Sat 4th Nov: Pacific Championship - Final: New Zealand v Australia KO 4am UK Time (Sky)

[gingerjon]

Slept through my alarm. Regretting that now.

[Gomersall]

 

[Eddie]

Get in NZ, and have that  

[Eddie]

Sounds like a lot of people are complaining about the venue and subsequent poor crowd, which is obviously disappointing but if Mount Smart wasn’t available what can they do  

[gingerjon]

 

[graveyard johnny]

not a mention of the biggest defeat in the kangaroos history on the BBC website - not even recognition the match took place WTF?

[Tommygilf]

1 minute ago, graveyard johnny said:

not a mention of the biggest defeat in the kangaroos history on the BBC website - not even recognition the match took place WTF?

Sky sports app doesn't even have the fixture listed and they are showing the game.

[gingerjon]

4 minutes ago, Tommygilf said:

Sky sports app doesn't even have the fixture listed and they are showing the game.

Whatever service delivers the fixtures/results for the Pacific Championships, it doesn't seem to be one that the apps/data scrapers necessarily use.

Which is bizarre.

[The Rocket]

38 minutes ago, Eddie said:

Sounds like a lot of people are complaining about the venue and subsequent poor crowd, which is obviously disappointing but if Mount Smart wasn’t available what can they do  

Ended up at over 13 000, pity they didn`t seat a few more of them opposite the cameras, because the grandstand behind them was pretty full.

[Damien]

I've said a few times on here that I thought this was a really strong NZ team and the strongest looking NZ team for quite some time. I thought they performed really well in the World Cup last year and so to see NZ win was no surprise. A huge win like that though is unbelievable. 

[GeordieSaint]

Wow. Great win. Really pleased for the Kiwis. This Australian generation are so very beatable. NZ and Tonga have shown either side of COVID now. Just needs to happen in the WC…

Edited November 4, 2023 by GeordieSaint

[The Rocket]

I bet the Aussies are going to be smarting over that, and they are going to have to wait 12 months for revenge, funny in a way, a loss like this casts a whole shadow over Origin because Oz is no longer number 1, no matter what the rankings say, so it ain`t the best playing the best, today they have been comprehensively beaten by the Kiwi`s and lost their last tournament.

Now if only the Kiwi`s can beat them again in their next encounter, because the Aussies will come hard, another loss could really dent the Aussies supreme international confidence, and that I believe is three quarters of the challenge to beating them.

 

[Damien]

Pretty hard to keep trying to paint Origin as the pinnacle when the best of Origin just got hammered by 30 points. The NRL will though.

[The Rocket]

7 minutes ago, GeordieSaint said:

This Australian generation are so very bearable

That`s very kind of you Gordie, so many times we hear that the Aussie players are big-heads.

[Keith989]

1 hour ago, Eddie said:

Sounds like a lot of people are complaining about the venue and subsequent poor crowd, which is obviously disappointing but if Mount Smart wasn’t available what can they do  

I really think NZs love for rugby is over stated. They struggle with attendances for the national sides in both codes, always have. 

[The Rocket]

Being reported in The Sydney Morning Herald:

"The only reason the NZRL moved the game to Hamilton was because the Test schedule was not locked in until the collective bargaining agreement was nailed down. October remains the best time to play Test football – it is foolish to suggest any other time during the year – and 12 months of promotion will help next year.

"Four nations taking part rather than three will also mean there is no rest weekend during the Pacific Championships, which helps the series maintain momentum.

"Australia, New Zealand, Tonga and potentially Fiji will make up the Pacific Championships next year, with international officials hopeful Samoa tour England, and Papua New Guinea, Cook Islands, Lebanon and potentially France round out the tier-two tournament."

Some interesting stuff in there.

Full article if you can open it.

International Rugby League: New Zealand send Australia crashing to their heaviest Test loss (smh.com.au)

[iffleyox]

46 minutes ago, graveyard johnny said:

not a mention of the biggest defeat in the kangaroos history on the BBC website - not even recognition the match took place WTF?

I appreciate not everyone is going to be crawling round the sports pages of the Guardian online but I’ve just read it covered there.

[Dunbar]

Amazing result.

Australia didn't actually play that badly which shows just how good New Zealand were.

As soon as they started beating a few tackles in the first half, the Kiwis confidence started to grow and they executed so well in attack.

[The Rocket]

2 minutes ago, Dunbar said:

the Kiwis confidence started to grow and they executed so well in attack.

Yes was thinking that watching the Kiwi`s during the game, so much about beating the Australian`s is having that belief you are better than them, not getting that belief because you find yourself in front, which we so often see with the Kiwi`s, but going into the game with that belief, I suppose that only comes with winning.

[Harry Stottle]

10 hours ago, Bedfordshire Bronco said:

There as in there?

Yes it was the double header in '19 in Auckland, GB v NZ and Tonga v Aus.

[StandOffHalf]

16 minutes ago, The Rocket said:

Being reported in The Sydney Morning Herald:

"The only reason the NZRL moved the game to Hamilton was because the Test schedule was not locked in until the collective bargaining agreement was nailed down. October remains the best time to play Test football – it is foolish to suggest any other time during the year – and 12 months of promotion will help next year.

"Four nations taking part rather than three will also mean there is no rest weekend during the Pacific Championships, which helps the series maintain momentum.

"Australia, New Zealand, Tonga and potentially Fiji will make up the Pacific Championships next year, with international officials hopeful Samoa tour England, and Papua New Guinea, Cook Islands, Lebanon and potentially France round out the tier-two tournament."

Some interesting stuff in there.

Full article if you can open it.

International Rugby League: New Zealand send Australia crashing to their heaviest Test loss (smh.com.au)

Foolish to suggest more than an end-of-season  tournament!! The bought-up media sycophants have to say that the disinterested, out-passioned Roos with one foot on the beach will be better next year after better advertising leading up to the 2024 iteration.

Put a mid-season window in there and that could be a super calendar.

[StandOffHalf]

20 minutes ago, Dunbar said:

Amazing result.

Australia didn't actually play that badly which shows just how good New Zealand were.

As soon as they started beating a few tackles in the first half, the Kiwis confidence started to grow and they executed so well in attack.

I thought Australia were so flat and not up to the fight. Their forwards were dominated and the Kiwi halves executed to put the wingmen in.

[Dunbar]

5 minutes ago, StandOffHalf said:

I thought Australia were so flat and not up to the fight. Their forwards were dominated and the Kiwi halves executed to put the wingmen in.

Looked to me like Australia were sent out with the instructions that if they got through their sets, defended well and won the initial arm wrestle then the Kiwis would fall away and the points would come.

When that didn't happen and the Kiwis started breaking tackles, making half breaks and breaks the Kangaroos just kept playing that same style and nothing happened for them while the Kiwis confidence grew and grew.

[The Masked Poster]

Only just seen the highlights and couldn't believe the score. Well done NZ and let's not hope it's just another Elland Rd in 2005, when it looked like there might be a changing of the guard....but wasn't. But regardless, always good to see the Kangaroos get their butt kicked. Always. 

[Damien]

1 hour ago, The Rocket said:

Ended up at over 13 000, pity they didn`t seat a few more of them opposite the cameras, because the grandstand behind them was pretty full.

Just to show: