Premature Capitulation

supporter (noun)
1. a person or thing that supports;
2. an adherent, follower, backer, or advocate.

We'll be singing

When we're winning

We'll be singing

There are certain mysteries in life – some big, many small – that I have resigned myself to never truly understanding. The fatalistic psyche of many New Zealand sports fans must sit remarkably high on the list. In a country where we are used to being the underdog, there is a very vocal section of league fans who are willing to give up at almost the first sign of trouble. Sweeping statements seem to follow almost every loss, even when the season is only halfway through.

“Hopeless.” “They were pathetic.” “The season is over.” “We won’t win another game.” “Sack the coach.”

All aboard the fatalistic locomotion! Next stop: Capitulation Station!

Admittedly, many of these generalised displays of verbal defeat are merely the words of extremely passionate fans who are sorely disappointed by the performance of their team. As supporters, we place high expectations – sometimes unreasonably so – on the players and feel short changed when they don’t deliver.

I get knocked down

But I get up again

You're never going to keep me down

Warriors fans also make their opinions heard loud and clear by using their feet on a hauntingly regular basis, either by simply not going to home matches, or by leaving several minutes early. The home ground may have changed its name back to Mt Smart Stadium, but the “Ericsson Shuffle” is still alive and well. I have, on more than one occasion, witnessed fans leave early with a Warriors loss looking lightly, only for the home side to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat in the dying moments.

Is it really worth sacrificing the mass jubilation of a last minute victory in order to beat the traffic?

Or is it more a reflection of the general apathy that surrounds the Warriors in particular, especially among Aucklanders? In a city of more than one million people, the Penrose based club has one of the lowest crowd averages in the entire National Rugby League, despite a promising on field resurgence in recent weeks. It’s not that there aren’t many fans, but that the majority prefer to stay home in the warmth and comfort of their living rooms, supporting from afar. The general perception seems to be that it is cheaper, and it avoids the embarrassment of witnessing another ignominious defeat firsthand – a sorry mixture of convenience and apathy. There is also much less traffic.

But not all fans take this approach. A hardcore minority come each and every week, and not all of them are locals. Many fans come from out of town, regularly making long road trips to home matches, travelling hundreds of kilometres in order to get to Mt Smart Stadium. The return journey must seem twice as long after a loss.

I get knocked down

But I get up again

You're never going to keep me down

It is these fans – the ones who bear the scars of a weary and sometimes painful thirteen season campaign since the 1995 inception of the Warriors – who are the flesh and blood of the club. They have experienced firsthand both the depressing lows and the dizzying heights of a rollercoaster ride supporting their team, often all within an eighty minute period.

These fans do not view themselves as mere spectators at these matches, but as participants. They go, not to simply watch the players, but to help them along, too. This is also evident in Australia, with the Warriors chant regularly being heard on the television broadcast of away games.

But even if some Warriors fans appear to give up on the team before full time, the club has no intentions of giving up on their supporters. With the standoffish era of past management well and truly gone, the club is rewarding fans with away match functions as the team continues to entertain on the field.

I get knocked down

(We'll be singing)

But I get up again

You're never going to keep me down

(When we're winning)

Perhaps it would be worth some fans staying around for a full match in future. Their added support could make the difference between a match deciding play being an inspirational success or an embarrassing failure. After all, as the Warriors’ advertising campaign used to say, it’s just a matter of faith.

Source:
Song lyrics from ‘Tubthumping’ by Chumbawamba

A Taste Of Tate

In the midst of a six match losing streak, Warriors fans found little to celebrate on the field as their team fell to the Sharks, Knights, Tigers, Eels, Bulldogs, and Storm in succession, dropping from fourth position to thirteenth position on the National Rugby League table. However, off the field, a major victory was won in the signing of Brisbane Bronco centre/winger Brent Tate on a three year contract. Tate, brother-in-law to Warriors captain Steven Price, would bring an impressive amount of experience – twelve State Of Origin appearances for Queensland, seventeen international caps for Australia, and a Premiership Winner’s Ring – to a backline that will be losing the seasoned understanding of another Premiership winner in Tony Martin, as well as Todd Byrne, a grand finalist.

