Field Theory: It's about time
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Richie Rich...
The more the All Blacks align themselves with John Key the more I hate them.
One is known by the company one keeps...
and as I said elsewhere, with McCaw and Key it's hard to know who corrupted who the most !!
(sorry Jordan!)
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The all blacks are not iur team. In fact far from it.
Now they are a corporation sitting beside key at any opportunity.When, and only when they pick an all black team from locals. Not super whatever players will they be able to wear that jersey and it mean something.
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The more the All Blacks align themselves with John Key the more I hate them.
I could sometimes overlook youthful individuals saying stuff. Whatever. What gets me is All Blacks and NZ Rugby Management seeming to have a complete disinterest in what the players say when associated with the team and its brand, and at times outright enabling political alignment.
Maybe you can’t always stop Dan Carter from blabbing about his favourite guy on twitter, or Richie McCaw for answering a question about his favourite flag, but why is the PM allowed into the dressing rooms for obviously politically motivated photos? Why is a rugby magazine allowed to use the AB’s brand and player photos in clearly politicised image? Why is the team announced on the steps of parliament?? These are all the things which NZ Rugby can and should be in control of. It seems high risk management for the brand in such a highly polarised political environment, so what do they expect to get for it?
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Welcome back Hadyn. It's not a Rugby World Cup without this blog.
As for the politics issue - most sports "heroes" turn out to be unsound, I'm afraid. Mix money and a conservative mindset, it's no surprise. It's just that these days we know more about it (coz social media is to blame for everything!!11!!).
We could put together an alternative squad of reported Not-Nats if you like ... Jerome Kaino, Anton Oliver, Stacey Jones - see, I'm struggling here.
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I should mention that at the 2011 final when John key was announced on the field the stadium filled with boos
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"With booze", shurely?
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why is the PM allowed into the dressing rooms for obviously politically motivated photos?
Because he's the one who's paying the bills (using our money, of course)
Observe: http://files.allblacks.com/comms/2014_NZR_AR/NZRco/NZR-2014-AR-FULL-REPORT.pdf (page 54)
- $4.5mln directly from the government
- Plus, they pay no income tax under a Taxes Act provision that exempts bodies established mainly to promote an amateur game or sport. Rugby has been professional since 1995 and whilst the NZRFU spends some money on amateur club rugby, it's a small portion of their total revenue.
I assume that they are allowed this somewhat extra-legal concession for political reasons.- and then there's all the loss making stadia that get subsidized by tax and rate payers.
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Nick Phillips, in reply to
You can add Piri Weepu to that list - http://www.matthewbeveridge.co.nz/politics/young-nats-greens-and-the-rugby-world-cup/
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I pretty much agree with the general gist of your post Hadyn, but complaining about the National Party being linked to rugby is a bit like complaining about the Greens being popular with people in the arts - that's simply the crowd they attract, historically.
Also, to state the obvious, the explosion of social media has enhanced and made public those links. I expect that beforehand, plenty of All Blacks, rightly or wrongly, voted National, but didn't have the need or means to say they'd done so, publically.
Even if they hadn't said so publically, it'd pretty much be a foregone conclusion that, to use an above example, Dan Carter, would've voted National anyway, given he's from a small, rural town.
Their politics aside, I also have reservations about the ABs RWC squad, too. Too many ,such as McCaw are a yard off the pace, too many others are there on reputation not form (especially among the tight five) and others shouldn't even be there.
The recent win over a so-so Wallabies is a flash in the pan. We will struggle in the knock-out games, simple as that.
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Has any other PM been so matey-matey with the AB "brand"? Sure, there's always politicians interacting with the national team(s), and there is a world cup on, but I struggle to recall anything so smacking of "I'll scratch your back..."
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This is a trend I am also growing to dislike intensely (and would dislike even if their politics matched mine). Members of any national team should be keeping their politics to themselves. They are supposed to be representing the whole nation, not just part of it.
I reckon National is trial-ballooning Richie for PM, actually, since nobody in their caucus is at all likable (apart from Key, and that's debatable).
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Grant McDougall, in reply to
I reckon National is trial-ballooning Richie for PM, actually
McCaw has, thankfully, publically stated he's not interested in going into politics.
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I'm going to wade in for Richie here. He's between a rock & a hard place and you can't tell me Andrew Little wouldn't be all over him like a rash if Labour were currently in government. Key embarrasses himself over the changing room snapchats and the Richie for MP comments but McCaw answered that suggestion very well along the lines of "not for me, not interested, why would I want to do that because I'd immediately lose the support of half the population when I can currently have the support of everyone" etc...
Yeh, he likes the Silver Fern flag, of course he does. Probably votes National as well, and he may well like JK, but as far as I'm aware he's never done anything to say he's a bigoted, violent, red neck neo liberal asshat.
