The Orange

We’ve (both of us) have been tracking Blackburn Rover’s struggle at the foot of the EPL.

Rovers were up against middle of the table Wigan and the weekend – a loss would have kept Rovers just one place above the drop zone and only one win (three points) above second to last.  Not good.

Perhaps Captain Ryan has been getting some inspiration from this blog (Tui ad time).

Whatever the case, he finally broke his duck with his first goal after over one hundred appearances.

But still, what a game to score your first goal.

Check out the table here.

Blackburn are now 15th, six points ahead of the relegation zone with only four games remaining.  Sadly, it must be a little tough when the challenge last year was whether or not they could get into Europe.

Still, if you can be bothered, check out Hull’s free fall.  A parachute would reall help.  After 10 games, Hull were third (3rd in case you think that’s a typo) and now they are the last one not to be voted off the island.

Check out their fall here … looks like the share price for a US investment bank.

Anyway, good on ya Captain Ryan!

.. turn the effing lights on at North Harbour.

What an embarassment for rugby in NZ and with the scary prospect that we’re only a couple of years for the next Rugby World Cup.

Talk about passing the buck (funny that, with Buck being North Harbour and all!):

North Harbour Stadium chief executive Brendan O’Connor said the company would be talking to Vector about future supply. “It doesn’t scare me but it is a timely reminder to all of us involved with the Rugby World Cup that there are things out of our control and the need to have good backup.”

North Shore Mayor Andrew Williams said he was not surprised to hear of the outage. “There has been so little investment by the utility companies into North Shore’s infrastructure that our system is so fragile just one limb on the line can bring down the power.”

Perhaps the Stadium should have a backup plan like a generator?

On second thought, anyone else think it was an outraged Blues fan who pulled the plug?

After watching the NRL over the last couple of days, I’m not a happy chappy.

As far as the Aussies are concerned, ANZAC Day is Australia Day II.

Mind you, given the origins of the country, it’s no surprise that they would stoop to stealing our shared day for their own celebrations.

The ultimate is the sense of outrage that the Storm should propose that the Warriors and Storm play an annual game on Anzac Day.

As I posted earlier, it doesn’t seem to have occured to any of the Eff wits in Oz that there already was an annual Anzac Test match but it doesn’t suit the Aussie view of the world to promote test footy.  They might lose!

I suppose we should accept that there already is a traditional matchup on ANZAC Day – Rooster v Dragon.  This game has been played for years.  All seven of them.

It gets worse.

Watching the Rabbits game, Asotasi scores an outstanding individual try.

Gould and the other C9 commenwankers credit Roy with being the best prop in the game.  What a pity he can’t play the pinnacle of the game.

Hello????

State of Origin is going to be a big problem.

The success of the Kiwis is no surprise given the “browning” of the game and the growing influence of the bruise bros.

With the current eligibility rules, many of first and second and even third generation Aussies could potentially play for NZ.  Watch the Aussies try to change the rules to their benefit.

Roy’s most likely less worried about the fact he can’t play SOO.  Frankly, he’s most likely really peeved that he missed out on the World Cup and pantsing the Kangarooted.

To hear Gould’s attitude simply shows that the Aussies put their interest ahead of anyone else’s.

Just like ANZAC Day.

Postscript – why is it that we can go to the video ref to check a knockon when the Warriors have kicked a drop goal but not when the Storm punch the ball out of Vatuvei’s grip?  Cheating just comes so natural to those fun lovin’ criminals in pink.

Ha … I wonder how many have been suckered into thinking that this is about the Rugger World Cup when it’s actually about the kiss and kick version.

The New Zealand U17 Soccer team has qualified for the World Cup later this year in Nigeria. Lucky sods!  Always wanted to spend some time in Nigeria!

We can only hope it’s an omen for the All Whites (does that make the U17’s the Small Whites?).

The All Whites are just two games away from their dream.