Originally from the town of Roma, Queensland – a town which has also produced rugby league legends in current Kangaroo captain Darren Lockyer, former Bronco, Queensland, and Kangaroo winger Willie Carne, and the first Aboriginal to captain an Australian national side, and Immortal, Arthur Beetson – Tate has been such a thorn in the New Zealand side for so long, that it is hard to believe that he is only 25 years old. Kiwi rugby league fans have seen plenty of him in the green and gold, and have witnessed his immense skill on the international stage, often to their dismay.

Supporters were given a glimpse of where the club is headed when the Broncos visited the Newcastle Knights in Round Eleven, just three days before Tate’s signing was announced. During the previous week, the Warriors had granted junior centre/winger Cooper Vuna’s request for an immediate release, and he met the soon-to-be Auckland-bound Tate on the field. In the one-sided contest, which the Broncos won 71-6, Tate scored twice, including the try of the match from seventy metres out by running outside Vuna, his opposite, before running infield to evade the rushing Newcastle fullback and jog casually to score underneath the posts. It is this level of individual game breaking ability that the Warriors have been lacking on a consistent basis, despite a stunning 54-14 performance against the Penrith Panthers.

However, Tate’s signature isn’t set in stone – or ink, as the case may be. His new agreement is subject to a medical and fitness test. This clause was initially included to assess a potentially career-ending neck injury he received in a huge tackle at the hands of former Warriors winger Francis Meli in 2003. Tate must have been relieved when Meli left the club at the end of 2005, having received several damaging defensive hits from the former Kiwi winger. That relief was short lived, though, as Meli’s replacement turned out to be Manu Vatuvei, who at 1.89m (6ft 2in) and 113kg is both taller and heavier than Meli, a fact which Price continues to find plenty of humour in at his younger in-law’s expense.

Surgery and a protective neck brace have allowed him to return to the field, but he is now back in the recovery ward, having had an operation on Saturday after tearing both the anterior cruciate ligament and the medial ligament in his left knee during the third State Of Origin match on July 4th. Tate was visibly emotional in the changing rooms after receiving news of the extent of his injury, and was seen being consoled by Price after the game, the Warriors captain no doubt doing his best to keep his Origin team mate in a positive mood.

Consequently, Tate has requested an early release from the Broncos to begin his entire recovery process under the watchful eye of former All Blacks doctor John Mayhew, so as to avoid having to change specialists partway through his rehabilitation. He and his wife have already found a house in Auckland, and they are expected to arrive at their new club as early as August.

Spending the extra six months or so with the team will also allow Tate to get to know his soon-to-be team mates and form relationships with them – an all too important aspect of the game as it builds trust and confidence between the players. Considering his previous run-ins with some of the current Warriors squad, a handshake and a polite greeting will be just what the doctor ordered!

Brent Tate
Age: 25
Position: Centre/Wing
NRL Record: 115 matches, 41 tries
State Of Origin Record: 12 matches, 4 tries
International Record: 17 matches, 11 tries

Still Paying The Price

The time has come

To say fair's fair

To pay the rent

To pay our share

The time has come

A fact's a fact

It belongs to them

Let's give it back

While the topic of rugby league is a trivial one in comparison to the true subject of Midnight Oil’s 1988 hit ‘Beds Are Burning’ – a plea for the land rights of aboriginal Australians – the lyrics seem appropriate for the plight of one player in his bid to represent his country.

That player is Warriors captain and Queensland prop Steve Price.

The last time the former Kangaroo played for Australia was on the 26th of November, 2005, in the Tri-Nations final. On that cold winter night in Leeds, the heavily favoured Australians had no answers for a fired up Kiwi team who played with an immense amount of passion. The New Zealanders kept their opponents scoreless for the first time in twenty years, running out victors with a 24-0 score line.

It was this loss which saw Price’s international career come to a grinding halt. This wasn’t because he performed poorly in the final, but because Jones – who only came out of international retirement after being persuaded to by Price – played extremely well, setting up three of the Kiwi side’s tries.

The Australian selectors, it seems, still haven’t forgiven Price for his apparently inexcusable indiscretion.

Rugby league and politics have never been far from each other, which isn’t entirely surprising considering the sport was born through a rebellion from the English Rugby Football Union in 1895, which itself had broken away from soccer in 1823.

