I like to watch

I admit it. It’s not something I’ve owned up to before but it’s just something I’ve noticed recently. I might just catch a glimpse out of the corner of my eye and before I know it, I can’t take my eyes off it. Sometimes I watch by myself. Sometimes I watch with others.

OK, enough of the suggestion of voyeurism. I’m talking about the Americas Cup. If you’ve read my previous blogs, you’d know that I haven’t been the greatest fan of this yachting/business event. To me it epitomises all the classic clichés about rich boys with their expensive toys; the amount of money spent by each syndicate is obscene.

But despite this, I’ve actually started taking a degree of interest in this finals series. And I don’t know why.

I know much of the country is now getting into it in a big way but I’m not actually jumping on the bandwagon as such. I still find yachting an elitist, snobby sport. I still find the biased TVNZ commentary team frustrating to listen to (although on Radio Sport, the commentary of Pete Montgomery and Craig Monk is outstanding). But I’m now watching the races most days.

There are a couple of reasons. One; it’s actually exciting to watch. These massive feats of engineering excellence often clock up speeds of over 40 knots. Leads of 300 metres are often reversed in a single beat to windward (don’t’ know what that means). The boats tack and gybe (??) their way to the lay line as they raise a code zero. Centreboards, foils, rudders, bowsprits and spinnakers. Any sport with this many unique and confusing terms must be worth a look.

Jimmy Spithill is the skipper of Oracle. He’s aggressive, rude, arrogant, antagonistic and a drama queen. He’s also a damn good sailor. The way he’s turned around the fortunes of the once dead and buried Oracle syndicate has been quite astounding. The other reason for this turnaround is...

…Sir Ben Ainslie. The British yachting legend was subbed into the Oracle team as tactician and the results changed almost immediately.

Teamwork has been Team NZ’s big advantage throughout this finals series. Oracle has at times looked shambolic in contrast. Unfortunately Oracle has sorted out that aspect, as well as making a few tweaks to their boat that I have absolutely no chance of understanding and as a result they are now humming through the San Francisco waters.

The moment that summed up the whole Americas Cup for me happened on Saturday (our time). The issue of a race time limit was disgraceful. Rumour has it that American TV insisted on being able to include two races in two hours each day. Therefore a 40-minute time limit was imposed. When the 40-minute limit was reached in the race on Saturday, Team NZ was about two minutes away from the finish line and was over a kilometre ahead of Oracle. I just think this was symbolic of everything that is wrong with American sport. It is an environment where cash is king. It is a place where someone like boxing promoter Don King can become powerful and wealthy. Timeframes are frequently dictated to by the television hierarchy with their big fat wallets full of dollar bills – for example NFL games stop for TV advertising breaks.

I’m writing this on Sunday night. I’ll finish this piece tomorrow (Monday) after the final (I hope) race.

OK, it’s Monday now – and what a couple of races they were this morning.

In the first race that lovely Spithill chap seemingly out-manoeuvred the Kiwis at the start yet again and despite a gallant comeback, Oracle’s multi-national team prevailed to make the score 8-4.

In the second race, Oracle raced away early and were never in trouble as they strolled to a straightforward win. 8-5.

As I’ve made clear, I know nothing about yachting. Quite simply the Oracle boat is simply moving faster through the water than Team NZ.  When this is all over, I’d like someone with yachting knowledge to tell me what exactly changed on that ‘American’ boat to make it travel so much faster than it had been travelling previously. All I know is that if Team NZ makes no changes for the next race, we could be witnessing one of the most amazing sporting comebacks ever.

You’ll Never Walk Alone

I think it’s pretty clear to most people that, just like Mr Jason Pine, I am a MASSIVE Liverpool fan. This season has already been a rollercoaster of emotion for me. An unexpected three wins to start the season was amazing. A subsequent draw against Swansea was mildly disappointing but understandable. But a loss this weekend (playing at home) against Southampton that knocked them from the top of the Premier League table was simply unacceptable. Liverpool looked devoid of any ideas on attack and their defending, with the exception of their keeper Simon Mignolet who was again outstanding, was shambolic and embarrassing.

