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WORLD CUP '08 Rnd 1: Australia v England

The Front Row

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Forum 7s - WORLD CUP Round 1 - 2008

AUSTRALIA KANGAROOS v ENGLAND LIONS
logo_kangaroos_aust.jpg
-v-
badge_england_100x104.gif

--- The Piper (c) --------- Mr Fahrenheit (c)

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 (F7s WC conditions):
* 3v3 (+ 2 reserves for each team)
* No 'TBA' or changing players named
* Captains must stick with original teams named

FULL TIME (F7s WC conditions): Sunday 19 October 2008 at 9pm (Syd time)

REFEREE: Titanic
Venue: The Front Row Stadium

**The Referee Blows Game On!**
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CLICK HERE FOR OFFICIAL WORD COUNTER

 
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bartman

Immortal
Messages
41,022
image.php


Running on for this game are:

choc_soldier
bartman (vc)
Bumble


On the bench for this game are:
Mr. Fahrenheit (c)
Titan Uranus
 

IanG

Coach
Messages
17,807
IanG for Australia
Question of Eligibility

With the Rugby League World Cup coming up a lot has been said of player’s eligibility for various countries and having to declare their allegiances. For some reason there always seems to be a different set of rules for Test Matches and for the World Cup. I wonder if that’s simply because Great Britain are split up for the World Cup. This seems to not only apply to the international game but in State Of Origin as well. Anomalies on a player’s origin.

In the World Cup/Test Matches the criteria goes something like this. Not only what country you were born in and also the birth place of your parents and or grand parents. So there seem to be quite a few players in the NRL are opting to play for other countries as they have a parent or grand parent born there. I really don’t know why the family tree comes into it.

In my opinion it should be down to the birth of the player themselves. You’d still have a player like James McManus still able to play for Scotland though but that still has the anomalies taken out of the equation.

Has everybody forgotten the whole Granny Gate sage with Nathan Fein in his attempt to play for New Zealand? He claimed he was eligible to play because his grandmother was born in New Zealand but it was actually his Great Grand Mother that was the Kiwi born and he got found out, thrown out of the Kiwi squad for that Tri-Nations and they were stripped of points as a result, even though he’s now eligible on the residency rule, which I think is a joke for the simple fact that a youngster can sign a three year contact to play for the New Zealand Warriors and once their three years is up they then become eligible to play for New Zealand that way.

One thing that I can’t help but notice that has always been overlooked particularly with the influx of Polynesians coming here to play in school and then into the NRL, most coming for solely Rugby League reasons. The question I keep asking is “What Country are these youngsters citizens of?” In any other sport a player’s citizenship is a key criterion for what country you can play/compete for, I really don’t see why Rugby League should be any different.

There is now talk of these youngsters having to then choose their elegance once they get to their level with the potential for them to opting to declare themselves Australian for no reason other than they want to play State Of Origin. As far as I’m concerned if they want to play for Australia they should have to become Australian Citizens before they’re even remotely eligible.

Some might then ask what about the youngsters who come here when they’re really young with their families, Karmichael Hunt being a prime example. Well that’s a different kettle of fish because he didn’t come here for solely football reasons and for all I know he could well have become a citizen.

Now there was also talk of Australia being split up for the World Cup into New South Wales and Queensland. Well in this instance what would the eligibility criteria be? Would it be as used in internationals or would it be State Of Origin criteria? If it was international criteria then I’ll use myself as an example. I’d be eligible for both New South Wales and Queensland. Queensland through a Queensland born Grandfather. Even though I’ve only spent 1 week in that state.

As far as Origin criteria goes don’t even get me started. Especially with the case of Greg Inglis who was born and raised in New South Wales and got poached by a Queensland club and ended up being a Queenslander. Also with Karmichael Hunt there’s the suggestion that he only opted to play for Australia so eh could play for Queensland. Even though it was said publicly that there was no pressure on him we have no idea what was going on behind closed doors.

I guess what I’m trying to say here is there need to be more black and white rules as oppose to the shades of grey there seems to be. But like any other problems the game is facing. I’ve said many times that anybody who can come up with a perfect system should get a Nobel Prize because they would be a fair dinkum genius.

WORD COUNT: 750
 
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choc_soldier

Coach
Messages
10,387
choc_soldier for England:

FLASH… A-HA! SAVIOUR OF PENRITH!

First of all apologies to the late Freddie Mercury for the bastardisation of the song “Flash”, which was written for the 1980’s movie “Flash Gordon”.

