Search found 4105 matches

by wamberal99
Wed Jun 10, 2020 11:38 pm
Forum: Rugby Forum
Topic: ex-POTUS DONALD TRUMP-and U.S. Politics catch-all
Replies: 126890
Views: 8953377

Re: POTUS-DONALD TRUMP-and U.S. Politics catch-all

Trump threatening legal action against CNN because the child is not happy with a recent poll showing Biden with a large lead. https://edition.cnn.com/2020/06/10/politics/trump-campaign-cnn-poll/index.html I have a vision of him actually exploding on live television - not a pretty image, but hey, th...
by wamberal99
Wed Jun 10, 2020 7:34 am
Forum: Rugby Forum
Topic: Joseph Suaalii - next big thing in Australia
Replies: 72
Views: 8038

Re: Joseph Suaalii - next big thing in Australia

Just to show that I have an open mind on the subject (except on the question of our front rowers against the pretenders from the Student Corporation), no doubt the young players who are on the magical path get better access to training facilities, and that must be a great advantage for them. I suppo...
by wamberal99
Wed Jun 10, 2020 3:50 am
Forum: Rugby Forum
Topic: Joseph Suaalii - next big thing in Australia
Replies: 72
Views: 8038

Re: Joseph Suaalii - next big thing in Australia

It's the kids who come good at 18-19 who often get missed because they're not 'on the pathway'.Will Miller is a good example. Miller had his pathway, playing first grade for Norths, surely? He was pretty good at that level, but to my mind was a bit small for the next level up. Mind you, as a Woodie...
by wamberal99
Wed Jun 10, 2020 2:12 am
Forum: Rugby Forum
Topic: Joseph Suaalii - next big thing in Australia
Replies: 72
Views: 8038

Re: Joseph Suaalii - next big thing in Australia

It's the kids who come good at 18-19 who often get missed because they're not 'on the pathway'. The "pathways" issue gets raised a lot. I have always assumed that if a kid is good enough, and has enough drive, is willing to work hard enough, he (or she) will make it. Mark Nawaqinatawase made it, I ...
by wamberal99
Tue Jun 09, 2020 5:22 am
Forum: Rugby Forum
Topic: The Australian Politics Thread
Replies: 29230
Views: 2032608

Re: The Australian Politics Thread

I’ve maintained for years that a massive component in any effort to repair the damage in Australian society caused by a race based divide is self determination. Most community leaders know what the problems are ini their communities and have a pretty good idea of how to go about fixing them... only...
by wamberal99
Tue Jun 09, 2020 4:09 am
Forum: Rugby Forum
Topic: The Australian Politics Thread
Replies: 29230
Views: 2032608

Re: The Australian Politics Thread

The big issue is high level of incarceration and how you break the cycle of poverty and crime within the communities. What works in the cities wont work there. I'll happily agree with you there. Having lived in places like Mt Isa and Townsville, the problem isn't just about police targeting ATSI of...
by wamberal99
Mon Jun 08, 2020 11:38 pm
Forum: Rugby Forum
Topic: The Australian Politics Thread
Replies: 29230
Views: 2032608

Re: The Australian Politics Thread

Ryan Stokes??? pfffft... Tony Abbott and Bronwyn Bishop received honours :lol: :lol: Son of Kerry..... it's become a joke award. Politicians shouldn't be eligible Good luck with that idea. The Chair of the nominating committee is Shane Stone, one of the members is Matthias Corman. I am guessing tha...
by wamberal99
Sun Jun 07, 2020 5:37 am
Forum: Rugby Forum
Topic: The Australian Politics Thread
Replies: 29230
Views: 2032608

Re: The Australian Politics Thread

On what basis? Why are 10-30k people allowed to gather when we are still in restricted movement etc? 100 people in a beer garden bad, 10000 protesting OK? Is the right to protest any more important than the right to earn a living and open your business? No point bleating here about it. Take it up w...
by wamberal99
Sat Jun 06, 2020 11:44 pm
Forum: Rugby Forum
Topic: NZ Rugby Take up My Suggestions on Red Cards
Replies: 108
Views: 14688

Re: NZ Rugby Take up My Suggestions on Red Cards

Disagree that the Wallabies would have won regardless and that the result had an affect on the ABs’ RWC prep. It was a one point game at the time of the red card and despite a lot of possession the Wallabies didn’t do a lot with turning that in to points. The ABs have a habit of piling on points in...
by wamberal99
Sat Jun 06, 2020 11:41 pm
Forum: Rugby Forum
Topic: NZ Rugby Take up My Suggestions on Red Cards
Replies: 108
Views: 14688

