Impressive piece of ‘analysis’ there, Richard. It’s certainly very fashionable to hate Canterbury rugby, so you‘re not alone. A bit like the way everyone hated Auckland when they used to win everything.

To be honest, I don’t think most Cantabrians really care about the result of a trifling ANZC final, anyway. Winning six Super titles kind of does that to a province.

I agree entirely with Hadyn Green.

And it’s not just our female athletes who are discriminated against in terms of coverage, funding and popularity, either.

In 2003, my intellectually handicapped cousin represented New Zealand in archery at the Special Olympics in Dublin. Not only did he win our country a silver medal, he was one of the few competitors in the final to actually hit the target.

And do you think he got any coverage in the Sunday papers? Do you think TVNZ engineered a teary satellite interview with him, fresh from bouncing off the medal dais? Did SPARC gleefully handover a healthy financial payout, or the Woman’s Day seek his exclusive story? Like Hell they did!

If it hadn’t been for the celebratory hand-job offered by a passing Nigerian carer, he would have walked away with nothing!

Sickening..