Guy_Chev's Roar Profile

A very interesting discussion going on here.
All the points you raise are very valid. I agree with the South African side of things, it is a little too far to travel, but if it were a viable option, I do think it would benefit both NZ and Aus.

I would also like to add (which I did briefly in the article) as well as it being beneficial for the teams and players, I believe it would also be hugely beneficial for cricket as a whole in both countries. If you look at crowd stats in New Zealand for domestic cricket (I don’t have exact numbers), you’re looking at a maximum of 2,000 to a game and even that may be pushing it. Imagine if we had Australian teams playing! Those crowds would be enormous a) because the level of cricket would increase out of sight and b) because I would imagine it would bring the trans-tasman, we love to beat the Aussies, rivalry. Look at the crowds in the series at the moment, I’ve never seen crowds this big for cricket in New Zealand.
I would think it would have a similar effect in Australia. Your crowds in domestic cricket would be fairly good I imagine, but again, Australia loves beating New Zealand, so people would turn up to watch.
I don’t know, maybe an Aussie could shed some light on that for me, but that’s what I would think?

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OJ – Not an epic Wimbledon final? Are you serious? It had so many twists and turns:
1) Roddick won the first set – not many people would’ve been expecting that,
2) He should’ve won the second set, but Federer came back in an amazing piece of brilliance to save 4 set points – not many people would’ve expected that, even with Federer. It proved his class.
3) The fifth set went for about 90 minutes (the longest fifth set in Wimbledon history), it went to 16-14 and I for one thought Roddick had it considering Federer hadn’t broken his serve all match.

That to me is an epic final. I couldn’t take me eyes off the screen.

I’d be interested to see your thoughts on whether any of you thought Hawkeye was wrong on a couple of occassions? There were two times when Roddick challenged and got it wrong. But his reaction showed that he thought Hawkeye wasn’t accurate. And on one of those instances I thought the ball was shown to be out when Hawkeye called it in. Maybe it’s my eyesight, but it looked incorrect.

Federer makes Grand Slam history

Tennis

I saw that one too… Just as bad a decision. There’s already an article on that.
But I agree, it was bad.

Some interesting points raised here which I think could work and would make the competition much more interesting than what it is at the moment. You are exactly right in saying there are 7 or 8 teams that could potentially make the top 4 after this weekend and for nearly half of them to miss out would be a bit disappointing. Also, the best rugby that has been played, and probably the only games that I’ve actually watched with any interest are those involving the top teams who are still playing for a finals spot. Wouldn’t it be great to have that on a little bit of a bigger scale?
Hammer, wouldn’t this intense addition to the Super 14 lead into the International part of the season even better? It would build everyone up for the internationals and the players would be pumped and ready to go to play the best for their country in the toughest matches of the year. Then again, do these extra and tougher games open a door to more injuries to the top players, therefore ruling them out of the internationals and taking some interst away from them?

Super 14 finals should consist of top six teams

I have been reading the replies to my post and all seem pretty interesting in their own right. As Dan has pointed out (and I guess I didn’t) I’m a New Zealander, so talking about all this from a New Zealand perspective. Things may be different in Australia and, as most of you seem to have pointed out, they are. But, back here in NZ, rugby is definitely not as strong as it once was and I feel league is taking some of those fans.
Dan, on the NPC point you make, the crowds for that are even worse than the Super 14 unfortunately. The competition has recently been revamped and people thought it may help the situation but it doesn’t have seem to done a lot. I think it has been the predictability of the Super 14 to be honest. Until this year (as I said in my original post) there have only been a select group of teams who have performed in the competiton (out of NZ teams anyway).
Another point I would like to bring up about union losing out to league is the speed in which the games are played. As has been said in other posts, League has it over union, at the moment, in the tackle ball area and the speed of play. Union is trying to fix that and who knows, maybe they will turn things around. From a NZers perspective, I hope so.
Again, sorry for not pointing out im a NZer!