Manager Brendan Rodgers curiously started the match with four central defenders at the back, which was a disaster right from the outset. In midfield Lucas was seemingly absent for most of the match, new recruit Iago Aspas, who was substituted at halftime, looked completely out of his depth, and his replacement Raheem Sterling, although still only 18 years old, didn’t look much better. Jordan Henderson was industrious, as were Victor Moses and Daniel Sturridge.  And it was abundantly clear that they missed the brilliant Brazilian Coutinho oh so much.

But at the risk of infuriating my fellow fans, the biggest disappointment for me this season has been the legendary Steven Gerrard. The 2013 model is now 33 years old and to be honest is starting to look a little off the pace. He still produces moments of magic from free kicks. But to me he seems to spend a lot of each game walking (alone). His darting runs into the opposition penalty area are now few and far between, his defence-splitting passes aren’t quite as piercing as they once were and his tackling not quite so fearsome. It’s almost becoming a luxury to play Gerrard, Lucas and Henderson in the same team. I hope that Stevie G. is just in the middle of a lull right now. And I really hope he rediscovers the old magic because LFC needs him to be firing. But I also wonder if Rodgers is going to be the manager who is forced to do the unthinkable and in the next couple of years call time on the career of one of the true Liverpool greats. 

Footy on the Interweb

Well, I did it. I splashed out $127 (including a 15% discount for being a Telecom customer) for access to Premierleaguepass.co.nz so I can watch Premier League football. This morning as I watched a game for the first time (Southampton were playing someone – I don’t want to talk about it). It was a pretty good quality picture on the laptop, but obviously a 15 inch viewing platform is not acceptable. So I plugged it into my 59 inch screen. The resultant picture quality was fairly inconsistent; it ranged from ‘hey isn’t that a PlayStation 3 game on the screen?’ to ‘it’s 1970 and they’ve just invented colour TV’. Either way, the game was being played on my TV and that’s all I really cared about. A good friend of mine has today moved my modem from the garage (why the heck was it in the garage in the first place??) to the lounge. I’m hoping that helps. I’ll let you know.

The Midas Touch

Wayne Bennett is amazing. The ‘Supercoach’ has just about done it all in rugby league, including joining forces with the Kiwis to mastermind the defeat of his fellow Australians in the 2008 World Cup Final.  He won several premierships with the Brisbane Broncos before sensationally quitting and moving to the unfancied Dragons in time for the 2009 NRL season. The Dragons won the minor premiership (top of the table at the end of the regular season) in 2009 and 2010 and the overall premiership in 2010. In 2011 he again announced he was leaving to take on the challenge of the unfashionable Newcastle Knights. It was an unsuccessful season in 2012 – the first time in 21 years a Bennett-coached team had not appeared in the finals. Now in 2013 his Knights team are one win away from making the Grand Final. He is arguably the greatest league coach of all time. If the Knights deliver Bennett’s eighth premiership title, there will certainly be no argument as to who is the greatest of them all.

Till next time,

SG 

Let’s Get Physical

I’ve read a fair few summaries of Saturday’s test between the All Blacks and the Boks. Most are extremely complimentary towards the AB’s, and rightly so. In fact some writers are seemingly suggesting that the team in black is unbeatable. Any time a team walks onto the pitch and thinks they’ve already won simply by turning up, that’s dangerous ground. My take on Saturday’s test is as follows.

No matter how well the All Blacks played, and play well they did, the sending off of Springbok Bismarck Du Plessis ruined the game and really did make it impossible to gauge how the teams compared, especially at scrum-time. By the time Du Plessis asked Liam Messam to take a close-up look at his sore elbow right in front of the ref, the second yellow card and therefore resultant red card was inevitable. But the first yellow card dished out to Du Plessis in the first half was a disgraceful decision. The on-field referee should have had a clear enough view of Bismarck’s tackle on Dan Carter to have waved play on. But he asked the video ref for clarification. The super slow-mo replay showed a fantastic tackle; contact made on Carter’s shoulder and upper arm, arms then wrapped around Carter, who then was injured as he hit the ground. What happened next is not completely clear – either the video ref George Ayoub advised the referee that it was an illegal hit or there was a communication breakdown between the two. Either way the result was that a rightly perplexed Du Plessis put his feet up on the sideline for 10 minutes. Ludicrous.

