2021 Memberships

[hobbsy]

Obviously the major difference here is that they have been relocated during a major pandemic, a time that has been especially tough on many people's mental health due to lockdowns and other restrictions. Its not really comparable to people relocating for work while the world is operating as normal.

[Bay53]

Obviously the major difference here is that they have been relocated during a major pandemic, a time that has been especially tough on many people's mental health due to lockdowns and other restrictions. Its not really comparable to people relocating for work while the world is operating as normal.

Well said. I think a big factor is the fact you have to accept that you can't just come home in a flash at the moment. When GE worked in Europe, yes it was a big move, but he went knowing that if his parents got sick or there was some other emergency back home, he was a 24 hour plane ride back.

At the moment when people move overseas, they can't just get back home if they need to. Of course the Warriors players probably don't have to line up for a place in the NZ version of the hotel quarantine, but until next week they are forced in a hotel for two weeks and can't just attend to a funeral or to a sick child. That has a big effect on people even if for 99% of people they haven't had to return home in a rush.

I am sure there will be some relief in the Warriors camp next week when the travel bubble opens up and the players and their families know that if they do need to pop back to NZ, hopefully they can attend to what ever they need to and return to Australia very quickly.

[Northern Raider]

Once I had to relocate to the company's Melbourne office for 2 weeks.

[Roger Kenworthy]

I wouldn't support it myself. This will probably be an unpopular comment... but here goes.

Plenty of people move countries for work for much longer periods than the Warriors have relocated. It was certainly difficult for the Warriors last year, given the lack of notice, and the fact that immediate families were left in New Zealand. But the Storm also moved to Queensland to enable the season to continue... though they were fortunate that immediate families could also move to the Sunshine Coast. No one is going on about the sacrifices the Storm made...

A lot of people make bigger sacrifices than moving for 20 odd weeks (as in 2020) for their job... and they're also separated from immediate families. These are extremely well paid jobs... and the NRL located the players concerned in resorts in coastal towns many Australians would love to move to, if they could afford it. NRL players are cossetted and many in the real world have it a lot tougher... and certainly last year.

Plenty of people move country for work, but they know that's what they're signing up for. No Warriors player had any idea they'd be spending two years in Australia when they signed their deals pre-2020.

I'm the last person you'd consider a Warriors fan, but I think it's really poor form to push back on this than any other reason that cost efficiency. It doesn't need to be every away game, even 6 out of their 12 away games being taken around NZ would be a great gesture.

I don’t agree. I have had to relocate for my job and I didn’t have much warning. That’s not unusual for for many workers. I spent years away from home. I could choose not to... but it initially was an offer I couldn’t really refuse. The fact that these rugby league players and clubs are carrying on... while they’re paid well in excess of most people... have had families relocated now... shows how far they are removed from reality.

Living in a resort on the Central Coast is not a hardship post.

Yup, but only one club has been placed a significant distance away from their friends and extended family for an ongoing amount of time. They haven't been able to play a real home game in 18 months now.

I can just imagine how you'd be responding to this if Canberra had been relocated to Perth for the past couple of seasons while the rest of the clubs are largely BAU.

I can tell you personally how it felt. I was relocated to the other side of the world for an extended period. I was paid a lot less than the players concerned on average to do so. No one was complaining on my behalf. I took it to be a new experience, a new opportunity. Maybe they could try that.

Tamworth is hardly Paris when compared to Auckland. That was your choice to go, I dare say your skills are a lot more transferable than a professional sportsman had you decided it wasn't for you. These players don't have any realistic options unless they are RTS and can command a big deal from the NZRU.

I agree with your sentiment when it came to 2020. But another year for them away from home has swayed me.

[Botman]

If Canberra were forced to relocate to NZ for any longer than 2 weeks, GE would demand we be awarded the premiership for the next 3 years uncontested as recompense

FTR, i am very on board with the NZ Warriors not having to leave their country for a year when all this is over. Their sacrifice can not be understated and as much as GE would like to hand wave it away as if it's minor. It is not. Lets not forget at the height of this thing there was genuine concerns about cancelling the competition in 2020, and the financial fall out of that putting the viability of the NRL in jeopardy and certainly some of the struggling clubs may not have survived that.

