Very few kiwi posters anymore?

[Kiwiwomble]

im just realising there seems to be very few kiwi posters left on the forum

It feels like there are only three or four of us anymore, am i imagining it?

 

[TRF_heineken]

I think there's a lot of kiwi posters on the forum, but not many posting at the moment. But then again same could be said about all the nations.

The lack of matches the past 3 months has certainly showed a lot less activity on the forum. Take a monday morning as example, when I log in, there used to be about 4 or 5 pages of threads, but now it's barely making 2 pages.

Give it time, the guys will come back eventually.

 

[Kiwiwomble]

i did wonder that, so i went back to one of the Rugby Championship threads form last year and there was actually on four or five kiwis posting

 

[Kiwiwomble]

..not exactly an abundance of people jumping on to prove me wrong, i'll always keep an eye on the forum but think i'll be looking for another

 

[Umaga's Witness]

..not exactly an abundance of people jumping on to prove me wrong, i'll always keep an eye on the forum but think i'll be looking for another

I haven't really found others. There used to be a lot of action on allblacks.com until a few diks ruined it for everyone and they removed the forum feature altogether. I like the multinational flavour of this forum though.

 

[Al Bangor]

I'm not a Kiwi, but if I could live anywhere outside the USA it would definitely be in New Zealand. Six months in each country per year would be ideal for me.

 

[Bada-Bing!]

I'm not a Kiwi, but if I could live anywhere outside the USA it would definitely be in New Zealand. Six months in each country per year would be ideal for me.

I really regret not visiting NZ when I was travelling around australia. Hopefully in the next few years, otherwise, when I retire. I will save and aim to go by Business class, as then it will be worth it.

Still, remember Smart Cookey throwing his toys out of his pram after trying to defend Read dragging down SA played at the lineout.

 

[Johnny Storm]

I really regret not visiting NZ when I was travelling around australia. Hopefully in the next few years, otherwise, when I retire. I will save and aim to go by Business class, as then it will be worth it.

I spent a month backpacking around NZ a few years ago. Lovely country, a bit on the expensive side, but cheaper than Australia for living expenses. The south island is beautiful, but very touristy and in my opinion the north island is actually better anyway: smaller, better transport links and some hidden gems like the Coromandel Peninsula and Piha.

 

[Bada-Bing!]

I spent a month backpacking around NZ a few years ago. Lovely country, a bit on the expensive side, but cheaper than Australia for living expenses. The south island is beautiful, but very touristy and in my opinion the north island is actually better anyway: smaller, better transport links and some hidden gems like the Coromandel Peninsula and Piha.

when I was back packing around Oz it was 2.7 dollars to the £ and I think was 3 NZ dollars to the £1 back Then.. never gonna get those rates again.

Australia is just bloody huge and travelling between places takes an age. Plus if you're in the outback you have to deal with the heat, dust and flies.

 

[Johnny Storm]

Australia is just bloody huge and travelling between places takes an age. Plus if you're in the outback you have to deal with the heat, dust and flies.

And there are some serious nutters in the outback!
Parts of Australia are so remote they are essentially lawless. The Peter Falconio murder is just one example of the creepy criminality that goes on out there.

 

[General Melchett]

SmartCooky had a real knowledge of the laws of the game and used to post some great stuff (think he had ref experience?) but I think there was some kind clash or falling out with one or a few of the regulars on here and so he disappeared. Shame as he used to post some great stuff.

 

[Not Mike Brown's Sock]

SmartCooky had a real knowledge of the laws of the game and used to post some great stuff (think he had ref experience?) but I think there was some kind clash or falling out with one or a few of the regulars on here and so he disappeared. Shame as he used to post some great stuff.

This was the final post I believe

"This, but the "haters of anyone wearing black jersey" on this site will always paint them as the demons - their opposition (whoever they might be) are always the angels. Someone commented earlier that there weren't any Kiwi postersin this thread - its not hard to understand why. This used to be a great forum, but it has slowly degenerated into an echo-chamber for NH haters, who seem hell-bent on picking their villain. How that Richie has retired, they have latched on to Read. Its become another Planet Rugby

Well I'm done with it. This will be my last post here until at least after the World Cup. I have joined another forum, one where you get reasoned debate, not a bunch of haters venting their spleen because the enemy won (again) as they look for any excuse to claim they should not have.

Good luck!"

 

[Bada-Bing!]

SmartCooky had a real knowledge of the laws of the game and used to post some great stuff (think he had ref experience?) but I think there was some kind clash or falling out with one or a few of the regulars on here and so he disappeared. Shame as he used to post some great stuff.

He knew his rugby laws stuff for sure, but he could be a right pompous git at times of the way he answered certain posters back and just came across as a I know better than everyone else and anyone else's view is subordinate to his. It could get under peeps' skin at times I am sure. I had a clash a couple of times with him, but otherwise didn't mind him and respected his knowledge of the laws of the game and his analysis.

His view that this forum had become anti black was nonsense IMO. The incident with Read being the final straw, but in my view indefensible. I personally enjoy watching the ABs play, but they are subject to the same rules as everyone else. He could be very one eyed when it came to applying them to AB players IMO.

