 |
| |
|
|
Caligastia
|
|
Has anyone else caught any NPC games yet? Auckland v Wellington should be good this weekend. Hopefully Auckland will have their All Blacks back.
|
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
|
|
Havak
|
 |
Swing Low, Sweet Chariots.
Aug 1999
time: 05:36
|
|
Oh I met a few ‘blowies’ I think – though none had wings (although some thought they should have had). 
quote:
Needless to say that the said supporters often went back home with their tails between the legs. |
True enough. But when chanting it at home or on neutral ground it proves true more often than not.
quote:
That's something I've missed - J****'s furious scowl and muttering and head shaking as he tramps away from the ref. |
And that after a decision has gone his way. You should see him when it doesn’t. 
quote:
In fact, the East Midlands in winter is probably tropical compared to Otago in winter. |
I am happy to take your word for that – but it certainly doesn’t make me want to visit Otago in winter.
quote:
If they decide the franchise isn't strong enough, the rule could be changed to allow in, for example, the Pacific Islanders. All of which renders the argument about creating Wallaby depth completely fallacious. |
I would hope they don’t open it up. Doing so caused (and is still causing) untold grief for the English leagues. Clubs loaded with foreign talent were unaffected by the RWC call ups for example – and that created bad blood between supporters.
But then as previously mentioned we are handcuffed by EC employment legislation – the ARU seems to have no such concerns.
It must be a worry though – how would a little pit bull like Waughy get game time and break through if a franchise coach had five huge Islanders he could play at flanker?
quote:
The other potential benefit of an extra franchise, of course, is taking rugby to more people, increasing its exposure. Which has to be a good thing for the game. Providing, of course, the franchise is set up properly and isn't a lemon. |
Is there a market for the game on the west coast?
If the franchise doesn’t work out it is only another nine years to the next Lions cash boost.
quote:
I saw that. And p*ssed myself laughing! |
And Krige’s foreign legion thumped Bath.
quote:
Sébastien Chabal has already played in the French team and he is a very good player but the competition is very strong at this place. |
He impressed me a great deal more than that Catalan anglo-hating farm boy did in this years 6N – maybe it was a one off by Chabal though.
We have named what I think is close to our strongest possible side for Saturday, with the possible exception of blindside where Jonno junior would probably play if fit. If we don’t win with this line up at home it really will be a long hard season. Note that Benny Kay has been dropped to the bench for young Deacon again – Ben risks being overtaken at both club and national level by the lad.
There are four Samoan Tuilagi brothers – and we briefly had all of them but the oldest Fereti has now gone to Cardiff. Alex Tuilagi made a huge splash in the development side last Monday as he scored five tries in a 68-10 destruction of the Leeds development side. Also on the bench again is Broadfoot – and I am looking forward to seeing him tested at the top level.
Leicester Tigers team to face Leeds Tykes:
15 Geordan Murphy
14 Austin Healey
13 Ollie Smith
12 Daryl Gibson
11 Seru Rabeni
10 Andy Goode
9 Harry Ellis
1 Graham Rowntree
2 George Chuter
3 Julian White
4 Martin Johnson (captain)
5 Louis Deacon
6 Brett Deacon
7 Neil Back
8 Martin Corry
Replacements (from):
James Buckland
Darren Morris
Ben Kay
Will Skinner
Henry Tuilagi
Scott Bemand
Ross Broadfoot
Alex Tuilagi
|
|
| |
|
|
|
finbar
|
 |
Castiglion Fiorentino, Italy
Jan 1970
time: 06:36
|
|
quote:
Originally posted by Havak
Oh I met a few ‘blowies’ I think – though none had wings (although some thought they should have had). |
The one that's bothering me has a French-accented bzzzzzz! 
quote:
I am happy to take your word for that – but it certainly doesn’t make me want to visit Otago in winter. |
Bitter. Bitter. Bitter. Snow. Ice. Sleet.
quote:
I would hope they don’t open it up. Doing so caused (and is still causing) untold grief for the English leagues. Clubs loaded with foreign talent were unaffected by the RWC call ups for example – and that created bad blood between supporters. |
Less of a problem here because local club rugby wouldn't be affected and S12 doesn't compete with Tests.
quote:
It must be a worry though – how would a little pit bull like Waughy get game time and break through if a franchise coach had five huge Islanders he could play at flanker? |
That's the potential downside. Easy, quick fixes instead of developing the young talent.
