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Public Address

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 13:29:14 +1200

Discussion from blog post.

Gareth Davidson

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 13:29:14 +1200

For all remaining Blues fans (yes, both of you), there is a solution at hand...

Russell Brown

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 13:32:52 +1200

For all remaining Blues fans (yes, both of you), there is a solution at hand?

After that swifty the Hurricanes pulled on us with Weepu and Nonu, I'm just all out of trust, I'm sorry.

Emma Hart

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 13:34:52 +1200

there is a solution at hand...

Grow fucking ridiculous moustaches?

Bevan Shortridge

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 13:43:10 +1200

Last time I was at Eden Park (earlier this year for the Warriors opener) I was in the ASB stand and apparently close to the ground (but still miles away it seemed). Someone had placed the advertising hoardings in such a way that from my seat the hoardings obscured the?

Tom Semmens

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 13:44:32 +1200

The entire Blues franchise is completely off the pace in the professional environment, from top to bottom.

An illustration: A person I know has a son (Auckland born and bred) who is good enough to have had three professional teams come beating a path to his door. First up were?

Russell Brown

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 13:48:15 +1200

Next up was the Blues manager. He arrived late. He had no presentation. He ?waffled on about himself for ten minutes minutes? and didn?t have clear answers to any questions. He left with vague instructions to call someone if he was keen to play for them.

Far out.

Fraser Gardyne

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 13:48:39 +1200

It's all very sad Russel. One small edit, Harleys are V twins.

DeepRed

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 13:52:13 +1200

And Mr Lhaws says, ?harden the fsck up, ya nancy boys!?, but that?s nothing unusual. Unless of course, it?s a member of the Talkback Old Boys? Network who?s in the gun.

And does this remind us of a certain species of walking blubber?

__"The Ministry of Social Development?s latest statistics?

Russell Brown

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 13:52:44 +1200

It?s all very sad Russel. One small edit, Harleys are V twins.

And my name has a double l, so I guess we're even ;-)

Yamis

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 13:56:49 +1200

Yep, I've wasted plenty of words on the useless Blues organisation recently. They allowed themselves to become so complacent in the past decade that their ship has sailed and sunk. Dalton is astonishingly still in a job.

Head across town to the Warriors RB.

They are well run from the?

Tom Semmens

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 13:59:35 +1200

And what?s best, they are poaching all the really good 1st XV talent around now too and if they don?t come through the Warriors Toyota Cup side they go off to one of the other Toyota Cup sides. There?s roughly 300 NZers playing first grade, NSW Cup or Toyota Cup?

Russell Brown

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 14:36:34 +1200

Tracey Nelson's stats:

Handling errors continue to be the Blues biggest woe, this week they made seventeen – their most yet this season – including two intercepted passes for the Sharks' first and second tries. The Blues are now averaging almost thirteen handling errors per game this season, which is?

Craig Young

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 15:44:16 +1200

Can I just say one word here-
Caaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaanterbury!!!

nzlemming

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 16:15:13 +1200

I kind of wish I could say "nyahaha" but I've got the Hurricanes and the Cake Tin to contend with, so I'll just slink off into a corner and collapse into a morass of self pity...

David Cormack

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 16:25:19 +1200

Can I say that as a Hurricanes man through and through, I railed against Mark Hammett and his release of our "best" players...but I see now, MH was really a prophet and foresaw the trouble that these players would cause so he did away with them.

We have plenty of?

Angus Robertson

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 16:32:04 +1200

Caaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaanterbury!!!

Have waited 15 years for this moment.

Chiefs!

[Edit – see below]

David Cormack

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 16:34:00 +1200

Ummm pointless edit to remove what has become redundant

Angus Robertson

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 16:48:34 +1200

Made me laugh.

Angus Robertson

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 16:50:42 +1200

So true.

Geoff Lealand

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 17:07:15 +1200

Far be it for me to gloat but just look at the way the Chiefs are playing the game. Their number 1 prop Sona Taumalolo is top try scorer (6 ) and the backs are playing with style and grace.

Phil fryer

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 18:37:28 +1200

May I use this forum to say,
Professional "sport" could/should honestly promoted as,Business Entertainment !
sport is what kids used to play,back in the days All Blacks were not paid !
The whole phony presentation, makes one as cynical about it, as politics !
Sporting Entertainment,has lost its way, in?

Tristan

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 18:53:35 +1200

I've been considering a season pass for a few years now especially after the world cup crowds but the feckless ground issues and even more feckless team are keeping me away it's a shame I'd really like to head to a rugby game every Saturday like I did when I?

Matthew Littlewood

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 21:45:06 +1200

Perhaps, but bear in?

Yamis

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 22:28:13 +1200

The Nonu, Weepu thing is a red herring. Nonu is digging in. Weepu is out of shape and not starting but they've still got Mathewson (who freakin hates Weepu I hear) who was their halfback last year when they made the semi's.

Their problem that I see is that the?

DexterX

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 22:40:34 +1200

The Blues forwards are backwards – They will recover however it will be next season or the one after that.

One has to believe in oneself and possess confidence as well as skill – in most of the games they haven't lost by that much – but passing and catching?

Yamis

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 00:06:18 +1200

Your'e right DexterX. They aren't way off the mark. They lost to the Crusaders on a horse shit penalty against Ranger where he apparently didn't join a tiny ruck from the back when that's exactly what he did, they beat the Bulls away (no easy feat), and lost to the?

Ian Dalziel

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 07:01:45 +1200

I saw a headline somewhere at the weekend:
"Object thrown at Blues players"
I suspect it was the ball....

