Farmduck

I almost never take umbrage these days. I used to but I ended up with umbrage stacked to the ceiling at my place and I could barely get the door open. The short kicking game is an important skill in the NRL and the short in-goals do nullify that a bit but I don't think it hurts Australia too much. Both the Samoa halves have played all their RL on Australian grounds (apart from a few internationals) so it's going to affect them too. As Ben Hunt and the Fox showed, the short kicking game isn't the only tool in the kicking bag.

At the betting shop: Samoa 11/2 Australia 1/8 Or, in Australian: Samoa $6.50 Australia $1.12 I've got 3 bets: $2 on Samoa to win $2 on Ferns to win and a $2 multi of Ferns --> Samoa at $35.75 I expect OZ to win both games but I wouldn't bet on anything paying less than $1.20 Even OZ by 13+ is only $1.45 Some possible value I noticed: Harry Grant to score at any time: $3.50 First try scorer: Brian To'o $17.00 Carbon-based Life Form of the Match: Munster $7.00

?? Kangaroos beat Scotland 84-0 with only 2 indigenous players. If you left out Wighton and JAC you could put Matt Burton at centre and Ryan Papenhuyzen on the wing and still beat Scotland 84-0

Tell me about it. Is it the education systems? Why did we go over a thousand years in English without using apostrophes for plurals but suddenly in the last 5 years they seem mandatory? Is it autofill? I first noticed this before the internet - well back in the mid 90s so it isn't a purely internet phenomenon. There was a very busy signwriter in my area whose work was unmistakable. He invented plural forms like mangoe's, tomato's, chicken's. It drives me nuts and people say, "It doesn't matter as long as people know what the meaning is." Well yes that's true as long as bad spellers stick to occupations of zero consequence in our lives I would agree with that. But they don't. They take their sites/cites/sights and there/their/they're out into the public where decent, moral, hardworking people are constantly assaulted with it. And don't get me started on people - predominantly Americans - who pronounce the plural of process as "processees." If a person was applying for admission to University or applying for some Immigration status then during (and at the completion of) that process they might be processees. Their other favourite one is biasees. This one is completely inane. If we accept axes and crises as a nod to their Greek via Latin etymology this doesn't explain biasees, from the French. Has a French speaker ever gone to a cafe and ordered baguettees or croissantees? I think not. Meanwhile, back at the point of this thread, since the WC started, this forum has been borderline unusable, especially on any match discussion. When attempting to read any Match Thread involving Australia I kept paraphrasing Lloyd Bridges, "It looks like I picked the wrong week to quit heroin," or "It looks like I picked the wrong week to quit elephant tranquillisers," and so on.

Really? 90%

I thought they were one player over the limit so whoever left first should have been fee-free. Perhaps Leeds badly wanted Nene so they paid to ensure he was the one released? If another club had signed one of the other overseas quota first, there would have been no need to let Nene go. I imagine some other clubs would have been interested in Ipape or even Ferguson. At his best, Ferguson can be a real bums-on-seats attraction.

Weren't Leigh over their overseas quota? Why would you pay a transfer fee if they had to get rid of him anyway? Also, if they were over their limit I don't see how his contract would have been enforceable against McDonald if they couldn't legally play him anyway.

Today I learned that there is a genre of YT videos called "Fake Barnacle Removal Turtle Rescue" videos.

As I said on the Aus section, I also don't get it. Apparently lots of clubs want Hastings and an equal number are happy to let him go after they get him.

Wests and Newcastle have done a player swap involving Klemmer and Jackson Hastings. I don't get it with Hastings. There are always allegedly multiple clubs queuing up to sign him but then those same clubs are always ready to let him go.

I believe there is an area in the North West famous for its leopards.

The Hookers?

Actually England was one of the few parts of Europe that didn't have lions. 3,000 years ago lions were still common in Europe.

I should have added "or when your country is traditionally associated with a thing." New Guinea has tree kangaroos but the big greys and reds are only found in OZ. Indonesia and Australia have Bord of Paradise species but the kumul species is only found in NG

Those names work better when you are the only country that has something like a kiwi or a kangaroo or a kumul.

They're making the decision today so the final is irrelevant.

Could you narrow it down, just a little bit.

That's interesting since her Wikipedia page says that was in 2022. That can't be right because that would make her currently ineligible for NZ. Even with the Tier1/Tier2 setup, you still can't change countries in the same year.

It wasn't just the big ones though, was it? Apii Nicholls was great, that winger outside Hufanga was good, even when she wasn't feeding off Hufanga, Krystal Rota is always good. They're all small and Rota is 37.

Don't forget what the commentator told us an hour ago: they only play 35 minute halves in NRLW so the NZers will start to run out of steam.

She almost gave the game away. When Covid knocked out the NRLW season she had a bay and didn't think she could get back up to standard. The Gold Coast rang her and convinced her t come and join their new NRLW team and now here she is. I don't know if she's still a cop.

Before 2017 NZ won 16 out of 20 games against OZ. Since then OZ won the last 5/5

It's the same old story: player pool, junior league numbers, development pathways, competition pyramid through tougher comps, good coaching and a bit of money thrown at it. There's no magic here.

Judging by the fog, I don't think any of us will be seeing the game.