The fans, the other clubs, the CODE are in debt to them, and probably can never repay it. Celebrating the game and giving back to the NZ RL community is imo, not only the fair thing to do, it's the only decent thing to do.
The finances of gate takings the lost revenue etc can all be dealt with by reasonable minds. And from there, the sacrifice would be 12/15 clubs giving up a SINGLE home game.. 1 home, that's it... to say thank you to a team who's sacrifice staved off disaster for this code and many clubs. It's a small price to pay. And i would honestly say i consider it a character flaw for those fans unwilling to pay it.

[Bay53]

And i would honestly say i consider it a character flaw for those fans unwilling to pay it.

Ouch. I think that might be a touch harsh.

[greeneyed]

The Warriors could have decided to go home and not be paid. The game would have gone on. They chose to continue to be well paid, play footy and live in a coastal resort town. There were a LOT of people who have had it a whole lot harder than footy players last year and this. This year, their families have been relocated with the players to said coastal resort town. They have been living the dream compared to a whole lot of people. Can't say I feel the slightest bit sorry for them. A LOT of people relocate for their jobs, it's quite commonplace... spare me all the sob stories.

[Botman]

And i would honestly say i consider it a character flaw for those fans unwilling to pay it.

Ouch. I think that might be a touch harsh.

na not really.
Like we all have character flaws. You might be too stubborn and opinionated like me, others, too selfish and/or greedy like those unwilling to pay the debt owed.
Doesnt mean you're a bad human, just a flaw.

[Botman]

spare me all the sob stories.

Why should you be spared?
We're never spared from your sob stories about spending a single afternoon in a stadium in Tamworth. No one forces you to go to that game.

[-TW-]

The Warriors could have decided to go home and not be paid. The game would have gone on. They chose to continue to be well paid, play footy and live in a coastal resort town. There were a LOT of people who have had it a whole lot harder than footy players last year and this. This year, their families have been relocated with the players to said coastal resort town. They have been living the dream compared to a whole lot of people. Can't say I feel the slightest bit sorry for them. A LOT of people relocate for their jobs, it's quite commonplace... spare me all the sob stories.

Pretty sure the whole game would stop as they're in breach of the broadcast agreement

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[gangrenous]

Exactly what I was going to say TW. Channel nine *really* didn’t want to pay that broadcast deal.

[greeneyed]

spare me all the sob stories.

Why should you be spared?
We're never spared from your sob stories about spending a single afternoon in a stadium in Tamworth. No one forces you to go to that game.

To be honest, I've no idea what you're talking about... but I believe I've got a perfectly defensible and sensible position on this one. Footballers are among the most cossetted and well remunerated employees in the country. There's a whole lot worse things than relocating for your job for 20 weeks, getting paid, living in a coastal resort, and playing footy for your job. Like losing your job entirely, which is what happened to a lot of people last year.

[Botman]

Just to be clear'

You should be spared from the sob stories of players who have been dragged away from family and friends, placing added burden on their support network, and from a competitive stand point, will have not played a home game in 2 years. A sacrifice which saved the code god knows how many millions of dollars

But we cant be spared from your sob story about voluntarily spending 3-4 hours in a stadium in Tamworth that is not quite to your "standards"

got it.

[afgtnk]

Yeah alright - the Warriors are having to play two seasons away from home, but did they ever face the burden of doing two extra trips to Campbelltown aboard a luxury coach? Ay?

[Botman]

Yeah alright - the Warriors are having to play two seasons away from home, but did they ever face the burden of doing two extra trips to Campbelltown aboard a luxury coach? Ay?

[Roger Kenworthy]

Yeah alright - the Warriors are having to play two seasons away from home, but did they ever face the burden of doing two extra trips to Campbelltown aboard a luxury coach? Ay?

I love how GE sees the Raiders shifting one game as being more outrageous than another team spending two years displaced. Living up to his username even twenty years later.

