Author Archives: Wayne Wood

Ground control to Rugby League Union

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Interesting article in SMH wth which I agree. Especially this part.

Yet this bedrock of the game – the Sydney and Brisbane club competitions – the source of most of the players for the four state teams, and most of the Wallabies, is never allowed its day in the sun, never allowed to field its strongest team on its biggest day. The grand final is always denuded of Wallaby stars who are not allowed to play. This year was no different.
Instead, what we have is a game at war with its own heartland, where men in corporate boxes, with visions of creating a national league just like football/soccer, treat the real and enduring third tier of the game as some inconvenient irritant, a holdover from the amateur past that needs to be replaced with a gleaming new entity.

The result: the rampant utopian naivety of a “national competition” built out of eight franchises that don’t exist, that the public does not want, that has no corporate backing, no sustainable business model, no tribal passion and zero tradition.

All to be paid for by flogging the gold jersey, the Wallabies, turning the national team into a club side, playing 12 to 15 Tests a year, including six games a year against the All Blacks and the Springboks. This is not leveraging a tradition, this is devaluing it. This is not building mystique, this is over-exposure. This is not leading from the top, this is insidious erosion. While rugby loses ground in the grass roots, the gold-jerseyed goose is being cooked.

Not only the Sydney club competition is being overlooked, but grass roots rugby all over Australia. It’s time the “suits” in the corporate boxes realised that, without the willing endeavour of a huge number of volunteers, both officials and players, the base of the sport, from which all elite rugby stems, will wither and die.

When will we ever learn?

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Watching a doco about Gallipoli yesterday – was there anything else on? – several exerps from the famous diaries of CEW Bean were read extolling the virtues of the ANZACS. The producers failed to mention Bean “admitted that while the Australians at Gallipoli were a tough and brave lot, they weren’t nearly as heroic as the Austalian people believed. But he added, sadly, that if he reported”the true side of war” …”the tender Australian public, which only tolerates flattery and that in it’s cheapest form, would howl me out of existence”. So it turns out that the patriotic attitudes which predateed the disillusionment and disgust with the Great War and encouraged so many to enlist, were carried forward by the chronicler of the ANZAC adventure, Bean, and turned into a national legend – the idea of the noble warrior nation, whose sons are eternally willing to sacrifice themselves in search of heroism.”

Why has the legend made such a big comeback ? David Tiley puts it so well.
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Nice one Mick.

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My accreditation as an Austswim instructor is up for renewal. In order that I may have the privilege of paying an exorbitant sum to register, I am required complete at least 20 (unpaid) hours of teaching and renew my cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) certificate. The former I am prepared to do, the latter I have always considered a waste of time and now I have the evidence to prove it.

No-one ever tells you that CPR cannot restart a heart – only a defibrillator can do that – the best you can do is keep the blood circulating to the brain.
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What business are they in?

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You’d think that we’d have learnt something about land speculation over the last 200 years but in Rum Corps to white- shoe brigade by Jim Forbes and Peter Spearritt – thanks to Currency Lad for the link – the authors show that practices started by Macarthur and the officers of the Rum Corps are alive and well today.

THE CROSSING OF the Blue Mountains by Blaxland, Wentworth and Lawson in 1813 paved the way for further land grabs. Desperate convicts who dreamt of a fabled Shangri-la beyond the Great Dividing Range were bitterly disappointed, but for the acquisitive and avaricious the vast tracts of grassland over the mountains were a speculative paradise. Legislation in 1829 divided the new lands into strictly defined portions, the Nineteen Counties, settlement outside which was forbidden on pain of prosecution. With limited resources and the inability to properly police such a vast area, the colonial authorities were playing little more than a game of bluff. Population pressures, increasing livestock numbers and sheer lust for land quickly led to the emergence of “squatting”, as settlers moved beyond the established county boundaries and pegged out their own in defiance of the administration. With little effective recourse, the Government reluctantly accepted the presence of the squatters and handed over Crown land for nominal lease and licence fees.
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Myanmar or Burma?

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Otto de Voogd is a Netherlander who has considered the ethical dilemma of traveling in Myanmar.

It is impossible to travel to Myanmar without being confronted by the current travel boycott against the country. Specifically the Campaign for Human Rights and Democracy in Burma which recently launched a new campaign, in which they ask people to sign a pledge, that they will not visit Burma.

All the arguments used in support of the travel boycott may be correct, but there are two points of discussion. The first is about the unequal treatment of offenders, why after all would a travel boycott not be applied across the board to all countries that commit human rights violations? For example why is there no travel boycott against China, for its actions in Tibet or its human rights violations at home?

The second point is that it is unfortunately the people of Myanmar who bear the brunt of this boycott. Already living in difficult circumstances they may now also be starved of the revenues that foreigners could bring them. Rest assured that the generals, with their support from Beijing, will remain in power and live a life of luxury at the expense of their citizens, regardless of the boycott.

