Well, well, well...

- by Marco -

The competition is over and the Aussie’s proved that they are a strong contender to achieve a podium finish in China.

Australia proved to be the better team on this day and they now have a streak going against Canada. The game started off evenly enough with Australia getting the 1st turnover around the 3:00 minute mark and scored the last goal with no time left on the clock… to which one could say how can you score with no time left on the clock?

Canada started the 2nd with the ball and capitalized on their 1st opportunity with the deuces working hard and eventually forcing Batt (3.5) to the sidelines for a rest, props to Martin Larocque on this and the rest of the deuces. With the Hi-Lo on the floor the Aussie’s created another turnover late and again scored the last goal and were up by 3 at the half (24-21) with the ball to start the 3rd.

*** MARCO RANT - MARCO RANT - MARCO RANT ***

I would wish also to speak about the regulations that force referees from participating countries not to referee games featuring their countries. Instead of having the best refs out there, they put refs from other countries to make sure that no bias is shown towards anyone. Aren’t refs supposed to be above that, impartiality is their middle name so it’s hard to understand this mentality with so few refs around the world? No disrespect meant to the refs that did our finals but for the finals people expect the best 2 teams and the teams should expect the same with the refs.

Speaking of referees from what I understand they did not get paid for their involvement in this tournament which is I guess the way its done here but I believe their other expenses are covered, but still. Do they really need to put themselves through the grief and how do you expect referees to want to further their understanding (through video analysis, advanced courses, rules interpretation and other). I know they do it because they love it but if we want to become more professional as a sport we need to make some changes and a lot of the changes would require some cash!

Will our sport always be condemned to be a marginalized sport and with medical advancements being what they are, what is the future of our sport?

I don’t want to be painted as an alarmist but I believe that some serious discussions should be held to advance our game. It would be nice to see in a non-AGM setting the best rugby minds on the planet get together for a 3-4 day retreat and talk about the game from the rules, to classification, to marketing and everything else in between. Our game is good but it could be better. We have come a long way from hospital halls in Canada but where does our future lie?

And no, we didn’t make any protests for this game as we are keeping a few more under wraps!

Back to the game after this reminder: the views of Marco are the views of Marco and no one else.

Australian hopes clearly lie on the shoulders of Batt but this is a team game and even if Batt is hard to contain, rugby is still a team sport and Batt’s supporting cast will need to keep their hard-nosed play. I don’t care how dominating you are, you can’t in-bound the ball to yourself! (Good job Erdem, Batt, Carr, Brand, Vitale, Boxall, Alman, Scott, Porter, and Smith and to the rest of the staff, what a quick turnaround and a return to the #2 spot in the world behind the U-S-A Gumbie was seen high on his perch filming like a man possessed. GB also had 1 or more spies in the house, where was Germany? The game has become serious business.

The horn blows to signify the end of the game with Australia cruising to a 6 goal win! Australia is golden in front of their home fans. The Aussie’s have had some good finishes in front of their people with a 2nd place finish at the 2000 Para’s.

BTW, Canada couldn’t have made it to the finals without Travis Murao’s spectacular play! He was a man possessed and a one man gang and the glue holding Canada together. Hope this is sufficient for U Trav and your mom will finally have something to put up on the fridge after some many F’s from school!

In Other News:

• It was Mike Whitehead’s birthday on November 25th

• Fabien had a draw in a contest. For more details talk to Fab but for those in the know it was the same kind of contest that JJK and TM had earlier this year.

• Benoit was supposed to pack away a 1kg T-bone but backed out.

• We are now back in Darling Harbour with Thomas Z, Michelle “PS” W sharing a room at the Star City (Marco strongly recommends this hotel) with yours truly, Benoit and Adam. It’s a 2-bedroom apartment type room with full kitchen and two bathrooms. Not too expensive for such a group. Tonight it's ribs at the Meat and Wine restaurant overlooking Darling Harbour.

• Patrice and Fab also are staying a few extra days. Benoit, Adam and I, leave Australia on the 28th to attend the AGM in Calgary.

Social/ Banquet:

Hard feelings abound, Kiwis are not Canadian fans anymore and it seems war has been declared. Each team will have its say whether it is someone calling Canada cheap, gutless or that someone has been knowingly breaking the rules to get an unfair advantage. Length and size do matter! ;) and the political ramifications of this tournament should be interesting and will lead to lots of talk.

People could argue of the reasoning behind bringing in a team from a different zone to compete at a Zonal Championship where the visiting team has nothing to lose but could severely change the outcome of the competition and even important rankings which Canada did. Frankly, I have never really understood the reason behind our invitation to the tournament and our involvement in the playoffs (semi’s and medal game). It was an invitation that we couldn’t refuse but it has caused some serious ripples in this zone. But the fact of the matter remains that we were invited but by the end we were unwelcome guests and if the results didn’t please people, they will know better in the future.

The socials and banquets are always interesting and lead to drunken confessions and it’s not always pretty. Lots of things were said, decisions were made, players weren’t voted on the all-star ballot, no offense DK but PS should have been on the all-stars, but its no fault of yours. I will be leaving Sydney with thoughts that we aren’t welcomed anymore.

Maybe when the dust settles in a couple of weeks, emotions won’t be as high and mutual respect will be the order of the day but if its war they want, Canada won’t back down.

On a more positive note, special thanks go out to all the Organizing Committee staff and particularly Merrie Evans, Nanine Artup, Denzil “I wonder if he’s related to Dunc” Campbell and our man Bob for a fabulous job in putting this tournament together.

Note: The views of Marco do not represent those of the National Team or anyone associated with said team!!!!!!!!

Here is another update from The Marco:

A day for gold :

Play started with South Africa facing a game by game improving team in China who had dismantled the Koreans the previous day. South Africa started strong led by budding superstar Lukas Sithole (3.0) and never really let up except for a few brain cramps and cruised to victory.

South Africa has some talent, but in the Oceania Zone they are confronted with perennial powers Japan, Australia, and New Zealand and their opportunity to advance beyond 3rd place is limited. They are looking at the opportunity to play in the States or going to Europe to prove their point. With standouts Sithole (3.0) and Dlamani.(2.5) and the strong play of Buitendag (2.0) and the improving play of Dorfling (0.5). Their supporting cast is gaining experience.

