Staff Cameron George

[TeetsNRL]

Ironic as Martin Devlin is a Manchester United fan.

Fitting. He’s a bandwagoner old Devlin.

Of course he picked one of the biggest clubs in the world instead of Bournesmouth or something.

 

[matiunz]

Very interested in his ARL plan. Any details? Finding kids to play League is tough!

I think one of biggest issues we have in NZ League in general is that while we have massive interest in the game at the NRL level, so many NZ League fans contribute nothing to the grassroots level.

They don’t play, volunteer, ref, coach, fundraise, or do anything that would help strengthen our base.

Barring Maori/Islanders they don’t even let their kids play mostly.

We need more kids playing the game.

The we need “more hard Aussie white boys” crowd is right in the sense that they’re are F all hard “white boys” here to pick from because they won’t ever play the game.

Maybe we’d have more Mark Graham’s and Simon Mannering’s if more Pakeha actually played the game and/or let their kids play.

No disrespect to the hearty Pakeha bros who do play/contribute.

If kids can tackle big Poly boys in rugby they can probably tackle them in league too. If little white Aussie league kids can tackle them, our white kids probably can.

God forbid we could have half the jr numbers/volunteers/funding of rugby let alone fucking soccer lol. The Warriors/Kiwis would be a bloody force.

Instead we’ve all these “experts” who know everything about league who’ve somehow contributed none of that knowledge to their local club/juniors and probably can’t even name the local club.

And don’t get me started on the guys who watch the NRL all weekend over Rugby but then volunteer their time to a rugby club instead of a league club. Ffs.

Couple of barriers I found playing league is #1 it just wasn’t an option at my school, plenty of kids enjoyed league and would have played if available- it just wasn’t.
#2 I then tried the club scene but it was so entrenched with the gang scene that I just wanted nothing to do with it. This is pretty much the reason many Pakeha stick to Union is that league has a massive image problem in NZ at club level.
From a grassroots level the NZRL need to get league into schools outside of Auckland and the other small pockets, I’d even seriously look at switching to a summer season to not compete with Union. Also need to get a couple of the top coaches from Aus schools to train NZ school coaches

 

[TeetsNRL]

Couple of barriers I found playing league is #1 it just wasn’t an option at my school, plenty of kids enjoyed league and would have played if available- it just wasn’t.
#2 I then tried the club scene but it was so entrenched with the gang scene that I just wanted nothing to do with it. This is pretty much the reason many Pakeha stick to Union is that league has a massive image problem in NZ at club level.
From a grassroots level the NZRL need to get league into schools outside of Auckland and the other small pockets, I’d even seriously look at switching to a summer season to not compete with Union. Also need to get a couple of the top coaches from Aus schools to train NZ school coaches

See I’ve played with as many gangsters in rugby as in league. I know as many horrors stories about ref abuse and fighting in Rugby as I do in League.

But you’re right in that there’s this perception people have that we’re all violent gangsters who bash our refs and gfs which I find absurd (not to say that your personal experience wasn’t as you say).

Just in the last few years I’ve played League with lawyers, real estate agents, tradies, social workers, IRD employees, the works.

We had a pakeha uni student and a British ex-pat come for a run just this season and they wouldn’t go back to Rugby now. Despite the fact we can’t provide them with flash facilities/gears/sponsorships like the big rugby clubs in town. We just need more of them.

And yeah they’ve tackled a few gangsters just as they would have likely had to in Rugby and had a beer with them afterwards.

But just by contributing some time to the game they’re helping to keep the numbers up enough to put teams out on the weekend and keep the lights on at the club.

And you never know if those are the same lights the next Lance Hohaia, Sam Rapira, Te Maire Martin, Tawera Nikau will be training under in 5 years.

The more teams we put out the more councils have to help the game. The more subs paid, the better the gear/equipment for the kids.

We’ve got a few old Pakeha refs down here, lovely blokes, without their time we can’t keep going, the comp dies, and the Kiwis/Warriors player base shrinks ever smaller again.

I look at English soccer and all the hooliganism and violence that happens around that sport, would you not play soccer there or not let your kid play soccer there because of all the thugs?

 

[j-bob]

See I’ve played with as many gangsters in rugby as in league. I know as many horrors stories about ref abuse and fighting in Rugby as I do in League.

But you’re right in that there’s this perception people have that we’re all violent gangsters who bash our refs and gfs which I find absurd (not to say that your personal experience wasn’t as you say).

Just in the last few years I’ve played League with lawyers, real estate agents, tradies, social workers, IRD employees, the works.

We had a pakeha uni student and a British ex-pat come for a run just this season and they wouldn’t go back to Rugby now. Despite the fact we can’t provide them with flash facilities/gears/sponsorships like the big rugby clubs in town. We just need more of them.

And yeah they’ve tackled a few gangsters just as they would have likely had to in Rugby and had a beer with them afterwards.

But just by contributing some time to the game they’re helping to keep the numbers up enough to put teams out on the weekend and keep the lights on at the club.

