Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Bourbon and Coke Brings You...
Tonights brief episode on the Warriors and Blues.
The Warriors are doing OK. They have had a horrible draw to start the year with a decent side in the Eels first up followed by last years premiers, then three unbeaten table topping teams in a row in the Storm, Sea Eagles and Cowboys. But if they can tip over the Cowboys which they would be 50/50 to do then it would be a very solid start to the year and with two pints for the bye in week 6 (I think) they may find themselves in about 4th spot. If they lose to the Cowboys then they may have a bit of a hard graft to get where they need to be.
I think they are struggling in the halves for some playmakers. i don't think the club has had a truly class number 6 in it's existence and this year is no exception. Our halfback Rovellie is no better. I'm not entirely sure what he is bringing to the team apart from a kicking game which with all due respect even I had, and I was a rugby lock who was brought up playing standoff in league. If I can punt the ball 50 metres on the full and know when and where a chip kick should go with no pressure (league kickers are rarely under pressure) then these guys should do better and have a lot more strings to their bow. Rovellie does not take on the line enough. I think they should have Hohaia in there and instruct him to run whenever he feels the urge and get McKinnon and a forward running off each shoulder in an organised play every couple of sets.
those tries we see every now and then such as the first v the Eels require motivation, planning and execution, but if you just ruck out every fucking tackle looking for a last play option (usually a cross field chipped bomb) then you will score piss all points and not streacth the opposition much.
Without dangerous playmakers in the middle we will be too reliant on our defence to win us games which is fine and dandy a lot of the time but it won't win you titles when you line up against some of these attacks which will carve you to pieces especially out wide where our defence is weakest.
Onto the Blues. They are a very good team but still not quite clicking which is probably agood thing. I predict they will drop a game and the Crusaders will top the table either by points differential or a bonus point or two. The Blues and Crusaders are shooins for the final though. The team which hosts will win it about 75% of the time. Who can predict with certainty though? So after about a dozen years of the Super 12/14 we will still have just 3 winning teams which makes it look like the several football leagues in Europe only this comp is supposed to be a level playing field in terms of salary caps and picks of players. I guess history and strength of club comps in Canterbury and Auckland has a lot to do with it and the good coaching and management of the Brumbies has got them some success.
On another note this idea of Wellington in the Super League is absurd. It might be novel for a couple of seasons but then the complaints would roll in and the total lack of knowldege of the English teams would kill them. With the NRL people watch a lot of the games and know the teams and players. But the Super League has limited coverage and it's on very early on Sunday mornings. It simply won't work.
They are better off targetting the NRL for about a 2010 start.
Wrap up to come later in my holidays when I have finished bolting the deck properly and staining it. It started to crack like shit with just a months worth of sun on it.
PS. Malcolm Speed from the ICC was interviewed on RS yesterday and said that it was in fact the 25 dollar (that's US dollars) tickets that weren't selling which were very affordable and basically taking a side-swipe at the West indies supporters for not getting along.
What an utter cunt. 25 bucks might not be a lot to this fat prick sitting in Dubai earning hundreds of thousands of pounds no doubt, but when the average wage in the Windies is about 400 dollars a month then it's about 3 days earnings after tax. Why would you pay that to sit on your own in a shit seat to watch some random international team hammer somebody from somewhere obscure?
Speed thought the prices were reasonable for a top class international event. Well yeah, the semis and final might be top class but what about the rest of it? And if the ticket prices were reasonable then more people would be going. SO OBVIOUSLY THEY ARE'NT REASONABLE YOU DICKWAD.
The cheapest tickets should have been about 10-15 dollars NEW ZEALAND to get in.
Think about what you would pay at McLeans park in Napier to watch Zimbabwe take on India in a pool match on a Tuesday. Sweet fuck all I'd say. Especially when there are something like 45 games being played.
All events like this should ensure that all games are close to soldout and if that means having 5 dollars for adults and 2 dollars for kids then go for it.
How can they make any money if the ticket prices are sky high and the stands are 50, 60, 70, 80% empty?
The Warriors are doing OK. They have had a horrible draw to start the year with a decent side in the Eels first up followed by last years premiers, then three unbeaten table topping teams in a row in the Storm, Sea Eagles and Cowboys. But if they can tip over the Cowboys which they would be 50/50 to do then it would be a very solid start to the year and with two pints for the bye in week 6 (I think) they may find themselves in about 4th spot. If they lose to the Cowboys then they may have a bit of a hard graft to get where they need to be.
