Re: Wellington : Mon Apr 05, 2010 4:28 am  

[quote="gutterfax"]Patience is a virtue my friend. NZRL have been in disarray for years but have now turned the corner. They have a Business plan in place, turned a profit last year and once Auckland play ball with the zones and funding, they will start to get more work going.
At under age level, the game would seem to be quite healthy (2,500 turned up to see a schools final here in Wellington last year) and with the All Blacks imploding/salavating over French or Japanese contracts and jumping ship, together with the probability of the Springbox winning the RUWC next year......League will continue to grow.

As with the London issue in Superleague.....these things take time. The current crop of U20's that originate from these shores look OK and they were all born when there was only 1 sport in this country. Now there is Basketball, soccer & League as alternatives and NRU have been very very very slow to react. Also, the RUWC is, as is it always is, an elite show.......with your average fan having no chance of seeing their own team and paying through the nose to see ANY game........[quote]

What a helpful that last paragraph is...



At least try and make your union loving bias moderately inoffensive.

Why don't you just change your name to Fitzsimons and get it over with...

Re: Wellington : Mon Apr 05, 2010 9:49 pm  

Sorry....how is pointing out that it takes time to get youngsters through to U20 level at a decent standard and underlining the fact that NZRU have been slow to react to challenges from other sports "helpful"?
Are you saying that Union is not the stronger code in New Zealand? Are you saying that 15 years ago NZRL were a real powerhouse? Are you saying that NZRU have reacted well to the threats from other sports?
Clarify please professor

Re: Wellington : Tue Apr 06, 2010 12:47 am  

What I am saying is that anyone with any knowledge of NZ sport and its history (I'll put my hand up) knows that, like, Australia, the big three sports have been cricket, union and rugby league since the early 20th C.

To the extent that in the 1920s (as an example), whole parts of NZ changed union rules to prevent the entire country going over to rugby league.

Also, NZ unions have blocked access to grounds, arranged counter-attractions at the same time as rugby league games, blocked access to schools etc. etc.

Now, if union is NZ's biggest sport (which I never said it wasn't), ask me why they have bothered doing that to a sport which, according to you, trails in support behind soccer, basketball and flower arranging...

Mong.

Re: Wellington : Tue Apr 06, 2010 1:32 am  

Gijou wrote:

Now, if union is NZ's biggest sport (which I never said it wasn't), ask me why they have bothered doing that to a sport which, according to you, trails in support behind soccer, basketball and flower arranging...
Mong.

Where did I say that? Seriously, where? I think I said something along the lines of:

gutterfax wrote:

.....these things take time. The current crop of U20's that originate from these shores look OK and they were all born when there was only 1 sport in this country. Now there is Basketball, soccer & League as alternatives and NRU have been very very very slow to react.

...which, when read properly means that the NEW ZEALAND RUGBY FOOTBALL UNION ARE VERY SLOW TO REACT TO THREATS TO THEIR SUPPORTER/PLAYER BASE.
As for the comment about 1 sport in this country, I am aware of they also played league and cricket back in the day, but let's face it, Union is only second to christianity in New Zealand.

It really isn't clever to call me a MONG and then laugh at your own posts, especially when they are wrong

Re: Wellington : Tue Apr 06, 2010 1:46 am  

gutterfax wrote:

As with the London issue in Superleague.....these things take time. The current crop of U20's that originate from these shores look OK and they were all born when there was only 1 sport in this country. Now there is Basketball, soccer & League as alternatives and NRU have been very very very slow to react. Also, the RUWC is, as is it always is, an elite show.......with your average fan having no chance of seeing their own team and paying through the nose to see ANY game........

Given you clearly have troubles even identifying what you wrote, I will quote if for you direct, Mong...

1. "They were all born when there was only 1 sport in this country."

WRONG. There was not.

2. "NOW there is basketball, soccer & League as alternatives..."

WRONG. Rugby league has been an alternative since 1908; not "now"...

3. As for the RUWC being an "elite show"...

WRONG. I take it you missed the quality on display during the last one (which was universally derided as the most boring Union World Cup ever...which is some call... )

Idiot.

Either be more careful in what you write, or expect to have it ripped apart, when it coincidentally (giggle) happens to favour the rah rah again...

Re: Wellington : Tue Apr 06, 2010 2:17 am  

Gijou wrote:

Given you clearly have troubles even identifying what you wrote, I will quote if for you direct, Mong...

1. "They were all born when there was only 1 sport in this country."

WRONG. There was not.

......

