I heard the other day about a prolific author who was asked how he was able to produce so many books whilst others really struggle. His response was just write 200 words a day and the rest will follow. So that is what I am attempting to do here. Start and see what comes. When it comes to blogging starting is my, I want to say greatest challenge, but really, it is actually just the first challenge. Now that I have overcome that I can see what other challenges arise. Providing interesting content might well prove a greater hurdle.
So what should I write about. How about food. I am a chef. I cook food for a living. I work Monday to Friday, 6.30am to 2.30pm. At least those are the hours I am paid to work. The challenge, I think I may be over using that word is time management. I want to claim more of my life for me. That is not to say that I don't give my all to my food and care about what I put up for my customers each day. I am one chef cooking baine marie held food for about 100 to 120 people a day. I work for a company which leases the premises of another company (our client) to provide a staff cafe for their employees. We have a manager who is a Catering Assistant, a barista and another Catering Assistant or CA for short.
So, what do we provide. The Barista provides what you would expect i.e. coffee. The CA's set up a sandwich bar and provide mostly made to order sandwiches and wraps. They also serve the hot baine. I provide 3 different meals a day, two containing meat and a vegetarian meal to serve aproximately 20. As well as this I make a salad for about another 20 visitors. The menu changes daily and it is my job to write a new menu each week. On top of this I also cook breakfast. The usual suspects are provided at breakfast, bacon, fried eggs, sausages, hash browns and grilled tomato or at least it would be if we had a grill. It is actually baked tomato. On top of that there is a weekly cycle of breakfast, not so special, specials. Monday French toast, Tuesday sausage roll, Wednesday eggs Benedict, Thursday ham, tomato and cheese melt, and Friday scrambled eggs on toast.
I think I am past those 200 words I spoke about at the start of this piece, now I have to find some interesting content.
What do I cook? Let me grab a typical menu. Thursday is roast day, roast beef one week, roast chicken the next, then lamb and finally pork with crackling. I roll through and after four weeks it is back to the beginning again. These days it is about 18 to 20 kilograms of meat. Many chefs would cook the meat the day before and slice and reheat on the day of service. Personally I like to cook and slice on the day. Hot meat is easier to slice and there is less of a food safety issue if you do it all on the same day. Food doesn't spend as long in the danger zone where harmful bacteria can do it's thing. What temperature makes up the danger zone? 5 to 60 degrees Celsius. The objective is to keep food out of that zone for as much of it's life as possible. That's the brief of it.
Friday is fish day. Hoki caught in New Zealand waters. What is Hoki? Hoki is a white fleshed fish found in the waters around New Zealand, southern Australia and off the coasts of South America. Why do we use it? Because it is both cheap and sustainable. By the time it gets to us in a frozen packet of I think, about 5 kilograms, it is also boneless. The fish rotation is smaller than the roast rotation. Battered fish one week, crumbed the next and a simple seafood basket in week three. If the client invests in a grill there will be a fourth item to the rotation being grilled fish, but that is yet to occur. They are not exactly in a hurry to spend money on us, which I do understand in that we are probably see as nothing more that an expense, but a little bit of cash thrown our way would be nice. Fish is the most popular item of the week, which is why the rotation isn't too big. We sell about 65 fish on a Friday against the normal allowance of about 40 of a regular meat dish.
Somewhere in the menu is a curry, usually on a Monday containing chicken as that allows me to get my meat order in on a Monday to ensure freshness for the remainder of the week. I get chicken on a Friday for Monday's menu and then as required for the rest of the week. What sort of dishes do I cook, Thai red and green chicken curries, various Indian curries although the norm is one curry a week. There is a pasta dish somewhere in the mix. I have tried to keep them a little lighter over the last year but do still like the occasional creamy bacon and mushroom boscaiola. A burger each week of some type. Good old fashioned beef burger is always a winner, as well as pulled pork rolls, chicken fillet burgers, I favour the thigh fillet sometimes marinated in Tandoori paste or a satay chicken burger can be good too.
