Social Media Response to Wallabies Squad

[Dumbledore]

Brace for it - "It's only the bloody Queenslanders having a whinge!"

Frankly, Queensland is one of, if not the most prominent Rugby Union State in Australia and I think their opinion is one to be heard, not disregarded. We consistently produce wallabies and have representatives in all (i'm fairly confident?) the Super rugby franchises in Australia. The Reds, as of the last 3 years, have been quite successful as a team and I absolutely believe this gives us a right to an opinion that matters.

You think the ARU should make decisions based on what Queensland supporters think? Couldn't make it up.

 

[Richo]

Stop press! A dude wrote some shit on Facebook!

This may come as a surprise to some, but vehement rants online are not always a sign of majority opinion. Even when there's a lot of them.

 

[lewisr]

You think the ARU should make decisions based on what Queensland supporters think? Couldn't make it up.

Of course not. Did I say that? I said that its an opinion that matters and should be heard, not disregarded as "its only the nutso Queenslanders".

 

[Richo]

You think the ARU should make decisions based on what Queensland supporters think? Couldn't make it up.

I'm kind of enjoying the sublime absurdity we're sometimes reaching.

And Quade was my preference at 10.

 

[Dumbledore]

Of course not. Did I say that? I said that its an opinion that matters and should be heard, not disregarded as "its only the nutso Queenslanders".

Who said anything about nutso Queenslanders? Lose your chip and then try this. One incoherant, and entirely incorrect, rant shouldn't be taken as the broader opinion of the Australian rugby public. Most of us would like to see Quade in the squad but can understand why he's been left out. Most of us would have preferred to see Douglas in over Timani. A lot of us would have liked to see room for Mogg in the squad somewhere, and maybe Palmer over Kepu. Still, that's, at most, four contentious selections out of a squad of 25. As far as I can see it's the best squad we've seen in years, with easily enough talent to give the Lions an absolute slapping.

Richo It's completely insane. Can't even bring myself to enjoy it. It's like watching a Tea Party rally in here at the moment.

 

[lewisr]

Who said anything about nutso Queenslanders? Lose your chip and then try this. One incoherant, and entirely incorrect, rant shouldn't be taken as the broader opinion of the Australian rugby public. Most of us would like to see Quade in the squad but can understand why he's been left out. Most of us would have preferred to see Douglas in over Timani. A lot of us would have liked to see room for Mogg in the squad somewhere, and maybe Palmer over Kepu. Still, that's, at most, four contentious selections out of a squad of 25. As far as I can see it's the best squad we've seen in years, with easily enough talent to give the Lions an absolute slapping.

Richo It's completely insane. Can't even bring myself to enjoy it. It's like watching a Tea Party rally in here at the moment.

Gee mate, you're ignoring the number of threads on here that have comments that include stuff like "its only the Queenslanders complaining" and "all you bias reds fans". And in no way am I saying that it does not go the other way towards other fans either.

Maybe 'nutso' was an exaggeration and I'm going to assume your claim of "incoherent and entirely incorrect" falls under the same category. As ridiculous as you are making that post out to be, it does present a number of arguments that have been accepted on here, and by numerous well respected rugby names, as legitimate and fair. Calling the post 'insane' and comparing it to a tea party rally is undermining the opinions of over 1200 people that agree with what that bloke is saying, simply because they don't fall in line with your more well informed view. And that is in no way meant to be sarcastic. I know you are more informed than a majority of people that have commented on the situation but the ridiculousness goes both ways. Also, I haven't said that this is solely about selections.

 

[Joe Blow]

Stop press! A dude wrote some shit on Facebook!

This may come as a surprise to some, but vehement rants online are not always a sign of majority opinion. Even when there's a lot of them.

It is not only the fans on facebook or the punters on this and other forums. It is previous Wallaby coaches, players and recognised experts of the game pretty much saying the same thing in regards to coaching and selection.
His point regarding the incompetent way in which the ARU is run is fair as well.
Why should the average working rugby supporter have to pay those ludicrous prices to watch a test live at the ground?
There is not too much to argue about in his letter. Obviously he is a Quade fan and he probably lost a little credibility bringing up his non-selection, but other than that he is pretty spot on.

 

[The Red Baron]

Does GAGR have the resources to do one of these for ARU/Deans/Quade-related social media?

http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/05/20/the-geography-of-u-s-hate-mapped-using-twitter/

Should be pretty easy. All that map tells us is where people in the US live. Have a look at a US population distribution and you'll see what I mean.

 

[Scotty]

These sorts of things have been questioned since the beginning of time. People will always have something to complain about.

I don't think there is anything particularly new going on right now. People are fed up with Deans and want to see the back of him but that would be the same with pretty much any Wallabies coach ever. The only slight variable this time is that it's been dragged out a couple of years longer than it needed to.

Are you serious? My god, why are you so scared to admit the truth?

I have followed rugby for around 25 years now and I have never seen such disillusionment with a current wallaby coach and the ARU administration.

If they (like you) continue to put their heads in the sand they will undoubtably lose their supporter base.