Tom Semmens

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 09:19:39 +1200

There is an old observation that an army reflects the politics and culture of the society that created it, maybe the same claim could be made of the Auckland provincial and Blues setup.

The stories of the Blues/Auckland being a canvas for all sorts of factional infighting (North Harbour vs.?

Yamis

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 09:56:51 +1200

Dalton's reward for ballsing up Counties was to get the Auckland gig.

Was watching the Warriors Toyota Cup side in the weekend v the Bunnies and they said that Ngataua Hukatai was playing for Kings College last year. He looks a great prospect.

I'd love to see the looks on?

Scott Chris

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 10:43:24 +1200

For all remaining Blues fans (yes, both of you), there is a solution at hand...

Yeah. Sack Dalton and demote Lam to assistant coach. Today preferably.

Then appoint a coach with a proven history of success at the top level. If that doesn't work, then you can blame the players.?

Russell Brown

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 11:43:26 +1200

(or the ref for that matter Russell ? kinda blame a Kiwiblogger would attribute ;))

I think I was pretty clear that the Blues' problems run a lot deeper than the refereeing in one match — but Walsh was awful on Friday.

Yamis

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 12:00:45 +1200

He sure was. Typified when that scrum collapsed and he had no idea what to do. The missed knockon was of Wayne Barnes standards, and failing to penalise the Blues for not contesting the scrum leading to the Sharks scrum to fall apart and the Blues scoring under the sticks?

Martin Roberts

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 12:46:01 +1200

The only positive memory I have of cheerleaders at rugby was when the Auckland ones approached the terraces during a certain Shield match. Cowbells drove them away immediately.

Russell Brown

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 12:49:26 +1200

The only positive memory I have of cheerleaders at rugby was when the Auckland ones approached the terraces during a certain Shield match. Cowbells drove them away immediately.

For a while in the 90s, the ones at Eden Park were actually pretty good — as in highly athletic and well-choreographed.?

Sacha

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 13:09:20 +1200

But who knew that would be a qualification for presenting tv news, eh.

DexterX

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 20:30:47 +1200

I saw a headline somewhere at the weekend:
"Object thrown at Blues players"
I suspect it was the ball....

it was – they had trouble recognising it................and once that was solved and they had worked out yes it was the ball – they then formed a support group which held?

3410

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 08:56:18 +1200

Remember how the Otago Rugby Union just sorta stopped paying rent to the council? Waikato too.

DexterX

Sat, 21 Apr 2012 12:14:29 +1200

The Blues are not too far off the pace – in a game with an oval ball and dodgy ref calls they did well – they need to spend more time on the front foot – Rather.

Matthew Littlewood

Sat, 21 Apr 2012 17:27:13 +1200

The Blues are not too far off the pace – in a game with an oval ball and dodgy ref calls they did well – they need to spend more time on the front foot – Rather.

It reminds me of the Highlanders' 2009 season, where they won only 4?

Ian Dalziel

Sun, 22 Apr 2012 08:53:15 +1200

How is the air up there?
Richard Loe has an interesting take on Weepu and the Blues, and makes a valid point about the distancing of professional rugby from grassroots community....

Sacha

Sun, 22 Apr 2012 13:50:36 +1200

I guess religions are exempt

Sacha

Sun, 22 Apr 2012 13:51:43 +1200

The Blues are not too far off the pace

Far from game fit from the second half I saw – Weepu wasn't the only one struggling to keep up.

DexterX

Sun, 22 Apr 2012 18:12:41 +1200

A player like Hose Gear makes all the difference, mind- he's able to create opportunities that just wouldn't've otherwis existed.

Yes he is the best attacking back at the moment I hope he gets a black jersey.

Geoff Lealand

Sun, 22 Apr 2012 19:11:45 +1200

So, the Chiefs have won again. We have our tickets for the Hurricanes game next Saturday.

Ian Dalziel

Mon, 07 May 2012 16:13:20 +1200

The Blues – Misery loves company...
after reading this Research Paper – investigating the premise that – "every time Wales wins a pope dies!' – I wonder if there is a causal link between the fortunes of the Blues and the ACT party's continuing fall from grace...

DexterX

Fri, 11 May 2012 18:31:17 +1200

May Wales win often.

DexterX

Fri, 11 May 2012 18:31:44 +1200

Off to Eden Park see the Blues give it their best shot.

Geoff Lealand

Fri, 11 May 2012 18:36:26 +1200

Good luck! As a Chiefs supporter, it would be good to see some other NZ team win occasionally.

Geoff Lealand

Fri, 11 May 2012 21:22:17 +1200

Well, there you go.....

Matthew Littlewood

Fri, 11 May 2012 21:30:21 +1200

Good luck! As a Chiefs supporter, it would be good to see some other NZ team win occasionally.

Ha! The Highlanders and the Crusaders haven't done so bad this year, either. (Although I predict that the Crusaders are building up for the season, whereas the Highlanders might be stretched near?

DexterX

Fri, 11 May 2012 22:17:11 +1200

Walked there and walked back – got in just as the rain started – the win should give them a heads up for a better rest of the season.

I hope Nonu makes the ABs – his ability to stand in the tackle and make a break and then deliver?

Matthew Littlewood

Sat, 26 May 2012 21:46:58 +1200

Without wanting to rub it in (again), I actually think tonight's 27-20 loss against the Highlanders tonite was more emblematic of their season than last week's embarrassing capitulation against the Crusaders. Rather than playing like they had nothing to lose, the Blues were unfocused, and failed to capitalise on several?