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Ranfurly
Shield holders 24/09/2006 - 25/08/2007
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The harbourrugby.com inbox continues to overflow with correspondence from our readers. Thanks for your support! Send your thoughts to info@harbourrugby.com A brief selection (i.e. those that are readable and/or printable) of the correspondence we have received is posted below. 2011 From: colin@<withheld>.com [disclaimer: I've overthought this, and certainly overdramatized it. But I really need to get my post-match philosophising out of the way, and my English friends haven't heard of the Shield so just aren't providing a good enough listening post for me] So I got up at 3.30am to watch the Harbour Shield game (having finally found a dodgy internet site that shows NZ rugby and is accessible from the UK). Now it's fair to say that I was pretty upset in the immediate aftermath of the game. But in the following 2 hours when I tried to get back to sleep before the rest of my household would deem it appropriate to be awake on a Sunday, I got to thinking. And I came up with this: if this is the only Harbour game I watch this season (and believe me, it will be), I'm pretty pleased I saw it. My rationale: it was a return to the "good old days" of Harbour. And by that, I don't mean the good old days when we used to win titles and plaudits. Because those days never existed. [Even I'm not willing to claim the old Divisions 2 & 3, a number of Sevens titles, or even our 2006/7 Shield reign as true successes.] But it was a return to the heroic failures of the 80s and 90s - glorious "so near but so far" almost-achievements like the first draw with Auckland in '89, the 15 man scrum against Australia that wasn't quite awarded a try, the Great Wall of China which had similar near-scoring outputs, and the '94 season in which we somehow failed to beat Queensland to make the Super 10 final, then beat everyone in the NPC including putting 50 points on the Shield holders but lost the final on the back of Rushy going mental after concussion suffered at Robin Brooke's hands, and Ant Strachan's worst ever pass from a scrumbase. And by heroic failure, I mean that the players stood up and were counted, thrilled the masses, excited their fans, but came up just short. Among the many Shield failures this union has experienced, I rate this Southland match right up there with the 1986 original Battle of the Bridge, where as a 2nd division team we pushed the all-conquering Auckland "A Team" to their closest challenge of the season, the 1990 challenge where we led at halftime and turned with the breeze behind our backs then got ground into the dirt by the best provincial front row ever seen, and the Waikato challenge during "the year of 3 challenges", when a couple of unfortunate bounces from charge-downs cost us dearly. At the end of the match, when Chris Smyllie gave his post-match interview, I knew that I shouldn't get angry at "bloody Harbour", I should salute the effort they put in. The captain's clear devastation was horrible to see but at the same time, a true credit to him and the rest of the team. I really believe that the team tried as hard as they could, and the fact they didn't quite hold on should be seen as a tragedy, but one to embrace as being the genuine North Harbour experience. It at least makes a change from the last 5+ seasons' worth of Harbour performances, in which it seems to me that generally we've had our fair share of talent to work with, but through failures all the way from the CEO, through to the coaches, players and fans, we collectively haven't shown the heart or effort required to win matches when it matters. I would much rather a performance like Sunday's failure in which the desire, hunger and passion is noticeably evident, than some of recent years in which players have apparently been using the maroon, black and white as a stepping stone to Super Rugby or lucrative overseas contracts, and caring nought for the team. Key moments/performances from the match: Ben Botica - what a kicker. And a fairly good tactical performance as well. Didn't miss Lucky Luke in the slightest. The 3 minutes leading up to the final try - the last time I saw Harbour defend their line with such passion was the '96 match to avoid relegation at Harbour Stadium, when we withstood 700 scrums on our line to remain in the first division. Yes, Southland scored in the end (apparently - although how the ref could see that I'll never know...), but that shouldn't detract from the effort our boys showed. Southland's second try - weak. We should have held them out there. If only we'd defended then like we did at the end. The referee's general performance - not terrible, but I remember in particular two up and unders in midfield - one from us, one from them. With our one, a player next to the kicker was either in line or slightly ahead - and I mean slightly - certainly less than 30cm. We were penalised when our guy went up for the ball. In the second half, Southland did a near-identical move, but with 2 players at least 1-2m in front. They also attacked the descending ball, but this time no comment from the ref (who had been in roughly the same position for both incidents). Now those 2 decisions probably didn't decide the match, but generally I just think that when it came to the 50/50 decisions they almost all went the Stags' way. All we needed was one of the 50/50 scrum/ruck/offside decisions to go our way, and the Shield could have followed. It's hard to pinpoint the key moment that lost us the Shield. But I'd like to put forward 3. And none of them are the final try, or the preceding penalties that got the swede-eaters within striking distance (although the offside call to move them from 8 behind to 5 was a terrible call - see above...)