But the continued omission of Steve Price from the Kangaroos side is beginning to look like the narrow minded approach of bitter selectors. One would think that a selector’s job is to choose the best players available based on their on field form, but this doesn’t seem to be the case where the Australians are concerned.No forward gained more meters each game in 2006 than Price, who averaged 155 metres per match, ranking fifth highest among all players. After fourteen rounds and eleven appearances in 2007, he has increased that average to 185.5 metres per match.

But perhaps the most impressive thing about Price is the way he has performed during and directly after State Of Origin matches. In the first State Of Origin match of 2007, he gained 195 metres, while making twenty-five tackles with no misses, three offloads, a line break, a charge down, and not a single error. Not bad for a player who at thirty-three years old is fourteen years older than the youngest player on the field, New South Wales winger Jarryd Hayne. Only five days later, he gained 130 metres for the Warriors against a dominant Bulldogs side.

The same thing happened three weeks later. After making 135 metres, thirty-five tackles without missing any, and two offloads in Queensland’s 10-6 series deciding victory over New South Wales, Price gained an incredible 306 metres and three offloads against the Sharks, just three days following the mid-week representative match. That Round 14 tally against the Sharks is a record for the most metres by a forward in the history of the National Rugby League. His effort against the Cowboys in Round 5, totalling 272 metres, ranks second.

It may seem strange for a passionate and patriotic New Zealander to be calling for the Kangaroos to select the form prop of the toughest competition in the world, but if the sport is to consistently succeed at the highest level, the best players have to be selected, not on reputation, but on form. Too often, personalities get in the way, or a club refuses to release a selected player to further their own domestic endeavours.

When Price was urging Jones to come out of international retirement, then Kangaroos coach Wayne Bennett asked him why he was doing it. Price’s answer was simple: “For the good of the game.” Indeed, with the World Cup approaching in 2008, it must surely be the game itself that takes highest priority – not the politics.

Whether the Australian selectors are willing to accept it or not, Midnight Oil’s words ring loud and true.

The time has come

To say fair's fair

To pay the rent

To pay our share

The time has come

A fact's a fact

It belongs to him

So give it back!

Judicial Inequality?

Judicial Inequality?

During the court case in which former Wests Tiger Jarrod McCracken sued the Melbourne Storm and two of its former players, Stephen Kearney and Marcus Bai, over a spear tackle in 2000 that prematurely ended his professional rugby league career, footage of the incident was broadcast as evidence. The tackle, as a result of which McCracken suffered neck and spinal injuries, earned the former Kiwi captain AUS$97,000. More importantly, however, it demonstrated the essential need to maintain player safety and welfare.

The National Rugby League introduced a new rule stating that a tackled player could not be placed onto the ground past a horizontal angle, so as to avoid unnecessary contact with the head. This makes perfect sense, of course, especially in light of the number of players who have had to give up the game because of a neck or spine injury, the most notable of recent times being Andrew Johns.

At the same time, the governing body has taken measures to protect its officials from physical and verbal abuse. The aforementioned Johns experienced this first hand in 2006 when he let out a tirade of angry words at a touch judge during one highly emotional game, after which he received a two match suspension at the hands of the judiciary.

But has the National Rugby League gone too far? In their efforts to ensure the safety of their employees, have they placed the welfare of match officials above that of the players themselves?

During the Round 5, 2007 match between the New Zealand Warriors and the South Sydney Rabbitohs, a match that will be remembered as being the catalyst to a change of the obstruction rule, two other incidents occurred that attracted the attention of the judiciary, both involving Warriors fullback Wade McKinnon.

In the official Laws Of The Game, a player is deemed to be guilty of a Dangerous Throw “if, in any tackle of, or contact with, an opponent that player is so lifted that he is placed in a position where it is likely that the first part of his body to make contact with the ground will be his head or neck (‘the dangerous position’), then that tackle or contact will be deemed to been avoided”. [Section 15, Note 1 (d)]

In the second half of that match, Souths player Dean Widders and a fellow Rabbitoh lifted McKinnon in a tackle that saw the fullback to land headfirst onto the ground. However, referee Jason Robinson declined to award a penalty, saying to McKinnon: “You put yourself into that position”. For the referee to suspect a player would put his body into a dangerous and potentially career-ending position for a mere penalty is absurd enough, but when McKinnon pushed Robinson two minutes later, he found himself on the end of a contrary conduct charge.

