SAS Fox Memorial Premiership 2020

[unapologetic pedant]

All games cancelled this weekend. And no rescheduling. Don`t want to stray into politics, but isn`t it obvious that whenever restrictions are lifted, eventually the virus will spread. And if, when it does, restrictions are immediately reimposed, then we`re stuck with this on/off scenario indefinitely.

The ARL do seem unduly willing to call everything off. Have to wonder would this happen if Peter V`landys were running the ARL.

If this is just a week`s hiatus, surely this round could be tacked on to the end of the regular season to ensure that all the teams play each other once.

[Taniwha Warriors]

On 06/08/2020 at 00:55, unapologetic pedant said:

I`m far away but this is my best guess. I think the venues where two of the Mitre Cup RU provincial teams play home games are the most likely. So that`s North Harbour Stadium and the smaller one at Counties. Would the ARL GF get 5 to 10 k though?

Good to see my old stomping ground Pt Chev Pirates up there. I haven't been in West Auckland for ages but is the Waitakere stadium still standing?

[unapologetic pedant]

I`m getting YouTube recommendations for recent RU games featuring men`s and women`s teams like North Harbour and Counties-Manukau.

At the same time the Auckland RL seem to be cancelling everything. Why the difference?

[gnidir]

On 12/09/2020 at 02:47, unapologetic pedant said:

I`m getting YouTube recommendations for recent RU games featuring men`s and women`s teams like North Harbour and Counties-Manukau.

At the same time the Auckland RL seem to be cancelling everything. Why the difference?

Mitre 10 Cup is a pro comp mate. They play at enclosed stadia, and only Auckland has the extra weird lock down conditions.

Auckland Rugby league is played on park fields. 

[unapologetic pedant]

16 hours ago, gnidir said:

Mitre 10 Cup is a pro comp mate. They play at enclosed stadia, and only Auckland has the extra weird lock down conditions.

Auckland Rugby league is played on park fields. 

Is that the same for the Farah Palmer Cup? Surely that`s not pro. I appreciate their games will be played in "enclosed stadia", but what about all the training and preparation for the Auckland sides. If women`s RU teams can find ways to keep playing, why not ARL men`s teams?

[gnidir]

15 hours ago, unapologetic pedant said:

Is that the same for the Farah Palmer Cup? Surely that`s not pro. I appreciate their games will be played in "enclosed stadia", but what about all the training and preparation for the Auckland sides. If women`s RU teams can find ways to keep playing, why not ARL men`s teams?

The two are worlds apart mate. ARL is like north west counties, only with less infrastructure. The Farah Palmer cup is a national comp run by the provincial unions. They have tv deals and all the things you would expect of it.

[kiwis 13 6]

On 14/08/2020 at 12:39, unapologetic pedant said:

All games cancelled this weekend. And no rescheduling. Don`t want to stray into politics, but isn`t it obvious that whenever restrictions are lifted, eventually the virus will spread. And if, when it does, restrictions are immediately reimposed, then we`re stuck with this on/off scenario indefinitely.

The ARL do seem unduly willing to call everything off. Have to wonder would this happen if Peter V`landys were running the ARL.

If this is just a week`s hiatus, surely this round could be tacked on to the end of the regular season to ensure that all the teams play each other once.

Yep I agree with your post, im seriously considering voting for a newly formed political party but thats politics so ill leave it at that.

Wellington grand final is scheduled for this Sunday WRL have booked Porrirua Park which cost around $2000 to hire but as level 2 ends on Monday and crowds are restricted to 100 people until then.... Wellington has not had a case of covid for over a month.

[kiwis 13 6]

Wellington Grand Final went ahead as scheduled with crowd limited to 50 supporters for each side.

Randwick 44 beat Whiti Te Ra 24

In the Plate Final Victoria Uni Hunters 38 Beat Te Aroha 34

[unapologetic pedant]

4 hours ago, kiwis 13 6 said:

Wellington Grand Final went ahead as scheduled with crowd limited to 50 supporters for each side.

Randwick 44 beat Whiti Te Ra 24

In the Plate Final Victoria Uni Hunters 38 Beat Te Aroha 34

Just watched it on the Facebook page. Lucky with the weather, looked a beautiful day.

Very open, quite loose game. Total contrast with last week`s CRL GF. This due in no small part to the man in the middle who was the type of "play-on" ref we sadly don`t see enough of nowadays. Not much in Auckland, and certainly not in Aus, where any doubt over anything means a whistle.

Players can take advantage of this kind of refereeing, and predictably he had a lot of moaning to deal with in the second half. But he held his nerve, and the consequence was a good game to watch with more risk-taking. Amateur commentators were continually seeing phantom breaches like crowds do, which illustrates the pressure officials are under and why most tend to take the safe option of stopping the game and making a call.

[unapologetic pedant]

There was also the Waikato GF at the weekend, Turangawaewae - Taniwharau, with pretty good coverage on their Facebook page.

Quite a cagey game like the Canterbury final, but it opened up more later as fatigue kicked in. Real stars were the two sets of fans. Plenty of Maori language in the crowd singing and the commentary. Really enjoyed it.