FROM THE SIDELINES
• All over
So the British and Irish Lions arrived and then just disappeared quite quickly.
But some serious, and others not so serious, questions have to be asked about the whole tour.
Who were these mysterious pundits calling for the end of the Lions tours? All and sundry were saying they had to be retained but noone was actually identified as being against the tours. Did these people actually exist? Was it just some outoftouch English club chairman who had a shandy or two too many six months ago?
Wasn’t the game at Forsyth Barr Stadium against the Highlanders the best game of the tour? Or are we biased? And thank goodness for the roof, because that was one bleak night outside.
Everyone praised the Lions supporters. But why would they not be happy? They were all wealthy and got to go to the tests, which were beyond the means of most New Zealand rugby supporters.
So Dunedin did not get to host a test because it did not have enough hotel rooms. But didn’t fans have to fly into Wellington from Christchurch on the day of the second test because there were no spare hotel rooms in the capital? And why is it such a priority that a host nation has to worry about accommodation for travelling supporters?
How many Lions players went down injured in crucial moments of tests?
Could the performance of the New Zealand Maori been any worse?
Who was missed more? Dane Coles or Ben Smith?
Will we see Jerome Kaino in a black jersey again?
Did anyone honestly think Marty Banks would miss the matchwinning penalty for the Highlanders?
If the Lions had a chief executive and a logistics manager, what did the actual manager of the team do?
Is it possible for a touring party to have 43 offthefield staff? Who pays their wages?
How is a drawn series like kissing your sister? Where did that come from? It is just a drawn series. Plain and simple.
• Moving on up
Let’s hope the Highlanders get one over the men from the north of the Waitaki River tonight.
But some uncertain times lie ahead for the southern franchise.
The coaching issue for next year hovers and who will be the man in charge with the clipboard next year? It comes down to Mark Hammett or Aaron Mauger.
Neither has got the greatest of records to pull out from the hat.
Just through the way things have fallen and developed, it is going to be one of these former Canterbury men.
One would think it would be wise for the Highlanders to court and appoint Cory Brown as the third coach.
Though we are all past the days of the provincial rivalries at Super Rugby level, there is still something comforting in having a coach with a real link to the blue and gold.
The younger brother of current head coach Tony Brown, Cory has done good work with the Otago team since taking the job in 2015. Surely it is time for him to move up the ladder.
• No silver lining
It all went wrong for the White Ferns in their World Cup campaign in England over the past couple of weeks.
The side struck some bad luck with weather and then failed to fire in the games that mattered.
What was particularly disappointing was the performance in the critical match last weekend against India.
The side was just way off the pace, losing by 186 runs. Imagine if that was the Black Caps. They would have been run out of town.
The White Ferns have fallen into a dangerous habit of losing the games that matter.
They have the best players in the country but the best were not good enough on the world stage.
• When is young too young?
There has been an interesting debate going on over the past couple of months about the selection of junior sport teams.
It was all sparked by Mainland Netball (Christchurch and surrounds) not picking representative teams for their junior sides up to the age of 12.
That move was criticised by former Silver Ferns coach Margaret Foster, who said it did not allow young players a chance to play to the next level.
But others said players of this age group were way too young and all it did was put too many other youngsters off the sport.
One can see both sides, of course.
There are plenty of examples of players who did not make junior sides going on to do well.
Michael Jordan did not make his high school team, apparently, while closer to home, Ben Smith was deemed not good enough for junior representative sides.
What that does show is how much a guessing game it is when selecting junior sides.
Mum, Dad and not many else. The thing about junior sides is they are a lottery in selection.
Do they actually help people improve when they get to senior grades?
Isn’t that why you have these teams? So players can get better and then, when they become adults, they have improved to a sufficient level?
The issue with that is noone knows the answer to that. It is impossible to gauge.
Also does anyone actually care about junior sides?
Apart from family and friends, is the public interested in these teams?
Judging by the number of hoodies you see, getting into a junior representative team in any sport is about as difficult as turning up.
Perhaps at these lower age groups, representative teams should just be put on the backburner. Instead, hold a couple of training days that anyone can attend. • Students here, there and everywhere Now we all know Dunedin is more and more becoming a student city. But the sheer size of the student population is dictating the sporting programme.
That is fine for the student who comes from Hawke’s Bay or Auckland.
But what about the young athlete straight out of one of the Dunedin high schools, who is playing club sport in Dunedin? And is not a student?
A Colts rugby player gets the season under way and then discovers he has a couple of weeks off. Then games get played on Sunday because students have exams on Saturdays.
Following that is a complete break as students go home and no teams are left around. Then the season cranks up again and all of a sudden, it is semifinals and the final. And the season is over.
Netball is just as bad. Programmes are deferred and put back as teams are short on players while high school teams in senior grades are on holiday and games are postponed.
It is just a fact of life in playing sport in Dunedin. We are asking for commitment for those playing sport but the calendar is not showing too much commitment itself.
• The hardest job of all There is nothing more irritating when watching a game than having to listen to someone constantly complaining to the referees.
Despite all the attention surrounding referee abuse, it still happens at almost any game you go to.
Fans that turn up to watch their team play once a week all of a sudden become experts.
Players become convinced they never do anything wrong.
The most humorous ones come when someone standing 100m away is adamant a referee that was right next to the play got a call wrong.
Or when they are arguing a rule or law that they clearly do not understand.
Of course, complaints are rarely heard from the side that benefits from a questionable call.
If you are genuinely criticising the referee, should you not be questioning the calls that go your way, as well as the ones that go against you?
Even then, provided the referee is trying their hardest and showing genuine effort, can you really complain?
They are probably the best people available for that game.
There is an old saying that if you think you can do a better job, then you should do it yourself.
In a day and age where referees are in short supply, anyone who thinks they could do a better job really should be putting their hand up.
At least that would keep them quiet and let the rest of us get on with enjoying the game.
• It’s open but not all the time
As much as it would be nice to shift a game of club rugby to Forsyth Barr Stadium when it rains or the field is a bit boggy, it is just not going to happen. And it is naive to think otherwise.
Forsyth Barr Stadium is open for community events but they have to fit in around the other, more pressing, priorities.
It was built to deliver economic impact for the city and it is an asset that has to be properly managed.
Even with a roof over the top, the playing surface still requires careful maintenance. You cannot just squeeze in another game when it is not being used.
The Otago Rugby Football Union had a firm grasp on that reality when it decided against applying to play the semifinals at the venue.
The final will be staged at Forsyth Barr Stadium but the semifinals will be played at Hancock Park today, after the University Oval was ruled out because the pitch block is a muddy mess.
It is not ideal. It will be a real scramble on the sidelines for spectators and poor weather is forecast. But don’t complain that the games should be played at Forsyth Barr Stadium, please.
• The greatest? Our article on the greatest sports people today sparked a lot of enthusiasm in the sports department — we love a good list. But how can you compare a basketballer with a football player or even athletes from different eras? It is impossibly subjective, but one way to take some of the emotion out of the task is to develop a set of criteria. We came up with five guidelines to help.
Basically, we were looking for athletes who were much better than their contemporaries, beat the best, had a compelling story, raised the profile or brought about change in their sport and possessed that magical Xfactor that lifted them above all others.
But sometimes you just cannot help but go with your heart.