China showed good improvement from their very first game, but if they are to compete with the big boys at Paralympics they will need lots of help (there’s people out there that could push the program in the right direction) and of course experience but some mystery surrounds this team, how dedicated is the Chinese sports government to the success of this team on the world scene as they could be a major player in 2012. They have some athletic players and seem to learn pretty fast but in my humble opinion they need help NOW.

On to the Bronze game:

Japan vs New Zealand: how will the New Zealanders react to the disappointment of being relegated to the bronze medal game. NZ starts with Buckingham (3.0), Palmer (2.5), Klinkhammer (1.5) and Waite (1.0); Japan has their usual crew to start (3.0, 2.5, 2.0 and 0.5). During the 2nd, speedster Fujishima (3.0) is injured on a spin where he banged his knees on the floor and his competition is done. Kiwi’s with the lead at half.

In the 3rd and 4th its pedal to the metal time for NZ and they have now taken a 27-23 lead with 4:45 left in the game with the ball and both teams with no more time outs.

So if I’ve heard correctly and someone please correct me if I err but for Paralympics pool A will be 1, 3, 6 and 8 and pool B will be 2, 4, 5 and 8. So it will be USA, Canada, Japan and China and pool B will be Australia, GB, NZ and Germany.

Questions have already arisen on why Australia jumps over both Canada and GB but from what I know the Oceania Zone was already allocated positions 2, 5 and 6 for Para’s while the America’s zone has positions 1 and 3 and Europe positions 4 and 7 with China the 8th team for Para’s. And if China finishes last will this mean that they will be ranked 8th in the world.

See you after the gold medal game!

- Marco

We are experiencing some technical difficulties today...

However, Jon Harris from CorsonHarris Consulting, has offered to do the play by play on the New Zealand site, so please go to

http://www.wheelblacks.com

for the play by play. Hit your F5 key often to refresh your screen.

For those of you following on the Left Coast, here is a link to the time zone site that monitors the current time in both Vancouver and Sydney.

The gold medal match between host Australia and Canada gets under way at 2:00pm local time in Sydney, in under 8 hours from the time of this post.

Semi-final Friday

Game 2 - 12:30 - Canada vs. New Zealand - by Marco

Canada wearing red and the Wheelblacks in U know what. New Zealand started with their traditional Haka while Canada sat stoically side-by-side shoulder-to-shoulder arm in arm, swaying side to side.

The game started with Canada taking possession and scoring 1st, New Zealand answered right away and then Canada and then the s*** hit the fan. Team Canada co-captain Ian Chan after scoring goal #2 for Canada turned to the referee and asked for a chair measurement on Kiwi #5 Jai Waite (1.0), and after a lengthy delay his chair was deemed illegal and he was sent to the box but he made sure to show his discontent with the Canadians applauding the bench mockingly.

After a few New Zealand players spoke their peace, play was set to resume with New Zealand with the ball down one man. New Zealand scored while Waite stayed in the box until we scored.

As soon as Canada scored #5 was shown off the court and out for repairs that were provided at the facility. With this ruling New Zealand also lost the option to play Class 3.0 Dan Buckingham. But by the time Waite and Buckingham were set to come back in, New Zealand was down 3 after at the half with Canada set to start with the ball in the 3rd.

Canada never looked back playing cautious offense and key defense. Canada ended the game without any time outs using all ours by half; New Zealand had their full complement. The final score was 35-33 (12-10, 10-9, 8-8, 5-6).

While shaking hands, a player for the Kiwi’s no doubt caught up in the moment called everyone in the Canada line gutless for what he perceived was a cheesy move at the start of the game.

- Marco

The second game on the schedule is the one we've been waiting for back home, where the snow continues to fall, unlike our friends in southern Florida (have one for me will 'ya John?)

The game started has now started, and the first protest is also underway, with Team Canada protesting a chair, specifically the one being used by 1.0 Jai Waite.

...


Meanwhile, Team Canada won the tip and is now up by a score of 2-1.

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Marco had posed the question to me in an earlier post as to when Team Canada last defeated the Kiwis. I went through a lot of source material, and found the occasional CAN victory, but never with both teams at full strength. [Edited] The only matches I was able to find were from the 1995 World Championships in Notwil, Switzerland, where Canada defeated New Zealand twice in Games 11 and 30, and the Semi-Final game at the 1996 Paralympic Games in Atlanta. Any other victories were merely in friendlies or invitational tournaments where one or the other team was only at partial strength. The only two players from Team Canada who were on both the 1995 and 2007 teams are 0.5 Jared Funk (below) and 3.5 Garett Hickling.



*** In breaking news, Team Canada's appeal has been granted! Jai Waite's chair has been determined to be illegal! ***

This also means that dominant 3.0 Dan Buckingham can't play either, as Jai's line was the only one that he fit in to.

The main line up at the re-start will likely be (2.5) Curtis Palmer, (2.0) Gerry Tinker, (2.0) Tim Johnson and (1.5) Dave Klinkhamer, which fares well for Team Canada.

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12-10 for Canada at the end of the 1st Quarter.

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14-12 for Canada, with 6:50 left on the clock in the 2nd Quarter.

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[Many thanks to Chérie and Jon for keeping us up to date on these games...]

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Team Canada is running the Deuces Lineup (Willsie - Murao - Luangkhamdeng - Larocque) at the moment, but Fabien and Ian are about to sub in, with the score 16-15 Canada.

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It's Team Canada's arrow... and New Zealand gets called for a 15-second violation. 17-15 Canada, with 4:30 left in the Quarter.

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18-16.... 3:45 left, Canada all out of timeouts, NZL have 4.

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Changes have been made to Waite's chair and Buckingham and Waite are about to check in...

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22-19 at Half Time, with Team Canada still in the lead...

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The problem with Jai Waite's chair had something to do with the pick bar being too short.

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NZL just missed out on a goal right at half time, as Curtis Palmer was juggling the ball when crossing over the line, and he was deemed to not be in control of the ball, as you must be in order for a goal to count.

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Waite's chair has been re-measured after repairs were made, and appears now to be legal.

