what were seeing unfold in front of us, it's not Fosters "fault" but he's certainly not the right coach to take us forward.

Simply put we've done the same thing for too long and now not only have the rest of the pack caught up - they're passing us by.

So to get rid of Foster isn't an incorrect school of thought - we desperately need someone with new ideas, a new way of doing things, the All Blacks need to be given a clean sweep and to start again with something new and Foster isn't new - he's part of the furniture.

And I guess that's the appeal with Robertson - he's seen as someone who will bring new ideas and new ways of doing things.

@canefan said in Coronavirus - New Zealand:

@billy-tell said in Coronavirus - New Zealand:

@canefan said in Coronavirus - New Zealand:

@billy-tell said in Coronavirus - New Zealand:

NZs vaccine strategy for a highly contagious virus has a problem. That most if not all countries have. The not insignificant part of the population that refuse to be vaccinated. Generally healthy people aged 20 to 65 who think they have nothing to fear and feel that the altruistic good of herd immunity does not trump their personal freedoms.

You can only save those who want to be saved

But at the price of shutting down NZ to itself and the world? Is NZ just planning to string together a series of level 4 lockdowns over the next couple of years each time a case is confirmed? How long will people accept that before it wears thin?

Our medical system couldn't even deal with spikes in normal Winter illness, let alone a full blown covid19 outbreak, that is why we lockdown and enforce MIQ.

To be fair that's getting a little thin though, how many billions of dollars have we spent on Covid and covid related stuff, how many months/years has this gone on for and we STILL haven't beefed up our medical system to cope with any sort of outbreak? Is our strategy really been to throw billions of $$ at wage subsidy's and none at the hospitals...and give them pay freezes so they strike??

It's absurdity beyond belief...

Well the trend so far this year for the AB's has been good, terrible, good, terrible.

And given they were good against Wales and then terrible last week against Scotland the only logical conclusion one can draw is that they'll be good this weekend against England.

There's really no more need for comprehensive analysis than that, a sparkling win to finish the season I assure all of you.

Nonu/Smith for me as the best combination - maybe slightly influenced by the 2 WC's they managed to be a part of.

Nonu was big and physical but added more skill and nuance to his game as he progressed, just got better and better with age really.

Smith certainly not athletically the best AB you'd see (no disrespect) but one of the finest rugby brains I've seen. Seemed to go game after game without making a poor decision or being caught out of position.

It really was the ultimate combination of brawn, brains, skill and nuance.

@canefan said in Coronavirus - New Zealand:

@windows97 said in Coronavirus - New Zealand:

It's also important to note that the vaccinations doesn't stop you from getting covid, it makes you less sick and less likely to pass it and less likely to die.

Even with 100% vaccination rate people will still get covid...that air hostess, both jabs, fully immunized but still got the delta variant.

Long term unless we are willing to take some level of covid infection in the community and invest in our medical resources to be able to cope with that level of infection we are going to spend the rest of our lives with borders practicality closed and going from lockdown to lockdown.

Look I'm certainly not an anit-vaxer, am very much for vaccinations, but we all get vaccinated - great!! Then what? Wait on tenderhooks as a closed island community for another level 4 lockdown that will surely come...that seems to be our plan.

The elimination strategy is only going to work if covid is eliminated pretty much world wide - can anyone see that happening in their lifetime?

If we are all vaccinated, and it means we don't end up seriously or fatally ill, I expect travel to open up albeit with some residual restrictions. Cindy said as much. But as far as the around Europe/ USA/ Asia etc family holiday is concerned, it might be some time before we can live that jetset life again

Logically speaking could you please explain to me how the "it might be some time" is going to work for things to get back to normal. Not being a smart-ass but a genuine question. I can't really see how time is going to fix this.

And my fears aren't just I'll never be able to get on a plane and fly again (not that I've had the $ to do so anyway). It's more fears about the type of future world this will create.

There's plenty of evidence to show that covid had made the rich richer, and the poor poorer. Big business (mainly multinationals) has generally gotten bigger, small business has survived propped up by the government, the working class has suffered the most via losing jobs or having reduced income.

And lurching in and out of lockdown isn't going to make it any easier for smaller business to thrive, grow and employ more people.

I mean if were concerned about things like unemployment, child poverty and "inequality" then covid is only going to make all of this worse.

Our government campaigned vociferously for making all of this better - but seem to be locking in a long term plan to only guarantee those exact same people's misery.

Like I said in a prior post billions of dollars spent, did our front line government workers get any money? Nah, pay freezes. Did our medical facilities get significant amounts of money spent so they could cope? Nah...

But don't worry, it will all be solved by the rich or apparently anyone with money getting taxed more, the people that had nothing to do with this problem will be the ones who will pay for it. For years to come.

It appears to be a future of the rich getting richer (but taxed more), the poor getting poorer (and more reliant on the government) and us all having significantly reduced freedoms - all in the effort of eliminating a virus which we can't possibly eliminate...

@muddyriver said in Coronavirus - Overall:

Fuck anyone who peer pressured people to get it based on saving grandma and grandpa

It wasn't so much that, but the threat of redundancy/ job loss pressure, not being able to have your business open pressure, not being able to go anywhere pressure, not being able to visit friends/parents/people in hospital/rest homes pressure, your kids not being able to play sport pressure. The list goes on...

