The Glass Is Half Full

“Whether the glass is half full or half empty there is still room for beer.”

I thought i would do something incredibly unpopular in media today and share some positivity that’s going on in Australian rugby at the moment.

1. We have depth at Tighthead prop.

If Taniela Tupou doesn’t finish his career and go down as not only Australia’s greatest ever Tight Heads but one of the the worlds absolute best then we have not done the right thing by him in this country. How a 130 plus kg man can run like him, play big minutes like him, scrum like him and have a work rate like his is a credit to him and the reds system. He must be looked after at all costs. In saying that we have some depth, Allan Alaalatoa, Keiran Longbottom, Tetera Faulkner, Harry Johnson-Holmes (developing nicely) and the great Greg Holmes (probably the best Tight Head i ever scrummed against) are all fantastic. The old saying that the most important person in any rugby team is the tight head prop and the second most important is the reserve Tight Head prop is still extremely accurate.

2. Our young talent is coming through.

Tom Horton, Bayley Kuenzle, Angus Bell, Joey Walton, James Ramm, Noah Lolesio, Will Harrison, every single back rower for Queensland. These are all sensational players and there are more that i can’t think of off the top of my head. We are clearly creating talent in this country. We must do what we can to keep them.

3. We already have the Second Tier.

The Shute Shield has never been more popular, it has never been better resourced and at least in my time the standard of play has improved dramatically. I hear similar rumblings in Brisbane. Combine all that with a good support base and a thriving community and any logical person would see that increasing the resources to something that was already good and making it better would probably be smart. We already have the second tier.

4. Pony 200.

Finally a big shoutout to my brother Lord Robert James the 1st for playing 200 games for his beloved Southern Districts on the weekend. In an age where club hopping is commonplace it is a remarkable achievement (even if i do say so myself) and thankfully for all those of us who count the Lord as a dear friend there is only one of him. A better rugby man there is not.

Photo Image credit from our friends @darkside_studios www.darksidestudios.com.au/