Round 2 (2008) Warriors v Bluebags

[Willow]

Forum 7s - Round 2 2008
NEW ZEALAND WARRIORS v NEWTOWN BLUEBAGS

-v-

THE 'BROWNIE' SHIELD
Named in honour of Kiwi rugby league pioneer, Huatahi Turoa Brown Paki
​

Game Thread:
* Please note - This is a game thread only, therefore only game posts can be made here (Teams, Articles).
* Any other posts may result in loss of points and is at the discretion of the referee.
* Only original articles, not used in previous games, will be marked by referees.
Naming Teams:
* 5v5 + 2 reserves each
* No 'TBA' or changing players named
* Captains must stick with original teams named
ALL THE RULES & REGULATIONS: http://f7s.leagueunlimited.com/rules.php

FULL TIME: Wednesday 9 April 2008 at 9pm (Syd time)
REFEREE: Pistol
Venue: MT SMART STADIUM
**The Referee Blows Game On!**

CLICK HERE FOR OFFICIAL WORD COUNTER​

 

[Jesbass]

The Warriors side for the first battle for the 'Brownie' Shield - and the Bluebags' first trans-Tasman match - is as follows:

Run On Team:
2. sportsthought (debut)
7. Jesbass (c)
9. Misanthrope (Warriors debut)
11. rayroxon
13. MKEB...

Bench:
6. byrne_rovelli_fan82
23. Mixmasterreece
25. Swanley

 

[rayroxon]

Rayroxon for the Warriors is ready. In fact, he was born ready. It's just a shame the doctors didn't tell him what to be ready for.

******​

Taking A Punt​

Last week, The Sunday Telegraph reported that the exodus of Australian league talent is set to continue. Newcastle forward Cory Patterson has attracted interest from overseas; however, it's not from rugby union or the English Super League. The threat has come in the unlikely form of the NFL. They want him as a punter.

Before you say, “Why don’t they take Ricky Ponting?” we’re talking about a different kind of punter. A punt in the NFL is what we would call a long kick in league. If you’d seen Patterson’s drop goal attempt against the Eels on Friday night you’d probably be thinking to yourself: “Stick to your day job”. Even Ray Warren had a go at Patterson’s kick, commenting: "He’s pulled out the sand wedge instead of the seven iron.'' Luckily for Patterson, a highlights package was filmed by OzPunt (an Australian Punting and Kicking Academy) a fortnight before the Eels clash – meaning NFL scouts from the Denver Broncos missed his chip shot from the bunker.

Instead, the highlights package contained footage of Patterson place kicking the ball up to 70m on the fly. Put into context, the longest field goal in the NFL last season was from 55m. Patterson has power in spades, and the good news for him is that kicking in the NFL is changing as athletes are now bigger, stronger and faster than ever before.

Traditionally, NFL scouts have recruited smaller soccer-style kickers with an emphasis on strong leg drive and accuracy. This changed when the San Diego Chargers recruited Darren Bennett from AFL club Melbourne in the mid 90’s. The Chargers turned their attention to Australia as most Australian kids will have a kick in the park as part of growing up. As they grow into their chosen sport, they tend to bring their kicking skills with them. Compare this to the average American kid: they dream of being the quarterback, and traditionally, the smaller kid who gets picked last becomes the kicker. In choosing Bennett, the Chargers signalled the shift to a larger kicker, a trend which has continued through to the present. In the 2007 draft, the Dallas Cowboys chose Nick Folk, a 6’1”, 102kg rookie kicker with one of their picks. Compare Folk’s size with Cowboys receiver Terrell Owens, who weighs in at 101kg and 6’3” tall - not a lot of size difference in two vastly different skill positions. Patterson incidentally stands at an impressive 6’5” and 105kg.

Patterson’s raw power is obviously a sought after commodity. Power kickers can get “Hang Time”, which is the ability to get the ball to hang in the air. Not just a clever name, it allows kick off teams to get down field and apply pressure on kick returners. Booming kicks are favoured over tactical ones as the latter takes more time to pull off. For comparison, look at the better halfbacks in the NRL – they’ll usually have a platform set by their forwards allowing them time for a tactical 40/20 kick. The same applies to the NFL. Faster athletes mean less time to get a kick away. Most teams work on two seconds from the snap to get the punt off before pressure arrives. This two second period is known as the “get off”. Where the NFL differs from the NRL is that the kick is a set play, meaning the pressure on the punter is a constant. This also means low trajectory kicks to the corner, pinning the opposition in the 20 yard zone is becoming as rare as a sober swimmer.

This just leaves technique. Paul Shepherd from OzPunt said of Patterson: “He’s kicking above NFL standard at the moment but his technique just needs some work” Kicking technique covers several facets, from holding the ball to the way you should kick. If scouted young enough, technique can be taught early, but it isn’t vital. Australians will continue to be popular in the NFL, primarily because of their size and power. Last year, ex-AFL player Sav Rocca had several punts of 15 yards, but countered these with 70 yard punts, often in the same game.