In the first few minutes of the test I feared the worst. The Springbok pack consists of scarily huge and intimidating beasts. In one scrum in particular the All Black pack was decimated and embarrassed. In addition the Boks were blowing us away in most of the rucks. I actually made a note for this column that simply said ‘out-muscled’, and that was going to be the title of this blog. But what happened as the game progressed was fascinating to me. Quite simply the AB’s muscled up. The tackles transformed into moments of audible impact. Every ruck became a battle of attrition whereby on each occasion players were battered into submission and the team that won the ball was the one that had the most players still standing.  It turned into a brutal affair and was awesome to watch.

Sam Cane was very brave. His tackling was outstanding, his ball carrying was courageous. The amount of claret evident on his head and jersey at the end of the game was testament to his endeavour and courage as well as the sharpness of Owen Franks’ teeth. But I still don’t think he should have started the test. Some of you will be thinking ‘SG – the highest level of rugby you played was age grade and social – what do you know?’ Fair enough. But I have support in my view from rugby royalty. Richie’s predecessor in the black jersey, Josh Kronfeld, said on Thursday he felt Cane’s strength is as a link man and he isn‘t the type of openside we should be giving the number 7 jersey to when playing the enormous Boks. He felt Messam should have played openside, therefore clearing the way for the impressive ballrunner and devastating offensive tackler Steven Luatua to start in the number 6 shirt. I agree. Actually, I would’ve started Tanerau Latimer but it seems I’m on a lone crusade with that one so Messam would have been a good option in my book. I’d also love to have Ardie Savea on the bench as an impact player but that’s a blog for another day. But Cane did very, very well – I’ll give him his dues.

The other All Black standouts for me were Kieran Read (as usual), Brodie Retallick, who was superb in the loose and Beauden Barrett. Barrett looks remarkably comfortable at this level for such a young bloke. His running with ball in hand is mesmerising, his tackling was clearly developed in the backyard against much larger siblings and his tactical kicking is long and accurate. I also thought Charles Piutau was excellent when he came on. He provides much more physicality that Israel Dagg. Dagg will have to stay on top of his game to see off the challenge of the young Aucklander.

The New Zealanders’ speed of everything (passing, recycling, running, mind etc) that I referred to last week was again evident and at times it seemed the Africans were struggling to keep up. But keep up they did – they never give up. It will be very interesting to see how the All Blacks cope with the fanatical and occasionally insane crowd in the return fixture in South Africa. All I know is that if both teams finish the game with 15 players, it’s going to be close and one hell of a battle.

Ahh, So That’s Why Nobody Wants Him

When he’s on, he’s on. When he’s not, he’s a menace. We saw both sides of Ma’a Nonu on Saturday night. He was a constant threat on attack – he really has developed his distribution and kicking skills over the past couple of years. Then, as we have seen on countless occasions before, he lost his sense of judgement and decided a late, high shoulder charge on his opposite Jean de Villiers was a great idea. One avid fan even called Radio Sport on Sunday and praised Nonu saying how wonderful it was to ‘see a bit of mongrel out there’. Well it wasn’t ‘mongrel’. ‘Mongrel’ is putting a big, legal hit on your opposite so he thinks twice about running at you next time. What Nonu did was stupid, that’s all. It’s not 1975 - you can’t get away with rubbish like that anymore. Imagine if that had happened in the last 10 minutes of the next world cup final. It’s such a shame that no coach has ever really managed to convince Nonu to cease the silly on-field acts and instead concentrate on maximising his undoubted skill and talent. And what a shame for his legacy in the NZ game that he will be remembered by many as the international player who was unwanted by all NZ super rugby franchises. If rumours are to be believed, he’s off to France shortly. Au revoir Ma’a.

Manu to the Second Row Please

I’d like to continue my ‘convert Manu Vatuvei into a forward’ campaign. Warriors: put him in the number 13 jersey, get rid of Todd Lowrie. Use him running wide of the ruck, running at halfbacks and any other little guys he can find. It’s time. Just give it a go.