But it is a little thing I sing to myself in tribute to who I believe to be one of the most under rated players today in the Telstra Premiership – Michael Gordon. If he was to come off contract, I would guarantee that the majority of the other 15 clubs would register an interest. He is goal kicking utility back who can score tries, hits the line hard, and is a better than average defender.

His nickname is “Flash”, which is obviously a play on the movie of the same name, but it’s with reason – he shows a clean pair of heels. Since making his first grade debut in Round 6 of 2006 against Cronulla, he has already crossed the stripe 31 times. Whenever it’s at Penrith, the dulcet tones of Freddie Mercury graces the speakers around the stadium. In 51 first grade games, it is quite a good strike rate, playing mostly on the wing and occasionally at fullback. He’s also a sharp shooter with the boot, with 102 goals to his name, and with a career rate of 78%, it’s higher than the great Ryan Girdler. With already 328 points to his name, he’s now the seventh highest point scorer in the club’s history.

Players like Petero Civoniceva and Michael Jennings are crowd favourites. But I think that Michael Gordon is what is termed the “cult hero”. He has a fan club on Facebook, which at the time of writing has 125 members (me included). And I’m personally responsible for the “Flash Gordon” banner that I lovingly made on the backyard table at my girlfriend’s parents (now my in-laws) place, and has been seen on the telly occasionally.

He is my favourite Panthers player at the moment. And I know that I am not on my lonesome there.

Gordon has the ability to be a future rep player – but for who? I refer to State of Origin, where he is a born and bred New South Welshmen (from the Snowy Mountains town of Cooma); however, Queensland coach Mal Meninga has remarked that he could be a future Maroon. It could stem from the fact that he did play for Queensland Residents in 2004, and played a number of seasons in the Queensland Cup – but for the NSW based club Tweed Seagulls! The man himself has reportedly said that he considers himself a Blue, so its great news that he could be lining up for the good guys in future seasons – unlike the “traitor” Greg Inglis (but lets not go there!). And to be honest, he would probably have a better opportunity of cracking it into the NSW team anyway.

It was his performances in the Queensland Cup that caught the attention of Penrith, and in 2005, he came down to Sydney and played the whole season for the St. Mary’s – Penrith Cougars in the NSW Premier League, where he was one of the shining lights in a disappointing year. His performances warranted a call up to first grade, but that was not to happen until 2006. And only then, it was as a late call up a couple of hours before the match – John Lang had started to develop a reputation that players would only lose their first grade spot if they were injured, as he would not drop players, no matter how bad their form was. Nevertheless, it was well deserved.

By the end of the 2006 season, Gordon was seen as a player that was one of those “first player picked” types, which was a testimony to the contribution that he had already made to first grade.

2008 was his best season yet, however, it was punctuated by a mid-season head injury, courtesy of a stray boot by a Warriors player. His presence was sorely missed by the Panthers during his absence – his goal kicking could have won matches, his defence could have prevented tries scored out wide, and his uncanny knack for scoring tries would have been more than handy.

Michael Gordon is a player of the future – at 25, he has a few more seasons in him yet. And hopefully it will be spent predominantly in the black, teal and rust red. I want to hear “Flash” played at Penrith a few more times yet.

------------------
Word count: 750 (including title)
References: rleague stats - Michael Gordon
 

Drew-Sta

Moderator
Staff member
Messages
24,567
Drew-Sta for the Kangaroos!

---

Hybrid

“What do you mean you don’t care anymore?” I asked him.

“Well, frankly, I play for the money.”

Those words sent a stab through my heart. I was having a chat to a lesser known Bulldogs junior in the early 2000’s. Originally a half back that was shifted to hooker, my mate had confided in me that he had lost his passion for the game.

“Man, the chicks though – They swarm over you!”

That pretty much cut me to the core. A friend who I had played with for years, who I had admired for his drive to hit the ‘big time’ had finally ‘cracked’ it. I watched as he took a swill of his beer and moved on to play his move at pool.

“But seriously, the game isn’t what it used to be when we played park. It’s more about fitness than skill; Seriously, the game might look interesting on TV but when you’re out there it’s really not that much fun.”

“Well, why don’t you do something about it?” I quizzed.

He shrugged his shoulders. “What am I supposed to do?”

And there was the stumbling block - The game play was controlled by the administration, not the players.