My company like us to run a selection of healthy dishes, at least one each day which are recipes created by the head office food gurus to provide a push in the direction of healthy living. They are mainly based around, in my opinion, the idea of less meat and carbohydrates and more vegetables. This of course is what current ideas of health food entail but customers often feel a little ripped off if they don't get as much meat in their fish as they usually get in a typical meal. I have found that if I run the healthy meat dish up against the fish then the lessoning of sales doesn't hurt the menu's balance.
Beef stroganoff, pork goulash, chicken cacciatore are but a few of the regulars to feature. Grabbing a few popular dishes from your local Chinese restaurant is an easy way to fill the spaces including Mongolian lamb and sweet and sour pork.
As they say and so much more. I will save the rest for next time. I try not to back dishes up too quickly for basically I need, there are some exceptions as mentioned above, about 120 different dishes to fill a 6 week cycle. That is quite a lot but it is important to not become too repetitive.
More thoughts from the kitchen to come in future weeks. I feel as though I have achieved something here by just getting the first words on the page (maybe page isn't the right word). Screen perhaps is more digitally appropriate.
Hope you enjoy
Chef G
Chef, Thai language learner, Restaurant reviewer and hopefully if I can get the balance right, world traveller. My blog is a place for all of this and my constant searching to be better at everything I do.
Saturday, 9 March 2019
Sunday, 25 September 2016
Restaurant review - Eat GRK- Beverly Hills
We headed out to for a midweek celebration when my wife received her permanent residency after an almost 3 year wait. We were looking for something a little different to our usual Asian fare so this place jumped out. We had visited once before, leaving with over filled bellies and smiles of food joy on our faces. The problem, at least for me at Eat GRK is that there are more options on the menu than I can eat in one go. Not really a problem for a normal human, they just eat one option and try another next time. Not so for me. I have the tendency to attempt to eat everything I like in the one go and then then spend the rest of the evening asking myself why anyone would eat that much. Ahhh, we live and at least attempt to learn.As I stated in the above intro the menu has a good number of options, and the outdoor style dining gives the place a great atmosphere. In the winter it can get a little chilly but then, they have the portable fires going. This restaurant is situated right next door to the Beverly Hills hotel and would make for a good stopping point either on your way to the hotel or a after a couple of early beers. The cinema is maybe 50 metres away on the other side. Take your pick.
The menu has an array of options, most of the mains involve some form of charcoal cooked meat, Lamb, chicken or pork and there is usually a mixed tasting plate in each part of the menu if you are like me and can't pick just one. The entree options look good. Choices include grilled haloumi, feta fries, haloumi chips, as well as some dips and pita breads but these will have to wait. As I said earlier, I ate far too much on my first visit (all enjoyable) but I was going to make an effort not to make the same mistake again.
This time I went straight for the Mix Plate. It contains more than enough for a filling meal. The mix plate contains 100g of carved lamb or Pork, I chose Lamb. 1 souvlaki of your choice I went with the pork (meat on a skewer), 1 loukaniko (pork based wine soaked sausage), 1 Sheftalia (skinless pork sausage from Cyprus), 1 slice pita bread, Tzatziki for dipping, a generous side of chips and Greek Salad which was topped with a delicious slice of Feta cheese. Along with that they throw in a can of drink or a water. The sausages are rich and not afraid to be meaty, whilst the meats cooked over a charcoal grill were juicy and packed with flavour. The Greek salad was well dressed and generous and even the humble side of chips came topped with a tasty seasoning. All of that for only $32, I'm not sure you can do much better.
My wife had the Souvlaki plate. This contains 3 skewers, Chicken, lamb, and pork, all nicely grilled, with sliced pita, tzatziki, chips, Greek salad and the can of drink or water. As with my meal, this one was a success and we will return before too long.
