League "World" Cup

[morepork]

The kick on from Tonga's effort:

http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/sport/344 ... onga-upset

Big test for Kidwell's coaching acumen.

[rowan]

Is that thing still going? I thought it finished last week.

[rowan]

Aussies KO Samoa 46-0. Sounds like a thrill a minute

[morepork]

Change the fuckin record you doughnut.

[rowan]

PNG over England seems like the only realistic possibility of an upset. That would be good, as it would almost certainly lead to a PNG-Tonga semi and an outsider in the final. Otherwise it's just going to grind down to its customary conclusion. Roos beat Kiwis in semis, Poms in final. So go PNG !!

[morepork]

Tonga Lebanon going off. Fast skills, and the Tongan choir in the crowd...

[morepork]

24-22 Tonga. Just held on. Lebanon went hammer and tongs at them right till the end. Quality contest.

[rowan]

Wow, tiny Tonga through to the semis! NZ trail Fiji with half an hour gone

[morepork]

Fiji going hard at the Kiwis with their butty carriers. Ruffling the feathers but no try joy despite over 70% possession. If someone can get on Asofoa-Solomona's shoulder the Kiwis will do the damage. RTS fired up but not really involved enough.

[rowan]

Fiji won

[morepork]

Job done Fiji. Great win. We lost, they won. No complaints from me. Gutted.

[Spy]

Shocker of a WC for the Kiwis. Got to be the end for Kidwell.

[morepork]

Shocker of a WC for the Kiwis. Got to be the end for Kidwell.

Pretty much.

[rowan]

Wow, so the Pacific Islands have really taken over! Roos notwithstanding, of course. Here's hoping PNG can overcome England in the final QF, though it might actually be better for the tournament if there were at least one non-Oceania side in the semis.

[Spy]

Predictable.

[Mr Mwenda]

Job done Fiji. Great win. We lost, they won. No complaints from me. Gutted.

What's up with Kiwis? Strife in the squad or aught. Two cracking upsets there. I thought after the Tonga match that was it for this world cup.

Genuinely torn before England-PNG. Either result will make me happy.

[Mr Mwenda]

Ps hard luck NZ.

[morepork]

Job done Fiji. Great win. We lost, they won. No complaints from me. Gutted.

What's up with Kiwis? Strife in the squad or aught. Two cracking upsets there. I thought after the Tonga match that was it for this world cup.

Genuinely torn before England-PNG. Either result will make me happy.

Not a single set piece play from the Kiwis all game, Shaun Johnson pretty anonymous, and the entire attack hanging back and waiting for someone to bust the line on their own. Not a unified unit. Kidwell has to shoulder responsibility for that. Stoked for Fiji, but really, really gutted.

[cashead]

Job done Fiji. Great win. We lost, they won. No complaints from me. Gutted.

What's up with Kiwis? Strife in the squad or aught. Two cracking upsets there. I thought after the Tonga match that was it for this world cup.

Genuinely torn before England-PNG. Either result will make me happy.

They lost out on several potential key players due to a horrendous head coach, who was appointed with no head coach experience. There was a tremendous drop in the team's quality over the last year after Kidwell was appointed, and obvious examples of player mismanagement - the most telling was last year's final test against Australia when he left Jason Taumalolo, a Dally M medal winner that year, on the interchange bench for most of the game because he "forgot" to bring him back on. Stupid shit like that.

There was clear turmoil in the squad already, and this result is just the shit-flavoured icing on the shit cake.

Silver lining is: there's no fucking way David Kidwell survives this.

[Mr Mwenda]

Usch, well at least it's made for an interesting world cup!

[cashead]

Rather telling moment after the game: Kiwis captain Adam Blair, chewing gum, describes the loss as "not a negative." And I hadn't mentioned the raft of defections to Tonga, including the aforementioned Taumalolo. In fact, the Tonga squad looked just as strong, if not stronger, than the Kiwis squad.

Kidwell was scrambling to name a team even an hour before he was due to announce the squad prior to the World Cup, because so many key players just simply didn't want a bar of him.

Frankly, considering how David Kidwell threatened to defect to Samoa in 2007 in order to oust then-Kiwis coach Gary Kemble, I hope he enjoyed this big boy-sized heaping of karma pie.

[morepork]

Rather telling moment after the game: Kiwis captain Adam Blair, chewing gum, describes the loss as "not a negative."

Kidwell is not his best mate.

[cashead]

Rather telling moment after the game: Kiwis captain Adam Blair, chewing gum, describes the loss as "not a negative."

Kidwell is not his best mate.

Kidwell is a fuckwit.

[morepork]

Rather telling moment after the game: Kiwis captain Adam Blair, chewing gum, describes the loss as "not a negative."

Kidwell is not his best mate.

Kidwell is a fuckwit.

He's definitely not family. The Kiwis need a coach rooted in community. Kidwell stuck with his Oz connections for his template, and I'm wondering how much say people like Tawera Nikau and Hugh McGahan had in running the ship. The NRL is where reputations are gained but it is not directly transferable to a unified Kiwis culture. Ruben Wiki must be in the background somewhere too. James Leulauai had some interest in the job a while back. There must be one of these stalwarts that have some interest in taking it on.

[Mr Mwenda]

Surely the players take some flak? The coach may be a so and so but to prefer to lose to oust the coach (as i interpret the quote) doesn't say much for the team.