BJ

Thursday July 29, 2010 06:59 AM

JUNIOR REDS 2008/2009

PHOTOGALLERIES

GOLDEN MEN OF TALLOW

Friday 30/07/2010: Strangely enough it is still quite cold in Melbourne.  Few Wallabies and ex Wallabies and ex All Blacks starting to appear.  Have run into big Jim Williams,  Will "Sanchez" Genia walking in sub zero temperatures with only a T Shirt on,  boy will catch pneumonia.  John Eales was out and about last night at Southbank,  as was Olo Browne with another ex All Black that I can't quite put a name too.  However,  the best of all,  as always,  was the official I didn't know,   down near Aami Park,  looking serious and angry all dressed up in his official gear,  basically just looking important.  Also ran into a couple of the younger Walalbies in Southbank last night,  young Will Slipper and Rob Simmons,  who as we all know is from Theodore,  and his father has quite a reasonable feedlot up there in Centralish Queensland.  I was certainly also getting heckled by some Kiwis last night (I was dressed in some Wallabies gear) and this heckling was going on would you believe in an Irish bar,  and Irish bar that has some writing to be done about it in the subscription version of the ravings.

Thursday 29/07/2010: Went to an Under 16 Rugby match yesterday here in Victoria,  a match up between Brighton Grammar and Xavier College.  The match was played on I think the worst field I have ever seen,  in a part of Melbourne that you would need at least a million dollars to purchase 600 square metres of land,  no house.  The oval varied in level by half a metre in it's waves,  and looked like the grass,  where it was growing,  was trying to grow in blackish sand.  It was an ankle and injury nightmare.  An entertaining match up with Xavier fighting back from 10 to 3 down to score a try in the corner,  and have it converted,  to get out of jail with a 10 all draw,  right on full time.  Xavier can call that a get out of jail,  the ball they had they turned over,  and were forced to continually defend their own line,  and really only ever looked like scoring on the one occasion at fulltime.  An interesting post conference trip,  spending some time in the rain.  It was perfect rugby weather,  for someone like me.  I was of course taken to the rugby yesterday afternoon by someone I deal with,  but a name also very,  very synonymous with State High and Nudgee as well as Queensland Rugby,  Queensland Country Rugby as well.  I will let you all have a bit of a think about that.

Wednesday 28/07/2010: Melbourne adds another element to the combination today,  fog joins cold and wind,  with rain coming later.  Sensational stuff.  Still haven't sighted an All Black or a Wallaby,  but must have just missed three Wallabies in Southbank last night judging by Twitter Tweets.

Tuesday 27/07/2010: A magnificently cold morning in the Southern Capital.  So many people wanting to chat to me about rugby last evening at session one.  So many people struggling with the fact that my standard answer to "Oh,  you would be staying down for the test match" is "Nah mate,  would rather head back and watch State High play Nudgee" in Brisbane,  even though I have been offered free tickets from folks down here.  Here is some reasoning.  I am not a big fan of watching live rugby at that level,  would rather go and watch them train and catch the game on TV,  where I can DVD it and watch it more than once.  I have been to Etihad a few times for other stuff,  and I would describe it as an ordinary viewing arena,  that would have spectators some distance from the action.  There is a stronger chance at test level of the game being ordinary.  The School kiddies play a much more uninhibited brand of footy.  I also like to do a bit of camera work,  you can't even take pics at Etihad with an SLR when the bloody place is empty,  no football on,  was there for a conference and about to take a shot of the grass etc and got molested by security.   Now I am in no way against a good roughing up from security staff,  but cameras and lenses cost money,  so one has to go meekly and mildly.  I have not been told I cannot do such things at schoolboy footy,  yet.   There is also the added benefit of being to sprawl out on the grass,  at my chosen location,  move to another location,  all that type of freedom.   Of course there is the cost,  while the tickets would be free,  there is the extra staying in town,  more meals etc,  etc,  etc.  I will now be directing people here to view my answer. 

Monday 26/07/2010: An hour and half on foot around Melbourne before the conference program kicks off tonight,  and it was very obvious that overt transvestism and other versions of transsexualism are alive and well on the streets of Melbourne.  Wonderful stuff,  have been known to put the fishnets,  high heels,  lipstick and leathers on myself on special occasions.

Monday 26/07/2010: I believe State High look a little better in the betting today.  I just had a conversation with a very good judge of footy,  who says he doesn't really give BSHS a chance.  He is a good judge,  but has been 100% wrong all year where these guys are concerned.  However,  I do tend to think that State High have their work really cut out for them against a Nudgee side that is very complete.  I do have a few photos from the BSHS vs Downlands match,  but won't get them viewable for at least a week.  Probably get some up from Nudgee vs BSHS before I get Downlands vs BSHS up.

Monday 26/07/2010: Well folks,  on the ground in cool,  clear Melbourne as we type.  Some interesting stuff in my study of humanity on the way down,  but you will have to get the subscription version for most of it,  I mean the guy leaning on the wall near the male urinals watching everyone urinate wasn't expecting what he got from me,  and it sure makes good reading.  I also graphed the toilet usage on the plane,  and we have a pretty strong Bell curve distribution.  This particular trip I was in row 29,  seat E and there was no one in seat D,  I am really considering going the extreme fat man route,  and buying two or three seats every time I fly now,  I spread out nicely down there,  and absolutely owned the plane apparently as I backed up Bono and U2 with air drum,  air guitar and some outstanding support lyrics,  and of course we were doing the U2 classic,  "I still haven't found what I am looking for",  in full voice.  I was unable to hear myself due to having the headphones so loud,  from seat E and Seat D.  As well,  apparently I am doing one of my better "Homeless Man" impersonations today,  with the greying beard,  scruffy hair,  track suit pants not made for the shorter man so held up with some brown rubber bands around the calf region.  I struggle with finding sleeves short enough as well,  but I do wash,  brush and deodorize.   I am a treat to behold.

Sunday 25/07/2010: I know there are alot of people already hailing the Wallaby performance last night,  and some of them did play exceptionally well.  However,  what I saw was quite slow ball at most of the breakdowns (compared to the All Blacks),  non punishment of the Springboks during that first yellow card,  and quite a fumbling display from O'Connor and Mitchell.  Again,  most will only remember the good that they did,  which I thought without a review of the game,  was limited,  but there were plenty of mistakes particularly from O'Connor.  Against the All Blacks in their current mood,  lapses like these will be punished.  WE see Cory Jane as being the World's number one winger at the moment so the Wallaby wingers will need to be very aware if they are to combat the pace and power that the All Blacks generate through positive ball carries and powerful cleanouts.  The Wallaby cleanout last night looked very slow.  On a positive front,  it was good to see Robinson back,  he stiffens up the front row,  but I am never sure why the commentary team rates the African scrum,  they scrum very poorly,  and do not present the threats at the scrum that England and now the All Blacks do.  Pocock I thought had his best game in Wallaby colours,  was very powerful at the collision zone,  but against no one of note doing a similar job in the African side.  Next week against the very best the World has ever seen will  be the true test of his mettle.  Also very good to see Genia back in the side,  and Cooper playing well.  He finally though makes his first ever (seemingly) shoulder on tackle at these levels and gets carded for it,  the young bloke will be confused.  The Africans really do need to find some balance in their backrow,  it is a big problem there for them,  and make some decisions on the likes of Smit and some other older guys.  Smit is not playing well,  and has never scrummed well.  They may also need to re evaluate how they are playing the game.  Make no mistake though,  there will be a different South Africa in South Africa,  and I believe Australia meets them two times at altitude.  That's a tough ask.

Sunday 25/07/2010: Headed to Brisbane yesterday to have a look at Downlands playing Brisbane State High School over at Fursden Road.   To be quick,  as I have a bit on,  I thought Downlands,  even in being beaten 62 to 5,  dominated the lineouts,  and competed really strongly at the tackle/breakdown.  I thought their 10 went to the boot far too often,  and wasted some good possession with men in space.  In fact both sides blew some big wide blind opportunities.  I know it is very easy from the sidelines,  but the same view does appear on the field as we get just off it,  and I would never be sure why when you have a 20 metre blind,  with one man on it,  you choose to go into the congested side of the field.  State High certainly missed the physical presence of Browning,  who was recovering from a heavy schedule.  The young blokes in the second row didn't go too bad for them though.  Many wouldn't have seen O'Connell at work for Downlands,  but as he always does,  worked very hard the entire game and nailed several key turnovers.  I think Downlands are a better side than they showed yesterday,  and were probably out of the contest after 10 minutes at 17 to nil down.  They regained a bit of composure after that and fought back for quite a patch,  to be down by 29 to 5 at half time.  A steady stream of points from a quite loose State High outfit saw the score blow out.  I did say to many before the game that I wouldn't have been surprised if Downlands beat State High,  and I still think that statement was correct,  but you have to learn that playing against these blokes,  they are more dangerous from 75 out on turnover possession than they are from 20 out,  they can put you to the sword from a long way out.  Your kicks need to be well thought out and pin players or go out,  not give running options to the likes of Sautia,  they lap that sort of stuff up,  as he did,  bagging 3 or 4 personal tries and having some outrageous involvement in a couple of others,  and probably himself bombing another.  State High with a massive game against Nudgee next week,  will need to play alot better than they did yesterday to win,  and will need everything that Curtis Browning brings to the table to do that.  They will also not need to get as sloppy and as loose as they did as the game wore on.  It will be a good day up in the north next week.

Wednesday 21/07/2010: Masterchef vs (Abbott vs Gillard).  Neither worth watching,  I hope NCIS is on.  I would very much like to get hold of those three "critics" than run masterchef,  the guy in the outrageous cravattes,  George the little Greek guy,  and the other bloke that does alot of talking,  and give them a bit of a probing.  And no,  I have not watched an episode,  maybe 30 to 40 minutes over the last little marathon,  and have built up a very healthy dislike for these three gents.

Wednesday 21/07/2010: I heard on the vine that Downlands disposed pretty readily of an Ipswich Grammar School First XV side last week.  A very experienced rugby man said that the performance of Ryan O'Connell at openside was one of the most dominant he has seen in many years of playing and watching and coaching.  There has never been any doubt from my point of view at the level of Ryan's ability.  Also strong positive comments about Nathan Lennan,  the Downlands halfback.  Tough little rooster without question.  These two guys have just been away playing for the Queensland Schools sides,  and it was mentioned that playing with those Qld guys,  up a level,   instilled some belief in these two young blokes,  some belief that they can cut it at the next level.  Again no arguments from me,  been very impressed with both of them.  This weekend,  Downlands travel to Fursden Road to take on a Brisbane State High School side that traditionally does not rest players,  mainly because the State High lads just love to play.  State High also are expecting a very tough hit out against a Downlands side that has rebounded from rugby and life lows,  and have made several positive directional statements on the rugby field in 2010.  This will be a true test for Downlands too,  in that they never really know which school is resting players (I have said before though,  that can not be their problem,  they can only play against and beat the team that is put on the field against them),  as they can expect to play against a State High side that is at full strength,  however,  from all reports,  a State High side struggling for form in a number of areas,  and looking to find it before their final outing next weekend up at Nudgee.  In State High circles though you just don't mention next week,  the guys very definitely like to concentrate on the week at hand.  Should be a great game,  certainly looking forward to it.

Wednesday 21/07/2010: Not too  many political comments on this folks,  but I would have a great fear that the country is about to deliver itself the worst possible government combination that the country has ever seen,  even worse than the rabble that is in place now.  My fear is that we will have,  for the next three years,  a Greens controlled labour party government,  which can and will mean only one thing,  that everyone will be digging very deeply into their pockets in the form of very,  very heavy extra taxation.  The big carbon tax will be first cab off the rank.  The other part of the problem is that the liberal national coalition offers nothing either,  just another rabble.  I mean,  would you want Tony Abbot in charge of anything,  I think the worst politicians state and federal across the country that the country has ever seen.  We are in a bit of strife from a governmental point of view.

Wednesday 21/07/2010: We note the sides for the test match this Saturday night have been named,  struggling with Richard Brown in the side,  basically means very,  very few carries from your primary forward ball carrier,  and practically zero metres there as well.  what did Keiran Reid notch up last week,  nearly 100 running metres.  Aus should still beat the South Africans though.

Wednesday 21/07/2010: More world matchplay darts on TV upon arriving home last night,  and this particular session showed us "The Raging Bull" getting slaughtered by a virtual newcomer,  and "The Wizard" of oz in another matchup,  he was up against "The Viper".  Must be moving to the pointy end of the competition,  the boys last night were using the heavy 22g darts,  moving up from the 20 and 21 gram light weights of the previous evening.  We were wondering what the major injuries would be in darts,  and I,  trying to be serious came up with elbow,  shoulder.  Another more facetious viewer in the 15man stats centre came up with alcohol poisoning.

Tuesday 20/07/2010: I was taken to task by one of the 15man team,  telling me that the referee on Saturday night used the word area where I have used region.  OK,  have to accept that as age is dulling my memory.  More important stuff though.  Home yesterday with a cracking migraine,  and watching TV,  at 6:00pm,  on came "World Matchplay Darts".  This is big,  and quite serious,  and quite funny.  Commentators get themselves really worked up about "the tungsten".  Some good names,  we really liked "The Crane" last night,  he had a special signal,  but in the past we have been enamoured by Phil "The Power" Taylor,  The Raging Bull who has the best entrance of all,  fingers on head replicating bull's horns and stamping at the ground like,  well like a raging bull.  Of course we have "The Wizard" from Australia who has also been to number one in the world.  Great spectator sport,  hard to tear away from.

Monday 19/07/2010: Lots of press and tweeting (bleating too) about the test match on Saturday evening between the All Blacks and the South Africans,  with almost 100% of comments saying McCaw should have been sent.  Maybe he should have been,  but not based on the official warning that the ref gave out.  After two offences in their own 22 metre zone,  McCaw was told "This is your official warning,  if there are any more penalties in this region someone will go to the bin."  The words "in this region" carry significant weight as to the next penalty,  as I believe it was in the Boks half.  Last week,  Botha got binned on the first offence,  no warning,  so Mr Lewis quite probably would have binned McCaw,  yes,  with no warning.  Remember consistency is what is being asked for.  I see his biggest error being something that has not been mentioned though,  or at least I have not seen it mentioned.  Flash back to the All Blacks' second try,  by Mils Muliaina,  after the midfield break by Piri Weepu.  If we go back from that we find a driving maul from a lineout,  a lineout that came about from a penalty to the Springboks.  The Springboks have won the lineout,  and attempted to set up the driving maul,  which New Zealand counter well.  Kaino is standing on the open side of the maul,  not on side.  In fact he only gets onside once,  and he is put on side by the action of the New Zealand Maul moving forwards,  he makes no attempt himself to get onside.  He does move back offside again though.  The referee is in poor position kind of between the maul and the touchline.  The maul wheels and the African tail of the thing moves into the open,  at which time Kaino attacks the ball carrier,  who never at any stage became unbound,  thereby entering from the side,  and from having been consistently off side,  and making no attempt to get back onside.  The referee can be clearly heard to call,  "thats fine",  when it very clearly is not.  The Africans have won this maul,  but on the backfoot due to a good counter from the Kiwis on the drive,  have gone midfield,  where their next ruck is sloppy,  Januarie kicks the ball through into Weepu's arms and try time at the other end to Muliaina.  For mine,  it is a penalty to the Africans back at the lineout/maul,  giving them an option to kick for goal or kick out and continue with the pressure.   You never know what the resultants will be by looking at history and identifying what should have been,  we can however identify that the All Blacks would not and should not have scored that second try at that time,  leaving the score at 5 to nil or 5 to 3,  with the Springboks hard on attack in the All Black 22,  or shooting for a penalty.  I think that was a far more detrimental call to the African's end result than McCaw being binned or not.

Saturday 17/07/2010: Only the one result through to date from GPS 1st XV results today,  and State High (BSHS) have beaten Brisbane Grammar by 23 to 13.  I heard on the vine that State High were terrible,  but that is often the case as they have to break the mode of football that is coached at Qld level and come back to the more positive State High rugby model.  I also heard of a massive head clash between Big Bermo from BGS and Curtis Browning from State High,  with Curtis coming off the worst.  Bermo has a head that one would not want one's own head running into,  but seriously,  hope both boys are OK.

Saturday 17/07/2010: For the second order of business today,  please go and check this video out on Youtube,  very,  very funny and I am looking forward to a trip to Adelaide soon to check Barry Morgan,  from the World of Organs out.  Very special.

Saturday 17/07/2010: First order of business for a Saturday is to comment on the All Blacks vs South Africa test match.  South Africa not good enough,  against an All Blacks side developing the ruthless relentless streak that has had them the most feared side in World Rugby for almost ever.  They really are playing a very simple game,  breach the advantage line,  very quick ball,  play width when the opportunities arise through lazy or incapable defence.  They would be the best in the world to watch when they are in a mood like they are now.  I see some comments on Twitter denigrating the referee,  except for his brain explosion in sin binning Rousseau I thought he had an excellent game.  In his defence on the Rousseau thing,  as harmless as the kick was to McCaw,  he should not have done it,  so ref will be 100% correct when the Laws are examined.  My best on field somewhere between McCaw,  Keiran Reed,  Weepu and Muliana,  probably edging for McCaw,  he had a massive game,  again.  I don't see Australia beating the All Blacks in season 2010,  they should be able to account for the Springboks in Brisbane for one win in the tri nations.  Australia not up to the physicality of both these sides,  and nowhere near the ability to play at the pace of the All Blacks,  the Springboks just hate Brisbane.  I see also over on Twitter that there is a comment that the All Blacks should be odds on favourite for next year's World Cup,  that may be the case,  but they usually peak in the wrong year,  if we examine history.

Friday 16/07/2010: Was watching the England vs NZ Maori match last night,  and would have to ask what Hosea Gear has to do to make the All Blacks.  He was very good in all the Maori encounters this year,  and coupled with that is big,  and quite fast.  I am noting Rene Ranger starting this weekend,  and have some serious question marks over his defensive capabilities,  so will be interesting to see if Die Bokke can expose him,  or if after last week's towelling they will slip into a more conservative,  "no idea" style of rugby that they are very comfortable playing.  Looking forward to tomorrow night,  and hoping we see the Kapo O Pango again,  great Haka,  not that any of them are not very special indeed.  There have been some great "Haka Leaders" over time,  and one of the best has been Tana Umaga,  and you can see him here leading the Kapo O Pango in it's early days.  You may call me cynical,  but the two times that the Kapo O Pango has ben performed this year,  it seems that the throat slitting (now more of a slash across the chest,  except for Liam Messam) is not filmed front on,  with,  in my opinion a deliberate cut to a camera at the side or behind for the final eerie moments.  Political Correctness at it's usual level of insanity.   Great Haka.

Thursday 15/07/2010: I refuse to have a battle of wits with someone completely unarmed.

Thursday 15/07/2010: Rugby coaches around the world profess the "face then space" idiom,  run at a man then shift to space.  What happens then if the strategy needs to be,  or the playing personnel dictate that we actually want to run at men,  and make them work hard,  and be as physical as possible,  say like a large train wreck of a number 8 running at a talented frail five eighth?  Point being,  we should never,  ever write anything in stone and treat it as gospel.

Thursday 15/07/2010: Scrum doctors again.  The standard preached on scrums today,  is to hit down and chase the weight,  yet we want to keep scrums up!  Interesting analogy again.  I would perhaps point people to the moments of forces,  that should explain that hitting down will never keep something up.

Thursday 15/07/2010: For all the scrum doctors out there,  the theory is,  to get scrums going forwards and straight,  it is professed that props start with their feet shoulder width apart and toes in a line (square),  yet the hooker starts with his feet offset.  Is the hooker going in a different direction to the props?

Thursday 15/07/2010: Why is it unsafe for players playing rugby in Australia at First XV level to crutch bind yet those that play Aussie Schoolboys play under a set of Laws that allows crutch binding,  thereby deeming it safe?

Wednesday 14/07/2010: Thought for the day,  a rhetoric one before you all hit me up on the email,  but certainly one for the rugby law making boffins.  Why,  in Under 19 or Junior Football is it unsafe to push a reasonably structured and organized formation like a scrum more than 1.5 metres,  but completely safe to drive a very unstructured,  loose,  at times disorganized structure like a maul,  as far as you like,  and we saw at least a half dozen 20 metre drives of such a beast in the recent Novotel Nationals?  Fair question,  and I am all for driving the scrum further,  not restricting the function of the maul.  A beautiful part of the game.

Tuesday 13/07/2010: All the photos I have taken of the Novotel National Schoolboys Rugby Tournament are now up on that other site,  very lazy way to show them,  but lazy also doesn't consume as much time.  In any case,  they are Day one,  Day three and Day four.   Rugby photos are broken up on Day four with shots of aeroplanes overhead,  a playful Willy Wagtail on the lush Ballymore surface (this unplayed on bit was anyway),  a dog,  some grass,  and an ant on the fence,  random stuff taken during halftime breaks,  breaks between games,  and breaks within games.  Of course there are some really great photos over at www.sportography.com.au .  Head over there and have a look at what real photographers actually capture.

Tuesday 13/07/2010: I heard on the news yesterday that the Soccer World Cup was over.  This invokes no emotion for me at all,  maybe a little happiness that some airtime will be freed up with soccer no longer on any media agendas,  on that scale in any case.  Biggest story out of South Africa,  well two actually,  the Vuvuzela has become the most annoying musical instrument on the planet today,  taking over the mantle from the bagpipes (my grandfather always told me that the bagpipes sounded better and better the further you got away from it),  and of course,  Paul the psychic Octopus,  apparently picking the winners all throughout the tournament.  There was a rumour last night that Paul was about to become Paella,  not sure on that!!!

Tuesday 13/07/2010: I listen to Bill Harrigan,  ex NRL referee,  on a Monday night speak of questionable decisions during the previous round of rugby league games.  Now,  Bill Harrigan comes across as one of the more arrogant,  mistake free gents you would ever hear speak.  Apparently,  according to Bill,  Bill has never made a mistake.  All that aside though,  and these guys criticize rugby for "interpretations" of the Laws of the game,  Bill and his team of NRL referees are trying really hard to interpret penalties out of the game of rugby league,  particularly at the game's contentious area,  the play the ball.  They are trying to find reasons not to give penalties,  which brings about the risk of making the game very messy indeed.  After hearing Harrigan speak on a Monday night,  one would laugh if one were to hear rugby league refs criticize the "Interpretations" of the law surrounding rugby.

Tuesday 13/07/2010: I enjoy hearing the rugby league world talk about "The Pinnacle" of their game.  This Pinnacle that they speak of is played by two teams.  These two teams play three games of footy in May,  June and July of each year.  This Pinnacle is played in Brisbane,  Sydney,  sometimes Melbourne,  and once,  an exhibition game in Los Angeles.  It is an interesting concept,  but it certainly is a very pointy Pinnacle with little hope of competing with the Pinnacles of other sports,  like soccer,  rugby,  cricket and many others with a real international flavour.  One does wonder too just how the AFL has been so successful given it is a local sport,  with no internationality about it at all,  must be something in how they market their game and it's players.

Tuesday 13/07/2010: I noted the Aussie Schools sides up on the web some time yesterday,  not for me to comment on selections,  just to wish all the boys luck in what now lies before them,  it should only ever be a tremendous experience.  I have no doubt there would have been some tired young blokes around the country yesterday as life got back to normal for them.  Ballymore too will enjoy some grass renovation,  the surface taking a pounding over the last week to look a little worse for wear after the tournament.  As for the Kiwis vs South African test match,  there have been heaps of comments around about how poor South Africa was etc,  etc.  I am not sure that is the case.  As many of you will know,  rugby is definitely a game that allows one side to shut another side out.  I thought the All Blacks were as clinical as I have seen them in a very long time on Saturday just gone.  It was a very powerful,  physically accurate performance from them and guys like Muliaina,  Donnelly,   Nonu and Woodcock should take time off more often.  Sonny Bill Williams best come to play if he wishes to be the All Black 12 or 13,  Nonu's game was outstanding and the man is just as dangerous,  probably got better feet than Williams.  Conrad Smith is pretty complete,  what goes on in his head is streets ahead of other players,  the guy's anticipation and speed should stand him above SBW at all times.  Personally I would be playing him at 6 or 8,  but don't think he will get a slot there either with Keiran Reid having a big game,  Kaino the only guy that I see that doesn't seem to play to his potential,  but had a pretty big one on the weekend too.  For all the African fans who were saying McCaw wouldn't make the Boks side,  the question can now be asked from the Kiwi fans,  who from Africa would make the All Blacks pack if such a hypothetical side were ever to be picked.  I would answer,  1,  maybe 2,  those guys being Matfield and maybe Burger.  To be honest,  have not rated the African scrum for a long time,  with Smit or Du Plessis at 2 and whatever combination of props they care to trot out.  Mealamu was my best on field the other night in an awesome performance,  for those that talk of Du Plessis being the number one hooker in the world,  they must just drool over the size of his biceps when he throws lineouts,  and rate him on that.  Same with Pierre Spies,  great body,  great athlete,  but as a rugby player,  goes missing more often than not,  has plenty ahead of him in the rugby playing stakes.  As I am sure they are saying in New Zealand,  it was a complete blackout,  with NEw Zealand just closing The Boks out of the game and not allowing them to play.  AS everyone in the world of rugby knows though,  the year before a World Cup is the year New Zealand typically peaks,  only to fall away and not win the world cup.

Monday 12/07/2010: The week,  well almost a week of schools rugby competition finished in a flurry yesterday,  Sunday 10/07/2010.  I thought the footy was most entertaining.  Unfortunately,  there did seem to be alot of injuries,  particularly arm and shoulder injuries.  We always hope that they are not too serious and that recuperation is swift.  It is however a risk that is taken playing contact sport,  when stuff gets physical,  there will always be people getting hurt.  We watched the start of the Victoria vs Western Asutralia match,  the playoff for 7th and 8th,  which I believe ended in a 10 all draw.  Couldn't see all of this one due to the need to wrap the programme up pretty quickly,  using two ovals,  and overlapping matches.  On the way past the canteen,  two of the three 15man rugby team decided to make a purchase from the said canteen.  Now I don't mind exorbitant pricing,  if quality is delivered on the other end.  High prices we did indeed pay.  The $7.60 burger I purchased had the look of being made sometime last week,  and we almost took the chips back that another member had bought and asked them to warm them to pop them in the fridge to warm them up,  if their hotbox wasn't working properly.  They were sort of like congealed grease moulded into the cardboard they came in.  Of course there was the coke purchased by this member,  expiry date June 11 2010.  Another member of the team noted the same expiry date on Thursday from the same canteen.  There may well not have been anything wrong with it,  but under the Laws we currently operate under in this land,  I don't think you can sell this "out of date" stuff at all,  let alone charge double the going retail rate.  We didn't have to buy the stuff I guess,  choices we make,  but obligations are in place on the selling side as well.  In any case,  inside,  the ACT were about to play Combined States.  Combined States won this one by 29 to 14.  The CS side has played pretty good footy all week and can long hold the memory that they were within a whisker of upsetting the perceived balance of the finals and competition when they deserved to be the winner over NSW 1 on Thursday,  and just could not get over the line.  NSW 1 playing off for 5th and 6th,  now wouldn't that have been just something.  Federal inquiries are based around stuff like that.  Qld 1 seemed to be a much more positive outfit than previous days,  and played some pretty good footy to beat NSW 1,  in fact both sides had a dig with Qld winning the match by 37 to 22.  The final,  between NSW 2 and Qld 2 was an excellent match,  some stoic defence from both sides,  and enterprising attack from both sides.  I thought Qld 2 might miss Stevie Hunt in the centres,  but just sheer will and determination carried them to the title.  They have had the best lineout throughout the tournament,  and I guess those selecting sides need to figure out what balance they want,  but it is easier to play with the pill and sort other stuff out from owning a reasonable share of possession.  Taumata looked tentative early in this game,  playing from the pocket,  he looked much better when he started taking the line on and moving his side forwards,  took a while though.  The match was pretty close,  with a fantastic field goal from the NSW 10 ( I think) from about 40 out breaking the 5 all deadlock that held for a long period of time.  I am yet to see an Australian side,  but look forward to what the selectors come up with.  It has been a week of good entertainment,  and I am sure there are many young blokes feeling very tired and sore this morning as they head back to school life and normality.  We did knock over a few photos yesterday and will be making them available to the viewing public over the next few days,  time is the key here.  You can view them here.  Also check out my good friends from www.sportography.com.au ,  they always get some very good shots with some very nice gear,  particularly those night ones,  I really only play with them and mine are not too flash,  so anyone that wants to front,  oh say 25 grand for what is required to take action photos at night like it is day,  please get in contact.

Saturday 10/07/2010: A most interesting day at the Novotel Schools Rugby Championships yesterday,  Friday.  Earlier in the day the ACT got up over the Western Australian side by 42 to 12,  followed by a Combined States win over Victoria by 31 to 5,  then upset number one,  with Qld 2 beating NSW 1,  21 to 20,  and upset number 2 saw NSW 2 beat Qld 1 by 28 to 21.  For those of you at the game,  how good were Dion Taumata and Stephen Hunt for Qld 2?  For those of you not there,  they were exceptional,  but only off the back of strong work in the middle.  It was a very committed performance from these guys,  setting up a cracking final tomorrow,  Sunday 11/07/2010.  Qld 1 looked like a side in disarray.  I am,  and everyone should always be,  very conscious of not being critical of the players at this level,  I don't think anyone ever does anything but their best.  Alot of the structural stuff that let Qld 1 down is solely based on the decisions and perceptions of the adults around them,  and they are following the line that those adult decisions and perceptions give.  At the end of it all,  adults take the responsibility,  given they put the side and strategy together.  The Qld 1 first phase was in total disarray,  breakdown the same.  I am not sure if Lindsay Crook touched the ball more than one time,  Sautia not much different. Qld 1 could have had Tim Horan and Frank Bunce in the centres last night and they would not have won the game,  so well did NSW 2 up the ante at the lineout,  scrum and breakdown.  I will write some more later,  but hope that the correct people are taking the responsibility for,  not necessarily the loss,  that's fine,  but the structural stuff that gave the boys few options when the hot torch was applied.  While the guy that reffed this game was bagged heavily by me for his performance in the Combined States vs NSW 1 game,  he came out and reffed this game quite admirably,  took charge and had qutie a good game,  so also very well done to him.  What he did last night after what he presided over on Thursday would not have been easy,  showed some strong character.  We did grab a few photos,  some are up here,  some will go up when I get time.

Friday 09/07/2010: I did get around to putting some more up on the Novotel Schools National Rugby Tournament,  here:

Thursday 08/07/2010: The evening word.  Well readers,  been a big day in Brisneyland at the Schoolboy National Championships,  over there at Ballymore.  Game 1 saw Qld 1 defeat Western Australia by 61 to 7 in a dusty performance,  plenty to work on for the boys here.  Game 2 saw NSW 2 beat the ACT 35 to 27,  with a red card going to the NSW 2 inside centre,  and I have some issues with the red card there,  maybe a yellow for sure,  but refs are being overly  zealous.  What turned into the match of the day,  saw an incredibly passionate Combined States side go down by 10 points to 6 to again,  a less than clinical NSW 1 side.  The combined States side deserved a win here,  and I have grave issues with the refereeing in this one.  Tuesday was a card fest with a half a playing deck being handed out in one match it seemed,  but this NSW 1 side today should have had most of their pack off the field at the one time due to repeated indiscretions at the breakdown/tackle/maul,  I could even see the case for a penalty try in a couple of those driving mauls that CS had going.  CS definitely the better side in this one and very unlucky to not get the win.  Then another good game to finish the day between Qld 2 and Victoria.  End score here was 27 to 26 to Qld 2,  and Victoria have some very handy players,  and well as the most tattooed players,  with the best tattoos. If Victoria don't get 9,  13,  14 and 15 in an Aussie side or squad somewhere then I am indeed a poorer judge than I rate myself as,  but not being a schoolteacher,  I understand that lack of knowledge of this sport.  I may get around to writing some more on this one,  again will see.  No photos today folks,  forgot to load up part of the equipment,  so got to study the footy today,   a bit more than usual.

Thursday 08/07/2010: This morning's final word,  and this is a cracking piece of information,  and shows just how backward looking and introverted rugby league is.  Did you know that the State of Origin Game last night was screened live in places like Equatorial Guinea (famous for Athletes like Eric Mussambani,  google him or find him on youtube,  but watch the youtube commentary by Roy and HG or you won't get through his Olympic swim),  the Republic of Congo,  and many other nations that would have no idea what rugby league was.  However,  you were unable to watch the game in Melbourne,  that is Melbourne,  Victoria,  Australia.  These guys know how to grow a game locally,  increase their earnings and pay their players what they are worth,  don't they.  No,  it's easier to pay them nothing,  and lose them to other codes,  and then blame the other codes or some third party,  and trot out some over used lines like "The game is bigger than any one player".  Unfortunately guys,  the sum of the "any one player" that you keep losing is devastating the game of rugby league, and if you look at the final 8 of the NRL table currently,  and judge it fairly,  you will understand that there are many sides just should not be there.  Have a great day folks.