Sorry, maybe I should have made it clearer for you......they were born around 1990........at which point, League was further off the radar than netball as a team sport in New Zealand

Gijou wrote:

2. "NOW there is basketball, soccer & League as alternatives..."

WRONG. Rugby league has been an alternative since 1908; not "now"...

.......maybe I should have said viable alternative, but you're in "pedant mode" obviously

Gijou wrote:

3. As for the RUWC being an "elite show"...

WRONG. I take it you missed the quality on display during the last one (which was universally derided as the most boring Union World Cup ever...which is some call... )

Pedantic today aren't we. By elite, I mean getting a fuckin9 ticket to a game, not playing the bluddy thing

Gijou wrote:

Idiot.

....yes, you can be from time to time.

Gijou wrote:

Either be more careful in what you write, or expect to have it ripped apart, when it coincidentally (giggle) happens to favour the rah rah again...

You really should see a specialist about that chip on your shoulder.....it's obviously bothering you.

If you think that League was stronger in NZ in 1990 than it is now, reply.
If you think Union is stronger in NZ now than it was in 1990, reply
If you think Soccer, Basketball and flower arranging IN nz are weaker now than they were in 1990, reply
otherwise, stop chasing your tail and trying to win an unwinnable argument

Re: Wellington : Tue Apr 06, 2010 5:25 am  

gutterfax wrote:

......

Sorry, maybe I should have made it clearer for you......they were born around 1990........at which point, League was further off the radar than netball as a team sport in New Zealand

.......maybe I should have said viable alternative, but you're in "pedant mode" obviously

Pedantic today aren't we. By elite, I mean getting a fuckin9 ticket to a game, not playing the bluddy thing

....yes, you can be from time to time.

You really should see a specialist about that chip on your shoulder.....it's obviously bothering you.

If you think that League was stronger in NZ in 1990 than it is now, reply.
If you think Union is stronger in NZ now than it was in 1990, reply
If you think Soccer, Basketball and flower arranging IN nz are weaker now than they were in 1990, reply
otherwise, stop chasing your tail and trying to win an unwinnable argument

You are a moron.



With clearly no idea of the history of rugby league in NZ...



And clearly unaware of how big rugby league was in New Zealand at the end of the 1980s for example.

Check out the two WC Final crowds in Auckland for 1987 and 1988 and get back to me, Mong...

Or the TV ratings for NSWRL that pushed Auckland into the competition in 1995 after years of great interest...



Get a clue, troll.



PS. Calling me a pedant doesn't mean you weren't wrong. Mong.

Could you be funnier.... Please stop.

Re: Wellington : Tue Apr 06, 2010 5:47 am  

Gijou wrote:

What I am saying is that anyone with any knowledge of NZ sport and its history (I'll put my hand up) knows that, like, Australia, the big three sports have been cricket, union and rugby league since the early 20th C.

To the extent that in the 1920s (as an example), whole parts of NZ changed union rules to prevent the entire country going over to rugby league.

Also, NZ unions have blocked access to grounds, arranged counter-attractions at the same time as rugby league games, blocked access to schools etc. etc.

Now, if union is NZ's biggest sport (which I never said it wasn't), ask me why they have bothered doing that to a sport which, according to you, trails in support behind soccer, basketball and flower arranging...

Mong.

Re-reading this I should clarify when I say both Australia and New Zealand have three main sports; in NZ, they are as posted above (cricket, rugby league and union - in no particular order), and in Australia, cricket, rugby league and AFL, again, in no particular order (union has next to no significance in Australia).

Re: Wellington : Tue Apr 06, 2010 7:33 am  

How does cricket get so much coverage when nobody watches it beyond the test matches,

Have you ever seen a crowd at a Sheff shield match?

Re: Wellington : Tue Apr 06, 2010 7:43 am  

Gijou wrote:

What I am saying is that anyone with any knowledge of NZ sport and its history (I'll put my hand up) knows that, like, Australia, the big three sports have been cricket, union and rugby league since the early 20th C.

To the extent that in the 1920s (as an example), whole parts of NZ changed union rules to prevent the entire country going over to rugby league.

Also, NZ unions have blocked access to grounds, arranged counter-attractions at the same time as rugby league games, blocked access to schools etc. etc.

Now, if union is NZ's biggest sport (which I never said it wasn't), ask me why they have bothered doing that to a sport which, according to you, trails in support behind soccer, basketball and flower arranging...

Mong.

Then you obviously know nothing because rugby league is the 13th, yes 13th most played sport in NZ among adults. Did you read that? THIRTEENTH

You trolls know nothing