I think they are struggling in the halves for some playmakers. i don't think the club has had a truly class number 6 in it's existence and this year is no exception. Our halfback Rovellie is no better. I'm not entirely sure what he is bringing to the team apart from a kicking game which with all due respect even I had, and I was a rugby lock who was brought up playing standoff in league. If I can punt the ball 50 metres on the full and know when and where a chip kick should go with no pressure (league kickers are rarely under pressure) then these guys should do better and have a lot more strings to their bow. Rovellie does not take on the line enough. I think they should have Hohaia in there and instruct him to run whenever he feels the urge and get McKinnon and a forward running off each shoulder in an organised play every couple of sets.
those tries we see every now and then such as the first v the Eels require motivation, planning and execution, but if you just ruck out every fucking tackle looking for a last play option (usually a cross field chipped bomb) then you will score piss all points and not streacth the opposition much.
Without dangerous playmakers in the middle we will be too reliant on our defence to win us games which is fine and dandy a lot of the time but it won't win you titles when you line up against some of these attacks which will carve you to pieces especially out wide where our defence is weakest.
Onto the Blues. They are a very good team but still not quite clicking which is probably agood thing. I predict they will drop a game and the Crusaders will top the table either by points differential or a bonus point or two. The Blues and Crusaders are shooins for the final though. The team which hosts will win it about 75% of the time. Who can predict with certainty though? So after about a dozen years of the Super 12/14 we will still have just 3 winning teams which makes it look like the several football leagues in Europe only this comp is supposed to be a level playing field in terms of salary caps and picks of players. I guess history and strength of club comps in Canterbury and Auckland has a lot to do with it and the good coaching and management of the Brumbies has got them some success.
On another note this idea of Wellington in the Super League is absurd. It might be novel for a couple of seasons but then the complaints would roll in and the total lack of knowldege of the English teams would kill them. With the NRL people watch a lot of the games and know the teams and players. But the Super League has limited coverage and it's on very early on Sunday mornings. It simply won't work.
They are better off targetting the NRL for about a 2010 start.
Wrap up to come later in my holidays when I have finished bolting the deck properly and staining it. It started to crack like shit with just a months worth of sun on it.
PS. Malcolm Speed from the ICC was interviewed on RS yesterday and said that it was in fact the 25 dollar (that's US dollars) tickets that weren't selling which were very affordable and basically taking a side-swipe at the West indies supporters for not getting along.
What an utter cunt. 25 bucks might not be a lot to this fat prick sitting in Dubai earning hundreds of thousands of pounds no doubt, but when the average wage in the Windies is about 400 dollars a month then it's about 3 days earnings after tax. Why would you pay that to sit on your own in a shit seat to watch some random international team hammer somebody from somewhere obscure?
Speed thought the prices were reasonable for a top class international event. Well yeah, the semis and final might be top class but what about the rest of it? And if the ticket prices were reasonable then more people would be going. SO OBVIOUSLY THEY ARE'NT REASONABLE YOU DICKWAD.
The cheapest tickets should have been about 10-15 dollars NEW ZEALAND to get in.
Think about what you would pay at McLeans park in Napier to watch Zimbabwe take on India in a pool match on a Tuesday. Sweet fuck all I'd say. Especially when there are something like 45 games being played.
All events like this should ensure that all games are close to soldout and if that means having 5 dollars for adults and 2 dollars for kids then go for it.
How can they make any money if the ticket prices are sky high and the stands are 50, 60, 70, 80% empty?
Comments:
So a cheap ticket in the West Indies is 6.25% of the average after tax income.
The average kiwi in full-time employment earns $45k a year. That's about $3750/mo. The average tax rate for that salary would be somewhere in the vicinity of 25%, so you'd end up with say $2800 after tax.
6.25% of $2800 is $175.
I might, maybe, just *start* about considering possibly buying a ticket for the final at this price.
I would not go to any other game, under any other circumstances.
As you suggest, Zimbabwe vs India in Napier on a Tuesday is worth $5 tops (and that's in NZ!)
The average kiwi in full-time employment earns $45k a year. That's about $3750/mo. The average tax rate for that salary would be somewhere in the vicinity of 25%, so you'd end up with say $2800 after tax.
6.25% of $2800 is $175.
I might, maybe, just *start* about considering possibly buying a ticket for the final at this price.
I would not go to any other game, under any other circumstances.
As you suggest, Zimbabwe vs India in Napier on a Tuesday is worth $5 tops (and that's in NZ!)
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