The Roar
The Roar

Stuart Fazakerley

Roar Rookie

Joined January 2011

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Why can’t we have nice things?

Gold jersey. Simple elements. Left side the same as the right side.

Seriously, design is not hard. Give me a pack of crayons and an hour and I could do better than this. Even Asics can do better than this – look at South Africa’s shirt!

The most worrying (but unsurprising) thing is that nobody at the ARU thought to say ‘You want to send our team to a World Cup in this disaster?’

If we beat the AB’s by 100 in the World Cup final, I might like it. Otherwise, kill it with fire.

Leaked Wallabies jersey attracts plenty of critics

Three conferences of six, South Africa, Australia + Japan, New Zealand + Argentina.

Done.

The future of Super Rugby: Is SANZAR's model the best?

Played with Gus Hamilton at Harlequin (different grades though as I was terrible) and he is quite a player. He will do very well in the NRC.

Melbourne Rising announce NRC squad for 2014

“He’s a name. GWS needs names. Why did the AFL want him so bad? Once he adapts, he’ll go great. He’s a strong athlete.”

Spooky 😛

But yeah, much more of a chance to adapt to union, whether it’s to the extent that would make him useful in a provincial competition is the clincher. He’ll definitely benefit from having the game in front of him, rather than relying on 360 degree awareness, AFL-style.

CONFIRMED: Israel Folau to sign one-year deal with NSW Waratahs

This’ll be fine, it’s not like the Waratahs have been in any salary cap trouble recently…

CONFIRMED: Israel Folau to sign one-year deal with NSW Waratahs

Oh, Lance. Why?

ARMSTRONG drops fight, faces lifetime ban, loss of Tour titles

Brett, brilliant article, probably your second best behind the one that featured yours truly.

The question is, how do we actually get this going? What will it take for the ARU to see this as a necessity?

The ARC five years on: What might have been

Step 1 – Merge the Lions into the nearby Bulls.
Step 2 – The new entity plays games in Pretoria and Johannesburg, keeping the Lions’ colours and Bulls’ name.
Step 3 – SARU makes pitch to certain Austrian energy drink manufacturer, known for sporting team investment, for multi-million dollar sponsorship/private ownership of merged franchise.
Step 4 – The Southern Kings come in to Super Rugby, joined by the Northern Red Bulls.

PROBLEM SOLVED. You’re welcome, SARU.

The Lions form offers a King-sized opportunity

I do not want to see Clive Palmer as a latex salesman.

Football fans rejoice: Clive Palmer is gone

Jeez Brett, you want royalties or something? 😛

O'Connor must deliver for the Rebels

Capital Punishment is a pretty great team name, in all honesty.

Call to end aggressive A-League expansion

I’m sure ARU and NZRU would be happy to let in a sixth RSA team if all the revenue splits of the current broadcast deal remain the same. But SARU wouldn’t let that happen.

They could always merge the Lions and Cheetahs back into the Cats, but that probably won’t happen either.

They’ll probably go for a promotion/relegation system, but that’s doomed to failure, as I doubt that SARU would be as generous in keeping one of the five other franchises afloat outside SR as they have been with the Kings.

That, and the team most likely to be relegated when the system truly comes into effect – the Kings.

Sure is a tidy little mess that SARU have gotten themselves into.

South African Super Rugby '13 boycott threat

The old radio show Get This used to sum up tabloid trash like the Hun perfectly. It’s all nameless sources, insiders, sources close to the source, fellow diners, pals. It’s their excuse to publish whatever they like.

Majak obviously has to take his medicine for lying to his coach, but the club should have made clear why he was punished, instead of calling it ‘cultural’. You can’t give the Hun and co any rope.

Who's to blame for the Majak Daw beat-up?

Some had it pegged at 3000, which surprised me as they announced 6000 over the PA (and indeed, it looked closer to 6 than 3). They also had 200 at a junior clinic beforehand, which was a great initiative.

The Rebels have been good at interacting with the community outside of the metro area, and the Geelong trip was a great example of that.

Clinical Chiefs cost rusty Rebels in Corio

If it’s any consolation, the mauls were very poorly officiated. One try came from a Chiefs maul that was allowed to hang for a good 5 minutes. Others were deliberately collapsed and the wrong penalties given.

Not too much to worry about for the Rebels, but still a concern.

Clinical Chiefs cost rusty Rebels in Corio

So the Eastern conference just have to travel around Sydney to play their games, whereas Melbourne have to travel to Perth and NZ? And Perth and NZ have to travel to each other? Unworkable. You would need to spread the Sydney teams out or not bother.

As for Gallop, I never thought much of him until I saw how he handled the Storm salary cap issue.

After that, I don’t think anything of him. He struggled with the focus it brought on him and his decision making, and still has a lot of bridges to mend down here.

(That’s not a comment on the actions taken against the Storm by the NRL, which were well founded – just the steps Gallop took during and after the process.)

The NRL needs a vision

I should point out that Hugh Pyle was acting captain for this match only.

The replacement for Gareth Delve at vice-captain will be determined throughout the trials, so it’s likely you’ll see changes against the Blues and the Crusaders.

Clinical Chiefs cost rusty Rebels in Corio

The Victorian rugby competition is advancing in leaps and bounds since the Rebels’ inception. It will expand to 6 metro leagues next year as some clubs couldn’t handle the influx of players they got!

Rebels will win Super Rugby before the Waratahs

Happy to get a passing grade from you, mate.

I believe that the Waratahs need to address systemic cultural problems in order to build a team that is competitive on field and strong off field.

Also, if you read the article, the main point was to say it’s OK for fans to dream of what might be, rather than getting stuck in a habit of silently accepting mediocrity. While my example (which – I’ll also point out – I mentioned was overly simplistic) referenced my belief that Melbourne would win Super Rugby before the Waratahs, by the same token it could reference your belief that the Waratahs will win the next three titles undefeated.

To analyse an article in such a simplistic manner is, well, close to laughable.

Rebels will win Super Rugby before the Waratahs

The Rebels are linked to the SARU Academy and are working on TAS (TRU and VRU have always been close).

Rebels will win Super Rugby before the Waratahs

I was aware that this was the case, Pablo, but I still think it’s more re-arranging the furniture than anything else. Happy to be proven wring in time.

Regardless, the Waratahs are not completely reliant on private investment like the Rebels. Nowhere near.

Rebels will win Super Rugby before the Waratahs

Actually, 1/35 is ~2.86%.

We’re on the increase!

Rebels will win Super Rugby before the Waratahs

They’ve done very well to avoid the spotlight, that much is true. If they come out in the trials and smash some teams, there’ll be plenty for Tahs fans to be excited about.

Rebels fans are just excited that the season’s back again!

Rebels will win Super Rugby before the Waratahs

A bit from column A, a bit from column B, and a bit from column C. It was more focusing on a problem that I notice with a lot of new teams where downplaying expectations can become cultural. I think the Rebels will win SR before NSW because I believe we’re building a club that one day will win Super Rugby.

All I want Rebels fans to do is remember that each year, no matter what happened the previous year, what the pundits say, or what the club says to the press, that dream is alive.

Having a swing at NSW was just a bonus haha 😛

Rebels will win Super Rugby before the Waratahs

Haha nah I’ve written here before and I love the headline. Just didn’t expect it to be so direct!

If it’s one thing the Rebels need, it’s a bit of swagger, which is why I wrote the article, to try and convince people to believe that we could win the title one day.

Rebels will win Super Rugby before the Waratahs

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