Welcome back peeps after some IT issues last week which stopped me from publishing my worthless drivel.
I hope you all had a safe and enjoyable pagan festival and a happy new year.
Much to look forward to this year with the Soap dodgers touring and the Super Rugby season whatever that looks like going ahead.
Volunteers make the world go around
The Australia Day honour list had many worthy recipients this year and none more deserving than the following people for their services to Rugby.
Mr Peter McGrath.
Mr Terrance Willis
Mr Peter ‘Doubles’ Daley
Mr David Dunworth,
Mr Brian Rudder
Mr Kim Beresford
Dr Jane Wilson
I am sure each of these worthy recipients would echo my personal view is to get down to your local club and get involved.
Article here
Referees expect criticism but rugby can do without the witch-hunts
Jonny Wilkinson missed around 13 per cent of his kicks at goal while 2.6 per cent of Roger Federer’s serves were double faults and Tiger Woods failed to hit around 30 per cent of greens in ‘regulation’. Even the greatest sportsmen of the last 20 years proved fallible on occasions and when they made their relatively rare mistakes – even on the biggest of sporting stages – there was little more than a raised eyebrow[BL1] .
So why is it that the world now cuts match officials so little slack? Sit and watch Twitter with one eye while you next enjoy a big match from the comfort of an armchair and you will see the referee receives a steady stream of criticism.
While some of it is well-informed, much is well wide of the mark and at the extreme is offensive and delusional.
The latest victim of this is Scottish international referee Mike Adamson, who was subjected to 48 hours of vehement criticism following the final few minutes of Harlequins’ Heineken Champions Cup win over Castres.
Generally social media is a place where people say things that they would not say directly to the target in person.
I think this year we will see referees at all levels really cut some of the mouthy players down to size expect lots of 10 metre march backs and a few yellow cards.
Watching the Japanese league it is clear that culturally they just don’t stand for it with players not questioning The ref at all.
Full article here
Buildcorp to construct Ballymore National Rugby Training Centre
The centre of excellence will be the new headquarters of the national Wallaroos team, as well as a new training base for the Queensland Reds men’s and women’s teams and Reds Academy squad.
The NRTC will include an integrated grandstand with a 3010-spectator capacity, more than the old McLean Stand which it replaces. The new stand will retain the “McLean Stand” name, honouring the contribution to Queensland Rugby of the McLean family.
The new Ballymore will have the ability to host an increased number of events such as Wallaroos Tests, as well as continuing to be the home of the Queensland Premier Rugby finals and the community game.
Construction of the NRTC is due to start in February 2022 and be completed by early 2023.
QRU CEO David Hanham said Buildcorp were a clear choice to be awarded the tender to build the NRTC following an exhaustive selection process.
“Buildcorp have a long history of supporting Rugby in Australia, especially women’s Rugby, and we are thrilled that they will be helping leave a lasting legacy to the game at Ballymore,” said Hanham.
“Buildcorp were selected out of a field of 12 builders with a compelling proposal which represented the best value for the QRU.
“We are excited to be beginning construction of the long-awaited first stage of the Ballymore redevelopment. The NRTC will be the catalyst for the reinvigoration of Ballymore as a high-performance and community sporting hub.
“The Ballymore NRTC has been designed by leading architect Michael Rayner and will be a world-class standard and global showpiece for Rugby,” said Hanham.
Buildcorp’s Managing Director Tony Sukkar AM said “Buildcorp’s team is passionately connected to the project’s core purpose of creating a centre for excellence, growth and community. We challenged ourselves to find the best way to deliver the facility, and develop areas of innovation and value creation, for now and the future.
“Buildcorp’s experience in delivering high performance sporting infrastructure has been honed over 30 projects in 32 years. We are also committed to helping grow the game during construction through community investment and learning and development partnership opportunities.
“We thank Queensland Rugby for trusting our team to deliver this vision for our game. We aim to be the best team-mate as we partner to create a strong legacy for Ballymore and Australia’s rugby community.”
The NRTC is being project managed by Lachlan Nimmo of RPS Group and jointly funded by the Commonwealth and State Governments and the QRU.
The NRTC will include:
- A 700m2 high-performance gym
- 3010 seat integrated grandstand
- Aquatic recovery centre including river and plunge pools
- 75 seat auditorium for player meetings and community rugby education
- 120 person capacity players’ lounge and function room
- Unisex change facilities to accommodate the growth of women’s rugby
- Administration and football offices
Japanese Rugby League One
This is the worst name for a competition in the world narrowly beating the Ultimate Rugby Championship (URC)
This comp is well worth a look for those seeking a fix on STAN. It is an improving league and Austrailia and NZ would be crazy not to emrace them going forward into a pan Asian comp. But that is a discussion for another day.
There are plenty of Australians plying there trade in the land of the rising sun and the following show
Marika K staring for Panasonic Wild Knights. Here
Looking forward to a great year ahead with lot of great content.
