Groucho
Greg Davis (50)
Sure, but so did jerseys with collars, part-time players, unlimited midweek boozing and Powerfinger. I prefer to think that increased depth makes us stonger, despite all the spooky coincidences.
Thanks Aussie teams
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Sure, but so did jerseys with collars, part-time players, unlimited midweek boozing and Powerfinger. I prefer to think that increased depth makes us stonger, despite all the spooky coincidences.
kiap
Steve Williams (59)
Yup. And we were around 4th in the pecking order when the 3rd pro team was introduced in 1996. The Wobs then climbed up to 1st place from 98/99 to 01/02. Woohoo three Super teams rock!! -- Unfortunately we then slumped back to 4th by 05/06.
So there you have it for fans of dumb coincidences and simple anecdotes:
Three teams: A Recipe for Decline and Failure
... or How the Tahs, Reds and Bumboys destroyed our #1 Dreams.
Teh Other Dave
Alan Cameron (40)
Sweet Jesus, I can handle the Wallabies staying #2 if it means that they never, ever reform.
Oh Come. Hindley street parade is one of my all time favourites.
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Teh Other Dave
Alan Cameron (40)
Of all the bands to come out of Brisbane at that time - Custard, Pangaea/Regurgitator, Savage Garden, The Boat People, Bjelke-Petersen Youth - Powderfinger is the most prominent. Such a crying shame.
ChargerWA
Mark Loane (55)
You're high.
This is the band that released Odyssey No 5 and Internationalist in a 2 year period.
The_Brown_Hornet
John Eales (66)
Didn't rate 'em.
Anyhooo. How about them Saffa teams eh?
Anyhooo. How about them Saffa teams eh?
Ash
Michael Lynagh (62)
Looks like the Sharks have the Canes beaten.
And Double Allergic was my favourite album of theirs, amongst some really good ones. Still think it's great.
None of the other bands mentioned compare to Powerfinger, and Custard, as much as I loved them and Dave McCormack, or even the 'Gurge with Quan, were nowhere near the Finger.
And Double Allergic was my favourite album of theirs, amongst some really good ones. Still think it's great.
None of the other bands mentioned compare to Powerfinger, and Custard, as much as I loved them and Dave McCormack, or even the 'Gurge with Quan, were nowhere near the Finger.
ACT Crusader
Jim Lenehan (48)
They did. Probably their best performance in terms of attack. Blues finally got an away win. It's been a long time between drinks for them.
Teh Other Dave
Alan Cameron (40)
Oi! PB, ACT 'sader - this thread is now about Powderfinger: Hate 'em or rate 'em. None of this tangential rugby talk. We need to stay on topic.
TahDan
Cyril Towers (30)
You do realise there's this thing called the NRL that's about ten times bigger than anything Union related and provides a tonne more pro-pathways for potential players in Australia, right? Oh yeah, and in the rest of the Country there's the other multi-billion dollar comp called the AFL.
Do South Africans know about the whole Rugby League/Australian Football thing in Australia?
BDA
Peter Johnson (47)
The talk about the poor performance of the Aussie sides this season is all a bit over blown. Yes I've been disappointed with the performance of all the teams, but it is what it is. From my point of view the issue is really that the kiwi sides this year are on average, considerably better than the teams from the other countries, rather than Australia trailing the pack. I don't think any of the SA teams have covered themselves in glory, nor have the teams from Arg and Japan. (the Jaguars (aka the Pumas) have been decidedly unimpressive).
I suspect part of that is because the New Zealand sides have been less effected by the post world cup exodus then the Australian sides. Most teams in the comp lost 2 or 3 of their best/most experienced players from last year and New Zealand can much more easily replace those players, because they have quality in depth. Australia don't have that luxury.The other part of it is that they are just playing better rugby at present.
I'm actually buoyed by the new conference system though, because I think over time Australian rugby in general will benefit from playing more rugby against the kiwi sides. I expect things will level out a bit over the next few years, although the kiwis will always (unless rugby league is banned in Australia) have much better depth than Australia.
I'll admit my favourite Super games to watch this season are the kiwi on kiwi games, because I think they are playing a level above all the other sides. I tend to think the new conference system will (hopefully) have the effect over time of lifting the standard of play in our own derbies.
I suspect part of that is because the New Zealand sides have been less effected by the post world cup exodus then the Australian sides. Most teams in the comp lost 2 or 3 of their best/most experienced players from last year and New Zealand can much more easily replace those players, because they have quality in depth. Australia don't have that luxury.The other part of it is that they are just playing better rugby at present.
I'm actually buoyed by the new conference system though, because I think over time Australian rugby in general will benefit from playing more rugby against the kiwi sides. I expect things will level out a bit over the next few years, although the kiwis will always (unless rugby league is banned in Australia) have much better depth than Australia.
I'll admit my favourite Super games to watch this season are the kiwi on kiwi games, because I think they are playing a level above all the other sides. I tend to think the new conference system will (hopefully) have the effect over time of lifting the standard of play in our own derbies.
ChargerWA
Mark Loane (55)
I'm not sure you understand the cultural importance to Australians of the AFL and NRL.
They're like the springboks and Proteas are to South Africans.
And our ARU has been incompetent at breaking into new territories. They sat back for too many years happy for the Sydney private schools to provide the player base for Australia. While the AFL worked tirelessly to break into new territories, helped by their huge bank balance. And now the 6 year old rugby playing demographic is further erroding as AFL makes inroads into the traditional rugby heartland.
In twenty years time after SA's quotas have equalised and things settle down, SA will go miles ahead of Aus rugby.
TahDan
Cyril Towers (30)
Yeah, it doesn't really work that way mate. You blokes in South Africa would have a hard time understanding it because rugby is the only contact sport you play, but the reality is a lot of very promising players at the school boy level are likely to get scouted by any of our 16 NRL teams or their feeder clubs and offered contracts.
Increasingly this happens with AFL too - there was recently a story of a young kid in Newcastle who played school boy rugby and was a real star, but decided to play Australian Football once a contract was put in front of him by the Swans. And guess what? His family went with him...
Both these games have very very strong cultures, vast networks and extremely deep pockets. In fact, whilst the AFL is limited to Australia it has a higher annual revenue than ANY rugby union competition in the world anywhere, and the NRL isn't far behind, taking in a similar amount to the RFU despite servicing a much smaller market.
Union is actually very niche here in reality unfortunately. Heck, a test match against South Africa will usually struggle to pull a million viewers here, despite the boks being a big deal. To put that into context, a friday night football CLUB game of NRL ofter cracks a million viewers, whilst NSW v Qld rep games (Origin) will generally hit 4 million.
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