Re: NZ Rugby Take up My Suggestions on Red Cards

Jesus. Hong Kong doesn't see this as a positive development for the game? That really doesn't reflect well on him as a quality referee. x( I can understand referees at club or provincial level maybe having a different attitude towards this than referees who are on the international circuit. Interna...
by wamberal99
Fri Jun 05, 2020 11:44 pm
Forum: Rugby Forum
Topic: 4th June 1989.
Replies: 141
Views: 18486

Re: 4th June 1989.

But a very significant "patriotic" minority are quite happy to end up fully absorbed in the PRC. And that minority would encompass most of the rich and powerful. That's amazing. Btw, did they become rich by way of being obedient to the powers that be? Or being rich (loving life but might lose it li...
by wamberal99
Fri Jun 05, 2020 8:27 am
Forum: Rugby Forum
Topic: 4th June 1989.
Replies: 141
Views: 18486

Re: 4th June 1989.

What do you think HK'er point of view is? There is no such thing as a singular point of view. Yes, I am sure that a majority would like "One Country, Two Systems" to be honoured fully, and extended permanently. But a very significant "patriotic" minority are quite happy to end up fully absorbed in ...
by wamberal99
Fri Jun 05, 2020 5:22 am
Forum: Rugby Forum
Topic: 4th June 1989.
Replies: 141
Views: 18486

Re: 4th June 1989.

Bugger me. We are surrounded by experts today. Maybe, just maybe, the "ethnically Chinese" lady used the term "redneck accent" as a way of communicating a cultural, not necessarily a semantic, fact. Cantonese is looked down on, as it happens, by some, just as hillybilly language is looked down on by...
by wamberal99
Fri Jun 05, 2020 3:46 am
Forum: Rugby Forum
Topic: NZ Rugby Take up My Suggestions on Red Cards
Replies: 108
Views: 14688

Re: NZ Rugby Take up My Suggestions on Red Cards

jdogscoop wrote:
100 years from now, Planet Rugby members will say this, was your finest post.

Thanks. Actually, I am still smarting about Scott Barrett's dismissal. We were going to win that game anyway!!!!!!
by wamberal99
Fri Jun 05, 2020 2:50 am
Forum: Rugby Forum
Topic: 4th June 1989.
Replies: 141
Views: 18486

Re: 4th June 1989.

Leinster in London wrote:
wamberal99 wrote:

And here we are, again witnessing repression in the PRC, not only against the people of Hong Kong, but against the Uighurs. Where are the world's statesmen and stateswomen?

Probably on the Chinese payroll.

I wonder which is worse? Being on the Chinese payroll, or being in Putin's debt?
by wamberal99
Fri Jun 05, 2020 12:09 am
Forum: Rugby Forum
Topic: NZ Rugby Take up My Suggestions on Red Cards
Replies: 108
Views: 14688

Re: NZ Rugby Take up My Suggestions on Red Cards

I assume that a second yellow to a player would be similarly treated? As for people bleating about foul play going relatively unpunished: why on earth should the contest be reduced to an exhibition match, 14 against 15? Or worse, 13 against 15? 15 against 15 is what all serious spectators of the gam...
by wamberal99
Thu Jun 04, 2020 11:34 pm
Forum: Rugby Forum
Topic: 4th June 1989.
Replies: 141
Views: 18486

Re: 4th June 1989.

"One country, two systems" is supposed to be guaranteed for 50 years, not forever incidentally.
by wamberal99
Wed Jun 03, 2020 11:50 pm
Forum: Rugby Forum
Topic: Rugby Australia has axed 40% of their staff
Replies: 111
Views: 14046

Re: Rugby Australia has axed 40% of their staff

shanky wrote:Wambers

on the ball.

Unlike in my playing days.
by wamberal99
Wed Jun 03, 2020 11:26 pm
Forum: Rugby Forum
Topic: Rugby Australia has axed 40% of their staff
Replies: 111
Views: 14046

Re: Rugby Australia has axed 40% of their staff

The phrase "grass roots" has no agreed definition. It can mean just about anything. It should be banned from any serious discussions about the future of our game in Australia.
by wamberal99
Wed Jun 03, 2020 11:17 pm
Forum: Rugby Forum
Topic: 4th June 1989.
Replies: 141
Views: 18486

4th June 1989.

