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Agree - maybe I'm just thinking about playing "the Australian way", but spreading the point of attack to ensure Matera can't hit every second ruck would make life easier, I reckon. But that does rely on backs who can hit offensive rucks.

Yes. Conditions won't be as perfect for ball-in-hand this Saturday as they were at Bankwest last week - this will be in the evening, cooler and higher humidity, looks like quite a strong southerly wind for Newcastle then. Pepper their back three with a few wobbly bombs, keep the ball out of our...

Yes - I just can't believe the approach that NewsCorp has taken throughout this - it must have really emphasised to RA that News is a dangerous partner to have.

You might want to set him up with a Google TV - I reckon it's probably the smoothest and simplest interface for streaming apps, and the remote allows you to drive other TV functions such as volume, power, etc.

News Corp are going to be somewhat conflicted if RA do take up the 9/Stan offer - they had an article in the Daily Tele a few days adoring the new leadership there, after previous leadership made the horrible decision to knock back Fox's first offer. What if that fabulous new leadership knocks...

Raelene Castle will head up Sport NZ. Apparently Phil Kearns unavailable. https://www.espn.com.au/rugby/story/_/id/30252785/raelene-castle-appointed-ceo-sport-nz

Yep. One of the inviolable rules of challenging NZ: don't give them counter-attacking opportunities. Present them with a formed defensive line and the likelihood of them scoring drops away significantly. Give them the ball with a ragged backline that's set up for attack, and they score.

Yeah, I haven't rewatched the game, but what did Petaia do wrong? To me, he's a perfect 13 - a big, elusive runner who almost always seems to break the first tackle, and often the second and third ones as well. He's what Israel Folau wanted to be in the 13 channel.

I'm giving Clarke and McLennan a solid 8/10 as well, at this point. Of course, they're benefiting from much that Raelene put in place before she was shafted. But, for better or worse, they're playing the PR game much better than she did.

Important team news: great to see recently-retired Tahs team doctor Sharon Flahive making an appearance.

Great yarn in the SMH about Edmed's signing, playing the Shute Shield GF this weekend at Leichhardt Oval, home ground for his dad when he played for the Tigers. Good story-telling.

Yep, very happy to have Dave Dennis back if he's up for it. When Ben Mowen left for Europe, he mentioned the travel requirements of Super Rugby as a major issue, so I agree, 7137, Super Rugby AU plus/minus a trans-Tasman comp might change that calculation for older players.

Thanks for the ratings BH, so yes, it's going to be secondary channel for the foreseeable future. But what I like about the Nine option is the room for growth - if current non-supporters find a reason to become interested in rugby, for whatever reason, it's easy to put a game in front of them to...

Can anyone provide a few example Saturday evening ratings results for 9? It seems to always be second or third run movies. What sort of numbers would Super Rugby need to compete there?

I think we need to back Super Rugby to make its case to be on the main channel. This Saturday night, if it was on 9Gem, it would be up against "Kinky Boots" on the main channel. If it can't beat that level of programming, then we should probably gratefully accept the offerings of the Foxtel...

How interesting that Foxtel announces that it's considering increasing its "free-to-air" footprint, just when RA shows that it's serious about FTA coverage. One might almost think Foxtel were interested in rugby. I don't like the idea of just picking up some "Kayo Free" coverage of Super Rugby...

Not enough breaks in rugby? Sadly, I beg to differ. But I agree fewer commentators are better, and an expert commentator should be an expert.

Yep, Gordon Bray is/was a qualified ref, and it showed.

The NFL games from FOX and CBS have a referee as part of the commentary team, to provide context on some of the Byzantine rules of that game - it works well.

Because Fox are running Super Rugby into the ground, and Stan has a much higher WAF.