But that aside, I go back to my original thought - this Harbour performance was, all in all, something to treasure - heroic failure, the true Harbour tradition. Long may it continue. From: harbourfan@<withheld>.com
well its almost another season where we have completely missed the boat...maybe saturday will turn it around...and win take the sheild from the 6 fingered cousin shaggers from the deep south....but dont hold your breath..... was very disappointing to see us losing to the scum, and even more disappointing seeing a Harbour product do most of the damage!!! young Anscombe.....oh to have a 1st five like him....another outstanding decision by the hitler hollister!!! was interesting to read the article below on that other site......... "Last Saturday North Harbour B travelled to the heartland of NZ rugby Pio Pio (Colin Meads’ country) to take on the Taranaki B side. After only three trainings together, Harbour started off exceptionally well, implementing the game plan with accuracy and ruthless determination. They went out to a commanding 25-5 halftime lead through some enterprising running rugby off the back of lightening quick ball from their massive, industrious forward pack." the words enterprising running and lightening quick ball from their massive, industrious forward pack.......are pleasing to here about a Harbour team.....shame its not the top side.....im sure this team will do well again this year, from what i hear these guys know what they're talking about. im looking forward to this saturday!!! Go Harbour!!! From: colin@<withheld>.com (on current table positions) we only need to beat the bottom placed team in the first division, then defend it against 2nd to bottom team in the first division and 3rd to bottom in the 2nd division. There was a time when I'd have high fived all my buddies and booked a flight to Invercargill if I heard that news. Sadly, we're below all of those teams on the NPC table, and I can't see any chance of us beating even 2 of our fellow cellar dwellers, even if Walter himself was to lace up the boots again. And even if I could, I doubt that anyone I know has any idea that Harbour has the next Shield challenge, or could name our last opponents, or more than 2 players' names (on the assumption they'd guess Botica and Mayhew at the same time as incorrectly naming Shelford, Bunce, Osborne et al). so quite a different build-up to this challenge. Still, if we can get fired up for the bridge game, we can possibly run them close, as dorkland aren't exactly running hot. And then maybe if the adrenaline keeps flowing long enough can we sneak a result the next week against southland? We've certainly done a good job of lulling them into a false sense of security, anyway! Colin From:
harbourfan@<withheld>.com well what can one Harbour fan say..... Once again the Harbour team is completely playing as individuals and no team structure to be seen yet!!! The backline is an absoulute disgrace and has been for over 2 years, since a certain golden child turned up. He has to go.....he has proven time and time again he doesnt have it as a coach!!! at one point old man Willy got taken from 1st 5, to fullback, then back 1st 5 in the space of 10 mins, and ben "the pocket player" botica put to 2nd 5......he really just doesnt have a coaching brain!!! As for the forwards....geepers mr barry...but they are terrible, they dont do anything as a pack, they play as individuals. why we have chris smith, at least hes stopped his clapping, playing at lock...is beyond belief, he couldnt push a granny over to steal her hand bag....and solomon who? for some reason harbour buys players who cant even make there own unions side...... heres food for thought.....would any harbour fan be that peeved off if Harbour had home grown players playing for it? i for one wouldnt.... i cant believe we have appointed these guys as coaches!!! well we didnt a certain little garden knome, who is related to a past german guy who was around in the 40s did!!! our once proud union wont move unless the likes of Hitler Hollister, Golden "i will sue if you dont give my job back" Wilson, John "the theif" Mckitty and Mr "havent coached before" Barry are involved!!! im looking forward to watching the Dev Side who must be starting soon, the reason being is ive got mates in the side who love playing for their Coaches!!!! guys they can trust....maybe hitler should have asked these guys (players) what odowd and Wigglesworth are like as coaches..... Harbur we are so bloody lucky that the bottom placed side isnt getting relegated!!!! Very disapointed Harbour fan From: <withheld>@ihug.co.nz Well My first post of the season... but I may as well copy and paste my past emails coz its the same s**t different season. But what makes it worse is that the way the season is designed, they fail to give us 7 days to recover... ie in past, we walk away on a Saturday night after feeling like we've been kicked in the nuts by an overweight gorilla..... then we have till the following weekend to be dished up the same... but this year, one gets kicked in the nuts on Saturday and before you know it, one gets kicked on Wednesday and before we can say "Noooooooo mooooore" we kicked there again on Saturday.... I hear the people are not coping