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Canada is fronting a lineup of (3.5) Garett Hickling, (2.0) David Willsie, (2.0) Say Luangkhamdeng, and (0.5) Daniel Paradis. The Kiwis counter with (3.0) Dan Buckingham, (2.0) Tim Johnson, (2.0) Sholto Taylor, and (1.0) Jai Waite.

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Now Canada fronts a lineup of Fabien, Mike, Patrice (seen to the right), and Jared, while New Zealand swaps Gerry for Tim.

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[Keep hitting that F5 key to refresh your screen occasionally...]

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Canada still leads by 2...

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30-27 for Canada at the end of the 3rd Quarter. Kiwi ball coming back...

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Hickling (seen on the left) - Willsie - Luangkhamdeng - Paradis on for Team Canada, while the Kiwis swap deuces, as Tim Johnson subs in for Sholto Taylor

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Curtis Palmer and Dave Klinkhamer now come in to replace the Kiwi deuce combo. Shortly thereafter, Dan Buckingham gets sent to the Sin Bin (hands) while (3.0) Ian Chan, (3.0) Mike Whitehead, (1.5) Patrice Simard, and (0.5) Jared Funk sub in for Canada.

With 3:30 left in the game, Dave Willsie is off to the penalty box (hands). NZL's Tinker and Johnson Tim sub in for Palmer and Klinkhamer.

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Tinker and Johnson sub in for Johson and Tim for Curtis and Klinkhamer.

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Turn over NZL. It's 34-33 for Canada with 2:30 to go!!!

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57 seconds to go... Gerry Tinker now in the box for a reach.

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35-33 for Canada!

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And it's over!!! Team Canada will be in the finals tomorrow against Australia! New Zealand will meet Japan for bronze! This marks Canada's first victory over New Zealand in 11 years at a sanctioned IWRF tournament!

Congrats go out to both teams for a hard fought battle on the court!

All the scores have now been updated to the CWSA web site's coverage of the Oceania Zonal Championships.

Semi-final Friday - by Marco

Emotions are running high as it’s getting down to crunch time. Australia and Japan are playing right now. Ryley Batt (the Aussie 3.5) is a one-man wrecking crew on offense and defense; he’s truly a man amongst boys! Japan was playing for last goal in the 1st but they have difficulty playing keep away because of their lack of height. However, they more than make up for it in speed, but in a specialty situation like that they struggle. Many things will be written and said about standout Batt, but the fact of the matter remains that he’s eligible to play and will be a force to be reckoned with.

Australia is up after 1 (12-11). When in doubt, chuck it up the middle! Ryley will chase it down! Japan is similar with speedsters Shimakawa and Fujishima (class 3.0). Japan triples Batt with a release after the in-bound but Aussie role players answer the call. Batt out of another triple and the Aussie’s regain the lead. Batt is slowing down a little and wants a sub (at 4:20 of the 2nd), with Coach Dubberley urging his young star to push through it.

Yesterday was a very time consuming day with our protest of our game vs. Australia, which was a protest that was won but overturned after video evidence showed the correct procedure wasn’t followed by Canada. One could wonder when video evidence was voted into the rules and if said video was inconclusive where the scorekeeper’s table isn’t really visible but what can you do but think of what could have been. ;) Maybe someday we might even find out who was the person was behind the grassy knoll.

Japan is rolling with the starters Shimakawa (3.0), Tamura (2.5), Murohashi (2.0) and Takahashi (0.5) to end the 2nd. Australia goes up by two with the ball to start the 3rd. Australia is rolling with Batt (3.5), Alman & Vitale (2.0) with Erdem 0.5. Japan answers with Fujishima, Misaka and Sato 2.0 with Koichi “The Brain” Ogino. Batt is working hard but battling fatigue. Ozzie’s back in the key forcing Japan to call their last time out.

Dubberley’s leadership is shining through and his urging of Batt in the 2nd has paid huge dividends as Australia has built up a 4-goal lead late in the 3rd. Batt creating havoc and forcing another turnover, Fosbrook, sorry I meant Wilmoth; damn I really meant Batt is a monster. Did I just say that, I’m gonna get in trouble ;)

Australia pulling away up by 7 with the ball and 2:51 left in the 4th. Up by 8, Batt is taken off the floor and the Aussie’s will go to the gold medal match.

See U after the CAN-NZ game!

- Marco

The winners of the first two games "today" (in Sydney, where today is always tomorrow) will go to the gold medal game. Their victims will meet for the bronze.

The first game is between #1 Australia and their zonal rivals #4 Japan. Australia wants to prove that their loss to the Japanese at the 2006 Worlds was an anomaly, not a trend.

After the 1st Quarter, the Australians led by a score of 12-11.

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In the 2nd Quarter, Japan was charged with a costly 15 second violation, at a really bad time for them. Australia now leads 25-24.

Japan now called with a backcourt violation.... the 2nd Quarter ends with the Aussies up by two, leading 26-24.

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3.5 Ryley Batt causes a turnover, leading the Aussies to a 4-pt lead.... 32-28 Australia.

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Australian ball coming back... Japan just used their last time out, while the boys from Oz have two left. The score is 35-31 Australia...

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Batt just made a steal on next play and called a time out leaving Australia with one time out left.

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Japan forces a turnover and scores, to make it 36-33 at the end of 3rd Quarter.

Editor's Note: If you are reading this, hit your REFRESH button frequently for updates...

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Japan ball coming back and they score to make it 36-34. The tension mounts...

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A timeout has been called by Australia at 36-34.

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turnover to Australia, bringing the score up to a 3-pt comfort margin for the Aussies: 38-35.

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Japan fail to in-bound on the next play with ten seconds 40-35

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Australia steal the ball on an inbound 43-37.... and again!!!! 44-37

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Another turn over for Australia, 45-37

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49-40 with 1 minute to go...

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52-43 final score for Australia. Japan is delegated to the Bronze Medal match tomorrow, while Oz plays for a Paralympic berth as the reigning Oceania Zone champions.

The Aussies remained undefeated at the Oceania Zonals, much to the satisfaction of their coach, Brad Dubberley, who will always be "The Kid" to many of us in the sport. Now on the other side of the bench as the Australian Head Coach, The Kid is making his mark once again, as he did as a dominant 3.5 player back in the day.

