Yours Please 9

By Numerous

“Yours Please” asks three Sportsfreak affiliates their thoughts on what has happened – and what may happen – in the sporting world over the last week or so.

 

This week, @MadMaclegend, @bopman1 and @ArtGuyNZ give us their thoughts on the weekend’s events.  We are also honoured/humbled to have the head of Sportsfreak Enterprises Inc (@Sportfreakconz) join us for his grumpy hot takes.

1) What was your sporting highlight of the weekend?

@MadMaclegend – The Warriors result.  After Vegas, the last thing the fans needed was an early soft concession, which is exactly what happened.  But from there they showed a grit and accuracy that was sadly missing from the opening round to produce a comfortable win that sets the benchmark for the season.  The petty side of me also nominates Central Coast’s last-minute equaliser against Auckland FC,

@bopman1 – The whole Newcastle story is complicated, but sport is about fans and the celebrations amongst the fans celebrating Newcastle’s Carabao Cup win on Monday morning were very cool. 70 years since they’ve won a domestic trophy. A seemingly likable manager. Yes, Saudi sportswashing etc, etc. But Saudi being bad and enjoying something because of the joy it brings others can both be true at the same time. So, the long-suffering Newcastle fans getting to experience that joy was my highlight.

@ArtGuyNZ – This is tough.  It was quite the weekend for international sport as well as in New Zealand, but the turnaround the Warriors demonstrated against a Manly side who were on fire in Round 1 was a very pleasant surprise.  They looked composed and ultimately came across as the better team for the vast majority of the game.   The difference between their performance in Round 1 versus their performance in Round 2 is possibly the ultimate Warriors display.

@Sportsfreakconz – Wellington managing to defend 502 in the last innings of a Plunket Shield match.  Just.

 

2) Super Rugby Marvel jerseys – are you a fan?

@MadMaclegend – Put this one down as “Decent Idea, Horrible Execution”. The Hurricanes one was plain awful; how someone decided on Captain America and thus blue and red when there was an easy straight Wolverine call to be made, I will never know. Hopefully we’ll never have to speak of this again.

@bopman1 – Absolutely yes. I live in a house with a Marvel obsessed wife and a four-year-old who won’t wear clothes that don’t have something to do with superheroes on them, so my house was literally the target market, and it worked. I bought my son the full Black Panther kit when we went to the Chiefs a few weeks ago and he’s barely taken it off. My wife has even agreed to let me buy her some rugby merch. So, it gets a big tick from me on that front. Additionally, I’m on record slamming the Super Clubs following the pretty lacklustre launch of the Classic deal last year but this latest addition is another example of them getting it very right this year, so well done.

@ArtGuyNZ – I get the reasoning behind it, but it just seems a little silly to me.  Watching the Blues come out looking like the NRL’s Newcastle Knights was just weird, and some of them were so boring that there was no clear distinction for the casual fan.  Good on them for trying, but in reality, I get the feeling that ship sailed about five years ago.  But hey – it was better that the farce that was the Hurricanes v Drua in the U20 competition.

@Sportsfreakconz – Being older than 14 I am probably not best positioned for a hot take on Marvel jerseys.  But can they please be closer to the normal branding of their team?  The Canes looked like they were the Blues, and given the Phoenix turn up every week in random colours we Wellingtonians deserve a break from that.  The Highlanders raspberry and lime Fruit Burst based kit was so bad it was kind of awesome.

 

3) Speaking of rugby, has there been a more dramatic international downturn than that of Wales?

@MadMaclegend – The boyos from the valleys have been here before; from 1989 to 1991 they won just once in the Five Nations. For me, the problem is they have too many professional teams with four, and three of those – Scarlets, Ospreys, and Dragons – have often competed with Italian side Zebre of the wooden spoon in the URC. Ireland for comparison have the same number but far more domestic players while Scotland has just two. But given the vested interest and deep-seated rivalries between (and within) those franchises good luck getting any of them to merge.

@bopman1 – it’s astonishing and an interesting cautionary tale. Small population, passionate rugby country, retirement of a golden generation, allow players to go and play overseas at the expense of your domestic structures and it all results in this. I can’t think of anything similar in the sports I follow and it’s sad. Cardiff should be such a difficult place to go and win but it just doesn’t appear to be that anymore. The concerning thing is that it can’t be written off as a blip. The structure and pathway are broken and need cleaning up (though their U20s beat England on Friday denying them a Grand Slam). It could be a long time until they can get out of it.

@ArtGuyNZ – There have been significant slumps before, but this looks ominous. They have lost a lot of important players in quick succession, but on the surface, it appears they simply crossed their fingers and hoped that all would come right.  As traditional foes, well, a number of years ago anyway, it is sad to see.  A comparison is hard to make, as Wales are not only being smashed, but aren’t even close to sneaking a lucky win.  Maybe post-Ceaușescu Romania (and yes, I am being reasonably serious)?

@Sportsfreakconz  – South Africa losing 57-0 at Albany looks increasingly like one of sport’s biggest outliers, but that wasn’t as prolonged as what Wales are going through.

 

4) The ANZ Netball Championship are bringing in the two point shot.  Good plan?

@MadMaclegend –Netball’s paradox is that when a team has fallen behind, its defence that’s the only way to catch up. It might have traditionalists grabbing their pitchforks, but anything that means a team can get back into the game by scoring and taking risks in doing so – like its basketball cousin – can only be a good thing. And lets face it, the local comp needs all the eyeballs on it that it can get.

 @bopman1 – It seems like a no-brainer so good on them. In a wider structural sense, it seems like netball has been the big loser from the growth of other sports taking the best young female athletes. If you’re a talented 12-year-old girl now, are you looking at netball or rugby/cricket/basketball/football?

@ArtGuyNZ – Finally!  The casual viewer has been calling for this since pretty much forever, but it is almost as though the horse could have bolted.  There are so many options available now that a change that should have happened 20 years ago may have been made too late now to genuinely entice players or television viewers.  But at least they’ve finally made the move – hopefully it works for them.

@Sportsfreakconz – From all accounts the Super Shot is working elsewhere so it seems like it’s a good idea.  Unlike other sports, eg Rugby Union, netball doesn’t change its rules often so it’s time for a change.

 

5) After a shoddy Round 1, the Warriors are back in Round 2!  Is this finally their year?

@MadMaclegend – It’s always “Our Year” isn’t it? The display against Manly was as promising as the display in Vegas was awful and while optimism fuels the Wahs faithful, let’s give it a couple more weeks before starting to openly wonder about winning the whole thing.

@bopman1 – No it still probably isn’t our year. But if they could at least make this year fun that would be great. The best bad Warriors years are the years where you don’t know what you’re going to get and in 2024 you knew what you were going to get, and it was just grim. The joy that the 2023 season seemed to bring the country isn’t something I can remember happening that often in my life so it would be cool if we could all jump on board like 2023.

@ArtGuyNZ – No, of course not.  The turnaround against Manly was certainly a positive, but if nothing else it points out to a typically wild rollercoaster season that the Wahs fans have had to come to love.  There are still many holes in the halves and centres for me, as well as a couple of decent game breaking bench players.  Tohu Harris is a massive loss.

@Sportsfreakconz – Lol. No.

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