Selection headaches

With the announcement of the North Harbour Squad for 2009 I must admit I am a little perplexed with what the make up of the team is. If Harbour Rugby. com users or writers can help out I would appreciate it.

How the hell does "Left Peg" McPhee make it into the squad again? A year older, A year slower and from what I have witnessed of Glenfield this year, a year filled with more slices than a loaf of bread, how the heck can Jeff Wilson believe that this man is able to compete at NPC level. He can't compete at North Harbour Championship level!!!

Now, here is my next rant!

On what planet is Ben Botica a better player than the Takapuna 1st Five John Elrick? Unless I am mistaken there are some pretty clear differences between the two of them. The first one being about 80+ points in the championship this year and the second being the number of Championships that John Elrick has helped deliver as part of the juggernaught that is Takapuna RFC. If Ben Botica was not the son of an All Black I would not be needing to write this part of the article. He is average at best, has proven to be a choker in big games (that Shore v Dale game at the weekend being a biggie, NOT!!) and in not even good enough to challenge for an age grade New Zealand rep team so where do the Harbour coaches think the talent lies that makes him good enough to play NPC??? (In his dad's boots??) I may be proved wrong and I would love to be, as I am a Harbour supporter but I doubt I am going to get much pleasure out of watching Botica this year as teams cotton on to his play and smash him all over the field. At least Elrick would be able to slot the pressure kicks and keep the ball moving.

Ok, so now that McPhee and Botica have had a lashing, lets talk about our good old mate "Back Slapper" Smith. I've seen a super tanker laden with oil turn quicker than this guy. I know that people get caught up in the rugby system and get rated higher than they actually are and making a living out of doing something they are average at. Heck I see it every day at work with some of the sh*t managers I have to work with, but Chris Smith must be the luckiest guy alive. To Captain that NZ U19 side to a world cup win has meant that he will be able to dine off of the contracts that came his way for years to come. A nice lad he is, quiet and unassuming, "wouldn't hurt a fly" some would say, but a rugby player??? Come on!! He will get at best a C+ at the end of the season report and his report card will say "Chris tried hard this year and showed promise, through hard work and determination he will achieve average at best". Sorry Smithy, you're just not up to it!

With Robbie Colhoun rounding off my list of offenders so far, the questions are not so in depth, they are not so scathing they are just this, why? why? why? why? He delivers nothing on the field for Harbour, nothing on the field for Silverdale and nothing off the field worth listening to. Him and the others detailed above should start a rugby appreciation society and enjoy the fruits of their training because they are not the future of Harbour Rugby and if they are, we are in deeper trouble than Matty Johns at a Sharks after match party!

Come on Harbour, quit with the nepotism and the cloak and dagger stuff and pick players that can play and make the team hard to beat. Don't worry that Frano will be a bit upset that his boy can't play with the big lads, or that Doc Mayhew will be upset if his plank like boys are not allowed to play. It's alright that Glenfield don't have any players good enough to make the team, they are rubbish anyway, and just because there is money up in Silverdale and you feel you need their financial support, just remember they have delivered cock all in the last 15 years to benefit the Harbour Championship so you owe them nothing.

Grow a set C&J and make some brutal decisions before you deliver us another dose of mediocrity and make me pay for it!

Mairangi Murray from the terraces!!!