[-TW-]

Just to be clear'

You should be spared from the sob stories of players who have been dragged away from family and friends, placing added burden on their support network, and from a competitive stand point, will have not played a home game in 2 years. A sacrifice which saved the code god knows how many millions of dollars

But we cant be spared from your sob story about voluntarily spending 3-4 hours in a stadium in Tamworth that is not quite to your "standards"

got it.

Moving a game to cater for the thousands of supporters in the Riverina is an outrage, but a team having to uplift for 18 months is a sob story.

Well.. I... I've got nothing



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[Botman]

Worth remembering too, these guys havent been displaced because they got a **** hot job offer that they couldnt refuse.
They've been displaced because a global pandemic shut down international travel, and to fulfill the obligations the code has to it's stakeholders and continue to get the salary to provide for their family, some of which, as GE rightly points out may have lost employment INCREASING the burden on them to bring in the bacon...a pandemic that has been a cause of great concern to almost everyone in the world about the health and well being of their friends and family (Whom they've been displaced from mind you!)

The lack of empathy for these players is STAGGERING. And when compared to the outrage he displayed because our team had to take a luxary bus to Campbelltown, which takes 3 hours. Over a plane, which is about... 3 hours? (1 hr flight, 2 hrs of waiting in a terminal, boarding, clearing baggage and then a... wait for us... BUS to the stadium)

Just remarkable. It really is.

[Bay53]

As I have said before, the reason why you would move games to NZ next year is not due to the Warriors players.

Hopefully they will be back in NZ and we will all be living normal lives and there will be no issues whatsoever with the Aus/NZ border.

The fact they might have to fly to Australia every second week is not really the issue.

The reason why you would play more games in NZ is to keep the fans onside.

League is a minor sport in NZ against a sport that is huge and has a National team that is part of the national identity as much as the Brazilian football team is to that country.

Now we have a situation where most likely it will be two years since the one professional team in the country has played a game at home.

The NRL showing that NZ is a important market is massively important if the game is going to exist outside NSW, Qld and a few small towns in Northern England.

We have already lost any expansion into North America due to covid, we don’t want to lose NZ.

[afgtnk]

The sacrifice they've made has definitely been enormous, and does go understated throughout the game it seems.

Whether or not it's actually possible for each team they're going to face away next season to take the game to their home I don't know, there's probably a lot of factors that go into that, many that us supporters may not be aware of, but certainly something has to be done for them on a large scale. I'd be more than happy for us to give them the game in NZ if we're meant to have them at Bruce next season.

[greeneyed]

After Round 3 and the aftermath, I have little sympathy for the Warriors, and especially their fans. Any remnant of sympathy I might have felt for them had disappeared. For all those wanting to give our home game to the Warriors, I'm assuming they'll be happy to transfer our home game against the Storm to Melbourne as well... indeed, they should play a whole season in Melbourne... as they had to relocate to the Sunshine Coast for 20 weeks. And the Melbourne people were starved of rugby league for almost the whole 2020 season. But I'm not hearing anyone tell us about the sacrifices of the Storm... or how the promotion of the code in Melbourne requires a full season of home games in 2022.

I have made all the other points I wanted to before, so I won't repeat the them.

[-TW-]

So you don't like them cause they beat us.. there's been some hot takes on this forum lately but this is up there

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[greeneyed]

So you don't like them cause they beat us.. there's been some hot takes on this forum lately but this is up there

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That’s the most ridiculous interpretation anyone could make, but well done, you’ve managed it.


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[-TW-]

Hahaha, coming from the king of ridiculous takes, primarily the team that has been FORCED to move offshore for EIGHTEEN MONTHS is a sob story.

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[greeneyed]

Hahaha, coming from the king of ridiculous takes, primarily the team that has been FORCED to move offshore for EIGHTEEN MONTHS is a sob story.

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Well there you go... more misrepresentation. The Warriors have not been "forced to move offshore for 18 months". They relocated for about 20 weeks last year... and it looks like the opening five rounds or so in 2021. FIFO workers have much worse working conditions. The Warriors faced disadvantages in relocating and some advantages. Their travel burden was significantly reduced... and it still is. There are significant benefits for them to be in camp, in a pleasant coastal resort setting, and they barely have to travel to their games. The Raiders certainly had much more travel burden than the Warriors last year.