After having taken care of business against the speedy Japanese by a score of 47-44 in the opening match at the Oceania Zonals, they dispatched arch-rivals New Zealand 41-38 on Day Two. Day 3 was all about Team Canada, and the team from Oz went in confidently, despite their previous setbacks against Canada at the 2006 World Championships, the 2006 Canada Cup, and the 2004 Paralympic Games.

At half time, Australia led Canada by a score of 22-20 in a game that saw both teams go after one another at full strength and in fine form. Some controversies and protests surrounded the game, and several others at this tournament, involving referee calls, but I'll allow Marco to comment on those game situations.

TEAM 1. 2. 3. 4.
AUS. 13 22 34 41
CAN. 10 20 29 36

Heading in to the fourth and final quarter, the Australians were leading 34-29 following a controversial last goal on the buzzer at the end of the third. The final score ended with the same 5-goal margin for the Aussies, and saw them come away with a 41-36 victory over the Canadians.

The Kiwis rested 3.0 Dan Buckingham, 2.0 Gerry Tinker, and 1.0 Jai Waite in their game against Korea, with the line of 2.5 Curtis Palmer, 1.5 Dave Klinkhamer, 2.0Steve Hannan and 2.0 Tim Johnson getting most of the court time. The final score against the developing Korean team saw the Kiwis more than double the Koreans 46-21.

Interestingly enough, there were no protests at the 2005 Zonals at all, so this year's volume of protests seems to be an anomaly, but with zonal Paralympic qualification on the line, as well as their world rankings for use at the Games, more is at stake here than in 2005.

As for the Canada - China game... we've got the result posted accurately on the CWSA web site. :)

For your continued reading, check out this article from today's edition of the
Daily Telgraph - "Like a Batt out of Hell"

Here is a look at the pool games after all matches were played:

     ..AUS..  ..CAN..  ..CHN..  ..JAP..  ..KOR..  ..NZL..  ..RSA..  W  L  +/-
AUS           V 41-36  V 87-36  V 47-44  V 99-12  V 41-38  V 62-33  6  0  +178
CAN  D 36-41           V 58-14  V 35-34  V 47-10  D 36-40  V 43-21  4  2  + 95
CHN  D 36-87  D 14-58           D 30-71  V 38-35  D 18-46  D 43-51  1  5  -169
JAP  D 44-47  D 34-35  V 71-30           V 71- 9  D 26-35  V 55-23  3  3  +122
KOR  D 12-99  D 10-47  D 35-38  D  9-71           D 21-46  D 28-59  0  6  -245
NZL  D 38-41  V 40-36  V 46-18  V 35-26  V 46-21           V 52-22  5  1  + 93
RSA  D 33-62  D 21-43  V 51-43  D 23-55  V 59-28  D 22-52           2  4  - 74

This creates the following matches for tomorrow's games:

Game 22 - 1st vs. 4th - Australia vs. Japan (AUS won by 3 in the pool game)
Game 23 - 2nd vs. 3rd - New Zealand vs. Canada (NZL won by 5 in the pool)
Game 24 - 6th vs. 7th - China vs. Korea (CHN won by 3 in the pool for their 1st international win)

From this morning's paper in Sydney, here is a story on the highly anticipated Kiwi / Aussie game.

Sydney Morning Herald - "Steelers sink Wheel Blacks after murder of all battles"

Team Canada's games from the second day of the Oceania Zonals had us placing the World #5 seeded Japanese, followed by the developing team from South Africa.

The Japanese have improved their game significantly, but still were not able to get past our World #3 ranked team, which ran with a full set of lines giving all 12 players significant court time.

However, it was much closer than we would have liked as it marked the first ever overtime game between our two countries. In fact, it was a double overtime game! The game was not without its controversies though, as Japan protested a referee's decision, which was eventually upheld. This forced the final 2:56 of the Overtime Period to be replayed.

The scores after the quarters and overtime were:

TEAM    1. 2. 3. 4.  OT  OT
JAPAN   10 21 28 34  35  35
CANADA  11 18 28 34  35  36

Japan took the tip at first overtime and #3 (Yu Nagayasu) tipped it to the floor and then picked it up again (perfectly legal) but one of the refs called it as illegal and gave the ball to Canada, which was the call that precipitated the Japanese protest.

In the replayed overtime, we eventually won the game by a score of 35-34. However, Japan had possession from the re-start but we forced a turnover, giving us a re-start from the middle. We had some difficulty getting it over half due to Japan's strong defense and called a time out. It was then a Canadian ball from the half and we scored with seven seconds left on the clock. Japan threw a wild ball down court that Garett caught which wrapped up the game.

We'll hear more about this game shortly when Marco checks in, and he'll also have some thoughts on our 43-21 victory over South Africa.

All of today's games are now posted to our results page.

Time to catch some zzzz's.

~Don~

Some good news came our way this morning, as we've made some friendly connections to our Kiwi friends so that Marco can get some internet access at the gym in Sydney. That means we should be able to get game results posted, and Marco's summaries quicker than we were able to do yesterday.

Of course, yesterday is a bit of a pardox, what with all these games going on "tomorrow". In Sydney, it's pretty much always "tomorrow" as they are ofset by 16 from my time back here in Ottawa.

To that end, here is a little graphical idea of what the time zone is in Eastern Canada as well as at the competition site.

http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/personalapplet.html?cities=188,240

I'll start posting links to articles which have been written on the day's events, but so far the news is scarce...

Daily Telegraph... or if you want the same thing from another paper, read it in the Sydney Morning Herald.

Here is Sportcom's take on the day's events:

Rugby en fauteuil roulant – Championnat de l’Océanie
Les All Blacks, la bête noire de l’équipe canadienne

Montréal, 20 novembre 2007 (Sportcom) – L’équipe canadienne de rugby en fauteuil roulant a remis une fiche de 1-1, mardi, en ouverture du Championnat de l’Océanie qui se déroule à Sydney, en Australie. À son premier match, la troupe de l’entraîneur Benoît Labrecque a subi une défaite 40-36 contre la Nouvelle-Zélande pour ensuite l’emporter 47-10 face à la Corée.