I would strongly urge any person who chooses to visit Myanmar, to think very carefully about where they spend their money. Do not go through official travel agents, but visit the country independently.

To read about his visit (and lots of other places – his travel journal is both eclectic and amazingly detailed) go to my new and improved website and follow the link to otto.

And while you’re there you might like to read emails from Suzy in India; I’ve also smartened up the South American pages and posted some photos of our trip last year.

How do they do this?

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I never cease to be amazed at how, with only a few questions, the quizilla people seem to get it so right. Or perhaps they simply feed back what we want to hear.
HASH(0x8ced8bc)
From Timbuktu to Tijuana, you know all about world culture and politics. You’ve seen it all, and what you haven’t seen, you watched on one of the “smart people channels.” Your friends tell you that you should run for governor. What people love: You’ve always got a great story to tell. What people hate: You make them feel like ignorant plebians. Sometimes you slip and CALL them plebians.

What Kind of Elitist Are You?
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A sad day….

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I tried to post this on the most appropriate blog – our host at ubersportingpundit central – but couldn’t log in – so you’ll have to put up with me venting spleen here.

Probably the best thing that’s happened to Australian soccer took place during the third quarter of the AFL game between Brisbane and Saint Kilda.

Riewoldt jarred his shoulder in a collision with Jamie Charman and then damaged it further when he spilled a diving chest mark. Just to ensure it was an injury to remember, Brisbane’s Chris Scott and then Mal Michael cannoned into him. It was an extraordinary show of gamesmanship that looked more like a tag-team wrestling match than a game of football.

Now those of you who’ve read something of what I’ve written about rugby will remember I don’t mind a bit of bif. Two fit and healthy men standing toe to toe belting each other is the natural extension of a contact sport. And, contrary to what some mothers will tell you at a dinner party, I don’t think most people, both males and females, have a problem with the odd stoush on the footy field.

But what happened last night is beyond the pale ! Watching him so dejected and crying in the stand, I understand the temptation to run onto the field and fix up Charman, Scott and Michael. Indeed, I think less of Nick’s team mates that they didn’t do something in retaliation. I was especially concerned by Mathews’ attitude when questioned after the game. I’ve alway thought him a hard man, but always fair. His remarks (or lack of them) about what happened make me think otherwise. I hope that this is not a precursor to what will happen in the future if Brisbane can’t field a full-strength side. Has the mantra of “Win at any cost” become the new Lions team song?

If the Saint Kilda Football club don’t take civil action for assault they don’t deserve to keep the loyalty of their stars like Riewoldt.

The penalty handed out to Hopowate shows that the NRL, and in particular Manly Club, seem to be serious about stamping out thuggery off the ball. I can just condone what Charman (No19) did, at least he made a pretence of going for the ball – but what happened as the injured player was leaving the playing arena – that’s just plain assault, and should be referred to the courts after the AFL tribunal has rubbed out the offenders for the remainder of the season.

Being Prepared.

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I’m looking forward to my parents coming to Darwin next week. That is if my Dad is up to it; he fainted at the pub last week and has been in hospital until today. In any case, I suspect that Mum will come anyway, regardless of Dad’s health, she want’s to celebrate her 80th with her four sons.

It’s easier for us all to get together in Darwin now that the youngest (Paull) has taken a teaching position in the East Kimberly region of W.A. Geoff (the third son) is coming to Darwin for an AHA conference, perhaps he’s about to collect another award, to add to Manager of the Year he got in 2003, for managing the Alyalgula Recreation Club on Groote Eylandt.

Dad’s health is symptomatic of a new phenomenon in modern health care, as put by Jill Margo in the WE AFR (19-20 Feb; available online for $3.30), “Now, people can be diagnosed with a fatal disease but can also have treatment that will keep them alive for years. This delayed dying means having to learn to live with a terminal illness. It means having a fairly good idea of what you are going to die of, but not knowing how much time you have left.”

She goes on to say that “the length of time you have depends on having access to good treatment.” In my father’s case the treatment is the best. And very cheap! Because he served in the Navy during WWII he’s eligible for the Repat gold card. If an aboriginal living in the NT had the same cardiovascular problems as my father he would have died decades ago, well before the triple bypass.

The article goes on to detail the difference between treatment regimes today and three decades ago. More than just treatment protocols have changed. Informed consent is the medicinal buzzword of the naughties. My wife’s friend had to sign (and initial each page) a six-page consent before the surgeon would perform an elective hip replacement.

I’ve long been keen on patients, and their families, learning as much as they can about their illness so that they can discuss options with their medical practitioners. So much more information is available today compared with a decade ago, so that patients, particularly those with terminal cancer, can make choices about their treatment. It is quite reasonable today for men with a prostate cancer diagnosis to choose the ‘do-nothing’ option. Or, those with lung cancer (fatal in 95% of cases) choosing not to have chemotherapy.
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