My hope is, that one day, those cheering for Djocovic’s arbitrary removal from this country, are subject to the same over-reaching persecution by some Government agency. Maybe then they will stop identifying with their tyrannical overlords. But then again, maybe not. The Stockholm Syndrome seems to be strong in many.

Haha. The queue jumpers (note most of them are not refugees, rather economic immigrants who entered illegally) have had their bills paid for by the Australian public for years. Talk about double standards, one group of illegal entrants is good, and we should all pay whilst they try to rort the system to allow them to stay, whilst another fellow, who pays his own way, is vilified. His main crime, shock horror, he’s “unvaxxed”.

Serves him right for not being vaccinated, right everyone?

This is not about right and wrong. It’s about an outraged mob who think they aren’t getting enough preferential treatment for doing the “right thing” nor they think, are those who have not complied getting punished enough. What a sad indictment on Australians. Pitchforks and burning brands.

“Its the oldest continuous culture on Earth”except it isn’t. It is, in fact, no older than any other culture on Earth. Cultures are not static things, frozen in time, they are constantly evolving and changing, sometimes to the point that where they came from is barely recognizable within what they are today. By definition, if we are all members of the human race, then no culture is older than any other. Some are maybe less evolved than others, but they are certainly no older, if we all share common roots as members of the human race.
And as for the inclusion of an Indigenous language in the national anthem, this must surely be problematic. Because despite the First Nations terminology, there was never a nation per se, and some tribes were mortal enemies of others. So which language do you preference over the other?

Yes, just like some have agendas backing the Kiwi legend coach, all the time, in every way, and making excuses for his abysmal performance, just because he is who he is. It seems that quite a few of the Reds are disenchanted with the Kiwi legend, and that there may be more players lining up to leave the club if he’s not punted. There’s little doubt the “Thorn factor”played a significant role in the departure of the 3 young Reds.

For yoU to Childishly seeK to reply as yOu did, i Fear, says Far more about you PIRU than anything i could say…..But don’t feel left out, in addition to identifying you as a sinner, the Bible does make reference to Onanists as well….

Gee Piru, if only I had your towering intellect, and your rapier wit eh? About the only thing your comment proves is that there’s a fortune to be made – buying you for what you are worth, and selling you for what you think you are worth…..How about you stick to commenting upon the topic instead of small minded personal slights? Or is that too much to ask?

The “cancel culture”evident in society and apparently fully supported by many on this site is a symptom of a sickness far worse than COVID 19. Making a comment that upsets a fringe group (but only some groups, others are fair game), exercising your contractual rights, being un-liked by your coach, especially if your coach is a “Kiwi God”(but don’t mention God in any other context please, that will see you cancelled), refusal to take a vaccine that is suddenly, and arbitrarily, mandated, any and all of these can lead to a hysterical reaction from fans and administrators and “cancellation”of said transgressors. The list grows by the day. When your employment so obviously hangs, not only on your form and fitness, but also upon the ever changing whims of your coach and administrators, who happily politicise the sport whilst allowing shocking biases to make the pathway to representative rugby blatantly unfair, why wouldn’t you chase the money at every opportunity? Where does loyalty to the organisation get you, if, for example your coach decides to move in another direction? If the national coach shows shocking bias towards players from the team he previously coached? If some players can have long rap sheets including punching team mates and continue in the Wallabies, whereas others get cast aside for their Christian beliefs?
Go well young men, and live full lives, and maximise your god given talents wherever you wish to. Its time for the hysterical group think cancel cultists to have a good hard look at themselves…

Who knows whether Smith’s piece is fact based, or simply opinion. But all of your deflection can’t change the fact that your narrative that gallant and unfairly maligned Castle was close to a deal with Optus was fake news. Why should anything else you write be treated as credible when you can’t admit that. I’m afraid that your journalists pants have fallen to around your ankles and you’ve been exposed….

I’m surprised this author is still pretending to know anything about this situation. Does he think we have such short memories? It wasn’t that long ago he was telling us for sure that his impeccable, but of course secret, sources had told him that Castle had been just days away from announcing a tremendous deal with Optus. When Optus came out recently and said definitively that a deal had not been close, and indicated that they’d had trouble dealing with Castle, one would have thought some sort of mea culpa would have been forthcoming? But no, its just move on, pretend it didn’t happen. Look over there! The real story that my secret sources tell me is now there!

Oh, only minimum security jail for those that don’t hold the same beliefs as you? How very tolerant of you. Of course the minimum security prisons may already be full of Christians, might they not? If ever there is justice in this world, you spruce moose, will get to live in the society you think you want to inhabit.

Well Geoff you are probably correct. It could, in all probability, only really be characterised as bullying in the same way as valid criticism of Castle’s failings as CEO is characterised as bullying. But you don’t seem to mind accusing all and sundry of that, amongst your other snide generalisations as to the deficiencies in the Australian national character, do you? And is not your appeal to the supporting mob “an opinion shared by countless others” the classic tactics of a bully?
For all your sneering dismissal of Kearns, I’d take his successes, on the sporting field and off, over for example, one whose claim to fame is that they are a wannabe journalist or author on an internet blog site.
And what do I like about Kearns’ commentary? I love the way he’s able to make snowflakes melt…But how dare he be parochial and not bow down at the alter of the Kiwi rugby team eh? Here’s a thought, why don’t you and your mob start booing him every time he shows up at a rugby ground? That would be a novel way of dealing with him wouldn’t it? And clearly not bullying, because the Kiwi victim card can be played at every turn can’t it, and victims can’t be bullies right?