So where does that leave Corey Patterson? Cameron McGillvray, the director of OzPunt says Patterson has the basics to become a great place kicker, and over time he’ll learn the accuracy of a field goal and short kick offs. They may even teach him how to do a drop goal. If not, I hear Nathan Cayless is holding lessons.

******​

(748 words between the stars)​

Sources:
Toe Tapping: NFL kickers going the distance this season - www.ESPN.com
By Len Pasquarelli - November 15, 2007
Three reasons why coffin-corner kick is dying art - www.ESPN.com
By Mike Sando - November 15, 2007​

Paterson the punter - www.foxsports.com.au

​

​

By James Hooper- March 30, 2008
OzPunt Website - http://www.ozpunt.com.au/
Stephen Paulke – NFL Scout Video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpW40y26e98​

Finally, thanks to Cameron McGillvray for his time and assistance

 

[MKEB...]

And following Is MKEB... Taking his time to smell the daisies, he pauses to sing...SING...SIIIIIIIING "Oh I'm a footy player and I'm okay..."

MKEB... for The Warriors.
******

Black and White...and Grey


Whatever happened to the time when speed, strength and brains could win a football game?

This is a time where the rules of our fine game of rugby league are changing on an almost weekly basis; where the rules that were once black and white are now differing shades of grey and the laws have to be modified and policed just to clean these grey areas up.

How is it that we are seeing a newly perceived grey area being exploited every week?

The game that we played as kids – a simple game of run, kick, chase and tackle has become a confusing and often painful game of rule manipulation and exploitation.

Recently we’ve seen sinister tackles that sound like team mascots introduced to the game; “Crushers”, “Prowlers”, and now “The Chicken Wing.” These new “tackles”, (and I use the term tackles loosely) are injuring players and slowing down the rugby league spectacle. A more technically correct description of what goes on would be stop, immobilise, then hurt the opposing player. What was once a way of stopping a person scoring a try has now become something akin to hand-to-hand-combat. It’ll only be a matter of time before someone creates a tackle that involves bodily origami and a player having their arms and legs fused together in a tackle called the “Slithering Lotus Moose”.

There was a time when on defence you had to concentrate on tackling the man running with the ball near you. Now you have ten different people coming at you from ten different angles – and an upsurge of obstruction penalties. Players double around and run behind teammates while threatening to pass to other people, no wonder the obstruction rule has become such a cause of confusion. It seems every second try that’s scored has to go upstairs and get a video replay. How on earth is a referee supposed to pick up a play that half the defending side cannot see either?

In the amount of time spent between the ball being touched down and a decision actually being made, I can open another beer, eat a bag of chips, wrap some birthday presents, go to the toilet and write “I hate the obstruction rule…damn it all to hell” one hundred times on a footy card.

The tackle area has also become a point of contention. When we were growing up and watching football, we watched players tackle somebody, then get up and mark the tackled player. There was little to no lying over the tackled player, there was no wrestling people onto their backs, and there was little to no reefing the ball out in a tackle.

Now hardly a tackle goes by without the referee admonishing the players to “get up quicker and leave the ball player alone”. Barely three sets of six tackles can elapse before a penalty occurs for a play the ball infringement. What does this achieve? A win at all costs mentality? It is slowing our game to the speed of rugby union! It mars the game for us spectators.

Now we get to the part of the game that should not be that difficult.

When is a pass “forward”? When is a ball “knocked on”? In my way of reasoning things,if the ball leaves your hands and travels to where you want to score a try, then that is a forward pass or a knock on. Why then, do we have rulings such as “his hands were pointing back”? Rugby league is a game of inches, not “quasi nuclear quantum physics”. If the ball travels forward, it is doing just that…travelling forward. Simple, isn’t it. Well, isn’t it?

Every new grey area being exploited eventuates in the ruling bodies of rugby league having to rejig the laws to accommodate, and brand new precedents have to be set. Some would say that coaches and players are unnecessarily complicating the game. Some would say they’re cheating. Others would say people are trying to mask their own lacklustre skill levels.

Coaches and players are manipulating the way the game is played and the way that rules are interpreted. The players and coaches are making it difficult for referees to do their job correctly and decisively.

Ultimately, this is detrimental to the game of rugby league.

One can only wonder what weird and wacky designs on laws coaches will have for us in ten years' time. A league union hybrid? Heaven forbid.


*****

746 words between asterisks

 

[Willow]

The Bluebags bus wobbles into Auckland, the crew remove the barnacles, dry themselves out, and head for the pitch.

We are now ready to do it for Huatahi Turoa Brown Paki !!!

Gorilla (vc)
Lossy
Willow (c)
Timmah
Drew-Sta

Res:
Black Kitty
Dave Q

Don't forget your jerseys....

Good luck one and all..!

 

[Timmah]

Timmah takes the first bone-rattling hitup for the Bluebags...

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A Different View from the Hill
This season started somewhat oddly for this footy fan.

