The Silver Fern

you know what? fuck this bitch ass, punck ass, fuck ass "competition" there isn't even a pretence at parity or a salary cap.
Fucking Sydney just signed Torrey Craig. Fuck you Torrey. One of my favourite Taipans ever. Turning out in that shit fucking uniform.
Meanwhile the Taipans have the two worst imports in the league (and Andrew Andrews who is bottom 5), Waardenburg is hurt AGAIN, Reyne Smith has been broken since November, and it's just fuck us i guess? We can't send shit imports home and get new ones like other clubs (how come Adelaide suddenly have money?) we just suffer in our jocks and get hammered ever 2nd week.

And somehow we aren't the worst team in teh comp.

fuck yeah, even if it's all bullshit it filled in a boring tuesday.

@xman said in All Blacks 2026:

If Robertson is sacked, the pressure on the next coach will be enormous to get better results. If the next coach loses the South Africa tour, loses the Bledisloe, loses the Eden Park streak, then what does NZR do? Don’t just assume Jamie Joseph will be the saviour of the All Blacks. Coaching Japan where you’re not expected to win, versus coaching the All Blacks where you’re expected to win every game is different level of pressure.

disagree, Razor has done the next coach a massive favour.

Once it turned out surf jesus wasn't the messiah, the general narrative changed to we don't have the cattle, and other teams have got so much better. Whoever gets the gig next has his excuses written for him.

@Bovidae said in All Blacks 2026:

It would be a ruthless (and expensive) move by Kirk and co.

however if the review laid out that it was a complete shitshow then this is the most high-performance move made by NZRU in a very long time,

@Kirwan said in All Blacks 2026:

@mariner4life said in All Blacks 2026:

@Kiwiwomble said in All Blacks 2026:

assuming its true....really just for the purposes of a chat

im conflicted.....i didn't want them to drag things out like they did with fozzie...but also....getting rid of razor and keeping all the players that have been there through these poor performances and possibly seeding the toxic environment is also not good

i was about to post "I will absolutely crack up if they sack the coaches and then the same players get picked in July anyway"

If they win, and play well, we'll know what the problem was.

But I think it's clear that there is a good 20% surfing in on the back of the provincial cabal currently in charge.

if it was me?
The skipper moves to a squaddie spot
I am looking at 3 new starting loose forwards, Ardie to the bench.
BB to the paddock, DMac promoted and the most promising young 10 to the bench.
I am looking very hard at both midfield spots, definitely a new (or even returned) centre.
A new fullback, Jordan back to a wing.

@Kiwiwomble said in All Blacks 2026:

assuming its true....really just for the purposes of a chat

im conflicted.....i didn't want them to drag things out like they did with fozzie...but also....getting rid of razor and keeping all the players that have been there through these poor performances and possibly seeding the toxic environment is also not good

i was about to post "I will absolutely crack up if they sack the coaches and then the same players get picked in July anyway"

these "leaks" make no sense

The guy that, from the outside anyway, looks to be at the heart of our struggles when we have the ball, is not only locked in the jersey, he's actively running the team?
A guy who plays every minute of every test with what appears no accountability for any of the weaknesses in his game won't play for them any more?

I am many confused.

@Dan54 said in Super Rugby 2026:

@mariner4life said in Super Rugby 2026:

last time i went to a Reds game at Suncorp the crowd was so shit they were piping crowd noise over the PA when ever the Reds got in the 22. Hilarious.

They did that a few times when I there too mariner, even with average crowds. I wondered if they thought their supporters were so dumb they needed coaching on cheering.

they were too busy blaming the ref to cheer

last time i went to a Reds game at Suncorp the crowd was so shit they were piping crowd noise over the PA when ever the Reds got in the 22. Hilarious.

@booboo said in All Blacks 2026:

@mariner4life said in All Blacks 2026:

@Bones said in All Blacks 2026:

winner gets head

deal!!

How did I know it would be Mariner that picked up on that.

@Bones said in All Blacks 2026:

winner gets head

deal!!

it did help that they were playing one of the worst offences in the NFL. I am glad the Eagles are gone.

three absolute bangers to start WC round, every game going down to the last possession.

they were fucked because there was a lot of planning built on hope.

Once their two spearheads proved to be unfit, and predictably broke down, they were screwed. Throw in Atkinson being absolute ass and that's their first choice trio gone.
Didn't trust their spinner who got a free holiday.
They were fortunate that Tongue proved to be their best bowler on tour.

he's the 4th seamer, and you want him to open?

The guy who is captain and batting 6 should not also be bowling the most overs. If it was going according to plan he would be bowling short spells while his 3 main seamers and the spinner they refused to pick did most of the bowling.

But he was too often called upon to bowl earlier and for longer as the others struggled. The eye test says he also bowled a good heavy ball and looked threatening for a lot of his spells.

@Old-Alleynians said in Ashes 2025/6:

@mariner4life

From my English mates - Baz etc fired the fielding coach as he sent through too many plans etc. Here is my mate's message below - like me a fan who follows his team so take it as you will -

No fielding coach. No wicket keeping practice. No reserve keeper. No pink ball practice. No alternative opener. Bryson Carse doesn’t open for his county. We’ve lost to their second string bowling attack. He should be resigning.

can't argue with it TBH. It's a collective failure, and a bad one at that.

@Old-Alleynians said in Ashes 2025/6:

@mariner4life

Stokes - times his bowling entry - most heavy lifting is done by others.

well, that's their job. Stokes still bowled almost 20% of all their overs, as the 4th seamer, and that's without being fit enough to bowl in the final innings of the tour.
In this last test took the first two wickets of the Aus first innings.
First test ripped the entire middle order out to take 5
Bowled his fair share the rest of the time.
15 wickets at 25, the vast majority of those numbers 1-7.

Weird take to get in to him about his bowling efforts on this tour. Batting? absolutely, but he busted his ass with the ball.

McDaniel will have his pick of a LOT of OC positions

End of an era at the Storm it looks

Meaney and Wishart are off to the Bears.

Bellamy must also be on his last legs, unless the idea of a full rebuild actually excites him.

We've been predicting the death of the Storm for like a decade and we haven't been close to right yet

I get he's the main guy, and therefore buck stops etc. And Bazball is a fun thing to say. But i would be looking at some other areas before i just chucked Baz in teh bin.
Who is the batting coach? Some of the technique shown on this tour was disgraceful.
Did i read correctly that they don't even have a fielding coach? Considering the shelled chances that is telling.
Some of the bowling plans, especially early on, were absolutely retarded. Bowling short at Boland when he's doing nothing by buying time in Brisbane? The short shit in Perth allowing Head to just hit freely? Some of the pitch maps were telling.

While this go fast at all times mantra definitely cost them, my personal opinion is it had less to do with the result than the details and plans that make up a test or a tour. Basics fluffybunnies, they matter!