I don't care about the Tri-Nations and Bledisloe "needing a bit of a stir up" more than I care about winning them tbh. I wouldn't be happy to sacrifice the title just so a few more people watch it next year...in any case, it's debatable that NZ winning it would decrease the "excitement around the 2008 competition" anyway imo
It certainly increases the monotony though, I don't think even you can argue against that. We see the same things happen most years and it's getting very boring, especially for the players, one reason a lot of them are jumping ship and going to England. I love winning as much as the next guy, but if we lost the Bledisloe Cup then it would help make the competition better, not just for spectators and fans, but also for players.
We've only won the Tri-nations twice in a row. This year would be 3rd time in a row (if we win). It's not like NZ has totally dominated it from it's conception. The other 2 sides have also won it twice each....and the "reason a lot of them are jumping ship and going to England" is $$$$$$. Guys like Marshall like to use this "tired of the Super 14 & Tri-Nations" whinge to try to slightly deflect the fact that they are simply chasing the big bucks.
Marshall had been playing in New Zealand for over 10 years and I am sure he was sick of coming up against the same opponents in the NPC, Super 14 and Tri Nations and I applaud him for having the courage to say as much. He doesn't hid the fact that he wanted some good money to end his career, if you actually listened to him when he left our shores then that much would have been clear. Let's face it, New Zealand dominate world rugby, and in particular the Tri Nations. If we lost the Bledisloe Cup, then I can't help but feel it would be good for rugby as a whole, particularly with the Tri Nations and Southern Hemisphere rugby. It's not all about New Zealand, there is a bigger picture, I think you're failing to grasp that idea.
Firstly, yes I did listen to Marshall whining like he always liked to. Secondly, I couldn't really give a rat's about the big picture tbh. Just want my team to win. The game is in a fairly healthy state. Most of the TriNations games are still getting good crowds and we'll be doing our bit for World Rugby in 2011
Pretty tempted to throw a rolleyes at you, but given how you responded last time I think I'll refrain. If you think the game is in a fairly healthy state then quite frankly you're mad.
Barely worth responding to, but FFS grow up. Yes I do realise the irony.
Quite possibly. Hopefully they don't come down to a Perm vs Fiery thing everytime, because we sometimes have a similar opinion on the All Blacks, most of the time it's different though.
I wonder what would happen if the All-Blacks met Oz in the World Cup??
Could do, yes. Fiery and I will both be supporting New Zealand though, so I wouldn't have that it would cause too much conflict.
Ah, we have dominated it. We've won it 7 times.
I fail to see how, yes Leonard played okay given the time that he did, but Cowan was also pretty good whenever he was in the side.
I heard there was a bit of talk surrounding Chris Latham and his possible inclusion in the starting team.
Not sure how you fail to see how when Cowan was nothing more than solid and Leonard was quite exciting/promising
How was Leonard exciting/promising? Yeah he scored a try, big deal. The way some of these idiots (not meaning you) are wanking on about him on Radio Sport is ridiculous, you'd think he was the second coming of Christ. Yes he had a good game, doesn't mean diddly squat in the long-term. Grant Nisbett got it right when he said the nation needs to settle down in regards to Leonard, he had a good game, nothing else.