Early Kiwis exit boosts NZRL coffers

Here’s the deal.  While the Kiwis dip out on performance prize money (they only get 25K pound for third compared to 100K pound for winning), the fact the Poms made the final means more fat round white Pommy bums on seats.

“The partners split the overall profits. England qualifying for the final makes it more likely that there is a full house, whereas Australia-New Zealand would have been a harder sell.

“So from that point of view, the financial return will probably be healthier because England are in the final.”

But wait – there’s more!

The Kiwis will also save travel and accommodation costs by heading home today instead of next week.

Perhaps Teacher Ted should have come back from the 2007 RWC and said look on the sunny side … we saved two weeks of travel and accommodations costs!

As for the Four Nations, it’s hard not to wonder if the slower game under the French ref worked against the Kiwis.  As hard as it is to say, Shayne Hayne would have been better.

Still, the ref didn’t make the Kiwis drop bombs, knock on, or miss tackles.

While it was obviously a bummer not to have another shot at the Kangarooteds, there were many positives to come out of the tour:

• Kearney continues to develop as a coach
• Junior Sau and Waerea-Hargreaves in particular shone as young players with talent
• Fui Fui is back in the Kiwis fold
• Benji didn’t get injured

At least we have some half decent international league on top of the NRL.  Even so, it beats the aerial ping pong that passes as rugby union these days.

While rugby league will always be judged on the success of its club competition – and frankly, it’s streets ahead of any rugby comp at present – the international game provides significant pluses for the games.

First, it allows the game to put on the international stage which in turn provides a boost to the other parts of the game.

Second, in doing so, it provides an opportunity for players to travel, experience different countries and I suppose get pissed and do all the things rugby players get up to on too.  Or put another way, it stops top leaguies from drifting off to the dark  side just to go on tour.

Third, and this is the bit we like, it provides us with another chance to stick one up the West Islanders.   Choice bro!

The good thing to come out of the weekend is that the “one off” results are starting to become more regular.

Sure, we can expect that the cheating Aussies will win more than their fair share (although putting “fair” and “cheating Aussies” into the same sentence takes some real effort!

But the Kiwis are now starting to believe they can just like the little tug in the kids’ story (or was it a train??).

At least that’s what Graham Lowe thinks:

“They’re not overawed by anything or anyone playing for Australia,” Lowe said. “They’re comfortable with their own space and with what they are doing in the NRL and that’s why the fear factor that certainly was there for a long time is not there now.”

Put it another way.  We know how good they are but we know who we’re up against.

There’s also a bigger pool of players with leadership experience:

Lowe said the fact the Kiwis – headed by skipper Benji Marshall – were now key men at their clubs was a major aspect of the new confidence.

What’s even better is that the Kiwis are competing but with a stack of established players resting up.

Even Aussie coach Tim Sheens can see the winds of change:

When Cameron Smith says to you: ‘That is the hardest game he can remember playing’ – and he only played the grand final a few weeks ago – you know that’s a hard game,” Sheens said.

Good on ya Tim … now go back to bleating about the Pommy ref!

With what has happened over the last 24 hours, it’s not going to be that difficult to find content although I suspect I’ll have plenty of competition.

The decision is both unfathomable yet still perfectly understandable.

Mind you, it’s not entirely fair to brand all Aussies as cheats given the response to the decision on some of the Aussie web sites.

A story on the Daily Telegraph’s web site (”Kiwis hooker Isaac Luke to miss Test against Australia“) generated a massive 134 replies -or at least, 134 replies that were published.

Some of the comments suggest the average Aussie isn’t as bad as their cheating Aussie reputation.  (We can only assume they are recent immigrants or perhaps first generation Aussies.)

Some representative comments are listed below.

At the time of this post, the Daily Telegraph’s poll on the decision found a whopping 84% did NOT agree with the decision.  Keep in mind, this is an Aussie web site.

Anyway, back to the comments:

Tell me how this tackle was worst than Paul Gallen’s? No consisitency here. Should be no betting on football games.

What an absolute disgrace. It wasn’t just Rabbitoh supporters that were surprised when Gallen got off most supporters were. And I assure you that most supporters (not just Rabbitoh) will be disgusted with this. Talk about 2 sets of rules Mal Cochrane, Bob Lindner and Ian Roberts give you are a disgrace these double standards are part of the reason why fans are leaving Rugby League in droves.

