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MAFIA TEES
Just $20 a shirt, a steal!
Not often you steal from the Mafia and live to tell the tale...
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Outstanding fans badly in need of five-point boost |
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Written by The try-missing Fan in the Stand
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Thursday, 09 August 2007 |
IT is always a good sign when your first view of BlueChip Stadium is from a traffic jam and the people certainly turned out to see us take on the might of Auckland.
The seats were still being filled after kick-off but the great crowd did not get the result we all wanted and, as against Canterbury, the Bay was punished in the final 10 minutes.
It seems a long time since we took on and defeated Auckland at the ground in 2003.
Our forward pack has been decimated since then and losing Ben Castle so early in the game highlighted the fact that the Bay hasn't recruited experience in the tight five area.
Poor Matt Wallis was given a bruising introduction to the big time by former All Black Saimone Taumoepeau. Our promising backline would appreciate a 2m lock to win easy ball or a massive hooker to smash into the opposition scrum.
This Fan is all for putting our faith in the young talent we have but without Captain Castle, our inexperienced eight look vulnerable to the lesser teams in the competition who will all be looking to steal our line-out ball and smash our scrum.
In reality, the season starts from now and the next few weeks will determine whether we can make the top eight.
Once more, questions are being asked in the stands about whether Williams or Delany should be playing at 10.
Like Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort, their careers seem to be intertwined - Williams was injured in 2005 and replaced by Delany.
Delany was selected over Williams in 2006, pushing Williams back to 15 and then Williams came back in great form when Delany was injured. Ian Foster preferred Williams for the Chiefs, and so far Herb Schuler was has also gone for Williams at 10.
Yet it appears that Delany is better able to control the backline under pressure, while Williams may do better at full-back where Delany's lack of size is more exposed.
Tomorrow we take on Northland in Rotorua but given the size of our province, how many fans will be forced to miss the game because of the ridiculously early 7pm kickoff? This is yet another example of television viewers taking precedence over the ``fan in the stand''.
Worryingly, Northland look competent this year and we can't expect to dish out a thrashing. I'll take a tryless win tomorrow night, don't get me wrong, but a five-pointer would give fans something to cheer, at last.
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Buy "If Only No More" |
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Steamers 2009 |
| : Air New Zealand Cup |
| Position: 7 |
| 31 July: Northland, W 19-14 |
| 9 Aug: Counties, W 32-9 |
| 15 Aug: Wellington, W 21-17 |
| 22 Aug: Waikato, W 32-16 |
| 30 Aug: Auckland, L 14-29 |
| 5 Sep: Canterbury, W 19-17 |
| 11 Sep: Southland, L 12-19 |
| 17 Sep: Tasman, W 24-13 |
| 26 Sep: Otago, L 17-26 |
| 2 Oct: Hawke's Bay, L 19-22 |
| 10 Oct: Harbour, L 7-28 |
| 16 Oct: Manawatu, W 28-27 |
| 25 Oct: Taranaki, L 24-30 |
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News and Opinion 
