| |
|
MAFIA TEES
Just $20 a shirt, a steal!
Not often you steal from the Mafia and live to tell the tale...
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
Steamers stretching optimism to breaking point |
|
Written by The Depressed Fan in the Stand
|
|
Thursday, 13 September 2007 |
Being a positive Fan, I prefer to focus on the good parts of a Steamers performance, even after a heavy defeat.
Unfortunately it's now seven games into the season ... I can't take any more!
The first half against Taranaki was utterly appalling and we were lucky to be only 17-0 down.
With the Warriors about to start a big game on one channel and a Ranfurly Shield match on another, only a real Bay fan (or an idiot - and believe me there is a fine line between the two) would have stay tuned in for the second half.
You can point to the injury list to our outside backs, six out by my count if you include Murray Williams.
However, our right-side defence made Paul Perez, a hitherto unheralded Taranaki winger, appear to be genetically engineered from the DNA of Joe Rokocoko and Jonah Lomu.
The fact that we scored three rather easy tries in the second half just illustrated how dire we were in the first half.
As ever there were honourable exceptions in the Bay jersey. Mike Delany showed he has a massive heart in a small frame and Jamie Nutbrown made a huge number of cover tackles after our defence was breached.
Cory Aporo made a decent fist of fullback but surely it is time to have him back in the 12 jersey where he caused so much havoc last season.
The Fan has repeated this all season but it is the line-out that is truly awful.
My latest theory is that the Bay union is making money by producing footage for rugby academies under the ``How Not To'' banner.
If so, surely they have enough examples by now?
Except for the first game against Canterbury, the opposition hasn't actually stolen much of our ball.
Here are my top-three line-out moves for the season, in no particular order.
3. The premature hoist and throw to nobody. The Bay front jumper is in the air 5secs before the ball is thrown and is back on terra firma as the ball sails over his head. We sometimes win the ball as the opposition is as confused as we are.
2. The perfect line-out - except the ball goes through the Bay lock's hands to be ruled as a knock-on. Incredibly frustrating to the fan - ``Just catch the ******''.
1. This final line-out is a Bay speciality. We're 5m from our own tryline, so naturally we throw to the back of the line-out. Well not exactly to the back, in fact significantly over the back.
This is a tactic that can work - except our players aren't ready for it whereas the opposition has already seen it happen so often in our previous games, they quickly dive onto the ball.
Southland is the visitor to the Mount on Sunday afternoon.
There is nothing special about them except their general competence and that will probably be enough to ensure a sound victory.
|
|
|
|
| |
|
Buy "If Only No More" |
|
|
|
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 |
|
|
|
|
News and Opinion 
