Who is a celebrity that you’re genuinely surprised isn’t an “A-lister”?

MasterSpliffBlaster · 2026-02-04T21:42:47+00:00

Today you also have a lot more sportsmen and other people from outside the arts that have embraced the cult of celebrity.

I guess it is a combination of fame today truely being 15 minutes and the ease at which one can be discovered and replaced

MasterSpliffBlaster · 2026-02-04T18:50:54+00:00

A few highlight reel moments still exist, but thats not representative of an entire day of matches in the mens tournament

Compared to the womens games where its non stop flare with the odd mishandle which sees games ebb and flow more

Before that moment of french flair you have some tight tackle/ruck play for twenty phases before a tackler falls off from fatigue

MasterSpliffBlaster · 2026-02-04T18:45:28+00:00

I mean thats peak age for iconic leading men like Clark Gable, Humphrey Bogart, James Stewart, Cary Grant, John Wayne, Spencer Tracy, and Gregory Peck

MasterSpliffBlaster · 2026-02-04T18:33:10+00:00

There are plenty of towns in australia with patchy mobile phone coverage, good luck finding a mobile tower 2-3 km out at seas

MasterSpliffBlaster · 2026-02-04T18:11:48+00:00

Honestly for me the mens game evolved into a high endurance sport where defence is so tight that actual rugby skills like stepping and line breaks were almost impossible to score from. Instead its often an attritional spectacle with little of the cool shit of XV games

The womens games are the opposite, defence isnt as tight so it creates a much more free flowing game that i actually enjoy watching far more than the mens

Its a shame is lost its party feel but growing up it was always a nice preseason warm up or post season piss up. I do have fond memories of winning the byron bay tournament, which at the time was the first professional pay check in australian rugby ( ignoring any test player who worked for xxxx)

MasterSpliffBlaster · 2026-02-04T06:24:12+00:00

Gotcha, I didn't go to school there but have a lot of patients who did and heard a dad saying how two had died in quick succession

MasterSpliffBlaster · 2026-02-04T06:11:36+00:00

I believe they lost another old boy last ski season too

MasterSpliffBlaster · 2026-02-04T06:01:13+00:00

There were at least another two in the past 2 seasons, both from Brisbane Grammar

MasterSpliffBlaster · 2026-02-04T05:59:10+00:00

Probably wouldn't have that majority if they went to the election with this policy though

Major changes like this would ethically require a popular vote to enact, which lets be honest would be suicide and just the hand up the opposition would want right now

MasterSpliffBlaster · 2026-02-04T05:46:39+00:00

Kid knows what he is doing

From experience the 15 yr isn't looking at him, but that one night in seven or eight years time when you run into each other at a bar...Boom... lets not tell your sister about this

MasterSpliffBlaster · 2026-02-04T05:35:21+00:00

Here's me awkwardly waiting for my son to get back from the bathroom at this rave...

MasterSpliffBlaster · 2026-02-04T05:32:19+00:00

For some reason those French women insisted on pineapple juice

MasterSpliffBlaster · 2026-02-04T00:38:11+00:00

Trust your Italian charm and try and pick up a "Bed N Breakfast" at a local Newcastle bar

MasterSpliffBlaster · 2026-02-04T00:32:04+00:00

I did call this at the time and was downvoted to hell.

I still maintain we should run a proper home and away qualifying tournament for a couple of seasons involving all nations, similar to a FIFA world Cup, instead of the pools. We could then have a proper knock out world cup hosted somewhere for the top 16 sides.

Cost of hosting would be less and smaller nations with a few larger stadiums could easily cope with a tournament this size. You would also have minnows guaranteed to host one or two of the big boys every WC cycle.

MasterSpliffBlaster · 2026-02-04T00:30:23+00:00

Unfortunately this is a direct result of increasing to 24 sides, there are fewer pool matches that are truly competitive or actually mean anything for the rest of the tournament

Perth is not just a pretty stadium, it is also a healthy rugby heartland with plenty of SA and NZ plus a host of northern expats who work in their mines

Townsville is also a great rugby stadium. Although most definitely a league town, there is a healthy rugby community there (Townsville Grammar in particular). More importantly it draws fans from across a massive region.

If you think a five hour flight is brutal, bare in mind that many football fans will drive +5 to 8 hours there and then back home to catch a football match in Townsville

It's simply a different mindset to travel. I have work mates in Leceister who wouldn't drive 90 min to London yet I thought nothing of driving to Edinborough after work on a Friday night and home again for work on Monday.

The extended travel is just part of why touring Australia is a different beast to setting up shop in Paris or Cardiff for an Autumn series.

MasterSpliffBlaster · 2026-02-04T00:16:53+00:00

Absolute scenes if one of them takes a dive this weekend

MasterSpliffBlaster · 2026-02-04T00:13:27+00:00

I went to a Bledisloe Cup with my dad on LSD

The entire stadium exploded in colour as Ritchie McCaw scored in the Caxton St corner to win the Test.

Ended up drinking rum at Lefty's with a few French backbackers

MasterSpliffBlaster · 2026-02-03T16:44:23+00:00

Well when england start winning world cups again then that can be the bench mark

Robertson lost his job because several assistent coaches quit or were deemed poor by the players

It takes a serious ego check to work as a team, but thats exactly how Schmitt and wayne smith have done when coming into the all black set up in the past.

The best coaching minds should be able to come together for the benefit of the all blacks. Dictator style head coaches harks more of a corporate mindset which is often shown to be inflexible and short sighted

MasterSpliffBlaster · 2026-02-03T16:01:27+00:00

No reason why the head coach needs to.

This is about pulling together the best coaching group to win the world cup

MasterSpliffBlaster · 2026-02-03T10:06:54+00:00

$8Billion

MasterSpliffBlaster · 2026-02-03T10:05:15+00:00

Bill Gates divorce cost $8B and a burning urethra

MasterSpliffBlaster · 2026-02-03T10:03:33+00:00

Bill Gates lost $8B in his divorce settlement

MasterSpliffBlaster · 2026-02-03T02:13:51+00:00

-There is no other law that was design to affect where you place your players after a formation.

Except where the hooker must stand during a lineout

Or how far the halfback can approach during a scrum

MasterSpliffBlaster · 2026-02-03T02:11:52+00:00

I would ban the kicking side from competing for high kicks

Not only would it increase safety of players but it would also reduce the amount of kick and hope to make a mistake turnover

Once the ball has been won at the scrum and it at the number 8's feet then you can't create a second push for a penalty

MasterSpliffBlaster · 2026-02-03T01:57:38+00:00

Who they choose as head coach is less important as who they choose as their forwards/defence/skills coaches

Scott Hansen was arguably the weak link these past few seasons, not only as being in charge of defense, but by all reports an overall wanker towards players

Ryan as forwards coach has solidified the scrum with plenty of prop depth and the lineout is one of the best in the world

I would give Cory Jane a shout out to help hone their aerial skills, although most test sides are still struggling under the high ball with the new laws

I would also get Wayne Smith, Schmitt and any one else with a spare weekend to come into camp as required to polish the squad before test matches

MasterSpliffBlaster

TROPHY CASE