Is it ok to “bully” Kearns? I guess so, he’s not one of the protected species, being neither female, nor Kiwi. Strange that those that say Castle was never given a chance are already sticking the knife into someone that hasn’t even got the job yet. There’s plenty of smearing of Farr Jones as well, just as an insurance it seems…..The hypocrisy would stun if one wasn’t used to it from certain quarters. And furthermore, banal, biased and inaccurate could equally be used to accurately describe the words of some authors I’m sure….

I call BS on the entire “Castle was about to announce a great deal with Optus” spin, and the canonisation of the Kiwi saint who was cut down just as she was about to deliver RA from itself and those horrid Antipodeans. So you would have us believe the magnificent deal was only a week away, that the BoD knew this, but that they’d lost faith in Castle anyway, and pulled the plug on her and the great deal, just because? And as for the journalist never reveals his sources, how very convenient I’m sure. But isn’t there a fundamental difference between a journalist (whose role it is supposedly to report the news with impartiality) and an opinion piece writer? Once upon a time writing opinion as fact would have got you in trouble, no longer it seems….

Yes Warwick. One imagines there’ll be a few one way tickets to the NZ once the travel restrictions are lifted, won’t there? Things are so very much more sensible there you see. NZ would never have a feminist leader who dons, when it may seem virtuous to do so, articles of clothing related to oppression of women would they? Rugby players would never be subject to abuse for failing to win a tournament there would they? Levels of domestic violence would be much lower there than they are in dysfunctional misogynistic Australia wouldn’t they? Its just so much better there you see, that we need to be regularly reminded of it by kiwis.

Yes she has experience, but not a good track record. She should not have been appointed in the first place. A male with her “track record” wouldn’t have had a chance, unless of course he was a Kiwi, and that might have given him at least half a shot. Her appointment was shallow virtue signalling by RA, nothing else. But it did enable her to go on a grand tour as the first woman to run a major sport (of course no report detailing any positive outcome of such narcissistic self aggrandisement ever came to light). So her appointment was broadly positive for those that wish to see women shatter the “glass ceiling”at BoD level, and for social engineers who aim not for the best person for the job, but for the best woman for the job…. The truth of the matter is that there was actually a lot of goodwill and hope for Castle to succeed, seeing as she was the first woman in such position. That she failed is entirely due to her performance, but again, given her track resord her failure should not have come as a surprise.

K3W3! K3W3!

Nah that’s not the way it happens. In the corporate world the CEO drives the agenda, the BoD provides the oversight, to ensure that all that is done is in accordance with the law, and with the corporate charter. Any CEO worth their pay drives the company and brings the BoD along with him/her. If the CEO falls out with the BoD over anything, or is directed to do something by the BoD that they don’t agree with, then their only honourable choice is to resign. Your portrayal of a weak Castle acting at the whim of the BoD would be demeaning to any CEO worth their pay.

When the proverbial hits the fan, the CEO is always the first in the firing line. All of your wailing and gnashing of teeth is not going to change that. Its a long bow to draw to laud the hiring of Rennie, Johnson etc, when on face value the incoming coach is arguably less successful than Cheika was when he came into the job, and Johnsons hiring was a weak, ineffective, and expensive “Band-Aid” solution Castle made because she didn’t have the stomach for the right decision to be made re Cheika in the first place. Time will tell. And RA is not blameless in the Folau saga, having cast the first stone and politicised themselves during the marriage debate to set the course for the entire sorry saga. Her list of obvious failures are long, and are consistent with her performance at the Bulldogs. Check your confected outrage at her dismissal, she’d still have her job if she was any good at it. There’s no need to try and relate her dismissal to misogyny, or whatever. It was all about performance, and she didn’t come up to scratch.

Who signed Hooper to the huge 5 year deal? What was one of the big issues about back ended contracts at the Bulldogs? Does Castle have any capacity to learn from her mistakes? How long is everyone supposed to “give her a chance”? She’s had more than her share already…

Yeah right, keep going with the old boys is the problem, and there’s a brave new world lead by the Kiwi woman, who can stand proudly behind her many glorious achievements at the Bulldogs and the Wallabies. What a simple view of the world one can have when looking through a social engineering, feminist tinged prism. Castle should never have been employed in the role in the first place, hence her removal at any time is too late. No-one defending Castle today would be defending her if she was not Kiwi, nor female, unless of course they are a stooge for RA with something to gain from their support of her. If she had any integrity she’d have resigned after seeing how toxic her leadership had become. But she won’t, as she’s not in it for RA, she’s in it for herself. And for all those bleating about where’s the details – why then aren’t you asking Castle for the glorious blueprint (the details, the details – even the financial statements might help eh?) she has for leading RA from the morass she’s helped create?

If just once, TWAS, you held yourself to the same standards of “proof”that you demand of everyone else, we’d see less of the circular argument posts you seem to use as your standard. You and your ilk (and strangely on this matter, you’ve fallen into line with a number of Kiwis whose only apparent yardstick of greatness or goodness is one’s nationality…) have nothing to stand by in your mindless defence of Castle. Look at rugby participation rates, television viewing rates, SR crowds, the finances of RA, the loss of young players abroad (including some who didn’t agree with RA taking political positions that weren’t representative of their beliefs – Kerevi – ), the poor performances of the Wallabies, the unnecessary political virtue signalling from RA that has alienated a large part of their supporter base, negative press, poor contracts (Hooper to huge deal over 5 years), the cost of the Folau debacle (financial and reputational)….I could continue, but you probably don’t want to understand that ultimately the CEO and BoD must take responsibility. Apart from going to one syllable words what else do you need?

How many of them have earned respect as sports administrators? As though Castle has?

Paulo, you say “if she has done a demonstrably poor job, then fairs fair, give her the arse.” I rest your case for you……There’s no need for you to start going on about middle aged white men, or people unqualified to run RA. Your Kiwi of the female type was hardly “qualified to run the joint”in the first place, no need to get all bitter and defensive of her failures.