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View Full Version : The Union vs League debate. An Aussie perspective...



RedVee Admin
10th October 2007, 17:16
Penalties interrupted by Qantas ads - Sam De Brito

Rugby Union is a ****; I didn't shed a tear for the Wallabies Saturday night,
in fact I cheered on their demise because hopefully it'll lead to the
rest of the country waking up to what a boring, over-complicated joke
professional union is - penalties interrupted by Qantas ads.

Call me a hater, but I played union for five years at a private boys
high school, I understand the fundamentals of the game (and the type of
bloke who supports it) and appreciate the spectacle when it's done in a
free-flowing manner - the problem is it seldom reaches that level.

Now, I'm so tired of hearing about the Wallabies, of how much the nation
is behind them, how the Rugby World Cup is the third biggest global
sporting event after the Olympics and soccer World Cup.

Fact is, Rugby Union is a crap sport and no one in Australia really cares
about it (people in NSW and Queensland might be interested, but they
don't care - massive difference. As for Victoria, SA, WA and Tassie ...
well they are hardly going to lose any sleep). It's an aspirational
private schoolboy ****fest.

I've been to sporting events all over the world and nothing is as
passionless as a Wallaby Test at Telstra Stadium. I went to a Bledisloe
Cup game there and you could hear a pin drop (except for the All Black
fans). The much-maligned Swans supporters generate 25 times the noise
and atmosphere as Wallaby spectators.

No Wallaby fan goes home to kick the dog after a loss. No mood is
altered. No one gets obliterated to drown their sorrows. There are no
fights. Everyone drives home safely in their 4WDs and listens to the
Best of Burt Bacharach or Norah Jones ...

Part of the reason for the fans' lack of passion is they aren't really
sure what happened, and why? If rugby is so good how come they always
change the farking rules? If you're looking for a red flag that a game
is fatally flawed, note how often its administrators change the
fundamental ways the game is played.

I mean really, you've had a century or so to work it out guys, yet every
couple of seasons fans and players have to digest a raft of ridiculously
technical rules like the new Experimental Law Variations
http://www.abc.net.au/sport/rugby_union/arc/about.htm in the
Australian Rugby Championship. (Go on, click on that link and take a
look - see if you can understand 'em).

I can't tell you how many times I've been in a pub and there's been a
penalty in a Super 14 game and you ask a hardcore fan "what was that
for?" and they say "not sure".

The problem with the rules is they make it easy for poor teams to spoil
a game. A friend of mine who is a professional rugby coach says he's
seen it happen too often where the lesser side will
slow a game down with infractions in the scrum, rucks or mauls and the
better side will be blown out of the game by the referee.

That doesn't happen in the NRL; nine times out of 10, the better team on
the day will win because there's nowhere to hide - unlike union where
you can sneak around in a fog of horseshit technicalities.

Then there's the bizarre additions to the game like lifting in
line-outs. I mean whatever happened to actually jumping? You might as
well take a dwarf out there and toss 'em in the air to catch the footy.

Pick any round during the regular season of Rugby League or AFL and
you'll see three or four games that easily match the skill levels and
excitement of those one or two games in an entire Super 14 season that
Rugby Union aficionados rubber stamp 'a classic'.

Your average game of professional Rugby Union is criminally disjointed
by penalties, brainless boots for touch when outside backs are screaming
for the ball, with the result determined by kicks for goal; it's
forcings back for millionaires.

If an NRL premier league backline put down as much ball as the Wallabies
did on Saturday night, there'd be five or six blokes on the blower to
Coles looking for gigs shifting cartons of soup to aisle 12, yet you
can't shut up union fans crapping on about the "incredible skills" of
their game.

Some of the backs who play union are no doubt gifted, but they never see
the ball, every promising movement derailed by a pointless "tactical"
kick for touch; Lote Tuqiri might as well have set up a card table on
the wing and sold shots of Pernod he had so little to do.

Correct me if I'm wrong but I saw some statistics on the weekend that
said, on average, the ball is in play less than 40 per cent of the time
in Rugby Union - and Aussies have the gall to criticise American NFL for
its stoppages.

Then there's the fitness of the players: If Matt Dunning
http://blogs.smh.com.au/lifestyle/allmenareliars/dunning.html is what
Rugby Union considers a world-class athlete (compare him to league props
like Steve Price, Roy Asotasi, Luke Bailey or Petero Civoniceva), get me
a bucket of KFC and slab of VB - I better start training for the 2011
World Cup.

