Rugby union failed us again on Saturday night. As a concept, rugby union is great. When played well, rugby union can excite even the most skeptical, non-partisan viewer. But rugby union is rarely played well. The only time I was truly captivated by a game of rugby union was, of course, in the year 2000. The…
Read More C’mon Rugby Union, Have A Go Ya Mug!Will we look back on this Saturday’s Super 15 final as a key turning point in Australia’s long-running Code Wars? The Code Wars, a protracted and at-times bloody battle between four entities – soccer, rugby league, rugby union and AFL – represent the longest continuous conflict in modern society. Since the late 19th Century, a…
Read More What Would a Waratahs Victory Mean For The ‘Code Wars’?Sydney faces its biggest bandwagoning conundrum in a generation, and boy it’s a doozy. Let me start by defending the practice of joining a bandwagon: supporting a club or team when they are successful, and dumping them when they are not. Bandwagoning, or being a Johnny Good-Times, is a product of the sporting environment in…
Read More Sydney and the Art of BandwagoningI recently wrote an article where I articulated the business case for eliminating rugby league as a sport. The piece was met with strong reaction – those vehemently in favour and those steadfastly against the idea – and, as such, I feel compelled to write a follow-up piece. However, in this piece, I will argue,…
Read More The Case For Eliminating Rugby League: Part IIAn enraged parent that stormed his son’s U8 football match to belt the living shit out of the teenage referee has been commended at a club presentation night for ‘dedication to rugby’. Noel Edgeworth, 43, sprinted towards 16-year-old junior referee Alex Michaels after a pedantic short-arm penalty was awarded against his son’s team. Edgeworth allegedly…
Read More Angry dad praised at club presentation