Everything went down a treat and I am keen to get back there and try a wrap or two and maybe one day even make it to the coffee and dessert portions of the menu.
Saturday, 17 September 2016
Shun Fujimoto , A courageous Olympian
Gymnastics is, to be completely honest not where I usually look for sporting inspiration, but this story is hard to resist.
The Japanese have a long and distinguished history in men's gymnastics having won 14 individual medals at the Olympics and 13 medals in team competition. Leading into the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, Canada they had won the team gold at the previous 4 games starting with their first in Rome in 1960. The 1960 Olympics was when a young boxer from the USA named Cassius Clay won gold in the Light Heavyweight division, but that story is for another time.
Heading into the 1976 Olympics the Japanese were the world champions as well as Olympic Champions but the USSR had won silver at the previous 4 games and felt that this might be their time to re-climb the mountain to Olympic Gold.
Shun Fujimoto, 26 years old, was a reserve for the team when they arrived in Canada. Shigeru Kasamatsu was a team leader and the world all around champion at the time. On the eve of the games Shigeru was forced to withdraw from the team due to an emergency appendectomy. As a result Shun Fujimoto was called into the team to compete at his first and only Olympics. The courage he showed in his Olympic performance reverberated for many years to come. The injuries he sustained prevented him from competing at international level after Montreal.
In team gymnastics each team has 6 athletes and the top 5 scores count towards the teams final total. They compete in 6 separate disciplines and the totals from each discipline are added together for the final score. The 6 events are the Floor, Pommel Horse, Still rings, Vault, Parallel bars and horizontal bar.
During the 1st event of the optionals, the floor routine, Shun, whilst landing in his 4th rountine bent his knee the wrong way and the damage was done. He didn't say anything, but when he walked one step forward he couldn't feel his leg. He checked his leg's condition with each step as he headed to his chair. Shun was in agony but he didn't want to let anyone know as he thought it would effect his team's chances if he received treatment. I guess he figured that by heading for treatment it would add extra pressure to his team-mates and at the same time boost the confidence of their rivals. As a result he kept the pain hidden and amazingly carried on.
And so to the pommel horse. This had been Japan's weakest discipline in the last four Olympics. Knowing that, the team had focussed on this event to improve their standing. Shun was to go first. He knew it would be important to give the team a good start. Shun said later that he tried to forget the injury and concentrated on the task at hand. He did well and received a 9.5. He had survived.
Then to his greatest and final act of courage, the rings. Shun performed well, but must have known that the landing was going to take him to a world of pain. The moment he landed he felt a horrible squish from his leg. His leg bent completely the wrong way. He managed to correct it. If he leaned his leg would have bent forwards. Despite all of this he stuck the landing after an extended pause to keep his balance. He received the best score of his life, a 9.7.
His pain could no longer be hidden. His team doctors refused to give him pain killers and he retired from the competition. Shun was devastated. "I felt dead inside", he said. "We had lost our chance to medal and it was all my fault" He headed to the medical tent a broken man, physically and mentally. Shun had broken his knee in the floor routine. The dismount from 8 feet up on the rings dislocated his already broken kneecap and tore the ligaments just for good measure.
When he returned from the medical tent he was shocked to find his team celebrating. His team-mates thanked him for his courage and used him to inspire them to greater heights. This brought them all to tears. Shun thought he would miss the medal ceremony but his team would have none of it. He had inspired them and they wanted Shun with them on the podium. His team helped him halfway to the podium but he hobbled the rest of the way on his own because he felt that it would be embarrassing to be helped.
The very next day Shun's leg was in a full cast from hip to foot. This was his only appearance at an Olympic games but he certainly left a mark. The injury ended his gymnastics career and left him with lasting ligament damage.
In interviews Shun is an act of humility. He did a courageous thing but did it just so he wouldn't let his mates down. A wonderful lesson in what being part of a team is all about. Thanks for the inspiration Shun Fujimoto.
