Part of the problem with the neanerthals running amok is that they don’t seem to get the responsibilities that come with the professional game and all that goes with it.

I’m sure the NZRFU is happy to take the percentage commission it gets out of betting on rugby yet is happy to skimp on the investment to ensure that the results reflect the performance on the pitch.

The NRL’s Roosters found themselves in a similar spot with some allegations allegedly alleging (hey!!, a Rooster lawyer may read this!!!) that the Roosters had chucked the second half to so some one(s) could cash in on the 13+ for the Cowgirls.

In a related story which revisited the scam allegations, there was an interesting comparison with racing:

In the wake of the betting allegations, Racing NSW boss Peter V’landys  has warned punters about the risks in sports wagering.

“In racing, we spend $4million a year to have the best stewards in the country to protect the punter,” V’landys  said.

“The sports codes don’t have anything in place to handle this sort of issue. There is no protection for punters in sports betting.”

So perhaps if the NZRFU intends to save on the TMO’s, the TAB could save on paying out the commission to the NZRFU?

Strange of course that it always seem the big teams like the Cantabs that get the luck of the draw.  If anything, you would have expected a home town decision.

Indeed, Chris Rattue notes in the Granny:

It even makes you wonder if reputations hold sway, whether the Canterbury aura and the presence of Richie McCaw and co subconsciously persuaded the officials not to make a tough ruling against them.

Regardless of the merits of the decision – and quite frankly, there weren’t many! – the real issue is the idiotic decision of the NZRFU to ditch the TMOs for the NPC.

It saved a couple of hundred grand but in the wider scheme of things that’s a high cost to pay for little benefit.

Indeed, as many are pointing out, with a little innovation, the same cameras that deliver the punter sitting at home a clear view could have been used by the match officials.  Indeed, this is the model used by the NFL where the same match officials use the same video footage we all see.

Heck, if you want to go the whole NFL ten years (and that’s a first down baby!) then you could even use a challenge system.  Any excitement would normally help this year’s flacid NPC.

The NZRFU apparently are justifying their decision on the basis that the officials have got it 90% right.

That clearly won’t impress a team like HB if it misses out on a home semi (or inded the semi finals) on the basis of points it could have got through a 10 % decision that was patently wrong to everyone apart from Blind Bob on the sideline.

You’d be right pissed off if you put the house on a draw or a two points spread.

Bet ya the tab won’t refund monies either – if the punter makes a mistake, the punter pays but if the NZRFU or the officials stuff up, the punters still pay.

Let’s leave the final words to Chris Rattue:

The NZRU must consider re-introducing the video referee, and this should be easier to do in a new 10-team competition. Credibility and sporting justice is suffering without the video inspection.

Funnily enough, they didn’t see this one … er, coming.

A West Coast netball team’s cheeky name has been deemed too blue by the organisers of an international sporting event in Australia.

The Greymouth team, formerly known as the Master Baiters, will take part in the Sydney World Masters Games, which start on Saturday.

The team was asked to change its name after organisers thought the risque reference to whitebaiting was too much.

The 10 players in the New World Master Netters, as they are now called, will be among more than 1400 Kiwis taking part in 28 sports at the event.

Umpire Jocelyn Crestani, who will travel with the team, said the organisers feared the name “might have a bit of a double meaning if it was pronounced wrong”.

…

If you read it too quickly it could be misinterpreted. It’s fine for the locals, but maybe not there,” Crestani said.

Bloody Aussies

Can’t live with them.  Can’t live with them!

Yep more examples of Aussie cheating have emerged with the story about the America’s Cup.

Funny that as the last we saw of the Aussies, their campaign was submerging!

Here’s the guts of it:

A boat designer has blown the whistle on a “lie” that allowed Australia to seize glory in the 1983 America’s Cup – the claim that Ben Lexcen invented the famous winged keel that propelled Alan Bond’s yacht to victory.

I don’t believe it … Aussies cheating to win.  Who would have thought?

[Some dude] Van Oossanen has never wavered from his belief that Australia II deserved its victory, when weighed against the America’s Cup’s history of skulduggery, espionage and cheating.

But didn’t the Australia II syndicate cheat, at least technically? “Yes,” he says. “If everything had stayed the same, I would have taken this to my grave. But they are writing us out of history.”

Lexcen, van Oossanen says, did not design the boat’s key elements: the small hull over an upside-down keel with its famed winglets. They weren’t even Lexcen’s ideas.

Have to agree that cheating is almost compulsory at the America’s Cup which explains why the Aussies were the first to take the Cup away from the Yanks.

According to Wikipedia:

The first leg of the play-off, on November 22, 1997, took place in Tehran, Iran, with the result a 1-1 draw. Attendance for this match was extremely high, as 128,000 fans packed Azadi Stadium, despite it only having a capacity for 100,000 fans at the time.

See what I mean!  And the cheating Ockers had the advantage of an away goal.

Game two was at the MCC and 88,000 Ockers converged to celebrate yet another Aussie victory!

With Australia holding a 1-0 lead at half-time and scoring a second goal just after the break, it looked likely that they would progress to the World Cup. Serial pest Peter Hore cut up Iran’s goal net, causing a halt in play. This seemed to quell the Australians’ momentum, as when play resumed, an Iranian revival, led by Khodadad Azizi, saw Iran score two quick goals to make the score 2-2 on aggregate, with Iran progressing on away goals.