Les Québécois membres de l’équipe canadienne et vice-championne olympique sont Fabien Lavoie (Québec), Daniel Paradis (Sainte-Foy) et Patrice Simard (Québec).

Surnommée les All Blacks, l’équipe néo-zélandaise a encore une fois donné du fil à retordre aux Canadiens comme c’est le cas depuis plusieurs années.

« La Nouvelle-Zélande, c’est la bête noire du Canada. La dernière fois que nous avons battu cette équipe, c’était en 1998 », a soutenu Labrecque, tout de même satisfait du travail de ses protégés.

« Les Néo-Zélandais ont pris une avance de deux points dans le premier quart et il a été difficile de combler l’écart par la suite. Ils sont plus rapides que nous et ils ont joué le cadran jusqu’à la fin du match », a ajouté celui qui croit que le décalage horaire n’a pas affecté l’équipe qui est en Australie depuis maintenant cinq jours.

Le Canada a été invité à ce tournoi qui est une excellente préparation en vue des Jeux paralympiques de Pékin.

« Nous essayons plusieurs choses. Certaines ont fonctionné, d’autres pas. Parmi celles qui ont fonctionné, nous avons trouvé deux nouvelles façons de provoquer des revirements », de conclure l’entraîneur.

Les Canadiens ont également pu voir en action l’équipe chinoise pour une première fois et selon Labrecque, elle ne devrait pas figurer parmi les favorites au tournoi paralympique.

Mercredi, le Canada jouera contre le Japon et l’Afrique du Sud.

10:48am : Sitting court side along with Peter Martin (the Kiwi who is coaching South Africa and all around nice guy until we play them, then he will be ….).

Lots of school kids in attendance, who were bussed in to liven up the joint.

The opening ceremonies were short and sweet with 10-15 year old kids singing and dancing followed by aborigines interpreting native songs and finally very short speeches (opening of the games, athletes and referees oaths) and the Ozzie anthem.

Team Canada will be meeting at 11am in preparation for their 12:30 game vs. New Zealand. The Kiwi’s line up will be bolstered by the presence of class 2.5 Curtis Palmer and 2.0 Sholto Taylor who didn’t play on the Sunday friendly.

Temp inside the gym is decent, a little warm but very tolerable. The facility is 1^st class (Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre), there’s the main court and practice court (the practice court will be used for three matches during the tournament.

Lots of noise coming from this very enthusiastic crowd, Japan with a quick turnover and the early lead and the jump but Shin with a soft rainbow pass gives it right back. Shimakawa still has the tendency to throw soft passes in danger situations but oh baby, what speed! I believe the key for this game will be Aussie 3.5 Ryley Batt, but how much stamina will he have left in the tank by the 4^th quarter? Australia relies heavily on Batt as standout 3.5 Brad Dubberley has now assumed the full-time duties of coaching the Australian Team.

Australia was victorious, beating the higher ranked team from Japan 47-44. The complementary line ups played well enough to keep the game close and combined with the pressure exerted by 3.5 Ryley Batt, Australia grabbed control of the game in the 3^rd and never looked back

Canada 40 vs New Zealand 46

Canada started out slow and never recovered, eventually losing by 6. The Kiwis looked sharp and unshakable and took the early lead and never came close to relinquishing it. Canada showed some signs of getting back in the game but couldn’t sustain the pressure and the Kiwis pulled away and were firmly in control all the way through. On defence Jai White class 1.0 was a thorn in the side of the Canadians throughout the match, frustrating Canada’s high pointers. Whatever line-up the Kiwis threw out there, they dominated. Although a setback for Canada, there’s a long way to go and hopefully we will have the opportunity to match up to the Kiwis once again.

Right now I am watching China vs. Korea: after a lacklustre start by the Koreans, they composed themselves and got back in the game. The Chinese surprised the Koreans with the speedy play of class 3.5 Pan Zi Lin who dominates with his superior speed. The Koreans seem to have a better grasp of the game but the Chinese look like the more athletic team.

The game resembles a pinball game with turnover after turnover. The "take it away, give it away" syndrome is quite prevalent. But its quite nice to see these two teams present here at the Oceania Championships showing that this Zone is developing. It would be great to see the same level of commitment from the Americas zone although Columbia and Argentina are trying hard to push their programs forward. I know money is a huge issue for Argentina and its probably the same for Columbia, but they are working hard. I’m wondering how much the Chinese chairs are worth and if it might be a good alternative to developing countries. I'll find out the chair details in the next few days!

Both China and Korea have women playing for them: for China there is class 2.0 Zhang Wen Li and Korea has class 2.5 So Young Kim.

China finally pulled it out and defeats Korea 38-35. Shows U how little Vegas knows. Could we see a rematch of this game on Friday?

I am now watching China vs Japan. Japan is playing this like any normal game and the Chinese will have their money’s worth. Japan quickly pulls away and puts 71 on the board. Canada and Korea play at the same time and Canada wins by 37. Both games show how much these teams need experience at the highest level, I don’t know how many penalties China had but it was pretty impressive. Even when they were penalized, they still played too close to the goal line and they seem to lack a little of the knowledge of the rules of the game but considering everything, it was an ok performance for a 1^st time on the world stage.

Lots of questions will be raised about the presence of the Chinese team in Beijing as they might not be competitive until 2012 but its their right to be at the '08 Para’s and they will be there unless they change their minds... which would make for an even more competitive competition, but oh well!

In other games, all the favourites won. I don’t have all the scores as I thought the scores would be posted on the Australian web site, and no I didn’t have the internet at the gym 'cause everyone would have known the scores by now if I did.

Many thanks to Chérie Harris for the photos! :)

Nov 20th 12:02am


And it begins!


Kiwis for lunch at 12:30 and Koreans for supper at 17:30.

The day before the competition was highlighted by team meetings and some R&R before the action starts. Guys look focused and primed to kick some serious U know what! The team is healthy and ready to go! The staff is prepared and will make sure that the players sole focus is on the game. We should be playing in front of over 1,000 to 3,000 school kids that will be screaming their lungs out.