Thursday 08/07/2010: I doubled my quantity of world cup 2010 soccer watched this morning,  I watched about 2 minutes of Spain vs Germany,  taking my total to 4 minutes for the tournament.  I, personally just don't get what makes the game popular,  just don't get it.  Can't deny that it is,  with some single individuals earning more than the GDP of small countries,  and a grouping of the highest paid in the world probably able to pay off the debts of the countries in trouble at the moment,  Portugal,  Ireland, Italy,  Greece and Spain.  Very funny that alot of those highly paid players are from countries that are in enormous financial strife.

Thursday 08/07/2010: After the classic Wallabies match,  I did sit through the balance of the State of Origin.  I can watch the likes of Inglis play,  and Slater.  Slater is special,  and Inglis,  Slater and  Cronk would be on my shopping list.  While Gus Gould was waxing lyrical about the brilliance of Jarryd Hayne last night,  reality is he performed about 3 acts of goodness,  but seriously if he is on $500000 per year,  Slater is a $2 million per year footballer.  What is worse though is the fact that Hayne got judged to be a superstar of the game on the back of 7 or 8 games last year in which he starred.  In today's "now" society,  consistent form over years,  not weeks  is apparently not required to pad up the bank account.  NSW proved to be one of the worst sides to ever come out of the state,  if they couldn't win last night,  with Qld playing dumb football for most of the match,  giving away stupid penalties and turnovers,  then they never will.  A great field goal from Lockyer,  and again I draw comparisons,  when a rugby player nails a field goal,  the game sucks,  the laws are wrong,  there is no skill involved.  When Darren Lockyer kicks a 46 metre field goal,  it is consummate skill,  sublime vision etc,  etc.  League commentators,  you gotta love their overt double standards.

Thursday 08/07/2010: We have been wondering for a while,  and we discussed it with a very prominent premier grade coach watching the Nationals on Tuesday.  Take today's sporting environment and wind it back to the mid 90's,  and we do wonder if the powers that be over at AFL may have had an eye on Jason Little and John Eales,  both freakish athletes,  with Eales allegedly ( don't know the guy so use the word allegedly) probably going to be able to be an Australian Fast bowler or a 1500 metre swimmer,  or a golfer,  of course we all know how good he was at rugby.  Little,  who I do know,  he grew up just down the road from us in a previous life,  could have played cricket for Australia,  was an outstanding batsman (put Botham away for a few 6's as a schoolboy when a men's Darling Downs side played an England touring side,  Jason was just 15,  had already high jumped for Australia at Junior Olympics,  ran  a pretty mean 100,  200 and 400 and is an outstanding golfer.  One just wonders if the AFL would have been on their heels.

Thursday 08/07/2010: Watched one of those classic Wallabies matches last night,  it is the first I have got to watch,  and it was a good one to watch,  that big scoring epic of 2000 played at the Sydney Football Stadium,  and wasn't the game so much better back then.  Jonah Lomu,  John Eales,  Jason Little,  Todd Blackadder,  Kees Meeuws were a few of the guys still playing,  however not what made this game so great.  The big stadium was pre reconfiguration and 109000 people attended the match.  One of the lowlights of the game was having to sit through Gordon Bray's adverb laced commentary.  but still these do not add or detract from what we liked about this game.  So let's get into that.  One of the giants of our game refereed this one,  Andre Watson.  This is a man that was responsible for one of the Laws of the time,  let's call it the Bird Law.  He was heard once to say,  not in this game but it became universal in matches he refereed,  "If a bird can do it on it (this particular it referring to the ball) it is out (out referring to out of the ruck).  To this day it is probably the best understanding anyone has ever had on whether the ball is in or out of the breakdown,  tackle,  ruck zone.  Andre was also partially responsible for this game,  and others,  and how well they flowed.  Many knock ons,  off sides and other indiscretions were seemingly ignored and this game did flow as did many others that this man refereed.  Simon Poidevin also was responsible for a Law naming,  "The Browns Cows on Canterbury Plains" Law for which Crusader Norm Maxwell was famous for infringing.  Technically an offside,  but we like the more colourful naming.  Now to the really good stuff.  Touch Judges were not microphoned up,  so were in their place,  on the side of the field,  yet to be called "Assistant Referees"  That's where they should be.  Goal Post pads,  as recently as 2000 were like coloured hessian with advertising wrapped around the posts,  offering little protection for any hardy soul that took them on.  While this was a high scoring and free flowing game,  the defence certainly seemed alot heavier in this game than we see today,  with Jason Little,  Steve Larkham and Dan Herbert constantly smashed by the Kiwi opposition.  Now,  the two most important points,  the scrums were not a farce,  with hardly a collapse,  and plenty of strong contests,  and rucking was still involved,  and judging by David Wilson's legs,  and the savage cut marks on them,  it was pretty heavy.  We long for the return of this style of footy,  but alas,  we feel it will never return.  We are so very thankful to whoever is responsible that we have been able for some time to afford Pay TV in order to never have to listen to Gordon Bray,  Buddha we could handle,  Gordon Bray required some sedation to get through.

Wednesday 07/07/2010: I have to admit,  as much as I respect the likes of Civoniceva and co,  I am getting a little tired of each camp trading words about who is putting on cheap shots etc.  Surely people,  and maybe I am a little old fashioned in this matter,  playing at the Pinnacle of your game,  rated one of the heaviest contact sports on the planet,  you are expected to be challenged physically,  mentally and in any way which you could be challenged.  In a game that should still be about intimidation,  surely you would expect the odd cheap shot.  If I were good enough to be playing at that level,  I would expect it as a natural part of the game,  and would certainly be planning on dealing it out as well.  This is part of what the sanitized versions of contact sports delivers,  and Origin lacks that Volatility that it once did,  where you sit on the edge of your chair just waiting for the thing to explode.  Just seems like a group of exceptional athletes going through the motions these days,  as good,  as fast and skilful as these blokes are,  the game borders on repetitive and boring.

Tuesday 06/07/2010: Attended the schoolboy national rugby championships today.  Missed the first game due to other commitments but understand NSW 1 had a big win over Victoria.  Watched NSW 2 demolish Western Australia 71 to nil,  and a reasonable performance by both sides saw Qld 2 beat Combined States by 31 to nil (3 yellow cards in this match from an overly zealous referee) and in the 3:30 pm match,  Qld one did not have it all their own way,  leading ACT 24 to nil at the oranges,  to win it by 31 to 15 after a very strong comeback from the ACT lads.  I have put up several photos,  but only activated a few,  because I am old and it is time to hit the bed. ( I do however rise at around the 2am mark for those laughing at the moment.)  Those photos are here,  with more to be activated over tomorrow at some stage.  I may also write something else if the mood takes me.

Saturday 03/07/2010: A guy,  maybe a lunatic,  rang in to Talkin Sport yesterday,  with a South African accent and spoke of the great Sarth Efrican rugby team of the moment.  He said that McCaw could not find a place in this team,  that they were about to Bash the All Blacks,  that Du Plessis was the best hooker in the world and that their forward pack was the best in the World.  He also added again,  just to emphasize it,  that their forward pack is the best in the world.  Interesting perception.  An incorrect one however,  if Richie is Sarth Efrican,  he would be first picked and captain.  I would also be finding room for a Tony Woodcock (Sarth Efrican props border on ordinary),  Kevin Mealamu,  Brad Thorn and maybe even Keiran Reid.  Pierre Spies is a sensational looking athlete,  but could be better placed in a body building competition,  he goes missing in the big games,  and has a poor work rate at times when the hard yards are on.  As for Du Plessis being the best hooker in the world,  again he is a big well built unit that looks good with the footy in hand,  but I would pump for Mealamu,  Hore and perhaps even Steve Thompson if I really wanted a strong set piece.  Best forward pack in the world?  England would smoke their scrum,  New Zealand will be better than them at the breakdown and the scrum,  they will have the best lineout,  so depends upon which area you are looking at them to be the best.  Matfield is a master tactician.  Across the park,  they should be the best team in the world,  and should win the tri nations,  but given it is a year out from the world cup,  it is also New Zealand's peaking year,  before they run into a year of choking (World Cup year) so don't be surprised if they add a trophy or so to the cabinet before the World Cup year.

Saturday 03/07/2010: A guy I know sent me this yesterday.  Have a look at it and see if you happen to know these guys.  The ARU could take a long strong lesson from these guys,  and probably will on the field later in the year.  Having said that,  I would much rather 4 All Blacks dropped around than four Wallabies,  particularly two of this four.  Have a look though,  it is a rugby based video on youtube,  nothing to do with any of my extracurricular left of centre activities.

Friday 02/07/2010: Just announced,  the inaugural Festival of the Slaughtering of the Cats will be held in Mundubbera on August 3.  We expect the Felinicide Dance Troupe's new rendition of the Dance of the Dying Cat to be quite spectacular.  This Dance Troupe will be dressed in leather,  and assorted BDSM outfits,  wearing cat skin beanies and the furry version of the cat slipper,  and carrying Stihl 090 Chainsaws (a big nasty beast of a chainsaw).  As a bit of an insight,  the Dance of the Dying Cat will be performed to ACDC's High Voltage,  which brings about other thoughts on the power of electricity as a medium for transcending worlds.

Friday 02/07/2010: House Hippos build their nests in bedroom closets using lost mittens,  dryer lint and pieces of string.  House Hippos come out at night to search for food,  water and materials for their nests.  House Hippos are very timid creatures and are rarely seen.

Friday 02/07/2010: House Hippos will defend their territory if provoked.

Friday 02/07/2010: Now when I tweeted the Hippo song last night,  I got some strange messages,  from the House Hippo.  I found out that House Hippos are found throughout Canada and the Eastern United States,  and that the favourite foods of the House Hippo are chips,  raisins and the crumbs from peanut butter on toast.  There was also a message to moonmanmac,  got to be excited by the names.

Friday 02/07/2010: The line from the song about the Russians that is down a couple of cells,  the response shocked me,  seems it is a very common song and all the emailers knew of it.  I thought it was quite a bizarre little number from an excellent but bizarre little band.  Of course that particular song is "The Walls Came Down" by The Call.  I entered my own first youtube project last night,  and you can find it here.  Came out of an Under 16 rugby trip to the State Titles in 2006.  The guy could play footy,  and entertain.  Next youtube video for me will be on destructive tighthead play,  my favourite type of rugby,  but first,  have a look at the Hippo song.

Friday 02/07/2010: A big weekend ahead.  I am commissioning a pet project this weekend,  the Mungallala Cat Abattoir chainsaws and bandsaws it's first cat on Saturday morning.  The abattoir is known locally as "The Field of Dreams".  Lots of family activities going on there,  so head on out and see what makes a cat kill floor actually work. I also put together last night a procedural manual on just how to make a pair of cat slippers with just two (need four for furry insides) and a chainsaw,  and of course a full face safety mask to avoid cat splatter on the face,  chainsawed cat intestine in the eye can sting like,  well sting like ........

Thursday 01/07/2010: "I don't think there are any Russians,  and there aint no yanks,  just corporate criminals playing with tanks."  Just a little something to kick off your financial year,  not sure anyone will know where it came from.

Tuesday 29/06/2010: We were disappointed in the little segment that they did on Rob Horne before the test match,  that it was not seen fit to mention that he is the cousin of David Horne,  from the Darling Downs.  We would hear 5 times per telecast that Benson Stanley is the nephew of Joe Stanley; New Zealand commentators obviously much more au fait with discussing player heritage.  There is some tongue in cheek there people,  hard to deliver in this case in the typed word.

Tuesday 29/06/2010: Not many kind words being said about the Wallabies at the moment.  Peter "Too Tough" Tunks probably summed it up best yesterday afternoon when a caller was asking "What is going on with the Wallabies?"  Tunks replied,  "I don't really watch it as there is nothing too entertaining about the Wallabies these days".  I know I drifted off to the land of nod several times during the test and had to watch it again the next day,  some very ordinary stuff going on.  If you added up the salaries of those 22 players,  there is no excuse for what is going on.  Word on the street is that Matt Giteau may be dropped for the next test match,  and there did seem to be some serious tension between Giteau and Elsom during that ugly match against Ireland on Saturday last.  I guess you would be replacing him with the out of form Berrick Barnes,  not sure how all that works.  My choice would be to change style a little bit and throw in Anthony Faingaa,  and get a little direct in attack and defence.

Monday 28/06/2010: We do wonder what Hosea Gear has to do to make the All Blacks side,  certainly deserves a spot in a 28 man squad I would have thought.

Monday 28/06/2010: Not sure what you can say about the Wallabies,  ordinary is a word that comes to mind.  We were sure that if the camera panned to the coaches area,  Robbie Deans would have been preparing to slash up and self harm.  A very distinct lack of penetration via any dominant ball carrying forwards.  While he has the biggest biceps in the game,  Chisholm's A game just wasn't enough.  Mumm and Brown both offer very little in ball carrying prowess at this level,  look sensational at Super 14 level,  and of course Elsom likes to play a little wider.  Ah the scrum,  a few old guys and I from around the Downs could have outscrummed that Irish outfit,  so don't be hanging your  hat on the performance being improved,  the result of a better scrum being from severely depleted opposition.  The English scrum would have destroyed that Irish outfit just as easily as it did the Australian one. Drew Mitchell,  well the best part about him on Saturday night was his eyebrows,  his game was dreadful,  we wonder what Peter Hynes has done to be so excluded from the side.  We also enjoyed Bryce Lawrence,  remember we reckon he is the guy that only has every second page of the law book printed.  We hoped like hell that Chris Pollock had the odd numbers in his.  We were however very disappointed in the scrumming in the Argentina vs France match.  We were expecting some high level scrum destruction given the reputation of the Agentinians,  but barely saw a scrum completed.  Seems the Argies have fallen into the international way of hitting down and chasing the weight,  chasing the weight straight into the turf.  Mr Dickinson too seems to have quite a lack of understanding of the principles of the scrum and loves his whistle.  The yellow card to the Frog for a lifting tackle  was laughable,  guy never went above the horizontal and was put down rather gently. 

Monday 28/06/2010: I noted some heavy hitting celebrities from the world of tallow wrestling out and about at the footy trials on Thursday and Friday nights,  Red Baron,  Punisher,  Silver Fox,  Nighthawke all in attendance on their nights off from wrestling committments,  and on the recruit as well.  One notable identity pointed out to me a likely 150 kilogram candidate,  wearing a shirt with 3 X's when he should have slipped up to 8 or 10 X's.  He was a bit like a pool of tallow himself,  just a whole moving mass under that tight shirt,  and would have taken some handling for absolute sure.  I also thought I noted the body parts dealer in the crowd on Friday night,  complete with an esky,  no doubt loaded up with freshly harvested kidneys.

Monday 28/06/2010: I noted the schoolboy side selections last night,  some interesting outcomes for sure,  but I guess that is what trials are for.  Well done to all the boys that made each side,  I hope you all do well.

Saturday 26/06/2010: A few pretty ordinary shots from the Qld Schools trials last night at Ballymore in Brisbane here,  and some shots,  again very quickly of an interesting display at the entrance of the Qantas Club in Melbourne here.  While you look at the photos,  I will be writing a recap of last night and selecting a side,  maybe 2 sides,  see how I feel and you will be able to view it here.

Friday 25/06/2010: The Qld Schools sides makeups will be of great interest this weekend.  You can already pencil in Browning and Sautia,  in fact we may not even be lucky enough to see them tonight,  which will be a real shame.  I thought Taumata was very good at 10,  I liked his work at the line and probably has the front running at this stage.  I will be watching with interest tonight for the others.  Most interested to see how Caleb Timu shapes up against some stronger defence.

Friday 25/06/2010: Got back into Brisbane last night to watch night one of the Schoolboy trials.  Game one saw GPS 2 destroy AIC 2 73 to nil,  game two was a victory to AIC 1 over CSS 2 by 29 to 19.  CSS 2 were right in this game and were threatening to score a try at one stage that would have taken them in front of the 17 points AIC had at the time.  A couple of mistakes late in the match saw AIC put two tries on in two minutes,  and then one on fulltime by CSS to reach a very respectable scoreline.  GPS 1 rushed out to a 31 to nil lead at half time,  with CSS 1 staging a strong comeback to go down 31 to 19 at game's end.  The CSS sides are very competitive this year with Dion Taumata looking very sharp when he moved to fulltime first receiver after an injury to Mataheare.  There was as much a level of scrum destruction in this game as is allowed in boy's footy,  coming from Bermingham and his group of GPS 1 mates at times.  I thought Browning was quiet in attack,  turning over the footy on a couple of occasions,  which could be as much about those around him as anything,  but he delivered a couple of stinging hits.  Sautia's first touch resulted in a try and his third or fourth touch delivered a beautiful little inside ball to the fast and strong Lindsay Crook who bagged a double for the night,  and looked pretty good on the end of a classy backline.  Sautia's defensive reads also set him apart from most others,  many wouldn't notice but he came up with some amazing stuff in defence.  I thought Henry (last name not sure) in the GPS 2 side had an outstanding game,  and Caleb Timu in the same game looked pretty classy,  against a side not offering much in defence.  I did not mind the GPS 2 flyhalf but he is just so small,  but classy feet and awareness.  Some good matchups on offer tonight so hoping it stays dry.

Friday 25/06/2010: The guy I helped out with rugby laws in Victoria on Wednesday night turned up at breakfast at the hotel the next morning in a bright green suit.  Certainly got my attention.  Lovely cold place Victoria and it was an interesting trip,  where I spoke with the young Asian (male) concierge at the hotel about Tallow wrestling.  He said he didn't like hair on his body and was an all over shaver.  No doubt he thought I was a bit tragic.  Arriving at the airport and ducking into the Qantas Club for a coffee,  and most of the Melbourne Storm players and management were in there.  I had a chat to one of the officials about footy in general but couldn't quite come to terms with just how small Cameron Smith is,  tiny unit to take the flogging he does each week.

Thursday 24/06/2010: Imagine the irony of this folks.  I was sitting in a Melbourne bar last night,  or yesterday afternoon,  watching the Maori vs England (more sensational and gorgeous scrum decimation from the English too by the way) match.  I was first there and the remote control for the television came under my control,  just like home,  I had control.  As people started wandering in,  some turned their noses up,  and others tried to explain the game to those around them.  I had to go over and help one guy out,  so far off the mark was he,  and even after comprehensive explanation of the tackle zone and law,  he said that we,  meaning he and I had confused his buddy.  They were both very confused to start with.  It is also hideously cold and bleak here in sunless Victoria.

Wednesday 23/06/2010: Some commentary on the Aus U20 vs NZL U20 match here:  For the commentators,  not great work guys,  name pronunciation earlier in the tournament of the Aussies was woeful,  and your continued bleating on about Morahan,  and in the final Toua being 18,  just a little grating.  You may be forgiven if the programme you blokes were reading was incorrect,  but I am here to assure you that these two guys are part of the 1990 drop.

Tuesday 22/06/2010: New Zealand Under 20's send the Australians home with their tail firmly between their legs,  a 62 to 17 blackout.  If you read down I did predict that the Australian defence would not be up to containing this side,  but never would have predicted 62 points.  Looking forward to watching it later.

Tuesday 22/06/2010: I am thinking I must have been watching a different test match to some after reading all the reports yesterday on how much improvement there has been in the Aussie scrum.  How destroyed do you want to see it?  How destroyed is destroyed?  Just because the front three allegedly played better in defence doesn't make the scrum any better,  or does it for some?  A little more on this here:

Monday 21/06/2010: State of play as  I see it currently right here people,  a Munro awarded over the weekend,  some talk of cat mustering at a junior rugby carnival all covered in  a page here.

Saturday 19/06/2010: I figure the racism stuff that is raging about in two codes now is a good thing to stay away from.  It has lit up talkback radio at all hours of the day and night,  and you would be very surprised at the extremely high percentage of callers that support Andrew Johns,  with the most ludicrous that I have heard,  at 2am Thursday morning suggesting that Timana Tahu had destroyed State of Origin and rugby league.  Of course most of them,  if not all of them give no basis in fact for their outrageous claims but the sheer and simple fact that they have these views and are allowed to share them should have people asking why.  Anyway,  go figure.

Saturday 19/06/2010: Another weekend has quickly arrived,  and we certainly hope for more displays of destructive and damaging scrummaging,  and less cats.  We haven't seen the scrum massacre yet this weekend,  with the Aussie Under 20 scrum kept relatively quiet by the big English scrum.  England had some chunky guys themselves,  with trendsetting hairdos and their starting loosehead prop looked like he was 34.  The Maori vs Ireland game didn't give us anything destructive either,  on the scrummaging front,  but it did give some insights into the importance of Maori culture,  in one of the best pre game shows I have seen,  quite sorry I didn't record it,  with big Kees Meeuws one of the anchors for the show.  Big Kees must have a hell of a job buying suits,  with a massive neck,  chest and shoulder set,  one of the better scrummagers of the last dozen or more years.  So the opportunity for destructive scrummaging lies with England over Australia tonight,  it won't be Australia destroying England,  so we hope for something nasty there.

Saturday 19/06/2010: Had a look at the Aussie Under 20's vs England Under 20's yesterday afternoon,  when the day was over.  The Aussie scrum had nowhere near the dominance that it showed against South Africa.  Our loosehead side was shown up,  which is unusual,  it is usually the tight head side that gets wasted first.  I am looking forward tot he day that Little Paul Alo Emile doesn't allow the safety valve of standing up to happen by his opposition prop,  can keep him down and straight,  and maintain straight line power,  destructive straight line power.  The Aussie lineout with 6 feet 8 and 6 feet 9 locks,  and Jake Schatz who is super in the air,  and Ed Quirk as a backup,  got given a lesson too,  they will have some concerns there coming in to a game against a crack and ruthless New Zealand side that pretty much tore South Africa apart,  Australia only just beating South Africa by 42 to 35 or something like that.

Friday 18/06/2010: I note a big review into State of Origin NSW style.  The first thing they need to do is talk Phil Gould or Warren the Wok Ryan into coaching the side. Some of the dinosaurs on the selection panel really need to move on,  some of the selections this year have been staggering to say the least.  Why was Snowden and Douglas not in the side,  same Jennings,  why was Gallen not paired up in the row with Lafranchi,  plenty of questions and plenty of other players out there.  The most outstanding decision was Joel Monaghan replacing Tahu,  on a wing foreign to him,  and how many tries has he scored in 2010,  zero.  You needed to realize that the Qld side going into the series would probably score 3 to 4 tries in each match,  so you have to be able to score 4 or 5 back.  No goal kicker,  the weird selections keep on coming.

Friday 18/06/2010: Australia have beaten England in the Under 20 clash.   Score 28 to 16.

Friday 18/06/2010: Caught the first 20 minutes of the Aus Under 20 game vs England this morning,  and turned on the recorder so I can catch the rest upon my return home.  It was 10 to 8 to Australia when I left home,  with England providing some stern resistance and actually playing some attractive rugby.  Jake Sholtz was our leader at this particular time but I am sure he will morph into others as the commentary progresses.

Friday 18/06/2010: Heard an interview with Greg McCallum yesterday afternoon.  Greg is an ex referee and current head of the rugby league match review committee.  He was asked a very direct question,  that question being "why wasn't O'Donnell cited for the head butt?" to which he gave a very direct answer, "It wasn't a head butt."  Reason given for it not being a head butt,  because it did not make contact.  Looked for all the world to me like a head butt,  with plenty of face smashing intent,  as big Dave Taylor was being held on both sides by NSW players,  the fact that they have decided it missed makes it no less of a head butt from where I sit.  Watched a few more highlights of the big rugby league match last night,  and really,  Greg Inglis is worth whatever you have to pay him,  he is a several million dollars a year footballer.  He would look very special in a Reds jumper,  and a Wallaby jumper,  and would be the most potent weapon that game has probably ever see.  As rugby league tears itself apart,  I wonder will we see it or will his considerable talents be wasted in the AFL.

Thursday 17/6/2010: The GPS sides have been named for next week's schoolboy trials,  the CSS sides too,  and one can only assume so have the AIC sides.  At this stage I am unable to locate the sides on the web,  not that I have looked too hard,  but I am sure they are there somewhere.

Thursday 17/06/2010: The sound of chainsaws reverberated around the office yesterday,  bringing back memories of the fun one used to have with them as a younger bloke,  middle of winter Sunday afternoons cutting firewood.  I mentioned of course to a fellow staffer that not only were they useful for providing some of the staples of life,  but a fantastic weapon,  as seen in Scarface.  However,  a mask is mandatory,  if you were to hit a cat,  for example,   in the midriff on an upswing,  there would be some splatter for sure,  so I recommend a full face mask,  maybe a raincoat.  I remember many years ago being up in a tree,  cutting branches for cattle fodder,  catching my leg on an upswing (really incorrect and dangerous use of the chainsaw) and having to dig pieces of the meat of my leg out of my eye before climbing down the tree with a sensational ripped and torn two inch wide gash in said leg.

Thursday 17/06/2010: From one of the 15man staffers last night,  who has been mercilessly patrolling forums and the like,  this classic,  and I think it is quite harsh on young Berrick,  when all is said and done,  but he has generally not played well this year.  The comment went: "I wouldn't have Berrick Barnes in my playstation side".  Harsh,  very harsh.

Thursday 17/06/2010: State of Origin delivered a nice old fashioned stink last night,  well maybe not really old fashioned,  people are frightened to throw a punch these days in case of suspension and fines etc.   I only managed to get to half time,  needed to rest my eyelids.  However,  it seems the headbutt is legal these days,  with Hayne beating a charge recently,  and O'Donnell,  who certainly took his share of angry pills prior to the game,  not to be charged for his butt on Dave Taylor,  who was held while he got punished.  That was about the time that big Sammy Thaiday decided enough was enough and delivered a wonderful combination.  Would have liked to see Taylor deliver a few sledgehammer blows as well.  NSW certainly needed some tough guys in that pack,  but what they lacked last night was people that could play football,  and seemingly any idea,  yep they played quite a bit of no idea rugby league.  Qld showed NSW up in many areas,  Hayne is not even close to Slater in positional play and ball carrying,  Inglis is by far and away the best footballer in the world,  both codes.  Why would NSW choose to kick in attack to Folau's side of the field,  Folau the best in the game in the air.  Why did NSW defend like schoolboys,  rushing up and past the footy,  Thurston thrived on that.  NSW while beaten everywhere,  were beaten in key slots,  9,  7,  6 and 1.  It was almost halftime before I heard Trent Barrett's name called.  I would imagine Craig Bellamy will have a little more free time on his hands next year,  Luke O'Donnell a little free time shortly.

Wednesday 16/06/2010: I gather everyone is as excited as I am about the amount and level of scrum destruction we have seen over the past weekend,  England destroying Australia and the Aussie Under 20's molesting the South African Under 20's.  Hope to see plenty more of the same this coming weekend.  Just re watching some of those Aussie scrums,  there is no feeling in the world like the one I assume Daly was having,  the one where you sacrifice your groin or knee,  because you know if you lift your foot to save yourself you are wheelchair bound.  A few occasions there he was in a real mess.  On other occasions,  the wily old English guy has put him down,  shifted him,  lifted him up,  and then driven his shoulder right in under the rib cage of a defenceless Faingaa,  who was no doubt getting his own dosing from the homeless man,  Steve Thompson.

Tuesday 15/06/2010: I threw a few photos of the TGS vs Nudgee game up here,  not real flash in any way shape or form.

Tuesday 15/06/2010: Big weekend of sports action and various other marathons on the TV.  Some more great scrummaging came our way yesterday afternoon in the replay of the Under 20's match in the junior rugby World Cup,  Australia vs South Africa.  123 kilogram Paul Alo Emile from Australia,  Queensland and Brisbane absolutely destroyed a couple of guys that plied their trade against him from the Rainbow nation.  Paul's big issue at the scrum is occasional periods of concentration lapses,  but only noted it maybe three times in this match.  He is a big unit and built low to the ground.  The Aussie Under 20 front row is a heap heavier than the Wallaby front row.  Also playing well were our 5 or 6 number 8's.  Jack and Jake Sholtz,  Jake Schotze,  Jake Shaitz,  Jack Shotze,  and any combination of the pronunciations.   They also messed up Liam Jill (spelt Gill),  here in Aus we more often than not use the hard version of the letter "g" when it starts a word.  I note the commentators took time to find out how to pronounce the name of the Australian reserve hooker,  and we know just how important the reserves covering the smaller numbers are,  but didn't spend much time on our captain,  with a relatively simple name,  pretty much pronounced one way.  Australia and South Africa both played pretty well,  but those South African kiddies must have walked under a half a dozen ladders on the way on to the field,  the ref was pretty kind to Australia in the closing 5 minutes,  I could have given three or four ruck penalties,  kickable,  in one of the African surges to the line.  You take that and move on though.   Personally,  I would be playing Kimame Sitauti at 14 or 11 and Shipperly at 13.  After what I saw last year Kimame is unlikely to ever be an outside centre.  How good was it to see the knees brought back into rugby, with the big Irish number 8 experiencing a big,  big brain explosion and leaving the referee no choice but to red card him.  He is very lucky his ban isn't several months,  and very lucky an angry All Black didn't split his head open,  Brad Thorne comes to mind straight away.  I am thinking though that the TV incident of the weekend for me had to be a show or two,  and one particular incident in one of the shows,  in a Bear Grylls marathon on the Discovery Channel.  Now Bear is somewhat left of centre and has himself dropped into some stupid locations to teach us all about survival,  how to rub sticks together and make a fire,  how to drain the insides of sea cucumbers into your mouth without gagging,  how to kill,  cook and eat rattle snakes,  how to use vines to lash together crude materials to make a raft to sail the ocean blue.  So after an afternoon of mowing,  spraying and fertilizing,  settling into my favourite chair for a bit of a break and a soul reviving water,  imagine my amazement when Bear tells us he has been on the sea on his crude raft for 38 days,  and he only has dirty water full of bacteria left to drink,  or rather use.  To get full use of the water,  and to avoid vomiting up the vital moisture,  one gives oneself an enema to get full use of the hydrating fluid.  This is definitely something I need to know as I was planning on alot of days lost at sea soon.  One cannot thank Bear enough for showing us these survival techniques in everyday lost in the wilderness situations.

Monday 14/06/2010: Australia have just defeated the Junior (Under 20) Springbok side by 42 to 35 in the Junior World Cup,  being played in Argentina.

Monday 14/06/2010: A comprehensive report on the Churchie vs BGS match sent in by a spectator can be found here:

Monday 14/06/2010: Well Andrew Johns is in the news again,  and surely he realized that what he was saying was going to have an effect.  Personally here at 15man,  we were happy to forgive on the drugs incident,  but I don't give out second chances willy nilly,  and doing something wrong and saying sorry has worn out the welcome.  Needs to be consequences,  and unfortunately Channel 9 sees the only consequence as greater ratings and are not applying any pressure to Johns' employment.  It is unforgivable that Greg Inglis has been drawn into something completely outside his control,  and for that to have an effect on somebody's life is a travesty of justice.

Sunday 13/06/2010: Just threw together a few phrases on the TGS Nudgee afternoon,  as well as the awarding of a Golden Munro for a scintillatingly poor refereeing decision,  awarded of course in memory of a ref called Munro,  that was without doubt the worst I have ever seen,  so we had a classic Munro moment,  being awarded the highest of all refereeing incompetence awards,  the Golden Munro.  Writeup here.

Sunday 13/06/2010: Still dreaming about the English molestation of the Australian scrum,  I do so enjoy that kind of stuff.  The result is irrelevant,  it was the English scrum and Quade Cooper show,  with the scrum display far outweighing the magical mystery of the Cooper performance.  Particularly the English just taking notice of the properties of Physics and not trying to build something impossible into scrums that defies those properties,  as we have done here in Aus.  Coupled to that is the old,  balding,  ugly men involved across that English front three,   and the scrum coach.  Absolutely beautiful stuff.

Saturday 12/06/2010: Well just watched the complete molestation and destruction of the Australian scrum,  and what I liked about the English scrum performance,  was their deliverance of straight line power,  none of this hit down and chase weight rubbish,  get the thing up (most of the time) and just smash through the opposition scrum.  Young James Slipper survived,  just,  and I thought he looked better at tight head than he did at loosehead.  To all those commentators,  Papworth on Friday and Martin tonight,  my understanding is that Slipper is a tight head first and foremost,  loosehead second.  I thought his body shape at tight head tonight was outstanding,  much better than Ma'afu and much better than he had at loosehead,  he is just lacking that wily way that you get when you are 37 and have already packed 200 000 scrums,  and that strength that men get when you are 25 or 26,  that will come,  not much you can do to bring it on,  well legally anyway,  but I liked what I saw from him body shape wise tonight.  All that aside, the Aussie scrum got a raping tonight that we haven't seen for many a moon,  and I enjoyed it very much,  the scrum power.

Saturday 12/06/2010: Watched the Nudgee vs TGS game today,  in quite pleasantly cool conditions.  Nudgee got the lollies 41 to nil,  but I am sure will be disappointed that they didn't score 70,  really had a poor last 20,  State High beat Terrace 34 to 12,  Tss defeated Ipswich 39 to 36 and BBC pumped Downlands 38 to 8.  More to follow on the TGS vs Nudgee day.