“You watch, it’s only going to get worse. Teams will do anything to win. The game isn’t even Rugby League anymore; It’s some sort of hybrid. Players like us get chewed up and spat out. We’re too small and like to chance our arm too much. My time is coming and until then I’m in it for the money.”

His words shocked me to the core, to be honest. We had played footy since we were kids and although I wouldn’t rate myself anything more than an flukey full back, he really was the real deal – He controlled the forwards well, had a fantastic kicking game, could pot goals from anywhere and throw bullet passes that would hit players chests time after time. He was a joy to watch and a game breaker; Someone you relied on when the match was close.

Yet when I watched him debut, and saw him out of position, he exhibited none of these. He didn’t really look happy to be out there, and frankly – He was boring to watch.

“What about people like Johns, Gasnier and Lockyer?” I queried, players who in the early 2000’s were a radiant light of skill and mastery.

He shook his head. “Johns is a freak, and Lockyer too; They would have been greats in any era. Gasnier is a mixed bag; Fantastic to watch but inconsistent. Trust me, players like them will always come through, but in the future years they will be less and less until you simply have two sides of robots on the field.”
He potted the black ball to win the game and then looked at me squarely in the eyes. “It’s a different game now.”

My memory of this conversation was stirred when I read an article on Des Haslers ‘Hidden Lair’; A training facility run by the Sydney Institute of Sport. Packed full of devices to train and monitor the fitness of a player, it struck me that the game was in a definitive state of metamorphosis. Where skill and practiced set plays were once the attributes of successful teams, now fitness and attrition had overtaken. Where the contest was once held in the scrum, it is now wrestled out on the ground in the ruck.

When reading the article by James Hooper, these three paragraphs really jumped out at me:

The Sea Eagles players are tested using the sports science equipment every six to 12 weeks, allowing the club to work out the lung capacity, leg speed and leg-power ratio for each player.

Essentially, the club can tune to the minute how long each player is capable of running at optimum fitness levels, hence time to the second when they are fatiguing and should be replaced during a match.

There's no question this is a competitive advantage...

Word Count - 748

I realise that every sport evolves over time, but generally never to the degree where it is unrecognisable. I think, however, that Rugby League is getting to the stage where it would be hard to compare it to the game that kicked off in 1908, let alone a game in 1988. Is what we really follow still Rugby League, or has it become some sort of hybrid that goes about the name ‘The NRL’?

* Text in quotes are from following article: http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/sport/nrl/story/0,26799,24481401-5012652,00.html
 

bartman

Immortal
Messages
41,022
bartman for En-ger-land

- - - - -

Charge of the Bright Brigade
[1]

film_lighthorsemen_s.jpg
[2]

Following my NRL team's untimely 2008 pre-finals demise, I found myself in the strange situation of having a bit more free time to fill during the months of September and October than has been the case for at least the last couple of seasons.

Sure, good on Manly for pulling off their Grand Final victory in stunning one-sided style, and yes I too tried to jump on the Warrior’s bandwagon as they played some exciting footy in their first two semi-finals. But to be brutally honest, with the disappointment of my team bowing out early my interest over the past few months has only been a mere token effort.

It’s really not that much fun watching other teams play week after week with the type of passion that you wished your own team would muster maybe just once! So with some spare time and mental energy thanks to the lacklustre effort by my club this year, I recently turned my attention to a pastime also shared by good percentage of self-respecting mid-30s nerds… and looked a little deeper into the history of my family tree.

This wasn’t some grand odyssey of the type portrayed on TV show Who Do You Think You Are?
[3], with intriguing tales of distant links to royalty or celebrity. A lot of our family’s history had already been done by other relatives, and to my knowledge they hadn’t turned up anyone even slightly famous (or infamous)? For me this was simply a chance to examine the past through older eyes, and perhaps to come to understand those different journeys my ancestors made through the years from the mother country, journeys that resulted in our motley crew all being born and raised around Parramatta (and hence developing a passion for rugby league).

So instead of committing to hours of painstaking research on the computer, my recent efforts simply involved devoting time for illuminating chats with my grandmother while leafing through the family bible and the whole collection of birth certificates, marriage certificates, death certificates, as well as records of military service.

It turns out that my grandfather’s uncle was a member of the 12th Australian Light Horse Regiment and took part in the famous charge at Beersheba in October 1917
[4], reported to be the last successful cavalry charge in history. I’d seen the movie[5] as a kid, but had no idea that perhaps I should have been watching Peter Phelps and his actor mates more carefully!

