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Fortunately the Lukhan Tui V Fan incident has saved RA and Chieka from the Press. Everyone from RA and the pro RA media/scribes are jumping on this and trying very hard to forget about the result.
Now that that has been said...…..FFS, Beale, first time with the ball he runs sideways 20m and shuts down our attack.
Did anyone else see Matt Tomoua question the official on the side line about him going off? He was heard to say, are you sure, me, 12? The official had to go back on the microphone to confirm that Chieka wanted Matt off. Even he could not believe it.
In the face of adversity and clearly at a loss of what to do, Chieka reverted to his Waratah pets, Phipps 9, Foley 10, Beale, 12, Falou back to 15 and he put Ned Hannigan on for some totally unknown reason?
Not sure why he put DHP on the wing for the last 10min?
Beware WA is getting part of the blame....
Wayne smith in the oz in a wide ranging very pessimistic article about the team coach and selection performances , gets onto the rather virulent social media response and has singled out WA ... quote-
“Frankly, it simply is not helping that an entire Australian state now seems to be cheering against the Wallabies on social media.
There is no question that Western Australia was wronged terribly by Rugby Australia with the axing of the Western Force but now the repeated failures of the Wallabies have simply become another branch with which to whack east coast rugby. Yet all this chortling over the Wallabies’ demise, what effect is it having, one wonders, on the likes of Dane Haylett-Petty or Adam Coleman in the Australian side?”
Oh yeah, THAT'S the problem with the Wallabies. Give me strength.
Japan and the Pacific Islands for Aussie Super 9's!
Let's have one of these in WA! Click this link: Saitama Super Arena - New Perth Stadium?
"Frankly, it simply is not helping that an entire Australian state now seems to be cheering against the Wallabies on social media."
Oh yeah, THAT'S the problem for the Wallabies. Give me strength.
Last edited by chibi; 16-09-18 at 23:32.
Japan and the Pacific Islands for Aussie Super 9's!
Let's have one of these in WA! Click this link: Saitama Super Arena - New Perth Stadium?
I have not seen this so I am assuming it is correct. If it is I'm disgusted. I'm sorry Wayne, I have had a lot of respect for you over the years. You were a lone a voice in the East Coast media wilderness supporting us but I'm sorry you have just lost me. What a crock of crap. So we are to blame for the rubbish being served up to us by the Wallabies? You have to be f#@!ing kidding me. Dane was one of the few who can put his hand up after the rubbish I watched. Oh, and by the way, we are always told the players don't read or listen to the media so how can it be having any effect on them. And another thing, Dane has had the guts to put his hand up and come back to support the gold jumper (WA gold that is)}. Listen to him privately and he is as p!@#ed off as everyone else about the idiots running the asylum cutting our team. I will continue to "whack east coast rugby" at every opportunity. And there are plenty like me, in fact a whole bloody big state of true rugby followers
Last edited by wholetruth; 16-09-18 at 23:10.
From what I can gather, there is more than enough whackers in the East that anything coming from the West would be negligible.
Frankly, if they wanted something to worry about, surely it would be the very large number who have said nothing because they no longer feel involved (for whatever reason), didn't watch (regardless of location) and don't feel strongly enough to comment on the performance at all.
Exile
Sydney
"Pain heels. Chicks dig scars and Glory lasts forever." Shane Falco
I will continue to support whoever plays Eastern Australia. Maybe with a clear out of the board and a make over of RA, full acceptance of WSR with no obstruction, and selection of a Wetern Force player in the Wallabies, I could mellow. Lack of insight by this reporter on the depth of feeling and how WA has been treated.
Yes I am bitter and twisted
Last edited by terrycobner; 17-09-18 at 06:46.
The Australian
Fan turns on Lukhan Tui as Wallabies sink deeper into mire
WAYNE SMITH
12:00AM SEPTEMBER 17, 2018
The toxicity and poison that is now part and parcel of Australian rugby, became supercharged and boiled over in one ugly incident on Saturday night at Cbus Stadium on the Gold Coast.
The verbal attack on Lukhan Tui after he had just played for his country against Argentina, a Test he had played to honour his stepdad who had died young and utterly without warning the previous Wednesday, was as low a moment as Australian rugby has suffered.
That it was triggered by a disgruntled fan who — seemingly unwittingly — had also knocked over Tui’s sister just added to the tawdriness of the moment.
Granted, it could have been a whole lot worse. Had Tui reacted beyond merely grabbing the fan’s jersey, it could have blown out of all control. Raw as his emotions must have been, he held it all inside and for that Australian rugby should be extremely grateful.
Still, at a time when the Wallabies are plumbing depths never experienced before during the professional era, the fact is that a line has been crossed in terms of behaviour and can’t be uncrossed.
