Why the Warriors Must Stay Close to South Auckland!

The Warriors are having a frustrating 20th anniversary season.

As if things weren't difficult enough on the field for the club, off the field, the Warriors continue to be a political pawn for the Auckland City Council who is looking at the biggest reshuffle of top class sporting venues the city has ever seen.

Only Eden Park remains secure for the future - moreover, New Zealand's premiere sporting venue is set to be used even more as the council tries to make the most out of the investment it made in developing the ground for the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

Indeed, it seemed as though the Warriors would share the venue with the Blues and Auckland Rugby Union as regular tenants at Eden Park.

Of course, now we have read much about the emergence of QBE Stadium in Albany as the future home of the Warriors.

A terrible idea.

Firstly, Albany and the North Shore very much epitomises New Zealand today and is hardly a rugby league bed. Indeed, it struggles as a rugby union region - witness the struggles of the North Harbour Rugby Union.

Auckland's North Shore comprises mainly of Chinese and Eastern European immigrants who are avid fans of the spherical ball game, South Africans who are avid followers of their rugby teams and upper class Aucklanders who are more likely to prefer spending their Sunday afternoons at a cafe in Devonport or Ponsonby enjoying potato rosti with their lattes rather than at Mt Smart with a Lion Red watching the Warriors.

Yes, the Warriors have gained more universal following in New Zealand going as far south as Invercargill since its inception in 1995 but its heart is very much in Penrose and the surrounding suburbs of Onehunga, Mangere Bridge, Papakura, Mount Wellington, Papatoetoe and Ellerslie. A move to the North Shore away from transport links with the south seems like replacing the heart with a liver and would really set rugby league in New Zealand back into the dark ages.

If the Auckland Council was serious about diversifying its venues and ensuring that they're all used properly by all Aucklanders, why not consider developing a proper rectangular stadium for the south of the city that could not only have the Warriors but also Counties Manukau Rugby who are very much based in the region?

Moreover, here lies an opportunity for the Auckland Council to work with the Warriors to build not just a state of the art home ground to replace the admittedly aging and crumbling Mount Smart Stadium but also build world class training facilities and an academy on site in one of Auckland's most impoverished areas.

They could look at the model being used by FC Barcelona and Manchester City of developing derelict areas for the purposes of building football academies and training facilities - the latter has helped revitalised the war-torn Eastlands district in Manchester.

It seems now though that the Auckland Council is only being dictated by its own finances, choosing to ignore common sense and history - its half-arsed look at building a world class cricket venue at Western Springs where it will only host one international test match a year is another thing that is quite wrong about its plans at the moment.

My proposal for Auckland -

QBE Stadium - rugby union, football
Eden Park - rugby union, one day/Twenty20 cricket
Cornwall Park - cricket (a much better and more picturesque place for cricket than an ex-speedway)
Manukau Stadium - rugby union/league

Cruden's RWC Absence Will Not Deter All Blacks

It is expected to be announced today that Chiefs and All Blacks first five, Aaron Cruden, has suffered a season-ending injury that will rule him out of the Rugby World Cup later this year.

Cruden limped off in the Chiefs' impressive win against the Crusaders in Christchurch on Friday night with what looked like a bad knee injury. It appears that Cruden has torn his ligaments and will be out for 6-8 months, effectively ruling him out of rugby for the rest of 2015.

In years gone by, this would have been treated as a crisis but thankfully the years of blooding depth over the last few years under Steve Hansen should be validated now.

Moreover, in 2014, it was Beauden Barrett rather than Aaron Cruden that seemed to emerge as the All Blacks' first choice first five - and given his form this season and barring injuries, I would have expected Barrett to be the first choice first five this season.

His attacking play has just gotten better and better as has his defence which at the back has always been quite electric but is now just as good down the middle.

And of course, despite Dan Carter's lack of form now, he'll be there along with Crusaders' teammate, Colin Slade.

Thankfully those guys won't be off till after the World Cup so the question of who will be deputy to Barrett won't need to be answered just yet, although the Highlanders' Lima Sopoaga is expected to be in the reckoning now given Cruden's injury - he could very well be in the reckoning if the AB coaches felt they needed to develop a 4th first five option this year.

The final say must go to Cruden though - an unexpected hero at last year's World Cup, Cruden is still very much a valuable player whose defending and attacking qualities are very much highly rated. He is a tough cookie for such a comparatively small rugby player and a good bloke. The Chiefs and ABs will be sorrier this year without him.

Podium Girls - What's the Point?

(image courtesy of stuff.co.nz)

Ah podium girls.

They are one of the most meaningless anachronisms of sport from a time when only men played professional sport and Americans were still building bomb bunkers in anticipation of a nuclear war.

Somehow, they have continued in this day of age where women are now CEOs of multi-national corporations, where the pay difference between genders is ever shrinking, and yes, where women are now earning money playing sport - Lydia Ko, Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova case in point.

