NRL 2017
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I went to this game with my son and my sister who hooked us up with complimentary tickets. It is the first game of league I have watched live. What an atmosphere I have never heard a crowd so loud, not even when I went to Rugby World Cup games. We hung around to soak in the atmosphere and my son had a chat with a Tongan player and scored some boots.
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Not just content with a loss, Muppet Kidwell continues to push his case for the role of worst NZ international coach:
Kiwis coach David Kidwell has labelled the team's 28-22 loss to Tonga a 'blessing in disguise.'
https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/league/98791932/kiwis-fall-to-tonga-in-embarrassing-world-cup-loss
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@no-quarter said in NRL 2017:
Epic from Tonga, totally outplayed the Kiwis in the 2nd 40 and fully deserved to win. Would be pretty awesome if they went all the way.
Kiwis looked like they really lacked direction and leadership when things started to turn.
The atmosphere looked absolutely electric. Look forward to @Sneakdefreak's summary as he mentioned he was heading to the game.
Our discipline was shocking giving away schoolboy penalties which led to good field position for Tonga.
Tonga held their nerve at the end and we bottled it.
Well done Tonga.
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@donsteppa Kidwell is an egg
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that second half was horrible,
At halftime, I was totally sucked in , actually believed the kiwis were turning the corner , and thought there were signs they might be able to trouble the Aussies .
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Fireworks let off near petrol station, missiles thrown at police and roads blocked in Auckland after Tonga beat Kiwis.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/league/98794616/Police-arrest-53-after-Rugby-League-World-Cup-celebrations-turn-ugly-in-Auckland?cid=app-iPhoneHate to imagine what would happen if Tonga managed to win the whole thing.
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So after a drive back to Auckland, some beers and some KFC I still don't know if I'm happy, sad, angry, lost, confused, Nepia, apathetic after that loss.
The drive down to Hamilton - city of the past, present and ok, why not, future
Hitting the Auckland motorway at 2pm I felt I had avoided the wrath of Tongans making their way to Waikato Stadium and, judging from the hundreds of Tongan flags discarded all over the Southern motorway, I would have assumed correctly.
At the next Tongan supporters committee someone needs to point out that taping a flag to the outside of your car is great but not so great at 100kmph.
Traffic jams only happened once I got close to Hampton Downs. Apparently everyone wants to drive their gokarts and Kawasaki superbikes there on the weekend. Either way they blocked the one lane that leads to Hamilton.
I get into the Tron and think I’m smarter than the average Tongan by parking in one of the backstreets behind the main road. Oh Sneak, you cunning devil you I thought to myself as I slipped into Dyer Street only to find the street filled with Tongan supporters’ cars.
About 20 minutes later I park in the CBD area and realise that there are no parking wardens (probably conscripted in to help the police) and follow the loud noise of “DONGA” to the stadium entrance. No google maps needed.
Have to say the cops were a bit stressed out around the stadium and kept trying to start fights with the supporters which I thought was meant to be the other way round. Geez, these guys aren’t Samoans….
Waikato Stadium
Apart from the Glass House down south, I’ve always wanted to visit Waikato Stadium.
I’m a big fan of proper footy stadiums and I like the Maori aspects they put in it. If ChCh can't get a Glass House a version of Waikato Stadium with 35,000 capacity wouldn't be a bad option.
However, I can’t really see the stadium itself as it is drenched in red & white Tongan flags. Everywhere. And every two seconds the sound of “DONGA” is screamed out.
I make my way around the stadium to the main grandstand where I have a ticket in the top section on the halfway line.
Having driven from Auckland I'm feeling a tad peckish and choose to financially assist in the revival of the struggling provincial economy by purchasing some stadium food.
But I am surprised that all of the food outlets inside the stadium (at least in the main grandstand) take cash only. No eftpos.
Now, I understand that the Waikato is something of a backwater, and that banjos can be heard in the distance, but seriously? No eftpos? I thought this was the city of the future? Does eftpos not exist in this future or is the future an apocalyptic society?
Anyways.... I walk up to the top echelon of the grandstand and, truthfully, I’m expecting to see old rich Pakeha farmer-type Tories sitting up here, wearing cardigans with patches on the elbows, arms crossed, looking surly at the fact their beloved raa-raa stadium has been invaded by Polynesians in red and it now resembles a Labour Party rally.
Instead I walk out and am immediately swamped by frantically waved red and white flags and screams of “DONGA! DONGA! DONGA!”.
