O
ozbash
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the good folk at nzoom have given me permission to use richard bechts work for this forum.
i knew richard quite well a few years back and appreciate the opportunity to be able to use his writings.
<table cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 border=0> <tbody> <tr> <td valign=top>No time for defeatist talk</td></tr> <tr> <td width=450 height=10><SPACER TYPE="block" WIDTH="450" HEIGHT="10"></SPACER></td></tr> <tr> <td width=450 bgcolor=#000000 height=1><SPACER TYPE="block" WIDTH="450" HEIGHT="1"></SPACER></td></tr> <tr> <td width=450 height=10><SPACER TYPE="block" WIDTH="450" HEIGHT="10"></SPACER></td></tr> <tr> <td> 19 Jul, 2001<!-- Vignette V/5 Thu Jul 19 17:38:33 2001 --> <table cellspacing=0 cellpadding=2 width=145 align=right border=0> <tbody> <tr> <td>
</td></tr> <tr> <td>That's what we want to see. </td></tr></tbody></table>By Richard Becht International rugby league is always an easy target for the killjoys who revel in finding flaws in a sport that's constantly under siege. Those people arguably have even more ammunition after last Friday night's one-off test between the Kiwis and the Kangaroos. That's the defeatist reaction at least. The most ardent supporters concede the New Zealand effort was grossly inadequate in Wellington. There's no debate on that point. Yet to constantly talk about the death of rugby league's international component is shortsighted in the extreme. As long as any sport exists, the mission should always be to foster it on the global stage, however big or small that may be. Rugby league's spread on a world scale is modest, to put it kindly. Then again netball's the same and rugby's not so flash beyond its top four or five nations either. Yet the three sports retain mainstream interest in this part of the world. And if that passion's there, it should be fed. With league it's Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain and not a lot else at the high end. For all that, league can and often does make something of what it has in its transtasman battles. What it desperately needs is far more respect from Australian officials for the international article. As it stands now, test football provokes an almost dismissive stance from them. There's no justification for the NRL to build in three clear weekends to focus on the State of Origin series but then fail to do so for a test match, as was the case last weekend when players were forced to back up for their clubs. The gripe is another fenced off weekend would mean extending a long season by another week. So? Isn't it worth doing that for what should be the most important contest on the calendar? Trouble is the Australian rugby league bosses have adopted the American stand in sport. In the United States, the calendar revolves around sporting competitions based on the franchise concept seen in baseball, American football, basketball and ice hockey. Forget about anything on the international stage. They're in their own little world over there. Which is essentially the way the NRL chiefs are going about their business. They accept internationals with extreme reluctance. So they're treated shabbily as little better than add-ons or a necessary evil. The only way the NRL's opinion can be turned around is if the international fare becomes so compelling there's no choice. The tests need to be monumental battles watched by monstrous crowds. Unfortunately it's a fact the record isn't healthy on recent evidence in contact between the down under enemies. The Kangaroos have won the last three contests 52-0, 40-12 and now 28-10 (an overall aggregate favouring the Australians 120-22). It's not at all healthy. But competition at this level shouldn't be further downgraded, let alone abandoned, on the evidence of what's happened in the last year or so. It was only two years ago that next to nothing separated Australia and New Zealand over three tests; the Kangaroos won 20-14 in Sydney and then in the Tri Nations series in Auckland later that year, the Kiwis survived 22-20 and then lost the final 24-22 (and that only through Wendell Sailor's try in the dying moments of the match). There was nothing at all wrong with the encounters that year, and there have been several other unforgettable battles since Graham Lowe arrived as Kiwi coach in 1983. After beating the Aussies 24-3 in 1971, it was Lowe's Kiwis who ended a painful winless run 12 years later. If anyone thinks New Zealand's in bad shape now they really have no idea. Living through the 1970s and early 1980s was a shattering and sobering experience for Kiwi players and supporters. In those days, the Kiwis usually never had even the slimmest chance of beating Australia - until Lowe came along. Since then almost every Kiwi side's had some sort of hope against the Australians. That was certainly true of last Friday night's encounter. Look back no further than last week's Inside League column for a logical assessment of what might happen: "Make no mistake, this will be a test where the Kiwis win or lose it in the forwards. If the Australian forwards have too much of a look in, their backs will put it out of reach with Johns, Barrett and Lockyer likely to create mayhem. But if the Kiwis smash the Kangaroo forwards - and hopefully Johns, Barrett and Lockyer as well - then expect another outcome completely." Obviously the first and feared scenario became the reality - essentially because the Kiwis didn't come to play on the night, other than in the opening 10 minutes that is. But whatever happened in Wellington, it's still no reason to forget about test football. It must survive and maybe next time the Kiwis will help the argument. </td></tr><!