Internationals Kiwi Team for October test

[Joe 90_old]

The only thing that worries me with Matai is he's a head shot merchant. I'd be really worried that he would have a brain explosion and do something stupid.

Dont mean to blow smoke up my own a**. But it doesn't suprise me in the least. This guy sails so close to the wind in just about every tackle he makes, he's just a ticking timebomb. The days of his sort are over. I'm glad he's not on tour!

In all honesty though we we're gone before he even got sent off. Disgaceful defence. No enthusiasm. Not a good start for Kemble!

 

[Skinny_Ravs82]

We were just running at half-pace right from the start...well bar the kick-off fumble bu the Aussies that was it.

 

[hoanihorsfall_old]

Steve Matai is a bloodyidiot ... he should never play again because he's a moron.

 

[Mone_old]

Like Joe said, we were gone before that, I give him credit for trying to fire up a bunch of guys that looked like they had somewhere better to be.

 

[Skinny_Ravs82]

Oh, I have no problems if a player wants to fire their team up. That's always a good move. BUT you gotta know when to do it and how to time it, not go with the thinking
'I'll just go and knock that dude out!' Maybe he didn't have that thnking, but he didn't even attmpt a good tackle (and a good solid tackle would have done the trick anyway!). Just stuck the arm out and went for it.

 

[edguy_old]

i think we were flat right from the kick off. i agree with everyone ...
i also believe we had a few players out injured ,, which also didnt help , and some players not selected ,which may have helped us some .. ......for instance , ..sonny bill , benji , kidwell , utai , jake webster , rangi chase , jason cayless, sam perrett ,isac luke ,chase stanley , ......throw all those blokes into our team , and we might have got within 20 of australia ..lol

 

[edguy_old]

also , i didnt see one player singing the national anthem ??? im like WTF , when bluey was coach , everyone sung it ...
soon as i saw that i was thinking ,,oh oh !!!!!

 

[Mangi-Maori_old]

there is a lot of passion in the Australian Jersey right now, a lot of that comes from Ricky Stuarts influence.

 

[jahc_old]

Matai could be a great hitter if he just kept them down. Fair enough if the high shot was an accident, but he didnt even show any remorse at all post-match. I know you have to pick your best players available when the time comes, but I dont know if I'd want to select Matai in a future Kiwis team. Ricky Start claims that the cheap shots are in Matai's game, and its tough for me to disagree with him at this stage.

 

[Jesbass_old]

Matai could be a great hitter if he just kept them down. Fair enough if the high shot was an accident, but he didnt even show any remorse at all post-match. I know you have to pick your best players available when the time comes, but I dont know if I'd want to select Matai in a future Kiwis team. Ricky Start claims that the cheap shots are in Matai's game, and its tough for me to disagree with him at this stage.

I agree with all you've said there, except the no remorse. I know he wasn't pretty at the media interview, but he did apologise to Gasnier.

 

[Mone_old]

Truly I dont see why you should be remorseful for something that was an accident, sure say you feel bad for how he is but thats it.

 

[Mone_old]

Looking again on youtube first impact is forearm quite low on the shoulder Gasnier's forward and lateral momentum along with being limp from the passing motion causes a whiplash effect, his head hits Matai's shoulder/chest (very hard), the arm doesnt come in contact with the head and if it does it brushes it.

 

[Jesbass_old]

Truly I dont see why you should be remorseful for something that was an accident, sure say you feel bad for how he is but thats it.

Because even if it's done by accident, they guy was still hurt. If I have a car accident that is entirely my fault but by accident, I'll still apologise to the other driver for the damage I've caused.

 

[Mone_old]

Because even if it's done by accident, they guy was still hurt. If I have a car accident that is entirely my fault but by accident, I'll still apologise to the other driver for the damage I've caused.

Yeah I did say "say you feel bad for how he is" but apologizing is admitting wrongdoing.
The car accident analogy is not quite fair because there is never a time where 2 cars should make contact.

 

[Jesbass_old]

Yeah I did say "say you feel bad for how he is" but apologizing is admitting wrongdoing.
The car accident analogy is not quite fair because there is never a time where 2 cars should make contact.

There's never a time when an arm and a head should make contact either. Matai was right to apologise because he knocked the guy out. To say he didn't do anything wrong is erroneous because right up until he collided with Gasnier, Gasnier was conscious. I don't think his intentions were to hit him high or knock him out, but those were his actions. If they weren't wrong, he wouldn't have been sent from the field.

 

[Mone_old]

Ah I think the problem here has less to do with weather he should be remorseful or not and more to do with the fact that you (and the referee and a lot of other people) saw the incident as foul play, and I saw it as an unfortunate accident, I liken it to a player making a low tackle getting hit by a knee and the ball carrier being remorseful after the game.
I guess this is an agree to disagree situation.

 

[Jesbass_old]

Ah I think the problem here has less to do with weather he should be remorseful or not and more to do with the fact that you (and the referee and a lot of other people) saw the incident as foul play, and I saw it as an unfortunate accident, I liken it to a player making a low tackle getting hit by a knee and the ball carrier being remorseful after the game.
I guess this is an agree to disagree situation.

Yeah, I think it's an agree to disagree. But I just want to clarify my position - I didn't view it as solely foul play. I saw it as an unfortunate accident resulting in foul play. Going to an extreme example, (back to the car, I guess), if I kill someone in a car accident by mistake, and get found guilty of manslaughter, there's still punishment that needs to be brought out.

I don't think Matai wanted to knock Gasnier out, but he clearly regrets that he did (by his apology). I think it's a simple matter of owning responsibility for his actions.

To say "I didn't mean to hurt you so I refuse to apologise for hurting you" is a selfish, and unsympathetic stance, in my view.