The key difference of course is that the Small Whites only had to beat the Island teams to gain direct entry.

On the other hand, The Big Boys have to first win their way out of Oceania and then take on the fifth ranked Asian team for a ticket to the big dance.

Let’s hope the Small Whites getting to show the groove thing is an omen for the All Whites.

And WTF … Shane Smeltz is now an Australian citizen??????? Yep, the German-born, Aussie-raised Kiwi International is now an Ocker.  Can I tag this as cheating Aussies??

Interesting insight into the Aussies and the import of TV to NRL.

The Storm have come up with the concept of a regular game v the Warriors on Anzac Day.

Strange because I thought we were supposed to have an Anzac test on Anzac Day but what would I know??

Anyway, back to the Storm.

The Storm are getting right into the Anzac spirit on Saturday:

They have even struck ‘The Spirit of ANZAC’ medal to be awarded to the player who – according to statement from the club – “typifies courage and comradeship, traits personified by soldiers who have, and continue to fight for Australia and New Zealand.”

Now, it’s hard to see where the problem is on the surface.

But remember, we’re talking about our mates across the Ditch here.

And Anzac Day is of course an Australian day that has nothing – nothing I tell you – to do with NZ.

We should know better.  Anzac Day is the traditional matchup between the Roosters and Dragons. For all of the last seven years.

And in any case, bugger history, bugger the Anzacs, it’s up to Channel Nine or Fox Sports to determine when the game should be played.

Forget almost 110 years of history.  Forget Anzac spirit, the Anzac rivalry , or anything else not to do with running the Sydney Rugby League (no longer to be confused with the National Rugby League).

Talk about cheating Aussies.

Speaking of which, I’m proud to inform you both that the Orange is proudly ranked second in Google no less if you search for cheating Aussies!!! Hah, and normally us Kiwis celebrate fourth!!

Another rugby post at the Orange!!!!

What next?

Anyway, just spotted an interesting story on the ABC web site which floated the idea that everyone’s favourite S14 coach John Mitchell may be on the way out.

While the Force continue to surprise on the field, they have issues off the field.

They got burnt with sponsors and are struggling to retain marquee players.

The story also notes that the CEO has resigned.

Based on many years as a Warriors supporter, it’s a fact I tell you that an unhappy front office makes an unhappy team.

Will be interested to see if the story has any legs.

I’m on a bit of a Super 14 roll, so let’s keep it going.

Kind of like use it or lose it.

When the Super 12 kicked off it was all so new and we ruled the world and we showed them how rugby could be played.  Bugger me, did we what.

But i bet when the fishheads who came up with bonus points were thinking through all their scenarios, not once did they think that a team could get blotted – not score a single point – and yet still score a bonus point.

Nor did anyone think a team could be dicked by around 30 points and yet still score bonus point.

See where are we heading with this?

If anyone was reading this, they may be able to help because I can’t think of any other serious competition where bonus points play such a role.

In the big four American pro sports, as far I tell, there’s no bonus points.  You win or you lose.  Americans simply hate draws because there isn’t a winner so they’re hardly likely to get excited about scoring a bonus point for a glorious 0-6 loss!

EPL – win, lose, draw.

NRL – win, lose, and only draw when the we’ve played extra time.

Imagine if golf gave bonus points for longest drives or closest to the pin.

Anyway, that’s one side of the argument.

The other point is how the table is distorted by the impact of the bonus points.  Let’s look at a little something I whipped up out the back showing what would happen if we went back to the good old tried and true system of 2 points for a win and 1 for a draw (as with the NRL).

The current position of each team is in the first column, followed by team name, games played, wins, draws, losses, points diff, bonus points 1 (losses 7 points or less), bonus points 2 (4+ tries) and finally total points.  Teams are ranked by points and then points diff.

The Bonus Point system simply doesn’t reward the best teams.

