Author: Cat

Wow, our relationship sure has been rocky. I felt like we started off well when you favourited one of my tweets – I felt special. Loved. And worthwhile. Despite only having X chromosomes. But then I crashed back to earth when I realised you had only favourited my tweet because you hit the wrong button; you blocked me instead. Now you’ve come out swinging at one of Australia’s best rugby journalists because she is a woman and therefore surely couldn’t possibly comprehend the game. You see Mr Campese, being a former player with a Y chromosome doesn’t make you smarter…

  It was always going to be a big ask to top last week’s Social Pages, but our plucky little rugby players are giving it a red-hot go! The Aussie Women’s Team A huge congrats to Emilee Cherry (@emilee_cherry), taking out the Australian Women’s Player of the Year award at the John Eales Medal ceremony last week. In other news, captain Rebecca Tavo (@RebeccaTavo) has managed to get seven weeks off work to prepare for, and compete at, the Dubai 7s. This has caused Tavs to do some soul-searching and self-reflection… Well, she talked to herself on Twitter anyway.…

After a hiatus that seems like it lasted an eternity, yet also no time at all, the Social Pages are back for another season! So much to cover, so little time (and space)… Adam & Drew’s Excellent Adventure When I think of epic rugby romances, there’s only one couple I think of: Swoop & The Rooster The couple who, last season, painted each other’s fingernails. The couple that spends a romantic afternoon drinking fruity cocktails poolside. The couple who get pedicures and massages together. The couple who dress up as women in full cultural garb and pose for photos. Including…

Last week’s Social Pages Pre-Season Training focussed on the Don’ts of Twitter

The use of social media by players has come under intense scrutiny in the mainstream media over the past weeks, and it would be very easy to assume that the best way for players to stay out of trouble is to simply stay off the evil social media. But twitter and instagram give rugby players a direct voice to their fans, and an opportunity to show their personalities without the media hype, spin, and filtering of their franchise or governing body. When social media is done well players can show us that they do more than train, sleep, eat, tweet,…

Like any organisation committed to continual performance improvement

Welcome to the Social Pages – Mad Monday edition. At the end of the Super Rugby season it’s easy to fall into a bit of a depression: what am I going to watch on weekends? Do I now need to spend time with my family? Really? Well never fear Social Pagers – next week we’ll have the Social Pages Awards! Lipdogg’s farewell Few people made writing the Social Pages as easy as the Michael Lipman. A few weeks ago, when the Lipdogg retired from rugby, I promised a Social Pages-style tribute: one that reflected the love, respect,  and uneasy infatuation…

Aahhh here we are – the last week of the regular season. After this week we’ll say goodbye to our non-Super-Rugby-finals-playing-non-Wallaby tweeters. Some would argue I could’ve come up with a better name. but I didn’t want to diminish their stature by referring to them by an acronym that represents them as less-than people… Look I just didn’t ok?! The Wrebel Wrap The Rebels went to South Africa, however thankfully they left some players at home to continue the tweeting. Before we get to that though, I was emailed something I think we need to look into. Some of you…

Usually I write something witty and, yes, brilliant here, but this week there’s just too much to get through… Yo VIP. Let’s kick it The O’Connor Self Acceptance Project This week, James stopped, collaborated and listened. He was back with a brand new invention. Something grabbed a hold of him tightly and he flowed like a harpoon daily and nightly. Ok, so I may have needed a flimsy segue into discussing his hair, but a) he did collaborate with someone: James Haskell, see? and b) this post relies on superficiality and pith for its success. Without it, what do…

At 8:17pm on Tuesday, 26 June 2012, the Social Pages received some tragic news

Quade’s Qualities At the risk of alienating many of my readers who think I don’t like any/all the players I mention in these pages, this time I’m giving a big shout-out to Quade Cooper. This week he’s made me smile a lot. Twitter’s Top Bloke (Twop Bloke?) This week’s Twop Bloke goes to Aussie Mike Harris. Sure, he stepped up, absorbed the pressure and nailed a penalty kick to win the Green & Gold Rugby Test Series. Mike’s also one of the nicest people you could meet in person; he’s always one of the last to leave the field from signing…