Heading into the 1976 Olympics the Japanese were the world champions as well as Olympic Champions but the USSR had won silver at the previous 4 games and felt that this might be their time to re-climb the mountain to Olympic Gold.
Shun Fujimoto, 26 years old, was a reserve for the team when they arrived in Canada. Shigeru Kasamatsu was a team leader and the world all around champion at the time. On the eve of the games Shigeru was forced to withdraw from the team due to an emergency appendectomy. As a result Shun Fujimoto was called into the team to compete at his first and only Olympics. The courage he showed in his Olympic performance reverberated for many years to come. The injuries he sustained prevented him from competing at international level after Montreal.
In team gymnastics each team has 6 athletes and the top 5 scores count towards the teams final total. They compete in 6 separate disciplines and the totals from each discipline are added together for the final score. The 6 events are the Floor, Pommel Horse, Still rings, Vault, Parallel bars and horizontal bar.
During the 1st event of the optionals, the floor routine, Shun, whilst landing in his 4th rountine bent his knee the wrong way and the damage was done. He didn't say anything, but when he walked one step forward he couldn't feel his leg. He checked his leg's condition with each step as he headed to his chair. Shun was in agony but he didn't want to let anyone know as he thought it would effect his team's chances if he received treatment. I guess he figured that by heading for treatment it would add extra pressure to his team-mates and at the same time boost the confidence of their rivals. As a result he kept the pain hidden and amazingly carried on.
And so to the pommel horse. This had been Japan's weakest discipline in the last four Olympics. Knowing that, the team had focussed on this event to improve their standing. Shun was to go first. He knew it would be important to give the team a good start. Shun said later that he tried to forget the injury and concentrated on the task at hand. He did well and received a 9.5. He had survived.
Then to his greatest and final act of courage, the rings. Shun performed well, but must have known that the landing was going to take him to a world of pain. The moment he landed he felt a horrible squish from his leg. His leg bent completely the wrong way. He managed to correct it. If he leaned his leg would have bent forwards. Despite all of this he stuck the landing after an extended pause to keep his balance. He received the best score of his life, a 9.7.
His pain could no longer be hidden. His team doctors refused to give him pain killers and he retired from the competition. Shun was devastated. "I felt dead inside", he said. "We had lost our chance to medal and it was all my fault" He headed to the medical tent a broken man, physically and mentally. Shun had broken his knee in the floor routine. The dismount from 8 feet up on the rings dislocated his already broken kneecap and tore the ligaments just for good measure.
When he returned from the medical tent he was shocked to find his team celebrating. His team-mates thanked him for his courage and used him to inspire them to greater heights. This brought them all to tears. Shun thought he would miss the medal ceremony but his team would have none of it. He had inspired them and they wanted Shun with them on the podium. His team helped him halfway to the podium but he hobbled the rest of the way on his own because he felt that it would be embarrassing to be helped.
The very next day Shun's leg was in a full cast from hip to foot. This was his only appearance at an Olympic games but he certainly left a mark. The injury ended his gymnastics career and left him with lasting ligament damage.
In interviews Shun is an act of humility. He did a courageous thing but did it just so he wouldn't let his mates down. A wonderful lesson in what being part of a team is all about. Thanks for the inspiration Shun Fujimoto.
Wednesday, 31 August 2016
Chapter 1, Saturday is every day
The alarm sounds. He is already awake. Anxiety eating away at him. He arises from bed, heads to the bathroom. Whilst there he scrolls through facebook posts delaying the day ahead. In someway he is just distracting himself from thoughts about the day ahead. The 6 and a half hours of sleep was enough to get by but is never enough to be truly at peace. He moves on to the process of showering and getting dressed for the day ahead. Clothes are prepared from the day before because he knows that he can't trust himself in the haze of early morning to find everything he needs. In robotic mode he showers and gets ready for work. Then he puts on the kettle and grabs cereal for breakfast. He weighs the cereal and milk into the bowl, somehow convincing himself that he is still on the diet that had helped him lose 15 kilos a year ago. Once he had got his weight where he wanted it the bad habits had slowly crept back in. Now he was back where he started. He felt overweight, overwhelmed and in need of change.
