League "World" Cup

[kk67]

Yeah. I think Olive Cromwank is a fair comparison. With some provisos.

[rowan]

Just been reading an interesting story, too, about how Lebanon's inclusion in this farce is seen as a chance for the local diaspora to gain acceptance in Australia. That tells us, firstly, that they regard themselves more as Aussies than Lebanese (as they should), and secondly, that they don't feel entirely welcome in a nation where 97% of the population are either descended from immigrants - or immigrants themselves.

[rowan]

NZ put 70 past Scotland which surely is the equivalent of a century in union, given the scoring values. & they want to expand this circus to 16 next time! The battle of the South Seas Islanders is currently locked up at 6 apiece late 1st half.

Easy win to Tonga in the end.

[morepork]

Fuck off you whining little bitch.

Did you clock the atmosphere at the Samoa Tonga game?

Go on, give me a google sourced lecture on contemporary Polynesian history.

FFS

[rowan]

Fuck off you whining little bitch.

Did you clock the atmosphere at the Samoa Tonga game?

Go on, give me a google sourced lecture on contemporary Polynesian history.

FFS

At least the Poms beat the Aussies for a change, even if they were Aussies disguised as Lebanon. Did you clock the atmosphere, you whining little bitch? Didn't think so. You can't clock what ain't there!

Anyway, I happen to have studied Polynesian history quite extensively, and began doing so long before it became fashionable. In fact, I was studying Maori and Polynesian anthropology when the education system of New Zealand was continuing to ignore it outright. Most of my friends were Polynesian back then - mostly through the sports I chose to play, and I'm proud to say I also have a lot of Polynesian whanau, including Maori, Samoan, Tahitian and Cook Islander.

Here's a question for you, Morepork. What is the modern name of the ancient homeland referred to as 'Hawaiki' in Maori folklore?

[morepork]

Is it fuck up?

Fashionable.....you really are a wancher.

[rowan]

Is it fuck up?

Fashionable.....you really are a wancher.

You haven't answered the question. Why not? Could it be that you don't know anything about this fundamental aspect of Maori folklore? This history was not taught to my generation. I learned it myself through many years of extensive reading.

[morepork]

Have a gold star for your chart. Go on, give me some pointed arrogance about, say, French Polynesia.


"many years of extensive reading". Our saviour. Fuck off.

[rowan]

Have a gold star for your chart. Go on, give me some pointed arrogance about, say, French Polynesia.


"many years of extensive reading". Our saviour. Fuck off.

So you just named about half the Pacific. You'll have to do better than that. Which island?

[rowan]

Nothing like toying with a know-it-all . . .

Meanwhile, just speaking to a Lebanese friend of mine and he, predictably enough, had no clue about this tournament.

& what's going on with these Polynesian war dances? There getting longer and more dramatic by the match! It's almost as though the two codes are competing with one another to claim them as their own. The Maori haka before the Canada match was one of the longest on record apparently. It's great to see these South Pacific nations promoting their cultural heritage through sports, but at some point they've got to draw the line, surely...

[morepork]

Have a gold star for your chart. Go on, give me some pointed arrogance about, say, French Polynesia.


"many years of extensive reading". Our saviour. Fuck off.

So you just named about half the Pacific. You'll have to do better than that. Which island?

Ask Anne Salmond, Wayne Kerr. You really schooled me. Toying with me. What a gumby you are Wowan.

[rowan]

Really, the best you could do was French Polynesia?

I thought you'd at least manage to identify the correct archipelago, as that's pretty much common knowledge these days. The Hawaiians hail from the same group of islands, and to this day there is a point in Hawaii which makes reference to their ancestral homeland in the native language. But it is not the same island as the one the Maori regard as their ancestral homeland.

There was an earlier Hawaiki as well, which can be found in Western Polynesia. Do you know which island?

[morepork]

Have we reached the end of this catalogue of startling historical fact yet?

Do you see what league means to Polynesia now Toy Boy?

[rowan]

Have we reached the end of this catalogue of startling historical fact yet?

Do you see what league means to Polynesia now Toy Boy?

In historical terms it meant very little to them. Their sport has always been union, and still is primarily, although the gap may be closing as players seek professional careers abroad, wherever they can get them and regardless the code. The basis of their current status is the diaspora in Auckland. If this puts them on the international stage - albeit it a very small and superficial one - that will generate national pride, obviously, particularly when they are successful or at least competitive. But in fact I am an avid reader of the Samoan Observer, to which I contribute from time to time. My recent comments regarding the farcical nature of this tournament were published, with most of the feedback in agreement.

[morepork]

The people of Western Samoa are no doubt indebted to you for your insight supplied from Turkey.

[rowan]

The people of Western Samoa are no doubt indebted to you for your insight supplied from Turkey.

I think they enjoy my contributions, yes. Let's just say, they tend to be considerably more open-minded than people you'd find on internet chat forums and message boards, for example.

Any views on the prolonged and highly dramatic war dances going on before matches in the two rugby codes these days? Are they going too far; competing with one another for Polynesian hearts, perhaps? I'm all for a good haka and the cultural demonstration, but at some point we'd also like to see some rugby . . .

[rowan]

& Fiji hit 70 against Wales. Dear me!

