A reminder you should always pay close attention to tips and predictions from "The Last Word".
Then you should bet the house in the opposite direction.
On that note, thanks to each and every reader, colleague and friend who delighted in making fun of this here column and its remarkably useless prediction that the Warriors were going to get smoked by the Newcastle Knights in the NRL playoffs.
Reader, they did not.
It was, in fact, the Warriors — sorry, THE WAHS — who did the smoking, sending the Knights packing with a 40-10 shellacking.
It means your beloved boys (not mine; I remain a staunch Penrith Panthers fan) are one win away from the grand final.
But they have absolutely no chance against the Brisbane Broncos tonight.
Bet accordingly!
The under-achievers
Expectations on the Otago rugby team seem to have plummeted to an all-time low.
I get it. There’s a World Cup on, so the NPC is getting even less attention than normal, and a reminder Otago were never able to get out of the second tier when the competition went through its awful "one big first division but with a top tier and a second tier" phase.
Pound for pound, though, haven’t Otago been the most disappointing team in the nation this season?
They have plenty of men with Super Rugby experience but, for whatever reason, they just haven’t clicked.
A likely finish of 12th in the competition must surely lead to some serious soul-searching about what the union is getting wrong at the top level.
Blacklisted word
Exit. Exit. Exit. Exit. Exit. Exit. Exit. Exit. Exit. Exit. Exit. Exit. Exit. Exit. Exit. Exit. Exit. Exit. Exit. Exit. Exit. Exit. Exit. Exit. Exit. Exit. Exit. Exit. Exit. Exit. Exit. Exit. Exit. Exit. Exit. Exit. Exit. Exit. Exit. Exit. Exit. Exit. Exit. Exit. Exit. Exit. Exit. Exit. Exit. Exit. Exit. Exit. Exit. Exit. Exit. Exit. Exit. Exit. Exit. Exit.
Annoying eh?
Every time I hear a television commentator use "exit" during a rugby game, I want to throw something — generally just a pillow, to be fair — at the screen.
When did this ghastly word become the most commonly used term in the rugby lexicon?
And why is everyone so OBSESSED with the "exit" (gag)?
What does it say about a sport that the main point of interest is whether a team got out of their own 22m?
Perhaps we can focus on running with the ball and actually entertaining the people.
Rugby question I
All Blacks great Sean Fitzpatrick spoke for all of us when he appeared on the Murray Deaker podcast (welcome back, Deaks!) earlier this week.
Why the heck is advantage played so long in a game of rugby at the top level?
It is so infuriating. Advantage is gained, a team goes through six or seven phases and progresses 15m-20m, there is a knock-on or similar, and the referee goes aaaallllll the way back.
It often means 90 seconds of action have become instantly worthless.
World Rugby need to step in here and get the officials to call "advantage over" miles quicker.
Rugby question II
Where has Ka Mate gone?
The time-honoured All Blacks haka appears to have permanently sidelined.
Has it been performed at all this year?
I’m surprised there has been so little discussion of this, given how we love a good haka controversy.
It will be a shame if the All Blacks have decided to mothball Ka Mate and perform only Kapa o Pango.
The latter haka might have been created especially for the All Blacks, but the original haka — and the team who perform it — belong to us, the New Zealand people.
Men of the week
Liam Lawson. Ryan Fox.
At different stages of their respective sports. Both brilliant.
Worthy recipients
There are too many clubs and organisations, and too many sports, for us to do a story every time life memberships are presented.
But a shout out to the Otago Softball Association for this week according that honour to long-serving scorer Sharon Williams and the late, great Aran Bailey.
What Sharon, who used to work in my building, does not know about scoring a softball game is not worth knowing.
Aran — fondly known as "Buddha" — was a wonderful bloke who poured his heart and soul into the Dodgers club and Otago softball, and the sport suffered a huge blow when he died at just 37. RIP, Buddha.
Rolls off the tongue
You might have missed the big sponsorship news in British football.
La Liga — yes, the top Spanish football league — has cut a deal with a fifth-tier Welsh club.
Why? Because it brings together "the two biggest names in football", apparently.
La Liga has only gone and sponsored Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndropwllllantysiliogogogoch.
