Roar Rookie
Joined January 2013
11.3k
Views
6
Published
5
Comments
Published
Comments
In this season of Super Rugby Survivor, we hear constant chatter that one of the Australian teams will be voted off the island. Many…
The dust has settled on a turbulent two months in Australian rugby. The newly-appointed Wallabies coach Michael Cheika, is part-time in the job heading…
It is hard to find much talk about the game of rugby itself while the Wallabies soap opera rolls on. It has it all…
On the day that the heads of Australian cricket and football codes announced they were committing to stamping out homophobia in their respective sports, my…
I am just old enough that I managed to catch a few AFL games at the old suburban grounds before they stopped hosting league…
“Should we bother about drugs in sport?” asks Glenn Mitchell. I thought it might have been a reflection on the failings of the status…
“Essendon found out just how deadly such an onslaught can be in week one of the finals”. Um, that was North who did that…
Sorry Roos, it's the Swans by plenty
Well said Pirates. I’m a lifelong AFL (North Melbourne) fan and a recent convert to rugby. I like what the Rebels are now trying to do but it’s pretty hard to get your mates excited about matches against the Sharks, Force or Highlanders (and don’t get me started about the lack of province/city names in Super Rugby). It just doesn’t yet engage the passion of the sporting public in this town. I’d say it’s a long-term investment and people will get on board over time once they have the ability to develop a bond with the team. The Rebels’ crowds aren’t too bad when compared to the other Australian franchises anyway. I remember going to Rebels v Waratahs in Sydney last year and thought that SFS had all the atmosphere of a funeral when compared to the crowd at AAMI Park.
If the ARU is serious about getting Melbourne excited about rugby then how about another Bledisloe game? The last one here in 2007 drew 70,000 fans at the MCG, just a touch more than the crowd for last year’s Bledisloe game in Sydney. The third game scheduled for October would work as there’s no clash with the AFL finals. This town has been over-run with Kiwis anyway, so we might as well play to our strength…
SPIRO: Hooper, Melbourne, England, All Blacks and Boks
Great piece Rebecca, written from the heart. I think it’s important to remember that you can never really be 100% sure there is no-one who is gay within earshot of a comment – even if everyone in the room outwardly says they are straight. Lots of people are still in the closet even in this day and age.
As someone who has also taken a deep breath and submitted an article for publication on The Roar on this issue, I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the comments on this article! It’s great to see people approaching this in the spirit of trying to better understand the perspectives of gay people and keeping an open mind.
I am woman, hear me The Roar
Scott, sorry to hear this will be your last post on the Roar. As a Melbournian, AFL native and relative newcomer to both playing and watching rugby (I started out at the age of 32) your writing has been invaluable. To the uninitiated the game of rugby union looks unstructured, even chaotic, yet with your crisp, clear analysis and use of video and stills you manage to bring order to the chaos. Your writing has played no small part in growing my love for the game.
It’s a shame we can’t find more unity and decency in rugby in Australia. A core value of rugby is the idea of being adversaries on the field but friends off it – truly the most uplifting aspect of the game. Having been present at the recent EOYT tests at Cardiff and Dublin this year I was bowled over by the warmth and friendliness of the Welsh and Irish rugby supporters. They just wanted to talk about the game and share their passion for rugby – there was no animosity towards me at all despite my gold jersey, scarf and beanie. They were all genuinely glad to have me there. To be honest it made the whole experience of going to the rugby far more enjoyable than any game I’ve seen in Australia.
Thank you again for all your contributions to this site and I wish you all the best with your coaching. I do hope you reconsider and come back to writing again. Cheers, Smithy.
FAREWELL ROAR: Bickering a symptom of troubled times