Meanwhile the Italian-Aussies thumped the US and PNG beat Ireland, though not by that much, surprisingly. PNG really should be the 4th best team at the tournament. Italians yet to use the 34-year-old Bergamasco, curiously.

So they think they're going to expand to 16 teams next time. This is already a two tier competition, with 3 teams apiece qualifying from the two stronger groups, and only one team apiece from the remaining two. So if they go to 16 they'll probably need to go with another tier on top of that.

[rowan]

Basically we could say the Roos are roughly equal with the All Blacks, though not as fine-tuned due to the relative lack of an international program, the Kiwis and Poms somewhere about the level of the Celtic rugby union teams, PNG, Fiji, Tonga & Samoa about the same level as those islands (though only because of the diaspora where the latter two are concerned, France, Ireland, Wales & Scotland are at about the level of ENC teams such as Georgia, Romania & Russia, the Aussie-Italians & Aussie-Lebanese we might compare to Morocco and Tunisia with their French-based legions (not sure how many of them are actually African-born), and the US are about level with an ENC 3rd division team like Norway or Finland.

So imagine this for a Rugby Union World Cup:

NZ, Samoa, Fiji, Georgia (3 to qualify)
Wales, Ireland, Tonga, Romania (3 to qualify)
Russia, Spain, Morocco (1 to qualify)
Uruguay, Tunisia, Finland (1 to qualify)

That's just a very rough comparison, not designed to denigrate either code nor the teams involved.

[rowan]

The Tongans are now beating each other up - despite winning! You really have to wonder why this is happening during a league "World Cup" when they've participated in 7/8 RWCs without any unsavory incidents at all...

Victory turned into a vicious onslaught as jubilant Tongans armed with poles turned on each other, felling victims with brutal head butts, the Daily Telegraph reports.

New footage has emerged of a night of shocking violence as Tongan supporters clashed using weapons and brute force following their team’s victory in the much-anticipated league match against Pacific rivals Samoa.

Despite widespread appeals for calm, South Auckland’s main road became a battleground bringing traffic to a standstill as scores clad in the Tongan red jersey brawled, some brandishing poles, in a series of violent fracas.

Story & video here: http://sobserver.ws/en/06_11_2017/regio ... n-sour.htm

[rowan]

PNG are the Fiji of rugby league. Not quite able to compete with the big guns but full of flare and enthusiasm, and there home fans just go nuts! I don't think that's something union needs to try and compete for. We have the Pacific Islands playing that role in union already, and the Kumuls are genuine treat to watch in the 13-man code (when they're not being steamrolled by the Roos or Kiwis).

[kk67]

Did you clock the atmosphere at the Samoa Tonga game?

Yeah, it was quality.
The PNG game at Port Morseby was also electric. It was like Elland Rd on a Wedneday night in the 70's.
In a good way.

[morepork]

Did you clock the atmosphere at the Samoa Tonga game?

Yeah, it was quality.
The PNG game at Port Morseby was also electric. It was like Elland Rd on a Wedneday night in the 70's.
In a good way.

Port Morseby used to be a right of passage for Kiwi teams. Dropped straight into the heart of the beast. The locals love it.

[rowan]

PNG used to be really wild. I remember the Kiwis playing up in the Highlands one time and there were local tribesmen literally crowding the sidelines in their loin cloths and pig-skin wigs. After one game the local team were all killed in a plane crash on the way home and everyone said that was really sad and the test match was played in Port Moresby a couple of days later regardless. The fans used to riot a lot in Port Moresby too, any time there was an international match there, and I seem to recall there were a few deaths at the hands of police outside the stadiums. That's going back a few decades. I assume it's a bit tamer now . . .

[rowan]

I'd be happy to see the two codes amalgamate, but a hybrid game would just be ridiculous, especially the forward exchanges during the union half in which the Roos would simply be unable to compete. For this reason the All Blacks would win, not because they are better athletes, but simply because there are so many more specialized facets involved in the XV-man game.

NZ Rugby chief executive Steve Tew has played down reports that the All Blacks could play the Kangaroos in a radical hybrid game, saying there have been no discussions about the proposal for more than a year.

Tew was responding to a report in Sydney's Daily Telegraph, which said a A$50 million (NZ$55 million) match between the rugby and league world champions could be played in Tokyo, Japan.

Each team would receive NZ$11 million, equating to about NZ$728,000 per player for the one-off game, according to the report.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/all- ... s-proposed

[rowan]

I'd be happy to see the two codes amalgamate, but a hybrid game would just be ridiculous, especially the forward exchanges during the union half in which the Roos would simply be unable to compete. For this reason the All Blacks would win, not because they are better athletes, but simply because there are so many more specialized facets involved in the XV-man game.

NZ Rugby chief executive Steve Tew has played down reports that the All Blacks could play the Kangaroos in a radical hybrid game, saying there have been no discussions about the proposal for more than a year.

Tew was responding to a report in Sydney's Daily Telegraph, which said a A$50 million (NZ$55 million) match between the rugby and league world champions could be played in Tokyo, Japan.

Each team would receive NZ$11 million, equating to about NZ$728,000 per player for the one-off game, according to the report.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/all- ... s-proposed

Mayweather - McGregor made more sense than this...