NO WAY HOSEA

Bummer - we thought that Hosea Gear would have been a shoo in for the Tri Nations.... However we are pleased to see his inspirational Maori team captain Liam Messam up for a run.

MAORI RUGBY - NEEDS MORE SUPPORT?

This week Maori publisher and commentator Derek Fox says in his weekly column in the Cook Island paper that its time there was more support for the Maori Rugby team

We think he is right and after the three crowd pleasing centennial matches, sponsors must see them as hot property.

Sealords can gain a lot from the partnership with the Maori team and there will be other Maori companies who must see their potential. And as Derek rightly puts it if the Rugby Union doesn't wake up to the opportunity , they may lose the crowd pleasing ass wooping boys and the money they must bring in.

Moe time over

The All Whites days under the African sun have ended; and despite the over-the-top, silly and repetitious clichés used by the New Zealand media to describe them – their efforts were nonetheless truly gallant and well worthy of the highest admiration.

Back home Maori exponents of a game I’m more familiar with have shown skill and pluck too, and played three games of rugby, which they actually won. I’m talking about the Maori All Blacks who have just completed a three match series to celebrate a century of Maori rugby. In fact the one hundred years only marks the first time that the Rugby Union pulled together a Maori side in Rotorua in 1910; genuine followers of rugby will know of the 1888 New Zealand Natives team that played 108 games in this country, Australia, Egypt and the UK in 1888 and 1889. They toured for 14 months, won 80, lost 23 and drew five.

The 2010 Maori team has lived up to the proud record that previous Maori teams have left for them to follow, despite the paucity of support from the Rugby Union over the years. Even this three match series seemed ill organised. At first the rumour was that there would be three internationals against Wales, Ireland and England; but the Welsh team pulled out and a New Zealand Barbarians team was put in its place. The series only went ahead because Maori money propped it up with the Ministry of Maori Development putting in 200-thousand-dollars; and the Sealord fishing company putting in an obviously larger, but undisclosed amount, thus becoming the series sponsor.

The Maori team with a brand new coach – former Maori and New Zealand All Black Jamie Joseph - began the series a little shakily in Whangarei against the Baabaas, but won a seesaw match with a spectacular last minute try. In Rotorua they got away to a spectacular start then had a bit of a moe in the middle allowing the Irish to kick a few penalties and keep in touch. Then they woke up and played on to win.

England fresh from beating Australia was always going to be the toughest opposition and the game in Napier last Wednesday night turned into a cracker. This time the Maori had an early moe and were 13 points down before showing their impressive firepower, springing back with a quick ten points. Their open style game can also be high risk and after an intercept and try, England went into the lead 28 – 17 at the break. A mate of mine having a mimi at half time met a Pom who indicated the Maori were finished.

But he was wrong.

The final score was 35 – 28, three games and three wins. Like the young All Whites, the young Maori players now know they can foot it with the best players of other countries.

The individual All Whites and their coach will no doubt have tasty contracts dangled in front of them over the next little while.

But what of the Maori All Blacks whose flair and dash drew the crowds.

No one knows when the Rugby Union will deign to gather a Maori team again – they didn’t last year.

Maori might have to do it themselves – like they did in 1888-89. It seems Sealords might be in it for the long haul, and maybe with other Maori owned corporates will pull a team together to play here and overseas.

Overwhelmingly the crowds who watched the series were Pakeha. They came because they know that whenever a Maori team takes to the paddock, something special could happen, like last Wednesday night.

But if Maori have to fund these games themselves, then who should own the brand and collect the gate?

Maybe the Rugby Union needs to wake up from its moe.

SING YOU BASTARDS -SING

We were fortunate to watch the dismal French All Black clash down in Nelson with family - son, grandparents and aunty and uncle. We are all the best rugby players that never were. But the thing that struck us all was the the fact that that All Blacks never let rip with a hearty, ballsy and heartfelt rendition of our National Anthem. So our hearts sang when we read the news that New Zealands most garrulous ( not) citizen Graeme Henry has given his boys a rark up over not singing our National song of pride and patriotism. Even the Haka isnt like it used to be - its gone all soft.

Bloody good on him however he could have dont it sooner. And is it just me or does the whole AB team have that soft boy sooky nanna look about them?