Which brings me to my next point: If rugby is so good, how come they
constantly poach league players? The answer is publicity. How else would
they get page upon page in The Daily Telegraph if it wasn't for
Rogers-Sailor-Tuqiri-Tahu et al. Adam Ashley-Cooper and Stephen Hoiles
just don't sell papers.

People talk about the tradition of Rugby Union, but that's crap. Twenty years
ago you could fire a gun at Rugby Union Tests in Australia and hit four former
Joey's boys on a bucks night.

Rugby Union also has no statistics. Stats are an indication of level of
interest, or analysis in a game. No Wallaby fan would know if George
Smith makes two tackles or 22 tackles a match.

It's often quoted that Aussies are passionate about Rugby Union because the
'03 World Cup final in Sydney was one of the highest-rating shows in
Australian history. But it was about beating the smart-arsed Poms. That
it was Rugby Union is irrelevant. Aussies are passionate about the Hillsong
Church too, you know. It's like saying Horseracing is our No.1 sport
because everyone watches the Melbourne Cup each year.

Finally, if Rugby Union is so good, why don't the networks pay a fortune when
the media rights become available? They don't, because it's not. Check
out a Foxtel ratings guide, and you will find no Rugby Union among its top 10
programs. It's all NRL and AFL games.

Look at the internet. During the footy season the biggest union website
would be lucky to have one-fifth the audience as the biggest AFL site,
or one-third the league audience.

Rugby Union fans in New Zealand care. In South Africa they care. In Australia, they just don't. Rugby Union is the fourth banana behind AFL, NRL and soccer/football (whatever you want to call it).

And before you call me un-Australian for slagging the Wallabies, lemme
just say it did bother me a little that the English won, so much so I
shagged a lovely Pommie gal Saturday night.

As the moment of consummation rolled toward us, I whispered in her rose
pink ear - "this is for Gregan".

Thankfully there wasn't a ref around to blow it up.

ticker
11th October 2007, 01:53
he told it straight and true there.he probably lied about the girl tho.

Barbarian
11th October 2007, 02:54
he probably lied about the girl tho.

I agree

possibly wins the award for longest ever post on redvee

Wizards Sleeve
11th October 2007, 09:19
The thing about that article is it was published in Australia (I assume), and people will have the chance to read the thoughts of what is probably the majority.
Unfortunately there wouldn't be a chance in hell of a report by someone like Dave Hadfield being published in the UK.
I, like the author wanted my country to whack the Aussies last week. But although very patriotic, I would rather have seen NZ win the trophy than England.
I cannot start to imagine what will happen if England win the thing. Well actually I can. Go back 4 years when we kicked our way to World Cup success.
And we call the Aussies criminals!

bobble
11th October 2007, 10:29
The semi final has eclipsed the Saints/Leeds final so much in the media that it may as well not be on.

Personally I don't care about this, but on a big picture scale it's bad for the sport. Rugby League needs the finals as a showcase to the media. It brings in sponsors, new money, and new fans.

England getting through has thrown a big spanner in the works this year.

Wizards Sleeve
11th October 2007, 11:18
The semi final has eclipsed the Saints/Leeds final so much in the media that it may as well not be on.

After the England v Australia match the commentator said something along the lines of "You won't see a greater show of spirit and courage anywhere in world sport". This was a week after the Saints v Leeds match. I nearly threw something at the telly I was so annoyed. Although I should have expected it.

bobble
11th October 2007, 11:46
This bit was funny from above:
"Then there's the bizarre additions to the game like lifting in
line-outs. I mean whatever happened to actually jumping? You might as
well take a dwarf out there and toss 'em in the air to catch the footy.
"

Cedarman
11th October 2007, 11:53
This bit was funny from above:
"Then there's the bizarre additions to the game like lifting in
line-outs. I mean whatever happened to actually jumping? You might as
well take a dwarf out there and toss 'em in the air to catch the footy.
"


............Jeez what next, those little monkeys as jockeys on the back of greyhounds!! :) :D

Eddie Hemmings' Wig
11th October 2007, 13:21
This bit was funny from above:
"Then there's the bizarre additions to the game like lifting in
line-outs. I mean whatever happened to actually jumping? You might as
well take a dwarf out there and toss 'em in the air to catch the footy.
"


Rob Burrow to Union?

Wizards Sleeve
11th October 2007, 13:23
Rob Burrow to Union?

PMSL lol lol lol

Warks Kev
11th October 2007, 13:51
This bit was funny from above:
"Then there's the bizarre additions to the game like lifting in
line-outs. I mean whatever happened to actually jumping? You might as
well take a dwarf out there and toss 'em in the air to catch the footy.
"

Might actually be tempted to pay to see that. lol