Friday 11/06/2010: Looking very much forward to watching Sonny Bill Williams ply his trade in next year's Super 15 rugby competition.  I am sure he has foregone much cash to attempt to make the All Blacks.  He will also contribute significantly to the crowds that attend.

Friday 11/06/2010: We see that James Slipper is about to debut for Australia off the bench tomorrow night.  The boy is young for a prop at this level,  21 I think,  but has been widely regarded for a very long time by those in the know.  I am quite certain he will learn a few things,  about just how flexible his spine can be,  given the quite hard edge the England pack looks to have.  But we do congratulate the young guy,  wish him all the best and look forward to watching the match.  Remember,  if you read down a few scrolls here on this page,  I did make the call that he would be in the extended squad,  and now injuries have meant that he is on the bench for the really big boys.

Friday 11/06/2010: The Israel Folau debate is quite incredible.  They (the NRL,  NSWRL,  ARL and QRL) don't want to create any publicity for the AFL,  yet that is all they are doing,  whipping up a media firestorm.  Of course Folau should play,  contracted player for 2010 to the NRL,  Broncos,  and I believe he would have every right to sue for loss of earnings/restraint of trade  if he could prove some reasonable case that he would have been selected.  The fact remains,  that the market has dictated Folau is worth 6 million (allegedly) over 4 years,  part of the market (rugby league) cannot afford such a number as it is unable to generate enough revenue due to be a non national sport or entity,  so rugby league bows out of the race,  and then tries to blame the party with the revenue stream to set and afford the market,  blame the kid himself for looking after his future.  Please folks,  you need to get with the times and figure out how you are going to increase your won revenue stream (unlikely given rugby league is a brisbane/sydneycentric sport) or how you are going to better distribute the pie (I would think less teams not more) to retain people at the top of the heap,  the the market is currently determining you cannot afford.  The other big furphy that all and sundry are going on about is that the 25 grand that Folau will be paid to play in the remaining two State of Origin games should be paid to a young (Folau is 21 I believe) player that is loyal to rugby league.  No one will know if that un named or any young player will be loyal to rugby league until his career finishes,  that is one of the silliest arguments you could hope to hear.  This time last year,  even earlier this year,  for all intents and purposes,  Folau was loyal to rugby league.  And the stupidest of all,  a comment on the Courier Mail website by someone with not oo much up top,  that ticketek should not only ban Kevin Sheedy from attending NRL and State  of Origin matches,  but all AFL supporters.  Beautiful suggestion.  Love to see the procedural roll out of that little nightmare.

Wednesday 09/06/2010: All you budding scrum coaches out there,  should all have asked this question.  The methodology today is to have the props with their feet shoulder width apart and pointing forwards,  but on the same plane,  yet the hooker starts at heel to toe.  Props point forward to go forward and stay square,  so what is the hooker doing?  Not saying anything is right or anything is wrong,  but people should question such things rather than be blindly lead.  My most recent Smartrugby face to face course a couple of years back,  a couple of young guys from the QRU doing the course,  and they hit me up with the question of how I like to be in a scrum,  as a hooker.  Now while knowing the answer they were expecting if we were going to script,  script is not something I necessarily follow,  I answered "comfortable" which set of an outrageous debate amongst folks in the room,  including the presenters.  I had jumped off their script page and gone somewhere that isn't thought about,  this is what you do and that's all there is to it type thing,  but the first thing I always tried to do in a scrum was gain an advantage,  and get as comfortable as the structure allowed.  Against a couple of really good tight heads,  there was a level of rib cartilage busting discomfort,  no matter where you went,  or how you moved (do so enjoy a good tight head that can nail a guy on the engagement,  pure class),  but generally comfortable.

Tuesday 08/06/2010: While we don't know yet who will actually play for NSW in the next origin,  with them naming a 21 man squad while they check injuries and await suspensions,  at least they have named a couple of harder men in that squad,  in O'Donnell and Gallen,  and Hindmarsh who is one guy that can chew you off 50 tackles in a match.  Looks a bit more like an Origin pack now,  but nothing like the past,  when guys like Chief Harragon,  Les Boyd,  Mark Carroll,  Mark Geyer and many other genuine hard men pulled on that blue jersey and blood was spilled in the war that ensued.

Tuesday 08/06/2010: It was pointed out to me yesterday that while all the talk has been about whether or not Terrace played their entire First XV in the match on Saturday just gone (and I am assured by sources very close to the set up that they did),  no one has questioned whether or not Downlands was running with a full outfit.  It turns out,  and again from sources very close to their outfit,  that they had four of their first stringers out,  including captain ( I think he is captain) and exceptional loose forward Ryan O'Connell.  I would personally be pencilling O'Connell in for a spot in the Queensland side,  playing in Brisbane in about a month.  I rate him quite highly.

Monday 07/06/2010: I see fast Eddie,  Fast Eddie Jones that is,  writing in the Courier Mail over the weekend on Pocock and other things.  Do not be mistaken about Fast Eddie,  his success came on the back of stuff other coaches have done,  namely Rod Macqueen,  and he watched over really great sides become also rans.  In the case of Qld,  he took them from really bad to somewhere below really bad.  Fast Eddie was the man that said Pocock was past his prime at 17 or 18,  maybe even 15,  and for Qld not to sign him.  Good call Fast Eddie.  He also goes on to say that he would like to see Elsom play at 7.  Fast,  you can do that in the Fast Eddie XV,  Elsom's efforts on Saturday night should really earn him a call up into that side.  Not sure many real rugby judges will agree with Fast.  What would be agreed upon though,  is Fast being paid to stay as far away from Australian rugby as is humanly possible,  he is as responsible for the demise in the code here as anyone can be.

Monday 07/06/2010: I thought the test match,  Aus vs Fiji was pretty ordinary,  plenty of work to do there for the Aussies,  and now some more injuries too.  I very much enjoyed the missile style tackling of the Fijians though,  obviously rugby in Fiji operates under some nice modified versions of the tackle law that allows the use of the shoulder charge,  as it should be.  I live in hope that the shoulder charge gets brought back into rugby one day.  People look at me in shock when I say that,  but if the hit is not pulled off correctly,  plenty of advantage to the ball carrier,  and people survive,  Giteau seemed undamaged by the couple of beltings he was issued.

Monday 07/06/2010: Attended the trial day yesterday for Darling Downs club selection.  Few handy footballers running around,  and a few ex footballers casting their eye over things on the sidelines.

Monday 07/06/2010: Plenty of conjecture yesterday as to whether the Gregory Terrace side actually played their 1st XV against Downlands on Saturday.  There are two sides to this story.  Downlands can only play,  and beat,  the sides that are put on the paddock to play against them.  This they did in the case of Gregory Terrace on the weekend.  From the Terrace viewpoint,  and I have no idea on who played,  I can understand that they would rest key players or players with injuries against Downlands,  as there is nothing riding on the match from a Terrace and competition point of view.  I have seen a Downlands working very hard to gain some respect on the footy field,  and they are certainly playing with a lot more resolve and a better attitude than in the most recent previous years,  in typical,  direct,  David O'Sullivan style.  The key however is,  you can only play the 15 guys that are put on the field against you,  that for that particular 90 or so minutes in time,  are called the 1st XV.

Monday 07/06/2010: I heard on the grapevine that big Mick Bermingham was aggressively destructive and constructive in his work for BGS,  as I would certainly expect him to be.  good to see the big red man is asserting some dominance in his rugby work.

Monday 07/06/2010: I went back and re read some of the rubbish I wrote yesterday,  have made some grammatical and spelling changes,  I rarely have a look at my work,  perhaps I should,  alot in there didn't make sense.

Saturday 05/06/2010: Chartered a plane and flew back from the body parts dealers convention in Dubbo for the match up of the round at Fursden Road between BSHS and TSS.  State High got the gong by 45 to 20,  I some how for some reason put 45 to 28 in here,  unsure where it came from,  early onset dementia is all I can claim,  whatever it said,  I definitley meant 45 to 20,  in quite an entertaining game of footy,  on which I will write more in the near future, Nudgee got over BGS by 55 to 26,  Churchie get a win on the board over Ipswich,  30 something to 5,  BGS win comfortably over TGS (no score available at the moment) and Downlands playing GT on the bye knocked them over by 40 to 5.  Took a few photos today,  and for being out of practice I reckon I grabbed the international snapshot of the year,  and you can find it here:  Admittedly it needs some cropping and stuff,  but the happy crowd in the background help to make the shot.  It is part of a series and I will get the series up in due course.  I have put up two photos of the game at the moment,  bit of work to do on them all yet,  but you will find the whole lot,  two currently,  if you keep checking back here:  And now the writeup on the BSHS vs TSS match right here.

Thursday 03/06/2010: Well a big weekend planned,  off to Dubbo for the International Conference of Body Parts Dealers,  should be a beauty,  with a tallow wrestling extravaganza planned on the Saturday night and Sunday afternoon Rat Golf tournament  on the Dubbo course.  I am reliably informed that Lutists are attracting rats from all over the central west towns,  places like Orange,  Wellington and Blayney being targeted for the several thousand rats that will be required for such a prestigious event.  I hear the Goondiwindi Mauler has already headed to the Central West of NSW in a small chartered private plane in order that he be fully prepared for the defence of his Heavyweight Title.  I hear the 170 kilo Colombian is stinging for a shot at the title but he will have to really sharpen up if he is to compete against the wily,  street wise Killer Joule Ken in the squared circle we know as the tallow pool.  The whole event is to be televised on various pay per view channels over the coming week.  The part I am really looking forward to is how to painlessly remove a kidney from a victim,  woops subject,  that is awake,  and methods for longer term storage of body parts without ice. 

Wednesday 02/06/2010: I note that one of the Downs local hotels,  The Spotted Mosque,  has Brendan Fevola in attendance soon.  A ticket to have dinner in the same place as,  and hear this goose speak is $120.  He would need to pay me to want to be in the same room as him.  He hasn't got any dough though,  allegedly busy trying to keep gambling debts at bay,  and the lovely gentlemen that chase these debts,   according to media reports,  so that his knees stay intact.

Wednesday 02/06/2010: I am about to enter the heady world of youtube.  Found an old clip from 2006 of one of the Darling Downs Under 16 players I coached singing an outrageously ridiculous song titled "My Pet Hippopotamus",  it should go viral within hours so good is it,  so do keep an eye out for it.

Wednesday 02/06/2010: Few favourite pics I have snapped over the years,  this particular one being of a busted and bleeding Eddie Quirk in 2008,  such rich,  red blood.  There is a bit of a series of young Ed there bleeding nicely.  Watch for the Dave Feao ones to come.

Wednesday 02/06/2010: I think the rugby league folks should stop complaining about having their code raided,  after all they started it,  and do some raiding of their own.  Start having a look about in true world sports like Bog Snorkelling for one.  Fascinates me that the league fraternity,  or some of them are saying it is a compliment that their code is being raided,  that they produce the best athletes.  It is unfortunate then that their very insular game does not produce the revenue to keep such stars in this game.  I do enjoy watching Gorden Tallis go around on Foxsports,  he is the purest form of human entertainment that there is,  some unbelievable stuff comes out of his mouth at times,  but on his most recent spraying of Israel,  I have to wonder if Gorden would have taken the 6 million if it was on offer in his day,  of if he was an athlete that warranted such an offer.  Very,  very easy to take the high moral ground today.  I would have very much liked to see Israel play rugby,  but good luck to him,  someone has valued him at money above what rugby did,  and something is only ever worth what someone is prepared to pay for it.

Wednesday 02/06/2010: I do believe that the NRL or QRL have got it wrong if they don't select Folau in the next State of Origin side.  They are punishing the man but the real fault lies in the code of football not being able to generate enough income to keep people like Folau in their game.  The kid is contracted to the NRL and Broncos until the end of 2010,  and surely you want to put your best team on the field.  I wonder if 10 or 15 years ago the AFL would have thrown huge amounts of cash at one J. Eales,  one of the freakier of all athletes.  Outstanding aerial skills,  and with a far more developed kick than Folau currently has,  it is possible that rugby may have been supplying a pin up boy to AFL.  I also think that everyone that is criticizing the AFL for paying big money to two athletes that haven't played their game before lack an understanding of what is going on here.  The first thing these blokes are going to do is get the turnstyles clicking and revenue flowing via advertising.  Not dissimilar to Wendell Sailor's move to rugby.  No one can tell me that his poaching was not about bums on seats,  god we all knew he was too stupid to make a fist of rugby,  but he sure filled up some stadia for a few years.

Tuesday 01/06/2010: Word through from Argentina and the Under 20 World Cup,  there you go,  I am lurking everywhere.  The Aussie side played a trial against Argentina in atrocious conditions,  wet and windy,  with Liam Gill outstanding,  nailing two tries and some heavy duty defence.   Quirk was described to me as exceptional in the tight and Jake Schatz very strong across the park. The Aussies got up by 33 to 13.  First pool game is this coming Saturday against Scotland.

Tuesday 01/06/2010: Lurking about in the shadows at Downlands on Sunday afternoon,  I was described by a colleague as looking like a homeless man.  Thanks for the compliment,  it's the look I strive for.

Monday 31/05/2010: I do so enjoy the cross code commentary,  particularly from the leaguies commenting on rugby,  and this comes from both the expert section,  and the know nothing section.  I watch and enjoy both codes,  it is a matter of understanding both and wearing different hats while watching.  So here we go.  When a rugby union scoreline finishes up 40 to 36,  the commentators condemn rugby union players as not being able to tackle,  when a rugby league scoreline ends up 40 to 36,  it has been a brilliant game of attacking football.  When a rugby game finishes with a scoreline of 12 to 10,  it has been a dour affair lacking any attacking brilliance at all,  when a rugby league game finishes at 12 to 10,  the game is labelled as a defensive masterpiece.  When a rugby game finishes at 25 to 12 and there has only been one try scored,  the game and the laws get criticized.  Well guys on this one,  I make the comment that you don't understand the game.  There is alot goes on in any game between scoring opportunities and surely it is about enjoyment of the whole tactical structure,  which is far more evident and relevant in rugby than in league.  And my favourite,  serial talkback radio caller Adrian,  who says that rugby union doesn't allow players to showcase their skills.  I would argue that so many more body and mind  disciplines are tested in rugby than in rugby league.  Most of all,  we are hoping that they will think outside the square and creatively.

Monday 31/05/2010: Word through over the weekend,  that the number one schoolboy back in the country,  Chris Sautia,  made a solid return to the game from injury.  Heaven help the side he decides to open up against,  given that he can get some good front foot pill from inside him,  or some clean turnover grabs from 50 to 80 out,  that's when you can see he is a pure thoroughbred.  Maybe this particular weekend will be his golden weekend.  Scored one of the best tries I have seen in the corresponding clash last year,  on the coast,  a blistering,  almost impossible effort down the right side running north to stamp his enormous class on the game.

Monday 31/05/2010: We were in front of the widescreen early Sunday morning,  in the 15man stats centre,  for the Stormers vs Bulls game.  We found the game quite intense and physical,  yes,  we did enjoy it immensely,  we like big men belting each other quite alot.  Victor Matfield for one,  is an imposing and skilful human being,  amongst a few others.  The Bulls were probably always going to win the matchup,  better kicking game and a 9 and 10 with more all round games than the Stormers.  However here at 15man,  we were very impressed all season with the Stormers 2 (as well as his game we particularly like his head shape and old style haircut),  Bekker of course,  their number 7 and 8,  their 12 and 13,  and of course Habana.  The Sprinboks side should be an awesome and hard to defeat outfit,  if their coach,  who is a little loose can pull it all together.  Picking a starting forward pack will be a nightmare,  and they have the option of so many large,  skilful and physical men to choose from.  They really should eat the tri nations in 2010.

Monday 31/05/2010: Went up to Downlands yesterday,  the TAS (The Armidale School) was in town to play fixtures against Downlands.  TAS brought their weather with them,  it was a bitterly cold day.  Took particular note of the Under 15 side,  the Downlands side played quite well in this one,  and the Firsts.  Downlands have made some significant improvements in how they are playing the game,  there are some discernible patterns with people actually seeming to be aware of their roles,  and a couple of tough guys playing in the Front Row.  Easy to see how/why they beat cross town rivals TGS as they are playing rugby with a good idea of outcomes where as I could only describe the TGS style as no idea rugby.  Downlands ended up winning this match by 28 to 8,  I headed off early in the second half so the car heater could thaw my feet out.

Monday 31/05/2010: I heard yesterday that TGS lost to IGS by 32 to 23,  something thereabouts in any case,  but very disturbingly for TGS,  that they lost every A division game.  Given that they are pumping a bit of dough into rugby, (admitted in the Courier Mail Fair Play series of articles,  not just my opinion)  and have done over the last few years,  one would have to say that the programme is currently yielding extremely disappointing,  poor even,  results.  Losing Peter Bromley as coach of the 1sts,  or letting him go,  was a huge blow.  Have seen Pete work over the years,  and he is probably one of the best coaches I have seen.

Saturday 29/05/2010: I have decided to put a few rugby photos from a couple of years ago,  and maybe anything future,  up here. 

Saturday 29/05/2010: Brisbane State High School 42 defeated Churchie 15,  The coastal school 10 defeated Gregory Terrace 3,  and the thought is BGS 17 df BBC 10,  but not yet sure.  No results through from TGS and IGS yet.  Given the "value" in the side at Churchie,  the year to date rugby wise is nothing short of unmitigated disaster.

Friday 28/05/2010: A colleague of mine has just emailed in and next weekend he is off to the Milwaukee annual Rat Golf tournament,  where rats are used as golf balls.  Quite a strong concept,  as he puts it,  courses are much smaller,  due to the considerable difficulty in deriving high velocity and long distance from the rat/clubhead collision,  but he assures me that the entrail dispersion is quite spectacular,  and given the correct position of the sun,  you may even be able to discern a rat guts rainbow.

Friday 28/05/2010: Not much on this weekend at 15man headquarters.  We will probably rise in the middle of the night to watch the Super 14 final but the main event for the weekend is my new hobby,  and it's conference taking part in one of the 15man conference rooms.  I have taken up the Ancient Japanese art of eyebrow dancing and have offered the rooms for this weekend's local chapter's conference.  It is an exciting past time.

Friday 28/05/2010: Well,  sports talkbalk radio yesterday afternoon and night has NSW slowly sinking into the pacific due to it's loss and seemingly hapless performance (if you listen to the callers) in the game on Wednesday just gone.  I heard from people watching the game that jumped up and down on the couch in their supporters gear,  people that showered at half time,  people that took codeine to settle stomach cramps,  people that hadn't eaten for a week.  These are the very people that it is easy to sell stuff too,  is gullible the word.  It really was an unexciting and boring game,  with some very good,  but quite standard football played by Thurston and Lockyer,  off the back of a strong forward platform.  AS I said before,  I thought it lacked venom of any kind and seemed quite pedestrian.

Thursday 27/05/2010: Paul Gallen and probably Greg Bird would have been far better for the Blues in the first instance,  and given the conditions,  would have been that much better again.

Thursday 27/05/2010: We were hoping that the games number one hanger on,  Alan Langer,  we are sure we saw him running water for Australia the other week,  and he was there last night,  and he does the Broncos,  had not forgotten his dancing accessories.  We didn't see an after hours tie on him,  but he may keep it stuffed down his underpants,  for quick access when he sheds the shirt and pants.  For those of you that may have been on another planet,  there are some good videos of Alan dancing somewhat inebriated,  and quite poorly,  not alot of moves there,  on a table,  in his underpants and tie as a head piece,  in a prominent hotel in Brisbane.  It was a big night for the little bloke,  later on having to give up his keys as he tried to make his way back to the Sunshine Coast with an illegal amount of alcohol recorded on his breath.

Thursday 27/05/2010: 15man wants to see some changes for the next State of Origin.  We are really desperate to see Barry "The Grasshopper" Gomersall involved somewhere,  either as a sideline official or maybe in the Television match official role.  We are also disappointed in the size that the goal post pads have become.  We would like to go back to the just the folded over piece of hessian roped around the posts.

Thursday 27/05/2010: I did manage to get through the State of Origin footy last night.  I figure I haven't watched one of these for maybe 20 years,  more through needing sleep than lack of interest.  First thought after last night was a feeling of a distinct lack of intensity.  Didn't think the game had any of the venom of games of the VHS era and was pretty much a group of blokes going through the motions.  However,  if you look at it,  Qld were far superior at 7,  6 and 9,  a couple of the key areas in a rugby league game,  and always with the best player in the world,  Greg Inglis,  lurking about.  Big Petero is one that dealt out a bit of passion with some heavy hits.  NSW rarely seemed to be in the contest,  Qld had a superior kicking game,  had more dominant ball carries and were more dominant in defence.  Why NSW played Lyon at 6 is anyone's guess,  the guy is carving up at centre in the NRL,  and does not like playing 6,  so they play him at 6.  Watmough hand Creagh seemed to be largely ineffective,  and I would like to see their stats.  Last night more than ever you needed some back rowers to be carving off 50 tackles,  and to be playing with some narrow backrowers,  not wide runners.  Criticism from all quarters of Lockyer,  well that came back to bite,  and usually always does when you go after champions who continue to perform at these levels.  And the wave of criticism this morning of Gidley,  I thought he was one of NSW's best, especially when he moved into the front line in attack.  He added some zip and either made or orchestrated some line breaks.  And Timana Tahu,  what was this guy up to.  Used to have a bit of time for him,  but it looked like he was not a very tough guy trying to play tough guy last night,  looked pretty ordinary.  I thought Brendan Cannon's spray on Tahu earlier in the week,   was a bit over the top and uncalled for,  but as was pointed out to me in the 15man stats centre last night,  Brendan backed everything he said up with something quite stupid that has emanated from Tahu's mouth.  Last night's quasi tough man show finished him off for me.  Jarryd Hayne,  I hear he is on 400 grand a year,  not quite sure who is doing the valuations on these pieces of human property,  but last night's,  and alot of the season's efforts to date value him at alot less than that, looked like a kangaroo in the headlights,  about to be shot with a high calibre weapon.  NSW,  like their counterparts the Waratahs,  played some no idea rugby league in the wet,  and while the end score was close,  the gap between the two sides was much greater than it indicated.  I would like to chat to some of the rugby critics who call talkback radio all the time,  one in particular that is a serial offender called Adrian,  always complaining that there is so much more opportunity in rugby league for players to showcase their skill and talent than in rugby union.  Someone tell me then the stats on carries last night for Inglis and Tahu,  I reckon they would have had a heap more in rugby,  and had to call on a few other skills as well,  including thought processes,  particularly given the wet.  Don't get me wrong,  I enjoy watching league,  and rugby,  but people need to realize that the games are both,  hugely and subtly different,  and have different modes of reaching a successful end point.  You can't watch one game and think it should be played like the other,  and you need to understand the off the ball requirements in rugby.

Wednesday 26/05/2010: I hear there is a football game on tonight,  State of Origin.  Bit late for me,  need to get to bed early.  Some of these kiddies calling that little scuffle and name calling event a brawl,  they need to dig out some of the VHS tapes that dad might have and go back and examine some real tough guys throwing some real venom,  not this Justin Hodges rubbish,  words and eyes at 20 paces when everyone has been separated and walking away.  Have a look at big Artie Beetson tear into his Parramatta club mate Mick Cronin and the ensuing bash fest in 1980,  Big Chief Paul Harragon belting a hapless Martin Bella,  amongst many other serious episodes of extreme and overt violence. Key difference people,  in the past era you knew where it was going to come from,  in today's world,  there are plenty of sooks that can't face their opponent and happy to hit from behind,  there used to be some code of honour,  not today.  I get a little sick of hearing that Justin Hodges is a tough guy,  guy is a big sook,  very big sook,  not someone I would want beside me in the trenches when blood and life is laid on the line.

Wednesday 26/05/2010: Big day today folks.  A Dawn Showdown in the Tallow Wrestling World.  Killer Joule Ken,  aka KJK,  aka The Goondiwindi Mauler (who is incidentally having a birthday) makes the trip in,  the 170 kilo Colombian,  recently returned from Fiji with a recruit,  the freshly coiffured Mop,  all taking part in this once off mid week Birthday Bash Dawn event.  Results,  pictures and reports at the official Tallow Wrestling website.

Tuesday 25/05/2010: Wallaby forwards,  with and without injuries.  Props; Robinson,  christened by 15man staffers "the hippo" is certainly our best performed all round prop.  Possibly the best loosehead scrummager in the world today,  good ball carrier,  but performs his first phase duties first.  Second in the loosehead stakes in our opinion here is Ben Daley,  the best ball carrying prop in the country,  and by ball carrying we aren't counting tries scored,  we are looking at dominant ball carries.  He has quite a bit of work to do on his scrummaging,  but he is still a kid in scrum terms.  Laurie Weeks,  again in our opinion,  was probably the most consistent tight head in the Aussie sides,  unfashionable looking guy,  but that's where props come from,  can't play somewhere else,  then I will have a go at that.  I know Alexander will figure in there somewhere,  but we have mentioned before that he scrummed poorly at loosehead,  seems to have gone OK at tight head at international level,  but we are not fans.  He has very small arms.  I hear the screams, "he has scored 7 tries this year". Yep beauty,  where did the Brumbies finish,  and how many scrum penalties directly responsible to his excessively poor scrum technique (elbow straight down) were turned into how many points losing the Brumbies how many games.  Bet it balances out the 7 tries rather quickly.  Would also like to see his other stats on dominant carries in a little closer where the big men are dealing out the pain.  Kepu will be there I think,  because he has been before,  but has a long way to go on a "prop" front.  They will probably also pick Ma'afu,  but not sure what he offers,  lose alot of lifting height at the lineout (yep that's important) and he doesn't actually get to do that much around the field.  He is not destroying opposition scrums,  so down the list for mine.  Dunning,  will probably be in,  based on experience,  and the number of injuries currently about.  Don't be surprised to see James Slipper in the extended squad.  Hookers; Polota-Nau will start,  talk is Faingaa on the bench,  if I were  picking it that would be the case,  but don't be surprised if they go with Fitzpatrick ( he will be in the extended squad anyway) and Freier as backups to Tatafu and leave the unfashionable Faingaa out altogether.  That won't be fair,  but life rarely is.   While they will select him when he returns,  we are not fans of Stephen Moore,  who we hear on the grapevine rates himself as the best hooker in the universe.  Locks: Given the big injury toll,  Sharp will probably return,  and don't be surprised to see Kane Douglas in there,  maybe even van Humphries on 2010 performances.  Chisholm will be in although has rarely performed at international level.  Dean Mumm we believe will be selected as a lock and to cover 6. 6's and 7's: Pocock will be selected at 7.  While the Force backrow has been the form backrow of Australian players in the competition,  we think Hodgson will be selected as a backup 7,  selecting him as a starting 6 just screws up the balance of the backrow and lineout options.  However,  we like him,  and have long before he was playing at the force. 6,  well we would not have Rocky Elsom in our side,  would like to see stats,  not just the fancy linebreaks and the fullback play.  He will however be selected and be selected as captain at either 6 or 8,  we think more than likely at 6.  If he is at 8,  Mumm may go to 6,  or they will use the Force guy,  Richard Brown.  On form,  you would select Higginbotham at 6 and Brown at 8,  although we have concerns still over Higginbotham's defence and a big question mark over Brown's concentration levels across 80 minutes.

Tuesday 25/05/2010: Word through yesterday to the 15manrugby communications centre,  it is situated on the 25th floor of 15manrugby house,  more commonly known in some circles as "The Bunker" that there is a group of teams out there,  maybe 20 or 25 in one place,  that across the board have been forbidden to use the pick and drive,  that the halfback must come in and pick up the footy and obviously pass it.  The question was put to us at 15man what we think of such a tactic.  We see it as containing quite a high level of stupidity.  What it says to us,  if it is in fact true,  is that there is not much of a plan for slow ball transition,  it says to us that all decisions have been taken away from arriving players,  maybe even confusing them,  because,  if a player arrives,  and he has his eyes up,  and he sees a number of players on the ground,  and he notices space at the back of the tackle zone,  and he notices a poorly set 1,  2 and 3 (don't worry saw plenty of this on the weekend,  it happens),  but he is not the halfback,  he has to join the pile of bodies on the ground and not take the space that is on offer to him?  Makes alot of sense doesn't it.  And if the ball is being turned over constantly on the fringes for whatever reason,  and the decision is to play narrower footy,  well you really can't play narrower footy with a no pick and drive policy.  My point this morning being people,  the pick and drive is an integral part of the game and there are many situations faced on a footy field where the pick and drive is or would be the number one option of a thinking side,  making the decisions on the field,  as against a pre programmed robotic side,  with decisions having been made off the field,  some time prior to any game starting.

Monday 24/05/2010: Forgot,  there were a couple of Super 14 semi finals on the weekend.  Enjoyed very much the pace,  power and precision that the Bulls played with.  Obviously the break did them alot of good,  they were quite good and will be hard to beat in front of that frenzied crowd in Soweto.  Crusaders never quite got into the game and I guess you have to ask about all the travel,  but most importantly,  were they allowed to.  Elsewhere in Africa the Waratahs drifted back into conservative rugby,  only trouble is it was poor conservative rugby,  call it the 15man term of no idea rugby.  Sure,  they were choked and strangled out of the contest by a very committed and accurate Stormers side,  but it is the mark of great sides that perform on scraps,  and salvage something from the game.  I enjoyed the way the Stormers played and do play,  but am not sure if they can match the Bulls.  In games like these two,  great flyhalves step up against the tide, even with beaten forward packs and all else around them going wrong,  (my mark of great flyhalves is how they play in this type of games)  unfortunately neither Barnes or the very highly credentialled Dan Carter were up to the mark on Saturday night.  And as for Rod Kafer,  saying that the only way to attack the Stormers was to attack the wings,  friends and foe,  the old adage is and always will be true,  you must go forward in the middle before you earn the opportunity to play wide.  Just trying to play wide without going forward against the Stormers would only result in carnage,  many turnovers,  and worse field position situations than they did face.  They need to just punch forward with some level of resolve.

Monday 24/05/2010: I noted the Coastal school (they were across town at Downlands) sent an observer across to TGS on Saturday afternoon to watch the Firsts.  The observer is very well knowledgeable on matters rugby,  TGS and Toowoomba.

Monday 24/05/2010:  Refereeing reports flooding in from the weekend,  and aside from the very dangerous situation that I witnessed,  I became quite engrossed in some of the antics of some of the less than knowledgeable coaches and supporters that were floating around. I do so enjoy a challenge,  and never hide from the fact that I am probably unpopular,  surprise,   surprise,  but if you are going to challenge me and attempt to give me the stare down,  please folks at least have the smarts to remove your sunnies,  kind of like you want to have a chop,  but you aren't quite game!!!! Well done.

Monday 24/05/2010: Overheard a conversation between two boys on Saturday afternoon up at TGS,  and it went something like this: "That was the dirtiest game I have ever played in,  such and such has a boot mark imprint onhis forehead."  I salivated briefly and was moved to explain to this young bloke that boots,  steel tagged boots,  and heads,  along with other body parts,  go together like toast and vegemite,  bacon and eggs.  Rugby would not be what it is today without boots and heads coming into contact,  often,  and alot.  It should be written in the laws of the game that everyone needs to slipper someone in the course of a game.  If you get sent off and suspended for 12 weeks for following this advice,  blame the softness of today's society,  not 15man.

Saturday 22/05/2010: It was indeed a pretty big day in Toowoomba town.  Alot of the tallow wrestlers were in town,  The Punisher,  The Red Baron,  Nighthawke,  The Silver Fox,  Mr Fatastic,  The Sandpit Warrior,  The Fatlete and The Fat-alist.  All set for a big twilight tallow wrestling Fat Fest,  and would you believe it,  that Fat didn't show,  a tragedy in the making.

Saturday 22/05/2010: BSHS (State High) 47 df TGS 22,  Nudgee 41 df BGS 5.  I see alot of rubbish refereeing,  and alot of it can be laughed about,  but today I witnessed refereeing that genuinely put health and safety in danger,  and the scary thing is, that the kid doing the refereeing,  probably didn't even know.  He was smaller than most of the kids he was reffing,  and certainly didn't look much older.  I have had a bee in my bonnet over kids reffing kids of similar ages fro many years,  today,  was proof in the pudding.    Serious neck injuries were close today people in the Under 15 match up,  as well as no doubt a bucket load of confusion over some of the other "interesting" decisions.  Safety however is paramount,  and there was a distinct lack of it at scrum time in this match.  Coaches also need to take some responsibility,  I noted alot of very poor scrummaging technique from the team on the hill today,  leaving your charges open for lots of potential damage.  At least if people know what they are doing,  the likelihood of serious injury is lessened.  Terrace also defeated Churchie,  in what could only be described as a very disappointing start to the season for Churchie,  and IGS knocked over BBC by 14 to 11 I believe.  My view on the TGS vs BSHS clash right here.

