Uriah Heap

History will decide this one. Key will be viewed as more popular. A good kiwi bloke. But in reality, merely a steady hand on the tiller of a ship that could have sailed it self. At least with him gone we can raise that Pension age to 67 years. That's clearly been needed for some time and he was holding it up.

Keep watching Crusty. We might yet see people walking off their properties.

Clearing the way for Winston P, following the next election.

I wonder if John Cleese continually clipping him around the head contributed to his dementia?

The Jews have long been the money people and have generally done very well out of it too. Apart from suffering when others become envious. In NZ we are a sporting nation. If the All Blacks were to start playing like The Springboks did this year, then it would be a NATIONAL EMERGENCY. That's the way it is and the way it should be. Get on and build that Recreation Centre bigger, I say

Thoughts Barrett was outstanding and fully deserved that "World Player of the Year" title. He's the sort of player who makes you sit up every time he's on the ball - Similar to Christian Cullen and Jonah Lomu. I quite like him back at fullback. Allows him to roam a bit wider late in the match. I also like Cruden when he playing 1st five. A very good General. All Blacks are world leaders but other teams now Coached by Aussies and Kiwi's who are not set in their ways. They are looking at the AB's style and going "We need to play like that". Unfortunately for NZ the other teams are looking quite useful when they do play that style. Aussie - Lack depth, but not heart, esp when vs AB's. Nothings changed there. South Africa - No heart, no purpose no unity. A 'cot case' and this is not good for world rugby. Ireland - Played some great rugby and then let themselves down with all that carry on after the match in Dublin. "Cry babies" is what we used to refer to them as. 6 nations should be a cracker and very tough, this northern season. A nice lead in to the Lions tour. This will not be easy for the AB's in 2017. Steve Tew - The most put upon man in the world this year. Fair go. I'm surprised he hasn't been fingered for the Bain murders. Filipo - Never heard his school, his family or Rugby League (his favourite sport he was playing at the time), apologise for his drunken assault, late on a Saturday night. But Rugby Union had to get down, and bend over, and take it. Fair go, that was a real beat up and a great chance for all rugby haters to come out of the woodwork. Now it's time for a break. No oval ball for the next three months. Rest and recuperation - ready for 2017

We knocked them on their arses alright, but now they're wailing like babies. All Blacks play too rough according to the Irish.

Now we have an Australian cricketer saying he doesn't like the way the other team are behaving. Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha! That would be rich enough, but the fact that it's D.Warner speaking takes the cake. Anything to divert attention away from the fact that you've just been smashed to pulp, in a Test series in your own country.

Freak conditions at the moment. Never seen this much rain down this way. All grounds are sodden (e.g. they abandoned the 4 day cricket game at the Basin this week). Six race cards the norm in UK, although not here and agree the $10 entry should be wavered.

Is the word you're looking for "obtuse" Donald Trump is no longer an "Outsider". He's an elected Politician and has acted like one (a very crass one) from the minute he went on the campaign trail. This will come increasingly apparent as he begins to wriggle out of promise after promise. That's what Politicians do. Remember John Key took that girl to Waitangi and was going to fix up her street. What was it called? Something like "Desperation St". Was never going to happen and never did happen, but it won him votes. How's that - clear enough?

No I haven't "missed the main point" at all Aqua. My point was that Donald Trump was an "Outsider", but now he's elected, he's a "Politician". Now he will begin to act like all the Politicians who have gone before him.

Biggest Test match of the year this weekend. Their home ground, they gave \us a good touch up last start and we're tired after a long season. I reckon that makes the All Blacks the underdogs and I like that. If it pours with rain they're even more the favs. Can't wait.

