I have just returned from a holiday in the beautiful Bay of Plenty and I have to say that although I love returning home and feeling the fresh breeze as it whips up off the Pacific ocean I am somewhat glad to be back in the damp and misty Waikato. It has definitely been good to get back to life in a city and more importantly good city coffee.
Don’t get me wrong I love spending time with my family and I feel incredibly refreshed after a very relaxing week spent in the smooth tidal ebb of Whakatane but I have found that this level of ease is not so great for cultivating writing. Ashamedly I must admit that although I did try to write a blog entry for last week I was not disciplined enough to sit down and finish writing my entry. While partaking in the decidedly average coffee sold in the Whakatane’s small town cafes I did, however, do a lot of thinking and I have come to the realisation that despite our friendly image we here in God’s own can be incredibly judgmental when we choose to be. Especially when we have put a person up on a pedestal and then that person fails to meet our expectations.
As the Engineer and I sat in a little retro café in the centre of the Whakatane township, struggling to entertain a toddler while trying to grab a semi-descent (kinda) cup of coffee, we got talking. We spoke of the obvious over development in our beloved Whakatane, the success of the Hamilton 400 and eventually because of the Chiefs surprise victory over the Crusaders we got talking about rugby. Almost immediately we were speaking of Ritchie McCaw and the issue of the media’s recent attack on his captaincy.
I must admit that leading into the world cup last year I had serious doubts about whether McCaw had the necessary communication skills to be All Black captain. And the game against the French seemed to prove the fact that McCaw struggled with re-grouping and guiding his men, and when the team needed someone to keep a clear head and make good decisions McCaw was noticeably absent. But McCaw showed that he has realised that he needed to work on this and he stood up and answered his critics when the Crusaders played the Blues last week. McCaw was commanding, decisive and he excuded control over his men. It was good to see, and what’s more it has been good for the media to see.
The media were like a pack of angry wolves thirsty for blood and when they sensed that there may have been a weakness they attacked en masse. They were vicious, blind and almost unfair. One bad game does not mean that your career is over, just like one good game does not make you an All Black and being a great captain is something you work at. What do they want, for McCaw to lose the captaincy? Then who becomes captain, and more importantly what happens to McCaw? Openside is a position that you need to be confident in yourself and your abilities, things happen there in a split second and you cannot take a moment to doubt yourself - it is all of nothing. And do we really want to ruin McCaw because essentially he isn't ready to be a great captain. Leaders are made they not born and like the old cliché says: all good things take time.
The media’s attack got me thinking though, about how we are so quick to rubbish someone when we think that they have let us down, and then when they are down we put the boot in. McCaw is obviously a man of integrity, he plays with his heart and soul and it is plain to see that his team-mates, coaches and opponents all respect him, so why cant we? Because if he is a man with integrity doesn't this make him one of the good ones? God knows good men are hard to find, and good men have the potential to become great men. Because when a great man falls it is impossible to replace them.
Sir Edmund Hillary was our greatest New Zealander. We admired him, loved him and will forever mourn him. It wasn’t just that Sir Ed was the first to climb the world’s highest mountain, but that he took all that life gave him with honour and dignity. Sir Ed represented everything that was good and true in humanity and did so with a gentleman’s integrity.
And for us in this age of supposed sophistication, integrity is a valuable commodity because genuine integrity is so rare that it is almost impossible to know. It is the ability to remain genuine despite the constant stimulation of life’s shiny baubles. We respect those who endeavour to stay honest but we almost always doubt whether everything they tell us is true. Because we know ourselves and we know that although most of the time we are trying desperately to be honest and truthful all too often we feel the need to weave personal fairytales to appease the inner guilt gnawing in the pits of our stomachs. We smooth over the sharp edges with glossy half-truths to hide the fact we ourselves are often severely lacking in what is one of the most important of human values. Integrity, it is about being honest and genuine. How many of us can say that we are people of integrity because just like being a good captain learning how to be truly honest takes time and mistakes. We will never learn from always being right, and we will never learn how to be genuine until we have truly been humbled.
Game of the week: It has to be the bolters, the Chiefs. Unfortunately it is the start of their travelling this week. The first stop is to Perth on saturday night to play the Force and if they can manage to get up over John Mitchell's side, the former Waikato coach and a true blue Hamiltonian, it will boost their confidence ahead of the 2 weeks in South Africa. It is always difficult to take points off the South African teams at home and good start in Aussie is key.
Brendon Leonard is out with injury and is being left at home, however personally I don't think that is necessarily a bad thing he has being playing averagely lately and I think that most of the Super 14 players are on to him now. He had the unknown factor when he burst onto the scene last year and now he has been worked out. I have also been rather disappointed by his lacklustre attitude on the field. Against the Crusaders he was very ho-hum and lacked the drive that all the other players seemed to have. I am confident that Jamie Nutbrown will do a good job. Also Sione Lauaki is playing his 50th game for the Chiefs, so that will be a great motivator. But the Force will not be a push over, they have been the Aussie performer this year and Mitchell will want bragging rights over his old province.
If the Chiefs wernt the Cinderella-story of the competition the game of the week would have been the Crusaders vs Sharks in Christchurch on Friday night. The two top teams head to head. Should be a good battle and maybe a look at what will be the final. Look for the Crusaders to dominate possession and play long phases.
Rule of the week: Give yourself a break, you have to start somewhere. The game is started by a place kick or a drop kick from the halfway line. If a try, penalty kick or drop goal is scored during the game, play will be restarted with a drop kick from the halfway line by the team that has just conceded the points.
All blacks
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3 comments:
I wonder if our failure to produce great captains these days is due to the professional era? Back in the day All Black captains had jobs outside of rugby that they honed their leadership skills in - something that today's players don't do. Respect off the field transferring to respect on the field sorta thing. Maybe?
I think you make a good point about past All black captains honing thier leadership skills in jobs outside the sport but I do not think that it is a reason why we do not have a great captain at the moment. I think that Tana Umanga was a great captain, he led through his actions, was there for his men, and made decisions that we clear and good - it also helped that the public loved him. Tana's only downfall was his public speaking but hey I would rather have a man that can do the job on the field than one that can only talks well about it off the field.
I remember Jonah was lambasted by the media and public at the very early stages of his career because of his inarticulateness when it came to public speaking yet no one cared when it came to Tana. I think that might have more to do with tall poppy syndrome trying to cut down Jonah more than anything though. But you are right, Tana was an awesome captain without a career outside of the ABs which kinda blows my pet theory out of the water. Oh well!!!
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