Saturday 22/05/2010: I note a probable Wallaby XV in one of the papers,  a few interesting selections in there.  The key one is agreement on Rob Horne at 13.  The kid can play,  is a long term option (he will sort out his hammies as Timana Tahu has) and is probably the reason that balance has been restored to the Waratahs backline.  Carter was absolutely woeful at 13 but is  a very good and honest 12 that delivers go forward ball in the middle channels,  which is quite important.  Barnes running forwards is also a big key to the changes that we have seen in their last 120 minutes.  The other young bloke I have really liked in 2010 has been Kane Douglas,  big future here,  has played some very tough and mature footy for a lad so young in the position he is playing.  I would think he is a definite for the extended squad and maybe even get a test start somewhere.  There are lots of injuries at the moment,  and it will be a challenge to fill some of those spots.  Genia to Burgess for example,  is a massive drop off in ability and nous,  personally I would probably use the Qld backup,  Ben Lucas.  Cooper,  has been electric in attack,  relatively ordinary in defence,  and is learning to build pressure and control the footy.  Definitely worth a start at some stage,  I do think Giteau,  who has been ordinary for most of the year,  was superb at 12 in his last couple of games.  All jokes and Fast Eddie XV aside,  I am probably going to select Barnes at 10,  and Giteau at 12,  Horne at 13,  Ashley Cooper at 15,  Lucas at 9,  which only leaves the wingers.  The two NSW princesses certainly have some outstanding stats in 2010,  and no doubt at least one of them will be there,  probably Mitchell.  Digby Ioane has to be in the side somewhere,  I doubt it will be 13,  so he has to find a spot on the wing.  The question then becomes whether or not the bench can handle two average defenders in Beale and Cooper in a trade off for some sizzle later in games.  I would have them both there, with a halfback,  probably Josh Holmes.  Beale and Cooper give you so many options positionally.  When Genia returns from injury,  I would be tempted to play Genia/Cooper at 9 and 10 for the combination it offers.

Saturday 22/05/2010: A fine and not even cold morning has greeted us,  for the visit from State High this particular weekend.  They are playing up here on a patch of real estate that I would not mind developing,  could make some money out of that.  There was some heavy showers overnight,  and a little fog this morning,  but it looks like it will be  a pristine day for visitors to the garden city.

Friday 21/05/2010: Ah yes,  the rugby this weekend.  You would be a very brave man to tip against the Bulls beating the Crusaders and the Waratahs beating the Stormers,  but I do have a niggling feeling that just to prove me wrong the Waratahs will win.  Wrong I may be or have been,  but except for 120 minutes of football,  their last three halves (semi opposed training against the Lions does not count) they have been playing atrocious football.  Crusaders,  well they are really a big chance,  it is only the location that is against them.  However,  things like resting your entire team in the match before the finals,  and a shift in location,  I have seen work against a team.  The Bulls could toss this one.  Season Form tells me an all South African finals affair next week,  niggling feelings tell me Waratahs vs Crusaders in Sydney.  Locally,  looking forward to some more refereeing stories out of the Downs this weekend,  should be able to grab a laugh on Monday at them,  no doubt.  Looks like rain,  and it is cool,  so a good weekend to partake in the murder of some calories and doona induced warmth in the media room of 15mnrugby house.  That's on the 30th floor by the way.

Friday 21/05/2010: These fans of games take things a little too seriously.  Guy rings radio station yesterday afternoon,  and says: "I knew we would lose the series once Gidley was named in the side,  as soon as I heard the side announced I went and cut myself".  Self harm over a footy team,  I would strongly suggest that a life is found and followed rather quickly before some more serious form of slashing up is experienced.

Friday 21/05/2010: These players are not too tough any more.  Courier Mail this morning,  Anthony Watmough,  saying that the New South Welshmen would be dealing out some cheap shots,  maybe in the back end of the game.  What a sook.  Very easy to be tough in the media while 1000kms apart.  Hopefully big Petero grabs him with his bear like hands and twists his head off like a bottle top.  In the days when men were genuinely hard,  like David "Cement" Gillespie,  and Paul "The Chief" Harragon,  they didn't have to say what they might do in the media.  You could be 100% assured that someone like Gillespie would level someone in a quite brutal,  rib cage altering,  spine shifting,  but often legal fashion more than once during the game.  Similarly,  I heard someone on the radio the other day saying that Qld would miss Justin Hodges as a tough guy.  I watched him last year in that fracas and rated him nothing but a sook.  Waited until the blue was over and the NSW team was heading away,  then started using the mouth,  then got into it in the media.  Weak as p... Mr Hodges.  Have a go like Tamati and Dowling did on the sidelines,  after being sent off for fighting,  had another did on the sidelines on the way to the dressing sheds.  Guys like Hodges and Watmough would be lucky to shed blood from a paper cut they get while signing contracts.

Thursday 20/05/2010: The other Reality show that I see on the TV sometimes when the remote has fallen into the wrong hands (It is a very cut throat affair,  gaining the remote to the main TV in 15manrugby house) is Project runway or America's next top model or something.  There is a very disturbing person on there that calls him/herself Miss Jay.  I am sure it is a man,  that dresses part like a man and part like a woman.  I couldn't care less what people do in reality,  but this "not quite sure where I fit in society" message leaves me feeling somewhat disturbed at times.  Apparently there is a Mr Jay as well.

Thursday 20/05/2010: I don't go out much,  but need to go shopping this weekend,  maybe even tonight.  A bad situation occurred the other night.  Someone else had secured the remote to the main TV,  and for a half hour on my circuit to the land of nod,  I had to endure the lunacy of one of those reality shows,  this particular one being Masterchef.  I know why I don't watch them.  Anyway,  this particular episode had a celebrity cook off,  with a chef there from a restaurant called the fat or Phat Duck,  which can be translated to the overweight mallard.  In any case,  part of the dish to be cooked was,  from what I could see,  undercooked,  very undercooked,  lamb,  wrapped in black pudding.  Now having known what black pudding is for a long,  long time,  I was fascinated to see it's preparation.  First,  strain that rich red pig's blood through a tea towel,  or some similar sieving device,  and hear the comments about just how foul it smelt (at this stage I had just a little, tiny  bit of vomit enter my pallette) and then add the backfat ( I assume from the pig) and pop into the oven.  One thing I will never be eating,  is combined and cooked pigs blood,  even though tea towel strained,  and backfat,  in any of it's combinations or variants with other food ingredients.

Wednesday 19/05/2010: These close to zero temperatures certainly deliver close to perfect tallow wrestling (at dawn) conditions.  Nothing like being caked in solidifying animal fat as the sun paints a picture in the sky.  Everyone should try it.

Wednesday 19/05/2010: I do think I would have had Greg Bird and Paul Gallen in that NSW SOO side,  can't see anyone in the side that is going to make 40 or 50 tackles for the match,  something that is probably required at this level of footy.  However,  a week and we will have the answer to whether it is right or wrong.

Tuesday 18/05/2010: Nominations flooding in for the Munro refereeing award.  The achievement has to be fairly stunning.  The Munro incident,  or one of them went like this.  An Under 15 team kicked off,  the ball was spilled by the receiving side and toed through by the now attacking side,  and eventually,  toed through the posts,  between the posts,  not over the crossbar,  and a field goal was awarded.  That is the level of which we speak.  We have the guy in Brisbane that penalized and yellow carded a guy "for allowing himself to be lifted in a tackle" and then questioning the decision,  we have the guy in Toowoomba calling "dominant" and "Submissive" at the tackle,  and we have the guy in Toowoomba that explained to a first grade coach up here that the side in possession could in fact go off their feet at the tackle zone.  Some outstanding stuff there,  with I am sure lots and lots to follow.

Tuesday 18/05/2010: Rumours abound this week that with Super 14 duties over for some younger players,  that they are being sent back to their school sides to get a few games under their belt,  you know,  taken on as apprentice cleaners and the like so they can play a few games of footy that will be well below what they are used to.  Now those of you conspiracy theorists that believe that,  please contact me,  you are an easy mark and I have stuff to sell you to relieve you of the burden of any money you might have,  my bridge in Alice Springs comes to mind.  First XV football is an interesting phenomenon.  Coaches with grandiose plans of how the game should be played,  rather than evaluating what they have,  and what they can do.  This week for example,  State High travels to Toowoomba to take on TGS.  Would I play State High the same way I play Downlands or GT or IGS.  No chance.  The very first thing I would look at is the fact that Brisbane schools hate the travel,  and don't like the cold.  I would be talking to god (that's right,  I am one of the lucky ones with a direct line) early in the week booking in some fog,  some sleet,  some wind,  and other ancillary stuff that goes with that type of weather.  Again,  in all seriousness,  that is an advantage and the first thing I would decide as a coach up here is that I have a distinct advantage with the schools that are coming up to our fair city.  I would target all my home games as games I could win,  whoever the opposition.  State High will play different footy to other schools and I would be looking for their weaknesses,  and there will be some,  but won't give where I see them away.  It certainly won't be number 8,  and it won't be number 13,  I would be trying to limit those guy's impacts on the game,  which won't be easy to do.  However,  they didn't seem to do too much tackling last week against Ipswich,  and the aforementioned ordered weather should see them quite sluggish,  advantage is with the home side correctly approached.

Tuesday 18/05/2010: Here it is folks,  the Fast Eddie XV: 15.  Earl Rose,  14. Dane Haylett Petty,  13.  Stefan Terblanche,  12. Berrick Barnes (yes he has played well for the last three halves of football,  but prior to that he cemented a spot in here and has not yet consistently played well enough to relinquish this coveted spot),  11. Blair Connor,  10. Andy Goode,  the combover king,  9. Luke Burgess,  8. Sione Lauaki,  7.  Andrew Shaw,  6. Stephen Hoiles (c),  5. Heinrich Roodt (Waratahs recruit that weighs around 150 kilos,  we all thought he would be good,  looks like a dud),  4. Sam Wykes,  3.  Henderson,  2.  Choose a Force hooker except Nathan Charles,  readers choice,  1.  Shepherdson.  Coached of course by none other than Fast Eddie Jones,  he will be ably assisted by the Qld Coaching team of last year.  To be refereed by Matt Goddard,  who will be assisted by James Leckie,  Iain Smith,  and George Ayoub on the video feed.  There is an award on the line here,  for the refs,  the Munro award,  of course,  I think,  for he was the worst ref that I have ever seen,   for outstanding incompetence.

Tuesday 18/05/2010: Here is the BGS vs GT writeup.  Many thanks to this spectator for taking the time.  The Fast Eddie XV is almost finalized,  so keep checking back.  One particular Brumby made a charge towards selection in the last three rounds,  and may even captain the side,  due to his spectacular communication with the refs.

Monday 17/05/2010: Score over at Nudgee was 26 to 22 in favour of the visiting side,  courtesy of that late converted try,  but I am very sure that is old news too.

Monday 17/05/2010: Have a writeup through on the BGS vs Terrace game,  which BGS won,  an interesting result to say the least.  Also heard that the game over at Nudgee contained one of the worst halves of football seen by many observers,  that half being half one.  I am lead to believe that Nudgee were beaten after the hooter by a near length of the field try by their opponents,  I believe a mark was taken and the receiver of the mark was told there was no time for a lineout,  they tapped and played and scored under the posts to win.  I did hear Kearnsy say in the prematch stuff at Suncorp that BBC had just beaten Churchie,  was informed later that a very late field goal from BBC nailed that one too.  Will put the writeup on the BGS vs Terrace game up soon,  so look for it.

Sunday 16/05/2010: The Fast Eddie XV is taking shape,  and I know everyone is hanging out for the announcement of such a team.  We have a couple of selectors meetings here in the 15manrugby building today to determine the contentious spots.  We are also convening and funding a seminar,  for rugby greats like Grant Fox and Joel Stransky,  that will be hosted by Greg "Marto" Martin,  on the Double Movement,  and how and why there can never be one in rugby union.  Marto seems to be one of the only commentators that knows this.  Referees and their assistants that have been heard utter "double movement" will also be forced to attend.  Not sure where we will do this one,  but look out for the plane tickets in the mail.

Sunday 16/05/2010: The Reds didn't fail to entertain us with a team of juniors.  How young was that backrow at one stage,  Quirk 18,  Schatz 19 and Leroy not carrying too many years either.  The Highlanders put on a show of their own and almost stole the night,  in a mistake riddled but highly watchable affair.  I would have feared for the Reds against higher placed sides,  their defensive set up got pretty shoddy as the game wore on.  We thought Quirk's debut was adequate, but to be fair to the kid,  he is probably not quite ready for that level and would never have had to play without the injury toll that was brought to bear.  The run on debut we liked was James Slipper,  solidified the scrum,  technically very good there,  and had a huge workrate,  and was quite accurate in what he did.  It was said to me in 2007 that this bloke would captain the Wallabies one day,  it will be a tough road to captain,  but don't be surprised to see him elevated from that game into the extended Wallaby squad given the level of injuries to props currently.  His big advantage over someone like Alexander is that he can scrum,  Alexander seems to struggle with it,  and Slipper equals Alexander in the  open field/play skills.  The 15man rugby outfit was delighted,  overjoyed even to see the Reds finish above the overpriced,  overhyped and underperformed Australia A side (Brumbies).  Given their personnel,  they should have finished on the top of the table,  and the Waratahs too should have been in second or third,  but they had to watch a half a season of the Reds,  Stormers and Bulls playing to learn how to play in 2010.  The Waratahs are the only Aussie side to finish in the finals race,  and good luck to them,  they were lucky enough to win enough games before they learnt,  last week,  how to play in 2010,   as they board a plane for Africa.  History says neither they or the Crusaders can win it from those respective positions,  history is always there to be changed or rewritten,  so we will see what happens there.

Saturday 15/05/2010: Unconfirmed report that Downlands defeated TGS 25 to 23 up here on the hill.  Correct,  I did not go.  Confirmed result from Fursden Road,  BSHS 44 df IGS 39 in a 12 try (6 tries per side) attack fest,  and no I wasn't there either.  I did type in 16 tries,  8 tries per side as per what was reported and did not do the match,  8 tries cannot equal 39.

Friday 14/05/2010: 15manrugby announces the special referees conference,  fully funded by the 15man outfit.  This conference will be held across the two weeks of finals action,  and will be by invite only.  Invitees will be people like James Leckie,  Iain Smith,  George Ayoub.  Look out for your first class air tickets to be delivered this week,  first class and one way to Antarctica,  the idea being that you guys and others like you are as far away from rugby matches as possible.

Friday 14/05/2010: The Brumbies and Waratahs finally play some decent footy back to back.  Again the call was heard in the 15man stats centre that they watched the Reds and learnt how to play.  Remember the Waratahs and Brumbies are stacked with the rock stars of Australian rugby,  in fact the Brumbies had been christened "Australia A" here at 15man house long before the season started.  We did enjoy the way the Crusaders played their footy tonight,  the Brumbies were also in positive mode.  We believe Mat Giteau has been good for about the last three weeks,  when he has been playing 12.  We do not think he is suited to 10.  One player that we really do like,  and always have,  and that will be missed by Aussie rugby is George Smith,  great player and from all accounts a great man.  The Brumbies scrum is woeful,  Hoiles can complain all he likes about penalties, I would draw attention to Alexander's elbow and where it illegally points in most scrums.  He is a woeful scrummager,  and should move into the higher numbers,  which will be more suited to his smaller arms and will aid his obvious try scoring ability.  A rather facetious comment from one of the 15man experts when Stephen Moore went off "Isn't it sad when your number one attacking weapon is your reserve hooker",  cruel but close to the truth.  We think Andy Friend could be job hunting by about Wednesday.  If you can't make the  finals with a virtual Wallaby outfit,  then someone is going to take a fall.  Our assessment of the Brumbies season,  a few too many of the big names down there got caught up in their own press,  failed to deliver on the grassed area that the game is played on.  Stephen Hoiles made a strong play for the Fast Eddie XV tonight.

Friday 14/05/2010: The Waratahs put together a good 80 minutes tonight, and I thought Rob Horne was best on field.  The Hurricanes were terrible,  with Conrad Smith,  among others,  putting his hand up for Fast Eddie duties.  Plenty of congestion in those outside back positions.  Doesn't Berrick Barnes look good when he catches the footy and takes it forward?  Doesn't Berrick Barnes look woeful when he runs sideways and kicks for the sake of kicking?  Here at 15man we wonder what chance of the Crusaders and the Waratahs winning in Africa,  and if they do taking a vote to play the final over there while they are there?

Friday 14/05/2010: The deciding weekend of Super 14 rugby,  well positions 3 and 4 in any case.  About the first time I have agreed with Jeremy Paul,  Waratahs need to worry about the Hurricanes,  not the Bulls.  Not sure what is going on in school footy,  have heard the the big clash of the weekend is Nudgee and the coastal school,  and I have a feeling that Ipswich makes the trip from the western fringes over to Fursden Road.  Personally will be working very hard on the Fast Eddie XV,  and filling those final slots,  with officials.  Is there a guy called Nathan Pierce runs the line in Super 14?  He just looks like he is bound for Fast Eddie officialdom.

Thursday 13/05/2010: People that are forever cemented in the inaugural Fast Eddie XV,  Andy Goode,  Stefan Terblanche,  Henderson,  Shepherdson and anyone that has worn the two jersey for the Force in 2010,  except maybe Nathan Charles,  Luke Burgess,  Andrew Shaw,  Sione Lauaki.  The others still hang in the balance,  pencil in two officials at this stage,  Iain Smith and James Leckie and of course the side coached by the effervescent Fast Eddie Jones.  Maybe need some assisting coaches there as well,  gee it is hard to go past the Springbok coach of last year,  the guy from the loveboat,  he is value every time he speaks,  but the side is starting to take shape.

Wednesday 12/05/2010: I fear the Reds are in trouble,  with a severe injury toll,  these young kids,  and grandfather van Humphries,   will have to play out of their skins to get the gong on Saturday night,  I hope they do and that they leave nothing in the tank,  the public can ask for no more than that,  the harder edge is what has been missing for a number of years,  and this year has been a pleasant one on that front.  Not only that,  the call has gone up in the 15man stats centre on a number of occasions when teams like the Brumbies and the Waratahs play a little enterprising footy,  "They learnt that from the Reds".  No question they have been the revelation in 2010,  hopefully Robbie Deans has had a bit of a look and learnt something as well.  Also the Kiwi commentators have finally caught on,  that while it still has a place in the game,  the "kick the ball away in all situations (the game favoured by the Waratahs up until the second half of last week)" is last year's game,  Joel Stransky should also have a bit of a look at what they are saying.  Again for those too young to remember,  Joel was a kick in all situations man,  he wouldn't have realised that a pass was on until he watched the video after the game,  so focussed was he on kicking.  My mail is that there will be an interesting debut player on the Reds bench this week,  but I will let the normal channels announce it.

Wednesday 12/05/2010: Nominations coming in on the email last night for the officials in the Fast Eddie XV,  and some high profile ones as well.  One particular email gave me these: Ref: Bryce Lawrence,  Asst Ref: Chris Pollock,  Asst Ref: Jonathan Kaplan,  TMO: Iain Smith.  Some fine nominations,  but we have to take into account some past poor performances and long term ordinary form too,  Paul Marks sticks his hand up,  George Ayoub,  perpetual Australian TMO (many of you would not remember George's incredibly ordinary performances as an on field official,  many of you would I am sure remember his excessive use of skull wax as he tried to turn his nude nut into advertising space,  Steve Lzsinski for one decision,  or one attempted decision as a TMO in a Super 14 match this year,  and I have others as yet unmentioned).  It will be a tough decision in the 15man stats centre as we weed the worst of the worst from an ordinary bunch.

Wednesday 12/05/2010:(This almost requires a page on it's own,  and may yet get one). I see some bleating,  or reported bleating in some of the press last night,  supposedly,  allegedly,  from NSW Waratah officialdom,  over,  the Bulls potentially resting up to 13 players for their clash against the Stormers.  I see lines like,  not in the spirit of the game,  and other such stuff along those lines.  I am most definitely Australian,  but in this case,  given that we are talking about an international sport,  to keep people coming through the turnstyles and forking out hard earned to watch rugby,  teams have to play a watchable style of rugby.  The Bulls do and have done for most of the season,  much to the shock of their kick happy commentator,  Joel Stransky.  The Waratahs,  well they don't,  and have not except for one half,  last week,  against an ordinary Chiefs side.  To hear Brett Papworth speaking yesterday afternoon on Talkin Sport,  on 2SM,  and hear him use words like brilliant in the same sentence as Waratahs,  even as an adjective to describe the noun "Waratahs",  well,  I am afraid Brett must have been making the Lattes for the invited guests during the first half,  because it was unwatchable rubbish,  riddled with schoolboy errors,  worse than schoolboy errors.  And as another point (yes I know,  I should never start a sentence with "and"), if the Waratahs had played some enterprising rugby all year,  given they have a team of superstars,  they may now,  at this end of the season be in control of their own destiny.  They are not,  the Bulls are,  and the very beautiful and powerful thing about the Bulls is,  they are in control of the destiny of the competition around them.  Good on them and good luck to them.

Tuesday 11/05/2010: Today I saw Milo Kerrigan,  momentous occasion,  Milo Kerrigan and Uncle Arthur have been big influences on my life.  I had long been wondering what had happened to Milo,  since the demise of his TV career,  and of course his TV career was after a very successful boxing career.   Milo is alive and well,  driving a truck around Queensland and Northern NSW. For those that don't know Milo,  go to youtube and search Milo Kerrigan and have a look at some of the timeless material there. 

Tuesday 11/05/2010: As we name the Fast Eddie XV,  we will also be naming the officials to control it,  and several are in contention.  Leading the pack are Ian Smith and a few of his referee assistant cronies that haven't even refereed this year,  but we remember how bad they were last year,  and we see them coming on to the field to report the stupidest of incidents to get themselves in the limelight,  so look out,  officials in the firing line as well.  Nothing could beat the refereeing stories I heard from out and about on the Darling Downs on the weekend though,  some thoroughly atrocious officiating and it seems obvious that some of these refs just have no idea of the laws and how to apply them,  a bit like some of the Super 14 refs,  just magnified and stupidified (magnification of stupidity) by a factor of 1000.  Recently I heard a rugby ref calling tackles "dominant" and "submissive",  and this was at what is considered to be a fairly high level of footy.

Tuesday 11/05/2010: You can read a couple of writeups  on a couple of the GPS games from last week,  here for Nudgee vs IGS and here for BBC vs BSHS.  Many thanks to the spectators for taking the time to pen the said reports,  I am sure the many readers that check in appreciate it.

Monday 10/05/2010: While speaking of Fast Eddie,  as I have below,  I noted his activity from afar in the Courier Mail on Saturday.  This week he decided to dedicate his column to getting onside with New Zealand players and fans,  by intimating that they play their best footy when all they have to do is play.  If they have to think and play,  Fast Eddie says,  under the law interpretations as they are today,  they are no good.  I am not sure how Fast Eddie's record against the Blacks stacks up,  but I am reckoning it is not that good. 

Monday 10/05/2010: We will be naming the complete Fast Eddie XV next weekend,  after the ultimate round of Super 14 matches.  We don't think at this stage that Berrick Barnes' strong second half performance against the Chiefs was enough to play him out of a central role in the side.  We are still struggling with a lock and a flanker,  Sione Lauaki has got the number 8 slot and Andrew Shaw fronts up at 7.  So we nearly have it,  and we will have our thinking caps on hard this weekend as we front the deadline for naming the side.

Monday 10/05/2010: I am never sure why one of the big search terms hitting this piece of web estate is "Quade Cooper Hairstyle".  I see nothing fanciful in his hairstyle,  in fact I see a bloke balding up quite young which is no doubt quite stressful for a young guy.  However,  there are many fashionable things that you can do in this day and age,  post comb over day and age,  that you can achieve with a shining dome.  I even saw something called "Skull Wax" over the weekend,  as I ponder my own impending nut nudeness.

Monday 10/05/2010: I do have a couple of writeups of GPS encounters that were emailed to me,  thanks folks for doing that.  I will put them up later.  Firstly though,  my good refereeing friends.  Number one,  Mr Pollock,  the law book that he is reading seems to have pages missing or pages stuck together,  think he is missing some key stuff.  At times I hear Marto calling it "Game Management" and I am all for letting the game run,  but not when key stuff is being missed/ignored.  Crusaders and Bulls,  from where I sit,  Crusaders were robbed through a bad decision.  Ball has travelled forward from a Bulls player who was in a passing motion,  but he has passed it forward.  Next action was for the ball to strike a Crusaders player who was in very close proximity to the forward passing Bulls player,  and travel backwards off him.  The supporting Bulls player has caught the footy and "scored" the try,  and had it awarded.  Surely the action of passing the footy forwards in the first instance over rides all else and the ball should be returned for a scrum,  Crusaders feed,  at the 81 minute mark,  Crusaders win 35 to 33 in what was a cracker of a match in reality,  but the result was influenced by what I saw as a very poor decision.  Perhaps some of my refereeing friends could explain to me if I am right or wrong.

Saturday 08/05/2010: Mercifully the rugby in the second half in the Chiefs vs Waratahs game got somewhat better,  some super stuff from the Chiefs in the last 10 minutes,  and the Waratahs even managed some crisp and entertaining footy in the second stanza.  I say mercifully,  because the first half was the type of rabble you would expect from two groups of Under 12's having a run,  that had never seen each other before.

Saturday 08/05/2010: Half time in the Chiefs vs Waratahs game,  and it is not even a comedy of errors,  from both sides,  not sure I even know the word to describe this absolute rabble.  Think the Waratahs are up 20 to nil,  but gee,  do either of these sides do any work on throwing a pass and catching a pass at training,  disgraceful.  These Waratahs should be embarrassed to be about to make the finals playing such abysmal rugby.  I will say that Berrick Barnes does look so much better when he carries the football,  his kicking game is atrocious,  but on the few occasions that he has combined a pass coming to him,  actually catching it,  and running,  he has looked like a very good player,  as I said,  the few occasions.

Saturday 08/05/2010: Couple of scores through from the world of GPS,  State High up over BBC by 49 to 5,  Nudgee up over IGS by 36 to 19 ( I think) but IGS leading by 5 to nil at almost half time,  with the caller advising that Nudgee really only did what they had to do.  Over in the world of AIC rugby,  Villanova has disposed of Ashgrove by 19 to 17 in what is a big upset.  Again,  with the onset of early Alzheimers affecting my recall,  I think that is the score that was called in.

Saturday 08/05/2010: The GPS competition (rugby) kicks off today,  in Brisbane and on the coast,  with probably the most damaging yet of the Courier Mail series telling of Nudgee having a young bloke enrolled at their school while he attended school at another place on the Sunshine Coast,  fees,  or part fees were allegedly paid to Nudgee as well.  For 8 or 9 games of footy,  it is quite hard to get a grip on.  Talk to any elite league kid,  they can play 70 to 80 games a year across school,  club,  regional rep,  school rep and elite programmes.  One think I have always agreed with Fast Eddy Jones on is that rugby kids do not play enough footy,  and the number of games Eddie thought was about right at that time was 30 a year.

Saturday 08/05/2010: Initial reaction at 15man last night was to hope they pushed Andrew Shaw off the plane and made him swim home.  Secondary reaction this morning after a secondary viewing is not alot different,  Shaw can hold his hand up high for alot of the responsibility for the loss.  While not entirely his fault,  the period he was off the field co incided with alot of points being scored.  His send off (yellow card) and earlier key penalty indiscretion set the Reds back badly in their quest.  Many other factors contributed though to the Reds demise last night.  I thought Peter Hynes was way off his best and was not anywhere near the force he has been all year from the back.  Our tight head side of the scrum without Weeks was again destroyed,  but instead of taking the scrum to ground,  as Brumbies could only seem to do over the last two weeks,  the Hurricanes took their loosehead side up in the right situations,  giving their defence some great advantage.  Holmes just had no answer at scrum time.  The side missed raid,  he is more than just an open side flanker,  and his presence was missed and will also be a key loss in 2011.  Couple that with some bad reads in defence,  one from Davies in particular on the Hurricanes first try,  some sloppy and inaccurate work at the breakdown and a really poor decision right on halftime that saw the Reds go for a try from a penalty,  turn the ball over and have the Hurricanes score well after the break and go into halftime right back in the match.  The Reds never recovered from that youthful indiscretion,  and the young are exuberant.  The Reds,  along with the Bulls and the Stormers,  however,  have breathed some life into a stodgy old competition that have made matches including those sides so very watchable and quite enjoyable.  There were more and bigger hits in the Hurricanes vs Reds match up than the Anzac test match,  the game was faster and more entertaining than the Anzac test match,  and players like Cruden,  Cooper,  Genia and others were far more creative in their work than their much vaunted counterparts playing in that Anzac test match in Melbourne.  Watching that test match though,  I cannot understand why more money and enticement has not been thrown at Greg Inglis.  I think he is the most damaging ball carrier in either game,  as well as being creative when he needs to be.  To watch his upper body in action with powerful fends and shrugs last night while carrying the ball,  he is just a cut above other players.  He would look superb in a 12 jersey for any rugby side.  He is a genuine million dollar plus a year footballer for probably the next 6 years,  and rugby league,  on the surface in Australia at least,  cannot afford that.  Inglis is one reason that I would pay good money to go and watch whatever code he was playing,  and whatever team he was playing for,  much more so than Israel Folau at this stage of his career.

Friday 07/05/2010: Seems we aren't the inventors of the word Felinicide,  google it and you will come up with a whole heap more card carrying members of various assylums.  However,  we still like it,  and are getting flooded with the methodology of felinicide,  here are some more apt phrases and words: "Food Processor/Blender",  "Stilsons" (another device many may not have heard of) "Electric Fence" (more of a stunning device,  part of an overall process),  "shards of a broken mirror" (which carries some considerable irony if we are talking black cats)

Friday 07/05/2010: Well emails flooding in on phrases that go with Felinicide,  and for our how to commit felinicide Wikipedia page,  phrases like "Post Hole Shovel",  "Mangy Pig Dog" and for those that like to get close and personal,  "Shifting Spanner".  For those that don't know what a posthole shovel is,  it is something that was used, in my memory, for removing the dirt from the bottom of postholes,  with a special curved head and long handle,  a superlative piece of machinery for battling dangerous,  lurking predators like cats.

Friday 07/05/2010: Lots and lots of site visitors in yesterday,  not sure why,  nothing special going on here at all.  There was a full board meeting of the 15man stakeholders last night and we have decided that the 15man loungeroom will now be called the 15man stats centre,  thereby we hope making it's running expenses a full tax deduction.  I didn't get an answer from the director accountant,  so am thinking it could be a bit dodgy and require some further investigation on how he will cook the books to ensure that it is.  Only other stuff going on yesterday,  the tallow wrestling legal and marketing man developed a new term,  Felinicide,  of course related to the extermination of cats.  That was in response to an article somewhere about removing the smell of cat urine from your rugs and carpets (there is a website dedicated to this) and of course I have the best option,  removal of the cat.  So coupled with the new word Felinicide,  you can have words and phrases like "Chainsaw",  "Bandsaw" and "Pallet Board",  of course creativity would deliver many more.  Other than that I cannot think of a single reason that so many people visited this site yesterday,  maybe they are expecting something big.  I can assure you,  it isn't coming.

Friday 07/05/2010: The Reds face a Herculian task in Wellington this afternoon.  I do like the way Genia and hopefully the team is approaching it though,  given the comments attributed to Genia this morning in the Courier Mail,  "It's just another challenge for us to overcome".  No plays on words and fancy rubbish,  just here it is,  this is what we have and this is what we are trying to do.  I am one that doesn't think they can quite overcome the challenge,  just too much decimation in the ranks,  but I am sure they will go out fighting.  The crash tackling Faingaa on Nonu,  could be a self injuring spectacle.  I think McKenzie,  and who could argue with him though for the season,  has got the front row correct with Laurie Weeks still unavailable.  Unless there are other reasons involved,  I would have started Holmes at tight head last week.  Each time he has come on in the season to date,  the scrum has been solid and he has injected a new level of aggression into the fray.  Kennedy's scrummaging was ordinary,  and I see he seems to have paid the price for that ordinary scrummaging with James Slipper moving on to the bench.  I do question the inclusion of Andrew Shaw,  I do understand that Braid has been given until kick off to be in or out,  but Shaw is an undisciplined young bloke that is probably good for 9 to 12 Hurricane points tonight,  so that sort of start will be hard to overcome when already playing wounded. (Unfortunately,  rusty the Koala wounded is not a very frightening animal either). Remember,  this bloke almost singlehandedly was responsible for the loss against the Waratahs way back in round one through very poor discipline.  I hope I am wrong but I think the Hurricanes will win it by more than seven,  and shut the Reds out for season 2010.  I will be the first Aussie cheering for the Chiefs against the Waratahs too,  the Waratahs style of football deserves no reward,  as do the Brumbies,  so whoever they are playing against,  all the best to you too.  At least the Chiefs will have a go,  and even the Highlanders last week in demolishing the Waratahs showed that you can play a high paced,  high intensity pick and drive (narrow) game and still make it interesting through good tactical kicking vs the rubbish no idea stuff that NSW puts together and vigorous,  physical go forward no nonsense rugby.  It also is looking disturbingly like both semi finals will be played in Africa,  meaning a very high probability of the final being played there too.  It should however be a cracking game at around 2am some Sunday morning not too far away.

