The Silver Fern

@Higgins dusty...

@Duluth Murphy's Law I tried again just this now with a total of 997 characters on a talk thread that previously rejected it and hey presto it went through. Thanks for your help, hopefully the initial problem has gone away!

@KiwiPie I think it was a shit move by Bournemouth but sort of agree with what @bayimports wrote. This Spaniard does seem a grade above O'Neil.

Was he given his contract extension before the new owners came in? I think so but can't be assed checking.

The Moore sacking is a disgrace (reserve right to do a complete volte face if Moore turns up as the new Real Manager in a couple of days). Club record winning run, picks the team up after a 4-0 loss in first leg of play-offs. What more! can he do.

Like you would love to see them go down.

@Nepia It was free for all on YouTube. Link posted earlier in thread.

@Higgins Yeah, I watched the game live. Quality of the stream was HD and really good, but not many camera angles and no TMO. Good game to watch.

THe worst ever HB Tipping Team result two weeks ago was surpassed last week with an even worse drubbing against the same opposition. However they may have fallen into our trap of being the only team still in the running to win two NPC Team Tipping Trophies after the demise of Minor Premiers Wairarapa-Bush in a big upset after the very late Southland penalty turn what was looking like a narrow win of Harbour-Auckland into a narrow loss for them. We have the Minor Premiership Wooden Spoon safely tucked away and now only have to find a way to lose to Northland to annex the Real Wooden Spoon. Things are looking quite promising on that score with jus usual chain dragging me being the only one to tip so far
EDIT As I write this @stockcar86 has just fronted. That is a good indication that, like me, he too is getting in early to ensure he can get to McLean Park early to get his pick of what is expected to be a large number of unoccupied seats given the not so friendly weather conditions here today.

Just waiting to see if the likes of @Paj @delicatessen @Stargazer and @BorderJB can get their tips in in time for all games to count. It would be a shame to make it obviously something devious was afoot if we fronted four tippers short to ensure we win The Spoon, especially so when we have had not much trouble getting toppled each week with enough counting scorers anyway!
Naturally a HB 17+ margin is expected but you will not be voodoo pinned if you opt for just a home 9 - 16. Interesting a late surge (well two tippers anyway) have opted for Ta$man as the lowest scorers for the round. Disappointingly neither of those are members of the HB Tipping Team!

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@stargazer said in Is this for real?:

It's a good thing that Larsen is getting some help, but as he's still there, it won't make the favouritism go away.

Don't know why the Hurricanes are funding part of this when they don't generally take players from HB anyway (unless the are taken by the Wgtn Lions directly out of school and placed school into one of the OBU, MSP and Petone clubs). As it looks like it is a NZRFU driven project the likes of the other four franchises will be made more aware of any talent uncovered that they might not know about through their own spying networks. At least the HBRFU people generally sign up promising locals, other than those that head off to university, before the others get their hands on them which is something to be thankfully for so there probably won't be many of our guys slipping through our fingers.

Well we certainly got our behinds kicked bigtime last weekend and start the second half of the final a whooping eight points behind. Damn you Canterbury and damn you Ta$man!
With the lineup of games this week there is not really many games that could go either way that could give us the edge so we are going to have to rely on super accuracy with our margin tippings to try and erase the deficit. Even then we might have to rely on one of the Counties tippers to either have a nightmare or to forget to tip, or maybe even both!!!!!!

Anyway good luck guys - Cut off time is again 7.04pm tonight

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@catogrande said in Worst Rugby crowd you've been part of:

@junior

From experience of having had similar views myself in the past in regard to poaching I would say it is not about brown skin per se, more that it is an obvious point of difference and therefore more noticeable. Certainly not you've got brown skin therefore you can't do x / can only do y, but very much "NZ should not be doing X". Most of the UK guys that I've had discussions with about poaching have not centred on the colour of anyone's skin as a rationale, more that "NZ are poachers, pillaging the islands for talent" viewpoint. Once you understand that NZ has a high number of PI origin people living there, raised there and born there, then that POV difference becomes null and void. Of course there are still people that will never consider otherwise but these, to me are very much a minority. I do not doubt that the poaching thing still gets dragged up and will do for sometime yet, but I do not see it as racist.

Yeah I’ve heard the “but where were their parents born” retort more than a few times when pointing out that certain “poachees” we’re both born and raised in NZ.

As you say, it’s probably more a rationalisation / complaint about NZ being good, but that doesn’t mean that there’s not an element of racism or bigotry

@Bovidae said in Counties v Ta$man:

Read has some conditions from his Japanese club around playing time. He was only allowed to play 40 mins last night and won't be playing against Hawke's next round, along with missing some other away games.

Ah stink, it would have been good to have him start in the kind of form he was in last year. 😉

Although, to be serious, it would have been goof for Flanders to have had a run against him.

bro, your face is fucked up!

Looked like a ripper weekend in the stands, sevens of old?

Didn't we have a good short track speed skating team a few years back?

Quite good in the push him in the back relay thingame. Couple of 4ths at the Lumpucs after some good showings in the World Champs (couple of 2nds IIRC).

What happened to t hem?

I'd say that is definitely Howard just a mistake. Great scrummager. Feet for hands but good defender

@nepia said in Something to cheer us up:

@number-10 Damn, now I've gone and ruined our cheer ourselves up thread. Idiot.

Speaking of 1994 we took the French apart that year too - that was a good one to be at as well!

Indeed - after missing out on tickets, they put up some temporary seating in front of Harris stand, so got to go after all. Great game, and thanks for the penalty try Colin Hawke (s Bay)

Very good, moving article written by Western Force's Pek Cowan. It illustrates how bad this whole process (and its outcome) is, and has been, for all involved and the utter failure that is called the ARU.

Stress, tears & a club ruined

@Higgins said in 2017 HB Mitre 10 Cup Tipping Team:

WingerHB or any others that I may have missed will front up and don the HB jersey again this season. We need six who can remember to tip each week to fill our team.

Maybe even Nepia or Gibbit might make surprise returns?

Sadly I an incapable of the bold ... but if you're short one player then let me know.

Portland Island.

Kents and Kings have been scouring Fiji for talent for ages. Good on KBHS for getting in on the act.