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![Not allowed!](images/buttons/up_dis.png)
Wallaby flanker David Pocock has chained himself to a digger to protest a controversial coal mine in northwest NSW.
The injured former captain is chained to the digger with seven others, part of a group of 30 protesters who have converged on the Maules Creek coal mine in the Leard Forest, joining a long running blockade at the site.
"It's incredibly important that we have conversations about this," he told AAP.
"In 2014, to put a coal mine in the middle of a state forest just doesn't seem to make any sense.
"The local people are not only concerned about the effects of this mine on the climate in the future but also how it affects the water table.
"When you're living around the mine, that's stuff you have to think about."
The 26-year-old hasn't played with the Wallabies since undergoing a knee reconstruction in March.
He says he is participating in a peaceful protest and is staying until someone comes to cut them off.
"I would be doing this regardless of what career I had. It is part of being a human being and taking on the challenges we face as a society.
"It is about giving back and getting the conversation going."
Local farmers and environmental groups are calling for an immediate halt to construction work on the Maules Creek Mine and a full inquiry into how the project was approved by NSW and federal governments.
Whitehaven coal boss Paul Flynn last week hit out at critics of the mine and those leading the blockade, saying their actions were illegal.
"These people are getting in the way of our employees, average people who are just trying to come to work and do their job," he said.
Production is ramping up at Maules Creek, with the first coal due to leave in January.
https://au.news.yahoo.com/a/25647876...-mine-protest/
and:
http://junkee.com/aussie-rugby-star-...oal-mine/46308
complete idiots.
if you want to protest go to the courts & dont stop other people from trying to make a living.
Wonder what the brumbies are thinking of their star player getting arrested when he's still working on his rehab.
you just wonder what sleazy deals were done with the NSW government to get this project approved?
So Jono, to continue the off thread conversation, do you think Cheika's appointment has been to the benefit of Australian rugby?
Back to topic, if this mine is in Northern NSW, what business is it of a Canberra resident? He talks about the local people as if he is one
C'mon the![]()
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Agree your second point.
And first one... I'm bored.don't think we've gone backwards. But we're sure as shit not moving forwards. The coaching team have their work cut out for them next year.
*edit*
Also, FFS you do remember the coaching staff was only confirmed 3 days before they left Australia? Right? Give the man a chance. We kept faith in foley last year through the shit. And even this year in the first 2 rounds. Are you sure that your condemnation of him isn't juse because he's from & still is @ the wares tahs @ therefore the NSWRU? - also ladies & gents this question is not just limited to GIGS. I'm just responding to him at the moment.
Let's be a tiny wee bit realistic here though. At this moment in time anyone that think's we're a serious chance for a third world cup next year has rocks in their head. Our goal should be semis. But with our group we're gonna struggle to be number 2 in it. Let alone top it.
So as not to hijack this thread, continue in the match thread?
Last edited by jono; 30-11-14 at 13:23.
So you're passing judgement 5 weeks into the job and after a tour in which he had little say in squad selection?
Given there was no one else in the running for the job who would have appointed?
In conjunction with the saucer people and reverse vampires....
Sorry Jono but I disagree. David Pocock has the right to protest about the mine regardless of where he lives, after all it's not as if climate change affects certain parts of the world and not others
Going to be interesting to see how the ARU handles this. Arrested means a law has been broken, but only two have been taken in. Implies it was for something more than just being part of the crowd..?
Pocock is noticeably less muscled topside. More gym, less farking saving the world.
Yes he has a right to an opinion but he doesn't ahve the right to break the law and bring his employer and the code of rugby into disrepute.
In saying that, I have some sympathy for the cause. Water tables need to be protected as does state forest. There are legal ways of protesting however. locking on gets him a criminal record. Not clever............but pragmatically I suppose, nobody listens. Action is sometimes required
The hypocisy of farmers never fails to surprise me. How much superphosphate has that bloke pumped into the water table, river and streams? How about the salinity problems caused by illegal over consumption of water from streams and rivers....how about the algal blooms from all his agricultural run off? How about the poisoning of rivers and streams with insecticides causing fish kills. Farmers have no problem chaining hundreds of hectares of bush to grow crops and causing extinction of native species such as black cockatoos. I hate farking hypocrites.
Controversy corner
Way too much time on his hands.
This kind of mung bean activity is not good for him or the game.
Get Pocock back on the field with his mind on rugby.
Agree. Bloke wants to have his cake & eat it too.
Bet he's still loving the sweet government bailout money he gets.
Same as the dickhead Queensland farmers who whinge about a CSG well on their land.
They take the money off origin,QGC & Santos. And all the help they get from the said companies but still scream to high heaven that CSG mining is illegal and fracking ruins everything. All the while misrepresenting the facts of just how often a seam is fractured ( <10% but I can't remember the exact %age). And everything else they sprout that's total bullshit.
Sorry... /rant *catches breath*
Not our problem any more!... He's played half a dozen odd games since he left the force, the games past him by, too much time on his hands........
My opinion is Pocock waited for the ARU to sort out Beale and find out what happened to him.. ..Pocock then thought if it ends badly it would be my 1st offence and should only get a slap on the wrist from ARU by going on their record...
All people have the right to protest but as Jono and Rex point out make sure ya own back yard is clean before heading off to protest..
Clubs and administrative bodies et al need to take a leap out of the American playbook and make their contracts with their players more restrictive. NBA and NFL players have written into their contacts that they cannot get on a bike, do bungy or other behaviours where they may receive an injury that will render them unable to fulfil their contractual obligations.
If players want to box or whatever do it on their own coin and time when the possibility of an injury that renders them unable to play is not an issue.
Likewise this. There are a million ways Pocock could have made a legitimate protest against this. Instead he engages in criminal activity. The ponies should show him the door. Surely it should be implicit in your contract that criminal activity renders it null and void. He should be going nowhere near the wallaby setup after this let alone have a leadership role in same. Then again Beale wears a gold jumper now and again.