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Joined February 2024
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Hamish Bidwell has been a journalist for more than 20 years, working in print, radio and television.
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I don’t really get the comparisons between Joey Manu and Sonny Bill Williams. I realise they have the Roosters in common, along with a…
There are those who will forever play the man - and not the ball - where TJ Perenara is concerned. The All Blacks and…
I well remember the day a New Zealand Rugby staffer put their hands on me. It seems I’d made them angry.The Wellington Sevens was…
I don’t watch replays of players getting injured. I’ll change channels, cover my eyes if I’m watching with others or simply wander off to…
Talk of Sam Whitelock returning home tells us a few things. First, we lack genuinely hard men in New Zealand rugby. We have locks,…
In a real professional sport, such as football, international managers are fixtures in the stands at club matches. Their players are often far flung…
I’ve seldom been happier to see the All Blacks lose, than during their 2020 and 2022 defeats to Argentina. Now, I don’t relish seeing…
So, well done to the Waratahs. I didn’t tip them to beat the Crusaders and, in fact, I didn’t even think the game would…
I’ll start with a quick aside, before I get to the topic of Super Rugby Pacific’s alleged Super Round. I was 18 or 19…
Sadly, sugar hits won’t suddenly make rugby relevant in Australia. Eddie Jones wasn’t the answer, just as Joe Schmidt won’t be. Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii isn’t…
Well said. I don’t really agree with any of that
Two new teams and a big show of faith to two more - how Super Rugby must kick on from a thrilling start to 2024
Yeah, that Rebels situation is incredibly unfortunate.
I don’t profess to have followed it closely, but I’m assuming it was well forecast and steps could have been taken to ensure we didn’t reach this point?
Two new teams and a big show of faith to two more - how Super Rugby must kick on from a thrilling start to 2024
So we just abandon Samoa, Tonga and Fiji? We let France and Japan and New Zealand and Australia help themselves to their players and allow them to slowly die?
We don’t allow Moana Pasifika and the Drua to host games and truly compete with the other franchises?
Were you around for the 1991 Rugby World Cup? Did you see that Samoa team in action? Did you, naively as it’s turned out, imagine they were an emerging superpower?
The best thing I’ve seen in sport in the last decade is the emergence of the Tonga rugby league team and the players that left tier 1 nations and the groundswell of support that team generated.
I’m not sure why we’re not desperate to mobilise the same fanbase in rugby and build genuine rivalries with our Pacific neighbours.
We can’t preach to the same choir forever. That audience is turning off
Two new teams and a big show of faith to two more - how Super Rugby must kick on from a thrilling start to 2024
Only if you’ve written the headline. I’m only responsible for the waffle underneath my name
Poaching NZ coaches won't solve the Wallabies' woes - the real solution is a lot less sexy
Forgive me if I’m wrong, but pretty sure the word “poaching” doesn’t appear in the article. Happy to be told otherwise
Poaching NZ coaches won't solve the Wallabies' woes - the real solution is a lot less sexy
Don’t get me started on governing bodies that won’t take a decent look in the mirror. I’ve lived in Hurricanes country most of my life and I don’t think they’ve ever had a decent tight five. Good loosies, sure, often world class backs, but never a scrum or lineout that could be relied upon when it counted. It’s why, in Steve Hansen’s day, he never entered into the Barrett v Mo’unga debate. His answer was always that if you put Beauden behind the Crusaders’ pack would we even be having the discussion?
Poaching NZ coaches won't solve the Wallabies' woes - the real solution is a lot less sexy
Far from a know-all. I just miss the Bledisloe Cup rugby of, say 98-03, when Australia was often in the ascendant. Foregone conclusions are a snore and until RA spends money on things that win games, the All Blacks are likely to keep retaining the Bledisloe unfortunately. That’s no good for our rugby either
Poaching NZ coaches won't solve the Wallabies' woes - the real solution is a lot less sexy
I wouldn’t go as far as saying converts don’t work, it’s more about the influence an outside back can actually have. I’m not quite sure why Vunivalu hasn’t prospered in rugby, but Koroibete is one of the better Wallabies most weeks and it has minimal effect on the outcome. I’ve no doubt Sua’ali’i has ability, but how many trophies can he win you from the wing? I’d be trying to develop tight forwards if I held the purse strings
Poaching NZ coaches won't solve the Wallabies' woes - the real solution is a lot less sexy
You’ll have to show me how to use AI some time
Two new teams and a big show of faith to two more - how Super Rugby must kick on from a thrilling start to 2024