I don't like crappy hero worship (unless it's Otis, Marvin, James and Curtis) but he's done his talking on the field and I don't think we fully realise just how incredible his achievements are, even if we lose this World Cup.
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I was aghast to discover a little while back that the RWC hadn't even started yet ... And there are 8 more weeks of sports in the wrong place in the news to go ....
The airnz safety film yesterday was particularly cringeworthy ... at this point I've stopped watching them on principal which I suspect is not the goal. And having the screen in front of my seat saying "kia ora Paul" when I sat down was borderline creepy.
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I suspect that in the past, the ABs may've been told not to publically endorse, or do something that looks like endorsing, anything contentious, like politics.
About 20 years ago (possibly in an excellent cover story on him in the Listener by Denis Welch), Colin Meads said that he always made the point of going to a different voting booth as Jim Bolger on election day, so he could specifically avoid the chance of photo-op of he and Bolger together - and thus giving the impression of endorsement.
They very likely knew each other anyway, but at least Meads was wise enough to avoid publically being in Bolger's company.
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Russell Brown, in reply to
$4.5mln directly from the government
Most of that's for Sevens, on the basis that it's an Olympic sport. The men's and women's Sevens teams received more than $1m each on the basis that they're likely gold medallists.
Rugby has been professional since 1995 and whilst the NZRFU spends some money on amateur club rugby, it's a small portion of their total revenue.
About a quarter of NZ rugby's $120m revenue goes into grants to provincial unions and game development and I'd guess tens of millions more of the funding for competitions and representative teams goes to non-professional tiers (most ITM Cup players aren't professionals, for instance).
Given that there are 150,000 people playing the game, rugby pays its way more than most sports. Rowing and competitive cycling will get more government funding than rugby this year, for instance. And Lydia Ko has personally received nearly half a million in government grants over the past three years – again, on the basis that she's a likely medal winner. It's all dictated by the high-performance sports funding National introduced in 2009.
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Russell Brown, in reply to
Even if they hadn't said so publically, it'd pretty much be a foregone conclusion that, to use an above example, Dan Carter, would've voted National anyway, given he's from a small, rural town.
And he's very wealthy.
Yeah, it's not a surprise, but they should probably shut about it.
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Rich of Observationz, in reply to
I still don't see how spending 25% of their revenue on amateur rugby makes that their *main* purpose. By any normal standard, their main purpose is professional rugby and a secondary purpose is the amateur game.
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chris, in reply to
Yeh, he likes the Silver Fern flag, of course he does. Probably votes National as well
The timing and location (RWC team announcement/The Beehive) of those statements and the fact that he’s the captain/ spokesman of a team that the nation is expected to support probably didn’t help much there.
If it were Clyde rather than James making the statement, different story.
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simon g, in reply to
as far as I’m aware he’s never done anything to say he’s a bigoted, violent, red neck neo liberal asshat.
Yes, I'd certainly take Richie over some of his apartheid-blind predecessors (honourable exception: Graham Mourie).
Generally I think the whole Key = McCaw line is overblown. Key is doing what he does. Whereas McCaw just mumbled an answer to a question from Patrick Gower on TV3 and got turned into an unwanted headline.
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Well everybody is entitled to their opinions, though I note you don't allow McCaw that right
Amazes me how quickly people forget what the other side did especially if they are supporters
I give you Miss Clark who broke the law ( or encouraged her police escort to do ) to rush to a league game that I suggest she had as much interest in as I have in tap dancing because it would go down well with her voters
Different when we do it, maybe or just what pollies of all stripes will do to stay in power -
There's such an easy way to spike National's guns here. We just need a Rugby Party, which promises that the nation will be run by and for the All Blacks. Then the All Blacks can safely endorse it with impunity. It's first leader will be his royal Snaffleness, Sir Ritchie, should he choose to accept it. Which ever side comes out on top in the election has nothing to lose by aligning with him, and making him the Minister of Rugby.
Then, at the end of the day, even in a game of two halves, rugby will always be the winner.
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Hadyn Green, in reply to
Hahaha!
Had they not been caught speeding no one would've reported that she was there. How often did league-fan Clark show up in the dressing room after the game for a photo shoot?
Also I did say it was my problem. They can obviously have opinions but as soon as they do, then I can disagree with them. And if I disagree with them why would I support them?
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Hadyn Green, in reply to
Ps. She was speeding to get to a Bledisloe Cup game
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Emma Hart, in reply to
I give you Miss Clark who broke the law ( or encouraged her police escort to do ) to rush to a league game that I suggest she had as much interest in as I have in tap dancing because it would go down well with her voters
Union. She was a massive League fan. Still is, I assume.
Pretending to be interested in sport is something NZ prime ministers have to do. But sitting in the stands at a netball game so bored you can barely keep your eyes open is a world away from having the World Cup launch at parliament. I can't fathom why the NZRU agreed to that.
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