Everyone’s a Winner

Recently the ‘Wellington Primary School Inter-Zone Swimming Champs’ were held. To me they summed up everything that’s wrong with New Zealand sport. It was badly run in almost every way; for example there were no timers, there were two (2) ‘officials’ supposedly monitoring eight (8) lanes, in the absence of timers placings were assigned by three people standing by the end of the pool. And let’s just say those placings were not always correct, or even close to correct. This event was held at Wellington Regional Aquatic Centre, which has electronic timing available, so why wasn’t this utilised? There was a general perception, to me anyway, that it was a classic case of ‘everyone has a go and it doesn’t really matter who wins’. Well, even though I encourage all kids to ‘have a go’, it does matter who wins. An event like this one, had it been held in Australia or the United States, would have been run a hell of a lot more professionally. Ok, that’s the end of my rant!

5 + 1 = 7

Officiating is, by its very nature, subjective. Referees are human. They are fallible and they make mistakes. But when that mistake results in one team not only losing the game, but being knocked out of the finals altogether, it’s not a good look for the game.

On Saturday night the Cronulla Sharks faced the North Queensland Cowboys in a sudden death NRL rugby league playoff game. The Cowboys turned the ball over near the Sharks line. The Sharks then made their way 98 metres upfield and on the last play scored in the corner. It was a fantastic effort. The only slight problem was that they had already used up their allotted six tackles well before the try was scored. Therefore the try should have been disallowed. But it wasn’t. The Cowboys ended up losing a tightly fought contest by two points and their season is now over. The NRL seemingly allows the Television Match Official (TMO) to adjudicate on everything from high tackles to high fives. So why the TMO couldn’t have simply grabbed the attention of the official and advised him of his mathematical error is beyond me. Certainly the Cowboys, and in particular skipper Jonathan Thurston, who looked suitably unimpressed at the post match interview, will hope this anomaly is reviewed in 2014.

America’s Cup is New Zealand’s Cup (Almost)

If you’ve read this column before, you’ll know I’m not the biggest fan of yachting or of the America’s Cup concept. But I must admit the viewing has been very exciting lately. Those boats are big, fast and so manoeuvrable in the hands of a good skipper and crew. I can’t say I’m converted as such, but I do confess I’ve been having a few sneaky watches of some of the races. Here’s hoping we can defeat billionaire Larry Ellison and his band of merry mercenaries.

Here We Ko (Again)

She was so close to becoming the youngest ever winner of a women’s golfing ‘major’. In the end Lydia Ko finished second in the Evian Championship in France this morning by two shots. Having also just missed out on another $350,000 or more in prize money due to her amateur status, it must only be a matter of time before she turns pro.  She’s so level-headed and mature that it’s easy to see her continuing her development and dominating the world of women’s golf one day.

Till next time,

SG

The Best Ever?

I saw an interview with an Argentinian player this week prior to their match up with the All Blacks in which he said this New Zealand team could possibly be ‘the best ever’. That got me thinking – is it really? Of course it’s impossible to know whether this team would have beaten the 1974 Lions, the 1987 All Blacks or the 1995 Springboks. So I’ll simply analyse three aspects of this team; the coaches, the game plan and, of course, the players.

The Coaches

There’s no doubt in my mind that Steve Hansen is one of the best coaches the All Blacks have had. His gruff manner and inaudible diction don’t do justice to his obvious and well-proven coaching credentials. He’s a thinker and a scholar of the game. He’s also not afraid to make the tough calls (Weepu, Mealamu) and that’s a vital part of being a successful coach.

Ian Foster doesn’t rate anywhere near as highly for me. His lengthy reign as Chiefs coach was about as successful as Colin Cooper’s time with the Hurricanes. But the All Blacks’ success is continuing with him in this role so he must be doing a good job. But I’m not entirely sure how he got the assistant coaching gig.   

Speaking of which – what kind of message does it give to up and coming coaches in NZ when Aussie McLean becomes an Assistant Coach of the best rugby team in the world? I have ABSOLUTELY no idea how he got the job.

So overall, I’d have to say that this is not one of the best coaching teams we’ve ever had.

The Game Plan

The All Blacks’ game plan is based on speed, accuracy, speed, power and speed. Speed of leg, speed of recycled ball, speed of pass and speed of mind. In recent years they have repeatedly shifted the goalposts (not literally; that would be cheating) in terms of changing the way rugby is played. Make no mistake, when they’re on fire no team in the world can stay with them except, possibly, the Springboks, or England at Twickenham.