Thursday 06/05/2010: You have these special days when you really could just mince someone's testicles and feed them back to him through an eye dropper.  Watch for it in the news.

Wednesday 05/05/2010: Enjoying big Petero's attack on the NRL,  and meetings for the sake of meetings.  Petero is right,  lawyers (David Gallop) love meetings,  and lots of people love committees,  committees can make collective decisions,  and no single individual can then ever be held responsible.  Unfortunately committee decisions often cater to strong lobby groups,  minority interests,  so at the end of it all you will get some watered down compromise that delivers part of the solution and more of the problems.  What is required,  more leadership,  clear direction,  and decisions in the best interests of whatever we are deciding about.

Wednesday 05/05/2010: I have heard a rumour that the GPS rugby competition starts this Saturday.  Was lurking around some school websites this morning looking for the draw and was quite captivated by some of the casuality with the truth on one of these sites in particular,  how the omission of one certain grouping of letters enhances the reputation of an individual so enormously. 

Wednesday 05/05/2010: Noone in the world will deny how well the Reds have done in 2010.  Only a week ago the team at 15man was looking at them belting the Brumbies,  and coming home undefeated,  finishing in second spot.  Now cruelled by injuries,  it looks like they may not even make the four.  A tough one in Wellington against a fast finishing Hurricanes could end the charge,  but given the way they have been playing in 2010,  I am sure they will front up and tough it out.  We live in hope that a finals berth is not too far away,  but now time will judge that.

Sunday 02/05/2010: Phil Gould has been saying it for a long time,  not just since the Melbourne Storm story broke,  that the salary cap rewards mediocrity,  and he is right.  However,  rugby league's reported revenue streams could not support an increase in salary cap across 16 clubs,  in short they cannot have it both ways.

Sunday 02/05/2010: Finally the Brumbies played the way their rock star player list should have been all year.  These commentators are fickle,  all of a sudden hailing a side that have been playing like bumbling fools all year,  they play one decent game and all of a sudden they are world beaters.  I really hope that Jeremy Paul picks up the family brain cell this week before he appears on the rugby club,  his arrogance and lack of intelligence is quite annoying,  and he seemingly feeds off not being too smart.  I was surprised one week that Brendan Cannon didn't stand up and head butt him so arrogant was he being towards Cannon.  The Reds were brave to the last,  again go back to last year and they would have caved in and lost that by 50.  Again commentators were saying that Giteau outplayed Cooper,  I am not so sure.  Let's just say Giteau was better than he has been,  and remember Cooper and the Reds have been consistently good all year while the Brumbies have been dishing up large servings of rubbish with a side that Resembles Australia.   Remember I don't have great swags of time for Cooper and his antics,  but his kicking game was very sweet last night,  and he needed to play in a game like that to see how he would stand up in a game like that.  His defence was poor,  but it always has been and it is something he needs to fix,  he was exposed pretty badly last night.  In essence though he didn't have brain explosions and play stupidly under enormous amounts of pressure.  Jack Kennedy shoed us why he was playing his first run on super 14 game last night,  he is not very good,  and got stitched up by a bloke that is really doing a multitude of things wrong as a loosehead,  and should be penalized almost every time he packs down.  Qld really missed Laurie "The Shredder" Weeks and losing Byrnes and Simmons compounded those woes further.  Qld dug in and hung on,  stayed in touch,  and played some pretty brave footy under enormous pressure.  Thought Chris Pollock had a pretty ordinary game,  he has only had a quick scan of the law book and only applies the laws he remembers it seems,  maybe just some of the ones in big black letters.  Matt Giteau would have been happy that the $5000 he spent on getting the referee changed was good for the Brumbies. Marto made this very pointed comment during the call as well.  It was a costly exercise but it assisted them to the 5 points.  While on the referee,  does Stephen Hoiles have to talk to the referee as much as he does,  surely they can catch up in the bar later,  every break Hoiles wants something.  To finish up on this game,  I keep hearing how good Elsom was last night,  again I thought he was ordinary,  a couple of good carries,  but largely shirking the hard stuff in close that a guy his size is paid to do,  and no doubt paid quite handsomely.  He can feel lucky that the 15man team is not selecting the Wallaby side,  as he would not be in it,  in fact many of the highly paid rock stars of Aussie rugby would not be in the Wallaby side that we selected,  but never fear,  they will be safe,  reputation will win over form as it usually does.  The final comment out of the 15man loungeroom last night, " The World will be a better place when the Brumbies and Waratahs don't make the finals".  We were also very hopeful that Stirling Mortlock didn't injure himself further high fiving all those kiddies on the sideline.  For the kids though,  it is excellent to see that,  one of the things professional rugby has taken away is that contact between player and particularly young fan,  and all that has become sanitized and organized.  Good on Mortlock for being very involved with those kids,  they would have loved it.

Sunday 02/05/2010: Caught a few of games of schoolboy footy up at TGS yesterday.  IGS had made the trip up the mountain for what looked to be a full school trial in soccer and rugby.  As usual,  at any rugby ground where the game is being played in Toowoomba,  you can see some laughable and atrocious refereeing,  and it quickly took my focus.  These guys sure keep inventing ways to be ordinary.  The other striking thing is, not unlike the NRL and the Super 14,  quite a few young blokes that seem to be just not quite up to this level of football.  Time will tell I suppose as the very short season that these guys play gets underway.  From the very poor memory banks,  I think IGS won this trial by 31 to 23,  and I had a message come through from the hallowed halls of TSS,  that the TSS side had knocked over the State High side in their trial by 28 to 19.

Saturday 01/05/2010: My opinions on why the NRL decision on the Melbourne Storm is wrong,  you can read it here,  a week after I promised it;

Saturday 30/04/2010: Reality,  Waratahs got what they deserved from playing rugby far too conservatively,  and seemingly playing rugby without having too many thoughts for where they want to end up.  One of the most laughable statistics I have ever heard was thrown up during this game, that Berrick Barnes has 3000 kicking metres to his name in 2010.  Now that is all well and good,  but I reckon about 2700 of those metres would be useless metres.  The Waratahs kicking game has been painful to say the least.  Berrick is a very good footballer and a fine young man,  a young man that made the wrong decision in hindsight (hindsight is a marvellous thing though,  I would have left the Reds too when he did,  they were falling apart,  so you can't blame him for that) and is in a team that is being coached to not lose,  and in that edict they are losing their way,  with a team of superstars.  Even in the wet,  over one metre of rain in Southern New Zealand and still raining,  the Highlanders (why are they on the bottom of the table) turned on a pretty handy and entertaining display.  Hopefully,  if the Reds win tonight,  NSW and the Brumbies will mercifully for all of us,  be knocked out of the semi final race.  They need to go back and have a look at how the Bulls,  the Stormers,  the Reds,  and on their good days the Blues have played their footy as they look to 2011,

Friday 30/04/2010: An interesting comment the other day,  Sunday just gone I think,  listening to the Wests Tigers vs Penrith Panthers match up,  the commentator on the radio was speaking of how well Tuqiri was playing,  and said "We should send all our players to rugby union,  they come back better players".  That's a big call from a rugby league commentator,  probably mistakenly made,  but nonetheless it caught my attention.

Friday 30/04/2010: You have to love these pretentious league guys.  Tony Currie,  who was a very,  very good footballer,  let's not be mistaken there,   this morning in the press calling for Israel Folau to be banned from the NRL forever if he chooses to move to rugby this morning,  along of course with any other players that do the same.  It was OK years ago when Rugby was amateur,   rugby league was there to take rugby players as they pleased to the professional code.  They couldn't come back,  once they went from amateur to professional,  they could not come back to the rugby ranks.  The NRL and rugby league can do whatever it likes,  the fact is that market conditions determine a players worth,  in this professional business world,  and if rugby league cannot afford the best players,  then it risks becoming played in suburban backwaters,   whatever the fans think,  and which ever code they find the most boring.  I certainly wouldn't be shutting the door on any players from cross code if I was David Gallop and the NRL,  in fact one of the first things I would have had a little look at was some type of dual arrangement where a Billy Slater,  Cooper Cronk and Greg Inglis could maybe play for a year or two at the Rebels and then return,  dual deals have been done in England before between rugby league and rugby union,  so with a bit more thought,  and a move away from the conspiracy theories,  I am sure there would be some merit in such a thought.

Thursday 29/04/2010: Some good news at last,  someone has found Noah's Ark,  and the watermark in those days must have been spectacular,  it was half or three quarters of the way up a mountain somewhere.  Even better news though,  there is a new insecticide out that better controls these little pests in cucurbits and egg plants.  That has taken a number of my worries away today,  eased up the stress I had no end.

Wednesday 28/04/2010: A spectacular start to the tallow wrestling season on the Anzac day holiday Monday,  saw the great man from Goondiwindi Killer Joule Ken continue to reign supreme with a raft of underhanded tactics,  the Punisher put in a solid performance and Pablo Esco Fat,  the 160 kilogram Colombian another disgraceful performance,  just not up to it this bloke,  too big,  too slow,  but plenty ugly.  Of course you can't read those reports here on a family site,  but look for our new channel on Pay TV,  The Fat Channel,  20779834678 on your pay TV dial,  we are there 24 hours a day 7 days a week.

Wednesday 28/04/2010: Then there was the quite ludicrous and unbelievable story,  emanating from one of the "better" and "elite" education addresses,  that last year in the GPS rugby teams,  First XV teams that is,  that Southport,  TSS,  fielded a 21 year old and a 22 year old in their sides,  and that State High,  BSHS,  fielded,  a 20 year old apprentice cleaner that worked at the school.  While there is absolutely zero truth in the 21,  22 and 20 year olds playing football,  schoolboy football mind you,  the bit that gives the guy away as being a little intellectually challenged is "apprentice cleaner",  that is an absolute doozy.  I am yet to see in my almost half century on the planet anyone offering apprenticeships for cleaning.  My source,  texted me this rubbish straight away,  and I texted straight back asking that the deliverer of such rumours put some names up.  I was texted back immediately that this would be done.  3 weeks later now and no names have emerged.  I wait and wait with such anticipation on seeing who was the apprentice cleaner,  and who at 22 is still at school ( I think it is a requirement that you have to be attending school is it not,  even if you are apparently attending as an apprentice cleaner!!!!!) playing first XV rugby earning zero dollars for 8 games of footy a year.  It was also mentioned to the purveyor of the rumour that there were a couple of kids in the State High side closer to 15 than 18,  no comment on that one either.  Boundless,  unfounded rumours coming out of places that supposedly stand for truth,  integrity and high moral standing.

Tuesday 27/04/2010: The amount of aimless kicking in the Waratahs vs Brumbies match up was really quite difficult to digest.  It seems that the Barnes methodology is now kick first,  and gee there was alot of "no idea" kicking going on.  Kicking with purpose I can deal with,  no idea kicking drives me up the wall.  NSW are becoming the kings of no idea rugby,  closely followed by the Brumbies.  At least we can say the Lions and the Cheetahs just lack competence,  but the same cannot be attributed to NSW and the Brumbies,  given the names on their rosters,  and I am sure the payments made to that roster.

Tuesday 27/04/2010: Lots of conjecture about the Adam Ashley Cooper disallowed try I note.  I actually agree with Walsh,  except for the terminology of "double movement".  I thought he was tackled,  held and then crawled over,  all quite quickly,  but nonetheless,  he didn't play the ball and has moved again to place the footy over the line.  Law states you can only really reach out.  So the penalty was for failing to play the ball immediately,  not a double movement as Mr Walsh has stated,  but Marto gets this one right every time.

Tuesday 27/04/2010: Managed to sit through the Brumbies/Waratahs match and the scrum thing looks pretty easy to identify to me.  Both Kepu and Alexander are angling in from the set up,  they will continue on that path through engagement,  that penalty under current laws could go either way.  If you look at Alexander's bind,  he is grabbing low and his elbow points straight down,  which is a penalty against him.  Baxter exploited that and ripped down on that arm already pointing down with his bind.  Alexander does not look to be very strong,  has very small arms,  and Baxter has exploited his technique and weakness.  Coupled with this,  they are all packing with hips higher than shoulders,  so really,  down and in is where those groupings of forces are going to end up.  And that is the way alot of them went,  in and down.  Robbo (Benn the Hippo Robinson) also drives in,  but he drives in and up,  small technical difference seemingly,  big difference in end point result.   I think you will also find that Robbo binds much higher up on the shoulder blade and gets his wing or arm out and parallel to the ground. There were also a number of occasions that they were just too far apart.  Then you can add that Al Baxter has always been a serial collapser and Bill Young,  another serial scrum collapser and offender is scrum coach of the Brumbies,  of course you are going to have trouble come scrum time.  I probably could have penalized Alexander at every scrum for something in those few technical points.  It is in the technique of the players,  not the laws or the ref.

Sunday 25/04/2010: I listened to the interviews done with Stephen Hoiles and Berrick Barnes last night as I drove home.  They were interviewed by the ABC.  I missed the entire game,  but putting two and two together from the interviews,  it was another bore a thon.  Of great interest to me though was the comments from Hoiles about collapsed scrums and reset scrums,  and then blaming the Laws of the game,  not the ref,  not the players.  I keep going back to the Brumbies scrum coach,  Bill Young,  who could only compete,  due to lack of physical strength and technical prowess,   by going to ground,  he was a terrible prop.  This was the way Australia scrummed in those days.  Stephen,  mate,  it's not the fault of the laws,  the ref could be a little harsher,  and just blow penalties straight away,  first bloke down is the first penalized for example,  but in reality,  the players need to keep the thing up for the contest,  and therein lies the problem.  If they are being coached that the first defensive method is to drop it and get the reset,  then take the reset out of the game,  make them stay up.  Laws are fine Stephen,  have a look at the players and coaching style.  We all hope that the Reds smoke the Brumbies next weekend with a bonus point,  as given the style of rugby the Brumbies are playing,  that is what is deserved.  And as Stephen Hoiles said last night,  lose next week against the Reds,  they won't make the finals.  For the Reds this is a good thing,  and for the competition this is a good thing.  The big crowds at the Reds last two matches are a telling statistic as to the type of footy that needs to be played to get the paying customer through the gate,  those playing negative and conservative footy fully deserve to be relegated to the bottom sections of the ladder.

Saturday 24/04/2010: Firstly on this subject,  the media should be banned from interviewing players as they head to the half time oranges,  but if they must interview people,  there should be some they never talk to.  Quade Cooper last night became one that should never be interviewed,  that was positively awful,  and there are others from all countries.  In fact,  the 15man team has often had the discussion around our very comfortable loungeroom,  that we live in hope that there is never a Quade Cooper mask produced for people to use at the footy,  we are not sure how that blank look gets transposed on to a piece of cardboard. 

Saturday 24/04/2010: The Reds did what they had to do last night at Suncorp Stadium,  in a game that took a long time to get going.  Readers,  if Anthony Faingaa wasn't the best on the field last night,  I am an exceptionally poor judge of the game,  best and brave after getting knocked senseless in the first minutes.  He is the number one inside centre in Australian rugby at the moment,  not necessarily the style that Deans will be looking for (second ball player) but he carts the footy straight and forwards,  and smacks people,  lots of them,  in defence.  Would like to see his stat sheet after last night,  kid had a super game.  Thought Cooper was quiet,  but the key is he did what he had to,  and what he had to do he did very well and sucked the slower,  different style up.  The game had been hyped up for the whole week,  and games like that often become arm wrestles.  The Stormers are an exceptional defensive side,  and coupled with that they keep the ball for long periods when they get it.  The Reds obviously believed the stats and decided to go at them differently,  with a game plan they were maybe not comfortable with,  but win,  and win ugly they did,  and there are times you have to do that.  Both sides showed strong composure in defence,  defence on their own lines.  This Bekker kid can really play and I am not sure where,  but he has to be a Springbok this year,  maybe I would play him at 6.  Now I have plenty to say this weekend,  and it may take me until Monday to say it,  but first up I want to comment,  or write a full page on why I think the NRL is very wrong in the penalty handed down to the Melbourne Storm,  some time I want to weigh into the GPS premiership purchasing debate with a purely practical look at it,  and then some general commentary on the Super 14,  refereeing over the last couple of weeks and the like.  It will be mixed with the usual flashes of insanity and stupidity,  just to keep things light,  so keep checking back,  just to see what I have to say.

Friday 23/04/2010: Bashed up enough grass fattened moths last night on the way home,  that,  if turned into moth biofuel,  would run Australia's cars and trucks for a week.  It was a veritable mothstorm.

Friday 23/04/2010: Last night I found a website that denies the existence of the internet.

Friday 23/04/2010: Huge week in Melbourne with our Southern City stealing all the news,  Carl Williams first up early in the week and then the Melbourne Storm Salary Cap rorting yesterday.  I would imagine that the ARU and Rebels would be worried that Mr Brian "Wally" Waldron is now tainting rugby,  and I would assume he will be cut adrift this morning,  if he has not already been.  It was a pretty good scheme,  and I am enjoying all the cries of innocence this morning,  from coaches and players.  The sad thing is that it delivers the massive Victorian sports market back to AFL.  Positive,  someone like Cooper Cronk,  with a rugby background,  may want to jump codes,  who knows.  Guys like Inglis have already said they would be bored in rugby,  so they would only swap for the dough.  I am not sure that he would be bored playing for a side like the Reds,  Stormers,  Bulls or Blues in the current rugby world either.  I just note after I type that that Waldron is gone from the Rebels,  and so he should be.

Thursday 22/04/2010: Conspiracy theories abound.  Carl Williams is still alive and in Witness Protection.  Nice one boys.

Thursday 22/04/2010: I note Victorian Police,  who used to shoot first and talk later,  are looking into Corrections staff's bank accounts,  over the Carl Williams head pulping.  Now if I was a corrupt Corrections Staffer,  and I was being paid say $100K to have a cup of tea away from CCTV monitors at a certain time on a certain day,  do you think I would be looking to have it in a bank account.  I think I would much prefer the paper bag passed through the windows of two cars pulled up side by side in the middle of the night,  in a carpark somewhere,  with a nod and a wink,  or just having a bag full of notes left somewhere pre arranged.  A telegraphic transfer into my account just leaves a bit of a cold hard trail that is just a bit easy to be traced.

Thursday 22/04/2010: From deep inside the chicken wire confines of the Bunker,  Bobs Country Bunker,  we hear calls for a cat whacking competition to take place within the said confines of the chicken wire.  Idea certainly has some merit.

Thursday 22/04/2010: Tallow Wrestling 2010-Are You Man Enough is the new slogan for the year,  just delivered by the marketing and legal department.  Look out for the massive promotion on Foxsports,  2010 is going to be a big year for the golden grease.

Thursday 22/04/2010: Reports this morning that NSWRU gate receipts are falling (would that surprise anybody),  you don't have to spend money to be bored mindless,  and that they have lost money for the last couple of years,  but also that the ARU lost money last year,  and they are propping up these poorly performing entities.  I wonder when the big pot will run completely dry.

Wednesday 21/04/2010: Also of interest upon leaving Victoria last Friday morning,  and arriving back in Brisbane,  the gross mismatch in petrol prices,  remember the days that fuel was cheaper in Qld than,  well anywhere else in the country.  Prices,  non shopper docket discounted all the way to Tullamarine airport,  in Bob's (no relationship at all to Bob of Bob's country Bunker fame,  but a very interesting character all the same) VP taxi pick up service,  $1.24 to $1.27 per litre.  Hitting the ground in Qld,  $1.33 to $1.38 per litre,  except in Toowoomba,  where the freight from Brisbane to Toowoomba takes the pricing to $1.19,  non shopper docket discounted.  A little more than the 8 cents extra tax in the difference in pricing too between Melbourne and Brisbane.

Wednesday 21/04/2010: Meant to mention it the other day,  there was a fascinating piece on talkback radio the other night about International Frisbee throwing,  it was enthralling stuff.  Certainly something to show on the big screens,  behind chicken wire of course,  at the Bunker,  Bob's Country Bunker.  There is plenty of parking space for the Winnebagos at the Bunker,  Bob's Country Bunker.

Wednesday 21/04/2010: Thought it was awesome to see the report the other day of Belgium's heady rise up the world rugby rankings,  at 29 certainly a 2011 world cup threat.  We are very interested in where Afghanistan sits in the scheme of things and other nations of similar ilk,  Iraq and Iran hold great interest for us here in the Bunker,  Bob's Country Bunker of course.

Wednesday 21/04/2010: Alot of mail folks,  people just can't wait to see the Silver Fox in his new hot pink latex Tallow Wrestling mask,  it really sets the billowing waves of silver fur off in a nice contrast.  Will post pictures as soon as I have them,  from the Dome.  Follow the wrestling,  the Tallow Wrestling of course,  with an evening of entertainment and Two Up at Bob's Country Bunker,  deep in the heart of redneck territory where lynchings and other such goings on are commonplace.

Wednesday 21/04/2010: The World Tallow Wrestling Federation has advised that there will be a title defence to kick off the season,  the very resourceful Killer Joule Ken going head to head with The Golden Rod in a Tallow Trench Warfare Bout.  Those of you that get the newsletter updates would know just how resourceful Joule was in regaining the much coveted title,  however you do need to be well over 18 and slightly bent to be receiving such newsletters,  so don't just write in and ask,  I would have to know you quite well and understand that you are less than normal,  or maybe more than normal,  don't know.

Wednesday 21/04/2010: Fresh back from a very miserable and cold Victoria,  how do you folks live under those grey skies constantly,  but jagged a few pics while I was down there,  even though the weather was unpleasant and murky.  Just whip over and have a look at a couple of my favourites from the Southern Sojourn here  and here.  Plenty more there but I don't want to bore you too much with my extracurricular activities.

Wednesday 21/04/2010: The Reds have been poking along under the Radar,  and playing very well.  However this week I note the return of one of the more annoying sporting habits,  the media beatup.  Don't know who is responsible,  but it is very distasteful and even disrespectful,  and adds to the pressure.  This week for example we see that Rod Davies is going to put a rocket up Bryan Habana.  Tell me that is not disrespect,  whoever is responsible for the stupid line.  Rod Davies,  who is still better known as a schoolboy sprinter,  which folks believe it or not,  out here in the real world means absolutely 100% of zero (best if you are a schoolboy mathematician to figure out that little equation),  has played a handful of decent games in 2010,  2009 he was woeful beyond belief,  yet here we see someone,  a media manager (surely Davies is not that stupid) or the Courier Mail journalists,  throwing a heap of disrespect to an all African African,  guy can play,  guy can run,  and has the records to prove it,  plenty of tests for South Africa,  plenty of games for the Bulls and now the Stormers.  Guys just get out there and play,  get rid of the cute little plays on words and names,  or get the journalists to,  and all things will be good.  The Stormers will take some beating in any man's language,  so I would be sheltering in the bunker and not making any comments,  that would be the Qld Reds Bunker,  not Bob's Country Bunker.

Tuesday 20/04/2010: Well the Tallow Wrestling season kicks off on Monday,  at the International Tallow Wrestling Dome,  some big matches headline the season opener folks,  Silver Fox vs the Punisher,  The 150kg Colombian vs the Don,  that's if the Colombian gets out of Papua New Guinea Alive.  He is travelling in some dangerous areas,  and at 150 plus kilos he would make a fantastic self basting spit roast.  Pre match entertainment given that it is Anzac Day will be some naked two up,  come to the Dome for a great long weekend finisher.

Tuesday 20/04/2010: The rain has been good for us all,  but these grass fattened moths are really providing havoc for those of us that drive before the sun comes up and after it goes down,  they just don't hit and stick,  they hit and slide,  full of grease and goodness,  and then stick in long trails of mess.  I would like to commission a study or project into turning the little suckers into biofuel or something along those line,  providing employment for thousands,  they will take a bit of catching.

Tuesday 20/04/2010: From deep inside the chicken wire confines of Bob's Country Bunker,  the 15man team has witnessed the very sinister goings on of yesterday,  supposedly in the secure confines of Geelong's Barwon Prison,  where crime kingpin Carl Williams yesterday was bashed to death by one of his mates.  Those in the "square" world just don't seem to get it,  it is always going to come from someone you know well,  someone that is close to you,  someone you trust.  Carl seems to have been perceived to have been doing the wrong thing and has taken a bicycle part to the back of the head,  several times.  This news will sell many papers for some time.

Monday 19/04/2010: Fresh home now from Bob's Country Bunker,  and the Reds and the Bulls played the game of the year,  any code.  When rugby is played like that,  league really has nothing.  Unfortunately,  too many games are not played like that,  usually anything the Brumbies and Waratahs play in this year,  and at times,  or most of the time,  the Crusaders.  The bar gets even higher this week against the Stormers,  Graham Henry has got it right in saying they are the best in the competition at the moment,  they have a bit of a sharper edge in attack than the Bulls.  If I were selecting a Bok XV at the moment,  their number 8,  number 2 and big Bekker would be in,  with maybe Matfield moving to 6 to accommodate the big man.  Others would be in of course,  but they are playing scintillating footy and it is a mouth watering clash that awaits us this week at Suncorp Stadium.  The Reds could well get 30000 plus through the gate this week.  Well done to them,  I was one of their harshest critics,  and hope this is a new era that lasts for quite a while.  NSW played their most exciting game of the tournament,  by not playing in the bye round.  We at 15manrugby hope that they play out a boring nil all draw with 60 scrums,  100 lineouts and a penalty count somewhere in the vicinity of 50 all against the Australian Rock Star side,  the Brumbies.  We wish the Brumbies and the Waratahs could play a bye each week,  it beats going outside and watching the grass grow.

Tuesday 13/04/2010: The school rugby debate and scholarships rages on in the Courier Mail,  and still the comments flow.  Here is a copy of one (and alot are not) sensible ones. 

I read with interest yesterdays story, especially since I was interviewed as a father of a three year BSHS First XV player. The story about the full fee paying boy who gave up rugby after being relegated to Second XV tells a story in itself. I have a second boy who is destined to play in the B's and C's for every sport he turns his hand to, of which hes given three a go. I was proud of my older boy when he was selected for Australian Schoolboys, but I am prouder still of his brother who diligently prepares himself every weekend to be fully committed to whatever sport he's playing, organising his bag and uniform the night before. Sportsmanship is also about stickability, committment and passion. If a boy gives up Rugby because he was relegated back a team in his final year, its not that the code gave up on him for a year, he never got that message in the 4 previous to it.

I am still not quite sure what point the Courier Mail is trying to make,  as they aren't uncovering anything,  they seem to be vacillating around what they really want to say.  Personally,  my beliefs are that what the schools do,  with the full knowledge of our governing bodies,  and supported by them,  is very,  very bad for the code,  as the comment I selected yesterday said,  depleting and narrowing the pool.  I have been advocating for years systems like the rugby  league and AFL have in place,  that a few wealthy private schools,  plus State High,  do not,  can not and will not supply the depth required for five Super sides and an amateur club competition across the country.  An alternative has to be found.  I also do not denounce schools for being "wealthy",  some of their arrogance I do not like,  but you would be surprised the ones I throw in the arrogant basket.  They are in business,  and businesses are expected to make returns to stakeholders,  profits on a number of fronts are expected.  I guess as a parent,  of now very adult,  and very well adjusted young adults,  I,  and my wife looked at a number of things,  but early on decided that if we were sending kids to school for rugby,  the decision would be based on the wrong reasons.  We are very happy and proud to have been a part of the development of these young adults,  but the school we chose played no small part in a critical part of their development.  Hopefully you get my point there, as we did not choose one of the big "elite" schools,  and I am attended one of them,  and the place did nothing for me,  except demonstrate how arrogant they really are.  We were told that if you go to a school like this,  you get the job first.  This is quite wrong,  and there is alot about the constitution of the person in the real world that makes a person.

Tuesday 13/04/2010: The guy sitting beside me in the plane had a death resemblance more than actually looking like Bernie,  never saw him breathe or move for over 2 hours.  There is a story for the I remember series in today's flight I can tell you.

Tuesday 13/04/2010: Well just landed in Melbourne for the balance of the week,  and another hilarious flight,  suffice to say that I swear I sat next to Bernie,  from Weekend at Bernie's fame,  in seat 21C this morning,  unbelievable,  I am sure he was dead.

Monday 12/04/2010: This comment that I have typed out of the Courier Mail probably says everything I could say,  and is 100% correct in broadening the playing base and kicking some of the traditions to hell:

School Rugby - particularly GPS and TAS Rugby - has effectively held back any prospect of a broader base of junior playing talent via junior rugby clubs ever since I can remember. Many parents of "non-GPS/TAS" boys have witnessed these schools telling their pupils that if they play for a club at under 16 or colts level that they will not eligible for selection in the First XV. This causes many teams at under 16 level to fold and causes most "non GPS/TAS" kids to take up Rugby League or Soccer. Many talented boys are lost to Rugby forever and narrows the playing base. The best way to stop this is for the ARU to abandon the concept of Australian Schoolboy teams and select junior Australian (and State) teams from the club ranks.

Monday 12/04/2010: The Courier Mail article on the big elite schools and rugby (in particular) scholarships,  has lit up talkback radio and the Courier Mail comments column.  As with everything,  different people see different things,  and the Courier Mail comments column reflects exactly that,  the differing views that are in the marketplace,  and the polarized opinions.  However,  many are missing the real point that I feel the articles are trying to portray.  I will watch the situation unfold over the series for sure.

Monday 12/04/2010: Well,  some stupidity travelling with me this morning,  and I just deleted what I wrote on Sunday morning,  will have to see if I can recover said words again somehow.  Some stuff in the Courier Mail this morning about the clandestine nature of those big schools,  and scholarships.  You can read them at these links. http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/death-inevitable-in-gps-rugby-arms-race-principal-says/story-e6freon6-1225852420863

http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/rich-gps-coaches-stalk-young-rugby-players/story-e6freon6-1225852440076

http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/opinion/life-isnt-fair-but-the-old-boys-still-need-rugby-mike-colman/story-e6frerf6-1225852422086

Enough said there really.

Sunday 11/04/2010: If you were ever asked in a triva quiz,  what is synonymous with rugby,  the answer is obvious,  chainsaws and cowbells.  I am not sure how we get through without those sounds from the Waikato.  I am wondering how I will get my chainsaw through the inspection this week at Suncorp though.  Other things deserving special mention are the blue hard hats with the big horns out the sides,  of course worn by the Bulls supporters,  and back in the NPS,  the Manawatau supporters and those green,  plastic buckets with the face holes cut out and worn as a head fashion accessory.  We just can't match these rugby identifiers in Australia,  yet.

Sunday 11/04/2010: Another weekend of Super Rugby mercifully finishes.  Not many good games to bank the competition on over this weekend.  The Reds and the Blues remain the entertainers of the competition,  and if you are going to get money out of my pocket,  you need to be playing in the vain of the Reds,  the Blues,  The Bulls,  certainly not The Waratahs and Brumbies,  at least before I headed out to watch the grass grow on the dark last night as a more entertaining alternative to the bumbling trash being dished up in that game.  Apparently they ended up scoring 9 tries,  not sure how but that is the word.  The Blues and Reds both seemed to be victims of their own enthusiasm levels,  a few things go right so rather than play with a bit of structure,  just caution to the wind and play from anywhere.  Joe Rocokoco, how good is he in 2010,  back to his freakish best,  just playing some amazing rugby.  The Waratahs,  well what can you say,  their defence was excellent,  but their incessant pick and drive game for 22 phases on the tryline,  just infuriating stuff.  The referee has probably gifted the Crusaders that game with another one of those tries under the pile of bodies ruling,  another game that just never got going.  I am also sure that Ewen McKenzie and the Reds will be disappointed with their efforts from about 25 minutes in to the end of the game,  things got a bit ragged and they really let the Lions back into the game.  However here at 15man we would much rather be "entertained" by that sort of footy than the rubbish the Waratahs and for most of the time the Brumbies are dishing up.  Quade Cooper even made some tackles,  4 or 5 in the end,  but missed a crucial front on job in the course of the Lions scoring a try.

Friday 09/04/2010: Heard this on the radio this morning,  couldn't be a more true statement made:  "Political Correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional,  illogical minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end."

Friday 09/04/2010: You all need to have a look at this,  this dude rings up every talkback operator going,  and last week he was talking about his new video on youtube.  Not sure I would be skiting about it,  but you need to look,  and watch it all,  it gets better at the end.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwN_xNgNL8Y  His grandmother would be very happy that he is wearing the shirt she gave him for christmas of 1975.

Wednesday 07/04/2010: I note I have used several spellings of the word bore "a" tahs.  Not sure which is right,  but hopefully you get the picture.  I guess to put a definition to the variously similar spellings,  would be something like "Group of Sky Blue clad (supposed) warriors playing in the Super 14 competition out of an almost bankrupt state called New South Wales".  It is allegedly the place that Captain Cook first landed and quilled a few lines of ownership or some such rubbish.  People that live in NSW,  particularly Sydney,  rate themselves as slightly above the rest of we mortal Australians,  not sure why,  but they do,  and it is aptly covered in one of the Redgum songs of the early 80's,  about the bankcard.

