Auckland Blues To Infinity and Beyond

[Dismal Pillock]

Mid-Thread Ode to Rugby.​

Rugby is the perfect game. The Game of Life. Life in a microcosm. Analogies galore. As with life, rugby is not only daft but it's full of frustrating "rules" which seem completely open to subjective interpretation and enforcement. And usually arbitrated upon by one jumped-up prick dressed in an objectionable manner. That's life.

Soccer might be "the beautiful game" but life ain't beautiful. In rugby, as in life, there's places you go and places you should bloody well not go. but you sort of want to, to see what it's like. but it takes some nuts to have a crack. and you'll never know unless you try. and if you succeed, well, obviously, you'll be an awesome fluffybunny forever.

I played 1st XI soccer and 1st XV rugby in Auckland and I always remmebr from my rugby playing days, when you step on that field, that feeling of lawlessness. "1 ref and 30 blokes and we're about to do stuff that anywhere else would get us arrested." A shockingly-sanctioned breakdown in the social contract. For 80 minutes. Then after the violence in broad daylight, you shake hands and respect the fluffybunny on the other team who also survived. You dont get that unity with soccer. You're not going to war with your comrades. On the rugby paddock i felt 100% alive, all senses sharpened just to come out intact. The rest of life is sort of just a 30% mail-in

 

[Dismal Pillock]

Auckland Blues Mid-Season Report.

In summary, it's all gone to shit.

The much-anticipated Paremoremo jailbreak in the backline? Turns out the 1 honky supposedly in tight with the guards, to organize the whole f**kin' thing, keeps getting himself transferred back to Mt Eden Prison.

Benji Marshall? Kirwan clearly hates him. The half-million dollar benchwarmer is halfway back to the development side.

The Players:

 

[waiopehu oldboy]

Yo, Dismal - that's what you get for taking a screen shot of the points table after only 1/3 of the season. Karma, mate, defo karma.

 

[Brumby Jack]

Benchy Marshall experiment over?

 

[swingpass]

just to cheer up dismal p.

benji on his way

http://www.watoday.com.au/rugby-uni...shall-seeks-return-to-nrl-20140421-zqxdz.html

 

[Hugh Jarse]

Another mungo star that can't make it. In defence to THAT game, there are plenty of rugby stars who struggle with fivekick.

Many people who are good at checkers struggle to play chess, even though the board has the same number of squares on it, and vice versa. Pool vs Snooker. T20 vs Test Match Cricket.

 

[Dan54]

Seems the Blues have confirmed it, JK had suggested rest of season in development team to learn game, and Benji I think has realised it not as easy perhaps as he thought.

 

[Inside Shoulder]

Benji Marshall asks Blues for immediate release in bid to return to NRL

http://www.foxsports.com.au/rugby/b...to-return-to-nrl/story-e6frf4pu-1226891303136

 

[Inside Shoulder]

It will give some quiet pleasure when I confront my NRL loving mates to know that one their best couldn't cut it.

 

[Dismal Pillock]

ha, feel sorry for whatever git fronted up the 3rd party $$ on that debacle.

SJK barely gave him a burl. No, the sideways running thing was sadly for him not going to revolutionize the game. But his pass was long and flat. Off either hand too. Or course, his broken field running was killer too. Surpirsingly solid support play instincts too.

ps, some of last years AB's have not really put their hands up for another burl this year. The injured F.Saili usurped in popular thinking by Fekitoa. F.Halai looking as un-AB very as this sentence is syntactically wordsworth. Luatua needing to pull finger hello Kaino & Messam

Yo, Dismal - that's what you get for taking a screen shot of the points table after only 1/3 of the season. Karma, mate, defo karma.

haha, no regrets mate, they were heady days indeed for the Blues franchise. Table toppers for a stunning 36 seconds. At least I have that. Printed out. And laminated. In triplicate. One currently under my pillow. The man-jizz just wipes right off!

 

[Pfitzy]

It will give some quiet pleasure when I confront my NRL loving mates to know that one their best couldn't cut it.

They'll wait for Paul Kent, Gus Gould, or Danny Weidler to run a "welcome back to the REAL game" article and turn it back.

Don't even make it a talking point

 

[Inside Shoulder]

Don't even make it a talking point

I do not plan to mention it - but i know it will be gnawing at them and, as you say, they'll take their lead from Gould when he works out a way to paint RU in a negative light because of it.
But I'll be ready and waiting - hell they can't even say the ARU had it in for him, as they did when Dell and Lote got scrubbed.

 

[Dan54]

Marshall seems to be quite honest
"My lack of the technical aspects of rugby union was what was letting me down and I felt like I was playing rugby league on a rugby field with 14 other rugby players.

to be quite honest almost exactly what I said to wife while watching last Blues game where he came on, didn't look like he had the first idea of how to just "play" the game and seemed to be operating by what those around him tried to tell him to do!!

 

[TOCC]

Full credit to the guy, he is being rather modest about the whole thing so far, he was rather upfront about admitting he didn't want to go back to club rugby in the twilight of his playing career..

 

[Antony]

Good luck to Benji - hope he gets to finish his career with dignity, as he deserves.

Mungos should come to Super Rugby via France. No super coach is going to give someone an on-field apprenticeship.

 

[Hawko]

Good luck to Benji - hope he gets to finish his career with dignity, as he deserves.

Mungos should come to Super Rugby via France. No super coach is going to give someone an on-field apprenticeship.

Except Chieka did for Izzy and it worked.

The crazy thing was that SJK tried to stick him into flyhalf. That experiment was stuffed before it started! But when you have got the All Black reserve fullback in your squad, you can't start him learning at 15. He needed an NPC or French season before the Super season.

 

[Antony]

Izzy doesn't count. Sometimes the genius kid is allowed to skip a year.

 

[badabing59]

Wynne Gray of the NZ Herald sheds light on the Blue's 5/8 issue:

The Blues have not been able to settle on a five-eighth since Carlos Spencer left.
When Ihaia West was confirmed in the group, that rounded out to 20 those who have played five eighth for the Blues since Spencer left in 2005.
Think Tasesa Lavea, Luke McAlister, Orene Ai'i, Isa Nacewa, David Holwell, Nick Evans, Isaia Toeava, Jimmy Gopperth, Stephen Brett, Daniel Kirkpatrick, Lachie Munro, Michael Hobbs, Gareth Anscombe, Piri Weepu, Chris Noakes, Marty McKenzie, Baden Kerr, Hickey, Marshall and West.

Any other team in the world had this many flyhalves in 9 years????

 

[Forcefield]

The Force have come close:

Scott Daruda, Brock James, Jimmy Hilgendorf, Matt Giteau, Lachie Mackay Andre Pretorius, James O'Connor, Mark Bartholomeusz, David Hill, Matt Brandon, Willie Ripia, James Stannard, Ben Seymour, David Harvey, Sam Norton-Knight, Kyle Godwin, Sias Ebersohn, Zack Holmes

Pretty sure Sam Harris, Gene Fairbanks and Stefano Hunt came on as a 10 at one point.

And to be fair, a couple of those guys (Brandon, Pretorius, Mackay, Bartholomeusz, Brandon, Godwin) played less than 2 games a 10.

 

[waiopehu oldboy]

Wynne Gray of the NZ Herald sheds light on the Blue's 5/8 issue:



Any other team in the world had this many flyhalves in 9 years????

Jesus, mate, that post should've had a big red WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! on it: mentioning Lavea & McAllister in the same paragraph, what if Dismal Pillock saw it, he'd be scarred for life (assuming he's not already).