I'm not afraid to call out the bull. There's been a lot of it in this thread, including the post I just quoted. I am not worried if some bloke on the internet decides I have a “character flaw”. I’m happy with the opinions I’ve expressed in this thread and I don’t care if they’re not popular with people with their own character flaws.

[-PJ-]

Once I had to relocate to the company's Melbourne office for 2 weeks.

A few years ago a mate and myself “volunteered” to go down to Sydney wire mill for 3 weeks. Learn how to run a couple of pig fence machines which were to be relocated to Newcastle wire mill.

We were given the beer and hookers card..

[gangrenous]

Ooh did you get the Glen Buttriss one? Or Lincoln Withers?

Or the rare and expensive Buttriss/Croker card?

[Bay53]

The difference between Melbourne and NZ, apart from the very important fact it was one season compared to what appears to be two for the Warriors, is all sport in Melbourne stopped last year. It is not as if people who would have gone to Storm games were drawn back to AFL, because no one attended an AFL game in Melbourne in 2020. In NZ, the Super Rugby NZ comp went ahead without any crowd restrictions and got great interest. There were some issues with the local comp that came after, but by the time the two Bledisloes came along, again they were played without restrictions. There were again some issues in NZ early in this rugby season but everything appears on track and I think they will be able to have the trans-tasman comp that is planned after the Aus / NZ seasons.

For Melbourne, the NRL has focused on how they can regenerate interest - they are playing the first origin there. I know they have played games at the MCG before, and before COVID they planned to do so again, but I am sure part of the reason they are doing it in 2021 is to promote the game in a city where fans didn't see any action last year.

I am not convinced that playing Warriors away games in NZ is necessarily the best thing for promoting the game, but I am supportive of more NRL events being taken there. The Maori v Indigenous game is a no brainier to take there, as whilst I am not a big fan of the comp itself, if you are going to have the Nines again, I would say play it in Auckland. There has been some talk of having an origin in NZ, perhaps if you had a weekend with NZ v Tonga on the Saturday and Origin on the Sunday, I think you would pack out Eden Park both nights.

[-PJ-]

Ooh did you get the Glen Buttriss one? Or Lincoln Withers?

Or the rare and expensive Buttriss/Croker card?

We went the Buttriss card.

We had a hire car to share for the whole time. We were driving up to Newy on Friday arvos to see family.
We got a $75 per day meal allowance..let that bit sink in !!! (3 weeks X $75) for food only.
Hotel accommodation payed for.

Pub meals every night + beer.

That relocation stung.

[Northern Raider]

Once I had to relocate to the company's Melbourne office for 2 weeks.

A few years ago a mate and myself “volunteered” to go down to Sydney wire mill for 3 weeks. Learn how to run a couple of pig fence machines which were to be relocated to Newcastle wire mill.

We were given the beer and hookers card..

At least you were properly remunerated.

[hrundi89]

After Round 3 and the aftermath, I have little sympathy for the Warriors, and especially their fans. Any remnant of sympathy I might have felt for them had disappeared.

This is the issue with your post. Not any of the following comments.

Where did the Warriors touch you?

[Begbie]

And i would honestly say i consider it a character flaw for those fans unwilling to pay it.

Ouch. I think that might be a touch harsh.

na not really.
Like we all have character flaws. You might be too stubborn and opinionated like me, others, too selfish and/or greedy like those unwilling to pay the debt owed.
Doesnt mean you're a bad human, just a flaw.

When are you going to pay me that $50 you owe me from that Glen Buttriss bet we had?

[Botman]

When are you going to pay me that $50 you owe me from that Glen Buttriss bet we had?

We had a Buttriss bet?

[Begbie]

When are you going to pay me that $50 you owe me from that Glen Buttriss bet we had?

We had a Buttriss bet?

Sorry mate- it was the Nickman!

[The Nickman]

When are you going to pay me that $50 you owe me from that Glen Buttriss bet we had?

We had a Buttriss bet?

Sorry mate- it was the Nickman!

We had a Buttriss bet?