Wednesday 07/04/2010: I was in contact with the Body Parts Dealer the other day,  he was off to harvest some kidneys,  and I am still awaiting my "end" from that deal.  I also hear from various channels that the Silver Fox is showing some friskiness now that the Tallow Wrestling season is approaching.  No doubt he is manicuring those billowing waves of magnificent grey hair that we all know he has.  At least he has hair I guess!!!  The Night Hawke has been very quiet,  he likes to lay very low,  consummate operator but likes to wrestle in the dark.  I will telephone the Body Parts Dealer later,  I understand he is off  to an idyllic retreat on the Sunshine Coast for a few days to ply his wicked trade,  no doubt with trucks loaded with ice.  Look out for them,  and avoid them.

Wednesday 07/04/2010: While on the Rebels,  I hope they have all the oxygen gear and wheelchairs close by.  I really think Mortlock is a poor signing.  He is way past his best today,  and what we can hope for from him in 3 years at 36 or 37 is less rugby than he is playing now,  which is very little,  and he will be more fragile than he is now,  which is extremely fragile.  It's a long way to ship bananas.  I don't remember too many guys still playing great test rugby at 37,  with the one that comes immediately to mind being Frank Bunce.  I was surprised he retired at 37,  he just seemed to keep getting better and better and remains in my mind still today one of the great players of any era I have watched.  Mortlock and the other band of geriatrics are not in his class.  The other guy that is in a similar geriatric class is Sam Cordingley,  not sure what he will offer to a professional franchise either.  However,  we can say that McQueen does not have a bad record and has seemed to know what he was doing over years gone past,  as as Waldron,  the CEO when you speak about building clubs from ground zero.

Wednesday 07/04/2010: The worst kept secret in rugby was announced yesterday,  Adam Freier's signing by the Melbourne Franchise.  I think it is the right decision for Freier,  his NSW career is done it seems.  He also seems like a pretty fair sort of fellow.  Spent some time in a lift with him in Perth a couple of years back,  and he was quick to engage in conversation and seemed genuinely interested in having a chat.  By the time our lift ride was over,  he had offered me tickets to the Force vs NSW match up later that week in Perth,  in 2008.  He will be a good signing for the Rebels.

Wednesday 07/04/2010: Yesterday also saw Darren Lockyer announce that he is available for Representative duties in 2010.  Drawing plenty of commentary I can tell you,  most of it negative.  I wouldn't write him off just yet,  the origin stage is one that draw the best out of the greats and only time will tell as to how Lockyer goes,  whether this is the right decision or not.

Wednesday 07/04/2010: Yesterday saw Pricey (Steve Price) announce his end of year retirement.  This guy is one good man,  not a hint of any dark clouds around Pricey,  he is everything we should be aspiring to.  Of course he is a Toowoomba boy,  went to Harristown High School and played his junior Footy at the Newtown club from memory.  He has been an exceptional rugby league player for many years.

Wednesday 07/04/2010: Sighted my first homo tape in rugby league on the weekend just gone,  and would you believe I have forgotten who I saw it on and which team,  however it is there.  May have been the Raiders.  League certainly countered with that great game on the weekend between the Tigers and the Raiders,  it was a ripper.  I know alot of people are caught up in some homo phobic "don't watch this sport" of "only follow this sport" but you need to include 5 serves of vegetables in your diet,  so why not some sporting variety as well.  Rugby League is certainly one very tough sport,  played by some incredible athletes,  but they are suffering from too many teams and not enough players as well,  have a bit of a look at the Broncos at the moment,  these guys could well finish last in 2010.  They are pretty ordinary.

Wednesday 07/04/2010: Forgot to transfer the below on the weekend,  so here it is now.  I know you are all sweating on my account of the Bore"a" tahs.

Sunday 04/04/2010: Fresh from the Reds vs Sharks game and it moves into number one game for the weekend.  South African commentators are without doubt the least knowledgeable of all commentators.  Will someone please tell them we have not had any Law Changes,  that now refs are just calling them as they are written.  Also probably the most biassed,  happy to talk  about the Reds scoring off a forward pass,  but not one of them mentioned the knock on by the Sharks at the base of a ruck that two phases later lead to a try,  and the blatant off side on fulltime,  right in front that surely would have been three points to win the game,  with a bonus point.  However,  it was a great game of footy,  with two committed sides,  playing a ball in hand game,  with  a few mistakes,  for that they should be congratulated,  some of the stuff the Bore "a" tahs dish up has more kicking in it than  a soccer match.  Cooper,  still not a fan,  but warming to him,  was outstanding,  as was Ioane.  If the selectors are serious,  the Wallabies backline will be pretty much Qld,  with Horne at 13,  outside Genia,  Cooper and Faainga,  with Ioane and McCabe on the wings,  and Hynes at Fullback.  Morahan is on the bench,  as is Giteau,  and Barnes does not make the cut.  While I am a supporter of a ball player at 10 and 12,  you will play much better footy with the Faainga go forward match and no nonsense defence than waiting for Giteau to break the line with something special.  Something special,  that is "The WOW FACTOR" happens at training in the warm up touch match,  and very rarely in a match.  Faainga goes forward almost every touch,  and has been belting people in defence.  Qld's defence has been and continues to be outstanding.

Sunday 04/04/2010: Very hard to believe that the Bor"e"atahs sit at the top of the Super 14 table.  Very hard to believe that Al Baxter has played 100 games,  and very hard to believe that Al Baxter scored a try,  his first,  in his 100th game.  Whatever the Fox commentators say,  the Waratahs are close to the most boring side I have ever seen play,  raining or dry.  One thing I did agree with Greg "Marto" Martin on though was him saying,  during the Steve Lzynski ref cross to determine a Cheetah's try,  that you cannot have a double movement in rugby.  I really thought Lzynski was trying to say "double movement" but just couldn't get the words out,  as he tried to answer,  "the ball was grounded before the line and then promoted".  Of course the Law states something like " The tackled player can play the ball in any direction, (also something in there about playing the ball immediately) and in playing the ball can reach out and score a try."  Something like that.  What we saw last night was a Cheetahs side playing classic "no idea rugby",  playing against a Bor"e"atahs side that were playing "just a little bit more,  but not much more idea rugby than the Cheetahs".  Game of the weekend,  and I am awaiting the Reds replay,  definitely that beauty between the Blues and the Bulls,  had plenty,  physicality,  some massive hits in there,  with Kaino's shot on Flip someone or other,  an absolute ball tearer.  The paying public should demand more rugby of this ilk,  and less of the trash that the Bor"e"atahs and many others dish up.  To coin a phrase from Gorden Tallis,  during half time of the Souths vs Cronulla clash,  and attributing it to the Bor"e" atahs vs Cheetahs clash,  "this game would put a glass eye to sleep."  Thanks for that Gorden,  there is alot of good material flows out of your mouth,  that's for sure.  Berrick Barnes finally showed us that his catching skills have been semi restored and that he can do that little drop/stab kick off the side of the boot.  Doesn't get him recalled from the Fast Eddie XV though.  Halangahu showed just how poor the Cheetahs defence is/was,  with a linebreak and long carry.  Fair dinkum punters,  this bloke can tackle,  but offers an absolute zero in attack,  and for him to  break the line indicates that the Cheetahs had "no idea" what to do and where to be.  There also seems to be a decline in the use of homo tape,  although main offenders in it's use,  the Brumbies are on a bye and I am yet to sight the Sharks yet this weekend.  There is no homo tape seen in rugby league at this particular point in time.

Saturday 03/04/2010: Jonathan Kaplan showed us last night,  or yesterday afternoon why he and his team of assistants,  will referee the Fast Eddie XV,  they were an absolute disgrace.  There are many times when I say stuff like,  you just have to deal with the referee,  figure out how he is refereeing and play to that,  you need to play well enough to be on top of referee error and interpretation,  but yesterday the Hurricanes were robbed,  absolutely robbed by three woeful decisions.  The Crusaders first try,  contained a blatant forward pass,  and maybe a dodgy tackle call.  Then there was the try from the fast lineout throw.  The ball used for the quick lineout throw had already been picked up by someone else (Conrad Smith) and I also thought there were enough people milling around the mark for a lineout to have been called formed.  And the last try,  how anyone could see that ball going down is beyond me.  As one of the 15man team said,  we are in as good a position as he is here in Australia,  and we can't see the ball being forced.  I am not anti Crusaders,  but they did not really deserve to win that.  Kaplan in their with three try assists and alot of other dodgy calls.  Disgraceful performance.  Imagine my delight then when seeing Stu Dickinson heading up the borefest between the Force and The Stormers,  caught a bit of shuteye in that one I can tell you.  However,  we did find our outside centre for our Fast Eddie XV,  in that big Fijian on the wing for the Stormers,  with Blair Connor from the Reds getting a bench spot for those outside back slots.  Only got a few forwards to select now and I am sure they will come to us as the weekend unfolds.

Friday 02/04/2010: And,  just reading the article on Keebra Park winning the sevens,  one comment from their coach is a cracker,  and just so right,  but if I were him I would add a little over rider.  The article is in the Brisbane Times Newspaper.  The comment from the coach goes like this: "They (rugby union) don't seem to identify kids,  that's where I'd be looking.  It's crazy stuff".   I would be adding the following,  "They don't seem to identify kids outside the sanctity of those very cushy elite,  supposed "rugby nurseries",  except for a few token identifications for the purpose of seemingly "spreading the net".  Let me give you an example.  I watched two days of the big rugby League Schoolboy tournament when it was held in Dalby,  2007 I think,  Andrew McCullough of the Broncos was finishing school at State High at the time.  This was the Queensland Schoolboys Rugby League State Titles.  I sat at the Northern end of the ground.  Present at that northern end of the ground was a virtual who's who of the rugby league world.  Most noticeable was Arthur Beetson,  Easts scout,  dressed up for the day,  Jackie Howe singlet,  some stubbies,  and a nice pair of dress thongs.  The legendary,  and he is a legend,  Cyril Connell and Paul Bunn,  Broncos recruitment guys were there,  Rod Reddy from Parramatta and some others from other NRL outfits that who's names I cannot remember.  The times I walked around the ground,  which was a few,  I saw exactly zero people from rugby at this show,  that's correct zero.  Listening to Cyril Connel and the boys talk,  and from memory,  8 or 9 of the Keebra Park side that year were already contracted,  along with Andrew McCullough as just another that we know.  Rugby sure does have to learn that this is a brand new,  well slightly second hand,  professional world,  and the tiny little window of "elite" schools is not going to deliver the depth required to deliver consistently competitive franchises,  and definitely not going to deliver the best athletes or players to the game.

Friday 02/04/2010: Here we are on a Good Friday,  and working as normal.  Heard yesterday that Keebra Park destroyed Ipswich Grammar in the semi finals of the Aussie Schools sevens tournament,  as they made their way to winning the final.  I reckon some of these "Elite" as they like to be known schools should run in some of the higher level rugby league competitions that are available,  just to see how they would go.  Not sure they would get into the Arrive Alive Cup though.  Some good footy this weekend,  starting up with The Melbourne Storm playing the Dragons,  should be a pretty good one to get the weekend moving.  Think it kicks off around 2pm in Real Time.  The Reds face their stiffest challenge to date,  an improving Sharks side in South Africa.  The way they are playing though,  gives me no reason to suspect they won't,  at the very least,  be highly competitive,  and in reality,  could and should win.

Thursday 01/04/2010: Heard yesterday that rugby league powerhouse Keebra Park won the Australian Schools Sevens tournament,  graduating to this tournament after winning the one in Qld.  The Brisbane Times carried an article about a month after the event,  calling Ipswich a "rugby powerhouse",  which is hardly the case,  and has hardly been the case for a lot of years,  probably back to the days of Lagi Setu,  maybe further.  Even so they did knock off and State High on their way to winning the Qld title,  and I was in the stadium to see them play Ipswich Grammar in that final.  They looked bigger,  faster,  more self assured and much tougher than what you usually see running around on any rugby paddock,  as is the case when you see any of these top level junior or school rugby league tournaments,  the physical development and sheer size of these men still at school is rather daunting.

Wednesday 31/03/2010: The Fast Eddie XV is the new and permanent name of the team.

Wednesday 31/03/2010: An emailer this morning has named the worst ever XV,  coming up with the very appropriate title,  the Eddie Jones XV.  The writer goes on to say that Eddie,  in his opinion,  is the worst coach of the modern generation,  but that he still continues to weigh heavily into every aspect of Australian rugby,  something,  according to the writer,  something that he had a huge hand in destroying.

Wednesday 31/03/2010: An email yesterday actually giving a name to the 15man "worst ever" XV.  Thought the reader was a bit harsh in christening it the "Dead XV",  a name with plenty of finality and doom and gloom about it.  We will have to give that some thought at 15man house,  maybe put it to the vote,  see what we come up with.  We still have a few players to come up with yet,  and this weekend will see us concentrating very hard on finding an outside centre,  and filling up those back 5 spots in the scrum.  Look out for it,  these blokes won't win a game anywhere.

Wednesday 31/03/2010: Listening to talk back radio yesterday afternoon on the way home,  Talkin Sport of course,  there really are some loose and rabid people out there.  The next coaches are out there in spectator land folks,  one guy rang in yesterday and did not rate Wayne Bennett as a coach.  Gee,  not sure what sort of record you have to put beside your name to say you can do something.  Another guy,  he gets that nervous on the day that "his" (read the team that he supports) team plays that he can't eat and gets very nervous.  I am stunned by this level of self imposed committment that won't alter the result a fig.  I am thinking that this is just the sort of person that spends enormous amounts of hard earned on club merchandise year in and year out.  People wonder why clubs change jersey designs,  that answer is simple,  there looks always to be plenty of people out there that "have to have" the latest and greatest club merchandise,  or their world will stop turning.  Sad.  Another guy rang in and said he had taken the whole day at work trying to figure out who would be the NSW State of Origin Captain.  Like this is a life changing experience as well.  Today he is going to ring back and name his side,  another work day lost.

Tuesday 30/03/2010: And to follow on from below,  while rugby continues to hold on to tradition,  and rely upon a handful of schools to produce the "depth" that is needed,  the same issue will continue to exist,  and get worse with so much competition for every athlete today.  Rugby League has a tremendously broad club base,  and still is having issues filling up 16 franchises.  Soccer and AFL combine to be big threats,  lots and lots of money behind them,  international (as rugby is) and national in the case of AFL,  but with pretty clear expansion plans,  and very broad bases in their heartlands.

Tuesday 30/03/2010: Rugby has it's games that are played in a fashion that lead one to believe that the players,  coaches,  administrators have no idea,  we call it "no idea" rugby.  Well last night we saw rugby league's version of it when the South Sydney Rabbits came up against the Cronulla Sharks in a match of no idea rugby league.  I just couldn't get through it,  but it did help me sleep,  and as a confirmed insomniac I need that help most nights,  but it wasn't a great spectacle.  And the problem,  the same as the rugby problem,  just not enough players to fill up all the franchises,  bringing about two very clear levels of competition within the competition. 

Tuesday 30/03/2010: Lots of emails from readers on the "15man Worst XV" with suggestions of who should be in it.  Judging by the number of emails slating Sam Wykes,  he has to get a gig on popularity alone.  I admit I was struggling with locks and loosies.  While on popularity,  jus tto extend our suggestion on crowd involvement,  we thought that each seat should be fitted with a yes/no and perhaps a trend button,  the crowd could vote on tries and all sorts of things,  and they could make one of those really stupid worms on some subjects,  like referee Suttor's very impressive beard,  for an official,  and other important game related material like that.

Tuesday 30/03/2010: Forgot to mention the fantastic facial hair that was abounding during the weekend of Super 14.  Special mention to Hargreaves from the Sharks, Scott Paterson from the Hurricanes,   Alby Matthewson from the Blues,  Ma'afu from the Blues and big Tony Woodcock also from the Blues.  A team mention though to the Blues,  who we figured,  had 100% of members with facial hair.  The reserve hooker was doubtful,  but we thought we noted a manicured line of blonde hair on his top lip,  so we counted him in for the 100% effort from the Blues.

Tuesday 30/03/2010: All I needed this morning was to turn on the big screen computer at home,  log on to the Courier Mail website,  and there was Allan Langer,  in nothing but his underpants,  dancing on a table at the Normanby Hotel.  I thought the dress standards at the Normanby were a little better than that,  I bet I couldn't be in that place dressed in such a manner.  One could almost think the average public is discriminated against.  In any case Alfie has got himself into a bit of hot water and we will watch as that goes on.  The Broncos look to be in some serious trouble for season 2010 and could finish right down the bottom end of the log.

Monday 29/03/2010: How big is Joe Tomane?  An off season diet of real good banana sandwiches looks to have been the go for young Joe,  he has become quite massive.  It was noted on Saturday night by the 15man staffers that the 2007 Aussie Schoolboys backline were pretty much all contracted to or playing at the highest level of the games: 9: Brent Hamlin,  back here in Qld now,  think he has got himself an academy spot,  10: Matt To'omua contracted to the Brumbies as a 16 year old,  just ahead of Cyril Connell walking up the path looking to contract him to the Broncos.  Has a few Super 14 appearances under the belt.  11. Joe Tomane,  Melbourne Storm for two years and now Gold Coast Titans,  plenty of NRL experience at the top level. 12: Ben Tapuai,  with the Reds setup,  not sure at what level but has at least one Super rugby appearance under his belt.  13: Rob Horne,  straight into the Waratahs set up from school,  has plenty of Super rugby under his belt,  and probably the pick of those backs in that 2007 side,  contractual dollars won't say that,  but my opinion does.  14. Luke Morahan,  going OK with some reds games and a Wallaby tour under the belt.  Can't remember but think he came off the bench for the Schools side,  the preferred winger being Afusipa Taumopeau,  who is or was contracted to the Brumbies,  but a little out of favour.  Has played some Super rugby.  22:James O'Connor I think was in 22 in that side,  but certainly off the bench in the game I watched in Sydney against the New Zealand side (Captain of the New Zealand side was Robbie Robinson,  now the 10 for the Highlanders,  I think he is out of position,  but I don't operate at that level,  but given Aaron Cruden's skill and ability,  Robbie will only ever be a backup 10).  Also in the Aussie A side or forcing his way on to the bench,  was one Willie Tupou,  who had a couple of years at the Broncos,  had a shoulder reconstruction last year and is now close to NRL duties with the Cowboys.

Monday 29/03/2010: Looks like the vultures and the sharks are circling Chris Hickey of the Waratahs.  After reading all of yesterday's press about how there was no way that Hickey was going to be iced,  how the president or CEO or someone personally guaranteed his job,  we see today that the Waratahs are looking at Jake White,  as some sort of "Director of Rugby".  Where there is smoke there is fire and if I was Mr Hickey,  I would be worried,  very worried.  His win percentage is something like 66%,  as against McKenzie just before he got iced from the Waratahs at 69%.  One can easily forget they are winning,  so boring a style of dislocated rugby do they play.  Not sure why they can't play with a little dazzle,  they are the rock star franchise of the Aussie Super 14 outfits. And if it proves to be true that we are chasing Jake White,  and my didn't he head up an exciting South African outfit,  for NSW or the Western force,  alot of people should be asking the question,  what the hell is wrong with the Development programme for Australian coaches.  I have a couple of ideas and opinions on this,  and may or may not expand my thoughts as time rolls away,  keep looking out for it.

Monday 29/03/2010: The Super 14 circus rolls on and thankfully is almost half done,  when we take into account finals and byes and the like.  I say thankfully because in essence,  I am trying to be entertained in 2010,  and the entertainment from rugby is not really happening.  Blues vs Brumbies was OK,  some of the Waratahs vs Blues was OK,  some of it farcical,  with the Reds,  yes the Reds being one bright spot on the horizon,  not playing overtly outrageous rugby,  but just holding on to the pill and carting it forward.  They have started their African tour very well,  that's not a bad win over there after just getting off the plane.  The tripping incident,  well what can you say,  stupidity,  idiocy,  alot of words come to mind,  many of them describe the brain explosion quite adequately.  It was the weekend of the commentator,  with more gaffs made by them than you could hope to imagine in a season,  on one afternoon,  and it continued in the league on Sunday afternoon.  Enjoyed a couple of the hits in the Waratahs game,  the shot on Rob Horne by we think Benson Stanley was an absolute cracker,  would have made the grade in any rugby league match up,  really bent him and ripped his head back.  Rob Horne will be one of the great 13's the world has seen,  in the class of an O'Driscoll,  he has great feet,  makes great reads in defence and can tackle,  and pass and catch.  However,  amongst the fleeting bits of decent rugby,  there is plenty of rubbish,  and I know,  we don't have to watch it,  but after a really big week at work,  and plenty more coming,  I committed myself to the couch on Friday night and Saturday,  took on more calories than I should have,  and watched plenty of footy.  Now back to between the good bits,  the 15man team decided to select,  or start selecting the worst XV in the competition.,  Fullback,  easy,  Earl Rose,  from the Lions,  in defence he doesn't even rate as semi opposed,  he is dreadful.  On the wings,  Dane Haylett Petty and Stefan Terblanche,  Terblanche wasn't too bad this week just gone but has dished up enough rubbish in the weeks prior to nail down a spot.  We have not yet selected a 13,  but 12,  is high priced Waratahs recruit Berrick Barnes,  at 10 is Andy Goode,  at 9 is Luke Burgess,  and we think he may well be the reason the Waratahs backline just never gets going,  his darts across field must have defensive lines feeling very good.  Shepherdson,  Henderson and anyone that has worn the 2 or 16 jumper for the Force round out the front row,  with a few more positions left to fill in the forward pack.

Thursday 25/03/2010:  This Adjudicator bloke from the Foxsports website,  seems to be reading my stuff.  I thought I had a patent on the Gotham City Crime Fighting operation,  but apparently not,  it seems he is there as well wearing his cape.  His tipping is certainly on the same very poor level as mine.  Are we one and the same?

Thursday 25/03/2010: Plenty of people with an opinion on Lote Tuqiri's return  to the ranks of rugby league.  One recurring theme is that he touches the ball more in league than he did in rugby.  So far,  I would beg to differ,  we at 15manrugby ran a quick,  unofficial stat on him last week,  and we figure he had 9 to 12 touches,  we weren't being too accurate,  3 of those were times that he acted dummy half,  and ran across field,  again that may be what they want,  to attack closer to centrefield.  WE ran heaps of this sort of stat on Lote and Wendell in rugby games,  and 12 carries would have been a poor game for them on a carry front,  not an involvements front.  So that theory is easy to lambast.  The other beauty that I love at the moment is that Tuqiri came back from rugby alot fitter than any other back would have as he enjoyed getting in the rucks and mauls,  yep,  right,  just head out boys and read something about primary support in the modern game,  yep we do expect backs to be able to complete the skill set at the breakdown,  also if you want to have a look at something,  see if you can dig something up about work off the ball,  the requirements of rugby when not personally in possession.  The work off the ball may go some way to explaining why Tuqiri,  and many other rugby players are indeed quite fit. 

Thursday 25/03/2010:  All the important things in rugby and life,  coming up very shortly.  OK,  that section of important stuff in life is now up here,  and do read it all,  athlete's tape,  hairstyles and cat desexing are all covered in an in depth look at life.  Please do read it all,  all the way to the cat castration/elimination section at the bottom.

Wednesday 24/03/2010: In my next life,  I so dearly want to come back as a round of 50 calibre ammunition,  and return something that deserves it into DNA on the grass from about 200 metres. 

Tuesday 23/03/2010: On a lighter note,  and it will be written soon,  the 15man rugby team,  growing very bored and fidgety on Saturday night watching the woeful Waratahs,  has come up with a new sanctioning system for rugby,  to replace yellow and red cards.  I will write about it soon,  but it involves better use of homo tape (homo tape so described by Phil Kearns and Greg Martin recently,  and is that colourful tape worn around patellas,  up the back of hamstrings and so on) to limit the ranges of player movements.  We also would like to contribute to the fund to allow Stefan Terblanche to go back to his retirement home,  he is terrible,  and makes so many errors,  we find him quite laughable,  as with some of the other mashed banana eaters,  a couple at the Western Force,  let you guess who.

Tuesday 23/03/2010: A very intriguing weekend of sport just behind us readers,  and alot that bears commenting on.  I think I saw the best game of footy I have seen in several years,  any code,  in the Brumbies vs the Blues,  and plenty that line up at the bottom,  Waratahs vs Force,  Titans vs Souths,  abysmal displays of the showpieces that are expected.  The weekend dished up some woeful match ups on Saturday,  Lions vs Crusaders,  Highlanders and Sharks,  Force and Waratahs,  all these games destined to be viewer disasters.  Of course thrown in there somewhere was the paradise of excitement,  The A League extravaganza,  won as I understand it in an all exciting penalty shoot out.  I did flick on to the soccer for maybe 20 seconds,  and saw some prima donna lie down hurt because someone had brushed against him,  but this game draws crowds,  massive ones,  and players,  mothers love their sons to play this game.  Go figure.  A bit much to say in this little bit,  so I will put it in another page,  which you can find here.

Friday 19/03/2010: Another story related to me during the week with the initial source being a guy that two years ago told my source he knew nothing about rugby,  in fact hated the game.  In my opinion,  today,  nothing has changed.  His story on this particular occasion,  that the side (a 1st XV side) he has got himself involved with,  not sure how,  is working very hard on the inside ball,  with the runner,  running a hook or crossover line and coming back under,  and believe it or not,  running into a hole.  Questions I immediately ask,  and of course this guy would never talk to me,  I am not in his class of operator or person,  what happens if there is no hole (space there),  of course I am sure he could come up with some theory on paper as to why it will be.  However,  the great thing about this game is that it is played on grass,  and what looks good and right on paper is not necessarily reflected on the grass.  As Robbie Deans says,  as an attack,  the defence offers us the opportunities.  Lots of interesting stuff already starting to reach the 15man ears on a schoolboy front,  with a while to go yet before the kick off.

Friday 19/03/2010: An associate of mine who also attended the "Advanced Coaching Seminar" last weekend told me during the week that he was speaking with a first XV coach (It is always implied that those who coach at first XV level can coach (please pick up the sarcasm there)) also in attendance (narrows it down a bit doesn't it) who told him that with the new laws (this really irks me,  laws are now being actually interpreted as they are written,  nothing new,  just the CORRECT ruling on the laws at the tackle) took scavenging sevens (openside flankers) out of the game.  You know,  there are many days that I wish I could have similar closed minded views on things,  but I just can't.  This guy has obviously not been watching McCaw and Smith,  and no doubt Brussouw,  who for mine have got the whole mental sequence correct for this correct law interpretation,  and just do it at pace,  simple stuff.  In any case,  is the seven always the threat at the ball.  I think not,  in sides that I have coached,  and I appreciate that I can't coach,  I always had 7, 10,  6,  8,  9 and 12 all white hot at the jackal.  I guess the school in question may not go so well again in 2010.

Thursday 18/03/2010: Oh,  and I expect you all to go and have a look,  and it will take some time,  at the collection I just put together on Flickr of the three games I was at Kawana Waters,  games of Under 20 touch footy at the National Touch League carnival.  Gee it was wet,  the night game I took a few photos of,  well the photos are ordinary,  but you are expected to view them and give me some hits.  You can find the collection here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/32053650@N03/collections/ or you can look at them as three slideshows  here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/32053650@N03/sets/72157623627746142/show/  here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/32053650@N03/sets/72157623627740422/show/ and here for the very ordinary night shots http://www.flickr.com/photos/32053650@N03/sets/72157623506529179/show/.  15man has spoken and requested,  and that should be thought of just like your average mafia don asking and requesting,  sure some of the photos are ordinary,  but if you don't look at them all you might miss the good ones.

Thursday 18/03/2010: While I am as happy as anyone to see the Reds playing some better footy,  and actually being competitive,  and a little bit abrasive at times,  I do have to comment on one particular comical incident in the Reds vs Force match.  Comical to some I guess,  deadly serious for me.  The incident to which I refer,  Cooper running down the Hale Street touchline,  O'Connor the only defender left and heading across in cover.  Cooper seemingly slows down,  and dances,  hops,  jumps,  skips and just drops the ball cold over the sideline,  without even being touched.  Until yesterday I wasn't sure what he was doing,  when it dawned on me,  the ballet dance steps he was practising required nothing to be carried in case overall balance was upset,  so he has released the footy to perform the manoeuvre,  that's my call on it anyway.  I have another one,  but it could land me in jail if I go public with it.  In stark comparison was Tuqiri's run down the left touchline on Monday night for the Tigers against Manly.  At Full pace and watching Manly's Brett Stewart coming at him,  expecting Stewart to slow and was then going to step inside.  Stewart however has kept coming and smacked the big man quite hard,  seemingly hurting himself pretty badly in the process,  badly enough to miss 5 months of footy.  Cooper needs to have a look at that footage if he hasn't already.

Thursday 18/03/2010: How good was yesterday.  The principle of 15man (myself) arrives home,  son number 2 was home early from a Uni day and had the Wrestling on,  and Guest General Manager for RAW yesterday,  one of my favourite all timers,  the very Southern,  Stone Cold Steve "The Rattlesnake" Austin.  He is up there with The Undertaker and Triple H in my land of wrestling folklore.  And don't they have fantastic names,  Rattlesnake,  Undertaker,  sensational stuff.  Only 12 or so days now to go to Wrestlemania,  where of course,  unless you have been on Jupiter for the last 25 years,  we all know The Undertaker has a stunning record of 17 and 0.   I think this year he comes up against Sean Michaels,  The Heartbreak Kid.  Go the big man from Death Valley.

Tuesday 16/03/2010:  The first round of the NRL has passed on now,  and even the staunchest disliker of rugby league would have to admit there were some stunning games in round one,  culminating last night with the Tigers and Manly.  These blokes are aiming up in a big way,  some massive hits,  and great pace.  I will shy away from the Tuqiri saga,  suffice to say I never really rated the guy as a rugby player,  thought he was always very much the individual,  and never did any of the instinctive rugby things well at all,  kicked too much (in rugby) for a guy that is over 100 kilos and fast,  and just took the wrong option on far too many occasions.  Glad he has gone to a game that suits him,  but the reality is he is a whore to the dollar,  and good luck to him,  we all have to survive.  I think rugby really needs to legalise the shoulder charge.  I watch alot of sport and talk to alot of people,  and find it easy to shift from a rugby league to a rugby union mindset (people need to learn how to do this,  the games are different and you cannot have the same expectations of how you are entertained at each code),  and if you talk to died in the wool league fans and watchers,  they are basically looking for pace of the game,  big hits,  and ball movement,  they don't really want alot more.  Personally I like both games but happen to enjoy the mental and tactical challenge that is rugby,  but gee a bad game of rugby is absolutely woeful,  have a look at the Waratahs vs the Sharks,  very,  very ordinary stuff.

Monday 15/03/2010: AS part of any of those things there is always kids from the NTS or whatever they call it these days,  they love their catchy little names some of these blokes,  but one of the young guys there is about to start year two of three I think in the State High First XV,  one Curtis Browning,  who looks the goods already.  I have to admit disappointment though,  I have been saying for a while that Curtis would look very good with some ink,  and some ear rings,  but none of the above have materialized,  so maybe in 2010,  who knows.  Now before all the do gooders call me up and tell me to leave the boy alone,  we had a joke about it yesterday,  that would be Curtis and I during an exclusive interview,  and it is just that,  a bit of fun,  so save your phone call,  and save your email,  body parts traders and tallow wrestlers excepted.  Unfortunately though yesterday,  the actual and true identity of a great masked wrestler was revealed to Curtis,  the true identity of the Silver Fox is now out there on the streets amongst us all.  Not sure that the young quite understand the intricacies of a completely warped sense of humour yet,  probably best they don't.

Monday 15/03/2010: I learnt yesterday at the "Advanced Coaching Seminar" why some of us can't coach,  apparently it has something to do with being over 40,  being overweight,  and something else I can't remember.  Spent some time at the seminar yesterday with a body parts dealer and his accomplice,  a refrigeration man,  how good is that,  gives you the whole package,  all you need is a bath full of ice to perform the operation in and there is the whole body parts trade,  removal,  storage and sales.  I was assured that this was not the case,  but I am looking for my cut,  big money in that trade.

Monday 15/03/2010: Attended an "Advanced Coaching Seminar" yesterday,  run by the QRU at Ballymore,  at which Robbie Deans,  Jim Williams,  Patricio Noriega and Craig McRae (Brisbane Lions kicking coach) presented sessions on Decision Making (Deans),  Lineouts (Williams),  Scrums( Noriega) and kicking obviously,  (McRae).  Now the session of the day was presented by Pato Noriega,  because he likes to destroy people,  can't really use the language he used here,  but I liked what he said,  right down to the bit about tag length,  he was talking for scrummaging,  I immediately had visions of other uses for long,  flesh ripping tags.  The big man is still big,  and at 38 still looks like he is ready to pack down at test level.