The switch of careers had seemed a good idea at the time. Life is like that. You make changes to improve yourself. Chase your passions. You love cooking at home. You spend your train trip home from the office job thinking of nothing but what you will cook for dinner at night. Why not throw it in and become a chef? Open a cafe? Seemed like a good idea. Now ten years on work is hard and anxiety filled. Sure it's with food, but a job is a job. Maybe it's time to quit. Start out on his own. Open that cafe. Don't let fear hold him back. But, there is always a but. Does he really want to commit to a business? What about travelling and a more balanced life? Is it just a dream? Is a balanced peaceful life just an illusion? Is it really possible? He certainly hopes so.
He is not alone in this Monday morning struggle. In this city of over 5 million people you can bet that half of them are facing an uphill battle on a Monday morning. He is most definitely not alone. I guess what separates him from the others is that he wants and believes that things can be different. Will the future prove him correct or a fool?
Bradley Pickering ducks back to bed to hug his wife of 3 years for 10 minutes that always turns into 15 minutes before he gives her a kiss and heads out the front door of their two bedroom unit in Southern Sydney. He regrets the feeling that his day has already had it's best moment. It won't get better.
He looks at his phone. The weather app says 11 degrees Celsius. A jumper, a jacket, a beanie, woollen gloves and thick socks will keep him warm until the heater in his 14 year old Toyota Camry starts to kick in. Probably take half of his 20 minute drive to work. At least he works in a kitchen. Once you turn everything on the room will heat up and the weather outside won't be relevant until it is time to go home. He wears headphones on his way to the car so he can listen to a pod-cast or an audio book on the way. He gets in the car switches to the Bluetooth speaker he got from his wife last Christmas. The radio can underachieve when you leave for work at 6am so a couple of years back Bradley switched to pod-casts for his driving listening. At times they can be motivational. Of late the advice is falling on deaf ears. Last month he listened to the four hour work week by Timothy Ferriss, a book on lifestyle design. How to get more time to do what you want to do and less with other members of the rat race. How he craves but as yet has not achieved.
The fog is thick for the drive in. It doesn't affect visibility but you'd much rather be in bed recovering from the weekend than out here heading to the nightmare that work has become. No winter trip to Thailand this year. Saving up for Europe in 12 months time. The goal is to get 12 weeks a year to do as he pleases. Maybe the 1st year the 12 weeks would all be travel. Over time he tells himself he would invest his time in other pursuits. Perhaps a month long meditation retreat to escape the rat race completely. Slow life down. Absorb every moment, live as Eckhart Tolle says "in the now". Think not of the future or the past. Be in the moment. Feel every movement and worry about nothing. Worry will not change anything. Bad will happen, good will happen. Just be. A month of quiet solitude seems right now to be a million miles away. Simplify my life he tells himself. One day.
The switch of careers had seemed a good idea at the time. Life is like that. You make changes to improve yourself. Chase your passions. You love cooking at home. You spend your train trip home from the office job thinking of nothing but what you will cook for dinner at night. Why not throw it in and become a chef? Open a cafe? Seemed like a good idea. Now ten years on work is hard and anxiety filled. Sure it's with food, but a job is a job. Maybe it's time to quit. Start out on his own. Open that cafe. Don't let fear hold him back. But, there is always a but. Does he really want to commit to a business? What about travelling and a more balanced life? Is it just a dream? Is a balanced peaceful life just an illusion? Is it really possible? He certainly hopes so.
He is not alone in this Monday morning struggle. In this city of over 5 million people you can bet that half of them are facing an uphill battle on a Monday morning. He is most definitely not alone. I guess what separates him from the others is that he wants and believes that things can be different. Will the future prove him correct or a fool?
