General Discussion Thread

[Kilkenny]

Late to this thread so sorry for not responding sooner, but I actually live in St Albans; I can confirm it is lovely, easy access to London, very rural on the outskirts and 47 pubs for a population of about 20k; it is the pub capital of the UK. We could start a PantherExile group.

Having said that Exeter is also stunning so if you have your heart set on there you have made an awesome choice. A bit more remote, but what is great is it sits between the coast and some amazing inland scenery. And to confirm the comment from above, won’t have problems finding pubs anywhere in the UK!!

Last time I was in the UK I stayed in St Albans for a couple days, saw Jasper Carrott, famous English comedian at the Alban Arena and saw Watford play Crystal Palace in the EPL Which was only down the road. The cost of a pint was a fraction of the cost of what you pay in central London. Really liked the feel of the place, you are very lucky.

 

[Kilkenny]

As I said previously the British Rail system is very extensive and is relatively cheap and very efficient.

Exeter also has an airport from which there are direct flights to Ireland, servicing both Dublin and Belfast non stop. Both cities well worth visiting, Ireland is great to self drive, not much different to our own Tasmania.

As a point of interest the Belfast International Airport used to be known as the George Best International Airport after a very famous Manchester United footballer. Not sure whether it still is.

 

[Kilkenny]

Pomoz probably made the most pertinent point in respect of North or South.

The British winters can be dire and up in the North, the further North you go the less daylight hours there are and the non stop showery rain that comes with it. It’s hard to comprehend being in an environment with only six hours or so of daylight in winter. It can be somewhat bleak.

 

[ColdWetPanther]

Pomoz probably made the most pertinent point in respect of North or South.

The British winters can be dire and up in the North, the further North you go the less daylight hours there are and the non stop showery rain that comes with it. It’s hard to comprehend being in an environment with only six hours or so of daylight in winter. It can be somewhat bleak.

I remember when I first came over as a younger man with no responsibilities. If you went out for a few ‘pints’ on Friday night and slept in till midday on the Saturday, you had essentially wasted about 25% of the daylight you may experience in a week.

Now that I have kids what I wouldn’t give to sleep in till midday one day a week!!

 

[Pomoz]

I love my country of birth. The weather not so much. The cold never bothered me, the UK isn't that cold in the south, but those short winter days with grey skies just depress me. Singapore is the same for parts of the year. Very hot, but the sky is grey and the clouds are low. Grey skies make you feel sad, regardless of the temperature.

One of my favourite things about Australia is the light. Big, beautiful clear blue skies. Sometimes that big, beautiful blue sky can melt your face off. Anybody remember the 47 degree day at Penrith a few years ago? The family BBQ I was at never got past the lounge.. The only person outdoors was my brother in law manning the BBQ. I went out to help him and we were both willing the meat to cook quickly so we could get back inside. It reminded me of being in Germany when it was minus 30, nobody wanted to be outside then either. The sky was clear blue, but if was fricking brass monkeys!!!

 

[Kilkenny]

I love my country of birth. The weather not so much. The cold never bothered me, the UK isn't that cold in the south, but those short winter days with grey skies just depress me. Singapore is the same for parts of the year. Very hot, but the sky is grey and the clouds are low. Grey skies make you feel sad, regardless of the temperature.

One of my favourite things about Australia is the light. Big, beautiful clear blue skies. Sometimes that big, beautiful blue sky can melt your face off. Anybody remember the 47 degree day at Penrith a few years ago? The family BBQ I was at never got past the lounge.. The only person outdoors was my brother in law manning the BBQ. I went out to help him and we were both willing the meat to cook quickly so we could get back inside. It reminded me of being in Germany when it was minus 30, nobody wanted to be outside then either. The sky was clear blue, but if was fricking brass monkeys!!!

My trips home to the UK have always been basically in spring although even then I was in Ayr Scotland, my birthplace and in snowed, only lightly but still snow.

I was in Berlin, Germany a few years ago in minus 10, or so and despite wearing layers, thermals, and cold weather jacket it was bloody freezing. Never experienced anything like it.

 

[Whino]

SJ is going back to the Warriors. Dogs miss out again.

 

[ACTPanthers]

SJ is going back to the Warriors. Dogs miss out again.

I do like a homecoming story... Icing on the cake it f**ks the Dogs over though

 

[Kilkenny]

ACT given the journey you will undertake in the not to far distant future the link to the Exeter City FC fan forum is Exeweb.com. They may be your new team. Sure they are in the fourth tier of English football but I’m sure they can always do with another fan. We are on the lookout for a front rower they are on the lookout for a new centre forward, not to dissimilar.