By all accounts the story of the feats of the Australian Light Horse Brigades at Beersheba is one of passion, trust and belief in your fellow men. Charging at the entrenched enemy line with no water for your horses, taking open machine gun and rifle fire while armed simply with 16-inch bayonet blades
[4,6], and still managing to surprise your opponent so much with your tactics that they basically crumpled in a heap and forfeited their position – this is the type of stuff that helped forge the Australian national identity.

In less than an hour this charge of 800 men on horseback resulted in the fall of the town and capture of 38 Turkish officers, 700 soldiers, 9 field guns, 3 machine guns, and various transport vehicles and army materials
[6]. In the process the Australian Light Horse suffered 31 fatalities with 38 soldiers wounded – my grandfather’s uncle among them.

Unfortunately my grandfather’s uncle died of his wounds a matter of weeks after the taking of Beersheba, and any personal account of his experiences died there with him in the Middle Eastern desert
[7]. But this little tale is not really about a distant relation who I never got the chance to meet. It’s about passion, trust and belief.

A game of rugby league is far removed from the horrors endured by those who have served in wartime. I feel no joy in the fact that 90 years after the First World War countries the world over are still sending people to risk their lives in combat on foreign soil.

But there are lessons to be learnt both globally and locally from any stories of war. And the lesson for rugby league and its players is this – at your best, you can fill all of us mere fans with this same passion, trust and belief.

They’ve been telling us that Heroes Are Here
[8]… so shine brightly, and put in a World Cup effort worthy of those involved in that one crowded hour at Beersheba. Charge!

- - - - -

750 words between the lines

Links/References:

[1. Not to be confused with the Charge of the Light Brigade, a famed failed British cavalry charge in 1854 against the Russians during the Crimean War.]
[2. Original 1987 movie poster art by Brian Clinton: http://www.brianclintonauthentics.com/about_brian_clinton.html]
[3. http://programs.sbs.com.au/whodoyouthinkyouare/]
[4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Beersheba#The_charge_of_the_4th_Light_Horse_Brigade]
[5. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093416/]
[6. http://www.rfd.org.au/site/beersheba.asp]
[7. http://www.awm.gov.au/roh/person.asp?p=145-43636]
[8. Heroes Are Here TV ad http://www.youtube.com/v/6FVUoAq3RSc&hl=en]
 

Azkatro

First Grade
Messages
6,905
Aust_jersey_040718.jpg

Azkatro for the Kangaroos.

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

Mad Unit and Azkatro’s First Meeting – A True Story

Friday night, September 5th, 2008. Here I sit at Lang Park in Brisbane, Australia, on Planet Earth. The Brisbane Broncos rugby league team are playing at their home ground against the Newcastle Knights. They are participating in round 26 of the 2008 NRL season. Newcastle needs to win this game for an opportunity to continue their season into the finals. However, with a healthy home crowd cheering them on, Brisbane “kicks on” in the second half and quickly turns the result into something of a formality.

With the NRL tipping competition at work on the line, I start to ponder the state of the match being played more than 1,000km away in Sydney, Australia (also on Planet Earth).

I decide to use my portable communications device –referred to by the locals as a “mobile phone” – to find out. I retrieve it from my pocket (another fantastic invention by an otherwise daft human race), and it tells me through the use of hieroglyphics that I have been contacted by another being. Curious, I open the message and find it’s from Mad Unit, an associate from the Penrith Panthers Forum Sevens team. In it, he writes:

“Hey mate, how’s the roosters going?”

After a short moment of bewilderment at a human being as phenomenal as Mr. Unit producing such a fundamental grammatical error of the English language, my brain begins to process the new information that it has just received via the optic nerve. Why would Mr. Unit not have access to this data? He lives in a civilised environment with a plethora of communications devices at his disposal, including radio, television and the “Internet”. So clearly he must be out of his command centre and thus does not have access to these tools.

So where could he be? Someone living it a town such as Brisbane, that is not at home, could only feasibly be in one place right now. I think back to the crowd figure game. Could Mr. Unit be one of the 37,552 carbon based life forms present at the game right at this moment?

As certain as I am of this possibility, I don’t want to take the risk of looking foolish. So I respond with a casual tone of mock ignorance:

“I’m at suncorp stadium mate, so I’ve got no idea!”