Seems like yesterday. I was living and working in Hong Kong when the news broke. It was impossible to take in, things had been looking so promising. Everything changed, just like that. The brutality, the sheer stupidity, the incredible ruthlessness. I reckon a majority of Hong Kongers immediately de...
by wamberal99
Mon Jun 01, 2020 3:55 am
Forum: Rugby Forum
Topic: The Australian Politics Thread
Replies: 29230
Views: 2032608

Re: The Australian Politics Thread

I am not enjoying working from home, as like kiwinoz, more than half my days are taken up purely with MS Teams meetings. What would be 5 minute informal catchups in the office are now 30 minute meetings that go on and on. Never have time to actually do work. One technique that I used was that every...
by wamberal99
Sun May 31, 2020 1:23 am
Forum: Rugby Forum
Topic: If the NRL can restart in Australia, why not Rugby?
Replies: 145
Views: 16449

Re: If the NRL can restart in Australia, why not Rugby?

Watching ABC's weekly sports show Offsiders, and the only sport they are talking about is the NRL. What a free kick for Rugby's rival code. The NRL's only rival is the AFL. We are not a genuine rival, there is plenty of room for us in the "minor codes" category. I do not watch Offsiders these days,...
by wamberal99
Sat May 30, 2020 8:29 am
Forum: Rugby Forum
Topic: Do you speak another language?
Replies: 297
Views: 23684

Re: Do you speak another language?

I speak Strine.
by wamberal99
Sat May 30, 2020 8:27 am
Forum: Rugby Forum
Topic: NRL announces the re-start of their season May 28
Replies: 415
Views: 40268

Re: NRL announces the re-start of their season May 28

Anonymous. wrote:So I guess we are all very happy to have real live competitive rugby in a genuine competition.

Uhhh? Real rugby?
by wamberal99
Sat May 30, 2020 4:10 am
Forum: Rugby Forum
Topic: China backlash?
Replies: 1098
Views: 130911

Re: China backlash?

Even 500k would be a huge task logistically. Not the point. The mere ownership of a genuine UK passport would be a huge benefit. This is not particularly about logistics, these Hong Kongers are quite capable of looking after themselves and their families and they can make a buck, and live, just abo...
by wamberal99
Sat May 30, 2020 3:57 am
Forum: Rugby Forum
Topic: China backlash?
Replies: 1098
Views: 130911

Re: China backlash?

Even 500k would be a huge task logistically. Not the point. The mere ownership of a genuine UK passport would be a huge benefit. This is not particularly about logistics, these Hong Kongers are quite capable of looking after themselves and their families and they can make a buck, and live, just abo...
by wamberal99
Sat May 30, 2020 2:15 am
Forum: Rugby Forum
Topic: China backlash?
Replies: 1098
Views: 130911

Re: China backlash?

But how many could the Brits take? 1 million? How long is a piece of string? The point is, that if 2.9 million Hong Kong citizens suddenly have a proper British passport, they are now longer imprisoned in Hong Kong, as it were. How many could the UK absorb? You could be sure that the number that ta...
by wamberal99
Sat May 30, 2020 12:19 am
Forum: Rugby Forum
Topic: China backlash?
Replies: 1098
Views: 130911

Re: China backlash?

There is a story in the SCMP saying that Taiwan is going to offer sanctuary to some Hong Kong activists, subject to vetting. Brings back memories of the days when corrupt cops and other baddies used to flee to Taiwan when they thought they were under threat of being arrested. There was no extraditi...
by wamberal99
Fri May 29, 2020 7:31 am
Forum: Rugby Forum
Topic: Peter V'Landys - Thug
Replies: 27
Views: 4116

Re: Peter V'Landys - Thug

He is a fantastic self-publicist. All that stuff about how rugby league saved him, he was just a poor little chap of Greek ancestry, living in horrible Wollongong. I say, bullshit. The 'Gong has always been pretty cosmopolitan. I lived in Wollongong in the sixties, and so did a lot of people of Gree...
by wamberal99
Fri May 29, 2020 12:04 am
Forum: Rugby Forum
Topic: China backlash?
Replies: 1098
Views: 130911

Re: China backlash?

