Public Address | Cafe | Hard News: Rugby has a problem

tussock

Sat, 14 Mar 2015 14:15:28 +1300

If the allblacks had lost the world cup, no one would have said at least it was an exciting game. They'd have wanted his head on a plate.
That was nearly the last game of rugby I watched, come to think of it. I did check what they did to…

Grant McDougall

Sat, 14 Mar 2015 09:34:48 +1300

It is corrupt organisation, if you define corruption as riddled with patronage, nepotism, jobs for the boys, and elitism of the unearned sort.

Back in the mid-90s, a sports reporter told me that the hapless Mark Carter's father was the president / chairman (one or the other) of the ARU.…

Grant McDougall

Sat, 14 Mar 2015 09:31:23 +1300

A coaches job is to win games. If the rules are such that a particlar style of play increases your teams chances of winning, then that is what you coach and how you play.

Well that doesn't explain why the Blues are on a losing streak. Every other coach in…

dcrobertson01

Fri, 13 Mar 2015 14:33:49 +1300

A coaches job is to win games. If the rules are such that a particlar style of play increases your teams chances of winning, then that is what you coach and how you play. If the allblacks had lost the world cup, no one would have said at least it…

Alfie

Fri, 13 Mar 2015 13:35:39 +1300

Nobody with any kind ofpassion in life needs any of this stuff.
Is that so? I guess I'll just have to go through the rest of my life as a passionless but proud supporter of the Highlanders.

Bruce Thorpe

Thu, 12 Mar 2015 09:27:05 +1300

There are too many rugby matches with pointless conference structures, and outside the world cup it all turns into a blur, saved in New Zealand's case by a consistently admirable and successful test team.
There are too many cricket matches with pointless international tournaments and outside some form of world…

Peter Darlington

Thu, 12 Mar 2015 08:47:11 +1300

Weirdly the British Premier League continues to be great old fun, even if the talent on display is fairly over-rated, while the English national team continues to fade into the worst kind of mediocre rubbish. Kinda the opposite to NZ rugby.

As a Hurricanes supporter I couldn't be happier (although,…

headasunder

Wed, 11 Mar 2015 11:41:54 +1300

like a leeming over a cliff I continue to support the Blues, not a happy pastime here in Crusader country. Not having sky I rarely watch any games (I occasionally stream a game).. Yes too much rugby. the last great game I saw was a match at the local park…

Ethan Tucker

Wed, 11 Mar 2015 10:18:17 +1300

Too. Much. Rugby.

Tom Semmens

Tue, 10 Mar 2015 21:39:22 +1300

There’s the odd clip of old amateur-rules rugby on youtube, it’s a great game

Rugby could have evolved in an entirely different direction. It used to be a much, much more kicking game – you could kick out on the full from anywhere and get the territorial advantage AND the…

tussock

Tue, 10 Mar 2015 21:31:13 +1300

There's the odd clip of old amateur-rules rugby on youtube, it's a great game. The primary differences, as my old man would say, is you had to play the game on your feet, and you had to release the ball when tackled, which meant it was very easy to turn…

Ian Dalziel

Tue, 10 Mar 2015 15:20:31 +1300

yet key staff keep their jobs without quibble presumably because they are old boys of the right schools and they needed a job back in the day.
Are the Whetton Brothers still involved?

Tom Semmens

Tue, 10 Mar 2015 14:16:47 +1300

The Blues have had around seven coaches in the last 15 years. No one can coach effectively in what has become the least professional of the NZ franchises. It is corrupt organisation, if you define corruption as riddled with patronage, nepotism, jobs for the boys, and elitism of the unearned…

Rich of Observationz

Tue, 10 Mar 2015 12:44:55 +1300

I guess if rugby's boring here, it must be even more dull in all the other countries who can never beat us.
The main thing that keeps it going in England is that it's the sport of choice for posh people who wouldn't descend to attending a soccer game. Even…

Jon Briggs

Tue, 10 Mar 2015 10:26:26 +1300

I used to be a mad super rugby fan.

I lost interest after we finally won the WC. After the release of anxiety and stress built up over 20 years, who can care about a game of super rugby?

[the answer, obviously, is loads of people just not me]

Alfie

Tue, 10 Mar 2015 09:34:55 +1300

Ity must be tough to be a Blues supporter at the moment but I'll put my hand up... I'm still a fervent rugby supporter. It's the only sport I really watch in earnest, although I did catch the end of the last Breakers game which was a thriller. And I…

andin

Tue, 10 Mar 2015 07:38:36 +1300

Wonder what sport will be like in 150 yrs...., wonder what society will be like in 150 yrs

Trevor Nicholls

Tue, 10 Mar 2015 01:11:54 +1300

Super rugby has three main problems.
1. It's a franchise, not a competition between regions.
2. It was created to help fill more of the year with rugby so it's a winter sport being played in the late summer.
3. It's basically run to generate money through the TV networks.

Darel Hall

Mon, 09 Mar 2015 17:19:20 +1300

Once the Conference system came in they lost me. It isn't a comp. where every team has a reasonably equal chance, so what's the point?

Also, it's OK supporting a losing team that puts everything into attempting to win. It's even more OK when you can identify with the players…

Tim Michie

Mon, 09 Mar 2015 16:31:46 +1300

I think to be fair, many recent Blues coaches have encountered the same difficulties with the Blues, as Russell aptly wrote above, who are like some sort of experiment in making the least of talent. I regret I cannot recall engaging much with their games last year either.

Chopper

Mon, 09 Mar 2015 16:10:25 +1300

I've given up on rugby. Every time I go to a game, they fill EVERY stoppage with a short burst of music. It's as if they don't want to give fans the opportunity to think "Hey, this is nowhere near as good as I thought it would be".

I live…

Grant McDougall

Mon, 09 Mar 2015 15:55:20 +1300

For those of us south of the Bombay Hills, there is considerable schadenfraude at the Blues' form in recent years. However, as Highlanders fan, I know all too well the pain of supporting a struggling team. But Blues' fans also know what it's like to support a good team, so…

Ian Dalziel

Mon, 09 Mar 2015 15:47:48 +1300

Proud scrum…
I’m not sure I’ll bother going to a rugby game this year – and this is the game I’ve followed nearly all my life.
…and this is the changing paradigm within which the Government wants us ratepayers to build a new (possibly covered) stadium in Chchch!

Let Rupert…

Andrew G

Mon, 09 Mar 2015 15:32:50 +1300

I watched the Phoenix on the weekend too, and the quality on display there has improved markedly over the seasons. Then I watched some of the Blues game and couldn't stay awake through the endless scrum resets. They really need to address that part of the game before Sky start…

Public Address

Mon, 09 Mar 2015 15:32:50 +1300

Discussion from blog post.