Written Sunday 19/04/2009

FROM MY SEAT OF KNOWLEDGE,  CHAPTER 2.

CHURCHIE VS TERRAVE,  REDS VS LIONS

Sunday April 19,  two games of rugby under my belt yesterday arvo,  Churchie vs GT in a trial and played as the Curtain Raiser to The Reds vs the Lions.  There is not an adjective or phrase that describes the Reds performance last night,  and one is at a loss as to what to say,  or whether to say anything at all and just hope the whole thing was a bit of a nightmare.  I am not going to say whether I am right or wrong,  but here is my perceptions of what I saw last night.

As you would all know,  I brunched and enjoyed frothy coffee up at Redcliffe yesterday,  with an Englishman and his Serbian mate,  Steve.  Wonderful morning,  even found my way to Redcliffe reasonably unaided,  which for me in Brisbane is a major miracle,  many thanks to my guardian angel of yesterday.

Bit of a wander around the city and then to Suncorp.  First up was Churchie vs Terrace in a trial match,  and played as the Curtain Raiser.  For mine,  the game was a trial,  exactly that.  I heard that Churchie had bee struck down with a mystical Argentine virus and were probably suffering jet lag.  The game never really reached any heights of intensity, but trial games are not supposed to.  I thought the Churchie number 8 played pretty well,  a big lad that carries the footy well,  and straight,  won alot of metres for his side.  Liam Gill for Terrace was non stop and just hard,  as you know,  and if you read on,  I like hard.  I think Terrace won,  44 to 38 or 43 to 38,  lots of points.

QLD REDS VS THE LIONS

I am at a loss to find any words to describe this match from the Reds.  You would struggle to get me to believe that they wanted to win this match.  It is hard to know just what they are trying to do,  win and be successful seems to be not a part of the modus operandi.  They seemed to start the year OK,  and we were all supportive of what they were doing and trying to do.  However,  the last few weeks the whole big ball of string has unravelled and the Reds look very deserving of 14th place on the ladder.

They have just got to realize that you can't do the fancy wide running stuff until you do the hard tough stuff in the middle,  you have to win the battles in the middle before you can be fancy.  There just doesn't seem to be a single tough guy out there,  and the game is still one about mental and physical intimidation.  Ask some of the guys like Matt Ryan,  Tony Shaw and co,  about playing for Queensland,  Dan Crowley,  these guys built a fortress up here that other sides were frightened to visit,  they knew they would get bashed.  Today,  the guys go out and play,  collect their $5500 and move on.  Shaw,  Loane,  Ryan,  Crowley,  Scott-Young and many others never accepted loss,  and were single minded in the putting their bodies on the line for that jersey.  Guys like Crowley have commented they would play for Qld for free.  Richard Lowe was another,  for New Zealand,  guys were wondering just what he would do to you before you got on the field,  mental intimidation.  These genuine hard men of the game,  would be looking to win the game,  and split anything that stood in their way,  wide open.

There are two things that one should spill blood for on that green rectangle,  the ball,  and the rest of the guys in the same coloured jersey.  As a player,  you want to know that the guy beside you is prepared to bleed for the cause,  for the jersey,  and he needs to know you will do the same.  I am not seeing that sort of commitment from where I sit.

You know we talk about fast feet,  and good feet,  and good vision,  and we coach endlessly two on one and three on two and other stuff,  but we don't do too much any more on bashing the opposition.  Another big one we talk about is space and getting to it,  may be we should be talking about smashing who or whatever is between us and the space we want to be in.

It is a gladiatorial sport people that do gooders have taken the gladiator out of.  We played the game because we liked the idea of sanctioned,  gratuitous violence.  The game is now supposedly about only skill and speed,  but we can still hit people,  just not very hard!  And as for these disgraceful breakdowns,  for God sake bring back rucking and let the steel sort the men from the boys, you want to put your hand on the ball on the ground,  I am sure having it broken will cure your urge to continue.  I hear everyone suck in their breath,  go back to the All Black side of the early 80's that a Qld Country side played against,  they were heard to say,  opposition hands slowing down our ball,  break them.

Defining moments in Qld sport,  when Arthur Beetson,  selected out of Parramatta second grade,  smacked Mick Cronin in State of origin 1 back in 1980,  and a new breed of mentally tough were born,  Wally Lewis,  Chris Close, Mal Meninga,  what a night that was,  and Qld Rugby League grew to have this aura about it that was almost unshrinkable,  Lewis in particular became a legend,  playing starring roles at times with injuries that would keep blokes today off the field for weeks.

Another,  certainly in rugby was when guys like Tony Shaw and Mark Loane decided that getting flogged by NSW each year was no longer fun,  and set about,  well just beating them,  and beating them up as well.  Maybe that era needs to be revisited by our current crop,  just to see what it means,  and what it meant.  Heavens knows something needs to be done.

I think having a look at the physical and mental preparations of boxers,  and Muay Thuy fighters would be a good place to start as well.

As I say,  these are my perceptions,  and may be totally wrong,  but until someone changes my perceptions,  then they will be my reality.  I have put the tickets away,  and won't even bother turning on the TV to watch the Reds for the rest of the year.

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