There is a story in the SCMP saying that Taiwan is going to offer sanctuary to some Hong Kong activists, subject to vetting. Brings back memories of the days when corrupt cops and other baddies used to flee to Taiwan when they thought they were under threat of being arrested. There was no extraditio...
by wamberal99
Wed May 27, 2020 8:16 am
Forum: Rugby Forum
Topic: China backlash?
Replies: 1098
Views: 130911

Re: China backlash?

Anybody who really understands what the Chinese think is Chinese. The rest of us are just guessing. So inscrutable ... And true. I spent 15 years of my life working in large organisations alongside, and also managing, many Chinese people. I knew a helluva lot more about China and the Chinese view o...
by wamberal99
Wed May 27, 2020 8:10 am
Forum: Rugby Forum
Topic: Rugby Australia crisis after financial deficit of $9.4 mill
Replies: 757
Views: 79384

Re: Rugby Australia crisis after financial deficit of $9.4 m

Pity about the Reds trio. What a bad look for rugby considering AFL/NRL players took paycuts without complaint. They are professionals, and they are acting in what they perceive to be in their best interests. In a way, it might be a bit surprising that no other players have gone the same way. The N...
by wamberal99
Tue May 26, 2020 10:42 pm
Forum: Rugby Forum
Topic: China backlash?
Replies: 1098
Views: 130911

Re: China backlash?

Anybody who really understands what the Chinese think is Chinese. The rest of us are just guessing.
by wamberal99
Tue May 26, 2020 12:12 am
Forum: Rugby Forum
Topic: China backlash?
Replies: 1098
Views: 130911

Re: China backlash?

The Brits sold the locals a lemon. Dual system, autonomy, the Chinese probably burst out laughing when they left the room. The PRC would have known that they had the upper hand before those negotiations started, not least because the British Foreign Office would have been paving the way for the eve...
by wamberal99
Tue May 26, 2020 12:01 am
Forum: Rugby Forum
Topic: Farewell Super Rugby - thanks for the memories
Replies: 93
Views: 12556

Re: Farewell Super Rugby - thanks for the memories

The NRL is about to sign a new broadcast deal reportedly worth close to $2 billion AUD, that tells me that there is plenty of money floating around Aussie media. The traditional media like FTA is desperate for content that rates. The AFL and the NRL rate, particularly SOO. The $2bill will include c...
by wamberal99
Mon May 25, 2020 3:45 am
Forum: Rugby Forum
Topic: Presented without comment ...
Replies: 38
Views: 5649

Re: Presented without comment ...

NFJ? Good scrummie, no doubt. But I would put him behind our own GOAT, the wonderful, incomparable, Ken Catchpole. His only fault was that he played club rugby for Randwick.
by wamberal99
Sun May 24, 2020 3:55 am
Forum: Rugby Forum
Topic: Farewell Super Rugby - thanks for the memories
Replies: 93
Views: 12556

Re: Farewell Super Rugby - thanks for the memories

Just on this point, I don't see any issue, because the Waratahs have existed as the NSW rugby brand for over a century... and the "Blues" is quite a common sporting franchise name, and also the primary colour for Auckland. Err, yes, Blues is a common sporting franchise name, in NSW. As a minority s...
by wamberal99
Sun May 24, 2020 2:44 am
Forum: Rugby Forum
Topic: Farewell Super Rugby - thanks for the memories
Replies: 93
Views: 12556

Re: Farewell Super Rugby - thanks for the memories

For me one of the silliest decisions was to drop the geographical descriptor. This meant that the casual viewer might have no idea as to the identity of the competitors. But for me, the worst idea was for Auckland to use the name "Blues". Given that blue is the colour for NSW in league and cricket, ...
by wamberal99
Sat May 23, 2020 12:13 am
Forum: Rugby Forum
Topic: The Australian Politics Thread
Replies: 29230
Views: 2032608

Re: The Australian Politics Thread

q New analysis from the Australia Institute has found that despite Australia being the world’s largest LNG exporter, less than 0.2 per cent of the workforce was employed in the gas industry, and the companies pay little if any tax. [/i][/b] Morrison is a bought and paid whore for the gas industry! ...
by wamberal99
Fri May 22, 2020 4:05 am
Forum: Rugby Forum
Topic: China backlash?
Replies: 1098
Views: 130911

Re: China backlash?

Why did the Brits hand over Hong Kong so easily? Sure there the end of the lease but surely the local population wouldnt have wanted it. The British Foreign Office apparently always favoured an exit. They accepted the obvious fact that the PRC would sooner or later become a world power, and having ...