All these in this country were mandated.

And everyone seems to have forgotten.

I'm pretty convinced the mandates destroyed more lives than what the virus ever did - though getting impartial and unbiased data on that probably wont happen for another 10 years or so until "certain" people have left public office.

It's unbelievable.

The worst part about rugby is that it's a complete, major, utterly useless clusterfuck of a mess to explain the game to someone that's new or hasn't seen it before.

Heck it's even difficult to explain the game to people who have actually played the game a little while back and can't keep up or even understand all the new rule changes (not their fault).

I mean I sit there and try and explain the rules to people and tbh - you sound like a complete and utter dick as you go through them and no wonder you see their eyes glaze over...

Explaining the rules of the English Royal Constitution would probably be easier and more logical...

Rugby as a product these days is poor, even committed fans find it hard to understand, new people enjoy the spectacle but have no idea what's going on which greatly decreases the enjoyment level.

The ball is in play less and less, the umpires are taking up more and more time on the field and it's shambolically stop/start. Set pieces take an age. Measures to "speed the game up" are swamped by increasingly litigious and officious applications of the law.

You can see why people enjoy soccer and league more, at least you can understand what's going on and don't have 10 minutes of officials pouring over decisions on the field every game.

Rugby if it wants to become more popular and relevant globally must simplify the game - in it's current state it risks going back globally at an alarming rate (playing numbers have only been held up by the woman's game and that uptake wont last forever).

More concerning for me, as an ex player is that I see the game getting less and less physical - more athletic yes, but certainly less physical - it risks becoming sanitized, safe and boring. Yes there was something brutal, violent maybe - but that was part of the game. Part of the appeal is the gladiatorial aspect of the game which is increasingly being wiped out.

Again this isn't good for the game - if gladiatorial combat isn't popular then check out the meteoric rise of the UFC, its lack of politics and simple brutality has an appeal - certainly compared to boxing. I'm not saying make it violent but there seems to be a push to get the game to a point where your almost going to have to apologize for tackling someone hard (and indeed I've seen perfectly legal tackles get painfully reviewed over and over gain as there MUST have been some foul play as the poor chap got hurt when it has been little more than a well executed tackle).

So in short the game has changed into something I don't like a great deal. It's not great to watch and becoming less and less of a spectacle every year. Rugby in short has lost it's soul in a blaze of complex laws and softness and is increasingly becoming more and more complex and soft every passing year.

I'm not used to the Chiefs being this good tbh...quite a culture shock really.

@taniwharugby said in All Blacks 2023:

@Kiwiwomble guess alot will depend on what Fozzie sees as his best way to win the rwc...rookie debutant or safe experience.

Well you know - Foster with his track record of wild out of the blue, risk taking selections and all...

@voodoo Well you see she was still recovering from almost being run over by a motorcycle (while she posed for a selfie in the middle of a pedestrian crossing) hence she was flustered and confused as she made her comments.

However that occurred 3 hours after the video...

You see so great was her PTSD that it travelled backwards in time to afflict her.

P.s. Luxton is also weak as piss and rapidly loosing his support base as simply being seen as the slightly blue version of the same government that's already in power.

National will stumble over the line propped up by ACT and NZ first, should they even get enough votes to overcome the labor/greens.

@pakman hmmm, I wonder why

What for me is a particularly disturbing trend is that threats, violence and intimidation is perceived as "ok" (if not encouraged and justified) should it align with certain political beliefs/views.

No point of view, or morality justifies violence.

Ironically this trend of endorsing violence it mainly pushed by people who refer to themselves as "progressives".

If mankind has not evolved in thought and mind beyond beating someone you don't like with a club we have not "progressed" at all.

Ironically Orwell's vision of the future (being a jackboot kicking a human being in the face repeatedly) seems in this modern age to not be done by a nationalist in a uniform but to rather be done by a progressive in the name of diversity, inclusion and equality...

Of course were certainly not there yet - but the groundwork for it is being set nicely.

@mariner4life I agree entirely with that statement.

@Machpants Considering they didn't have the balls to sack Foster Razor's record with the AB's would have to be so horrendously poor for him to get the boot it wouldn't be worth comprehending.

@Machpants said in It’s Razor. Robertson New All Blacks coach.:

I just clicked that razors four years doesn't have a mid way check, it's a four year contract. That's the first in a while.

Well that shows supreme confidence from the board - though I don't know if I should feel reassured or if I should burst out laughing.

@SBW1 said in It’s Razor. Robertson New All Blacks coach.:

@Kiwiwomble One thing is for sure there is going to be a real vacum left in the Super Franchises with coaches leaving for the All Black spot. With the possible signing of Brad Shields, it would be good to have a slight reversal of our player exodus.

A good problem to have, finally having super rugby coach's step up to the AB level instead of just heading overseas.

The "must have international experience" line always bugged me as it basically guaranteed that our best and brightest rugby coaching talent "had to" go overseas and we'd just hope they'd come back at some stage.

Exporting all your best talent out to the opposition doesn't seem like the smartest development pathway for an organization to take...

Given the licorice all sorts approach to the loose forward trio selection maybe Hugh Renton stands a chance?

Been very solid in a Highlanders team that in all due respect has struggled and we all know Gus won't make the AB's this year - leaves a gap at 8.

The only other option is Stevenson - but that's been talked to death already.