It is pretty obvious that this Judiciary are all brain dead if you watched the video he bounced of one player onto Laffranchi who had him in a smothering tackle. After there decisions of last week to let off Ennis who nearly ripped a players arm out of it’s socket to Gallen who concused a player so he couldn’t train for a week it simply stinks SACK ALL THREE OF THEM!

And my favourite:

Its a shame to call one self an Australian, some times, like now, and every time I hear someone yell out ” Oy Oy Oy”

Unbelievable.

Understandable given we’re dealing with a bunch of cheating Aussies who’ve devolved from convict stoock.

Underbelly.  The land of Underbelly.  (Let’s conveniently forget that Underbelly II is about a bunch of Kiwi druggies but given the complete lack of any moral authority in Australia, we can get away with it).

Understrength.  The Kiwis will definitely miss him.

Unprepared.  Not surprisingly, Luke was shocked.  FFS so was Mathew, Mark, John and the rest of guys in the Gospels.

Unbeatable.  You can take on the Aussie judiciary but never beat them before a test match.

Underarm II.  Say not more.

Before the kickoff, we have to get the players through the judiciary.

No surprises of course that Paul Gallen was let off an undefendable charge.  No surprises of course that he gets selected in the Kangarooteds.

Likewise, no surprise that a key Kiwi player gets called up to face the judiciary:

New Zealand and South Sydney star Isaac Luke facing one-match ban

May 04, 2009

New Zealand face an uneasy wait to learn the fate of Test rake Issac Luke who has been dealt a grade-one striking charge by the NRL match review committee.

The incident which occurred in the 79th minute of South Sydney’s nail-biting loss to Gold Coast at Skilled Stadium on Saturday stands to cost Luke his place in the Test side if found guilty.

A star performer in New Zealand’s 2008 World Cup success, Luke faces a one-match ban if found guilty of the charge.

Wouldn’t surprise me either if the judiciary we looking for a player with four letters in the surname as they had already preprinted charges for Wiki!

What more do you expect from the Cheating Aussies?

Here’s a few of the highlights from last year to remind us of the good times.

Kiwis beat Aussies in RL World Cup (nah mate, it’s true and it’s not 1 April either)

2008 NRL Highlights – all games, all rounds.

Well done to the Warriors last night too – the did what they needed to do to get the two points.  It shouldn’t be forgotten that the Warriors ended up with only one fit player on the interchange bench.

Anyway, a winning start to the season – let’s hope that’s a portent of things to come.

On that basis, I could be a sports journalist or even a judge!

In case you are wondering, you too can attend the actual event yourself for a snip at $399.50 each … plus GST.  Or get a group of mates together and “only” pay $3995.00 for a table of ten … plus GST.  You can’t beat buying in bulk can you!

Given that last year was an Olympics year, you’d expect the Olympics to have an influence on the Awards and so it is.

Here’s a quick summary of the categories, nominees, who I would select and who I suspect the judges will select.

Westpac New Zealand ‘Sportsman of the Year’

• Tom Ashley (Board Sailing)
• Scott Dixon (Motor Sport)
• Hayden Roulston (Cycling)
• Danny Lee (Golf)
• Nick Willis (Athletics)

My winner: Scott Dixon.  The Iceman became the Milkman.  Admittedly, it was less an achievement that it may have been in the past but it still was a genuine achievement on the international stage and put NZ on the map. Tough luck to Tom Ashley and Danny Lee who otherwise excelled.  Nick Willis should not win for coming third.

Judges: Ditto

Westpac New Zealand ‘Sportswoman of the Year’

• Sophie Pascoe (Paralymipcs Swimming)
• Val Smith (Bowls)
• Valerie Vili (Athletics)
• Samantha Warriner (Triathlon)

My winner: Valerie Vili.  No arguments, no contest.

Judges: Ditto

Westpac New Zealand ‘Sports Team of the Year’

• Women’s Double Scull (Rowing)
• Kiwis (Rugby League)
• All Blacks (Rugby)
• Men’s Team Pursuit (Cycling)

My winner: Kiwis.  Atheists around the world have recanted – this is surely evidence of a higher being who can conjure up miracles.  The only possible explanation for the Kiwis beating the Roos in the RLWC final.  Also, God must have stripped the ball from Billy Slater.