well and there is an increase in the purchase of ropes from the hardware store as people find their Prozac isn't working with all the s**t we've been dished out!!! But things will keep going coz the people at the top are the same.. ie hollister. I hear that the instructions are the same... for cost reasons, the coaches can only pick "contracted" players.... no matter how sh*t they are, we're paying them, so we have to use them.... yet new and old blood are kicking arse in club rugby but will not be picked as the cost to pay then is too high.... so..... its simple maths... if the same sh*t players are playing... then there is no surprises that they are playing the same sh*t rugby!!!! even the captain's interviews after the game are the same as last year... _"Yeah.. we gave it our all and I'm proud of the boys for sticking in there.....We're not too far away from getting the results... blah blah blah_"... YOU ARE SH*T... YOU ARE AN EMBARRASEMENT... YOU SHOULD BE PAYING US TO WATCH THE CRAP YOU ARE DISHING OUT!!!!! now.. I've got that out of my system... have a good day!!!!!!!! From: <withheld>@yahoo.co.uk as long as Southland can beat C*nties we're next in line for the shield. or if southland lose to c*nties then they just need to beat waikato, and we still get a challenge. then if we can just beat northland and wellingtron at home, we'll hold the shield for the summer again! simples. of course, if we play like we have for 5 out of 6 halves this season it's somewhat academic. From: colin@<withheld>.com I haven't been able to work out from the few articles that I can be bothered searching for on the herald how this year's NPC works. From what I can make out, the 1st division is split into 2 groups, but we still play teams from the top half as well as our division 1B, and we play 2 games a week, to enable the world cup to take place (presumably ABs generally aren't playing). What I haven't been able to work out is whether if we were to win all our games (I know, a longshot even before we lost to the sphincters) is there any possibility of us winning the NPC? Or are we just playing for promotion to next year's NPC division 1A? if so, is there a division 1B final, or do we go solely on league finishing position? how many teams are up for promotion? And how many games do we play? What I'm concerned about is the possibility that by losing to otago we may have already lost our chance to get promoted for next year (e.g. if they keep winning). Would make it a long (but short) season if it could be effectively over after say 3 matches. And are we playing auckland or c*nterbury this year? <Editor: we play the scum on 7-August but do not play Canterbury this year> And where did Liam Barry come from? Loved him as a player (owned a pair of his socks for a while) but didn't really see a prolonged period of coaching success being built up on his CV from my distant viewing spot in the UK. Ps Lucky Luke, good riddance. He kicked the ball into touch to secure the shield, but other than that his most noteworthy moment was turning the momentum for the French in the last world cup. We're better off without him. Cheers From: snapper@<withheld>.co.nz Loved the match review! LOL @ the great diary of a Harbour Fan! Twenty minutes out in 1st half, a sense of deja vu that it was going to be a repeat of last year, and the year before and the year before..........then I realised that we actually turned up en masse (all 5000+) to support our wee ones as they paraded the club colours pre-match. Also it was a nice touch to have the NH players wear their club socks. Mmmm noticeable though was a lack of maroon and yellow sock wearers...what happened in the off season to the great pretenders??? ust after halftime I was just about to bribe my junior to ditch the game for a Big Mac combo from the newly opened McD`s around the corner and get ourselves to our warm and toasty nest , when lo & behold Harbour had us all in a frenzy (sic) with 3 tries in 10 minutes! Great turn-around by all concerned especially the big boys upfront,resulting in some fairly good finishes by the Big Mat & Ken Pisi. He must have been inspired by usos George & Tusi last weekend. The Good: We liked the boys` intensity and their defence was quite good on the night..for a change ;0.........oh yes and it always helps that Bots was on his game. The Bad: Need to play 80 minutes.....what happened in 1st half ???.... against stronger teams they won`t be able to play catch up. Still early days yet but they did do enough to get us turning up for the next home game. Go Harbour! Fervently as always, From:
<withheld>@gmail.com
Hello, I like your site. Nice depth. My question(s) Do you happen to know whether Nafi Tuitavake is injured at the moment? Or is in some other way unavailable? Just wondering why Nafi looked to be in excellent 7s form when playing for the Penguins at the Singapore 7s back in November. Regards 2010 2010 correspondence can be viewed here 2009 2009 correspondence can be viewed here 2008 2008 correspondence can be viewed here 2007 2007 correspondence can be viewed here 2006 2006 correspondence can be viewed here 2005 2005 correspondence can be viewed here 2004 2004 correspondence can be viewed here
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