As a one-eyed and biased Warriors fan, I completely agree that McKinnon was right to get charged. However, I take issue with the length of the ban in comparison to the one placed on Widders and other players guilty of dangerous throws, such as the Warriors’ own Michael Witt and Tony Martin a few weeks later. Widders was charged with a grade one dangerous throw, meaning an early guilty plea prevented him from missing any game time. In contrast, McKinnon was forced to sit on the sidelines for two weeks after pleading guilty to his grade three charge.

At what point was McKinnon’s act, which didn’t put the referee into any physical danger, worse than a tackle that could potentially remove a man from the playing field for good? It is right that the National Rugby League works to protect its officials, but what seems to be lacking is common sense.

Numerous other examples exist, some more relevant than others, in the recent history of the judiciary. In Round 5 alone, Widders, Dragon Ben Hornby, and Bronco Darius Boyd failed to miss any game time after taking early please following dangerous throws. Meanwhile, Jeremy Smith, the last player before McKinnon to manhandle a referee, sat out for four rounds following his indiscretion.

One would have thought a player’s safety would take a higher precedence over a referee’s comfort, especially when situations like McCracken’s arise. Clearly, the judiciary appear to disagree.

Sources:
http://www.leaguehq.com.au/news/news/devastated-wade-takes-ban/2007/05/01/1177788106427.html ‘Laws Of The Game 2007’ – NRL Rule Book

***Published in Issue Three of Super League Magazine, 2007***

Brothers In Arms

Brothers In Arms

The soldier shifted nervously as the small landing craft made its agonisingly slow passage towards the steep and rugged coastline. With the sun yet to rise, he squinted his eyes and peered through the darkness at the shadowed horizon. With his heart pounding, the Lance Corporal gripped his rifle firmly, double checking that his bayonet was in place, as the lifeboat was rowed closer to shore, the first crackles of gunfire audible from the towering ridges ahead.

These mist covered mountains
Are a home now for me
But my home is the lowlands
And always will be

Charles Savory was never far from controversy. Born in Auckland in 1899, the keen sportsman initially picked up rugby union as his sport of choice. After allegedly kicking an opposition player in a club match in 1910, and receiving a two year ban as a result, Savory switched to rugby league, where he earned a reputation as a fearless and rugged prop forward.

He represented New Zealand in the thirteen man game against Australia in 1911, and played to such a high level that he was invited to join the Kangaroos on their tour of Great Britain, not unlike what Dally Messenger had done for the All Golds only four years earlier.

Some day you’ll return to
Your valley and your farms
And you’ll no longer burn
To be brothers in arms

Letting out a battle cry, the non-commissioned officer leapt from the boat and into the cold water of the Dardanelles, running as fast as he could, desperately trying to find safe ground amidst the fury of gunfire. As sunlight began to gently creep over the rugged terrain above them, the invading soldiers managed to dig themselves into positions in the side of the cliff.

Through these fields of destruction
Baptisms of fire
I’ve witnessed your suffering
As the battle raged higher

During a 1912 match against Auckland club side Newton, Savory first found himself on the wrong side of the judiciary. Having been sent off during the game, and after a failed appeal, the burly prop was suspended for the rest of the season, costing him the opportunity to take part in a second tour of Australia.

The following year, just days after having been selected in the national side, Savory was caught in what he forever labelled a case of mistaken identity. At an inquiry held by the Auckland Rugby League, the Kiwi forward was found guilty of kicking and banned for life.

The New Zealand Rugby League’s reaction was swift, and although they selected another player to take Savory’s place in the tour, they allowed an appeal to be heard. After finding there was no case to answer, they allowed the former rugby union player to return to the playing field.

And though they did hurt me so bad
In the fear and alarm
You did not desert me
My brothers in arms

The Lance Corporal took a deep breath as he looked over his equipment, making sure there was nothing missing and that he was ready for battle. The word had just come through: they were to advance on the enemy’s position. The soldier had encountered battle before, albeit on a rugby league field. The countrymen of his former opposition were now his comrades, fighting somebody else’s war in a far off land.

