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I'd argue we're broadly in the same place we've been for a very long time except for a couple of periods where our financial or on field success was better than it usually has been. A lot of people take the John Eales etc. era as the norm that we have fallen so far from whereas it far more...

The finances in NZ aren't exactly rosy. I agree that we could have invested the windfall from the 2003 RWC better. A cheaper, more sustainable ARC/NRC would have been a good start. I don't think there's anything drastically different that could or should have been done though.

In hindsight, being an amateur game until 1996 was an issue that is very hard to overcome. I don't think rugby has adopted a different strategy over the last 30 years. We just came from a base that had none of the same infrastructure AFL and NRL had. I don't think there was a different...

Joey Walton has been re-signed for 2026.

I've had to imagine Tom Banks with a bumfluff neckbeard and for that, I now have to ban you from the forum. Sorry, but those are the rules.

Why are there two random non Australians on that list? (Hamilton and Albon).

It's all of the above. We should be trying our best to win but likewise we will prioritize a player playing Super Rugby over going to the under 20 RWC. Like with the Wallabies, picking overseas based players should be on the basis that they are the best option available and will improve the...

Even if the player is incredibly good, is it really going to be an advantageous move to try and bring a player in that close to the tournament? It's not like the preparation time is long. The team will be arriving for the tournament a few days before their first match.

I'm not sure how we do this when they're playing on the other side of the world.

I would have thought the Japanese would have decreased the number of Ls, not given him an extra one!

The only way this sort of thing can take off in my view is if the money offered to players is so great that players jump ship and World Rugby (and other leagues) are forced to recognize it and make it work in the calendar. It has to effectively be to rugby what the IPL is to cricket. As rugby...

Australian teams won 27.5 games out of 56 in 2025 for a winning percentage of 49.1%. In 2024, Australian teams won 31 games out of 70 for a winning percentage of 44.3%.

You could argue that it worked pretty well given we got to RWC finals with both of those combinations. I don't think we are at all likely to repeat it anytime soon because we have a lot of strength across the backrow and while Tizzano is good, he's not a generational sort of player like...

So you're saying it was a try you just wish the laws of the game were different such that it wasn't a try?

His career earnings must be getting up there. 5 years as the starting 10 for one of the best Japanese teams is surely paying some pretty decent coin.

I think this is a bit harsh. He's fine, he's just not elite. If the situation was reversed and he was already contracted for 2026 and Creighton was off contract I'd be letting Creighton walk. They're much of a muchness for me. Longer term we need better.

I like Tane but in terms of contracting, he and Creighton are pretty similar and Creighton signed a two year deal so is already on the books for 2026. Bowen needs to be kept as he still potentially has more upside than Edmed/Creighton and then Fowler coming through behind them.

Crazy that you then got home and started posting on the forum. ;)

There's a fair bit of discussion in the Concussion thread.

NZRL also has put out a statement.