This post is dedicated to the 3 people who convinced me to continue with the blog namely jaco, chantel and Bob. Thanks for the words of encouragement and from now on, whenever i feel like i'm wasting my time with this blog, your 3 names will pop up and i'll do it, even only for you 3!
So this is something i've been wanting to write about for awhile now but never got to doing it. I wanne share my thoughts and experience on the word "pride". That characteristic is something i saw the first day i arrive here in Palmy. The saturday afternoon i got here, i went to my club's game and met a few of them afterwards and the thing that stood out for me was "prideness". now i dont know if there's a word like that in the dictionary and if there aint, then i just made it up, anyway, you might be thinking.....now how did he see prideness? well the way the players wore their club attire afterwards, that's it. You see, back in SA i've only wore a tie after a game once and that was when i played for the Natal U/19's, no blazers. Now some might call me old school but in NZ that is still very much part of the game here. The club officially hands over your club-tie to you at the aftermatch function and when you play a certain amount of games, you get your club blazer. Same with playing rep rugby. ("rep" is the term they use for representational rugby for your province, like playing for the turbo's) With the Turbo's there's only like 5 players wearing blazers after the game, the rest of us wear our tie and a pull-over. You have to earn the right to wear a blazer, it's not something that you just get given, and for me that is what is missing in SA rugby i think. Like i said, call me old fashioned, but i wanne play every game now so that I too can recieve my green blazer and wear it with pride! It will take me like 2 years to earn it, but it's worth every minute of the wait and hard work! Now i dont want people to think that i'm sour grapes for not getting the chance to play top rugby in SA, but you have to experience it to know what i'm talking bout. In NZ they have a saying: " I play rugby first and it's my job second". Now i've interpreted in this way: You're never bigger than the game, doesnt matter who you are or where you play, you play cause you love it and not for the side shows going on. Good example: this past w-end all the All Blacks, bar a few, were told they can play NPC, jerry collins started for the wellington lions and played the whole game, mind you though, the next day he turned up at his club and plays another full game. now just think bout this, it's in the middle of an international season and it's not like he needs match fitness, he pitches up and plays another 80min of footy for his club. Now tell me, when have a top international player from SA ever done something similar like that? again, you play rugby first, then it's your job! and no, i'm not sour, i'm just old fashioned! little things make a huge difference at the end of the day!
well, not much news otherwise, just biting nails till the next team announcement. i have a feeling the next blog might be bout "standards and rules" but more bout that later!
Hope you all having a jolly good time! It's not been fun training in the rain again, but hey, make the best of what you've got!
Verse for the day: 2 Chr 7:14 " If My people, who are called by My Name will humble themselves and pray and seek My face then will I hear from heaven....forgive their sin and heal their land."
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3 comments:
Hi Bertus - if you're wanting old-fashioned pride and tradition in NZ rugby, then you couldn't have picked a better province to represent than Manawatu. The more you play down there (especially as a loose forward) the more you'll hear about the Manawatu (and All Black) loose forward legends of yesteryear - names like Kevin Eveleigh, Cowboy Shaw and (to a lesser extent) Geoff Old. Once upon a time Manawatu were a consistent force in NZ provincial rugby but the strength of all non-major centre unions (outside the big 5) has slowly but surely melted away as anyone with talent gets snapped up straight away by the unions with all the money. Like Dad says, the salary cap may even things up a bit and maybe Manawatu can edge back closer to what they once were, but in the meantime the old fellas at the after-match functions will chew your ear all night about the Manawatu of old ("I remember the day..."). Good luck against Tasman in Blenheim - from what I hear today at least you won't be having to cover defend Rico Gear (what a farce that's turning out to be)! You, Bracknell and Triggs all got big wraps in the press over the Auckland game so keep it up and you'll be playing at Kings Park again but in black and gold colours rather than black and white! cheers, Tom
Hello tom! the main thing for me was comparing the Sharks with the turbo's. i mean the sharks is just way ahead in terms of marketing, brand power,professionalism, big salaries,huge supporters base,sponosrship and side shows. now i'll be honest saying that all those things were nice at the time i experienced it, but coming here to manawatu reminded me again of why i play this sport, not for all those things mentioned above, but for the enjoyment of it,playing for players next to you who sacrificed alot to be playing, and with that comes pride i think. bruce hemara, our assistant coach played in those era when manawatu were still in the top provinces and he brings alot of passion to the team enviroment. i'm just enjoying every day here and learning so much from our coaches! anyway, cant wait to play some golf at the end of the year! have a good week! cheers bertus
Hello love!!! Well I dont have such great advice and knowledge like Tom on the rugby. (Very interesting reading it though) So Im just writing to surport you and tell you to keep up the hard work!! Thinking of you in this w-ends game!!! Be focussed and passionate!! Play hard and enjoy! I love you lots and only 4 months to go!!! Mwah! Your girl xxx
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