Hey Aqua, let's see how many of these campaign promises President Trump manages to keep 1. Build a wall 2. Make Mexico pay for the wall. 3. Ban Muslims from entering the US. 4. Place tariffs on all goods made in China. 5. Renegotiate NATO agreement. 6. Fully repeal Obamacare. 7. Renegotiate the Iran nuclear weapons deal. 8. Cut taxes for everyone in US. 9. Maintain Social Security at it's current level in US. 10. Take the oil off ISIS (This would involve invading Syria). Lets tick these off as President Trump achieves each one. Or should we just dismiss them as the bullshit and bluster of a Politician running for office. Twisting a turning, promising and never delivering - like all politicians do. But hang on a minute. That would make him just like the "Washington establishment" wouldn't it? Oh dear! Now that's difficult.

I heard that fellow who travels around American golf courses and shouts "Get in the Hole" voted for Donald Trump.

This drawnout election circus/fiasco has been to find the "Leader of the Free world", is a great advertisment for Dictatorships. I bet there's no one in Russia going on about Putin's Emails.

Whoa! See those NPC games they're showing on Sky Sport right now from 10 years ago. All those All Blacks, all those big crowds. 10 years on and it's completely different. No All Blacks, no crowds. Am I allowed to pine for the "Good old days".

We now have the Lawyers arguing between maintaining the "Non conviction" ruling or Filipo receiving a conviction and 3 year minimum sentence. The crime was ugly and emotions ran high a few weeks back. Rugby took a good kicking over it, but it's now moved on past that. It has now become a classic Punitive justice vs Restorative justice argument. Punitive punishes the boy for his past crimes. Restorative looks to protect the community from him in the future. Where are we at right now in NZ when in comes to sentencing teenagers? I'll be very interested in the Court ruling on this one.

It's because of people like The Kooze that Carter will be pissed off - Mud sticks. Carter now one of many, across various sports, who have been given exemptions to treat injury or illness, with this subsequently released in media as though they'd drug cheated. . Another example is Mo Farrah the 10 and 5000 Olympic Champ. Some sound plausible excuses. Others, like Bradley Wiggens the one time Tour De France winner, sound highly dodgy. Peo;le like Kooze won't differentiate. They'll merely go - "They're all guilty"

Another thing to consider in this case. Filipo was still attending St Pats Silverstream at the time of this crime. He was also accompanied by his brother, who was convicted. I'd ask who is most culpable in this case, Filipo himself, Filipo's family, St Pats Silverstream, or the Wellington Rugby Union?

Filipo plead guilty and offered to do Restorative Justice sessions with the victim. they turned down that offer.

Russell Packer.

Wayne Guppy didn't sentence the man. Sentencing was done by a Judge and the Solicitor General is now going to look at the "No conviction" ruling. Guppy would likely have known Filipo and told the Court he'd found him to be a reasonable bloke, which is probably the truth, if he'd never seen him drunk. The affadavit is to provide the Court with an impression of the youth when he's not offending. It is common practice. Guppy may well have not even known the full extent of the offending. The Judge heard all about the offending from the victims and then decided on yet another weak sentence.

It is a problem that the old traditional Cup races, can't retain their Group 1 or 2 status (the Auckland Cup will soon fall as well). These are the races that have tradition, a long list of great winners and the races that Clubs build their big race days around. Now we find that both the Wellington Cup and an obscure race for fillies and mares at Rotorua have the same Group rating. On the face of it (tradition, past winners, crowd size) this doesn't seem right, but if you look at the calibre of horse competing and it is correct. So what to do? Clubs should stick to their traditional race date for the big Cups. They should maintain the Cup's prize money at a high (NZ high) level. Stick with set weights and penalties so those old beloved stayers can return year after year and get a fair crack. (Everyone loves the old fella coming back and trying to make it three in a row). Have a very strong support program, inc if at all poss, a Group One race.

That's interesting. I would have thought the depth of the field was a better indication of the races strength. Dropping the Wellington Cup to G3 seems a bit harsh to me. Mind you, if they keep the prize money at a reasonable level, they are going to continue to attract the same type of horse who has been lining up when it was G2. It's still the race won by Great Sensation and Castletown, Owners will likely remain keen to have their horses name alongside those on the Cup.

This post would be better suited under a new "I Don't Like John Key" thread.