--NZ RUGBY--> <tr> <td valign=top><a target=_top name=today> <table cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 width=450 border=0> <tbody> <tr> <td><SPACER TYPE="block" WIDTH="22" HEIGHT="15"></td> <td><SPACER TYPE="block" WIDTH="428" HEIGHT="15"></td></tr> <tr> <td colspan=2 height=15></td></tr> <tr> <td colspan=2 height=15></td></tr></tbody></table></a></td></tr></tbody></table> <td width=15><SPACER TYPE="block" WIDTH="15" HEIGHT="15"></td> <td valign=top width=145> <table cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 width=145 border=0><!--
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</td> <td width=145>PLAYING STRAIGHT</td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr> <tr> <td bgcolor=#eeeeee colspan=2> Richard Becht takes a look into the world of cricket. </td></tr><!--SPACER--> <tr> <td colspan=2 height=15></td></tr> <tr> <td valign=top align=left colspan=2> <table cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 width=145 border=0> <tbody> <tr bgcolor=#3366cc> <td width=15 bgcolor=#000000>
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</td> <td width=145>AT LARGE</td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr> <tr> <td bgcolor=#eeeeee colspan=2> Renowned rugby commentator Keith Quinn is a regular contributor to ONE Sport. </td></tr><!--SPACER--> <tr> <td colspan=2 height=15></td></tr> <tr> <td valign=top align=left colspan=2> <table cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 width=145 border=0> <tbody> <tr bgcolor=#3366cc> <td width=15 bgcolor=#000000>
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</td> <td width=145>INSIDE LEAGUE</td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr> <tr> <td bgcolor=#eeeeee colspan=2> Richard Becht presents his views on the latest happenings in rugby league. </td></tr><!--SPACER--> <tr> <td colspan=2 height=15></td></tr> <tr> <td valign=top align=left colspan=2> <table cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 width=145 border=0> <tbody> <tr bgcolor=#3366cc> <td width=15 bgcolor=#000000>
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</td> <td width=145>THE WEEK THAT WAS</td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr> <tr> <td bgcolor=#eeeeee colspan=2> The ONE Sport team looks back at all the highs and lows of the sporting week. </td><!--SPACER--> <tr> <td colspan=2 height=15></td></tr> <tr> <td valign=top align=left colspan=2> <table cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 width=145 border=0> <tbody> <tr bgcolor=#3366cc> <td width=15 bgcolor=#000000>
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</td> <td width=145>JOHN MCBETH</td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr> <tr> <td bgcolor=#eeeeee colspan=2> One of television's top presenters and rugby commentators John McBeth. </td></tr><!--SPACER--> <tr> <td colspan=2 height=15></td></tr> <tr> <td valign=top align=left colspan=2> <table cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 width=145 border=0> <tbody> <tr bgcolor=#3366cc> <td width=15 bgcolor=#000000>
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</td> <td width=145>THE OLD ONION BAG</td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr> <tr> <td bgcolor=#eeeeee colspan=2> Stephen Lyon tries to sneak one past the keeper as he takes a look at soccer. </td></tr><!--SPACER--> <tr> <td colspan=2 height=15></td></tr> <tr> <td valign=top align=left colspan=2> <table cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 width=145 border=0> <tbody> <tr bgcolor=#cc0033> <td width=15 bgcolor=#000000>
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</td> <td width=145>CONTACT US</td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr> <tr> <td bgcolor=#eeeeee colspan=2> Feel free to contact us at sport@nzoom.com </td></tr><!--SPACER--> <tr> <td colspan=2 height=15></td></tr><!-- promo --> <tr bgcolor=#ffffff> <td colspan=2><a target=_top href="http://nzoom.com/story.html?story_ezebra.inc">
Get ONE Sport on your mobile for free!</a> </td></tr> <tr> <td colspan=2 height=15></td></tr><!-- end promo --><!--
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</td> <td width=610 height=30>© nzoom.com | Access </td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr>
i knew richard quite well a few years back and appreciate the opportunity to be able to use his writings.
<table cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 border=0> <tbody> <tr> <td valign=top>No time for defeatist talk</td></tr> <tr> <td width=450 height=10><SPACER TYPE="block" WIDTH="450" HEIGHT="10"></SPACER></td></tr> <tr> <td width=450 bgcolor=#000000 height=1><SPACER TYPE="block" WIDTH="450" HEIGHT="1"></SPACER></td></tr> <tr> <td width=450 height=10><SPACER TYPE="block" WIDTH="450" HEIGHT="10"></SPACER></td></tr> <tr> <td> 19 Jul, 2001<!-- Vignette V/5 Thu Jul 19 17:38:33 2001 --> <table cellspacing=0 cellpadding=2 width=145 align=right border=0> <tbody> <tr> <td>
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Get ONE Sport on your mobile for free!</a> </td></tr> <tr> <td colspan=2 height=15></td></tr><!-- end promo --><!--
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