The whole squad are consummate athletes; they’re quick, they’re strong and they have excellent technique in most aspects of their play.  How many other teams past or present could match them? To quote the rapper Scribe ‘not many, if any’. I’m going to say the way they play is as good as anything we’ve ever seen before. They play badly and still win and that is a sign of a very good team.

The Players

Another endless debate is the ‘who’s the best player ever in such-and-such a position. So I’ll base my decision on a couple of questions…

 ‘Is the player among the best we’ve ever seen in his position’?

For me, players in the current squad who are in this category are McCaw, Read, Carter, Nonu, Dagg, Whitelock, Hore, Conrad Smith, Woodcock and, although he’s now on the outer, Mealamu. That’s quite a number from one team.

‘Does the player have the potential to join the above list’?

I think Owen Franks, Steven Luatua, Aaron Smith and, maybe, Ben Smith could one day join this illustrious list. Again, that’s quite a number from one team.

My only real concern around this squad involves the lack of depth in some positions. While we’re flush with candidates in some positions such as halfback, blindside flanker, hooker and lock, there are other positions where if you scratch just slightly below the surface you find a bit of a dearth.

Examples are loosehead prop, where I find it hard to believe that Wyatt Crockett is the second best in NZ; tighthead prop where, unfortunately for him, Charlie Faumuina’s side of the scrum (I also thought his lock let him down badly) was shown up by an admittedly awesome Puma forward pack and second-five where Frances Saili is not, in my opinion, ready for test football and a journeyman like Ryan Crotty somehow comes into the mix.

So to go out on a limb, I’m going to argue that this current AB team is likely the best ever. I actually think the 2011 All Black team was almost as good. The four main points of difference: Wayne Smith, Jerome Kaino, SBW and Sir Bradley Thorn. Two of those four may well be back in the mix next season. If they do return, the 2014 version of this side could be even better.

Vulgar

1.       Three billion

2.       630 million

3.       85 million

4.       42.4 million

5.       300,000

These figures are not, in order,

1.       the GDP of a small country

2.       the GDP of a small Pacific Island

3.       the population of Egypt

4.       Australia’s forecasted population by 2050

5.       the odometer reading of a three year old taxi

They are in fact, in order,

1.       the approximate number of pounds provided to Premier League clubs for TV rights over the next three years

2.       the number of pounds just spent on new players by Premier League clubs in the recently completed transfer window

3.       the number of pounds paid by Real Madrid to Tottenham Hotspur for the services of just one player (Gareth Bale)

4.       the number of pounds paid by Arsenal to Real Madrid for the services of just one player (the extraordinarily unattractive German Mezut Ozil) and

5.       Bale’s rumoured WEEKLY salary.

Is it just me or are those numbers simply, as the title of this section suggests, vulgar? And, as the popularity of English football spreads further around the world, these figures are only forecast to increase. Mind boggling stuff really.

Unbeatable Passion

More Ranfurly Shield awesomeness this weekend. Unfortunately for Hawke’s Bay, they now hold the record for shortest tenure in shield history. Having not held the log o’ wood since 1969, they won and then lost it, all within six days. Their defence against Counties Manukau could have gone either way but was settled by a fantastic try to CM late in the game. The Counties’ players’ jubilation at the final whistle was matched in intensity by the utter devastation of the Bay players and the stunned silence of the home crowd. The stadium was packed to the rafters, the atmosphere was electric and the game itself was a mixture of up-front battles and backline jousts and counter-jousts. In the end it would be fair to say that Counties deserved their victory.

It’s hard to imagine the passion shown by their supporters, as Counties carried the trophy off the plane for the first time in their history, being shown if the Blues had just defeated the Cheetahs in Super Rugby. This again demonstrated to me that the NZRU should ensure it does not relegate the ITM Cup to secondary status permanently. I’d love to think that one day this could again be NZ’s premier rugby competition.

Polar Opposites

It was pretty much the same bunch of players. Similar level of opposition as the previous week. The conditions were great for a game of league. By all accounts they trained well throughout the week. Last week they destroyed the Raiders in a clinical display of attacking brilliance. This week vs. the Dragons they were just awful. Of course I’m talking about the Warriors. They had to win to have any chance whatsoever of making the playoffs. But they didn’t.