Bradley Pickering ducks back to bed to hug his wife of 3 years for 10 minutes that always turns into 15 minutes before he gives her a kiss and heads out the front door of their two bedroom unit in Southern Sydney. He regrets the feeling that his day has already had it's best moment. It won't get better.
He looks at his phone. The weather app says 11 degrees Celsius. A jumper, a jacket, a beanie, woollen gloves and thick socks will keep him warm until the heater in his 14 year old Toyota Camry starts to kick in. Probably take half of his 20 minute drive to work. At least he works in a kitchen. Once you turn everything on the room will heat up and the weather outside won't be relevant until it is time to go home. He wears headphones on his way to the car so he can listen to a pod-cast or an audio book on the way. He gets in the car switches to the Bluetooth speaker he got from his wife last Christmas. The radio can underachieve when you leave for work at 6am so a couple of years back Bradley switched to pod-casts for his driving listening. At times they can be motivational. Of late the advice is falling on deaf ears. Last month he listened to the four hour work week by Timothy Ferriss, a book on lifestyle design. How to get more time to do what you want to do and less with other members of the rat race. How he craves but as yet has not achieved.
The fog is thick for the drive in. It doesn't affect visibility but you'd much rather be in bed recovering from the weekend than out here heading to the nightmare that work has become. No winter trip to Thailand this year. Saving up for Europe in 12 months time. The goal is to get 12 weeks a year to do as he pleases. Maybe the 1st year the 12 weeks would all be travel. Over time he tells himself he would invest his time in other pursuits. Perhaps a month long meditation retreat to escape the rat race completely. Slow life down. Absorb every moment, live as Eckhart Tolle says "in the now". Think not of the future or the past. Be in the moment. Feel every movement and worry about nothing. Worry will not change anything. Bad will happen, good will happen. Just be. A month of quiet solitude seems right now to be a million miles away. Simplify my life he tells himself. One day.
money
In a fog
Feeling down, feeling gloomy
want more time
time for everything
time to be free
time to run
time to read
time to study
time to improve
to be better
Where do I find it, this elusive time?
Work ... Hmmm
always taking my time
Why? Why do you take my time?
I need the money, but why must it take so long to earn you?
"Money isn't everything" they say.
I wish it wasn't anything at all.
Feeling down, feeling gloomy
want more time
time for everything
time to be free
time to run
time to read
time to study
time to improve
to be better
Where do I find it, this elusive time?
Work ... Hmmm
always taking my time
Why? Why do you take my time?
I need the money, but why must it take so long to earn you?
"Money isn't everything" they say.
I wish it wasn't anything at all.
Saturday, 16 July 2016
State of Origin Rant
I notice that the world is picking on Queensland. I heard Phil Gould say the other day that the Queenslanders thrive on a siege mentality, even if they have to create the siege themselves. They have to feel that the world is against them. Wow, they lost a dead rubber. You'd think they lost a war. There is a bible saying about seeing the splinter in another person's eye when you have failed to see the twig in your own. We see the failing of others a lot more clearly than we see our own. The persons from north of the border love to feel that they have been wronged. They complained that the penalty count was horrendous. Sure it was lop sided. NSW had all the ball and therefore got all the penalties. You don't see many penalties given away whilst in possession of the ball. The other way of looking at it is that finally the Refs noticed the slowing tactics of Queensland when NSW have the ball. It has been an abuse of the Bill Harrigan method of refereeing (aka no penalties in origin approach) that has been a major factor in Queensland's strong defence over the last decade. When NSW have the ball the game slows to a grind. Referree's are afraid to penalise the big names. Queensland have more of those so they can get away with a bit more time in each and every tackle. The reaction to Wednesday night's game shows what happens when a ref grows a pair and stands up to the them. He is unfairly shouted down as an incompetent. It's only a shame that it took until a dead rubber game for him to get there.