Despite being undefeated throughout their entire qualifying campaign, Australia had again failed to qualify for the World Cup finals. Along with host nation and eventual winner France (who as host nation did not need to qualify), Australia were the only other team to not lose a game in the entire campaign.

The match is considered by many Australians as one of the most tragic moments in their sporting history. The broadcast of the game on SBS featured closing comments from a clearly distraught Les Murray and Johnny Warren, with Warren openly weeping on air.

There’s another category for us … weeping Aussies!!!

The Youtube clip is here:

A couple of weeks or months ago, no one would have given two proverbials about the away goal rule.

In fact, the major away rule we would have enforced was in late 2007 when Graham Henry would have been sent away – anywhere.  That was the rule.

However, after the All Whites fortuitous/honourable (take your pick) draw with Bahrain at the weekend, we find the away goal rule taking centre stage (instead of centre forward).

The FIFA rule is simple (if you’re a brain surgeon):

1. Winners win

2. If the results are shared, then away goals count double.

Simple.

Mind you, it confuses the hell out of the Yanks:

Barcelona advanced Wednesday to the final of the UEFA Champions League on the away goals rules — waiting more than 90 minutes to score against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in a game that ended 1-1.

Barcelona’s Andres Iniesta, the heart and soul of the team’s midfielder, took a pass from Lionel Messi and buried a shot from about 25 yards into the top of the net, ending Chelsea’s dream of a final rematch against Manchester United. The championship game will be played in Rome on May 27.

Barcelona (which will soon announce its plans for a North American tour this summer) and Chelsea played a 0-0 tie in Spain last week. In the return match, it appeared that Michael Essien’s stunning volley in the first half was going to stand up. And it did, through 90 minutes plus.

Then — boom! Iniesta scores. Barcelona celebrates. Chelsea goes home.

The away goals rule is peculiar to soccer and is positively alien to most American fans. Perhaps it is accepted, perhaps not.

Should the teams instead play extra time, then, if still tied, go to penalty kicks? Are PKs more equitable in resolving a game, or are they just as unsatisfying?

It’s an interesting perspective.

The All Whites could conceivably draw 1-1 or 2-2 and not be beaten in the playoff yet miss out on the away goals rule.

The rule clearly values scoring goals.  You could equally argue it rewards crap defence but that’s the rules.

I’ve tried to get a definitive guide (help me out here!) but the best I can do is assume that extra time will only be played if the score is exactly 0-0 in which case the a draw at the end of extra time will do Bahrain fine.

Let’s just hope it’s pissing with rain and the southerly makes itself known to our Middle Eastern visitors.

He appears to be the number one member of his own fan club and I’m sure could join the mile high club sitting on his own in first class!

Frankly, he now appears to be motivated by francs – Hunt’s now looking to spend a few months in France:

The AFL-bound Hunt had secured a $300,000 six-month stint to play in France, starting in January, but now the whole thing looks like falling over.

What’s interesting about this of course is the precedent he could set:

If Hunt successfully joins Biarritz, the Queensland Origin and Kangaroo star is expected to become the first professional athlete to play all three major football codes - NRL, rugby union and AFL.

However, if you’re used to doing what’s best for you when you like it, it can be a little difficult to sort out some of the details.

Strangely, while Hunt was very keen to forget his New Zealand origins (pun intended), he’s equally keen to no longer be called an Australian (and this is perfectly understandable):

The confusion centres around the New Zealand-born Hunt believing a Cook Islands visa would make him eligible to play in France under the foreign player quota system, but Biarritz have demanded he produce a Cook Islands passport.

So the New Zealander soon to be AFL star (??) who’s played NRL for Australia needs a Cook Islands passport to play rugby union in France.

Pretty much says it all really.

And we’re not talking about the rugby version either.

A decent result against Bahrain leaves it all on the line in Wellington on November 14.

I’d take a draw or a high-scoring close loss for the All Whites.

Anyway, here’s an interesting commentary on NZ getting to 2-3 against a very strong Scots team in the 1982 World Cup finals before going down 2-5.

And if that floats your boat, check our every minute of all three games here.

Guy tells the cops it’s an accident!

Yeah right.

Janet Llewellyn, 66, was playing on a nine-hole course with Ronnie Battersby when she was hit in the back of the head by his tee shot, it is understood.

Normally the way I play the safest place to stand in front of me would be the middle of the fairway.

According to the NZTR media report:

The David Tua v Shane Cameron bout ended up being the fourth biggest individual sports betting event for the TAB since sports betting first began in New Zealand in 1996. In total, New Zealanders wagered $1.14 million on the fight.

If you backed Cameron, let’s hope you had a dollar each way. Tua put it all on the nose

In case you’re wondering, here’s the big sporting betting events:

The top three biggest single sports betting events for the TAB have been the Tua v Lewis boxing fight in 2000 ($2.1m), Brazil v Turkey in the Football World Cup in 2002 ($1.3m) and the inaugural sports betting event in New Zealand – the Bledisloe Cup rugby match at Athletic Park in Wellington in 1996 ($1.15m).