 

[Scoey]

Just as you can't take one post on FB as being representative of broader public opinion you also can't take a general lack of same as evidence of the contrary.
Personally I have gone from being "little bit of wee coming out" excited about the up and coming Lions Tour and TRC to dejected and really just "meh" about the whole business.
I think it was Cyclo perhaps (I'm on my phone so it's not that easy to go back a page) that said something like, the chatter in the 25 Man Squad and Wallabies watch thread has not been representative of an apparent majority view that is disillusioned with Rugby or something along those lines. My apologies if I got it completely wrong. Here's perhaps a reason why. Because the people like me couldn't be bothered even reading Wallabies related topics anymore let alone posting in them because they are that disillusioned with the whole mess?
I don't know what the majority thinks. All I know is that everyone that I've spoken to and I do mean everyone, is either pissed off or disappointed in how the Wallabies set up appear to being run for one or more of the reasons the FB guy has raised. I know that's not going to be the case for everyone, but you're a closed minded fool to dismiss it by saying that its a FB rant and no one actually thinks its that bad.

 

[Scotty]

No. The incessant hand-wringing, chest beating, hair pulling and general wailing from a certain vocal section of the Australian rugby community is.

Yeah, I am sure there are all a bunch of sooks that have no reason to whinge.

At some stage you need to come down off your high horse and ask yourself if this many people are losing faith in the ARU, maybe something really is wrong?

 

[cyclopath]

Just as you can't take one post on FB as being representative of broader public opinion you also can't take a general lack of same as evidence of the contrary.
Personally I have gone from being "little bit of wee coming out" excited about the up and coming Lions Tour and TRC to dejected and really just "meh" about the whole business.
I think it was Cyclo perhaps (I'm on my phone so it's not that easy to go back a page) that said something like, the chatter in the 25 Man Squad and Wallabies watch thread has not been representative of an apparent majority view that is disillusioned with Rugby or something along those lines. My apologies if I got it completely wrong. Here's perhaps a reason why. Because the people like me couldn't be bothered even reading Wallabies related topics anymore let alone posting in them because they are that disillusioned with the whole mess?
I don't know what the majority thinks. All I know is that everyone that I've spoken to and I do mean everyone, is either pissed off or disappointed in how the Wallabies set up appear to being run for one or more of the reasons the FB guy has raised. I know that's not going to be the case for everyone, but you're a closed minded fool to dismiss it by saying that its a FB rant and no one actually thinks its that bad.

No, I didn't.
I said it is poor, or indeed "non" science to say that the original post / rant represented a majority view. I used the example that most of the members of this forum (you can easily look up the numbers to see how many we have) have not commented on that thread, so how can we know what the majority thinks, let alone amongst Australian rugby fans. I said "I don't know" what the majority think, not that the original opinion was invalid or not representative of a group. It may be, who knows.
Loud does not equal majority. It just equals loud.

 

[Dan54]

I have to agree with Cyclo, we hear or read on here a lot of opinions, some who feel strongly repeat it incessantly, doesn't really mean they a majority. Look I have followed rugby for more years then I care to admit to, and can tell you this is the norm. Any Kiwi my age will remember the stink in NZ when Alan Hewson was picked ahead of ironically Robbie Deans, there were mass letters to editors,calls to talkback radio etc, this is nothing on that,people were no longer going to support rugby etc, the callers weren't still in the majority of rugby people, only the majority of people that used these means of expressing their opinion. The vast majority of my rugby mates, have never been and probably never will go into a rugby forum, so most will never know what they think.

 

[Scotty]

If it weren't for injury there would have likely been 11 Tahs, 6 Brumbies and 5 Reds in the squad.

Does anyone think it is a coincidence that the majority of defenders of Deans and the ARU come from the supporters of a side that despite being lower on the table than both the reds and the brumbies have as much representation in the squad as them combined?

 

[Inside Shoulder]

If it weren't for injury there would have likely been 11 Tahs, 6 Brumbies and 5 Reds in the squad.

Does anyone think it is a coincidence that the majority of defenders of Deans and the ARU come from the supporters of a side that despite being lower on the table than both the reds and the brumbies have as much representation in the squad as them combined?

Yeah - me.
No one seriously doubts that the Tahs are less than the sum of their parts.

 

[Baldric]

I agree with the part of the price of tickets. They are a bit steep.

 

[Lindommer]

If it weren't for injury there would have likely been 11 Tahs, 6 Brumbies and 5 Reds in the squad. Does anyone think it is a coincidence that the majority of defenders of Deans and the ARU come from the supporters of a side that despite being lower on the table than both the reds and the brumbies have as much representation in the squad as them combined?

How can you tell? A lot of sensible people like me haven't expressed an opinion on the selection of the 25. BTW, I chose Cooper for my Wallabies team.

 

[Scoey]

No, I didn't.

Yep, fair cop. You didn't say that - I got it wrong.
I agree and was trying to make a similar point (but on re-reading, I missed the mark) that what is written on social media and indeed Internet forums don't give us an indication of the broad public view. My other point was that a lack of criticism is within these same medium isn't evidence of a content public either.
What i do actually know is that a number of fans are genuinely disenfranchised with the ARU at the moment and at a time when excitement levels should be at fever pitch.

 

[Scotty]

How can you tell? A lot of sensible people like me haven't expressed an opinion on the selection of the 25. BTW, I chose Cooper for my Wallabies team.

To be honest it seems to me there are only a few defenders left. I could only name 4 on this forum off the top of my head, and even they don't support all decisions. I believe they just happen to be Tahs supporters. There used to be more, but there is less and less - which is why I am shocked that the few are still so incredulous and doubting of the disillusionment.

 

[Scotty]

Yeah - me.
No one seriously doubts that the Tahs are less than the sum of their parts.

For 4-5 years?

It just seems to me that the selection policy over the last few years has been 'if in doubt pick a Tah'. All the 50/50 ones seem to go that way!