Normally yours truly would sit back in the off-season, watch a few games of cricket, cheer on the Aussies and relax.

This summer it changed a bit – the Mariners were the “it” thing over the hotter months. The Hyundai A-League reared its head as a seriously popular summer alternative sport. As a result, my poor heart never got the rest it so richly deserves after a season of heart-rending brilliance, pain and idiocy from my beloved Bulldogs - which is what made it so difficult to slip back in to season 2008.

Despite it being 5 months since the last premiership game (and eons since I could last remember us winning one) and the fact it’s the centenary season of league in Australia, and even despite the fact we’d gotten rid of one of the biggest liabilities our club has had in it’s history (here’s looking at you Willie), it was a tough ask to do it all again.

Having a not-so-quiet off-season led me to view our game from a different perspective upon its return this year. The style of support, the levels of interest, all the intricacies that go with the on-field match that attracts the supporters and raises those interest levels … it made me re-think it all.

Take for example Newcastle and the Central Coast. Being what one could label a Central Coast Mariners supporter in the A-League, it’s been easy to see the support base both the Mariners, and the Jets in Newcastle, have gathered in such a short amount of time. With three seasons in a fledgling competition these core support groups have managed to fill entire bays in various stadiums, to the point of grand final support encroaching on an entire six bays at the SFS.

While this is the style of support perhaps seen in soccer (or football, depending on your vocabulary) the world over, it’s surely something relatively foreign to rugby league. Many would think this begs the question of why? After just three seasons, why is soccer gathering such parochial core support in regions around the country?

Returning to the case study of Newcastle, the Knights’ Crusade – in my opinion a great idea and a model other supporter groups in the NRL could take, are what you could call “small fish” in comparison to their soccer-loving companions in the Newcastle Jets’ Squadron. In attending last Saturday’s NRL match between Newcastle and Manly I could see the passionate Crusade group from my perch on the hill. I could see them belting their lungs out – but the entire 80 minutes it was a struggle to get the rest of the crowd to respond – until the 70th minute when their team on the field came to life. As for a group from the visiting Manly – it was nowhere to be seen.

By comparison, I attended a number of Mariners v Jets matches at Bluetongue Stadium over the summer – and the “Marinators” (Central Coast’s supporter group) and the Squadron both filled entire bays, managing to drown out everyone else for most of the 90 minutes.

With all due respect to both rugby league fans and soccer players, the answer to this question is simple. In rugby league, there is always something constant and physical taking part on centre stage. The focus of each supporter isn’t solely on cheering and getting behind the team – for the majority of the crowd anyway – it’s about following the action and establishing what’s happening now and what could happen in the next play – and cheering when the points are scored. While soccer crowds are paying close attention to the game, there is far less intriguing play taking place – acknowledged is the fact that a lot of a 90 minute game is passing the ball around to obtain better field position, ultimately shooting for goal. This in turn leads to the crowd providing the entertainment themselves – be it singing songs, chanting, perhaps even deriding an opposition player.

So what’s the answer? Does rugby league support style need a revolutionary change? Is the difference a problem with us? Is it a lack of serious action in soccer? As someone who loves both sports I can see no issues with the way things are currently headed. For me – it’s just something I’ll have to get used to every October and March.

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745 between the dashes. Over and out.

 

[Lossy]

Lossy strides with purpose onto the field for the Bluebags, this time actually wearing strides. A vast improvement.

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Idle Idol

Geoff didn’t want to sleep tonight. He’d had enough of the training, drug testing, autograph signing, interviews, and curtailing of his life outside rugby league. Professional seemed to really mean controlled. He wanted to be normal, or least as normal as any physically gifted athlete could be. In medieval times athletes were soldiers who relaxed and made merry before battle. Press conferences are a poor substitute.

His dad was always telling him to make the most of his time in the spotlight. “Make hay while the sun shines”, he’d say. “You earn more than I ever did and you’ve got it easy.” Whenever he mentioned the government siphoning off half of his salary, making his take-home pay on a par with that of a senior marketing manager, his father changed the topic, usually to rugby league. To Geoff, this was talking shop. The last thing on his mind after a three-hour video analysis session was talking about another team’s relative strengths and weaknesses. He’d done that, and in more detail than pointing out Manu Vatuvei’s poor hands. He knew what he had to work on, what his role would be, and when he had to do it. Further discussion drove him into a deep gloom. He also knew why people always talked league. They were passionate, and it served as the social focal point of their week. They genuinely loved the game and expected him to do the same, all the time. He often asked supporters about their jobs, but they’d never be keen. Work was apparently the last thing on their mind.

To escape this, Geoff would go out. He’d rejoice with calm satisfaction upon finding a pub with patrons that didn’t know him. He knew players that had moved clubs to get away from the attention. Melbourne and Auckland were commonly mentioned. In Melbourne the anonymity was genuine. In an AFL-mad town, you really were no-one. Kiwis occasionally recognised you, but generally kept their distance. Mostly, they weren’t interested in bothering you if you were in the mall looking for a pair of jeans. Warriors’ fans got pretty bitter when talking about their team’s failings, especially on Internet forums, but he presumed it was typical of fans everywhere. He hadn’t considered leaving Sydney… yet.

