The Silver Fern

Poor bastard. Just cant win.

US & Canada Biden dog Commander bites another Secret Service agent Biden dog Commander bites another Secret Service agent

This is the 11th time Commander has bitten a guard at the White House or the Biden family home.

@Victor-Meldrew said in NZ Politics:

Cabinet ministers regularly met with their opposite numbers, insults were generally frowned upon and opposition MP's joined overseas trips by PM's or senior Cabinet ministers. The government and opposition did their job, but there seemed to be more focus on representing the entire electorate and constructive engagement.

Who do I vote for for this?

@GibbonRib said in Aussie Rugby:

Don't think it would sit so well in Sydney and Qld though. Too incompatible with the established comps and traditional set-up.

In terms of Sydney: there are a few clubs who would gladly knife the rest if they could make a quick buck from a national comp.

The Premier Rugby competition (sometimes referred to as Shute Shield but that is just First Grade) consists of (currently) 11 clubs with 4 Senior Grades and 3 Colts Grades each... well in theory.

Randwick, Eastwood, Sydney Uni, Gordon, and Eastern Suburbs have enough players for probably 5 Senior Grades and 4 Colts sides. Maybe more. They warehouse a lot of guys so they can take rego money off them every year. Easy money from idiots who are happy to get a pair of shorts and socks, and sit on the bench for 10 minutes every other week.

Northern Suburbs, Manly, and Warringah probably sit in the next tranche, with Norths in particular having issues fielding all 3 Colts sides this year. Warringah's Colts were good, but Grade were duds in 2023.

Hunter Wildfires (based in Newcastle) are only in the comp as a rescue mission* and only field 2 Grades + 1 Colts - they might not be there next year, because the Newcastle comp is also suffering and they can't get the numbers, and the travel is a bit of an issue.

*Penrith were slowly imploding but they wanted 12 clubs, so Hunter stepped in. Then Penrith left to go play in Canberra, where they also got smaaaaaaaaashed

West Harbour and Southern Districts fielded all their teams but mostly got whipped.

Two Blues could only field 3 Grades + 2 Colts (struggled to do that) and their results were ordinary. First Grade finished mid table (9W, 9L), Second Grade bottom 4 (7W, 11L), and Thirds stone cold last (1W from 17). Their Colts failed to win a single game between them. I'm shocked they haven't fallen over.

So, with the top 4-5 clubs in Sydney, and 3-4 from Brisbane, and one each from Canberra and Melbourne, you could create a decent competition BUT funding it is the issue.

Besides bus trips between Sydney and Canberra, everything else is a flight. If you want to include Perth, it is an expensive flight.

We don't exactly have billionaires lying around to fund this (besides Twiggy) so it'll need some creative thinking to work.

I know Judith and I would label her an economic rationalist, which historically lends to more centre right, but she is a straight shooter and doesn’t really matter who it is she won’t pull any punches.

But it tends to be from big spending, big taxing, big public sector governments that she will lay the boots into because from her economic perspective, those things tend to be inefficient means to running an economy.

@Winger No one denies that earths climate changes over time. It is the speed of the current change that is unprecedented.

@MN5 alt text

@Dolamite said in 2023 NZ Schools:

If Randall Baker went to a 1A school, he would have made one of the teams. I think he’s the best loose forward in Auckland

I see he was playing no.8 for the Divisional XV, so not even selected for the Gulls. What school?

I do wonder if there has ever been a case with Ben T in the front row where teammates had trouble getting their arm round him 🙂

I noticed the world's "greatest 12" let his rival waltz past him in the 72nd minute-Mr Aki seems a bit slow on the turn...

Does Namibia have enough available players to make this a contest? Should imagine they've been targeting this match.

I believe that is the first ODI series win in Bangladesh ever.

@Tim said in Ukraine:

@antipodean

These are fancy, but how long will they last?

Biden to supply Kyiv with long-range ATACMS missiles after months of lobbying

Not long enough I'd wager. Also turned up too late to be of any use in Ukraine's Spring offensive which has predictably been less successful than we'd been led to believe it would be.

Meanwhile back in the propaganda stakes:

@canefan said in Rugby World Cup general discussion:

@taniwharugby said in Rugby World Cup general discussion:

@canefan am sure they have some top medical people on it, but agree from my layman position, seems very risky.