Firstly, note the incorrect use of capitalisation. This technique was used to establish a rapport with the other human being, given his incorrect use of grammar previously. Further to that, conversation with Mr. Unit through our usual means might have included an elitist use of the original name of the venue we were at. However, we are two human beings forging new ground. We have never previously met in person. We continue to communicate, and I soon discover that I am right – he is also at the ground.

Suddenly, play is stopped by the referee and the ground announcer advises the crowd that myself and Mr. Unit are on the premises. Of course we are cordially invited onto the field. Both Mr. Unit and myself proceed to step onto Lang Park to a deafening roar from the 37,546 inferior beings who are in awe of our presence. We both agree that acknowledging them is somewhat tiring.

Having fulfilled our duties for everyone at the ground, Mr. Unit and myself proceed to meet and greet respective partners, immediate family and friends who are rolling in our posse. However the meeting is brief, as we both have to head back on the trains and get home so we won’t get in trouble from our respective partners. As we part ways, I hear the sound of whips cracking in the distance.

Now I sit here on the Ferny Grove service, and my mind continues to reel from the unbelievable scope, volume and complexity of knowledge that we exchanged in the walk from Lang Park back to Roma Street train station. It was a meeting of more than just minds – it was a meeting of gods amongst rugby league brains.

This article is not to go into detail about what information was exchanged in that brief meeting, but instead to document one of the most important historical events in 100 years of rugby league in Australia.

And it is also a salute to Mr. Unit, who I can now truthfully say is a dead set champion – both on and off the Internet.

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

747 words. Liftoff!
 
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Jesbass

First Grade
Messages
5,654
Hard luck, England, but you live to fight another day. Well done to the 5 who managed to submit great pieces, even though we're well into October! :shock: :D
 

The Piper

Juniors
Messages
1,372
Unlucky Bartman and choc, but your two great articles will still make a game of this.
Thanks to the ref in advance for marking.
Well done to the Australians; Awesome reads.
(Any of you three blokes what to run on for the Aussies back-to-back?)
 

Titanic

First Grade
Messages
5,906
The first results of the 2008 World Cup are in:

ENGLAND

choc_soldier: FLASH - 86

A well presented and researched profile in support of the rise and rise of Penrith winger Michael Gordon which unfortunately, while solid, lacks the "zing" of the featured player.

bartman: CHARGE OF THE THE LIGHT BRIGADE - 88

An enjoyable if meandering anecdote that loses its way in places but eventually gets its message across. Courage and mateship are wonderful advertisements for our sport while thundering hooves and the sound of battle are fair analogies too (when I think back to the din of my pounding heart after two minutes on the field).

AUSTRALIA

IanG: A QUESTION OF ELIGIBILITY - 87

A simple solution to a complex problem. There can't be one Rugby League fan on the planet who doesn't want this issue clarified. I suppose that means the RL administrators are "out there."

Drew-Sta: HYBRID - 86

This potentially excellent article addresses the evolution of RL from a contemporary perspective, however, the conclusion was somewhat convoluted in presentation. A point was deducted as the quotation, although relevant, accounted for over 10% of the article making it a little short.

Azkatro: A TRUE STORY - 87

I went "upstairs" for advice on this... uh... piece, concerned that there may have been obsruction from the Caxton Hotel before scoring. Further proof that the F7's community is a growing, global phenomenon. (non-scoring notation: lacked a certain reference to shaded eyewear).

Result: AUSTRALIA 260 defeated ENGLAND 174
potm: bartman (England) 88
 
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bartman

Immortal
Messages
41,022
Cheers Titanic, for your prompt adjudication and comments for all.

Just in time for the Aussies to get busy straight away with their next game - congrats 'Roos.
 

madunit

Super Moderator
Staff member
Messages
62,358
I'd like to award Azkatro with a special bonus 12 points for his subject matter, the absolute perfection of the characters involved, and the intensely accurate eye for detail regarding the events of possibly the greatest collusion of minds ever in world history.

Greatest article ever.

madunit has now been mentioned in two forum 7's articles, such is his granduer!
 

Drew-Sta

Moderator
Staff member
Messages
24,567
Drew-Sta: HYBRID - 86

This potentially excellent article addresses the evolution of RL from a contemporary perspective, however, the conclusion was somewhat convoluted in presentation. A point was deducted as the quotation, although relevant, accounted for over 10% of the article making it a little short.

One should read their article before posting it. I knew I had a nugget, but I think I tarnished it a bit with haste and no proof reading.

Thanks Titanic, good reffing.

Bad luck England.

Onward bound Australia!

Piper, I'll back up again.
 
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