Shit Rugby is just a polite version of a good scrap.

Time for our guys to get hard again.. Really hard. Like that lionesesque frenchy.. Sebastien Chabal

We want some of that in the NZ team. Fuck the posey metrosexual rugby nancy boys - we want blokes - big tough take no prisoners, run like rabbits rugby buggers. Or the world cup mission is doomed....

WE DEPLORE VIOLENCE

But like it or not a good old fashioned post match rugby brawl is just sooo damn sexy. According to the NZ Herald, Rugbuy Southland is investigating a scrap at a weekend rugby match in the deep south. Now in our days of Southern rugby watching , brawls were a common occurrence. There was a bit of biffo, everyone would stand and watch and goad them on and when someone looked like they were getting a bit hurt, it would be stopped. Bloody noses and black eyes, and a bit of winding - That was about the strength of it.

What sets this one apart was it was between spectators. Now that's just not the done thing. But it was at the match between Wyndham and Mataura - lots of cousins there - not ours - just lots of cousins kissing and fighting all the time..

BIG BAD BOYS AND THE LONGEST OF LUNCHES

Well bugger me, Just when when we thought one of the oldest men only lunch clubs in New Zealand had finally folded, its rises like the piss fairy from the bottle of sparkling Aussie shiraz .

Flagstaff, as we have blogged about before is one of the great Wellington institutions. A big boys pissy eyed long lunch with a ripper of a speaker. The membership is august and often international, the tone is definitely low in a high brow sort of way, and stories of big sessions are legend.

Anyway they are back, armed with speedy wheel chairs and zimmer frames, the baddest old bastards in Wellington are going to have a couple more lingering lunches.

Good on them we say . "Hip, hip" or should we say "hick hick" and all that.

FlagstaffNewsflash tina

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Press Releases Business & Legal wine business lunch

maori rugby - answer lies within

After a lengthy contemplation of my blog earlier this week about the criminal abandonment of Maori rugby by the New Zealand Rugby Union, cousin Rugby Prawn was working all night on a "correcting mechanism." heres what he said.

It's straight forward really. Who needs the NZRFU and the never-really-accountable Steve Tew? In the complex mechanism which is Maoridom there are plenty of vehicles to get behind a national Maori rugby team. You need an administration, organisation, funding, a coaching capacity, and of course, selectors. To bring together this compex formula, who better than the Maori Trustee, John Paki. The Trustee is far more at home at rugby than even the marae! He has a strong administration background, instant access to all iwi, close liaison with potential sponsors (perhaps the national fishing industry, now chiefly owned by Maori) and potention organisers (perhaps TOKM, his own office and officials, the much-under utilised Hui Taumata or even the national Maori group which hosted the PM last week!) Now, for top player availability they will need to take into account All Black committments and probably the Super 14. They can easily ignore the Air New Zealand championship. With these limitations it would be quite simple to gather the Maori All Blacks in Auckland (no stadium ready) or Wellington to play the top Samoan team. Properly marketed (with great Maori support) they could fill a stadium, stamp their own brand on the sport and not be pathetically reliant on the NZRU, its outdated operations and theories! Who knows, if the new organisation shows real initiative it could host a Pacific Festival or Rugby. "But we are in a international depression, there is no money, Steve Tew said so!" Well think for just a moment! There is a West Indies cricket team here this week with all sponsoirship proudly displayed as DIGICELL. Who the hell are they? Well they operate in Samoa, Tonga, Fiji (to name just a few places!) So, someone, get off your asses and contact Mr John Paki, Maori Trustee. It would be a well reasoned first step! After a lengthy contemplation of my blog earlier this week about the criminal abandonment of Maori rugby by the New Zealand Rugby Union, cousin Rugby Prawn was working all night on a "correcting mechanism."
Heres what he says

MAORI RUGBY TEAM MUST STAY AND PLAY

We think this is just plain wrong.
We are pretty fond of rugby and the Maori Team has a special place in our hearts with us being Ngai Tahu and all that. So we are with the great Matt te Pou on this one. Is a bloody outrage.
However it does present some opportunities. Some enterprising Maori Trusts should have a yack with the RFU and take the risk of a tour on. I reckon with the right promotion it will be a bloody dead cert success.