The Union Thread
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The Union Thread
Brumbies are down 3-5 against the Crusaders atm
no greeneyed I'n mot watching it boyo they've got a full house again the baaastards.
no greeneyed I'n mot watching it boyo they've got a full house again the baaastards.
*unlock
final score 32-21
I ws there in my raiders top courtesy of free tickets (you didn't think I'd pay for them did you)
Anyway despite there being a crowd of 24,000 , at times it ewas almost silent in the stadium, you could even here peoples mobile phones go off
Anyway I was sitting right in the middle of season ticket holder- in my raiders shirt, next to me was my mate wearing a crusaders jersey. Not a word said to either of us.
The noise generated by the 24,000 was really (if anything) not much louder than a crowd of 10,000 generate when the raiders play..
*LOCKED*
final score 32-21
I ws there in my raiders top courtesy of free tickets (you didn't think I'd pay for them did you)
Anyway despite there being a crowd of 24,000 , at times it ewas almost silent in the stadium, you could even here peoples mobile phones go off
Anyway I was sitting right in the middle of season ticket holder- in my raiders shirt, next to me was my mate wearing a crusaders jersey. Not a word said to either of us.
The noise generated by the 24,000 was really (if anything) not much louder than a crowd of 10,000 generate when the raiders play..
*LOCKED*
I guess I'm the only Brumbies fan on here so I'm more or less posting this for my own amusement, but the ref tonight was a f**king joke!!! Worst ref ever, clearly biased against the Brumbies and directly contributed to their first loss of the season.
God I hope the Raiders have better luck with referees than the Brumbies have had... awarded a try against them despite grounding the ball in-goal before the other team... I mean 2 year old's know that's not a try.
God I hope the Raiders have better luck with referees than the Brumbies have had... awarded a try against them despite grounding the ball in-goal before the other team... I mean 2 year old's know that's not a try.
At least there is some good news happening tonight. The Brumbies are falling apart at the seams.
From www.ninemsn.com.au
Brumbies slide as Henjak looks west
19:16 AEST Sun Apr 17 2005
The ACT Brumbies have lost halfback George Gregan for up to six weeks but everything points to them losing his back-up Matt Henjak for good.
Wallabies captain Gregan will be out for the rest of the Super 12 competition after breaking his leg when he collected an accidental knee from Waratahs' counterpart Chris Whitaker in the second half of Saturday night's 10-6 home ground loss in Canberra.
"He had X-rays last night and it appears that he's got a fracture high up in the fibular, a couple of centimetres below the level of the knee," Brumbies coach Laurie Fisher said in Canberra.
"I guess he would be a slight chance should we make the finals ... but we'll look at that down the track."
Henjak will now get the game time that he so craves, but the 23-year-old gave every indication on Saturday night that he was set to sign with new Super 14 franchise Perth.
"I have to be selfish and do what is the best thing for my career," an emotional Henjak told AAP.
The Brumbies have the bye this weekend and Henjak, who also admitted he'd been encouraged by Perth's signings of Brendan Cannon and Nathan Sharpe, will fly to Western Australia on Thursday for talks with head coach John Mitchell.
He said the Brumbies had offered him a little more game time in recent weeks but with Gregan signed on till 2007 he had to weigh up the regular reality of only playing 20 minutes of football a week compared to 80 in Perth.
Fisher said everyone at the club appreciated the difficulty of the Henjak situation.
"Some days you can give him good time and other days you can't," he said.
"I know that he's disappointed when he doesn't get much game time and you can understand that so he'll just have to weigh it up.
"We need to sit down as an organisation and have a plan for him for the next two seasons so he's got something to compare from the offer for Perth."
After four consecutive losses news of Gregan's injury and the likely departure of Henjak will feel like salt in an already gaping wound for the Brumbies.
Their season appears in freefall and while they made the semi-finals in 2002 after the same run of defeats, injuries and an inability to break the shackles in attack leave them on the cusp of not being able to defend their Super 12 title.
"In the last three weeks we've given up two tries, one try and one try and lost all three games, (we're) just struggling to get that ball over the line because of decision-making on a couple of things and skill execution," Fisher said.
"We just need to take our opportunities as they represent."
The Brumbies have a bye this week with remaining matches against the Hurricanes, Chiefs and Reds.
Five eighth Stephen Larkham is expected to be right for the Hurricanes after an arm injury he picked up against the Blues in round six, while Rathbone (knee) has targeted the Chiefs as his return match.