There’s so many different worlds
So many different suns
And we have just one world
But we live in different ones

In the aftermath of Savory’s disqualification and reinstatement, a split formed between the Auckland Rugby League and the New Zealand Rugby League that still exists to this day. After earning another international cap in 1914, the man whom the controversy surrounded became the New Zealand amateur heavyweight boxing champion, before signing up to perform his duty after the outbreak of World War One.

Now the sun’s gone to hell
With the moon riding high
Let me bid you farewell
Every man has to die

Yelling out “I’m going to fight for my country”, Lance Corporal Charles Savory charged the enemy positions in an ill-fated attack. He was killed by Turkish artillery fire, and was later credited for his bravery during the battle. Despite what some league officials had thought two years earlier, Savory proved in death that he had been a worthy representative of New Zealand.

But it’s written in the starlight
And every line on your palm
We’re fools to make war
On our brothers in arms

Lest we forget.

Sources:
www.cwgc.org
www.lighthorse.org.au
www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Battle_of_Krithia
www.letssingit.com - song lyrics - 'Brothers In Arms' by Dire Straits, 1985
Wanganui Herald, 26th July 1915, Page 5
'The Kiwis: 100 Years Of International Rugby League' by John Coffey and Bernie Wood

Don't Shoot The Messenger

Don’t Shoot The Messenger

Just a castaway
An island lost at sea
Another lonely day
With no one here but me

On the 20^th of August, 2005, Andrew Johns spoiled Stacey Jones’ farewell party by engineering a solid 16-4 victory at what was then Ericsson Stadium. Jones’ final home game for the Warriors hadn’t gone to plan, but Johns made amends for this at the post match function, where he told a parochial crowd of Warriors fans of his respect and admiration for The Little General.

Just over eighteen months later, and with Johns’ retirement still hitting the headlines, Jones was able to return the favour.

“His competitiveness – his skill – was just a level above everyone else,” said the New Zealander of his rival at both club and international level, “and also the confidence he brought out in the players that he was playing with.”

It isn’t often that rivals publicly compliment each other, but when Andrew Johns shocked the rugby league world on the 10^th of April by retiring from the game – following what looked like an innocuous collision with fellow Knights players at a mid-week practice – it brought about an end to a stellar career, and plaudits were predictably swift from around the world, from friend and foe alike.

More loneliness
Than any man could bear
Rescue me
Before I fall into despair

After all, 249 first grade games, 23 matches for New South Wales in the State Of Origin series, 21 tests for the Kangaroos, two NRL Premierships, two Dally M Medals, and a Clive Churchill Medal tend to make opposition teams respect a player.

Newcastle recovered well to bounce back from the shock to defeat the resurgent Rabbitohs 23-22, with young New South Welshman Jarrod Mullen looking to fill Johns’ giant shoes. Fittingly, the club has announced that the number seven jersey will be retired for one week.

But it isn’t just the Newcastle Knights who need to find a replacement player for Andrew Johns. Of all the teams to be missing his presence, it is the Kiwis who ironically find themselves in an awkward position following the former Kangaroo captain’s retirement.

Johns was to have become the second Dally Messenger.

I'll send an S.O.S. to the world
I'll send an S.O.S. to the world

The first, Herbert Henry Messenger, was born in New South Wales in 1883. Initially a rugby union player, he travelled as part of the 1907-1908 All Golds team that played against and defeated Great Britain two matches to one, the tour marking the birth of international rugby league. Dally played a total of four tests for the Kiwis, scoring two tries and five goals.

With nigh on a century having passed since that momentous occasion, the New Zealand Rugby League invited Andrew Johns to play as a modern day Dally Messenger in a commemorative tour to Great Britain. The choice, it seemed, was a simple one.

Both Messenger and Johns were creative players who revolutionised the way the game was played. Messenger even forced a rule change, when, upon kicking the ball behind the opposition players, he ran out of the field of play, around the oncoming defenders, and back onto the field to finish off the attack and score a try.

Likewise, Johns has changed the way the game is played, with his all round quality – his ability to set up tries with a cut out pass, a grubber kick, a chip and chase, or a towering bomb, all perfectly complementing his strength in the defensive line.