Indeed, such sexist images have started disappearing - or at least in the case of cheerleading, re-engineered to be more politically correct.

Funnily enough, in motor and bike racing, podium girls remain a feature of the sport particularly in these days of increased television and media coverage.

Yet, the presence of podium girls and the behaviour of athletes around them is more and more under the microscope as Lewis Hamilton found out in Shanghai on the weekend - http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/motorsport/67736164/Lewis-Hamilton-criticised-for-spraying-Formula-One-hostess-with-champagne.

The last time an athlete got into trouble with a podium girl was when Slovakian star speedster, Peter Sagan, was caught pinching the bum of Belgian podium girl, Maja Leye after finishing on the podium of a stage of the Tour de Flanders.

(image courtesy of the guardian)

In my opinion, podium girls are absolutely stunning women who serve absolutely no purpose other than to harden the cocks of a good proportion of the viewing public, i.e. men, some of them might even go and masturbate or do some horrendous thing behind the scene which we'd rather know.

In a more PC sense, podium girls continue to strengthen the natural objectification of women by men and it seems that the sports that have them support that. Formula 1 might as well be sponsored by Penthouse at this rate.

Unless..

Unless, the women who appear as podium girls see it as a respectable way to enhance their careers as models - I haven't heard anyone who has said that though.

In that case, perhaps the reaction to Lewis Hamilton's spraying that Chinese podium girl was about redressing the gender balance that this world has carefully crafted in the last 10 years.

Nevertheless, it is a bit difficult to see a world without podium girls for now unless the sports act on them like they did with tobacco sponsorship.

All Blacks Will Be Fine Post 2016

 

Much has been made in the media of the recent flurry of signings of our best and brightest rugby players in the last 6 weeks by those bloody French and English clubs with their Fort Knox's of euros and pound sterling.

As social media and rugby journalists go into overdrive about how to stop our future All Blacks pursuing million euro contracts and only doing what is best for themselves and their families, one should probably take stock and properly analyse the situation to see if we are going to see a perfect storm or just a storm in a tea cup post Rugby World Cup year.

Yes, we've had instances in the past, i.e. 1998 and 2008/09 where player exoduses have affected the ABs in the past, but 2015/16 will be different from those.

Let's analyse the AB starting lineup and bench as well as players of note and see where they will be post Rugby World Cup - I take the starting lineup and bench for the ABs' last test against Wales in Cardiff last November.

Starting XV
1.Wyatt Crockett - likely to stay
2.Dane Coles - re-signed until 2016
3.Owen Franks - re-signed until 2017
4.Brodie Retallick - likely to stay
5.Sam Whitelock - re-signed until 2017
6.Jerome Kaino - re-signed until 2016
7.Richie McCaw - like to retire
8.Kieran Read - re-signed until 2017
9.Aaron Smith - re-signed to 2016
10.Beauden Barrett - re-signed until 2016
11.Julian Savea - likely to stay
12.Sonny Bill Williams - re-signed until 2016
13.Conrad Smith - overseas, off to Pau
14.Charles Piutau - overseas, off to Ulster
15.Ben Smith - likely to stay

Bench -
16.Keven Mealamu - likely to retire
17.Joe Moody - re-signed
18.Charlie Faumuina - re-signed
19.Patrick Tuipulotu - re-signed
20.Liam Messam - likely to stay but could be in the Rio 7s squad
21.TJ Perenara - re-signed
22.Colin Slade - off to Pau
23.Ryan Crotty - questionable

Other All Blacks -
Tony Woodcock - likely to retire
Jeff Toomaga-Allen - re-signed to 2016
Ben Franks - overseas, off
Dominic Bird - re-signed to 2016
Luke Romano - re-signed until 2016
Matt Todd - re-signed to 2016
Dan Carter - overseas, off
Aaron Cruden - re-signed until 2017
Tom Taylor - overseas, off
Andy Ellis - likely to head overseas
Ma'a Nonu - overseas, off to Toulon
Francis Sai'ili - overseas, off to Munster
Steven Luatua - signed on
Israel Dagg  - re-signed until 2017

Other Players of Note -
Willie Heinz - off to Gloucester
Waisake Naholo - off to Clermont

In conclusion, the All Blacks have always weathered the player exodus that seems to come every 4 years although this storm will be greater than the one that hit in 2011 as it comes with the end of some of the finest All Blacks careers in history, i.e. Richie McCaw, Dan Carter, Tony Woodcock, Ma'a Nonu, Conrad Smith, etc.

Nevertheless, there is one key constant - the coach, Steve Hansen, who has proven time and time again that he is a master of blooding talent, as he has done over the last 3 years since taking over from Ted, and I have no doubt that the likes of Nehe Milner-Skudder, Damian McKenzie, Ihaia West, Ardie Savea, Luke Whitelock, Jeff Toomaga-Allen, etc. will be just at home in the ABs environment come 2016 just as Sam Cane, Brodie Retallick, Charlie Faumuina, Aaron Smith, Beauden Barrett etc. were made to feel at home when they made their debuts under Steve Hansen.