Down at his local, or what would be his local until people clicked, he bought a beer. His personal sponsor wouldn’t be happy about not wearing their gear out – they sure supplied enough – but it pays to not wear anything too identifiable, or even to have a mobile phone. Some players had them stolen, and family members were subsequently harassed. It’s pretty easy to pick ‘mum’ in a phone list, even for a moron.

Most nights he’d nurse his glass, as the breathalyser would be out in force prior to the morning’s training. A team-mate had overdone it last week, which wasn’t surprising. A young bloke, Terry, not long from school, newly over the drinking age, and with a 60K contract, felt like all his Christmases had come at once. Some people stay kids for longer than others, but Terry was still a kid, and still needed to be a kid. People tend to forget that, as did the coach. He was stood down for three weeks, placed in an alcohol rehabilitation programme, and had to sign an up-weighted code of conduct. Rumour was the club had wanted an electronic bracelet similar to what offenders in home detention wear. Geoff wasn’t sure it was just a rumour.

He glanced at his fellow revellers and felt jealous – a little. The suit propping-up the bar could call in sick. The girl in the corner was with her friends, all giggling and smiling with abandon. He shook his head. The beer tasted good right now, and he had no genuine reason to be bitter. There was atmosphere, a decent band playing, and nobody knew his name; it was the anti-Cheers. He could sit a while longer, he thought. No need to rush, I’ve got nowhere to be but bed.

He recalled the 1980s tale of Olsen Filipaina embarking on a training run for his club, only to instead catch a taxi to near the finish line, splash some water on his face from a nearby tap, and complete the last few metres. Geoff laughed. Where have those days gone?

Geoff went to the toilet, wet his face, and then hailed a taxi. That, he thought, may be as close as I get.

------------------

750 words ahoy.

 

[sportsthought]

sportsthought sprints out for the Warriors eager for an early touch, and although that was at the pub last night, he's also keen to get stuck in on his debut match.

****
​

The Brent Tate Mistake

After the 52-6 pounding Manly gave the Warriors in Round 3, I realised that Brent Tate has made a monumental blunder in signing for a reported $400,000 to join the Warriors.

Let me tell you why…

You see, Brent Tate in his career to date has always played in strong, successful teams: Brisbane, Queensland and Australia. As a centre/winger he's reliant on getting plenty of ball from the men inside him which has allowed him to show his skills.

The service those three teams get from their halves out through the backline is pretty impressive. He’s played with future hall of fame players in Johns, Lockyer, and Thurston, whose skills speak for themselves.

In order for him to perform for the Warriors, he'll need that same level of service to show his wares. And that my friends, is where the problems begin.

With the Warriors halves pairing currently made up of Grant Rovelli and Michael Witt, Tate will be nothing more than an expensive passenger in the Warriors backline. Sure, they will shovel the ball out to Tate like they did against Manly and Newcastle, but sadly they do not possess the skills of a Lockyer or Thurston, and the corresponding ability to put a player in a hole or get them the ball with room to move.

It would be silly of me not to at least mention that the Warriors would have been better off purchasing a classy playmaker, but that’s an article for another day.

We saw Tate’s frustration easily in the Manly game. The bloke is a winner, no doubt about that. Being coached by Wayne Bennett has instilled very high standards in him, and against Manly those standards were not even on the Warriors’ radar.

As Manly ran through try after try, Tate looked frustrated – angry, even – at what was going on around him. To be on the end of a pounding like that would be a rare event indeed for Brent Tate. (Ignoring, of course the brace giving hits of Francis Meli)

He has since said that the loss was one of the worst two he has been involved with. I suspect the other one was either the 50-4 defeat for Brisbane against Melbourne in 2005, or the 24-nil Tri Nations final loss, also in 2005.

If Tate continues to be ineffective as a Warrior, what will this do to his rep career? Queensland has a number of players that can cover centre/wing. Think of Justin Hodges, Israel Folau, Greg Inglis, Steve Bell, and Willie Tonga, and I doubt that the exclusion of Tate would harm their chances this year.

Likewise for Australia, Tate missed last year’s match against the Kiwis because of his injury and again, this being the Test squad, there is no shortage of skilled backs ready to don the green and gold.

I for one will not be surprised when Brent Tate’s name is not called out for rep sides this year.

Whatever the case, he is a marquee player and the pressure will be on him to deliver. The expectations were the same at Brisbane, but of course it was spread around fellow marquee players such as Lockyer, Hodges, Hunt, and Webcke.

And what of the Warriors club?

Over the years, they really have made some horrible purchases. Names such as Matt Jobson, Mark Carter and Paul Dezolt come to mind, but these blokes differ from Tate. They were no names burdened with no expectations.

