A sporting weekend (sort of)
The past weekend has been 'sporty' in a number of ways. On Friday evening I went to watch the local 'footie' (rugby league) team (Manly) again, with an expat friend. They were playing a team from Penrith and had another easy win, although the evening was much colder than our previous visit to the ground (and it was even colder holding the beers!).
There's been a lot of controversy over the past 2 weeks with a leading rugby league player breaking his contract and not only heading off to France but also to 'change codes' and play rugby union. This is seen as very poor form but as there's a salary cap in the NRL the attraction of playing in Europe and earning more money must appeal to a lot of young players. Although some games here attract good crowds, the game on Friday night was seen by around 7,500 people and as the entry tickets are reasonable (about £8 each) it's easy to see why there isn't so much money in the game here, plus most teams are based in NSW and Queensland, so it's not really a national sport either.
On Saturday the weather remained cold but sunny, so Sue and I had a walk on Narrabeen beach before she went to view a possible rental property for one of her relocation customers. In the afternoon I went out for a reasonably long bike ride, doing a big circuit which I hadn't tried before and ended up with a long hill, which just about did me in for the rest of the day!
Sunday morning was our usual spectator routine for Rebecca's football team and it was their last match of the season (at least within the main league games). They finished at 1-1 and look like they'll end up just outside the top-4 play-offs, after having 'peaked' in mid-season with a winning run which hasn't been so good over the past few weeks. Still, they've clearly made progress over the season and hopefully most of the team will continue into next season as we've quite enjoyed watching the games and chatting with other parents.
On Sunday evening I had a game a squash with another expat contact and although there is usually a group of players mixing around, it was just the 2 of us this week. We had a good match for an hour which finished me off for the rest of the day, again!
There's been a lot of controversy over the past 2 weeks with a leading rugby league player breaking his contract and not only heading off to France but also to 'change codes' and play rugby union. This is seen as very poor form but as there's a salary cap in the NRL the attraction of playing in Europe and earning more money must appeal to a lot of young players. Although some games here attract good crowds, the game on Friday night was seen by around 7,500 people and as the entry tickets are reasonable (about £8 each) it's easy to see why there isn't so much money in the game here, plus most teams are based in NSW and Queensland, so it's not really a national sport either.
On Saturday the weather remained cold but sunny, so Sue and I had a walk on Narrabeen beach before she went to view a possible rental property for one of her relocation customers. In the afternoon I went out for a reasonably long bike ride, doing a big circuit which I hadn't tried before and ended up with a long hill, which just about did me in for the rest of the day!
Sunday morning was our usual spectator routine for Rebecca's football team and it was their last match of the season (at least within the main league games). They finished at 1-1 and look like they'll end up just outside the top-4 play-offs, after having 'peaked' in mid-season with a winning run which hasn't been so good over the past few weeks. Still, they've clearly made progress over the season and hopefully most of the team will continue into next season as we've quite enjoyed watching the games and chatting with other parents.
On Sunday evening I had a game a squash with another expat contact and although there is usually a group of players mixing around, it was just the 2 of us this week. We had a good match for an hour which finished me off for the rest of the day, again!
posted by Hawkins Family @ 9:19 am
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