I lose my orientation for a couple of seconds as I’m engulfed in cheap Chinese flag fabric and it’s at this point a man starts to lose his mind.
This is what it must feel like to drown. I’m expecting my body will never be found by search and rescue when I manage to locate my seat, sitting down as Tongans are screaming “DONGA! DONGA! DONGA!” around me (yes, it turns out a Tongan ‘T’ does sound like a ‘D’).
I look to my right (I had an aisle seat) and there is a family of well dressed Tongans beside me.
They politely say hello and other pleasantries and I quickly click on that I’m sitting next to members of the Tongan royal family!
Now, I don’t know for a fact that they are actual members of the Tongan royal family but imagine the English royal family with Tongan accents. That was them.
Anyway, the game.
The Game (first act)
So the game, the whole and sole reason for visiting the Tron.
First of all, independent studies show that Tongans are big. Very big. And the whole Tongan squad were massive. The Kiwis weren’t small by any standards, they’re big too, but the Tongans as a collective, and I include the fans, were behemoths.
So the haka boogie gets us underway and the first half goes the way we all thought it would.
The Tongans are using their size to try and smash holes in the Kiwis defensive middle line and the Kiwis are using their spine (Leuluai, Johnson, Nikorima, Tuivasa-Sheck and Levi) to clinically cut through the Tongan defensive edges where they were sluggish.
The Tongan spine (Havili, Lolohea, Hingano, Hopoate and Katoa) were hopelessly outmatched this entire game.
The Tongan royal family next to me correctly pointed out that the Tongan attack for most of the game was predictable. If they did one thing that worked in one play, they would attempt to do it several times more even though it didn’t work ever again. They also noticed that the Kiwis knew the Tongans were weak defensively out wide.
Now I mentioned the Tongans were big and guys like Jason Taumalolo and Ben Murdoch-Masila are, but Kiwis forward Nelson Asofa-Solomona was the biggest of them all. When he came on the Tongan’s vaunted middle defensive group, including Taumalolo, really struggled to contain him.
Jared Waerea-Hargreaves and Russell Packer also pushed the ball down field with hard straight-up runs. It is great to see Russell turn his life around and showcase the potential we all saw when he was a young pup at the Warriors.Kiwis go into the halftime break up 16-2 and the crowd is still having a blast and expecting a comfortable Kiwis win.
Halftime show
The halftime show was a bit disjointed - as you would expect at a league tournament.
On one side of the field you had cute little Tongan kids attempting to do some Tongan dance. It was pretty shambolic with one little girl deciding she didn’t want to take part anymore and went looking for her mummy, one older boy attempting to steal the show by doing some Michael Jackson dance moves and the rest either remembering the routine or just standing there and shaking their hips wanting it to be all over.On the other side of the field there was a Maori kapa haka group (from Tainui I guess) masquerading as Maori samurais. Armed with taiaha and facepainted to look like the Polynesian version of KISS they marched between sidelines which, cool on its own, looked odd as they were facing off against 8 year-olds from South Auckland.
Anyway, out come the players and onto the second half.
The Game (second act)
Kick off, we’re underway and both teams appear slow to start the second half.
The Kiwis were the worst of the two and paid for it when David Fusitua jumped above Watene-Zelezniak to claim the bomb and land on the tryline.
Not a great start but the Kiwis were talking to one another and you expected they would kick up a gear as the game progressed and it looked that way as the Kiwis spine led by Levi and Johnson continued to hit gaps and leave the Tongans scrambling.
The final 20 minutes approach and the Tongan royal family (again) point out that the Tongans are beginning to run out of gas. Their line is becoming fragmented, a sign of fatigue in league, and no one is leading the team around the park.
Case in point - the Tongans are within five metres of the tryline and Lolohea is running into dummyhalf only to be shoved out of the way by Konrad Hurrell who tries to go for the line and falls short on the final tackle. They had players open to Lolohea’s left.HOWEVER, one thing the Tongan royal family didn’t notice was that the Kiwis appeared, APPEARED, to stop trying to attack down field. I have no clue if this was a coach’s call but they weren’t trying to score on most plays, just playing the territory game.
In the 60th minute it bites them on the arse when David Fusitua scores a second try and the lead is down to four points.
But again, the crowd still had the vibe that the Tongans would give up the ghost in the home straight and then Tui Lolohea scores a, well, fluke try off an interception and Tonga is front.
But again, the crowd is like “hey, this is fun but we know the Kiwis will hit the afterburners and win this in the end” but then Tonga score again off some poor defensive work by the Kiwis.