The Warriors forked out a load of cash for Tate, arguably the only marquee back to pull on a Warriors jumper.

This could turn out to be one of the worst buys in the organisation’s short history. Of course, we must acknowledge that they managed to lure a current Queensland Origin and Australian test player. That in itself is a coup for a club that is out of sight and out of mind for most of Australia.

Attracting a classy half from another NRL club would have been a tough ask for the New Zealand based outfit. Anyone with a decent set of skills would rather be in Australia, so perhaps they had to ‘settle’ for Tate.

However, what's the point when they can't get the ball to him? It’s like an F1 car without a driver. Without skilful halves Tate, is not going to deliver a return on investment and his recruitment will prove to be a huge mistake by the Warriors.

****
​

745 words between the stars.

Sources
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4205298a10713.html
http://sportsthought.com/rugby-league/will-brent-tate-be-successful-at-the-warriors

 

[Jesbass]

Jesbass stumbles onto the field for the Warriors, knocking over the Brownie Shield as he does so, before attempting to make amends by making a tribute to the very man whose honour this match is being played for...

*****

​

Paki And Proud (750 words between the stars)

In the modern era, where players are given million dollar, multi-year contracts, and sponsor endorsements and fame are viewed as merely ‘part of the job’, it can become all too easy to take league’s influence all too lightly. The modern fan often fails to acknowledge its roots and those who planted them. This makes it all the more refreshing to encounter someone who has a long history in the game; veins through which the sport flows.

When I first met George Paki prior to a Warriors match in 2006, I naïvely assumed that he and I weren’t too dissimilar – passionate rugby league fans of a similar ilk, albeit with him having a more cultured and experienced perception of the on-field happenings.

Now that I’ve done my homework, I realise that I really should have known better.

The Paki family line has been synonymous with rugby league in New Zealand for decades. George’s grandfather, Wetere Paki, was born in 1893 as one of sixteen siblings. Nine of the children survived to adulthood – an achievement all in itself at a time when the average life expectancy was less than 65 years of age, and when working several jobs just to financially support the family was commonplace. The Paki brothers, (“all of solid farm labour stock”, according to George), did precisely that.

In the 1920s, Wetere and two of his brothers picked up the thirteen man game in their home town of Huntly, a fiercely proud league town that is also the birth place of former grand final winning Kiwi Tawera Nikau. The three Paki siblings regularly came up against each other in domestic competitions while playing for different provinces.

One of the brothers, Hori Paki, was selected for the Kiwis on their 1921 tour to Australia, but the most celebrated of the trio is Huatahi Turoa Brown Paki – ‘Brownie’ for short.

After captaining the 1922 Maori touring team, (for which all three brothers were initially selected, but only two played after Wetere was ruled out of the squad following an off-field injury), Brownie Paki found himself in Sydney, scoring a try against the Kangaroos as part of a ‘Rest Of Australia’ team at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

It wasn’t long before he was lured to the St George club by captain George Carstairs, who had been the first man to score a try for the Saints in 1921.

Brownie played all but one match of the 1923 season, becoming one of the first New Zealanders – and, the Paki family believes, the first Maori – to compete for an Australian club, scoring three tries and making quite an impression on the locals as “a tough and extremely gifted player”. So much of an impression, in fact, that if one of his descendants visits the club today and mentions his name, a chair gets pulled out and a beer bought – a tribute to both the man himself, and to the club he represented.

Even after hanging up his boots, Brownie remained heavily involved in league, playing an instrumental part in founding the Taniwharau Rugby League Club with former Huntly team mate Tonga Mahuta. This club is where the likes of Andrew Berryman, Don Parkinson, Ricky Muru, Lance Hohaia, and Wairangi Koopu first found their footing, so to speak.

Perhaps, though, the greatest thing that Brownie brought to the game, as did his brothers, was humility. George describes their presence while he was growing up as “just ‘there’ with no special mention of their exploits on the sporting field, because I suppose it was just another area where they carried the family mantle. We knew, and that’s all that mattered”.

Back to the present day, George defines his great uncle as “a humble man, fiercely determined, adventurous, and a man who lived life to its fullest”. This seems a far cry from the stereotypical, headline making league player.

One can only wonder what a gentleman of Brownie Paki’s ilk would make of the modern game. Perhaps he would be filled with awe at modern stadiums and salaries. Perhaps he would be dismayed by the intense media scrutiny and the many misdemeanors that follow the off field lives of so many players.

But maybe – just maybe – he’d be able to get past those things; to see through the controversies and the scandals to witness that underneath it all, the game that he loved is still just as beautiful now as it was all those years ago.

*****
​

Sources:
http://www.stats.govt.nz/NR/rdonlyres/DF18C935-26ED-4159-B105-6EA121EF4825/0/Article.pdf
http://www.showroom.com.au/dragons/dragonshistory/history_players_pqr.htm
'The Kiwis: 100 Years Of International Rugby League' by John Coffey and Bernie Wood
Many thanks to Hori George Paki for his assistance and willingness to share some of his family's history.

