Copa

Very sad. He also starred in this punk music video.

Here in Australia handball is a primary school sport that’s totally different to the handball at the Olympics. In fact, most Australians have probably had zero exposure to the handball at the Olympics and don’t even know of its existence. I must say, I’m really enjoying the handball and have watched many of the games. It looks like a lot of fun and is easy to follow and understand.

Some also assaulted and abused one of Canberra’s most high profile supporters who attends almost every Canberra game, regardless of location, with his drum and Viking costume. A small segment of footage was posted online but he said it was far worse than what that short piece of footage showed.

Now that the swimming is coming to an end Australia will fade away at the Olympics. For those who have never lived in Australia, there’s almost a moral obligation to teach your children to swim. It’s considered critical to child safety.

There’s no way Algeria would tolerate a trans woman representing them at the Olympics. Algeria would probably throw them in jail instead.

He’s 100% rugby league but is he actually qualified? What does a president do?

Look at the draw on the nrl site. It has a “get tickets” link for every game. You can also buy tickets at the stadium on match day.

So stressful!

I enjoyed the Great North Walk between Circular Quay in the centre of Sydney to the centre of Newcastle to the north. It took 14 days and we had a great time camping wherever we could find in the national parks on the way. I walk through nature a at least a few days a week and occasionally do a larger day walk. I really enjoyed the Main Range Walk a few years ago with its glacial lakes and alpine wilderness. It’s to the south of Canberra in New South Wales and is one the best day walks in the country. Canberra also has a selection of mountains that offer great day walks. The elevation change is around 600 to 900m for many of them so you feel you’ve had a good walk. The views from the top looking over huge expanses of untouched wilderness can be spectacular although this week I was caught out in high winds and snow with subzero temperatures on one peak. It was great fun! Just over the last 7 days of walking I’ve been very close to a dingo, seen lyrebirds, an emu, lots of wallabies and kangaroos. I prefer winter walking due to the snakes being less active.

English and Indonesian. I can no longer discuss abstract philosophy or the nuances of political science in Indonesian but i can still have all the regular day to day conversations. Learning Indonesian was one of the best things I’ve ever done. It’s like i stepped through a door into a world and way of thinking totally unlike anything I’d ever imagined. As I age i sometimes think AUSLAN (Australian sign language) could be interesting, good for my brain and helpful as my hearing inevitably fades. I’d have to get my partner involved too for that plan to work. I sometimes think older people would feel less loneliness if they, and the wider community, could sign. If I ever moved to the UK, and it’s a possibility, I think I’d learn one of the UK’s indigenous languages other than English. I’d not just dabble either, I’d learn until I was fluent.

I’ve known a couple of top level players. One guy knew Omar Sharif and had played with him. He’d also been paid by the super wealthy to partner up for bridge tournaments. In his prime he was a top level international player. He was also a very senior manager in his profession. The other guy was an elite level player in Australia. He remained at an entry level position in his profession throughout his entire career and never progressed. Senior management knew of his intelligence and skills and would often talk to him and enjoyed his company. He was, and still is, very eccentric. Both of these people were unbelievably intelligent, some would say gifted, in their own way. Bridge appealed to them, fascinated them, seduced them. If these two amazingly unique gentlemen loved bridge, then it must have something going for it.

Matty Nicholson to Canberra. https://www.raiders.com.au/news/2024/07/12/raiders-sign-matty-nicholson?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR1F3xDV7M6sM4GeNmtKlG4oW8gkKm4ZvGnkmgJZoJjDa09j2ZMa5Odez2o_aem_fph6B7GlQQfO4yGgv5ZSlw

That’s a long day of rugby league. I’m thinking of going to watch the Raiders and if I do I think I’ll only watch the SL and the Raiders match. I wonder how they’ll present all the official SL pitch and pitch side sponsorship and switch it over to the NRL sponsors between games.

I’ve only run 4 times in 5 years and they’ve all been at parkrun. I did a parkrun 5 years ago in Canberra and another in England last year. I’ve done two parkruns in Canberra over the last two weeks with times of 29 and 27 minutes. I’m now on the lookout for some proper shoes. We have quite a few parkruns to choose from in Canberra and I’m thinking of trying the run with the dirt road in a nature reserve as the variation of the ground seems to work better for my feet. It feels good to get back into running.

A suburban game on the Central Coast (New South Wales) in the 70s. The only thing I remember is the tackler head butting the ball carrier when he got up to play the ball.

There’s still stuff on YouTube from the Italy v Pakistan match played in Pakistan. Plus a few others …

Things are dire if he’s chosen the Titans but then again maybe he’s heard the famous Brent Todd interview when they asked why he wanted to play on the Gold Coast. (Warning: some crude language in a TV news report)

Michael Mosley. He went too soon.

The Australian government helps fund the Fijian team in the Super Rugby and also funds player pathways etc.

A few years ago Parramatta conducted research into their fan base. They discovered 1 in 5 were born overseas and one of their fastest growing demographics are of Indian heritage. They also found: Link “Among Eels fans’ fathers, 35 per cent were born overseas. Amongst Eels fans’ mothers, 33 per cent were were born overseas. The top countries for the parents born overseas include India, UK, China and Lebanon.“ ……… Parramatta has found a way to get migrants and their kids to attend. So it can be done.

Looks like it’s happening. PNG in the NRL

Why would London be an obvious candidate? They have few fans, no real home ground, low profile etc. The NRL would also have to deal with all the self serving mess from SL clubs that is amplified because of poor leadership from the governing body.

There was a story about Ukrainian RL on Australian TV a few months ago. They showed youth teams playing and spoke with coaches and organisers.

Record breaking attendance and TV ratings https://www.nrl.com/news/2024/05/17/womens-origin-opener-breaks-rugby-league-records/amp/ Television numbers show the match to be the most-watched Women's State of Origin match on record, with Channel Nine's free-to-air viewership higher than free-to-air viewership for any NRL Telstra Premiership match this season and higher than free-to-air viewership for any AFL match played this year. With a national total TV reach of close to 2 million and a total TV national audience of more than 940,000, ARLC Chairman Peter V'landys said the figures spoke to the strength of rugby league and the growth of the women's rugby league.

The NRL would be interested in making the SL as big and as profitable as possible.