Southland - Tumblr Posts
In which I indulge my tomboy and bogan sides.
I have a dilemma. But first! The backstory:
Recently, I've been spending a lot of time, money and mental resources watching and studying rugby. And it's not just because I like the look of a few players, although that helps. A whole lot. A group of friends and myself have formed our own gambling syndicate. It was decided that bets would be placed on rugby games, in the lead up to the 2011 Rugby World Cup. This will be done by placing bets on the following tournaments in this order:
The ITM Championship 2010: formerly known as the NPC. It's the one where the provinces go at each other in their quest to hold the Ranfurly Shield aka the Log O Wood. This championship is currently in play and the best players from these teams are then chosen for a franchise team.
Super Rugby: recently launched and formerly known as the Super 14. It's the one with the franchise teams, such as the Hurricanes and the Blues. This is where the best players from these teams are chosen to form the All Blacks.
Tri-Nations: After the All Blacks are chosen, they normally play a few warm-up games against countries like Wales, Ireland, England and Samoa. Once that's over, they then play our fiercest rugby enemies, Australia (the Wallabies) and South Africa (the Springboks).
Bledisloe Cup: This is the grudge match between the Wallabies and the All Blacks. All Blacks generally win this.
2011 Rugby World Cup: The big one. This is where all national rugby teams from around the world play gather and against each other until there's only one mighty team left standing. All Blacks generally don't win this.
This timetable gives us an outlet for our gambling and allows us to watch the players and their teams as the move through the ranks, thus giving us plenty of information once the RWC hits and we start to place our bets. It also gives me, the only person who didn't watch rugby and couldn't name more than two current All Blacks, time to study and get clued up about everything.
Thus far things been going swimmingly well for me as I have only really placed my money on the following teams: Auckland, Taranaki and Southland. Happily, all three are now sit within the top 5 on the table, although I should point out that my first two picks are out of loyalty; I was raised in Auckland and Taranaki. However I have no connection with Southland, apart from my bogan tendencies and sharing their love of cheese rolls and Bluff oysters. I put money on them because they are the current holders of the shield, and they are still bloody ecstatic about it. Which has been awesome and they can claim a lot of the credit for breathing new life in the ITM championship.
Last week, I came to the first ineveitable crossroad: two of my teams played against each other. I still put my money on Southland to win (even though it wounded my JAFA pride), because that game was played in Southland and they had experienced a massive snowfall that collapsed their stadium. 100 volunteers showed up 2 days before the match to clear the field of snow that was 10cm deep. Even I could see that Auckland weren't gonna win in those conditions and they predictably didn't.
However, another two of my teams are playing each other this weekend. It's Taranaki vs Southland in a match that I have lovingly dubbed 'The Battle of the Bogans'. This time the game is in Taranaki, and it's just wet and cold, unless you're a Southlander.
My dilemma - I don't know where to put my money. The gambler in me says that I should put my money on Southland, but evidently I spent too long in the 'Naki and now I am tainted; I want Taranaki to win! If they win, I will publicly acknowledge my Taranaki roots (instead of hiding behind a blog). However, the simple act of placing money on Taranaki causes the gambler in me to cry out in horror. On the flip side, the need to put money on Southland leaves my Naki pride scandalised.
Damn.
Guess I finally understand why NZ gets so worked up over a rugby game.
This is not a huge surprise. However, the most interesting nugget of information (well, it was for me) is the thrid line:
...The Southland Times has learned the union owes money to various businesses, including its major funder the Invercargill Licensing Trust where the booze tab is believed to be more than $100,000
Did you see that? More than $100,000!! Well done boys!
<begins slow clap>
Seriously though, I love these guys. They keep it real.