We have also learnt from past that there will always be some young fan-dangled player to replace the other - such is our depth. Perhaps, the one negative note here is that we are seeing more of our younger players heading overseas at the peak of their careers, lured by the big wages that New Zealand rugby is not able to offer despite our rockstar economy.

Bad for French and English rugby as evident by France's average performances in the Six Nations over the last few years.

Nevertheless, 2016 will definitely be a very important year for New Zealand rugby and the performances of the new ABs without McCaw or Carter to steady the ship will be of great interest particularly with a British & Irish Lions tour the following year.

All Blacks Set For Post RWC Crisis!

A mega weather system is set to hit New Zealand rugby in 2016.

For the first time since 2008, the All Blacks will face a major reconstruction project as we lose not only experienced longtime players like McCaw, Carter, Nonu, Smith and Mealamu but also appears set to also lose younger key players like Ben Franks, Slade, Piutau, Crotty etc. and our second-tier players like Naholo, Sai'ili, etc. to the riches of French rugby.

Ah yes, let's hope that this will be the only blow the French will deliver to the All Blacks over the next 12 months.

Alas then there's the Olympics which rule some players out from selection in the 15 man code.

Nevertheless, when Kieran Read properly takes over as captain of the All Blacks post Rugby World Cup, he and Steve Hansen face a task not dissimilar to Taine Randell's and John Hart's in 1998, when Sean Fitzpatrick and Zinzan Brooke hung up their boots leaving a massive leadership void in the ABs who went on to have their worst season in the last 20 years.

Yes, there will be players like Brodie Retallick, Sam Whitelock, Sam Cane, Jerome Kaino, Aaron Smith, Aaron Cruden, Beauden Barrett, Malakai Fekitoa and Ben Smith still available for selection barring injury, but the gap of experience below them is looking quite ominous.

There has and will be a lot of talent to fill that gap, i.e. Luke Whitelock, Nehe Milner-Skudder, Jeff Toomaga-Allen, Damian McKenzie, Ihaia West, and we can trust Steve Hansen to get these guys accustomed to All Blacks rugby like he has done with Cane, Retallick, Smith and Barrett.

Nevertheless, worrying times are ahead for New Zealand rugby fans as the European economies recover and French rugby is set to receive more money than it has now to lure the best players in the world, turning itself into rugby's version of the Indian and English Premier League.

Could it come to the point where French rugby scouts come all the way to New Zealand and steal our players to Gallicize them? It's already happened in football where EPL club scouts have already started going overseas to find the best young talent and domesticize them.

On the bright note, if the All Blacks have a good season in 2016, the future should be fine for them - a good sign ahead of the Lions tour in 2017.

While 2015 is a big year for the All Blacks what with the World Cup, 2016 is shaping up to be a defining year for All Blacks rugby.

RIP Richie Benaud

The seemingly unthinkable has happened today.

The man who seemed immortal and whose voice became as synonomous with summer as the cicadas, Paddle Pops and sunglasses tans, has died.

Richie Benaud, the voice of cricket in Australia, died at the age of 84 in a Sydney hospice today - he had been recently battling illness.

Richie had pulled out of his commentary duties with the Channel 9 team last summer after revealing he was fighting skin cancer. He had already withdrawn from his commentary duties during the English cricket summer, at the end of the epic Ashes series of 2005 - his famous last line was interrupted by Glenn McGrath taking Kevin Pietersen's wicket with the Ashes already safe in England's hands for the first time since 1987.

While most of us will remember Richie's voice and quotes from his time commentating with contemporaries Bill Lawry, the late Tony Greig and Mark Nicholas, etc., one must not forget that Richie was a former Australian captain and one of the great all-rounders of the game along with former teammate, Keith Miller, featuring in the Baggy Green from 1952 to 1964.

Before Warney and Muralitharan, Benaud was the spin king and took 248 wickets from 63 tests with an average of 27.03. Down the order, he was handy with the bat and it was only because of that that his batting average was only a paltry 24.45 - his highest test score being 122 against South Africa in Cape Town prior to the apartheid ban in the summer of 1957/58.

Plenty of profiles have been done on the man so I shan't go into much depth and detail about them here as I wouldn't do justice to this great cricketer.

What I will say is that cricket has lost its last real gentleman and one of the last links to a different time of cricket, when the game was truly a game free of the politics and financial benefits that come with the game turning professional.

Yet while Richie Benaud seemed a traditionalist from a different time, he was an advocate for the development of the game, playing a huge role in the commentary box with Tony Greig as the World Series Cricket got underway, and making the cream suit his trademark along with his quotes which would be parodied by the likes of Billy Birmingham and cricket fans over the years - take it as a compliment to the mark of the man.

It was a sad day when Richie Benaud finally ended his active involvement in the game.

Today will be a sadder day that the life of a legend and dear friend came to a quiet end.

The commentary box will seem a quieter place now.

RIP Richie.