I heard some talk of a mask. That may be fine in basketball, but rugby is far more physically confronting. Mask or not, one big shot to the face and he's in big trouble

Very Phantom of the Opera...

@voodoo said in RWC Week 3: Wales v Australia:

@No-Quarter said in RWC Week 3: Wales v Australia:

Pretty cool clip that shows the senior players reacting to what is happening and adjusting tactics.

Couple of culture-killers in that huddle!

In an exclusive interview with The Weekend Australian, Jones said what had become clear over the past five months was Australian rugby has been unable to foster the elite on-field leadership needed to win a World Cup [.]

Former All Blacks coach Steve Hansen, a friend of Jones’s who was in Wallabies camp in the build-up to this World Cup, observed some parts of Australia’s high-performance program were 15 years behind the All Blacks.

What has become clearer to Jones in recent times is the lack of strong leadership in Australian ranks. While the omission of veteran playmaker Quade Cooper and former captain Michael Hooper has caused consternation and debate, Jones says such decisions were made to address what he has previously described as “deeper cultural issues” within the Wallabies.

“Well, you know good teams are always about good leaders and about good senior players and their ability to generate a strong team,” Jones said.

“And I think what’s happened over the last period of time – there’s been a there’s been a lack of leadership coaching in Australian rugby and there’s players who come through to the international level that don’t have the fundamental skills of leadership and the mental skills and preparation that are needed to be at your best consistently.”
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/rugby-union/i-want-to-leave-australian-rugby-in-a-better-place-than-it-was/news-story/323a4090781e70dd854e9aa3d651d9d1

Looks like that worked a treat!

Finished The WOman in the Wall last night.

Was a pretty good series, Ruth Wilson and Daryl McCormack were both excellent in thier roles.

Started a bit slow, but was a good story, but ramped up midway through (6 ep series)

While not based on anything, it was inspired by the Magdalene Laundries, that I had heard of, but wasnt 100% on what they were...

Namibia’s Johan Deysel attended an independent Disciplinary Committee hearing for an offence contrary to Law 9.13 (dangerous tackle) as a result of a review by the Foul Play Review Official in Namibia’s Rugby World Cup 2023 Pool A match against France on 21 September.

The independent Disciplinary Committee was chaired by Adam Casselden SC (Australia), joined by former international referees Donal Courtney (Ireland) and Juan Pablo Spirandelli (Argentina).

The player accepted that foul play had occurred and that the offence warranted a red card.

Having considered all the available evidence, the submissions by the player and his representative, the independent Committee categorised the act of foul play as being at the top end of the scale of seriousness of offending, having regard to the degree of recklessness involved in the offending, the vulnerability of the victim player and the significant injury to him. Applying Appendix 1 to Regulation 17, the independent Committee determined that the applicable entry point is 12 matches.

Having considered the mitigating factors, including admission of foul play and correctness of the red card at the first opportunity, his disciplinary record and apology to the player, the independent Committee reduced the sanction by the maximum mitigation of 50 per cent. The final sanction of six matches is to be applied as follows:

Uruguay v Namibia – 27 September

Subsequent playing schedule to be determined*

*The player intends to apply to take part in the World Rugby Coaching Intervention Programme to substitute the final match of the sanction for a coaching intervention aimed at modifying specific techniques and technical issues that contributed to the foul play subject to successful completion.

worldrugby.org Independent disciplinary committee decision: Johan Deysel (Namibia) | World Rugby Independent disciplinary committee decision: Johan Deysel (Namibia) | World Rugby

Namibia’s Johan Deysel attended an independent Disciplinary Committee hearing for an offence contrary to contrary to Law 9.13 (dangerous tackle) as a result of a review by the Foul Play Review Official in Namibia’s Rugby World Cup 2023 Pool A match against France on 21 September. The player...

The written decision hasn't been published on the WR website, yet.

Hawkes Bay Today, New Zealand Hawkeye needs to hitch a ride to the Magpies’ shield challenge in Wellington Hawkeye needs to hitch a ride to the Magpies’ shield challenge in Wellington

Hawkeye's aged and all ready to go - just needs a tow.

@Rancid-Schnitzel said in NRL 2023:

Have to give a shit tonne of credit to Kevin Walters here. Took over a shambles and has completely turned things around. Respect to that man.

yes and no, I tend to think anyone who follows Sielbold will look good and Manly will also find this out, but some credit needs to go his way for sure

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