Last week, everything they tried succeeded. This week they looked flat, the forwards went backwards, the backs went sideways and the dropped balls went forwards. Shaun Johnson was disappointingly ineffective, Nathan Friend was missing in action and Konrad Hurrell was easily contained through excellent tackling technique and teamwork from the Dragons. Even when the score was close, it never seemed the Warriors would actually be victorious.

It’s the ultimate coaching dilemma; you prepare well, you select the right players for each game, you motivate the troops, the squad have a positive vibe and they seem ready to click. And yet they’re unbelievably inconsistent. What can be done to remedy this situation? I don’t think coach Matthew Elliot can do much more. I believe issues like this are often best solved by senior players and the leadership group. It’s up to Mannering, Vatuvei, Friend and the other senior players to have a good look at themselves over the summer and try to ensure this kind of inconsistency is not prevalent in 2014. If it is still part of the Warriors gameplan in the New Year, they won’t be participating in the playoffs next year either.

Till next time,

SG

Unbeatable

One is physically imposing, the other; not so much so. One sports an impressive ‘tache, the other is usually clean-shaven. Yet although they seem very different physically, together they form an amazingly effective partnership. They are Hamish Bond and Eric Murray.

 At the World Rowing Championships this weekend they won their 16th consecutive title at Olympic, world championship and World Cup level. They haven’t lost, not even once, since they paired up in 2009. And it’s not like these guys have been ducking the competition; they are constantly pitting themselves against the top rowers in the world and beating them convincingly. This weekend they won the final by seven seconds and made the victory seem almost effortless.

So why are they so good?

Certainly there must be some physiological reasons for their superiority. Big hearts or big thighs or big guns. But I think there’s more to it than that.

They clearly work hard in training – the way they surge clear of their opposition in the latter stages of races is an amazing sight that surely has a great deal to do with extraordinary fitness levels.

Just as importantly they have an amazing connection that is clearly demonstrated every time they hit the water. They seemingly are in tune with each other and as a result operate as one.

Bond and Murray are a credit to New Zealand and will go down as two of our finest athletes we’ve ever produced. Here’s hoping they can keep it going through to the next Olympics in three years’ time.

Almost Gone

While the Warriors produced their best performance of the season to repel the Raiders this weekend, and they still have a mathematical chance of making the playoffs heading into the final round, it’s probably too little too late. Even if they defeat the Dragons next weekend they still require other results to go their way. So here are some proposed changes to the team that I think will make a difference next season.

Fullback: Sam Tomkins

The English Super League superstar is apparently on his way and will be pocketing a cool million bucks a season. If he says he wants to play fullback, he’ll play at fullback.    

Wing:  Kevin Locke

He was once a wing and can be one again. He’s too good to leave out

Wing: Ngani Laumape

Unimaginatively nicknamed ‘the nugget’ for his physical resemblance to this food item, he’s a fantastic talent who offers a physicality and deceptive turn of pace that confounds many a defender

Centre: Konrad Hurrell

Apparently also nicknamed ‘the nugget’ (the Warriors really need to work on their creativity); Hurrell is approximately the same width as he is tall. On his day he cannot be stopped and his defence is slowly improving.

Centre: Dane Nielsen

Nielsen is a former Queensland State of Origin rep and a quality footballer. He provides athleticism and tactical nous amongst the giants of the backline

Standoff: Shaun Johnson

I have a theory that Johnson would be more effective slightly further out. I also think he could do a good job in the centres.

Halfback: Thomas Leuluai

I also have a theory that Leuluai would be better at halfback, although wherever he plays he’ll be under pressure from new signing Chad Townsend.

Loose Forward: Manu Vatuvei

He had a storming game on the wing vs. the Raiders and seemed to have re-discovered a yard of pace that was lacking for most of this season. But I’d play him as a wide-ranging forward. Running off the shoulder of the props and second rowers and linking with the outside backs he’d be an absolute menace for opposition defences. It would also mean his often appalling defensive fragility would not be so much of a liability for his team.

Second Row: Simon Mannering

He’s Mr Dependable who never lets his team down. He provides a solidity that superbly complements the athleticism and flair of his team-mates.