 

[gorilla]

Gorilla pulls his up to look his best for the 'Bags.

*************************************
Sock it to me, baby !

Socks are definitely the poor cousin of the team outfit, almost exclusively ignored by the supporter in their team gear. Even the purchase of socks is limited, making the poor old sock an unappreciated item.

There’s lots of sock clichés, like the ‘lost sock syndrome’ whereby pairs become singles, or the reputation of smelly socks, which is largely undeserved as it’s really the feet or boots that smell.

Where would we be with out socks ? Well, probably still wearing toe rags or suffering from blistered feet for a start, and our toes are likely to be a little more worn or bruised, the nails stained. There’s obviously a place for socks as foot protectors as well as foot warming clothes, but on the footy field (apart from reducing scrapes and scratches) they are really decorative items.

The role of footy socks generally fall into 3 categories: the foot protector, the stocking and the puttee (for you non-academic types: cloth wound around the leg between ankle and knee, favoured for protection by ancient armies to farmers).

The foot protector is obvious and really doesn’t show on the field, and the puttee concept, whilst old fashioned and useful for old style props or hookers, is not its primary role.

Decoration or frippery is the reason for the footy sock. It not only covers, perhaps with the exception of the arse, the hairiest and ugliest part of a man, but it also complements and enhances the peacock imagery that is the football, and rugby code’s player’s strips or outfits.

Guernseys and shorts, even mouthguards get better press than the humble sock. It seems that one of the few times the sock gets noticed is when a player runs around, a la Manly halfback Johnny Gibbs who was famous for his “head-high, sock-down” running style, or when a player stops to pull up his socks before taking a kick at goal.

Referees have their own neurotic nuances about socks, not only as a great place to hold the comb for the half time comb-over, but also to keep up the socks given that they are role-models. (*sniggers*).

Well how about our team's socks ?

Most teams have socks that are reflective or complement their guernsey or the team colours.

Some teams (poseurs !) even have two types of socks – the Cowboys have an “on-field” sock as well another sock (3rd and 4th from left, top row), whilst the Titans (well, it is the Gold Coast) have a “home sock” and presumably, a ”away sock” (1st and 2nd from left bottom row). Gawd love’em - lucky they don’t play in those cute little gold bikinis as a home strip (or perhaps that’s their training gear ?)

The Dragons go for a white stocking feel with a dainty little red strip at the top (so as not to show the tears of blood that pool at the top of the sock as they hunch down after another unexpected loss).

The Eels and Tigers are both a bit schizophrenic – the Eels have mostly blue socks but primarily yellow guernsey colours, whilst Tigers have had to show their split-joint venture colours.

Bulldogs, Knights and Rabbitohs are as boring as their game plans, and the Warriors just look dead – the sort of sock you’d wear to a funeral if you ask me.

A couple of the teams have a weird food thing going with the Panther’s socks like a heritage Liquorice Allsort whilst the Raiders makes me feel like a gelato. The Bronco’s socks look like someone forgot a sandwich in a school bag for a term and the devon has gone and bred with the cheese and tomato sauce.

The Eagle’s socks look like they’d bleed under pressure – put ‘em in a hot wash and they’d just run everywhere. The Roosters look like something Alan Jones would wear.

The Sharks and the Storm both have strangely similar dark and deathly looking socks types and colours compared to their guernseys, despite there being almost no similarities in playing styles, club structures, grounds – I guess their supporters are all creeps and weirdos so they do have that !

*************************************************************
700 words between the stars

 

[Misanthrope]

Taking a deep breath, Misanthrope carts it up for his first hit up as a Warrior.

2018​

The year 2018 may not be the futuristic wonderland that science fiction visionaries might have had us believe, but it could well be a brave new world for the sport of rugby league in this country.

While it will take the footballing equivalent of a miracle, there remains a slight chance that the biggest sporting event in the world could be played in Australia come 2018. And while it may not draw the same crowds or international coverage as the Olympics, there’s no doubting that football’s World Cup captures the world’s hearts and imaginations in a way that no other sporting event could. The flag-ship of sporting World Cups, the thirty two team tournament is a huge coup for any country that can land it.

The initial reaction from a rugby league purist to the idea is one of distaste. After all, the event traditionally falls in the summer months of the northern hemisphere – which means this huge event would fall right in the middle of the 2018 rugby league, rugby union, and AFL seasons. And while some die hard fans demand that the event be moved to accommodate these Australian sports – the reality is that it won’t happen. The combined salary expenditures of every NRL, Super 14, and AFL club don’t equate to a drop of water in the world of professional sport – and there is no way that football’s flagship event will ever be shunted to satisfy a few dozen clubs from a country of 22 million in the southern hemisphere.

But rather than seeing this clash as a threat to the existence of the game, people need to look beyond the temporary inconvenience and towards the many advantages hosting such a tournament can provide to our sport.