And you never know if those are the same lights the next Lance Hohaia, Sam Rapira, Te Maire Martin, Tawera Nikau will be training under in 5 years.

The more teams we put out the more councils have to help the game. The more subs paid, the better the gear/equipment for the kids.

We’ve got a few old Pakeha refs down here, lovely blokes, without their time we can’t keep going, the comp dies, and the Kiwis/Warriors player base shrinks ever smaller again.

I look at English soccer and all the hooliganism and violence that happens around that sport, would you not play soccer there or not let your kid play soccer there because of all the thugs?

Slightly off topic I guess but I have been wanting to coach a kids team for a while now, and finally have the time free to do so.
Any pointers on how to get involved will be gratefully received from anyone that knows.

 

[Once A Warrior]

Very interested in his ARL plan. Any details? Finding kids to play League is tough!

I think one of biggest issues we have in NZ League in general is that while we have massive interest in the game at the NRL level, so many NZ League fans contribute nothing to the grassroots level.

They don’t play, volunteer, ref, coach, fundraise, or do anything that would help strengthen our base.

Barring Maori/Islanders they don’t even let their kids play mostly.

We need more kids playing the game.

The we need “more hard Aussie white boys” crowd is right in the sense that they’re are F all hard “white boys” here to pick from because they won’t ever play the game.

Maybe we’d have more Mark Graham’s and Simon Mannering’s if more Pakeha actually played the game and/or let their kids play.

No disrespect to the hearty Pakeha bros who do play/contribute.

If kids can tackle big Poly boys in rugby they can probably tackle them in league too. If little white Aussie league kids can tackle them, our white kids probably can.

God forbid we could have half the jr numbers/volunteers/funding of rugby let alone fucking soccer lol. The Warriors/Kiwis would be a bloody force.

Instead we’ve all these “experts” who know everything about league who’ve somehow contributed none of that knowledge to their local club/juniors and probably can’t even name the local club.

And don’t get me started on the guys who watch the NRL all weekend over Rugby but then volunteer their time to a rugby club instead of a league club. Ffs.

Don't know much about schools and rugby league but I think the nrl could invest in competitions at school level.

 

[TeetsNRL]

Don't know much about schools and rugby league but I think the nrl could invest in competitions at school level.

A

Slightly off topic I guess but I have been wanting to coach a kids team for a while now, and finally have the time free to do so.
Any pointers on how to get involved will be gratefully received from anyone that knows.

If your in Auckland flick an email to, pat.c@aucklandleague.co.nz

They’ll need you somewhere. Be too late for this season to have your own team, but even now some jr coach somewhere would love a hand at trainings I’m sure.

If in Waikato just jump on Waikato Rugby League Community page and as soon as you offer to coach a kids team you’ll be snapped up lol.

We had a few jr teams not go ahead because of no coaches.

Anywhere else someone here should be able to point you in the right direction.

 

[TeetsNRL]

Don't know much about schools and rugby league but I think the nrl could invest in competitions at school level.

100%

32 million a year into the NRL from NZ through TV alone and piss all dripped back into the grassroots game here.

 

[95forever]

Along the thread of school league I coached a team here in ChCh. First week a local High School that had a sports academy had set up the fields nicely, had a central desk for registration and results and refs in high vis for each game. Sad to say this lasted about 1 game then all fell apart. Ended up putting the cones out ourselves, refs were parents or teachers and it all felt very second hand. I mean ChCh Mens Premiers have teams defaulting, turning up with 10 players and massively lopsided scores. There is no High School league at all that I know of. I mean NZ itself has no regular national competition. It is in a sorry state in a lot of ways. There is some good stuff happening with the clubs like live streams and night footy at a good ground but compared to Aus it is nothing.

 

[hacksaw]

Yes Football or Fucking Soccer is now the number one sport playing wise. In Wellington where I live, Football is three times as large as Rugby. Club Rugby is in a bad way with clubs struggling and some Colleges not having a Rugby Team
Senior Club Rugby League in Wellington has 16 mens' teams and 5 womens' teams. North Wellington Football Club which plays out of Johnsonville has 21 teams the same as all of Wellington Rugby League

 

[matiunz]

Yes Football or Fucking Soccer is now the number one sport playing wise. In Wellington where I live, Football is three times as large as Rugby. Club Rugby is in a bad way with clubs struggling and some Colleges not having a Rugby Team
Senior Club Rugby League in Wellington has 16 mens' teams and 5 womens' teams. North Wellington Football Club which plays out of Johnsonville has 21 teams the same as all of Wellington Rugby League

Is this decline pre covid?
Covid put a lot of community sports on its knees.
The club I play for in Aus pre-covid for example we were fielding 7 teams a week, this year we are struggling to field 4.
Biggest hit is the mid to late 20s players who have enjoyed their weekends off, haven’t returned and will likely not want to get back into it after a couple of years off. Next age bracket up is in a similar boat plus taking out a couple of years with little conditioning the ones that are back are getting injured more easily.
Flip side is Womens and junior numbers are growing strongly. Other teams in area having similar issues and would surprise me if it was happening elsewhere.