Fullback Mark Gerrard damaged his eye socket when hit with the ball on Saturday night but should be fine within a few days.
From www.ninemsn.com.au
Brumbies slide as Henjak looks west
19:16 AEST Sun Apr 17 2005
The ACT Brumbies have lost halfback George Gregan for up to six weeks but everything points to them losing his back-up Matt Henjak for good.
Wallabies captain Gregan will be out for the rest of the Super 12 competition after breaking his leg when he collected an accidental knee from Waratahs' counterpart Chris Whitaker in the second half of Saturday night's 10-6 home ground loss in Canberra.
"He had X-rays last night and it appears that he's got a fracture high up in the fibular, a couple of centimetres below the level of the knee," Brumbies coach Laurie Fisher said in Canberra.
"I guess he would be a slight chance should we make the finals ... but we'll look at that down the track."
Henjak will now get the game time that he so craves, but the 23-year-old gave every indication on Saturday night that he was set to sign with new Super 14 franchise Perth.
"I have to be selfish and do what is the best thing for my career," an emotional Henjak told AAP.
The Brumbies have the bye this weekend and Henjak, who also admitted he'd been encouraged by Perth's signings of Brendan Cannon and Nathan Sharpe, will fly to Western Australia on Thursday for talks with head coach John Mitchell.
He said the Brumbies had offered him a little more game time in recent weeks but with Gregan signed on till 2007 he had to weigh up the regular reality of only playing 20 minutes of football a week compared to 80 in Perth.
Fisher said everyone at the club appreciated the difficulty of the Henjak situation.
"Some days you can give him good time and other days you can't," he said.
"I know that he's disappointed when he doesn't get much game time and you can understand that so he'll just have to weigh it up.
"We need to sit down as an organisation and have a plan for him for the next two seasons so he's got something to compare from the offer for Perth."
After four consecutive losses news of Gregan's injury and the likely departure of Henjak will feel like salt in an already gaping wound for the Brumbies.
Their season appears in freefall and while they made the semi-finals in 2002 after the same run of defeats, injuries and an inability to break the shackles in attack leave them on the cusp of not being able to defend their Super 12 title.
"In the last three weeks we've given up two tries, one try and one try and lost all three games, (we're) just struggling to get that ball over the line because of decision-making on a couple of things and skill execution," Fisher said.
"We just need to take our opportunities as they represent."
The Brumbies have a bye this week with remaining matches against the Hurricanes, Chiefs and Reds.
Five eighth Stephen Larkham is expected to be right for the Hurricanes after an arm injury he picked up against the Blues in round six, while Rathbone (knee) has targeted the Chiefs as his return match.
Fullback Mark Gerrard damaged his eye socket when hit with the ball on Saturday night but should be fine within a few days.
Is that Billy Connolly or a band member from Uriah Heep coaching the Brumbies.
They have turned into a rabble in the last month.
I have been trying hard to get into Union in the last 12 months but the game last night galvanises why league craps all over it as a spectacle.
They have turned into a rabble in the last month.
I have been trying hard to get into Union in the last 12 months but the game last night galvanises why league craps all over it as a spectacle.
I'm like the Phoenix, rising from Arizona.
and that was one of the more exciting teams in the comp playingdolphinboy wrote:Is that Billy Connolly or a band member from Uriah Heep coaching the Brumbies.
They have turned into a rabble in the last month.
I have been trying hard to get into Union in the last 12 months but the game last night galvanises why league craps all over it as a spectacle.
Another embarassment for rugby union.... "Western Force"
New Super 12 team called Western Force
April 19, 2005 - 1:24PM
The fourth Australian team in rugby's expanded Super 14 competition next year will be known as the Western Force.
Rugby WA chief executive Peter O'Meara said hundreds of suggestions had been put forward, before being cut to a shortlist of five.
The team's uniform will be predominantly blue and gold, with a stylised black swan as the logo.
"There's a new force in Australian rugby, it's the Western Force," O'Meara said.
"It represents the power the team will have on the playing fields of New Zealand, South Africa and Australia."
www.smh.com.au
New Super 12 team called Western Force
April 19, 2005 - 1:24PM
The fourth Australian team in rugby's expanded Super 14 competition next year will be known as the Western Force.
Rugby WA chief executive Peter O'Meara said hundreds of suggestions had been put forward, before being cut to a shortlist of five.
The team's uniform will be predominantly blue and gold, with a stylised black swan as the logo.
