Posts by Russell Brown
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Oh, and Tracey has not only her game stats but a column:
The frightening thing is, Australia did nothing amazing or out of the ordinary to beat the All Blacks. They just played simple, structured rugby and forced the All Blacks into making mistakes. Other than a couple of linebreaks by Tuqiri, they never threatened to cut us to pieces. But they definitely out-passioned us, it was obvious they were hungrier for the win, more aggressive in the tackle and collision zone, and most importantly had done their homework and targetted the breakdown as one of our weaknesses. They also had the luxury of two kickers in their inside back pairing of Giteau and Barnes, another weakness in the All Black game as Nonu does not kick therefore his only options are to run or pass.
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Except Stephen Donald presumably would have replaced Carter, and he was a bright light amongst a dim All Black performance.
Carter's line breaks were scintillating. They should have come to more -- unfortunately, his teammates' support play was as bad as their ball handling.
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__Barry Obambi__
The point at which Bremner lost the argument.
I do appreciate James coming here, but his most recent posts might as well have been read off a script. The current conservative talking point on Obama is "but he opposed the surge!".
Well, okay, let's be generous and give McCain that one -- he doesn't have much else. But McCain has been wrong on nearly everything else, he has lied about his previous expressions of support for the war, and his knowledge of the conflict is minimal.
As others have pointed out, McCain's claim that the surge procured to new alliances in Anbar could hardly be more wrong -- the Awakening Councils didn't happen because the US forces started shooting more -- but because they stopped shooting and paid the local Sunnis monthly wages to shoot at the other guys. There's quite a difference.
Anyway, Gallup has Obama's lead widening to nine points off the back of his trip.
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Isn't the Rex who was firstup on nine to noon this morning - former NZ First staffer, currently in Aussie - a PAS person? The name was familiar.
Yes. Rex Widerstrom has been arguing the toss online since the Usenet glory days.
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This rather good assessment from the Aussie sports site The Roar includes the following:
Then on came Lauaki for Braid.
Ellis was also subbed off for Jimmy Cowan, in the first of no less than three All Black halfback swapsies in the second half that the Wallabies looked justifiably angered by. The increasingly butter-fingered replacement hooker Keven Mealamu took the dependable Hore’s place, too, but the Lauaki-Braid swap was fundamental to the outcome from this point.
Inneffectual at the first breakdown, cleaned out easily by George Smith… watching idle ten feet away at the next turnover, then a missed tackle on Luke Burgess… blind when the Wallabies went open, open when they went blind… watched first Ashley-Cooper then flanker Rocky Elsom stroll past him for the go-ahead try… Lauaki’s first five minutes may as well have been spent still watching from the sideline. There were only fourteen functioning All Black neocortexes on the field.
Lauaki then immediately lost possession the first time he handled after the try. His first and only useful act since entering the fray came soon afterwards, when he won possession back with an aggressive tackle… but only after someone hospital-passed the Wallaby hooker, with Lauaki practically offside and Joubert asleep again.
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But I do understand The Turnaround..you lucky bastard Russell...I always try to time my trips to Auckland to coincide. It feels like family.
It really did. My old friend Mere waved me through the door (with a +1) when we arrived, and when I mentioned to her that it was my birthday night out the security guards wished me happy birthday. You don't get that at your average smelly nightclub.
It was nice to hear some dubstep loud too. It's a kind of music that doesn't really work for me at home, but it sure did on the big stereo.
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Sione Lauaki is a very good player, he is ideally suited to breaking structured defences
He carried the ball six times and lost it five of them. That's simply hopeless, and it was really the final nail in the coffin.
and providing defence close to the ruck.
He was on the field long enough to miss four tackles too ..
He was asked to sub for openside flanker in a game where we did not take line-outs, they did not take scrums and their loose forwards turned the ball over too quickly for the defence to set. He truly had a crap game, because our coach put him on as a game breaker for a play structure that Did Not Exist.
No, he had a crap game because he gave away the ball nearly every time he received it. Literally.
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and that the Wobbly scrum was starting to dominate (rather than Baxter just kneeling down every time the ball was put in).
Now that did annoy me. There were repeated scrums where they went down, effectively foiling any push from the ABs, and play was allowed to continue.
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A while back, I suggested Winston Peters could have a brilliant post-politics career treading the boards as swell-egant shyster Billy Flynn in Chicago. I miscast him — comic operetta is more his line, and what better role than The Mikado’s, Ko-Ko, Lord High Executioner of Titipu whose bluster conceals a heart of pure marshmallow?
Ko-Ko’s even got a show-stealing number, that is often updated with topical references. Like so:
As some day it may happen that a victim must be found,
I've got a little list — I've got a little list
The polls are in the crapper, an election’s coming round
And they say I won’t be missed — they say I won’t be missed!
There's the pestilential immigrant of Asiatic hue —
Who runs around committing crimes and putting dogs in stews —
Arabs who wear headscarves, and are covert terrorists;
Scary darkies who wear hoodies, and shake hands by making fists.
Those sickly white liberals who on due process insist?
They'd none of 'em be missed — they'd none of 'em be missed!
That lying cow named Audrey Young, the others of her race,
The uppity journalist — I've got them on the list!
The people who are up on facts and wave them in your face,
They never would be missed — they never would be missed!
Then the idiot who praises, with enthusiastic tone,
Everyone but me, and every party but my own;
All people who won’t kiss my hand, and be obedient hacks;
All traitors who take down my words, and keep reading them back.
And those after straight answers who will endlessly persist —
I don't think they'd be missed — I'm sure they'd not he missed!That silly technicality, which is giving me a fright,
The Pecuni’ry Interest — I've got that on the list!
Corrupting covert influences in politics are rife,
They'd none of 'em be missed — they'd none of 'em be missed!
Chequebook-bearing rich pricks, those who hail from foreign Climes,
Such as — What d'ye call him — Thing'em-bob, and likewise — Never-mind,
And 'St— 'st— 'st— and What's-his-name, and also You-know-who!
They really aren’t that bad when the cheque’s made out to you.
If you don’t shut the hell up, then I really will get pissed
And you never would be missed — they'd none of 'em be missed!I predict a smash hit that will run for years! And the sooner voters relieve Peters of his current theatrical engagement, the better.
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McCain is running a lousy campaign (no surprises there)
No , he's a lousy candidate. He doesn't seem to know where anything is. He simply wouldn't be credible in most western democracies.
and Barry Obambi is such a lightweight he must need 20 lbs of lead in each shoe to stop him floating off into the clouds. He gives a great speech, but away from the teleprompter at a press conference, he is as bad as Bush.
That's just silly. He's outta sight better than McCain on on his feet; not that that's saying a whole in itself, but It's not even close. I realise the talking point for this month is that he's a lightweight, but it doesn't make it true. The guy was elected president of the Harvard Law Review, for goodness sake.
As far as foreign policy flubs are concerned, Obama's ridiculous suggestions that his policy preference on the surge; don't do it,
As others have pointed out, if you give McCain the surge but dock him for all the other things he's been wrong about in Iraq, Obama's still ahead. Maliki's endorsement of his withdrawal strategy didn't exactly hurt Obama either. The McCain camp has variously suggested withdrawal dates of 2011, 2020 and never. I guess if they hold enough positions simultaneously they're bound to luck in some time.
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