Judges: Golden Girls.  Part snobbery – no way will the judges want to acknowledge the Kiwis’ successes – far too brown collar! Part pragmatism – you can’t do better than 2 Golds in 2 Olympics.

SPARC New Zealand ‘Coach of the Year’

• Grant Beck (Board Sailing)
• Kirsten Hellier (Athletics)
• Stephen Kearney (Rugby League)
• Richard Tonks (Rowing)

My winner: Kirsten Heller.  Toughest category.  Heller should win cos Vili should win overall. Tonks may get the credit for golden girls win but he also then has to take the blame for the fact they rowed like crap leading up to the Olympics.  Stephen Kearney might have got the guilty sympathy vote from the white flight voters on the panel but there is the suspicion a bloody Aussie had something to do with it.  If Grant Beck had anything to do with Odelay he will know where’s it at and why he won’t win.  Who is he, anyway?

Judges: Ditto

Supreme Winner

My winner: Valerie Vili

Judges: Ditto

Simple.  Sorry to go spoil the surprise for you.

So the ref made mistakes?

The key ones would appear to be:

• the Benji Marshall stripping call (play on) that lead to Ropati’s try
• the penalty when Hohaia was pushed over the goal line
• the penalty try

The first one is not an error but an interpretation.  Based on the interpretation – it was stripped – there is not mistake.  It’s hard to argue with the ruling either – there was so much pressure on the ball it was spinning around.

The penalty try was indeed controversial.  Again, it was an interpretation issue.  However, it wouldn’t have been an issue if Moynahan hadn’t have taken Hohaia out of play.

I actually have some sympathy for the ruling about the tackle putting Hohaia back into goal.  Having said that, it’s not unusual (to quote the Welshman) to have that ruled as it was when the play is that close to the goal and the attacking player has made good ground past the goal line.

So let’s look at some of the other mistakes:

• Fitzgibbon’s missed tackle on Smith leading to a try
• Fiztgibbon dropping the ball from the kickoff
• Slater trhowing the ball away leading to the Marshall try
• The Aussies failed attack down the right flank leading to the final try
• Moynahan’s tackle which gave the video ref the opportunity to pull the trigger

At least four of the Kiwis tries came directly from Aussies mistakes.

Moreover, you’ve got to say that having Whatmough on the bench was another mistake.

So rather than looking to blame the officials, Ricky should be looking a little closer to home.

Hillary knocked his bastard off without spitting distance of the first RL World Cup.  However, the Kiwis have never looked close to getting to the top, even if they have featured in two previous finals.

I’d love to see the Sky metrics at half time.  The Aussies up 10-nil with Lockyer having appeared to have scored a try must have accounted for some viewers while the Kiwis getting up and then letting the lead slip in sight of oranges was deja vu all over again.

Luckily for me, Walk The Line finished so I had no alternative to watch the entire second half.  And what a half it was.

Sure, the Kiwis got the rub of the green.  However, it was hard to argue with the decisions to award tries from strips or even the last one where it looked like a game of human pinball.  The penalty try was more dubious but there’s an absolute way to avoid such anguish and that’s not to tackle an opponent when they are in the in goal trying to effect a try.

The reaction of the Aussies and their press has been telling.  I think they genuinely beleived their own press and much of what we are now seeing mirrored what happened after the All Blacks loss to France in RWC 2007.

Mind you, I don’t recall the NZ coach calling it a conspiracy -

KANGAROOS coach Ricky Stuart was so incensed by the shock loss of his team to New Zealand in Saturday night’s World Cup final he verbally attacked ARL chief executive and close friend Geoff Carr, alleging a conspiracy by tournament organisers.

In fact, just last week Henry was recognised for his good grace in the face of what must have been an overwhelming loss.

As for the players, I’m sure none of the ABs is sending Xmas cards to Wayne “Kerr” Barnes but neither did they spit the dummy they way the Roos did claiming they were stitched up:

Lock Paul Gallen claimed the Australians were “stitched up”, while others were highly critical of the controversial penalty try ruling by video referee Steve Ganson that took the game away from the Kangaroos.

The best quote says it all about the tournament – from joke to choke.

The Kiwis have finally knocked off their own Everest and lets hope they remember how to climb that mountain again.

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