1). Stadia

The FIFA World Cup has certain stadium requirements that need to be met before a country’s bid can be looked at. In a nutshell, the country needs to find at least ten stadiums of a minimum 40,000 capacity. And if that wasn’t enough, only one city can host more than two stadiums.

A brief look at Australian stadiums shows we’re woefully adrift in that respect, so to host the World Cup a great deal of work needs to be done. And when the tournament has come and gone – who will benefit from these new, state of the art stadiums? The rugby league clubs! Be it Newcastle’s creaky old stadium or the beautiful but woefully small Bluetongue Stadium on the Central Coast – these venues can expect heavy redevelopment at zero cost to the clubs if the bid is to prove successful. Dairy Farmer’s in Townsville, Skilled on the Gold Coast… and new stadiums, too. Cities such as Adelaide, Perth, and perhaps even Hobart can expect to have purpose built stadiums constructed. And while this offers little to the NRL presently – there’s nothing to say we won’t one day want to test the waters in South Australia or Western Australia again.

2). Exposure.

It’s true that the World Cup would greatly disrupt the NRL season. For the most part, stadiums used for World Cup fixtures can’t be used in the weeks preceding a World Cup game. Clubs such as Newcastle, South Sydney, North Queensland, and Brisbane would be disadvantaged by this.

But through creative draw planning, taking games to regional centres, or playing from alternate venues will all be worth the tremendous exposure the game stands to gain. This is a tournament that draws millions of people from all corners of the world. One international between New Zealand and Australia, scheduled for a free weekend in a Sydney or Melbourne stuffed with foreigners looking for something to do, could do great things for the game’s image abroad. People from Europe, Asia, Africa, South America… all of them able to see the spectacle of rugby league while they’re in town. And when they’re done debating the contentious penalty calls or the quality of an opposition striker – maybe they’ll take a moment to reflect on the great game they saw and wonder why it’s not being played in their country.

People may see the game of soccer as one for ‘Sheilas, Mediterranean Descendants, and twinkies’ – but in this case, it’s a situation where short term sacrifices could land the NRL clubs with immense long term gain. Bigger and better stadiums, increased exposure… it’s something the NRL should be getting behind.

WORD COUNT: 736 words including title

 

[Willow]

Willow | Bluebags

The Moose that soared

"He is running sideways across the field, without making forward progress."

According to at least one source, Rex 'The Moose' Mossop won an International Tautology Award, with the above quote no doubt being listed as a judge's highlight.

Mossop is widely regarded as the man who turned the Manly Sea Eagles into one of the most disliked teams in the history of the competition. Manly hatred was an ideal amongst rugby league supporters that was already gathering steam in the 1970s, nurtured by the belief that the north shore silvertails were out to buy a premiership. While it wouldn't take much to reinforce that belief, Rex's one-eyed commentary and laughable one liners simply 'helped' Manly to become the team that everyone loved to hate.

Born in 1928 in Fivedock in Sydney's inner west, Rex Mossop was big kid who wouldn't take no for an answer. His family moved to Balgowlah, near Manly, when he just six years old. By the time Rex was 16-years-old, he was playing first grade rugby union for Manly. He switched to rugby league in 1956.

Mossop's football career speaks for itself. A prop forward for Manly Warringah between 1956-1963, Rex racked up 132 first grade games for the Sea Eagles. An uncompromising front rower, Mossop played the game during one of its toughest eras. He competed in two grand finals in 1957 and 1959 and was sent off in the '59 decider following a well documented dust-up with St George forward Harry Bath.

Rex is a dual international, he played nine Test matches for Australia and was vice captain on the 1959 Kangaroo tour. Regardless of what anyone thinks of the bloke, he has proved himself on the football field.

The Moose finally retired as a player at the end of the 1963 season, aged 35, but his career 'blossomed' again as a TV commentator, a post he held for 27 years. Sevens Big League remains an icon in the history of Australian broadcasting.

Mossop made TV's Controversy Corner panel famous, and gave a touch of class to the Commonwealth Bank Ball Passing Competition with guest players walking away with a shirt from Pelaco, a Patra orange Juice and a leg of ham. Those were the days!

Despite being sacked by two networks in his television career, Rex continues to be embraced by fans and the media. To this day, his comments are often sought after, he has been invited to appear on TV and have his thoughts heard on radio on countless occasions; and he has featured on comedy sports shows. Rex has even won a soft spot with sections of the gay community.

Sure, he is a right wing bigot, a relic from a dying age. When Rex speaks it seems that he is hearing it for the first time like everyone else. But he is honest in his thoughts, and perhaps that is why the normally sensitive new age types love him so much.

Described by Ken Arthurson as a 'true Australian original', Rex has ridden the wave of publicity while disregarding political correctness, often embarrassing himself in the process. A lot can be said about Rex, but no one can ever accuse him of being dull.

"If this game ever takes over from rugby league you can f*** me in Pitt St."
- Rex speaking to soccer legend Johnny Warren in the 1980s.