 

[ncurd]

SmartCooky had a real knowledge of the laws of the game and used to post some great stuff (think he had ref experience?) but I think there was some kind clash or falling out with one or a few of the regulars on here and so he disappeared. Shame as he used to post some great stuff.

He was an excellent explainer of the laws and yes he was a certain grade ref within the NZ system. Unfortunately he also overtime gained a bigger and bigger blind spot for AB discretions for and against and rubbed against many posters for this. When he was a neutral he could be really informative sadly not so when he skin in the game and would never admit his bias.

 

[General Melchett]

This was the final post I believe

"This, but the "haters of anyone wearing black jersey" on this site will always paint them as the demons - their opposition (whoever they might be) are always the angels. Someone commented earlier that there weren't any Kiwi postersin this thread - its not hard to understand why. This used to be a great forum, but it has slowly degenerated into an echo-chamber for NH haters, who seem hell-bent on picking their villain. How that Richie has retired, they have latched on to Read. Its become another Planet Rugby

Well I'm done with it. This will be my last post here until at least after the World Cup. I have joined another forum, one where you get reasoned debate, not a bunch of haters venting their spleen because the enemy won (again) as they look for any excuse to claim they should not have.

Good luck!"

I couldn't recall the nature or details of his final posts but seem to remember some kind of dramatic fall from grace. I can recall him being a respected poster at one point and things seemed to go pear shaped pretty quickly. Well the RWC has finished and he's still not back but never say never.

Talking of former posters, I did enjoy reading Valley Commando's deluded nonsense, most of which was written while he was wearing daffodil tinted glasses. I think he created a new profile called TruthTeller.

 

[TRF_heineken]

The thing is that a poster shouldn't take everything personally when others disagree with their posts, no matter the validity of their claims or if they are just downright wrong.

I think SC will be sorely missed as he was a great asset to the forum, and his additions of the logs and other features for certain forums was a welcome contribution.

I do think his rant was OTT and I understand his frustration, but then again, I also understand the other side's point of view. I didn't always agree with him, and I think that's the beauty of a forum such as this, we all won't get along, as long as it remains productive.

One thing that has dramatically changed on this forum is the lesser amount of WUM's and Trolls, and we all get along very well.

 

[Bada-Bing!]

What I found strange with SC is that he always pointed to his signature, whenever someone disagreed with him. But he ended up not fully it practising himself, when he eventually lost it.

Yes, fewer trolls. But there's always the ignore function for them.

 

[Cruz_del_Sur]

He had good moments, exceptionals ones in many cases, i agree. I dont think anyone here will dismiss his added value to many threads.

He also sincerely believed he was god's gift to the forum and we should all place rose petals on every footprint he left and bow to his every word.
He treated others as if he was judge, jury and executioner of every disputable event we saw on a rugby field. He was Zeus talking from Olympus and the rest of us, mere mortals.
And sure, he knew his laws, but so do most of the regular posters here, or at least enough to have a mature argument about a specific play. We all know how to google the laws.
It was not about some obscure law he generally argued about. His go-to retort was some delusional conspiracy theory.

Every call against the ABs was a blatant robbery and every questionable call for them was analyzed microscopically to see under what hypothetical scenario it could have been right, and then assumed that was the case. If that didn't work he came up with the silliest cabal theories about all of us being "anti all blacks".
I'm sure he is doing fine. He won't run of tin foil hats any time soon.

The thing is that a poster shouldn't take everything personally when others disagree with their posts

This in spades.
I'm to blame for that as i don't always respect that principle.

 

[TRF_heineken]

What I found strange with SC is that he always pointed to his signature, whenever someone disagreed with him. But he ended up not fully it practising himself, when he eventually lost it.

Yes, fewer trolls. But there's always the ignore function for them.

True.

But then again, we are all human, at some point you can't help but to take things personally. Sometimes it's just a word or a phrase, and other times it's the constant badgering about the same damn stuff over and over.

Just because he had that signature, doesn't mean that he will not take the remarks and post to heart, even though he says he doesn't. It's exactly the same when sports stars say they don't read the news about them, but secretly we all know they do, and sometimes they use that to improve themselves, and other times they implode.

 

[Bada-Bing!]

True.

But then again, we are all human, at some point you can't help but to take things personally. Sometimes it's just a word or a phrase, and other times it's the constant badgering about the same damn stuff over and over.

Just because he had that signature, doesn't mean that he will not take the remarks and post to heart, even though he says he doesn't. It's exactly the same when sports stars say they don't read the news about them, but secretly we all know they do, and sometimes they use that to improve themselves, and other times they implode.

Yes, I don't doubt he is human and ended up taking it personally. But he just needed to take a break from the forum, when he got agitated. From my reading of his reaction and how he was on the forum he took it upon himself to be the absolute authority on rugby laws (calling himself "the referee") and he was of course very knowledgeable and provided excellent analysis because of his experience as a referee.

But what he failed to recognise is the way he put that across at times and wouldn't take any other view or point, especially when it came to anyone criticizing the AB players. He didn't have much, how can I say it, compassion for the ordinary forum poster on here who did not have his technical knowledge. So, it wasn't surprising that he felt ganged up on when a poster pointed out his double standards and there are just many more regular NH posters, especially from England, on here. Anyway, I personally doubt he will come back now, after making such a big show of his exit and no longer posting, but who knows, it's not like he's not welcome back.