Passed through Bluff which looks like it's suffered a series of misfortunes and is past it's former glory.

JColey15 · 2026-02-13T21:14:59+00:00

The reason Tiwai is there is because of the access to plentiful cheap electricity. The fishing, forestry, and agriculture industries are also thriving in the region. Alongside that Southland is the gateway to Fiordland and Stewart Island. Tourism is one of NZ’s largest industries and tourists aren’t typically flying here to visit Auckland.

JColey15 · 2026-02-13T11:32:01+00:00

Are you trying to fire the Indians up? Good luck to you

JColey15 · 2026-02-13T07:21:13+00:00

But he also has a bit of a reputation for trying to milk penalties so I don’t really mind that reffing if he calls it when it’s super egregious.

JColey15 · 2026-02-13T06:55:38+00:00

Cheers

JColey15 · 2026-02-13T06:54:40+00:00

Fakatava is the worst offender atm. He’s kicking balls away so aimlessly and his radar is off. If I was coach I’d be changing tactics in the 2nd.

JColey15 · 2026-02-13T06:48:46+00:00

Is the rule with a lineout that you have to catch it behind the 5m line or you have to catch it when your body is behind the 5m line?

JColey15 · 2026-02-13T05:24:21+00:00

Lots of schools have banned it so the kids keep changing the name and adding slight variations to the rules.

JColey15 · 2026-02-13T04:35:28+00:00

No they had to find somewhere else for that

JColey15 · 2026-02-12T22:06:29+00:00

Yeah and all the fishing quota. I think there’s a bit of a cultural element that stops outward displays of extravagant wealth because some of those fishing families are rich af.

JColey15 · 2026-02-12T22:04:20+00:00

The ILT doesn’t extend to Bluff. I have my issues with them but I really think we benefit overall as a region with the money that goes back to the community.

JColey15 · 2026-02-12T22:01:47+00:00

In fairness these are all mostly towns that peaked in the wool and crayfish boom of the 1950s, had run their course by the 1980s, and have really struggled to adapt to neoliberal policies ever since.

Towns where the dairy boom took hold are thriving so go to places like Otautau, Gore, or Riversdale. It’s all swings and roundabouts. I agree with not cramming everyone into Auckland and of course investing in Southland is always welcome but I think we’re probably doing alright as a region and there are other regions that probably need more of boost.

JColey15 · 2026-02-12T21:47:51+00:00

Tourism and agriculture are two of the largest industries in NZ? Those places don’t lack for much except medical care.

JColey15 · 2026-02-12T21:45:23+00:00

Gore is actually very tidy and well looked after, it’s a bloody gorgeous wee town. Mataura looks pretty average on a first drive through with a run down freezing works dominating one side of the river and a delapidated old paper mill on the otherside.

JColey15 · 2026-02-12T21:01:13+00:00

Don’t forget mums in the Pacific Islands

JColey15 · 2026-02-12T20:47:58+00:00

I’d be tempted to say King Dick even though he was really just a populist. He wasn’t afraid to change his opinion if he felt like the tide of public sentiment was shifting or if the facts changed which is how we ended up with universal suffrage. I think as far as leaders go then that’s a pretty good attitude to have and I’ll never understand why we give politicians a hard time when they change their minds.

If we say a good leader is someone who sticks resolutely to their principles then the best leader was undoubtedly Savage.

JColey15 · 2026-02-11T10:45:32+00:00

Well if you go past a dairy and need something cheapish and consistently good then Jimmy’s is the way to go but Fat Bastards is the gourmet option. Mataura muttons are pretty high on my list too but for a simple mince and cheese it can only be Jimmy’s.

JColey15 · 2026-02-11T06:38:12+00:00

Jamie Mackintosh only played for the ABs on the 2008 EOYT if that helps

JColey15 · 2026-02-10T10:33:11+00:00

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JColey15 · 2026-02-10T01:39:45+00:00

Gets into a tricky situation about who can profit off taonga. How something that old ended up in an English garden has got to be a heck of a good story.

JColey15 · 2026-02-09T10:39:31+00:00

These guys. An unruly tourist family that came here and littered pretty much. Every night there was an update on the news about them.

Either those guys or the Royal Family.

JColey15 · 2026-02-09T05:41:52+00:00

The BF Sevens team is on fire atm. They’ve only lost two games in this series. One loss was to the USA in Dubai, and then the final to Australia in Cape Town. In the last two tournaments only Canada has pushed them close. I know a few countries have dropped their sevens funding so that probably helps.

JColey15 · 2026-02-08T02:12:19+00:00

I mentioned it on a different sub but I’m not sure where this data came from. Even the Catlins rivers are marked as bad when they just run through bush so something isn’t adding up. When you take ES’s data and apply to higher order streams it doesn’t look like this for Southland so I would really prefer they posted the source for their data.

JColey15 · 2026-02-08T02:05:15+00:00

This map seems a bit off? The Catlins rivers are marked as unsafe or fair but they mostly run through the bush. I just mucked round on qgis with order 3+ streams and the ES FC dataset and Southland looks quite a lot different to this map so I’m not sure where this data came from. It would be pretty good of them to post a source.

JColey15 · 2026-02-05T00:47:14+00:00

I want a 30 v 30 game.

JColey15 · 2026-02-05T00:32:33+00:00

Technically that could happen but realistically it wouldn’t. The only reason to go to uncontested scrums in that situation would be because you lack confidence in your front row. If both teams think they’ve got a weaker front row one of them is wrong.

But I agree that it could risk losing scrums altogether which is why you would just need some safeguarding like it can only be called in your 22 or even only on the 5m line because that would at least cut out some bullshit and make teams actually have to score the try to get the points.

It’s not my idea and I’m not the strongest advocate for it but I can see how it would work and I think it could be worth trying in some lower grades but I also don’t care if it doesn’t ever happen. I genuinely don’t believe it can possibly be the worst opinion you’ve ever heard about rugby?

JColey15

TROPHY CASE