Monday 15/03/2010: A refereeing story,  and a cracker.  I have a number of referees that sit in what I call the worst ever basket,  and they are disgraceful,  but this story yesterday puts this guy in the basket,  easily.  A guy I know took his Toowoomba team to Brisbane for a trial match,  and we are talking big boys here,  Toowoomba/Darling Downs First grade.  The Toowoomba fullback has fielded a kick and run the ball back at the opposition.  He has been subsequently tackled and lifted past the horizontal and put down in an illegal tackle.  The referee,  has penalized the ball carrier for (I can only think,  allowing himself to be lifted past the horizontal) being lifted past the horizontal,  and then yellow carded him when he questioned the decision.  Mr Referee,  I have no idea who you are,  but hang your sorry head in shame,  you now join the 15man annals of outstanding incompetence,  matched by few.

Monday 15/03/2010: The Reds win again,  but we expected that.  The decision to sign no specialist hooker is going to haunt the Force for the rest of season 2010.  Their lineout was woeful and gifted Qld easy possession on many occasions.  Anthony Faainga is demanding Wallaby selection somewhere now with another outstanding display at 12,  savage in defence and carts the footy forward very well.  The Reds defence is superb at the moment,  their linespeed outstanding.  The afternoon again reinforced why I should never watch rugby live,  even from the sanctity of where we were.  Too many experts that are way off the mark make for amusing,  perhaps infuriating viewing.  Yesterday we heard that Tai McIsaac was the Force Hooker,  that Giteau had just signed a 5 year 5 million dollar contract with the Force and the ARU and that James O'Connor was going to play for Nudgee and the Force in season 2010.  Outstanding stuff indeed.

Sunday 14/03/2010: Halfway through another weekend and the NSW Waratahs did little to tell me they were making improvements.  It is not hard to look good in a semi opposed training session.  On the face of it,  they scrummed well,  and they defended well,  but the Lions were little better than atrocious,  if in fact they were better than atrocious,  maybe they were worse.  Tom Carter should hang his head in shame,  lying at the back of the Lions ruck,  getting one small gentle rake from a boot with plastic tags,  no force and no malice in the stroke,  and he gets up and complains to the referee.  Rugby was built around standing on people,  it's a sad day when someone complains about it.   The Waratahs were also gifted at least 3 tries from disgraceful refereeing and officiating blunders,  so a score in the 50's probably more appropriate. The Brumbies showed they are on the improve against a slightly better opposition than the Lions,  they now look like they will be somewhat of a threat. Cream always rises to the top and I thought George Smith was outstanding in this match.  I note this morning that the Bulls have notched another half century against the Highlanders,  and the Stormers continue to win and win well.  If they continue to run at the front of the table,  and finals are held in South Africa,  it will be a Herculean task to beat either of them over there at the end of the season.

Friday 12/03/2010:  Darling Downs Rugby Union has further blotted it's copy book in an unprofessional cancelling of a representative fixture at Gold Park last Saturday night.  I attended the oval on Sunday morning and it was in magnificent condition,  easily could have supported the two games on the previous night,  especially given that the Cairns side was already here.  I personally attended the National Touch Titles at Kawana Waters yesterday,  and those guys were playing in truckloads of water and rain,  across 14 or 16 fields,  from 8am until 10pm,  and I would warrant there is much more traffic across a touch game due to the nature of the game than there is a rugby game.  Fair Dinkum people,  they could have played that touch tournament in an olympic swimming pool yesterday and the players would have stayed drier.  The grass at Gold Park is thick and well rooted,  there was no danger to anyone.  Poor decision indeed and plenty of people totally fed up with the organization.  Pics here of what I saw at Kawana Waters yesterday: http://www.flickr.com/photos/32053650@N03/4426110376/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/32053650@N03/4426110376/

Friday 12/03/2010: A long time since I have put finger to key,  and the week coming won't be any better.  It has been a big week,  with Qld ticking some more boxes,  still a few to go,  but they could have,  and would have last year,  got smashed by this side,  but they hung in there and came back,  and then hung on again.  They are the pick of the Aussie sides by a country mile,  a country mile apparently being further than other types of miles,  anyway,  more on last week here.

Wednesday 03/03/2010: Watched the replay of the World Club Rugby League Challenge yesterday afternoon.  Sides were allowed to hold the tackled player down for a very long time,  not sure what the agenda was there,  if there was one,  or if the ref was just out of his depth.  We at 15manrugby headquarters were certainly wondering though if many British people actually play rugby league,  most seemed to be Kiwis and Aussies in the premiership winning Leeds side.  The commentators in England are also just so annoying,  with Steveo,  the expert commentator heading the list,  get a little complex and they get alot lost,  I am never sure how they would ever watch a game of rugby.  They were complaining yesterday about how the refereeing style would upset the fans.  Who cares,  I thought fans turned up,  paid money, watched the footy and went home,  and generally don't really understand the game much anyway.  Certainly the ones we sit around at Suncorp usually seem to be reading the Martian Laws of the game more so than the IRB set.

Tuesday 02/03/2010: The Reds,  what can you say,  tried to play some dry weather footy in the rain,  and lost.  It's easy to blame Cooper for missing those two shots at penalty,  very easy,  but probably unfair,  as much as I am not a fan of his style of play.  I think have a look at some positively woeful defence off one lineout where Matthewson has scooted around the back and run 20 or 30 to score,  and one time in particular where Cooper has tried to run it out of our own 22,  skipped,  jumped (read wasted some time),  been tackled and turned over,  when all he had to do was jam it into the corner,  as Genia did a few plays later,  and let them play out of their 22.  I would also be very interested in our number 8's stats,  guy needed to stand up and deliver some metres and some dominant defence in the conditions and I don't believe he did.  I will continue my commentary on another page.  Gee it's good to be able to do this from my loungeroom,  easy to be a good footballer out of there,  and we must always remember that as critics,  very easy from the comfortable chair.  A bit of a look at the week that was and the week that is coming.

Saturday 07/03/2009: Another game,  another loss to the Reds.  I doubt they can finish in the top echelon of the competition now.  The Sharks coming up this weekend will certainly be another very hard game for the Reds to win.  Both sides last night really needed to learn how to hold the football,  as Roy and HG would say,  "When someone passes you the ball,  try and catch it,  if you manage to catch it,  try and hang onto it".  Some very innocuous drops of the ball last night turned the game into a very frustrating one to watch.  Alot of talk before hand and zero fire and brimstone,  coupled with pedantic refereeing turned the game into a very flat and unentertaining affair,  nearly needed no doze to get through it.  A shame because I thought Bryce Lawrence was by far the best referee last week,  actually letting some things go,  like collapsed scrums where the ball was making it's way back,  but he must have got his fingers chopped during the week for that,  because it was no more,  except the one where Greg Holmes got destroyed,  and was sitting on his backside with McMeniman in front of him sitting on his lap.  Personally thought the Chiefs Sharks clash last week remains the best game of the competition to date,  and the best refereed.  The rest have been pretty ordinary,  mistake riddled,  stop start affairs,  with this rather stupid half arm for everything taking the game to a new and lower level,  I believe.  No doubt there were some potentially mouth watering clashes across the park,  with the Ioane-Tuqiri one billed as the biggie.  This type of game rarely has anything to do with anyone past 10,  they just make up number,  so of much more interest was the battle of the forwards.  Holmes was outpointed,  no outgunned by the man we all love to hate,  but he has delivered every game this year,  Al Baxter.  Robinson won his side of the scrum battle,  and while Houston was adequate,  Palu was always a big task for him.  The Reds lineout was smashed.  Book Robinson and Baxter props berths,  Moore the hooker spot.  Mcmeniman was good last night,  as was Higginbottom,  except for that terrible drop,  and van Humphries has probably been the Reds best in the last few games,  doing the simple things very well.  Aussie locks,  who knows,  Caldwell has played some tough footy,  and deserves a look,  as does Mumm and Mcmeniman,  throw in Horwell and Sharp,  maybe Chisholm and there is a bit to choose from.  Beale and Cooper,  both delivered games they won't rate in their top 10's as they grow in experience and stature,  they will both take plenty from the game.  Robbie Horne was special,  and will be  bolter in the Wallaby Squad,  maybe side in 2009.  Plenty of talk about our next long term 13,  this is the guy if the code can keep him.  The Force were terrible and must be ruing their inability to tackle,  another ordinary game ruined even further by one of the referees that really annoys me and has done for many years,  Matt Goddard.  "Are you going to crouch before I call it" he could be heard over the mike,  admonishing the Chiefs Front Row early in the game.  Boys and girls,  just let the big boys scrum,  cut down the resets,  and get on with the game.  Stop blowing stupid half arms at every ruck,  and let the big boys play a little more,  but the game is a mess at the moment.  One little thing,  and this will get pusled up when the Reds were about to score a match winning try,  and it is a stupid law anyway,  but one that the pedantic refs and their overseeing body will pull up one day soon,  when you take a free kick,  the ball must leave the hands.  Not many of the Reds did last night.  Hopefully some rugby this afternoon actually gets a bit more physical and a bit more exciting than my new favourite hobby of watching cardboard fade,  been more exciting than the rugby to date!

Saturday 28/02/2009:  Time to bag the officials.  The rugby has been terrible, patchy at best,  but last night Stuart Dickinson and in particular James Leckie took the honours for  a severe lack of knowledge of the game and it's mechanics.  Leckie in particular was a disgrace,  but Dickinson too had a very big influence on the outcome of the Crusaders match with a number of wrong decisions.  Both sin binnings I thought on first view were wrong,  and I am not going to sit through that again and both referees seem to have a clear misunderstanding of what the tackler can do with regards getting to his feet and taking the ball,  coupled with when the structure becomes a ruck.  Leckie's knowledge of scrums and lineouts is just a hint above zero and I bet he played fullback or something like that.  ELV's are supposed to speed the game up;  Leckie's pedanticism in continuing to bring the tap kick back  to be taken exactly on the mark,  slowed the game down and turned it into  a farce.  My personal comment on ELV's;  the game is fast becoming ruined,  it is a stop start ugly mess without structure,  with more kicking,  and the breakdown area is more of a blight on the game than ever it was before.

Sunday 22/02/2009: I note that Fast Eddie (Eddie Jones)  and Andy Slack,  our former leader of the Wallabies are both telling us that the rugby in Super 14 has been of a high quality so far in 2009.  They must be watching re runs of a former year,  surely.  I have pretty much only seen games that have turned into over refereed absolute rubbish after about 10 minutes.  All those fast guys in New Zealand,  Smith,  Sivivatu,  Masaga,  are catching/holding about 1 in 5.  Now if pace,  coupled with poor handling skills wins them a Super 14, then they have got it right.  Same with a few of the South Africans. Watching the Brumbies last night would have been the most frustrating of all,  it seems they didn't want to hold the ball for too long.  I like the big guy they brought on in the second row late,  he caught the ball,  carried it forward and kept the ball the four occasions he carried,  and he is a giant.  Most of the rest,  except for the Crusaders defence,  was rubbish.  Ah those Reds,  now already in an unenviable position after only round two.  They need to beat the Cheetahs on a Sunday afternoon and back up and beat the Waratahs in Sydney on Friday night,  tough ask,  talk to the rugby league guys about Sunday to Friday turnarounds,  very punishing.  Ah the Warathas,  how good was their scrum,  or how bad was the Chiefs,  with the Chiefs scrum getting mauled by none other than Al Baxter,  except for the one scrum that Al decided to jump in.  I thought Tuqiri's level of involvement was demonstrative of a high enthusiasm level,  I would like to see his stats.  Kurtley seemed to be a bit off week one,  where as Cooper stepped up for most of the game against the Stormers,  but had a mental sleep for 10 minutes. Cooper needs to take fighting out of his repertoire,  he doesn't look very dangerous,  and fighting a big guy above him from a position on the ground will only lead to some part of your facial anatomy being smashed,  as the ground doesn't give too much when your head gets smashed back into it. Phil Waugh,  what a man.  I very much enjoyed the blood,  and the continual taping of the wound,  the good doctor Sharon Flahiv still attending to the Waratahs.  During the interviews it is easy to see ha has had that nose far too close to too many knees,  elbows and boots.  No wonder his mate in Perth told me that he had a head like a dropped pie when we were having a chat.  Qld definitely needs to get the Bus back,  and we note the stance of the Bus everywhere,  at almost every game,  he is a cult leader.  Bring back the Bus.   The Force,  well that was pretty boring.  After round two,  I think only one Aussie side looks the goods,  NSW,  they won an ugly game,  and you have to win ugly at times.  The Bulls,  the Stormers and the Sharks look the goods from the republic and really the Crusaders look the best of a disappointing New Zealand grouping.  Outside chances will be the Chiefs,  Hurricanes,  maybe Blues and maybe the Reds,  but gee teams that have already lost two cannot afford to lose too many more.  On lineouts too,  how many pies were thrown over the weekend?  I think the worst week of lineout throwing in the history of Super Rugby.  Robbie Horne,  still looks like  a nice composed youngster in a very frustrating match.  This guy will be seeing 100 plus percentage points increases in his paypacket.  I heard he was on 30 grand plus match payments last year,  I reckon 200 grand plus match payments this year and probably double it again next year.  If I am anywhere near close to the mark,  that's alot of money to be earning before you are 21.  If he needs any assistance negotiating his package,  I am sure he knows where I am.  I also note that Rob Horne has overtaken Aidan Toua as one of the major search terms on this site.  Let's hope that week 3 is a far more skilful affair than weeks one and two.

Matt Giteau's decision is an interesting one.  Whatever is said,  I am sure the reason is about filthy lucre more than wanting to go home,  when you are on 40 or 50 grand a week you can go home every week.  I would just love to know where it is coming from in Canberra though,  with economic powerhouses being in Sydney and Pert,  even in these current times.

Tuesday 17/02/2009:  Fresh off a big Sunday at Ballymore with all the Junior Reds Squads from around the state.  Have a thought for the boys from the north and the distance they put in for the day,  an awesome effort indeed from our flood ravage north.  The boys played some rugby against each other in Under 15 and Under 17 age groups,  and there were some willing exchanges and some skilful individuals on display.  With the Country Under 17's myself,  it was good to see the older boys get a run,  and also good to have guys like James Gough involved,  he is a dynamo and a natural leader.  Also big Adrian Lambert must have been itching for a run and he anchored the country scrum at tighthead.  The physicality of our first clash against Country 3 (numbers mean nothing) was huge with Ryan O'Connell taking a massive shot early,  followed by another one off the same play in the next game that ended his afternoon.  The third game against Bris 1 showed us just where we need to be,  and showed those guys vying for country Under 17's later in the year just what they will be up against.  These guys were relentless and ruthless at the breakdown,  they pounced on mistakes,  and they instantly knew where space was and got the footy to it against a very tired country outfit,  and deservedly gave us a tremendous touch up.  A good lesson for us all on where the level is and will be going forwards.  I heard the Country 1 Under 15's also performed pretty well.  There are some big lads in the Brisbane Under 15 outfits.

I see Rodney So'oailo got suspended for a week for giving Phil Waugh,  aka the Pieface,  a touch up around the melon with his boot.  Thought it was John Schwalger that got him myself and did not think it warranted a suspension.  Certainly did not look intentional,  and there are times amongst those things you don't know where your feet are landing.

I note this morning in the press that the QRU have signed Will Chambers from the Melbourne Storm,  a big strapping outside back that looks like he can run pretty fast.  Has played first grade in the NRL and has played rugby in his schoolboy days.  Must be from next year,  and not just too sure where all these outside backs fit,  but I am sure the guys have a plan there on how that all works.

Sunday 15/02/2009:  Week one of Super Rugby done and gone already.  Player of the round looked to be Rob Horne for mine, watch him,  he is a young bloke going places.  Waratahs look to be the Aussie province with the best chance in 2009,  and the Reds showed some steel for a period;  they look much more composed than in previous years.  Scrums have been a disgrace,  and the New Zealand sides largely disappointing.  Marius Jonkers,  the guy that reffed the Reds vs Bulls game,  had an absolute shocker.  Sin binning for cleaning out,  thought we were supposed to do that,  penalty for an over the shoulder grab,  maybe at Under 12 level;  no wonder the league guys think this game is soft,  and some of his calls both ways at the tackle contest were disgraceful.  On to week two,  let's hope the rugby becomes a little more inspiring as the competition moves forwards.  The Reds need The Bus back in that side,  and we continue with our Bus Supporters campaign.  We like his mobile phone answering style,  and his laid back attitude to life and rugby.  We would also like to see Rob Simmons scar up,  a very nice looking young man for sure,  but he needs to get some ugliness about him or move into the backs.

Thursday 29/01/2009.  Finally finished my view of last Saturday,  and you can find it here.  Only the photos to go now,  hopefully by the weekend.

For all those good folks checking in for my thoughts on Saturday's (24/01/2009) games,  I am still writing,  in fact didn't like draft one and need to re write,  which puts the photos back another day or two,  so be patient,  this is far from a professional organization here!

Saturday 24/09/2009,  almost Sunday 25/01/2009: Boy was it hot today. Terrible,  and we played footy in it.  Then the powers that be finished the day off about 8:30pm with a heavy storm and most spectacular lightshow,  absolute cracker.  As for the games,  the Downs sides didn't fair too well,  with the Under 14's putting up a brave fight early,  and even lead a powerful Easts side at one stage,  before seeing Easts run away to the tune of about 24 or 32 to 10,  somewhere there.  The Downs Under 19's played in the wickedest heat of the day,  and put up a sterling performance.  Mitch Logan and Sean Mclellan,  footballers I have always rated,  were the glue that held the side together.  Mitch Logan has to be a shoe in for Country Under 19's in 2009,  has to be.  Very smart competent footballer.  Our game,  the Under 16 development match against the Gold Coast side was won by the Gold Coast outfit.  No question the better side won the match,  have no complaints or disagreements with the whole day.  I thought it was well refereed,  one of Andrew Coorey's better games I thought.  The Coast got the game by 20 to 12,  after actually leading 20 to nil from 4 tries.  I will write lots more on this game and how I saw it over the next few days,  also have a few photos,  although photos were difficult,  as my man on the camera was confined to the pen we all had.  Again though,  no complaints,  a big day,  we weren't the allotted photographer,  and you take what you can get at days like this and have to follow protocol,  otherwise the whole thing gets messy.  The Waratahs got over the Reds by 17 to 7 or so,  but I reckon the Reds have alot of firepower to come yet,  either back from injury or just being rested.  I think they are looking OK.  Some of these young guys look good though,  Aidan Toua,  Jake Schatz at 18 already is an imposing presence,  as is Luke Morahan.  The best of all from that group of schoolboys though has to be Rob Horne.  I still rate him up there with some of the best I have seen,  his biceps and triceps are incredibly developed,  and he has feet on a par with Aidan Toua.  If you are yet to see the Aidan Toua feet,  get along to matches he plays.  Most coaches still struggle with Aidan's feet.  Will certainly be some more over the next few days,  just be patient,  I am old,  tired and lack motivation.

Saturday 24/01/2009,  the day the Reds and the Waratahs come to Toowoomba town to face off in a trial match,  kick off 7pm.  Before all that however there is a heap of work going on,  field set ups,  coaching clinics,  coach seminars,  drug testing,  you think about it,  it's going on.  There are of course 3 curtain raiser matches,  just like the Good Old Days at Ballymore before Qld played NSW.  Usually I am happy for the good old days to be gone,  but they were indeed good days at the Queensland home of rugby.  Kicking off at 2:30 is the first curtain raiser,  between Darling Downs Under 14 and Easts Under 14.  Easts Under 14 is coached by a guy named Shaun Hourigan,  got to know him a little bit all those years ago when Dalby and Uni and other Downs sides used to play Brisbane sides early in the season.  A tough as teak number 7 that may have played for Qld at some stage but was certainly up there with the best of the era.  Shaun married a Downs lady,  I think from Goondiwindi if my memory serves me correctly.  Good man,  good footy player and still giving back to his beloved Tigers.  At 3:45 Darling Downs Under 19 play one of the Sunnybank Under 19 sides.  The Downs side should feature guys like Mitch Logan and Craig McVeigh,  amongst others.  Haven't had too much to do with the 19's over the last couple of years.  Sunnybank have 4 Under 19 or Colts sides so it will be interesting to see who comes up.  5:20pm sees the match between the Junior Reds sides from the Gold Coast and the Darling Downs.  We (Darling Downs) are short in Props and locks,  so are very thankful to three Brisbane guys for coming up to help us out in those areas.  I am sure the Gold Coast will be as tough as teak and I have heard much about their 10,  12,  13 and one winger.  I have only seen the 13,  Nick Oui,  and he is a gun,  will certainly take some shutting down,  if in fact that can be done.  Personally looking forward to the game,  and from a Downs perspective to see Joey Frey from Goondiwindi State High School and Matt Berwick,  from St Mary's College in Dalby make their marks on the match.   Matt's Dad Rod is a former Australian Under 17,  when that concept was alive,  and did that out of Downlands.  Rod, originally from Bell,  and a well know Bell farming family,  was a highly regarded centre or winger, (think he may have played Qld Country as well,  and forged a bit of a name in league too locally)  again from memory.  Matt certainly has the same or probably better abilities,  and along with Joey Frey plays league at quite a high level.  Don't know much about the Coast side at all,  except one of the coaches is the current premier grade hooker for the Breakers.  I am sure that means they will be an excellent side,  being coached by someone that wears the very hallowed, thinking man's jersey.  Given the limited preparation of both sides,  I hope it doesn't turn into to scrappy a game and that the gods shine on us and we can all see some of the talent available in both sides.

Friday 09/01/2009: Plenty of emails in on GPS rugby 2009,  I'm still struggling with the level of importance it plays out for some people.  To answer a few incorrect assumptions in one place,  BSHS will not be with the services of Eddie Quirk in 2009.  I believe he is with the Reds Academy,  not BSHS.  That information came to light in about November of 2008,  may have changed,  I don't live and breathe GPS rugby,  nor live for GPS rugby,  but I am not sure why you would give up an academy contract to go back to school.

I note Ticketek started selling tickets for the Gold Park Reds vs NSW trial match yesterday.  After the players and coaching staffs get in,  there might be 27 tickets left for sale,  so rush out and grab them.  I hope the Gold Park playing surface will be up to scratch,  last time we trained there it was very patchy,  alot of unevenness in the grass surface,  an ankle nightmare.  What a potential rugby festival though,  the possibility of guys like Kurtley Beale,  Quade Cooper,  Robert Horne and Aidan Toua,  Digby Ioane,  amongst many others,  having a trundle about in the backwater of Toowoomba.

Comment of 2009 to date comes from Anthony Mundine.  Love him or hate him,  and I would be sure there would be spin doctors involved,  in advertising on Pay TV for his upcoming fight against Shannan Taylor,  Mundine's line is simple,  and typically arrogant,  but I like it: " whoever I fight,  I'll be favourite".  Go Anthony!

Monday 05/01/2009:  I keep thinking about writing about this guy I kept running into at school functions,  a bloke more into cricket than rugby,  but a guy that has left an indelible mark on my memory,  since about 1981.  I have to keep thinking that no one really wants to read about stuff that went on way back,  now almost 30 years ago,  but I guess if they don't,  they won't read it,  so I'll write it anyway.  Here for a bit of a read up on history in Downs Rugby.

Sunday 04/01/2009: Welcome to 2009.  Had a short stint over the break at Noosaville,  an obviously popular little area on the Noosa River.  I say welcome,  as I still struggle with what makes 31 December morphing into 1 January any more special than 31 May morphing into 1 June.  Too realistic maybe?  The sun goes up and the sun goes down,  and due to the commercialism placed on certain dates,  some folks make alot of money out of it.  Sitting in the passenger seat on the drive up (still unable to drive after surgery,  on docs orders),  the man on the news told me that there had been no serious road accidents in Queensland for 4 days.  Observing the traffic I am able to report,  that it wasn't through any level of skill,  patience or application.  The amount of idiots on the roads that show no ability behind the wheel of a very nasty weapon continues to grow,  and astounds me.  To be honest,  I am surprised the Road Toll is as low as it is.  Which brings me to my point.  In sport,  we spend and devote countless hours to developing the skill levels,  hopefully basic skill levels of everyone involved in the game.  There are countless people and dollars devoted to skill development in sport.  Why is the same outlook not evident in road skills,  pretty easy to get a licence.  There are plenty of issues with just how "driving instructors"  teach as well,  in fact they are just wrong in a number of cases.  I have shaken my head on a number of occasions at what is being taught,  but guess what,  the same idiocy is being tested,  so it is a waste of time in the "learning"/"testing" phase to try and change the mindsets and skillsets of young drivers,  because they will just be failed.  So as I see it,  the system of education is delivering drivers with not only poor skills,  but incorrect skills,  straight on to the roads.  Don't worry,  there are plenty of "experienced drivers that either don't know,  or are just plain arrogant in the belief that they own the roads.  Lack of judgement of distance for one is just so poor,  and a lack of understanding or ability to mentally compute that a car coming at you at 100kms per hour will deplete the distance between you rather more quickly than some seem to think.  Nothing rugby I know,  but it is a deadly serious place out there,  and you do not get a second chance.

As for 15man in 2009,  who knows,  I know I don't.  I think I continue to become less motivated.  I know I have said I should tidy the job up,  and each time I sit down and look at doing that,  the whole thing seems quite monumental in reality,  my old brain goes fuzzy,  and I decide that it is all too hard.  Certainly in the last two days,  there has been some interesting search terms hitting the site though.  "Auckland Under 16 rugby trials 2009",  "Bernies castle",  "brumbies rugby drills",  "drew nudgee",  "john bishop ipswich",  "junior reds 3 day camp pictures match merit team under 15 ballymore",  "nts under 15 squad 1st 15 rugby union queensland held at ballymore".  There was another about holiday rugby courses in New Zealand,  so some different search terms hitting on the site over the last two days.  Someone,  I think in England judging by the address,  stumbled on the site on New Year's Day and hung around and viewed 600 pages (I didn't know there were that many there),  he/she must have been really bored.  Aidan Toua however still remains in the top three search terms hitting the site,  the young guy could become a household name in 2009.  I am sure he will play Super 14 this year in any case.

GPS rugby,  well who knows.  The competition looks like it will be tight.  There are brave souls out there already tipping a TSS win,  but traditional heavyweights Nudgee and State High look to have some pretty good personnel floating around.  TGS even looks to have some excellent playing stock in 2009,  if they can just overcome their mental outlook of expecting to lose,  and playing people in the right position for their skillset and for particular matches.  Churchie looks to be a real prospect,  with some good young guys in that Met East Under 15 side,  Nick Malouf being one name I remember that will make a big impact in 2009. Terrace could beat anyone on their day,  with young Lucas and Liam Gill among others stepping into year two of First XV rugby.  Other names to watch for in 2009,  Curtis Browning at State High,  Chris Sautia at State High,  I hear really good things about a young bloke at Nudgee by the name of Billy Brittain,  he won't play First XV in 2009,  but is highly regarded amongst judges and pundits as the next big thing to wear a 10 jersey.  I am not in any loops regarding BBC,  IGS or BGS.  There have been some coaching changes at IGS and BGS and time will judge how that pans out.  Whatever happens,  the last game of the season,  BSHS vs Nudgee,  at Fursden Road,  looks like being an absolute cracker,  and maybe the playoff for 1 and two,  but a couple of losses could also see both sides finishing mid field.  It's a real tough gig for coaches,  you really have to look at being undefeated across the entire 8 games to win this thing,  and yes,  as mentioned before,  some take it way too seriously.

Tuesday 30/12/2008: A couple of things on the rugby calendar,  A Vintage Reds dinner at the Cathedral centre on Friday night 23/10/2008,  followed of course by the Qld Reds playing NSW on 24/01/2009,  at Gold Park (strange venue for mine,  capacity about 2500 with the new Telstra mobile phone tower embedded in a spectator area),  and the Downs Junior Reds squad playing the Gold Coast Junior Reds squad as I think,  the main curtain raiser.  No question we are going to struggle,  with limited preparation and a shortage in the front row and locking department,  and a backline question or two.  I hear the Coast will have a white hot backline,  spearheaded by Nick Oui,  who I thought went OK at the Under 15 schoolboys up at Noosa and recently named at Inside Centre for the Queensland Under 15 merit side.  The coast side will certainly start as favourites,  the only thing counting against them will be travel.  We could wish really hard for cold,  rain and sleet,  but in January we are only likely to get lightning,  hail and wind!

Monday 29/12/2008: A quite fascinating year in sport.  We are currently witnessing the demise of Australian cricket from it's lofty position for so long,  and all the posturing and emotion that goes with it.  Yesterday was a prime example,  with the Africans at 7 for at the start of play and batting almost all day.  Someone once said,  a commentator,  that Warne took most of his wickets at the tail,  sadly missed yesterday was that ability to clean up the end quickly and efficiently.  The rugby codes have seen plenty of turmoil,  Sonny Bill Williams,  who doesn't appear to be going anywhere quickly in the 15 man code,  a kiwi becoming Aussie coach,  Wayne Bennett an Aussie coaching the kiwis to World Cup victory in the rugby league.  More young men with lots and lots of money,  and lots and lots of time behaving badly,  the last of which was young baby faced James O'Connor,  arrested on the Gold Coast a week or so ago.  This follows other seemingly,  and allegedly very ugly incidents over the year.  I say seemingly and allegedly,  because what you see in the newspaper and what you see on television is not necessarily the bona fide truth,  and is presented to sell papers and get you to watch that channel.  Coaching and playing sport in the professional era has become and will continue to be a ruthless,  friendless,  cut throat business,  with words like loyalty a thing of the past,  and words like "brand" and "sponsor responsibilities"  and "entertainment" at the fore.  Loyalty will be to the dollar,  and  will be to the detriment of the individuals involved.  There will be plenty more controversy and turmoil in 2009,  as young,  fit men with heaps of money,  heaps of time can't do anything but find themselves compromised.

As the new year rolls out,  school footy,  something that is taken far too seriously by far too many will start to gather momentum in people's thoughts and people's minds.  For some,  and in particular many adults,  be they fathers,  mothers,  spectators or coaches,  school footy takes on a far greater meaning and importance than it really holds in society,  and the real world in general.  No one should hold 8 or 9 games of footy in a year as anything more than it is,  8 or 9 games of footy in a year.  Anyone that tells you any different is fooling him or herself,  and trying to fool you.

Plenty of highlights in year 2008 here, the key one being daughter followed number 2 son as dux of the school,  and she did it as a 16 year old,  having skipped grade 5.  This makes us no longer parents of school aged children,  and maybe now able to make some changes in life,  on reflection,  that enhance the quality of life,  reduce stress and get out and smell the roses so to speak.  Surgery and a little time off certainly give time for these reflections,  and just what is important.  Sporting highlights,  there would be a few,  but I will give them some thought,  and maybe put them up later.

Thursday 25/12/2008,  Christmas Day of this quickly passed year.  Hi all and seasons greetings and best wishes to you all.  Thanks very much for your patronage,  and at times,  comments.  I'm not really a festive season freak,  in fact the industries I have worked in over the last 20 years,  Public Holidays are a great hindrance,  and I find it an excessive over commercialized rort.  I also find it a time when we kill ourselves with the gayest of abandons on the roads and highways,  and therein lies my greatest fear,  the number of people that end up dead on the roads.  So take care when you step into the dangerous weapon in your driveway.  Been an interesting year here at 15man.  Two lots of surgery,  just recovering from the second slicing now.  Even stranger this occasion to be cut by a very good mate of mine,  but no doubt the best and most compassionate surgeon in this region.  He has done a fine job.  I have come to hate two words this year,  "financial crisis".  What has happened was made through human greed and what I call reckless spending.  Alot of us now see "buying opportunity" on a sharemarket front and a real estate front.  Rugby wise,  I have been a bit quieter in 2008 than I was in 2007,  and a few folks have passed the jibe that the site was not as good in 2008 as it was in 2007.  The beauty of it being a pure hobby I guess,  I have no need for any number of readers to "make a return",  I do what I want when I want,  so yes,  when I am not motivated,  it is a bit hit and miss.  However,  it is still a bit of fun,  and an outlet,  and I continue to meet some fantastic people from all codes and all walks of life,  and that is a great thing.  So be sure and enjoy whatever it is you do over the festive season,  whatever your beliefs are,  but be safe and considerate in what you do.

Tuesday December 09,  2008.  Meant to mention yesterday,  a week or so ago I was in Brisbane at rugby headquarters.  The Reds guys were all there and I notice one rather large lad,  who I didn't know,  and of course asked who he was.  Was told Ezra Taylor.  Boys and girls,  let me inform you he is one very angry looking individual,  and quite large,  and with what seems mandatory for rugby and rugby league players these days,  some good ink.  I think ink is the terminology in any case.  Big Ezra looks like he would bite the heads off chickens without any worries at all.  Hopefully he will be ripping them off opposition players come February!

Monday December 8 2008.  Fresh off the first Junior Reds camp in the Darling Downs region.  The weather wasn't kind to us,  but the QRU and ARU  was with plenty of coaching heavyweights joining us for the weekend,  which makes for a great learning ground for we two guys up here as well.  I would be sure that the boys all went away with a bunch of acquired knowledge and improved skills,  coupled with some severe sunburn.  More here,  with some pics eventually.  OK,  got a few pics up,  you can access them here.  Also fixed a typo or two in the original writeup,  so all you 15man junkies can go and read it again.