Kiwis are led by standout 3.0 Dan Buckingham and he’s surrounded by a veteran crew and they always play smart, composed and together in harmony and have given Canada a hard time on the international scene, I think our last victory against them would be in ? Its been awhile ;) I’m sure Don could research it and give U some info on this matter.

We will have a break after and then we will play the Koreans which should be quite interesting. China will play their 1^st ever international game against the same Koreans. Vegas reports that Korea is +12 and the over under is at 59 ;)

I will try to send out the scores ASAP although the OC says they will have the scores posted FAST so check out http://www.oceaniawrc.com.au/results.htm. Games start at 19:00 (EST) 16:00 (PST) on November 19^th;)

Today we had the 1^st classification results, China led the way with 8 preliminary class changes led by Jun Chen who went down from 3.5 to 2.5 and the rest of the players went up or down by 0.5.

South Africa has some very interesting athletes ;) and I cannot wait to see this motley crew in action. South Africa is coached by Kiwi Peter Martin. Under Peter’s guidance South Africa has improved greatly from the 1^st time we saw them in 03 to 05 in Brazil and with an influx of youth let’s see how far they have come since 05.

The tournament kicks off with Australia and Japan with the Aussies looking for revenge after their loss at World’s in September 06.

Talk to U later ;)

Rooty Hill, NSW, Australia, November 18, 2007

Was a hot one here today, with highs in the 30’s and 80% humidity and no a/c in the practice facility. Suffice it to say it wasn’t a quad-friendly place (Kevin Betts Stadium) but we are done with that place as we will be heading to the Sydney Olympic Park. But before we left there, we had 2 friendly matches against Australia in which we were victorious by a 41-36 mark and we also won our half game with New Zealand by 4 (21-17). All the teams played their benches and although Canada played well, the real deal starts on Tuesday with NZ and Korea. Kudos’ to our staff that tried its best to keep the athletes cool with the ice towels, ice vest and our mad scientist's formula that kept the boys going. But the credit for the performance today lies with the players who seem to be in good form and ready to take on the world. Keep it going Canada!

Whitehead had some killer hits today, 2 on Ryley Batt and one on Steve Hannan, DAMN!!! Chan got his stuff ;) was a happy camper!

Today was also an opportunity to see for the very 1^st time, the Chinese National Team with their homemade chairs (nice and shiny) didn’t blind anyone. It seems they have 2 models for chairs, offensive and defensive built with the same measurements. They are led by Coach Mrs. When who was introduced by their interpreter Jiang Yi. They seemed in awe of all the goings on. This is their 1^st trip outside of China and their 1^st glance at world class rugby. As good ambassadors we introduced ourselves to the Chinese and offered assistance to help their rugby cause.

We also saw the Koreans who seem to be on the right track with close to up to date equipment and with some rugby experience.

The South Africans also showed up without class 2.5 Luan “Where did the sun go, oh wait it’s the humongous South African” Degenaar but with new players with a wide range of disabilities but undoubtedly improved from the last time we saw them in September 05.

Tomorrow (November 19^th) will be a quiet day as the players will rest up from their day in the heat. The 1^st event for the team will be a 1 hour session with Dr. David Cox (our Sports Psychologist) from 11 to noon and once again from 2 to 3pm, lunch will be from noon to 2. Then we'll have a strategy meeting from 4-5pm and then we'll get ready for a fancy reception with dignitaries. Tuesday will be much more interesting rugby wise but we got to do what we got to do ;)

I will have more info for U shortly, stay tuned.

Marco tired. Bye, bye ;)

Australian Odyssey (a developing story)

All the players (Jared Funk, Daniel Paradis, Trevor Hirschfield, Patrice Simard, Dave Willsie, Say Luangkhamdeng, Martin Larocque, Travis Murao, Fabien Lavoie, Mike Whitehead, Ian Chan and Garett Hickling) and most of the staff (Thomas Zochowski (physiologist), Stephan Charbonneau (equipment manager), Cathy Cadieux (team leader) and Michelle Wyngaarden (video)) all got in today, Wednesday Nov 14th (+16 hours for EST and +19 hours for PST time difference). We are still missing David Cox (sports psychologist) and Nancy Botting (physiotherapist). Adam Frost (assistant coach) and Benoit Labrecque (head coach) have been in Sydney since Nov 12th to scope out the place.

It is always interesting when you have such a large group arriving at the same time... you always wonder, who will have their stuff and who won’t? Chair-wise, we are only missing Ian’s chair, its somewhere in transit between San Diego, Portland, Vancouver, Honolulu, and Sydney. Good luck with that! But overall it’s been good.

Everything else went pretty smoothly and Benoit and I didn’t get lost too badly today driving a rental around town.

Players went to the hotel along with some of the staff and Benoit, while Steph and I drove to Mt-Druitt (Kevin Betts Stadium) to deliver the chairs to the practice facility. Its gonna be a hot one for many reasons on the 18th when we face Australia at 11am and New Zealand at 3pm when we scrimmage against them.

Most of the players looked to be in decent shape after such a long flight but the next few days will prove to be crucial as players will need to acclimatize quickly as we will be practicing on the 18th (no a/c and temps around 28°, and we start play on the 20th). It takes some time to get back in a good rhythm when you travel but the guys will be ok.

There is lots to do around the hotel as we are nicely located in Darling Harbour. We are staying at the 4 Points by Sheraton until we move to a Holiday Inn on Rooty Hill on the 17th where all the other nations will also come together.

At this tournament we will be facing in order: New Zealand, South Korea on Day 1; Japan and South Africa on Day 2, and finally Australia and China on Day 3.

http://www.cwsa.ca/oc-2007.html or http://www.oceaniawrc.com.au/draw.htm. If U go on the OC website at http://www.oceaniawrc.com.au/teams.htm its amazing how all the players look alike. I dare you to tell any of the guys apart from any country! ;)

Its now around 18:00 and we have meetings at 18:45 (staff only), 19:00 (staff and players) and then people will undoubtedly chill for the rest of the night and plan for tomorrow.


Talk to you soon,

Marco

Here is a press release that the Kiwi team has put out:

WHEEL BLACKS SET TO DEFEND OCEANIA TITLE
The New Zealand Wheelchair rugby team will defend its Oceania title in Sydney, Australia, next week.