Cooper Cronk is rightly sin-binned. Commentator blows up that it is an error. Should be in the bin every day of the week. He is probably unlucky that on this night the referee makes the right call and gets him on his way to the bin. Queensland are praised for hanging tough in defense. The side with only 12 players on the field realise that the officials won't want to be seen to kick them when they are down. They take advantage and lie all over the tackled players. The game grinds to a holt. Heroic, hardly.
Then we get to half time breaks. They are getting as long as the lunch breaks at the cricket. No wonder these old Queenslanders can hang in so well in defence, they get a 25 minute break. Take Matt Scott for example. One of the elder statesmen and a fine player. He plays 20 minutes at the start and 20 minutes at the end. He has a break of over an hour in between. That's not rugby league. That is a joke.
The old experienced champion side are getting the match to be played in a way that benefits them. The young guys from New South Wales should be able to wear them down and come home stronger, but the modern game is designed that the strong get stronger and the weak get weaker. In the grand old era of rugby league, when Great Britain were the side with the technical knowledge and higher skill level the matches were balanced by Australia having the advantage of being fitter than their wily opponents. And so it should be here. Queensland's greats with the advantage of years of playing alongside one another should and do have the better combinations on the field. But, the younger New South Wales side should be able to wear them down. The inability of match officials to control them means that they will never be able to wear them down. 25 minute half time breaks are ruining the balance of the game. Rugby League is about endurance, it's not American football.
A couple of other incidents in the game stood out. The try to Andrew Fifita. Origin interpretations are always weird. Take the Greg Inglis knock on try that decided a series a few years back. It would have been a knock on in every other game of footy ever played. Not in that game. Maybe we got one back here. In truth though had Justin O'Neill not illegally held Michael Jennings out of the play he would have been a lot closer to the ball and then it most definitely wouldn't have been a try. Swings and roundabouts.
The other point of note and this is not an attack on Gavin Cooper, though his behaviour is an example of an attitude that has filtered through the NRL as a whole. When he scored his try, no doubt something he will remember for the rest of his life, he celebrated by throwing the football in the face of the gallant much smaller defender who had failed to prevent him from scoring. Andrew Fifita then responded by replacing his head with a pumpkin and ran a long way to stand up for his little mate. Yes he deserved to be binned. But, there also seems to be something wrong with that story. Surely the big guy standing up for his little mate shouldn't be the recipient of the greater penalty. The person behaving like a school-yard bully should receive at least some kind of warning about his behaviour. But this incident is part of a wider problem throughout the game. It is hurting the image of the game. Do the rule makers really believe that more damage is done to the game by the actions of big Andrew running 30 metres to stand up for his little mate against the actions of a bully or by the man doing the bullying. If you are a 10 year old kid sitting at home watching this game after spending another tough day being picked on at school, who are you latching on to as your hero? IT'S NOT GAVIN COOPER. This is not an isolated incident in the modern game. When a player makes an error, drops the ball in a tackle there is usually an opponent there patting him on the head to belittle him. This happens in almost every match, every week of the season. Little acts of bullying. I again put to you that this is the kind of behaviour that drives people away from the this great game.
Another incident of this similar type of behaviour was when NSW scored the winning try. Why did James Maloney feel the need to shove Corey Parker after the try? I don't have an answer, perhaps he does. Maybe Corey had a go at him first, who would know? Having said all of that, I am sure that in some instances players are reacting in retaliation to earlier incidents which can't be seen from your living room. I get that they are grown men and are playing a tough, physical game.We should cut them some slack on some occasions. But I think it is becoming too much.
And so we got to the end of the match, but even that was not done properly and rarely is it ever in modern sports of all kinds. The winning team celebrate amongst themselves whilst the losing team stand and wait for an opportunity to shake hands and congratulate the victor. This one is perhaps a little old fashioned but the winning team should go to the losing team and commiserate, not the other way round. After that they can run around like lunatics to their hearts content.
