Blogging politics, culture, sociology and life from Brisvegas
Terry Hill and Gorden (Raging Bull”) Tallis were not the brightest sparks who ever played State of Origin rugby league, but their 1999 confrontation provided perhaps the most emblematic photo of the ferocious interstate rivalry. That’s Laurie Daley’s then receding hairline in the background, now miraculously restored.
Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more,
Or close the wall up with our Queensland dead!
In peace there’s nothing so becomes a man
As modest stillness and humility;
But when the blast of war blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger:
Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood.
Apologies to The Bard!
Yes, it’s time for State of Origin 2 in the year of our Lord 2008.
The time has come, the walrus said… Oops! I’ll start again.
The time has come to begin the the greatest contest, the longest stoush, in the greatest game of all. Well that’s the view of the 0.0000000001% of the world population that follow rugby league. Tonight we have the first State of Origin match, where the cane toads take on the cockeroaches from south of the Tweed in the opening stoush in enemy territory where the reviled Blues have won 10 out of the 12 matches played. This on one of the most unsuitable venues for the game in the country, a round field for a rectangular game, for Chrissake, and a slippery surface unsuitable for grazing cows, or anything useful really.
It’s part of the dark plot by the game’s governing body, where NSW always has the numbers, to tip the odds their way. As is the adoption of the 10 replacement rule, specifically requested by the NSW coach, as against the 12 replacement rule used in international competition, when any donkey knows that SOO is faster and more furious than any international game we are likely to play.
Yes it’s time again for mate against mate, state against state, the cockroaches against the cane toads, the maroons against the blues as Queensland and New South Wales line up again for the first of Rugby League’s annual State of Origin stoushes tonight.
They say the Suncorp Stadium is no longer “the cauldron� that once was Lang park and visiting teams love playing here.
We Quincelanders do need to win, because the second match is at Telstra Australia in Sydney and the record shows we’ve never won there. (Well we did win a couple of times, it’s just that the ref didn’t score it that way.)
Not really.
I was having a chat with my flatmate this afternoon about how our fine town has changed over the years, sparked in part by his friend’s contribution to the wonderful anthology of short stories, One Book, Many Brisbanes, which has to be one of the best cultural things any City Council has done for a while (or on the other hand, maybe it’s the painted traffic signal boxes). In part it was also inspired by the truly stinky and hot day (we’ve largely had a most uncharacteristically pleasant summer) which really annoys because we’re tormented and teased by the build up in humidity and grey clouds, but the storms we used to enjoy for the release they brought no longer seem to happen - though some weather divinities in these parts obviously still try hard to make it rain for us. Anyway, I must have got thinking because I left a very long comment on a post at Home Cooked Theory, which I think deserves a life of its own as a post here. It was a bit of a segue from Mel’s post, rather than a direct response.
And at some point tonight I thought I could pick up on some of my previous thoughts about photoblogging and flickrblog the post (to coin a phrase) courtesy of all the wonderful people who put up their photos with a Creative Commons Licence.
[Image courtesy of Smørrebrød røm pøm] Here’s a link to the full sized photo, which looks to have been taken from the top of Hamilton Hill.
Continue reading ‘Warning: Contents may offend people from Sydderney’
One of the good things about being a slash person (in my case lecturer/consultant/writer/editor) is that you get to do all sorts of interesting and varied contracts rather than a full time job that’s much the same all the time. At the moment, I have a short term gig sitting in the Editor’s chair of Online Opinion while Susan is on hols. It’s really fun to work with authors commissioning, developing and editing articles, and I’ve come across a few gems so far which it’s a real pleasure to publish.
One is this great piece by UWS sociologist David Rowe on the history and current state of play in Rugby League. David asks:
It is now over a decade since the Super League War confirmed all the worst fears of those who see contemporary sport as a wholly owned subsidiary of corporate commercial media. Rugby League has recovered on the surface, with a unified league, open competition, respectable crowds, television ratings and sponsorships in the usual places.
The NRL competition is successful in that it does produce a rapid turnover of winners – it rains reigning premiers, with seven different teams having won since 1998 and no team winning consecutive competitions. League loudly asserts that the house rent in twain in the last century is in good order for the current one. But is such optimism justified?
Speaking as someone who regrets the loss of local loyalties to Brisbane teams and the distinctive Brisbane Rugby League style of play which were effectively eclipsed by the Bronco’s entry into what was then the Sydney competition, I have a lot of sympathy with David’s historical perspective. I more or less gave up watching Rugby League altogether around the time of the Super League imbroglio. So it’s interesting to see David structure his reflections around just that event:
Despite official pronouncements that the Super League cataclysm is a thing of the past, it continues to stalk the code like Banquo’s ghost at a Macbeth family dinner.
You can read about the Australian Society for Sport History online.
is on… in Melbourne! Aside from the usual invitation to liveblog, predict, dissect, comment, celebrate and/or bemoan, any commentary on whether the perennial “Rugby League invades AFL territory” move is a good one or foredoomed is most welcome on this thread…
As South Africa and Australia battle inclement weather at the SCG the start of 2006 sees Rugby League dominating the headlines in NSW for two different reasons.
One is the very sad passing of Cronulla and Australian rugby league legend Steve Rogers, the father of Wallaby Mat Rogers. The passing was quite unexpected. And it has been revealed that Rogers was suffering from depression which contributed to his death. All fans of league are saddened by his death.
In the same week Penrith Panthers played Craig Gower was stripped of the team’s captaincy and fined $100,000 for his behaviour during a charity golf day on the Sunshine Coast last year. Gower is alleged to have groped the daughter of Tigers great Wayne Pierce, threatening other people at a diner and in a great league tradition ran around nude.
Continue reading ‘Changing The Culture of The NRL and Its Boofy Blokes’
Larvatus Prodeo is an Australian group blog which discusses politics, sociology, culture, life, religion and science from a left of centre perspective. more»
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