I hope that someone gets my
Message in a bottle

And so now, it seems, the New Zealand Rugby League must come up with yet another Messenger to find their way out of this unfortunate conundrum. To do otherwise would not only make Andrew Johns’ invitation hollow and meaningless, but it would also make a mockery of the game’s first international pioneers.

The most obvious suggestion for a replacement would have to be Brisbane Broncos playmaker Darren Lockyer, but with the club’s long history of refusing a number of players to join the Kiwis squad, and with ex-Roosters standoff Brad Fittler also being touted as a possibility, the true identity of the new Messenger remains to be seen.

I'll send an S.O.S. to the world
I'll send an S.O.S. to the world
I hope that someone gets my
I hope that someone gets my
I hope that someone gets my
Message in a bottle!

Song lyrics from ‘Message In A Bottle’ by The Police
www.letssingit.com
www.nrl.com
www.warriors.co.nz
www.wikipedia.org
“The Kiwis: 100 Years Of International Rugby League” by John Coffey and Bernie Wood, 2006

***Published in Issue Two of Super League Magazine, 2007***

Offload Preview - Sea Eagles -V- Warriors, Round 4, 2007

The Matchup:
The Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles versus the New Zealand Warriors.
Sunday 8^th April, 4pm (NZT), Brookvale Oval, Sydney.

History:
The Sea Eagles and the Warriors first met in round 5, 1995, with the Warriors losing at home. This trend has since continued, with the winner of all but two of their eleven matches being the away side. The teams have played eleven times, with the Warriors coming out victorious five times – four of those five victories were at Brookvale Oval.

Last Five Encounters:
2004, Round 4: Sea Eagles 10-28 Warriors
2004, Round 10: Warriors 20-42 Sea Eagles
2005, Round 1: Warriors 20-26 Sea Eagles
2005, Round 25: Warriors 22-20 Sea Eagles
2006, Round 5: Warriors 8-22 Sea Eagles

Last Week:
The Warriors stumbled to the in-form Melbourne Storm, conceding an early 14-0 deficit. The club managed to regather, though, and ended up losing 30-12, avoiding what could have been a very embarrassing score line.

The Sea Eagles were fairly decisive in their victory over the Roosters, despite a slow start. After trailing 8-6 early in the second half, they powered to a 30-8 win.

In The Engine Room:
The Warriors forwards struggled against the Storm last week, due in part to the slippery surface at Olympic Park, but mostly because the Melbourne defence moved up quickly and prevented a lot of go-forward. Ruben Wiki gained only 65m, and Steve Price only managed 81m. Similar gains were made by Micheal Luck (77m), Evarn Tuimavave (77m), Epalahame Lauaki (70m), and Sam Rapira (65m). The defensive efforts from the forward pack was admirable, however.

The Manly forwards had a field day against the embarrassed Roosters. Jason King (161m), Brent Kite (138m), and Anthony Watmough (181m) punished their opposition.

Out The Back:
The Warriors’ backline struggled in Melbourne, with gaps appearing on the fringes, particularly on the right hand side. Coach Ivan Cleary was quick to make changes, however, and the slightly smaller, slightly slower Manly backline should be much easier to contain than the Storm were.

The most dangerous players for the Sea Eagles appear to be fullback Brett Stewart and centre Jamie Lyon. These two players both made more than 100m, and also did most of the scoring, with 18 points between them.

Injury Ward:
For the Warriors, Jerome Ropati (hamstring), Wairangi Koopu (shoulder), Louis Anderson (ankle), and Aiden Kirk (knee) are all still unavailable for selection.

The Sea Eagles are without Matt Orford (knee), Steve Matai (ankle), and Steve Menzies (groin).

Taking The Punt:
Warriors Logan Swann and Sam Rapira celebrate two separate achievements this weekend. For Swann, this will be his 150^th match for the club, whereas Rapira will take the field on his 20^th birthday. Ivan Cleary has showed faith in his side, despite losing to the Storm, and has named an unchanged seventeen – the only alteration being Nathan Fien will start, with George Gatis to start on the bench. The Sea Eagles have named an unchanged line up from last week, and while they have shown that they have depth, their backline may struggle, especially without the assistance of halfback Matt Orford. Both sides finished well last week after a slow start, so look for some fireworks as the game progresses. Warriors by 6.