The Sharks have won the most games but are second to the Chiefs who’ve clocked up the most bonus points altho admittedly the Sharks have played a game extra.

The Blues however are undoubtedly the biggest winners – they’re currently fifth on the table yet if we go with the old and improved that’s how we did it in the old days point system, they would drop down to 8th.  Amazingly, the Blues on 5 wins are ahead of TWO teams who’ve won six games – the Tahs and Brumbies.

I’ll repeat the activity once the final round robin games have been played to see what difference the bonus points have made.

I’m not trying to get on my hobby horse bagging rugby.  Not really.

But there’s a couple of points about the Super 14 I want to get off my chest.

First, the Highlanders.

The last couple of weeks you would have thought Jesus was playing on the wing the way the press was writing up the Southern Men.

Fair enough, they had beaten the Bulls but the reality always was that the Highlanders still had a tough road ahead of them with the South African trip still to come.

Getting dicked by the Blues certainly doesn’t help and you’d need a few Speights in you to think that the Highlanders have got a chance.

Frankly, I think it’s increasingly a travesty that Dunedin sitll has a Super 14 team.  Any justification for having a team in the deep South goes out the door when they need to play HOME games in Palmerston North.

As for player depth, without the draft there wouldn’t be a team.

The reality is that player strength and financial support is further north.  But don’t expect logic to enter into any discussions about moving the franchise north.

Just as the Aussies didn’t let logic get in the way of expaning the number of Aussie teams in the Super 14.

Sure, it makes it a more appealling with more home games and especially more local derbies.

I bagged the depth in Australian rugby earlier this year and even managed to get right up the nostrils of some Aussie.  I’d love to see him return!

At the time, I made the comment that the Aussies didn’t have depth to justify 4 team … and our Aussie mate rightly pointed out that the Tahs were in the top 2.

We’re now at the pointy end of the season and how things have changed.

Now not ONE Aussie team is in the top 5.  More importantly, the top Aussie team (the Tahs) has still to have its bye.

At the other end of the table, the Reds are second to last and only because the Cheetahs are so bad.

Not a great advertisement for expansion in Australia.

Mind you, the Highlanders aren’t a great advertisement for 5 teams in NZ either!

Watching Foxsports Monday Night football and caught the end of the review of the Warriors game.

Now, I admit to missing the first bit of the review, but I did hear the end when Gordon Tallis was claiming the Warriors were lucky to win because Manu touched/knocked on the ball prior to his try.

Freddy Fittler also made reference to the role of the crowd in convincing the refs to blow the whistle the Warriors way:

Coach Brad Fittler said his side followed the same pattern as last week when they lost to the Broncos, playing tough in the first half and then making a series of silly mistakes and poor passes.

“We made some really childish errors, really unacceptable, but the effort was excellent,” said Fittler.

The home team advantage was strong, with the crowd amping up the Warriors in those last minutes, he said.

“It’s just hard over here. The crowd did a fantastic job.

“They know when to roar, when to make noise, and every time they do they get a reaction.”

And they think WE’RE whingers!

Frankly, Blind Bob would have done better than the refs in the first half.

There were supposed to be four eyes on the field and another couple in the Video Ref box but all they managed to do was lead further credence to the cheating Aussies conspiracy:

• Given the changed interpretation this season, Hohaia’s “try” was at worst benefit of the doubt
• The second Rooster try featured a pass from Braith Anasta that has made its way to the NFL scouts and Anasta is likely to get a tryout as a quarterback
• Jesse Royal’s ugly offload that went at least one meeting backwards is ruled as a knock on when the Warriors are hard on attack

While the Warriors were admittedly woeful in the first half, the refs were worse … all three of them!

Ok, things are really starting to get towards the sharp end of the EPL season.

Blackburn met Stoke at the weekend in a critical matchup for Rovers.

Sadly for Ryan Nelsen, his team lost 1-0 putting Blackburn just one position outside the relegation zone.

Follow the progress here.