|
Written by Chiefs-Loving Fan in the Stand
|
|
Friday, 01 September 2006 |
The Fan in the Stand has met some madmen in my time. Hori BOP, for instance. And the bloke at the local dairy who told Hori BOP he'd run out of pies. They're everywhere - I bumped into a couple of craaaazy downhill mountain bikers in Rotorua at the weekend and once I even came across some clown willing to travel to Hamilton to watch the Chiefs play rugby.
But nothing compares with the insanity of holding the Steamers game in Rotorua on Saturday afternoon, at the same time as the world mountain biking champs. Driving past Mt Ngongotaha on the way to the game was a little disheartening - around 40,000 potential Steamers fans crammed into gondolas riding up to watch the action, while barely 3000 dripped into International Stadium. It would have made more sense to swap it with a Tauranga game or have a 7.30pm kickoff.
Mind you, it was great to see the Steamers notch their first win of the campaign.
At 33-3 just before halftime it looked like a four-try bonus point was in the bag and 60 points was on the cards, after great performances from Charles Baxter, Mike Delany and Jamie Nutbrown. Unfortunately, the only consistency about the Steamers this season has been a poor second half. The Fan in the Stand would love to be a fly on the wall in the changing room to hear what Andre Bell is saying in his halftime team talks. We could even offer the following advice: It's not bloody working.
Another thing that's not working is Super 14. The Fan read with not much surprise recently that the Chiefs were planning on following the Crusaders model, shovelling their whole playing roster into Waikato to boost crowd numbers. Apparently heaps of Steelers and Steamers players will end up in Waikato colours. Hello??!! Based on the past five years, isn't this already happening? The only thing that will work with the Chiefs is if they up-stakes and head over the hill. Come home to the Bay, and leave your red, yellow and black baggage at the top of the Kaimai Range.
They'll also need a rethink with selections - and the first name they could chuck in there would be Colin Bourke's. It was great to see him back from injury. Onwards and upwards for Steamers this week. Here's hoping for an 80-minute performance and two wins in a row.
Five things for Bay fans to be happy about:
- We've won a game!
- Jamie Nutbrown isn't the jinx he feared he was.
- Colin Bourke is back.
- Just think how good we'll be when we play both halves.
- Mike Delany is the heir apparent to Sir Glen Jackson.
|
News and Opinion 