Now the Kiwis panic and get their arse into gear and respond with a Tuivasa-Sheck try (who was on fire in this game).
Four minutes to go and behind but you still think the Kiwis will win it until a Shaun Johnson pass to Brad Takairangi goes wayward, Tonga regather and end it with Fusitua scoring his hat-trick.
Game over and I, like most of the Kiwis supporters, quickly leave so to beat the Tongan traffic that will crashing its way up the Waikato Expressway to Auckland.
So now what?
So for Tonga, it’s a great win and if you want to lose it is to the Tongans who are very respectful unlike those blardy lippy Samoans. Will it make the international game more appealing? I hope so but I doubt it. The game is ultimately controlled by the NRL and the NRL wants to focus on Queensland and NSW instead of the bigger picture. This is a one-off moment in all likelihood.
For NZ, I think most fans are somewhat happy this has happened. For the past 18 months (maybe even longer) something has been rotten on and off the field at the NZRL. This could very well be their Ragnarok where everything is blown up, old powerheads are killed off, Taika Waititi is brought in to direct something better, and a more efficient organisation can run the game at all levels including the representative level.
Kidwell is gone as coach - we all know that - and unless this is the Kiwis doing a rugby league version of France at the 2011 RWC they will lose to Australia in the semi-finals. Heck, they might lose to Fiji in the quarterfinals against the great and mercurial 49er Jarrod Hayne.
But the roster they have is actually pretty good - even after the suspensions and defections. They just need new leadership at the top and an actual coach.
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I would still like to know , why it is a blessing in disguise , they lost ? I didnt quite catch the reason ,
Doesnt it now mean they should have to play a semi against the Aussies in Australia , rather than England at home ?
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@kiwiinmelb said in NRL 2017:
I would still like to know , why it is a blessing in disguise , they lost ? I didnt quite catch the reason ,
Doesnt it now mean they should have to play a semi against the Aussies in Australia , rather than England at home ?
I would like to know if any of the media took him to task on that comment. Haven't watched the presser but would be disappointed if they all let it slip.
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@sneakdefreak said in NRL 2017:
@kiwiinmelb said in NRL 2017:
I would still like to know , why it is a blessing in disguise , they lost ? I didnt quite catch the reason ,
Doesnt it now mean they should have to play a semi against the Aussies in Australia , rather than England at home ?
I would like to know if any of the media took him to task on that comment. Haven't watched the presser but would be disappointed if they all let it slip.
It's such a shame that we have been cursed with Kidwell at the helm this year as I feel we had the players to win the WC. Aussie are not as strong as they were in 2014 and with all our players available for selection I would have backed us to take them. A pack with JT, Bromwich, Nelson and Topou would have been very hard to contain. Too bad Kidwell's amateurish decision to ban Proctor and Bromwich which lead to the subsequent withdrawal of the Tongan boys has ended that possibility.
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@akan004 I think we can fairly put to bed that Tonga-gate had anything to do with Proctor and Bromwich not playing. The minute Kenny Bromwich was named, accepted a role in the squad I think everyone was free to rightly call bullshit.
I love the Tonga story but I don't think Bromwich or Proctor played a part at all in Taumalolo switching. If is doesn't matter to Kenny etc..
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From last week:
Taumalolo was also able to clear up the speculation that his reason for leaving the Kiwis ranks was related to Kidwell's standing down in May of Jesse Bromwich and Kevin Proctor for drug-taking.
"I'm totally behind Kiddy's decision," he said. "I don't take drugs, and I don't condone it either, so I stand by his decision."
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In NRL news, Auckland Rugby League have withdrawn from talks in taking over the Warriors.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/league/news/article.cfm?c_id=79&objectid=11944290
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Is it too much to hope for a miraculous Toa Samoa win tonight? The NZ TAB are not currently accepting wages on an Australian victory and have Toa Samoa at $21.00 head to head so I guess that Indian bookmakers are the only ones that could possibly make it happen.
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A surprising try awarded to Australia there given that virtually everytime a ball touches your hand and hits the ground anywhere it is ruled a knock on almost without fail. Not in this instance though but probably not going to have any affect on the overall result in must be confessed. A bit of a blow to the confidence and morale for the Samoans though with it happening within ten minutes of kick off.
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30-0 to the Aussies before halftime. The Samoans are struggling in Darwin.
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@sneakdefreak Australia win 46-0. Samoa were very poor this RLWC, expected them to be better.