Rugby Australia may not be able to do anything to punish that disgruntled fan. They will receive a report into the incident today but indications are that he may not have done anything illegal.
But here’s the tricky part. Rugby Australia will be reluctant to wheel out any sanctions against the man because these days it has little other than disgruntled fans.
Wallabies coach Michael Cheika was the last person advocating action against the fan simply because he knows how profoundly his team has let down Australians. As coach, he bears the heaviest load but at some level he, too, must be feeling the worst disappointment of his life.
He has stuck by his team through thick and thin, deflecting praise onto his players on those increasingly rare occasions when they have done something wonderful, but taking the blame upon himself all those other times when they failed to deliver. These days he is being hung out to dry and what are his players doing to help him? Not much at all.
So while that fan might have indulged himself way too much on Saturday night, and taken his abuse way too far and made it overly personal, tap into any rugby chat site these days and you will find those same emotions permeating every conversation.
It’s the menacing anonymity of social media. Everyone can express an opinion but rarely is anyone held accountable for it. Almost all the posts are first name only, many indeed are just nicknames, and as Cheika observed on Saturday night, no one wants to know the backstory. No one wants their crude criticism contaminated with facts. Was it really surprising that this uncivil, aggressive behaviour would ultimately begin to infiltrate our stadiums?
Frankly, it simply is not helping that an entire Australian state now seems to be cheering against the Wallabies on social media.
There is no question that Western Australia was wronged terribly by Rugby Australia with the axing of the Western Force but now the repeated failures of the Wallabies have simply become another branch with which to whack east coast rugby. Yet all this chortling over the Wallabies’ demise, what effect is it having, one wonders, on the likes of Dane Haylett-Petty or Adam Coleman in the Australian side?
If the situation is bad at present, it could become grim indeed by the end of the first week in October. After taking this week off — during which, hopefully, some senior players will spend some serious time looking at themselves in the mirror — the Wallabies then head overseas next week for the return matches away against South Africa and Argentina.
Since the 2015 World Cup, the Wallabies overall have won 15 Tests out of 36 — a winning percentage of 41.7.
At home, they have won eight out of 19, away they have won six out of 16, with one win in the neutral venue column for the victory over Argentina at Twickenham in 2016. So the question can reasonably be asked: What will happen if the Wallabies lose to the Springboks and Pumas abroad?
There is no appetite within Rugby Australia to remove Cheika.
There still isn’t, even after the 23-19 defeat to the Pumas. Indeed, the loss would surely have driven home the fact that there are limits to the coach’s accountability. At some point, the players themselves have to step up. If the Wallabies could find the commitment to beat the Springboks just nine days ago, why were they so bereft of courage and inspiration against the Pumas?
Now, it seems, there are degrees of defeat. If the upcoming Tests in Port Elizabeth and Salta end in close losses, with the Wallabies battling hard, then they will not count heavily against Cheika. But if they are 20-point blowouts, with the Australians never in the fight, then it could end in … what?
No one seems to know. It’s the question everyone in Rugby Australia is dreading. They had no alternative to Cheika when Ewen McKenzie suddenly pulled the pin in 2014 and, four years later, they still have no alternative to him.
Yet if the Wallabies don’t show any ticker and spirit, how can they continue with Cheika, a man who has made “physicality” the touchstone of his coaching philosophy? If the players can’t fight for Cheika, who surely has fought for them, how could Australia simply carry on as per normal and go through the motions in the very year of a World Cup?
All of this is playing out against the backdrop of an incident in which the fabric of the game has been, if not torn, then certainly stretched badly out of shape.
No doubt there will be some in Australian rugby who will insist that the incident on Saturday night was just a little push and shove that has been blown out of all proportion.
It didn’t seem like that. It seemed like the first rumble from Mount Vesuvius.
Sorry bud. But your Rat's Arse devil's advocate act is getting over the top. Not all, and I suspect not many really are doing "exactly what Wayne Smith says". WA even managed a decent crowd for the test at NIB last year, with plenty sporting gold. Many people are still supporting the Wallabies and watching on TV. Many others are not watching or supporting - me included - but not trolling other sites and/or social media either. I suspect your beef is with the usual vocal minority who can be arsed doing that. My advice, as I've said before, is give it a rest. You can't rationalise people into agreeing with your opinion. It has the potential to do your head in, even if you are on the money - in a few cases.
"The main difference between playing League and Union is that now I get my hangovers on Monday instead of Sunday - Tom David
A least it confirms that people such as Wayne Smith are followers of posts by supporters of the Western Force.
Obviously he's uncomfortable with the scrutiny.
I meant to add:
Talk about snowflakes.....
There's probably a couple of hundred who are active on social media.
Are they really representative of the 15,0000 who attended the WSR games or the last 2 Tests?