The Wheel Blacks defeated Australia by one goal in triple extra time to win the title in South Africa in 2005, having been beaten by Australia by one goal in extra time in 2003.

Coach Grant Sharman said that as defending champions and being ranked No. 2 in the world behind the United States, who are not attending, the Wheel Blacks are worthy favourites.

“This will be a pretty tough tournament as the powerful Canadian team has been invited to compete and we have to play them first up.”

“While our line-up has been boosted by the return of Curtis Palmer, back from a shoulder operation earlier this year, the Australians have also bolstered their squad with two changes from the team we defeated 4 – 1 in the Chris Handy Cup last month,” he said.

Sharman also believes the Japanese will be a tough combination as they are ranked No. 5 in the world, while the appearance of China and Korea adds curiosity.

“This is the first time these two countries have competed in the Oceania tournament. Korea is improving but not all that competitive, while we are not sure of the Chinese. Reports would say that they will not be very strong, but with the emphasis they are putting on the Olympics and Paralympics we are preparing for a battle,” he said.

The team is: Dan Buckingham ©, Curtis Palmer, Tim Johnson, Gerry Tinker, Sholto Taylor, Steve Hannen, Dave Klinkhamer, Jai Waite.

New Zealand’s schedule is:

Tuesday, Nov 20: 12.30pm v Canada; 3.30pm v South Africa.

Wednesday, Nov 21: 12.30pm v Australia; 5.30pm v China

Thursday: 11am v Korea; 5.30pm v Japan

Friday Nov 23: Semi-finals: 11am 1st v 4th; 12.30pm 2nd v 3rd; 2pm 6th v 7th

Saturday, Nov 24: Finals: 10.30am 5th v 6th/7th winner; 12pm Bronze Medal; 2pm Gold Medal

Further information: Grant Sharman, coach, ph 021-2729088

John Durning
Managing Director
Durning Public Relations
105 Victoria Street
PO Box 25-309
Christchurch
ph (03) 365-2579
mobile 0274-373-286
fax (03) 377-7172
http://www.durningpr.co.nz

---

Lineups for the 7-teams in the Oceania Zonals are:

1) NZL

1.0 WAITE, Jai
1.5 KLINKHAMER, Dave
2.0 FOULSHAM, Riki
2.0 HANNAN, Steve
2.0 JOHNSON, Tim ©
2.0 TAYLOR, Sholto
2.0 TINKER, Geremy
2.5 PALMER, Curtis
3.0 BUCKINGHAM, Dan

Coach / Entraîneur: SHARMAN, Grant


2) JAP

? KANNO, Kazuhiko
? NAGAYASU, Yu
? TAMURA, Manabu
0.5 TAKAHASHI, Yoshinobu
1.0 OGINO, Koichi
1.5 HAMANO, Kenji
2.0 SATO, Yoshito
2.0 MISAKA, Hiroyuki
2.0 MUROHASHI, Takuo
2.0 FUJISHIMA, Shingo
2.5 NAKAZATO, Shin
3.0 SHIMAKAWA, Shinichi

Coach / Entraîneur: SHIOZAWA, Yasuo


3) AUS

0.5 ERDEM, Nazim
0.5 SCOTT, Ryan
1.5 BRAND, Shane
2.0 ALMAN, Bryce
2.0 CARR, Cameron
2.0 SMITH, Greg
2.0 VITALE, Scott
2.5 BOXALL, Grant
2.5 PORTER, Steve ©
2.5 RYAN, Patrick
3.5 BATT, Ryley

Coach / Entraîneur: DUBBERLEY, Brad


4) RSA

? COETZEE, Nicky
? SITHOLE, Luca
0.5 DORFLING, Bennie ©
1.5 ADAMS, Mark
2.0 BUITENDAG, Victor
2.0 JACOBS, Koos
2.5 DLAMINI, Eric
3.0 TRUTER, Peter


5) KOR

0.5 CHOI, Jae Woong
0.5 PARK, Chan Soo
1.0 KO, Seung Bum
1.0 PARK, Young Ha
1.5 HONG, Tai Poy
2.0 SEO, Min Woo
2.5 CHANG SUN, Jeon
2.5 JONG DAE, Jeong
2.5 KIM, Hun Jung
2.5 KIM, So Young
3.0 LEE, Seung Hoo
3.0 PARK, Jin Soo

Coach / Entraîneur: JANG, Suk Whan


6) CHN

0.5 SHAO, De Quan
1.0 JI, Jian Hui
1.0 YU, Zhong Tao
1.0 ZHANG, Zheng
1.5 CHENG, Shuang Miao
2.0 TIAN, Shi Lin
2.5 SHEN, Yun Bo
2.5 ZHANG, Wen Li
3.0 PAN, Zi Lin
3.0 WHANG, Shen
3.0 HAN, Gui Fei
3.5 CHEN, Jun

Coaches / Entraîneurs: HUANG, Jian Wen, WEN, Yan, & YAN, Ying Hui


7) CAN

0.5 FUNK, Jared
0.5 PARADIS, Daniel
1.0 HIRSCHFIELD, Trevor
1.5 SIMARD, Patrice
2.0 LAROCQUE, Martin
2.0 LUANGKHAMDENG, Say
2.0 MURAO, Travis
2.0 WILLSIE, David ©
3.0 CHAN, Ian ©
3.0 LAVOIE, Fabien
3.0 WHITEHEAD, Mike
3.5 HICKLING, Garett

Coach / Entraîneur: LABRECQUE, Benoit

The complete tournament schedule is available on our site. Team Canada's first opponent are the Kiwis. We look forward to their haka, and the start of the Oceania Championships.

Don't worry about our low ranking, as the outcome of this tournament will not influence our Paralympic qualification. Thus, all of the Oceania teams have been seeded ahead of us.

News from Marco...