"There's a new force in Australian rugby, it's the Western Force," O'Meara said.
"It represents the power the team will have on the playing fields of New Zealand, South Africa and Australia."
www.smh.com.au
ARU has head in the sand...... I look forward to vitriolic comments in the media about this...... just like I don't expect to see any vitriolic comments from Patrick Smith in the Australian about drugs in AFL.....
ARU backs use of caffeine tablets
21:54 AEST Wed May 18 2005
AAP
The use of caffeine tablets to enhance player performance in Australian rugby went beyond the Wallabies, Australian Rugby Union chief executive Gary Flowers has admitted.
Flowers said a few under-age national players, such as those from the Australian under-19 team, were also using the stimulant, adding the ARU considered the use of caffeine tablets "appropriate" in a professional sporting environment.
Flowers also supported the forthright comments made by Wallabies captain George Gregan.
"As far as the professional environment goes, performance enhancing supplements are part of the professional game and we don't see a problem with it," Flowers said.
"As far as children are concerned, there are obviously a whole bunch of training regimes and supplements that are not suitable for kids, and (caffeine tablets) fall into that category. I think the message is certainly one of education. It's about this being something that is only suitable for the professional environment."
That "professional environment" included sides as young as the national under-19 side, which came under the banner of the ARU.
While the use of caffeine tablets was not a team policy in any ARU side, there were no guidelines preventing individuals from taking the stimulant.
"I think there are a couple of players (in national age teams) that may be taking caffeine tablets, but I'm not aware of any further use," Flowers said.
"In terms of those younger age teams, when they come under the ARU, they are part of a professional environment and they would be supervised by professional coaching staff that would be involved with their training and dietary supplements as is appropriate."
Gregan became the latest high-profile sports star to acknowledge using caffeine tablets, saying he and many Wallaby teammates took the pills before matches.
His comments drew heavy criticism from former Wallabies and the Australian Schools Rugby Union, who believed Gregan had sent a bad message to junior players.
But Flowers believed Gregan was right to be so candid about the issue, and said all professional athletes should be truthful about their use of such supplements.
"I think it's very important that there is transparency in relation to what are the training regimes and what professional athletes do," Flowers said.
"Not to be transparent would have been a mistake, and something we wouldn't be a party to."
Caffeine was removed from the sporting list of banned substances 18 months ago.
Flowers said should caffeine go back on the World Anti-Doping Agency's banned list, the ARU would again ban its use.
ARU backs use of caffeine tablets
21:54 AEST Wed May 18 2005
AAP
The use of caffeine tablets to enhance player performance in Australian rugby went beyond the Wallabies, Australian Rugby Union chief executive Gary Flowers has admitted.
Flowers said a few under-age national players, such as those from the Australian under-19 team, were also using the stimulant, adding the ARU considered the use of caffeine tablets "appropriate" in a professional sporting environment.
Flowers also supported the forthright comments made by Wallabies captain George Gregan.
"As far as the professional environment goes, performance enhancing supplements are part of the professional game and we don't see a problem with it," Flowers said.
"As far as children are concerned, there are obviously a whole bunch of training regimes and supplements that are not suitable for kids, and (caffeine tablets) fall into that category. I think the message is certainly one of education. It's about this being something that is only suitable for the professional environment."
That "professional environment" included sides as young as the national under-19 side, which came under the banner of the ARU.
While the use of caffeine tablets was not a team policy in any ARU side, there were no guidelines preventing individuals from taking the stimulant.
"I think there are a couple of players (in national age teams) that may be taking caffeine tablets, but I'm not aware of any further use," Flowers said.
"In terms of those younger age teams, when they come under the ARU, they are part of a professional environment and they would be supervised by professional coaching staff that would be involved with their training and dietary supplements as is appropriate."
Gregan became the latest high-profile sports star to acknowledge using caffeine tablets, saying he and many Wallaby teammates took the pills before matches.
His comments drew heavy criticism from former Wallabies and the Australian Schools Rugby Union, who believed Gregan had sent a bad message to junior players.
But Flowers believed Gregan was right to be so candid about the issue, and said all professional athletes should be truthful about their use of such supplements.
"I think it's very important that there is transparency in relation to what are the training regimes and what professional athletes do," Flowers said.
"Not to be transparent would have been a mistake, and something we wouldn't be a party to."
Caffeine was removed from the sporting list of banned substances 18 months ago.
Flowers said should caffeine go back on the World Anti-Doping Agency's banned list, the ARU would again ban its use.