New and Better 2012+ Robbie-isms

[Scarfman]

Bad guess Athilnaur, but you get three so keep going.

My guess is that he actually says stuff like "points of difference" to his players, which is why they don't seem to know what they're doing.

 

[Richo]

"We've got to increase their capacity to drive processes and outcomes."

Doesn't that sound like something you'd say, RH?

 

[RedsHappy]

I told him to say it.

 

[suckerforred]

Suckerforred - did I miss something? What's with the Stormers disguise?
EDIT: just seen that Paarlbok. Is supporting the Reds. I have missed something.

I made a rather rash bet with the Paarlbok. Appreciate that he is showing sympathy though.

 

[Bruce Ross]

Like those who rush to announce the first koel of spring in a letter to the editor, RedsHappy has had the honour of announcing the first Robbie-ism of autumn. Congratulations and well-spotted. From this point on we'll struggle to keep up with his oracular outpourings.I'm still pondering what effect his clarification of coaching responsibilities will have on his forthcoming nuptials with Totality Tony, but in the meantime we have the June Tests to focus on:

"Obviously it's fantastic for the playing group, how to deal with that circumstance of playing Super Rugby on the weekend, a Test match Tuesday and another Test match Saturday."

The Robbster is adopting a very Panglossian perspective to the prospect of his "playing group" fronting up for three games in a week. You can just imagine the texts flying back and forth between them - "fantastic"; "fucking marvellous"; "why can't we do it more often".

"Scotland and Wales are just going to be lying in wait, they've got an uninterrupted prep, they'll be jumping out of their skin and they'll see a great opportunity in Newcastle."

I think I get it for the Jocks but I haven't figured out what "great opportunity in Newcastle" the Taffies can see.

"We'll gather a group, it's a distinct group, we'll determine how we want to play and the most important thing is how we come together."

It's very reassuring that the group that is gathered is a "distinct group" rather than a hazy or vague group. However the last past of the sentence conjures up a hopefully unintended mental image of very naughty schoolboys in a circle behind the bike shed.

Heading into his fifth year at the helm, Deans said he fully understands the importance of getting results. "Obviously - we're not in this to come second," he said.

That's very encouraging although it represents a departure from past practice. Back when we had the run of nine successive seconds to the All Blacks it was hard not to think that the principal objective was consistency of result rather than winning.

On this year's Super 15:

"It's a great competition, there's nothing between teams and the reality is somebody has to be last and somebody has to be first, that's the nature of a points table."

"Nothing between teams"? I think we might all owe a collective apology to Peter de Villiers.

Fox Sports' report of Deans's press conference yesterday states:

Deans confirmed there would likely be players in his squad who play a Super Rugby fixture and two Tests in the one week ...

But Cardiff's Western Mail quotes him as saying:

"It will test our depth but it’ll also provide some opportunity because clearly no player can go Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday, with two of them being Test matches."

From a lesser mind one would think there was a logical inconsistency between the two statements but Robbie has previously displayed an uncanny capacity to operate in two universes, not necessarily in parallel.

I'm looking forward to this season with great anticipation, and I might even watch the rugby as well.
.

 

[suckerforred]

What I look forward to is Bruce's translations of Robbie's statements. I have no way in hell of understanding him otherwise.

 

[cyclopath]

Bruce,
Robbie is clearly existing on a different, higher plane (the Burkian Plane), or indeed in several planes as a citizen of the Multiverse.
You and I are bound, as we are, to a single universe, so cannot unlock the apparent contradiction in his statements, that to him, and others of his pan-dimensionalism, make utter sense.
His interest in "How the group comes together" reflects the new ARU austerity program, which sees the players given a single-speed second hand bike, and old edition of the Gregory's and a Metro-10 card to get to games. He anticipates many may not make it. No Google Maps for these pioneers, as the Blackberries have been repossessed and replaced with circa 1998 Nokia bricks with a $20 pre-paid card.

 

[Bardon]

Robbie Deans "You've gotta play what's in front of you..." "even if it's behind you".

Our own coach DK is well known for being able to go through an entire interview without actually saying anything, even though he does give a full response to every question. But the things Robbie comes out with are gold.

I bet if he wasn't a rugby coach he'd be head of a cult or a pyramid scheme, except the shape of the "pyramid" would look suspiciously like the starting 15 as seen on TV captions.