 

[Kilkenny]

All this travel talk is rather depressing really.

i have been very fortunate to have travelled overseas, back to my homeland and other places including USA, Canada and Asia.

Thought when I retired, I would enjoy a few more OS trips but that is unlikely now. Wife and I were doing Spain and Western Mediterranean last year but Covid sure stopped those plans.

Just for the record NYC is my favourite place from a travel perspective. It is a truly amazing city although sadly it seems crime has again emerged again as a major issue and maybe isn’t quite as safe as it was in the couple of times I was there. Can’t go there anyway so not a big deal I guess.

Covid really sucks, or at least the way our Governments are handling it, depends on your perspective I guess.

Eight months ago I booked an Airbnb in Bright, Victoria where my three kids and there partners could come together for a week and celebrate my 60th on the 3rd July. All good the property has fully refunded my money so I am not out of pocket I just feel so sad not for me so much, just how much damage is being done to our economy from losses incurred throughout our travel and related industries.

It really sucks and we have no strategic plan to get ourselves out of this mess. It just seems we are on a never ending merry go round, whereby shit which ever state has a new outbreak of a handful of new Covid cases we have to shut everything down. I don’t get it, as our figures stand here in NSW we have had approximately 5400 infections and 54 deaths the last death being months ago. I just don’t get this whole eradication policy we seem to be going down given it is not possible, regardless of the greater majority getting vaccinated.

Anyway, get in the queue I guess Monday coming for the available 5,000 or so tickets. Hope there is no exposure site in Western Sydney in the mean time otherwise there may be no fans in the ground.

 

[Kilkenny]

I see Exeter were beaten in the Rugby Union UK Grand Final yesterday so ACT you may have another team to follow and not necessarily have to subject yourself to the round ball code. Apparently the son of former great Wallaby Michael Lynagh scored a couple of late tries to seal a 40-38 win. Plenty of options for you as it appears to wean you off the mighty Penrith Panthers.

 

[Fangs]

Dragons in a bit of strife.

Is it just me or does Hook have issues with discipline in his teams?

 

[Smug Panther]

Dragons in a bit of strife.

Is it just me or does Hook have issues with discipline in his teams?

Because he's a prick that can't get along with anyone

 

[mxlegend99]

Dragons in a bit of strife.

Is it just me or does Hook have issues with discipline in his teams?

The Tyrone May sex tape stuff happened while he was here. Pretty much one of our worst off field incidents. But Ivan just forgives and forgets the second he's available which disappointed me and is probably how Hook would have handled it

The only truly bad thing to happen under Ivan was Brent Naden and doing cocaine before the grand final. Ivan came down pretty hard on him though which I liked. But shows that he has his favourites when he's happy to be so ruthless with Naden but May gets free passes.

I think it comes down to how much the players respect their coaches. Ivan seems well respected by our players so the issues are pretty minimal and only poor judgement by a player here and there. Which every club has

Hook doesn't seem like his players respect him at all. So they dont really care about the consequences.

 

[Fangs]

The Tyrone May sex tape stuff happened while he was here. Pretty much one of our worst off field incidents. But Ivan just forgives and forgets the second he's available which disappointed me and is probably how Hook would have handled it

The only truly bad thing to happen under Ivan was Brent Naden and doing cocaine before the grand final. Ivan came down pretty hard on him though which I liked. But shows that he has his favourites when he's happy to be so ruthless with Naden but May gets free passes.

I think it comes down to how much the players respect their coaches. Ivan seems well respected by our players so the issues are pretty minimal and only poor judgement by a player here and there. Which every club has

Hook doesn't seem like his players respect him at all. So they dont really care about the consequences.

Hook also had Moyza, Hiku and Blake break curfew after the game in Melbourne.

 

[martielang]

We would still be undefeated under Hook tbh.

 

[mxlegend99]

We would still be undefeated under Hook tbh.

Sione Katoa as captain. Nathan Cleary long gone to Tigers. Would definitely be something.

 

[Fangs]

Sione Katoa as captain. Nathan Cleary long gone to Tigers. Would definitely be something.

Don't forget Fuimaono in the backrow and Christian Crichton on the wing.

 

[Smug Panther]

Don't forget Fuimaono in the backrow and Christian Crichton on the wing.

Peach back at fullback

 

[Fangs]

Peach back at fullback

No room for Dean Whare in the 1?