Tuesday, April 17, 2007

No Half-Time Measures

When it comes to half time entertainment the New South Wales Rugby Union continually surprises. Who will ever forget the glory days of the Pal Happy Dogs? Or the men in Sumo Wrestling suits running for cash, bouncing across the tryline much like Matt Dunning would if he ever reached the tryline.

And what about Bob from Tamworth who captivated and packed out the SFS for weeks on end in his futile attempts at kicking goals from half-way. He earned (and milked) his 15 minutes of fame even if he never earned the cash.

Prior to Saturday night my favourite half-time moment wasn’t in Rugby Union at all. Back in the mid 1980s I was an avid Balmain Tigers league fan. To be a Rugby League fan in those days is, to my mind, acceptable. There were plays for the ball, pushing in scrums and contests for the ball, unlike the basketball version of today - five tackles kick, five tackles kick. But that’s for another article.

Balmain were playing Easts at a sodden and muddy SCG. The Balmain Tiger started to cross the field to the only batch of Tigers supporters in the ground. As he crossed the cricket pitch he slipped and fell, got to his paws then fell again, and again. The comedy of slapstick errors ended with him crawling away and then standing up on his tail which promptly fell off, leaving him, almost literally, to skulk away with his tail between his legs and to the amusement of all fans – Roosters and Tigers alike.

(As an aside, Russel Fairfax kicked the winning field goal and Brett Papworth – both former Union players - went off injured)

But last Saturday night exceeded even these gems. A high kick catching competition had just started – a machine punting Rugby balls high into the heavens (where Rugby is played) for contestants from NSW and QLD to catch – until said ball kicking machine broke down - Rugby balls were propelled all of three metres into the air or even better directly into the crossbar or the machine operator. The sound guy was forced to kick a few up-and-unders and ultimately the competition was cancelled. Prior to the break down the Queenslanders, who were inexplicably wearing what appeared to be rubber skull caps, had dropped more than half the ‘bombs’.

While the NSW team may claim to have been potentially robbed by a technological failure I suspect the entire episode is more symbolic of the shambles that is NSW and Australian Rugby this year. Indeed the phrase 'couldn’t organise a piss up in a brewery' comes to mind.

What’s your favourite half-time moment?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

sitting next to me dad and me mate.

Having line-outs right infront of us... but then again there were so many that everyone got that opportunity.

Oh, the beer queue was short... see what half a mil in takings can do.

A girl in front of use blaiming her boyfriend for getting in way and stopping her catching the ball.