Day 1 : Saturday November 10th, 2007

The journey is looming:

West Palm Beach to Ft-Lauderdale by car, Ft-Lauderdale to Las Vegas to Vancouver to Honolulu to Sydney to have mercy, the hotel ;) so all together, about 27 hours in the air) My main concerns: will I be able to sleep on the plane, will I be able to get 2-3 seats to myself, will I catch something, will I make my flights? I've got a 44 minute connection time in Vegas for the flight to BC, how far will be the departure gate from the arrival gate, will I need to go to the bathroom on the flight, will I be probably hydrated, will… U get it!

Got to bed at 3:30am after packing, working and taking care of loose ends (watched TV also, Scarface was on and some sports stuff). Fell asleep around 3:45 I guess and woke up at 5:15 to get on my way to Ft-Lauderdale airport for an 8:15 flight to Vegas.

Got to the airport at around 6:25am, got someone to put my bags on my lap (Garett’s 3 wheels + my own bag), couldn’t get up the little ramp, asked someone else to help, then down the ramp but another little climb was waiting for me but a cop asked if I needed help, couldn’t refuse and he pushed me a couple of meters to the elevator and from there I was good to go, ah flat surfaces although they were carpeted but was old hard carpet so it was ok and the counter was close by.

Got my seat assignment which of course I changed twice at the gate. Went from 4D (bulkhead which I despise even though U have more leg room but the armrests don’t lift). They switched me to another aisle seat, which I hate also 'cause you've got people fumbling and tumbling over U in their quest to reach the lavatories. So I got a window seat but couldn’t get 2-3 seats to myself because the flight was fully booked.

Waited for the skycaps to help me to my seat and sat;). Who’s gonna be sitting next to me? Turned out to be some real estate agents going to a convention in Vegas, used the opportunity to do a little business and lined up a few places to go see with them when I get back to FLA. For U see I need some apartments for the rugby boys and girl that are coming down to ball for the winter. This search is not that easy, we need to find barrier free homes 3 or 4 with 1 step or less for the entrance, 60cm wide doorways with enough room to turn our wheelchairs, the price has to be right (USD $1500-2000 a month excluding utilities and other necessary thingy’s), lease period of 3 months and a few other minor things).

B****** from hell! 4 of the loudest most obnoxious, stupidest, needy (felt so bad for the flight attendants, Gucci carrying, silicone pumped, sun glass wearing, look at me I’m so beautiful or at least my pimp says so, make up by the ton plastered on, oh my god we’re gonna tear it up in Vegas, when brains were dispensed were nowhere to be found people I've ever seen. For the 5:30 hour flight they had their make up kits out for 3 hours and used the kits for 6 hours ;) did the 2 by 2 bathroom relays to undoubtedly make sure they looked ok at for the other half hour brush their Jennifer Anniston wannabe hair. People’s opinions varied on what these people did: party girls that don’t know when to quit (they were around 29-33 years old), prostitutes, models for girls gone ugly, silicone convention attendees, did very bad things to get their trip paid for, behavior research analysts studying people’s attitude towards 4 non-blondes who act like morons or aliens from the planet Superficialis from the 4th quadrant. It was all quite entertaining in a nauseous way ;)

Got to Vegas 20 minutes early, connection gate was mere metres away, went to the desk, got a new seat with an entire 3 seat row to myself, slept like a baby, got to Vancouver, picked up the luggage, got something to eat set up my office, bugged a few people to push me up this and push me up that, set up my temporary office got someone to plug in my 'puter and cell phone (they were on the ground people, not so easy to reach and at an awkward angle OK! Waited for Adam and G, looked around for Ben but he was already at the gate. Adam and G showed up, left the wheelbag with Garett, unplugged my s*** well I got someone to do that! Met up with Adam at the counter where they were gonna levy a 225$ charge to Adam for his luggage, fixed that and we were on our way to the gate where I was looking forward to talk to the gate agents to see if we could get better seat assignments but before I did, had to set up another temporary office (hope U know what that means) ;), figured out the equipment needs of Steph and relayed the info to Trevor who got the necessary tools out of the equipment box that Bobby (other equipment guy for the National Team and Go To Guy) used to go to the low pointers tournament in the Netherlands where Canada swept through the competition.

Got to the gate, couldn’t do anything about the seats, it was a full flight. Got the sleep study kit, got the travel pouch, good job Thomas (Thomas is our Physiologist, hydration/cooling/over heating/pipi collecting/freezer getting/equipment toteing expert). Travel pouch includes ear plugs, mask, hand sanitizer, cliff bars, neck pillow, saline solution and other goodies although the earplugs are a little hard ;)

Sat next to Assistant-Coach Frost, talked rugby and life, slept a little, did the alertness test after sleep, ate some chicken (choices were U guessed it chicken or beef) it was ok. Landed after 5:30 hours for a quick stop in Honolulu, temp was 22° but we just deplaned and got back on (refueling, letting people out and such), went to the gate desk and 50 seats became available and was able to get 3 seats (middle) for both myself and Adam, tried to get 1st class for coach Labrecque but he did get 2 seats along the window.

Plane configuration of this 767 was 2-3-2 and it was the older model so no USB port or power outlet. U know that I prefer having 3 seats to having first class although I hear the newer planes have cocoon type seats but if I am not horizontal, I cannot sleep so the 3 seats allow U to do. So its great to have 3 seats but getting back to a sitting position is quite difficult, at least for me, so I push the little flight attendant button and eventually somebody comes with a tow truck and lift me back up. If U don’t ask for nothing, U get nothing. People are helpful. All together on the Sydney flight (11 hours) I slept about 4:30-5:00 which is fantastic, the rest of the time U listen to music, watch some videos (today it was Harry Potter … Phoenix and Chicago) I worked a little, wrote this and…

Arriving in Sydney PA is babbling on about spraying us with a mild insecticide (harmless to humans but kill insects and bacteria). About to be warned to shut off my 'puter, when the PA goes on about “please declare all food items as if U don’t U will be fined and food sniffing dogs will help prosecute U if U do not comply.

Flights were good, not too sleepy. Did all the sleep alertness tests (3 of them in total) wrote up my sleep times in the SLEEP diary and up next upon arrival, collecting our luggage, going to the Thrifty desk to set up our truck rental on Wednesday (final details), will have to wake up early on the Wednesday to do this, that will suck, life is tough. Got to shut off the 'puter, see U tomorrow!

Marco