"I'm sick of having male genitals rammed down my throat"
- Rex disapproving of nude bathers on Manly beach (reportedly after performing a citizen's arrest).

"He gave him a little stiffy"
- Rex following a stiff arm head high tackle in the 1975 Grand Final between Easts and St George.

"He seems to have suffered a groin injury at the top of his leg"

"A good punch never hurt anyone!"
- Rex again, an oldie but a goldie... and a hint of truth in there for the more observant.

True classics, but of all the words I have read from The Moose, my favourite still remains as one that is rarely quoted, and one that I heard on ABC radio one afternoon about 10 years ago:

When asked if he missed playing football, Rex quickly replied, "Mate... I even miss the injuries!"

Spoken like a true front rower.

The great Rex Mossop is close enough to 80-years-old nowadays, he won't be with us forever. But regardless of when he does decide to join that scrum in the sky, he will no doubt do so on his own terms.



*750 words*
Ref: National Museum of Australia (nma.gov.au)
Commentator Rex Mossop, 1987. Photo: David Trood/Fairfaxphotos
The Moose That Roared, autobiography by Rex Mossop
LTU Titans website
Quig's Bring back the Biff website

 

[Drew-Sta]

Drew for the Bagetty-bag bags.

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The messiah.

The construction worker was behind schedule. 6 months behind schedule, if you wanted to know. But that was ok. The oval would be fixed up for next season. As he went to lay down a new concrete foundation, he came upon ‘Stoney’s Slab’. He dug around it on the orders of the board.

He whistled away to the radio to a tune by Lostprophets. As he was digging, he felt his shovel hit something hard. Frowning, he got down on his hands and knees, and scraped away the dirt to find what looked to be a small golden ark with inscriptions intricately worked into the framework.

His heart beginning to beat with a child like excitement, he feverishly worked to get the ark up and out of the ground. Finally, after a half an hour of work, he pulled out the ornate, golden box. The construction worker, his excitement getting the better of him, opened the ark, and inside was an ornate book.

Its title was simply ‘The Messiah’. All restraint gone, he opened the tome…

“The old man, slow to walk and leaning heavily on his stick, approached – watched intently by the 9 kings; Rulers of the two joint kingdoms.

Laying down his only means of support, the wavering old man stood. Muttering a prayer, he was immediately grasped by prophesy. At once he stood to his full height, and all traces of his previous infirmity dissolved. The kings eyes widened as the old man began to spew forth words in a loud and commanding voice that oozed authority.

“The Spirit of the LORD God is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives, and freedom to prisoners; to proclaim the favorable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn. * The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen, you shall listen to him. * "Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. And the LORD, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming," says the LORD of hosts. * So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem… it will be built again, with plaza and moat. * But there will be no more gloom for her who was in anguish; in earlier times He treated the land of red and the land of white with contempt, but later on He shall make it glorious. The people who walk in darkness will see a great light; those who live in a dark land, the light will shine on them. * Therefore thus says the LORD God, "Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone, A costly cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed. He who believes in it will not be disturbed." * Let the nomads of the desert bow before him; And his enemies lick the dust. * Then the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all flesh will see it together; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken!" *

The old man fell to the ground, his ecstasy finished and his energy spent. The kings looked around worriedly. This messiah, the one who was coming, would not accept their rule. He would establish his own, and with it would come a new covenant. A new law. They would need faith, but with that faith would their power be stripped. This was their last chance at redemption, and their salvation would only be achieved by the complete trust and observance of this messiah.

The kings talked in hushed voices, an air of fear permeated around the room. The messiah was coming, and his authority would need to be obeyed."

The construction site was silent as he finished reading, save only for the radio. The sports report had just begun to be read. The announcer was excited as he made a stunning announcement, and the construction worker went pale, his hands shaking with the recently found book in his hand.

Wayne Bennett had just signed as coach of St George for 2009.

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References of * have been made from the following passages from the Bible: Isaiah 61:1-2, Deuteronomy 18:15, Daniel 9:25, Isaiah 9:1-2, Isaiah 53:1, Isaiah 53:7, Jeremiah 7:11, Isaiah 28:16, Malachi 3:1, Psalms 72:9, Isaiah 40:3-5.

Word count - 742

 

[Willow]

 

[Jesbass]

Well done to both teams. A 5v5 result is ideal.

Even though the Warriors have never beaten Newtown, I always enjoy the rivalry.

I think Brownie Paki would be pleased with the efforts put on by both teams.

Good luck to all involved, including the referee!

 

[Willow]

Great match, great players, great competition. Great work everyone.

 

[Hallatia]

was this the grandfinal rematch?

 

[Willow]

As a matter of fact, yep.

 

[byrne_rovelli_fan82]

Well done both teams for all 5 articles!

Yep the grand final rematch indeed, lets hope us Warriors can turn the tables this time, eh? hehehe!!

 

[Drew-Sta]

Should be a cracker. Some top articles in there!