Buggered if I know how this post is still going after 17 weeks – I really thought it’d be ditched after 4 weeks because no one read it. Or because too many people complained! Perfect Pocock Readers may recall a few weeks ago I gave a very dignified, classy and not-at-all-objectifying overview of why David Pocock is awesome. It may or may not have coincided with a posting of photos of him wearing Speedos, however I strenuously refute any notions that “some people” may have that the timing was, well… anything but a mere quirk in the time-space continuum. Regardless,…

After the magnificent splendour of last week, we knew we’d have to come down to earth. We’ve landed with a thud Social Pagers. Twitter this week got awkward. Quade’s Qualities We’ve seen Quade wear a number of metaphorical hats – feminist crusader, SNAG, mathematician- but this week he goes a step further into over-sharing territory. Here’s a lesson for all readers: if you want him to pound your shit in a public toilet, make sure you’ve washed your hands. In other news, he’s also shown us that he’s capable of being a sensitive and tender lover. He’s always…

Welcome to the best Social Pages of all time. If you thought it was good when Quade tweeted the pics of him and the fellas hanging out in a spa after rubbing lotion on each other was good, you’re in for a real treat this week. Taken by Force Very occasionally in life, the stars align, the world tilts a little on its axis, and for a few minutes you are overwhelmed by the sheer joy of being alive. Colours seem brighter, chocolate tastes richer, and the easy listening radio station plays Air Supply’s “Making Love Out Of Nothing…

The Return of the Quade After being prolific on these pages up to Week 7, we’ve left QC alone to ruminate, ponder, work on his English, and get back to playing. Anyone who saw his performance on the Rugby Club last week would feel the same way I do: He’s back. What makes me say that? I took the time to transcribe some of his deepest and most thoughtful quotes, exactly as he said them. “It’s an emotional high, and I think I’ve just gotta make sure I y’know , contain my emotions and at the same time y’know,…

I’ve been doing this a quarter of a year Pagers. In that time I feel like we’ve really gotten to know our players in a whole new way: Luke Jones’ questionable hygiene,Kurtle y’s Kwest to make the drivers of the world more responsible, Quade’s body confidence, and Drew & Adam’s grooming choices. But we always want more. And today, Social Pagers, thanks to our awesome Super Rugby Players, I present… dicks, pricks, and pink bits!  (Hi Mum – you must be so proud!) Dicks: Pricks (the needle-kind: I’m sure young Luke is a lovely chap!) and pink bits (if this picture…

Last night’s episode of Four Corners dealt with Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) and how it relates to sub-concussive forces (those forces that aren’t enough to induce concussion symptoms, but which can induce ongoing and long-term damage). This is a huge topic that could be looked at in so many different ways, which I plan to do. But I’ve started with Life in Clubland because it’s what I know and it’s therefore less likely to get me sued… There are two points I’d like to make first: While the show said it was about sub-concussive episodes, EVERY incident they discussed was…

Regular twitter watchers (or twatchers, for those who don’t think that sounds a little too frisky for them…) will have noticed the recent medical themes of many of our favourite tweeters. As someone who grew up in and around hospitals, I know it can be an unfamiliar and scary place for many who grew up, well, in an environment where sputum and bowel movements of anonymous and nameless strangers weren’t discussed over the dinner table. Epidemiology These behind-the-scenes workers look at disease and injury clusters and try to determine any common elements that might be causative (As a hypothetical…

The Wrebel Wrap  There’s just so much to cover this week. After two week’s absence from these pages, he’s back by overwhelmingly popular demand… our lovable larrikin Lipdogg. He’s a crusading “dogg” this week – fighting for truth, justice and  dubious hairstyling. In other Rebels news… Luke Jones is quite the catch: he’s non-ugly, fashion-conscious, young, literate, and on top of all that I have heard being a professional footballer in and of itself can be quite the aphrodisiac with the lady-folk. There’s just one thing that I think might hold him back: hygiene. You see, Merlin only showers…

I’m not sure if you’ve heard, but tonight the Western Force announced that Reds Vice Captain Will Genia is their new signing for 2013. Rather than being a shock move, fans of disco music would recall him singing about the move quite some time ago. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wc-AQJ2MYo[/youtube] A lot of people might have expected him to tell his teammates before they found out on tv and on twitter, but astute Reds-watchers would have seen the signs he was going during the week. He was distant, always on the phone, he was looking at other teams wearing blue… But Will…