Second Row: Jason Bukula

The Cronulla Shark has signed for the Warriors from 2014. Physically, he’s a solid chap who would provide the steel in the forward pack

Prop: Sam Rapira

He plays at a hundred miles an hour and is fearless. ‘Nuff said

Hooker: Nathan Friend

I could never quite work out why the Warriors were happy to let him go at the end of this season. But sense prevailed and he has been re-signed for next year, albeit on a reduced contract. His experience is invaluable as are his sniping runs from dummy half.

Prop: Suaia Matagi

The late bloomer with the chequered past has been something of a revelation this season. He must be a scary sight for opposing defences as he charges at them without an ounce of fear.

Interchange: Jacob Lillyman, Ben Matulino, Feleti Mateo, Dominique Peyroux

These guys have been riding the rimu on many occasions this year. They provide excellent balance on the bench.

Other key squad members:

Sam Lousi (massive), Sione Lousi (giant), Ben Henry and Carlos Tuimavave (talented but need to decide which position they prefer so they can lose their ‘utility’ tags), Russell Packer (must stop urinating on the field).

Result: playoffs 2014.

Sideline Guy guarantees it.

Passion

It’s been so refreshing witnessing the passion surrounding the Ranfurly Shield winners over the past two weeks. Last weekend Otago lifted the shield for the first time in 56 years. This Saturday, after one of the shortest ever tenures, they relinquished it to Hawkes Bay who haven’t held the log o’ wood since 1969.

The fantastic indoor arena in Dunedin was packed to the rafters with enthusiastic noisy supporters. The game itself was a great watch and in the end only came down to a missed conversion that would’ve reversed the result had it gone between the sticks. The joy on the faces of the winners from the Bay, and the distraught looks from the Southerners illustrated just how much this meant to both teams. It’s very hard to imagine a Super 15 match generating that kind of emotion.   

Money, Money, Money

The money that’s now involved with football now, especially in Europe, is obscene. Legendary player Michel Platini, now President of UEFA, has proposed rules be amended to change the way the game at the top level operates.

The thing I love about the NRL and the NBA (despite the exorbitant amounts spent in the latter competition) is the salary cap imposed on each team.  The result is a relatively even playing field that means it is often difficult to predict which team will win the competition. That generally doesn’t happen in football. Examples are Spain where Barcelona and Real Madrid dominate year after year, England where no more than five teams have any chance of ever winning the Premier League and Scotland where Celtic finish first and daylight finishes second. Then you also have the ‘nouveau riche’ teams like Paris St Germain and Monaco who are busily buying up more than their share of the world’s finest players. And what do all these teams have in common? Money.

They can afford to pay tens of millions for a player (Real Madrid have signed Gareth Bale for around 85 million pounds) and pay that player several times the average annual salary each week (Bale is rumoured to be about to ‘earn’ anything up to 300,000 pounds a week). If you were a top level footballer, and maybe you are, and you were offered that much money you wouldn’t turn it down. Nobody would. So there’s no way clubs with lesser budgets can compete.  

So what can be done to right this wrong? Despite Platini’s concerns, not a lot. Football is really the only truly global sport. If England imposed a cap, players could play in another country. If UEFA changed the rules pertaining to Europe, players could move to South America. Etc, etc, etc. Similarly if you try to set maximum player transfer values, the result would be that it is no longer a free market. It’s tricky.  But essentially it’s our fault. We want to watch games on the telly or the interweb so we pay and the money comes flooding in. The big clubs say ‘hang on, where’s our cut?’ That cut increases year by year and the big clubs just get bigger. So the solution must be: everyone should stop watching football. There, sorted.

Shout Outs

Valerie Adams, who won her 42^nd consecutive shot put competition.

Liverpool FC, who won their first three games of the English Premier League season for this first time since 1994. Take that, Man Utd fans!

The entire NZ rowing team. The investment made in that squad is paying handsome dividends at the world rowing champs.

Here We Ko

Lydia Ko is astounding. She took out the Canadian Open for the second year running, beating the best players in the world. The most amazing thing for me is watching Ko’s calmness. As she hit the lead for the first time, she looked like she was stifling a yawn. Then she simply walked to the next tee and with minimal fuss bashed the ball down the middle of the next fairway. Awesome.

Till Next Time

SG