quote:
Is there a market for the game on the west coast? |
Perth is full of Boks and Poms. And ravagon. It seems to be a four-way competition for the franchise - Perth, Melbourne, Gosford on the NSW Central Coast (where they played a number of RWC matches), and the Gold Coast. The Gold Coast would be the longest odds, followed, perhaps, by Gosford. Gosford has a good stadium, sport-mad local population, and the backing of a billionaire advertising/media mogul. Melbourne's appeal would be its inhabitants' passion for any form of sport. A good S12 franchise would be very successful down there. From what I read in the press, Perth is the front-runner. Strong local ex-pat support, it's a damn sight closer for the Boks than anywhere on the east coast, and, perhaps most telling, the ARU has chosen Perth over Melbourne in the last couple of years for a couple of major Test matches.
quote:
And Krige’s foreign legion thumped Bath. |
I noticed that too. Maybe will inject some steel into the Saints. I notice that Burke didn't turn out for Newcastle. Any reason why?
quote:
Note that Benny Kay has been dropped to the bench for young Deacon again – Ben risks being overtaken at both club and national level by the lad. |
Mmmm. Time to shape up or else, Benjamin. He's slid a long way in a short-ish time, hasn't he.
quote:
There are four Samoan Tuilagi brothers – and we briefly had all of them but the oldest Fereti has now gone to Cardiff. Alex Tuilagi made a huge splash in the development side last Monday as he scored five tries in a 68-10 destruction of the Leeds development side. Also on the bench again is Broadfoot – and I am looking forward to seeing him tested at the top level. |
Are any of the brothers from Kiwi S12 teams? The name seems familiar.
The team looks quite reasonable apart from the d*ckhead on the wing. And I don't mean the North Aucklander.
|
|
| |
|
| |
|
|
|
Caligastia
|
|
Looks like the Super 12 and Tri-nations expansion is going ahead.
Which region of Australia do you think will get the new franchise Finbar? Do you think the new team will siphon players away from other Aussie Super 12 teams? I suppose in the long run this will be good for Australian rugby, but in the short term it might weaken Australian Super 12 performance.
As for the Tri-nations, I look forward to the expansion. Having a longer Tri-nations tourney will keep the top All Blacks from playing much NPC, and therefore give more new talent a chance to shine. It could be a bit of a drain on the energies of top players though.
|
|
| |
|
|
|
finbar
|
|
Castiglion Fiorentino, Italy
Jan 1970
time: 06:36
|
|
quote:
Originally posted by Caligastia
Which region of Australia do you think will get the new franchise Finbar? |
I did a bit of an analysis of the situation in my post about 4 or 5 posts above yours. In summary, I suspect it's between Melbourne and Perth, with Perth possibly having its nose in front for reasons mentioned in my post.
quote:
Do you think the new team will siphon players away from other Aussie Super 12 teams? I suppose in the long run this will be good for Australian rugby, but in the short term it might weaken Australian Super 12 performance. |
Players are obviously contracted to their franchises, so contract negotiation time will be more interesting than usual. As it is, under the current set up, when top players come out of contract, there is interest from other teams. Sometimes huge interest, as in the Lote Tuquiri scenario earlier this year. His Waratahs contract was up and both the Reds and Brumbies chased him. He stayed with the Waratahs. OTOH, the whole bargaining situation is stymied somewhat by our S12 salary cap. There's a maximum a franchise can pay a player. Anything above and beyond the figure is, um, a matter between franchise, player and private sponsor.
As I also posted the other day, the extra franchise offers a great opportunity for very promising players who are currently back-ups to top players in teams. Matt Henjak is the prime example. He's a young, very talented scrummy, who is patently obviously George Gregan's replacement with the Wallabies when George retires. Currently, he warms the Brumbies' bench behind Gregan. Getting him into the new franchise, where he would be the starting scrummy, will help his career enormously. Whether the Brumbies would want to let him go is another matter. 
|
|
| |
|
| |
All times are GMT. The time now is 05:36.
Apolyton Time is 00:36. |
top of page
|
| archivepost |
|
Forum Rules:
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
|
HTML code is ON
vB code is ON
Smilies are ON
[IMG] code is ON
|
|
|
|
|
|
08-09-2004 05:20
|