Tuesday November 25,  2008.  Plenty going on.  The Aussie scrum was a disgrace against France.  I can only assume the English scrum was just bad.  Someone should tell AL Baxter not to turn around in scrums,  and Steven Moore's place in scrums is actually in them,  not standing beside them when the heat is applied.  It seems Baxter has read the English press headlines of "Bax-ter the wall" and thought that turning around might be a better option.  Another rip roaring deadset boring game of football,  helped along by pedantic refereeing.  Giteau,  like Benji Marshall,  is at his best when he plays straight and direct,  as was witnessed by  Peter Hynes' try.  Not sure what is going on with the Aussie Lineout,  but there are not too many creative attacking options happening from them at the moment.

The Australian rugby league team,  the Kangaroos,  become the second best rugby league team in the world,  for the next 5 years.  Ricky Stuart needs to calm down,  become a humble loser,  and realise that his team lost,  and that he is the coach of the second best rugby league team in the world,  he is the first coach of an Aussie rugby league team to lose the world cup,  and history will remember him for that.  The Aussie boys were just not good enough on the night,  the two wingers had absolute shockers,  and while it doesn't seem to matter much on paper,  teams that take only two front row forwards into a match,  inevitably lose them.

Deeply disappointing,  more so than any football match,  was the cancelling of the Angels concert in Toowoomba on Sunday night.  Doc Neeson and the boys were returning after 20 odd years.  I have probably seen these guys a dozen times here in Toowoomba during the 80's,  in fact they were part of our "rugby culture" of the time.  I asked my sons if they wanted to attend with me,  and was told it would just be a room full of old men.  Nice!  Looking around the crowd,  they were probably right.  Imagine the disappointment then when just before the start,  we were told that one of the band members was gravely ill and in hospital and we would be getting a refund.  Shattering news.  I had prepared well,  with a Nanna nap during the day so I could stay up late,  plenty of coffee in the afternoon to create a buzz,  and then major let down.  Oh well,  we are all old men now I guess!!

Tuesday November 18 2008:  Heard the Wallaby scrum smashed England,  and beat them up badly.  Didn't watch it live and haven't seen it at all,  but I guess the question then needs to be asked of consistency.  One convincing,  destructive performance needs to lead to another,  and so on and so forth.  Now we wait and see if they can beat up the French with similar ease.

Friday 14 Nov 2008: Incredulously we read that the Aussie scrum is getting better,  that it dominated Italy last week,  and from one of the commentators in that test match,  that Matt Dunning was one of the best,  that's right,  one of the best,  tight heads in the world.  Alot of you weren't born when we last had a really good tight head.  Folks will throw up Blades,  but I think the Aussie scrum was heading backwards then too.  Andy McIntyre would be the one I would toss in,  maybe Ewen McKenzie who replaced McIntyre.  Don't be mistaken,  the Aussie scrum got dished up really badly against the Italians,  and wheelchairs are possible this weekend against the English pack that contains Andy Sheridan and Phil Vickery.  Best and tight head should never be mentioned in the same sentence as Matt Dunning and Al Baxter,  and it is a disgrace that Baxter is Australia's most capped tighthead,  because our system has not developed anything else.  the Australian scrum has been getting whipped for years,  and all we do about it is come up with ways of cheating to get around the situation,  clever thinking yes,  but setting a good strong first phase platform,  no!  Big Al Baxter will really have to Grimace hard and stick his chest right out this weekend as he faces the scrummaging fury of Andy Sheridan.

Good news through yesterday from Qld Rugby headquarters.  Our little Junior Reds training group here on the Downs will get to play the Gold Coast Junior Reds Squad as a Curtain Raiser to the Reds Trial match on January 24 2009.  I think ex Downs man,  big Garrick Morgan heads up the Gold coast coaching staff,  and recently coached or co coached the Qld Red Under 16 side,  also coaches the Gold Coast Premier Rugby side.  It just raises the stakes a little bit,  but the boys do always want to play,  and this will be a great opportunity to test their mettle against some extra good players from the Coast.  I hear their squad is little short of exceptional.

Sunday 26/10/2008:  For those still with an interest,  the rest of the photos from the Country 10's carnival in Dalby are up here now.  Probably best to grab a coffee,  there are a few there.

The Junior Reds programme kicks off this week,  Wednesday in fact,  and again I think there have been significant improvements to the programme.  Initial players and an explanation of the programme can be found here:

Tuesday 21/10/2008.  Not much rugby left to play now in season 2008,  in Aus anyway,  I believe there is still a schoolboy competition or two happening out there,  but locally,  and by locally I mean the vast expanse of the environs of the Darling Downs,  our thoughts turn to the Junior Reds programme,  which will be shorter and sharper in 2008/2009,  and comprise two camps,  that will allow us access to those from further away,  with a few games at the February camp.  Letters in the main have gone out,  and we plan on getting underway next week,  so looking forward to that.

What a fantastic day in Dalby,  for the country schools rugby carnival.  Some exceptional rugby played,  some very good performances from some really good athletes,  one in particular,  Matt Berwick served big notice to anyone playing in a 12 or 13 jersey and thinking of Qld Under 16 next year,  that if he wants to trial,  the others will have to be very,  very good.  There were plenty of Qld Rugby people on hand to witness his very polished display across the whole day.  Good enough to walk into any first XV next year with ease.  Better still,  how does Joey Frey and Matt Berwick as Downs Opens Schoolboys centres sound.  Again I am thinking that as 16 year olds they would probably dominate all comers.  With Downlands allegedly to supply zero players to the Open Schoolboys tilt in 2009,  due to a clash with Grammar Day,  there are phenomenal opportunities for those outside the system to step up and have a  crack at rep rugby.  We saw plenty of good,  tough stuff on our journey to Goondi and Dalby in recent days.  Lots of photos to go up as we road test the brand new Canon EOS 50D digital for the first time,  so stay tuned.  Dalby State High School got the money over Goondiwindi State High School in the Under 13's by I think 20 to 17 with a last minute try.  This was an entertaining game of footy.  St Mary's won the Under 15's,  again over Goondiwindi State High School,   well it used to be St Marys,  now Our Lady Southern Cross College,  and Dalby State High School won the Opens,  over St Mary's,  or OLSCC.  The day here:

Thursday 16/10/2008:  The final afternoon of the Qld Rugby travelling roadshow (in South Qld at least) moved into Dalby yesterday.   The contacts in Dalby did a great job,  with alot of people in attendance,  and definitely not enough coaches to go around in a full on afternoon.  It was excellent to see so many turn up with an interest,  and plenty that have never played the game,  turning up to have a look.  It will be good to see these guys actually go around on Sunday in the "non traditional rugby schools" tournament hosted for the second year by Dalby.  I have heard there is another Michael Bermingham heading down from the South Burnett to rattle a cage or two; can't wait to see that.

Wednesday 15/10/2008:  Been a little while since I have been in here.  Still getting stuff rolling in about my final write up of the under 16 tournament.  Thanks for the compliments guys.  It's all good fun.  I note the Aussie Schoolboys knocked over those Kiwis in New Zealand,  two years of dominance over the old rugby enemy is a good thing,  and BSHS boy Eddie Quirk picking up the Man of the Match award after originally not being in the squad.

The Queensland Junior Reds programme moved to Goondiwindi yesterday.  What a great roll up out there in the border town.  While I don't make the decisions on who joins the college/Junior Reds programme,  I thought there was a very nice array of talent and toughness turn up to Goondi.  A key coach in the Goondi juniors informed me of a couple of gun prospects that were there,  and Qld Junior under 15 squad member Joe Frey turned up to showcase his wares.  A really good afternoon,  followed up with a nice storm,  might be a bit late for some of the wheat,  but beneficial to the later stuff and the summer crops,  and city folk,  trust me,  you need this rain out here as much as the rural folks.

Sunday sees the schools rugby competition in Dalby,  with schools like Goondiwindi State high School and Dalby State high School competing over the day.  Still plenty of rugby going on if you know where to look.

Saturday 04/10/2008:  All over,  Queensland Red won it and of course Queensland White get second,  in what was a great game of footy,  in fact it was a great day of footy.  Fantastic relaxed,  almost carnivale  type atmosphere.  Prior to the game I was very lucky to be able to get to speak with one of the Red Team's coaches,  one of the Red Team's players,  and one of the Red Team's player's mums.  Now the details of those chats will never be released,  but the mood of the camp and the feeling for the day was certainly encompassed in what was said.  A day in which Sydney Juniors beat their NSW Schools arch rivals to claim third.  There will be more to follow,  sometime over the weekend,  and photos,  just a few photos.  Match writeups here.  Qld Red vs Qld White Photos

Thursday 02/10/2008:  Pretty much my last offering now until some time Saturday,  I have to head down the coast after the footy for work,  and will not be home until late Friday night.  There will no doubt be plenty of other reports up before I get mine up so be sure and enjoy them.  Plenty of messages today,  and they all carried the one theme,  and naturally got me thinking.  Plenty of reasons to be happy,  Qld will come first and second,  for the first time ever in the Under 16's.  We should be very happy as rugby supporters that this has occurred.  We should be very supportive of those playing and those coaching and supporting;  the campaign and methodology has proved a great success.  Moreover,  many congratulations to the Qld boys,  you have done yourselves,  your state,  and your mums and dads very proud.  On a wider note though,  we should congratulate and thank every team that has made their way to Nudgee for the week,  without you all there would have been no tournament.  I for one hope that the last day is seen as a success,  that you have all enjoyed your time in Qld,  supporters too,  and that the rugby memories and friendships last a lifetime,  that is what the game is,  was and always will be about.  Trouble is,  you often don't realize it until it is too late.  Savour the moments,  and have a safe journey home.  I have lots of photos of many games,  do bear with me you guys from other states.  Qld Red vs Sydney Juniors Photos.  Qld White vs NSW Schools Photos

Wednesday 01/10/2008:  Finally a boilover,  Qld White nail NSW Schools for a spot in the final against Qld Red.   The NSW Schools side plays for 3 and 4 against Sydney Juniors,  and NSW country play for 5 and 6 against The Brumbies.  More to follow,  but I am slightly deaf at the moment from the amount of whistling,  and some really bizarre stuff from over zealous touchies.  The guy standing beside me said it all:"Officialdom gone mad".  I am also temporarily blinded from the reflection of sunlight hitting my eyes  due to the over use of Yellow Cards.  Never seen so many!  The day's action here:

Tuesday 30/09/2008:  NSW Country get really close to eliminating NSW Schools from the finals race,  but just fall at the final hurdle.  All the National Under 16 stuff here:  Qld White vs Vic photogallery:  Qld Red vs Brumbies Photogallery

Monday 29/09/2008:  The National Under 16 rugby tournament is only hours from kick off,  over there at Nudgee College.  See the day's draw here:  Looks like the weather will be perfect,  but not for rugby,  maybe 35 degrees,  blistering sunshine,  clear skies.  That's what you get this time of year in Brisbane.  QRU offices will largely be empty today,  I expect a large contingent of observers over at Nudgee,  along with any number of rugby league scouts and the usual array of parasite "player managers".  What most of these blokes know about management could be engraved on a pinhead,  there will no doubt be plenty of grief ahead for young players that will be told by them you "need" a manager,  when nothing could be further from the truth.

The rugby league this particular weekend just gone was not of the quality of previous weeks.  The Grand Final could be a little banal itself.  However the week was dominated by talk of grapple tackles,  and post match the Bellamy/Waldron spray at the NRL.  Some of the grapple tackles are quite nasty,  but don't think that outlawing the grapple will take wrestling out of the game,  and nor should it,  winning the battle on the ground,  be it 1 second or 10 is a key to resetting your defensive line or running at a jagged defensive line.  The focus of the wrestle will just change to the middle of the body,  torso somewhere,  they will have it worked out by next season.  If you want to witness violence,  real violence,  get yourself a copy of the Manly vs Cronulla 1973 Grand Final.  While any twisting and manipulation of the neck and head is or can be ugly,  there was every form of violence available in this game,  and plenty of it,  and the football was about a 10th as fast,  and a 10th as skilful.  The continued increase in the pace of the game has brought about the need to win the contest on the ground,  call it wrestling,  call it what you will,  but it will be a key part of both rugby codes,  particularly rugby league for a long time to come. 

Saturday 27/09/2008.  I hear Robbie Deans is running a coaching session for the NTS lads and coaches in Brisbane today.  Suffice to say it is closed and yours truly is not allowed to attend.  Rest assured,  I would have been there in a heartbeat.

Word is that the Sydney Juniors Under 16 side are favourites for the Nationals tournament this year.  I have to admit,  the draw is set up for a NSW Schools vs Sydney Juniors final next Friday,  a real old grudge match.  I do like an underdog and the Juniors would be them,  selected out of the club system in Sydney obviously and always play good,  bruising rugby.  Qld Red have a tough draw ahead of them,  Brumbies on Monday,  and assuming they win that,  Sydney Juniors on Wednesday.

The 2008/9 Junior Reds (formerly Regional Colleges) are set to get underway,  with a key meeting taking place yesterday with a potential service provider here in Toowoomba.  The programme will definitely take more steps forward this time around,  and it is really looking exciting in it's structure.  Can't give too much away yet,  but there are some very good developments about to be delivered in this current programme.

I hear many good things about Quade Cooper,  how competitive he is for one.  Looking at him last Sunday at the QJRU vs NSWJRU Under 17 match,  he also looks incredibly fit,  and has perhaps lost some of the excess muscle bulk he seemed to carry last year.  Let's hope from a Qld perspective that he gets back to the form we know he can deliver,  but also develops the supreme ability to concentrate through a whole game.  From my perspective,  it has been his mental application that has let him down.  It will come with age,  and he might turn 21 in 2009,  so he could play for a year or two yet.  He looks best when he underplays his hand for most of the game,  and unleashes the freakish impossibilities every now and then.

I am going to tip that in 2009,  James Slipper and Aidan Toua will make their Super 14 debuts.  Aidan Toua,  whose name as a search term still attracts hundreds in to this website is one thing,  he is a back,  but big James Slipper wears a number that is under 4,  and at 19 will have taken huge,  huge strides to butt down against the lies of Tony Woodcock from Auckland and The Beast from South Africa.  James is a big boy in his own right at about the 120 kilo mark but it was always his ability with the footy that impressed me when he was playing schoolboy footy.  Anyway,  write those two down,  see how I go in 2009.

Thursday 25/09/2008:  Finally got the Downs Under 16 photos up,  find them here.  Enough of Goughy at inside centre to have a gallery of his own.

Looking forward to the rugby league actually this weekend,  some cracking match ups again.  Cam Smith and Jeremy Smith out of that Melbourne lineup look to have weakened an already flat side,  but,  how many matches will/can Inglis be flat for.  I'll be in the Warriors camp,  get in with the underdog,  some really good footballers in that side,  and a genuine tough man in Ruben Wiki,  that started his career way back when in Canberra as a centre,  now a pretty fine prop.  I was told yesterday,  and I'd have to check,  that 4 of the Warriors players come from the Downs area.  I know Pricey is one but not dure of the other names mentioned.

Tuesday 23/09/2008:  I have been hearing lots of good things out of the Queensland Under 16 preparation,  which is a good thing.  Word is that the attitudes are right,  and that players and coaches are working together well.  Let's hope so,  and look for a big tilt against all the other competitors that will be flocking to Qld this coming weekend for the tournament at Nudgee.  Very much looking forward to a few days off watching the tournament myself.  There certainly has been some excellent underage,  free to attend rugby on over the last few weeks,  now unfortunately coming to an end,  with just the three days of Under 16's remaining.

Rumours abound already about the 2009 GPS season.  I already have several tips for the 2009 premiership,  and gun players better than anyone has ever seen before just "turning up" at schools.  Here's a tip guys,  we have got the rest of 2008,  then a long break,  then cricket and other summer sports,  some guys swim,  then the rugby will start.  It's a long,  long time to season 2009,  so let's not get too fussed about what might,  will or could happen in 2009.

Monday 22/09/2008: Plenty of rugby on over the weekend just gone,  too much to get to it all to be honest.  Friday night was the semi finals of the Ballymore Cup,  at Ballymore of course,  and on the main oval Mountain Creek State High School edged out Forest Lake State High School in semi Final one,  and Rockhampton Grammar touched up Helensvale SHS in Semi Final 2.  Gee the 13 and 5 looked the goods for Rocky.  Rocky did not go on to win the tournament though,  getting knocked over by Mountain Creek on Saturday.  I would have backed them for all money given Friday night's performances.  All of the other results are on the QRU website.

Yesterday,  Sunday 21/09/2008,  and the Brisbane Junior Rugby Union Under 15 side took on a similar club based outfit from NSW,  and lost narrowly,  31 to 22.  NSW had a very efficient backrow,  ably lead by their number 6 from Canterbury,  a big,  bruising ball carrier that may end up in the front row as the years roll on.  Boy he did some serious damage with ball in hand.  Second game for the day was the QJRU (club) Under 17 vs a similar side from NSW,  and the NSW side stitched Qld up by 40 odd to zero.  NSW were again lead by a very efficient backrow in their 7 and 8,  and were well served by their bone rattling Ma'a Nonu look alike at inside centre,  also named MOM,  their massive 13 and some other pacy operatives out wide.  I noted Fox Sports senior rugby commentator Greg Clark there at Ballymore yesterday,  and a Clark on the wing for the Under 15 NSW side,  so guessing they may be related.

And again some absolutely riveting rugby league over the weekend just gone,  two absolute blinders of games.  You would have had to watch these two matches (Warriors vs Sydney City) and (Broncos vs Melbourne Storm) to appreciate the speed and sheer physicality of the contests,  big,  big men hitting each other very,  very hard.  Melbourne are flat,  their big stars,  as good as they are just seem a little off the boil.  Not sure if they can win this thing from here.  If the Sharks hadn't lost their five eighth,  they could look the goods,  along with Manly,  but as the NRL has thrown up in the last couple of weeks,  there may be surprises in store in the final round of semis.

Monday 15/09/2008: The Darling Downs junior rugby grand finals yesterday showed some spirited and entertaining rugby across four age groups, U13 to U16.  My thoughts on them and some pics here.  Pics of the Under 13 and Under 14 grand finals up here now,  and a special 15manography feature photogallery on old props coaching rugby.  This is done at great risk to my personal health!  Under 15 Grand Final Pics.

Wednesday 17/09/2008:  Still plenty of good junior and schools rugby on offer in 2008,  with semi finals and finals of the Ballymore Cup on at Ballymore this Friday 19/09/2008 (Semi Finals) and Saturday 20/09/2008 (Final).  This is another competition outside the "purist" area,  and involves boys from lots of schools around Queensland.  For example a tough tackling Goodniwindi State High School side (Joe Frey Under 15 and Ryan Howles Under 16 attend Goondi SHS) was knocked out just last week.  There is a strong chance I will make the Friday afternoon match up.  I do like non traditionalists playing the game,  they have no preconceptions of how the game should be played.  Of course on Saturday,  the Dalby club takes on a touring Kenmore side,  in Under 14 at least,  out in Dalby.  Probably have a look at that one as well to round out the weekend.  The Under 14 match is at 10:30am.  I understand the matches at Ballymore on Friday night kick off at 5:15pm.

Sunday 14/09/2008:  Hasn't there been some magnificent rugby league this weekend?  I know that I'll never be admitted to the hallowed halls of leather patch jacketed rugby followers that don't want to believe that another code exists,  but,  can anyone go past the confrontational physicality of the Broncos vs Roosters on Friday night,  and isn't a correctly delivered shoulder charge something to behold.  I have to agree with Phil Gould that rugby is a little soft in it's stance on this physical part of the game.  Personally,  as a coach,  I'd be happy to see guys trying to shoulder charge,  because it rarely comes off,  and the ball carrier can hit,  spin and dive into the space behind the hitter and create some real havoc.  I see it as being much more risk for the hitting side than the side being hit.  O'Meley's and Shillingford's were absolute crackers on Friday night,  putting guys to sleep with massive hits.  That's one of the reasons people will keep watching rugby league,  they enjoy the brutal conflict and big hits as much as anything.

Locally yesterday,  Saturday 13/09/2008,  junior rugby league grand finals took place.  I went and watched the Under 16 match up that featured Ben Reuter (Gatton) (TGS) (Qld Red) number 6,  Michael Bermingham (Souths) (St Mary's Toowoomba) (Qld Red Under 16 tighthead prop),  Brandan Purcell (Souths) (Qld Under 16 triallist in the centres) (TGS,  ex St Marys Toowoomba), Luke Ferry, (Souths),  (Qld Under 16 triallist in the centres),  (TGS),   Ellis Jensen (Souths) (Concordia College) (Qld under 16 triallist at breakaway),  Ned Mott (Souths),  (TGS),  (initial Qld Under 16  Squad member) and Nick Bergen (Souths) (Downlands outside centre).  They were the dual code operatives that I knew.  Pretty impressive list.  For mine the players of that final were Ellis Jensen and Brandan Purcell,  with Ellis wearing the number 12 jersey and Purcell getting alot of carries and weaving alot of magic out of lock forward,  which leads me to my next point,  Ned Mott and Brandan Purcell have been played hopelessly out of position by their schools.  Mott's passing game and kicking game yesterday were very astute,  and I think he is probably very suited to 10 or 12,  Purcell definitely 10 or 12.   I have to ask, and have been asking for years,   why do these kids play much worse football at our local schools than they do, in what I would see as a much more physically confronting environment of club rugby league?  I know I have the answer but to publish it would kick up a mountain of trouble on rights and  wrongs amongst other things. Of course my old mate big Berm was reasonably damaging in limited forays,  until he delivered a shoulder charge as good as any you would see in the NRL,  putting old mate out for the count,  and getting himself a send off,  shoulder shots are illegal in junior rugby league,  but it was one of the biggest I have seen including those on Friday night.

Of course we had the Bledisloe test match last night as well.  Personally I thought it lacked something,  far too stop start and mistake riddled.  Giteau did some good things,  but in reality if you analyze it had a shocker.  I thought New Zealand were much more potent and dangerous with the subtle change of Nonu for Donald,  and moving to the much more traditional New Zealand rugby style of dual playmakers.  It really happened for them post that change,  some clever substitutions there by Henry.  I see plenty written and spoken about the test.  I thought Kaplan,  through over judicious refereeing took Richie McCaw out of the game.  I like what the All blacks do at the tackle contest,  if you note they get past the ball,  well past the ball and turn their shoulders or one shoulder down and seal the ball.  May be illegal under the Laws, but they are doing it at pace and with power,  and asking the referee to "referee" the game.  Australia just have to be faster and stronger to and at the tackle contest.  It's of little use bagging the ref when he will probably referee both sides in the same fashion,  and ref his perceptions of the laws,  a thick publication with many grey areas,  one of the things that makes the game great,  the ability to find out how a ref perceives the laws,  and the ability to apply alot of pressure to the man in the middle at test level.

Today of course is the Club junior Rugby Grand Finals here from Under 13 to Under 16,  so I will be heading along there for a look and some photos as well.  Would have loved to have taken some photos yesterday at the league,  but I didn't have any permissions in place,  so gave it a miss.

Saturday 06/09/2008:  Regional College 2009 is about to get up and running.  Hopefully the programme will show continued improvement over what we have delivered in the past.  The structure will certainly be different,  not quite so long and tedious,  but with some camps in there,  and hopefully access to the Reds staff at these things as well.  Looking forward to getting into it,  and hopefully helping to develop the next round of players from the Darling Downs.  We have some names on paper,  and there will be a series of regional spotting days very soon,  so watch this site and see when and where.  I hope to attend them,  but we want to take the programme to the regional areas this year as well,  spread the net so to speak.  Guys like Ellis Jensen and Big Berm will be expected to drive the programme's intensity in 2008/9,  and that should be good,  they are both nice,  physical,  direct players that are very easy to coach.

The week has seen two great coaches finish with their respective clubs in Brisbane,  Wayne Bennett after 21 years at the helm of the Broncos,  and Leigh Matthews at the Lions.  Not being a real AFL fan,  it is hard to comment on Matthews,  but Bennett,  has to go down as one of the greatest coaches of all time,  in any code,  up there with Jack Gibson.  He is certainly one that develops better people,  and develops mental toughness,  and if you don't develop that way under him,  then you go.  Not much question he could coach rugby,  and he is a sad loss to Qld.  I also see this morning that the great talent spotter,  former BSHS headmaster and 1st XV coach,  and just all round great guy,  Cyril Connell is to step down from the Broncos this year as well.  The guy is 80 odd,  and I have been hearing very ill.  Quietly spoken and respected and revered by all,  he will be another sad,  sad loss to the Broncos.  I can only say I was very privileged to have met him and shot the breeze with him over footballers he has seen over the years.  I will never forget the day out at Dalby that we were chatting,  amongst other greats like Rod Reddy,  Arthur Beetson (name dropping there),  and we were talking about the best footballers we had seen.  I said that Berrick Barnes was the best I had seen; Cyril said he was the second best he had seen (as a fifteen year old).  Upon asking,  he had no hesitation in naming Darren Lockyer,  and took me through how he heard about,  went and watched and recruited this great man of rugby league.

Sitting around watching the Broncos vs the Knights last night,  the conversation turned to a dream backline for Aussie rugby,  suffice to say,  not many of my "dream" are currently playing rugby.  How could you go past a backline that looked like this:  9.  Keiron Landers (I honestly believe that he would have made his international debut this year had he stuck with rugby,  what he did in his Aussie Schoolboy year to fight back early from a broken jaw and displace Josh Holmes in the Aussie Schoolboy side was very tough and adult.),  10.  Matt Giteau,  11.  Tuqiri,  12.  Greg Inglis,  13.  Israel Folau,  14.  Billy Slater,  15.  Karmichael Hunt.  Tough to leave Lockyer out,  but I did as he is at the end of his career,  but Hunt could play 13 and Lockyer 15.  People keep asking me where to play Greg Inglis,  and I say one of two things,  1.  Any two positions in the backline at the same time,  2.  If he wanted to play tight head prop,  I'd let him. (Forgot about this bloke,  I would also throw Cooper Cronk into the 9/10 equation,  and maybe even Cameron Smith.  Are Melbourne going to be hard to beat in this year's NRL or not?)

Thursday 28/08/2008:  So nice to see the Downs contingent still intact in the Qld Under 16 trials,  also good to see what most would term the "dark horses" still in the mix,  proving that you don't necessarily need to go to one of those elite schools to be able to mix it with those considered "the big boys" of rugby.  In fact I think those that may consider themselves "big boys" in rugby because of where they go to school,  will all struggle to mix it with Mick Bermingham,  he is a human wrecking ball.  We should also remember that Ben Reuter and Brandon Purcell were not at "rugby schools" in 2007,  first year at TGS in 2008,  and I will say I thought Purcell's talent set was poorly used there as well. Also excellent to see a dark horse there from Pittsworth High School,  being another red head from the escarpment,  I sure hope he is laying them in the aisles like his red headed mate,  Mick Bermingham   And a last word for Ellis Jensen,  from Concordia,  I will write something on Ellis after he is either cut or the whole thing is over,  just so you can understand what a world of pain he trialled through,  and just so you can understand what tough does and can mean. 

A short page here on my views on the Under 16 trialling,  page should get some hits,  readership needs a lift at the moment.  Good to see the Wallabies get up in Africa,  paid a heavy physical price though,  week two will be enormous in Johannesburg,  almost impossible to win there at the best of times,  let alone with key players out.

Saturday,  day 3 of the Under 15 tournament,  photos that I grabbed can be viewed here.

Sunday 17/08/2008:   What a spectacular day at Noosa.  The footy field was very dry,  but the day,  what a cracker.  Plenty of QRU and ARU hierarchy and dignitaries in attendance at the Under 15 titles.  Lots of players going around,  and a few that can really play,  a few really hot prospects from Peninsula,  Jordan Tighe the young flyhalf from Met West and IGS,  but again,  in the games that I watched,  awfully hard to go past Chris F'Sautia (how it is spelt in the programme) in the game against the Darling Downs.  He scored 3 or 4 or 5 tries,  and missed a couple of others,  demonstrated a big hit in defence,  and has a marvellous fend,  not unlike the big Greg Inglis one.  Expect to hear plenty more of this lad.  The 13 from South Coast also showed he can play the game pretty well.  The Downs boys got a bit of a touch up in this game,  and they didn't really react to how they should play against a side like this.  It looked like a few boys went missing under the physical onslaught,  which can happen,  the scrum got ripped open and it all fell apart from there.  Anyway,  we will write some more as the day goes on,  and put some photos up over the week.  I probably will be in strife for taking them,  but I did,  so we will see what happens on that front.  I think the Downs boys can beat a very poorly disciplined Met North side this afternoon. Read my wrap on a single day's viewing here:

Friday 15/08/2008: Word through from the Schoolboy Under 15 tournament that the Downs boys won both their encounters yesterday.  The gentleman that rang me also said that players performing well were Macalister Gee (flyhalf,  very impressed with is vision and game sense),  Angus Ryan and Keiran Fitzgibbon.  The Downs side was expected to win one game,  but apparently not two.  Nothing beats a good start in these tournaments.

That young schoolboy,  Jordan Rankin,  16 years old,  making his debut for the Titans on Monday night.  I have to hope they know what they are doing,  at 16 you have to be something special to be even considered,  but had the game been against the Sea Eagles,  or Melbourne,  he may have got killed.  Imagine someone like Cement Gillespie whacking a 16 year old.  I wish the lad luck,  just hope that he has not been blooded with the really big boys too early.

Sunday 03/08/2008 saw Darling Downs Junior Rugby kick off it's club premiership round,  and it was very good to see alot of boys turning out for this competition,  an Under 15 team from Warwick as well.   I remember turning up to grounds 5 or 6 years ago hoping that an opposition would turn up, this day saw plenty of action,  on two fields,  accredited refs,  grounds ready to go,  ambulance or medical personnel in place.  For those of you that believe rugby revolves around 9 games of school footy each year,  I have never seen it that way,  and club footy is a great forum allowing people that don't attend these schools to play and enjoy the code.  I am sure that there are more names out there than this one,  but watch the name Caleb Stoddard over the next few years,  currently Under 14,  outside the "school" system,  big tough,  ball playing lock.  This lad will go a long way,  and I have some great shots of him among others from Sunday to put up later,  so check back for them.  Caleb will also be in action for the Darling Downs under 15 schoolboy side next week at Noosa.

This week (Wednesday 06/08/2008) also sees the third term schools rugby get under way,  again an alternative competition that takes rugby to more people. This competition was fiercely contested 5 or 6 years ago,  with the league rivalries of St Josephs,  St Mary's Toowoomba and Dalby and Harristown making for some very physical and hard fought encounters.  The competition has died off of late,  but Russell Jackson from Mt Lofty has taken on the running of it this year.  Jacko is a local rugby stalwart,  and teacher at Lofty,  that will run the show pretty well.  Already a name to watch here is Blake Johnson,  a 12 or 13 with a really strong skillset,  has impressed us all so far.  I am sure there will be more that do,  there always are from this competition.

From the two rugby areas mentioned above,  remember the following names,  Mark Appleton, St Mary's Dalby,  Qld Schools 1 in 2007,  Michael Bermingham,  St Mary's Toowoomba,  Qld Under 15 2007 and I am sure will give Qld Red under 16 a tremendous nudge in 2008.

Saturday 01/03/2008,  Friday night club rugby was interesting last night,  and some comparisons were drawn to league programmes,  I give myself and my counterpart a massive rap here,  probably important that you all get yourself a coffee and read this,  I was taken to task last night over Broncos programme vs College programme,  and we are doing just fine.  I expect some heat over this piece,  but what the hell,  I am pretty pumped up at the moment,  few things starting to come together.

I go out to have a look at Friday night footy up here on the Downs,  and I'm in strife with referees,  standing on my own,  minding my own business and I'm still in strife with them,  we sure have had an ongoing relationship over the years,  read my latest stoush here:  I haven't watched any games yet,  but I note Qld went down,  and McMeniman may be out for a long time,  they can't afford that,  he is the starch of the pack in the limited time he spends on the field,  and also note the Force got up narrowly.  I'm two from two in a good tipping start to the weekend.  A little on the games of the Super 14 in week 2 to date here,  will update as we go.

Here is a little continuation of my tough guy outlook,  using as an example,  the Darling Downs' own version of tough,  Michael O'Leary.  Have a look at it,  seems you all just lap up everything I write,  as poor as it is at times,  and has been lately.

I meant to mention in my book review,  on Andrew Johns' book "The Two of Me" about one of the strange characters he outlined in one of the chapters.  The guy was Adam McDougall,  and he was allegedly before his time in his diet and training regime.  One of the bizarre things he used to do was suck egg white out of a bladder all day and all night,  and used to drink down alot of eggs worth of egg whites every day.  One can only hope that he was sucking down Sunny Queen Egg whites.  As good as Sunny Queen Eggs are,  I just couldn't suck down a couple of dozen raw,  chilled egg whites every day,  but if I could,  I would only choose Sunny Queen!

Here is the very first of my 2008 offerings,  a book review.  I was going to rush out and buy "The Two of Me",  but decided it might turn up at Christmas,  and it did,  twice.  Have a look at my book review here.  Also a very brief look at 2007