 

[hacksaw]

The decline has been ongoing for decades. About 15 years ago the Paekakariki Rugby Club, the home of Cowboy Shaw and Christian Cullan closed down and the Football Club took over it's Field, Clubrooms etc. Wests rugby which covers from Karori to Khandallah has only two social senior Rugby Teams whilst if you look on Waterside Karori Football's website it says that they have 1000 players and 100 teams.

 

[TeetsNRL]

Along the thread of school league I coached a team here in ChCh. First week a local High School that had a sports academy had set up the fields nicely, had a central desk for registration and results and refs in high vis for each game. Sad to say this lasted about 1 game then all fell apart. Ended up putting the cones out ourselves, refs were parents or teachers and it all felt very second hand. I mean ChCh Mens Premiers have teams defaulting, turning up with 10 players and massively lopsided scores. There is no High School league at all that I know of. I mean NZ itself has no regular national competition. It is in a sorry state in a lot of ways. There is some good stuff happening with the clubs like live streams and night footy at a good ground but compared to Aus it is nothing.

Not nearly the structures in place for high school league to succeed I agree.
But there is an annual national secondary school comp.

In fact your best pathway to the NRL for kids outside AKL, is to show out at said comp, the NZ National age grade comps, or the NZ maori jr tourneys.

But yeah it’s shit. I tried to get a team running at my old high school, enough kids were keen, but every roadblock in the world is placed in front of you. And I’m skeptic all these roadblocks would’ve been applied to other sports. But hey “can you coach one of our rugby teams?”





ase.

 

[95forever]

Not nearly the structures in place for high school league to succeed I agree.
But there is an annual national secondary school comp.

In fact your best pathway to the NRL for kids outside AKL, is to show out at said comp, the NZ National age grade comps, or the NZ maori jr tourneys.

But yeah it’s shit. I tried to get a team running at my old high school, enough kids were keen, but every roadblock in the world is placed in front of you. And I’m skeptic all these roadblocks would’ve been applied to other sports. But hey “can you coach one of our rugby teams?”





ase.

It does seem like Auckland maybe different to the rest of the country. More keen participants and structure around the game. I looked up the U20's tourney. 1 South Zone team. Can't see any big changes anytime soon

 

[j-bob]

A


If your in Auckland flick an email to, pat.c@aucklandleague.co.nz

They’ll need you somewhere. Be too late for this season to have your own team, but even now some jr coach somewhere would love a hand at trainings I’m sure.

If in Waikato just jump on Waikato Rugby League Community page and as soon as you offer to coach a kids team you’ll be snapped up lol.

We had a few jr teams not go ahead because of no coaches.

Anywhere else someone here should be able to point you in the right direction.

Thanks for that.

I am more than Happy to be an assistant while learning the ropes.

I will flick him an email.

Thanks so much e hoa.

 

[john nick]

Thanks for that.

I am more than Happy to be an assistant while learning the ropes.

I will flick him an email.

Thanks so much e hoa.

Good for you mate. With your attitude you will do well. All the best 👍

 

[TheSadButcher]

Unfortunately, ARL, NZRL, and the Warriors are as hopeless as each other. Too many egos squabbling amongst themselves.
CG - Wasn't going to release Warriors players to the Kiwi because NZRL got the first game back at Mount Smart Stadium
CG - Wouldn't let Dolphins sign Reece Walsh because of their fight with Peter Osullivan
Classy 🥴

 

[playdaball]

I just listened to Cameron George’s press conference relating to Andrew Webster and I can confirm he is a first class tosser !!
I hate it how he refers to people as Brownie or Webby … you’re in Nz we don’t do that. It sounds so matey and unprofessional for a CEO to use that language. People I’ve worked for in corporates or family run organisations wouldn’t do that in public.
I did not see what he was wearing but I hope it wasn’t the old half shaven track suit look.
Why wasn’t Craig Hodges fronting this ??? He is the football manager and this is a football matter.
Just when you think things are improving at the club , Cameron George pops up!!!

 

[bruce]

the club’s No.1 target Kristian Woolf knocked back the Warriors.

Not a good look...at all.

 

[AlexM]

I just listened to Cameron George’s press conference relating to Andrew Webster and I can confirm he is a first class tosser !!
I hate it how he refers to people as Brownie or Webby … you’re in Nz we don’t do that. It sounds so matey and unprofessional for a CEO to use that language. People I’ve worked for in corporates or family run organisations wouldn’t do that publicly.
I did not see what he was wearing but I hope it wasn’t the old half shaven track suit look.
Why wasn’t Craig Hodges fronting this ??? He is the football manager and this is a football matter.
Just when you think things are improving at the club , Cameron George pops up!!!

Funny listening to Devlin try to jump on his back again at the end of the interview....
Devlin thinking " here's my shot" more publicity lol
Tool

 

[bruce]

Ironic as Martin Devlin is a Manchester United fan.

if you want to be serious about this...the best comparison isn't United but Sunderland for Life