As for the walking away whilst the speeches were being made, that appears from the outside to have been poor. If they felt they were slighted in some way that doesn't justify the snubbing. If you feel that an opponent has failed to behave properly then you need to hold yourself to a higher standard, not allow yourself to be dragged down into the mud with them.
Rugby League is a wonderful game played by some great human beings. We need to make sure that those great human beings are not allowing the lowlife's in their ranks to decide the behaviour of the the group as a whole. When you are done with the game, don't just be remembered for your great skills but be shining examples of humanity as well.
Cooper Cronk is rightly sin-binned. Commentator blows up that it is an error. Should be in the bin every day of the week. He is probably unlucky that on this night the referee makes the right call and gets him on his way to the bin. Queensland are praised for hanging tough in defense. The side with only 12 players on the field realise that the officials won't want to be seen to kick them when they are down. They take advantage and lie all over the tackled players. The game grinds to a holt. Heroic, hardly.
Then we get to half time breaks. They are getting as long as the lunch breaks at the cricket. No wonder these old Queenslanders can hang in so well in defence, they get a 25 minute break. Take Matt Scott for example. One of the elder statesmen and a fine player. He plays 20 minutes at the start and 20 minutes at the end. He has a break of over an hour in between. That's not rugby league. That is a joke.
The old experienced champion side are getting the match to be played in a way that benefits them. The young guys from New South Wales should be able to wear them down and come home stronger, but the modern game is designed that the strong get stronger and the weak get weaker. In the grand old era of rugby league, when Great Britain were the side with the technical knowledge and higher skill level the matches were balanced by Australia having the advantage of being fitter than their wily opponents. And so it should be here. Queensland's greats with the advantage of years of playing alongside one another should and do have the better combinations on the field. But, the younger New South Wales side should be able to wear them down. The inability of match officials to control them means that they will never be able to wear them down. 25 minute half time breaks are ruining the balance of the game. Rugby League is about endurance, it's not American football.
A couple of other incidents in the game stood out. The try to Andrew Fifita. Origin interpretations are always weird. Take the Greg Inglis knock on try that decided a series a few years back. It would have been a knock on in every other game of footy ever played. Not in that game. Maybe we got one back here. In truth though had Justin O'Neill not illegally held Michael Jennings out of the play he would have been a lot closer to the ball and then it most definitely wouldn't have been a try. Swings and roundabouts.
The other point of note and this is not an attack on Gavin Cooper, though his behaviour is an example of an attitude that has filtered through the NRL as a whole. When he scored his try, no doubt something he will remember for the rest of his life, he celebrated by throwing the football in the face of the gallant much smaller defender who had failed to prevent him from scoring. Andrew Fifita then responded by replacing his head with a pumpkin and ran a long way to stand up for his little mate. Yes he deserved to be binned. But, there also seems to be something wrong with that story. Surely the big guy standing up for his little mate shouldn't be the recipient of the greater penalty. The person behaving like a school-yard bully should receive at least some kind of warning about his behaviour. But this incident is part of a wider problem throughout the game. It is hurting the image of the game. Do the rule makers really believe that more damage is done to the game by the actions of big Andrew running 30 metres to stand up for his little mate against the actions of a bully or by the man doing the bullying. If you are a 10 year old kid sitting at home watching this game after spending another tough day being picked on at school, who are you latching on to as your hero? IT'S NOT GAVIN COOPER. This is not an isolated incident in the modern game. When a player makes an error, drops the ball in a tackle there is usually an opponent there patting him on the head to belittle him. This happens in almost every match, every week of the season. Little acts of bullying. I again put to you that this is the kind of behaviour that drives people away from the this great game.
Another incident of this similar type of behaviour was when NSW scored the winning try. Why did James Maloney feel the need to shove Corey Parker after the try? I don't have an answer, perhaps he does. Maybe Corey had a go at him first, who would know? Having said all of that, I am sure that in some instances players are reacting in retaliation to earlier incidents which can't be seen from your living room. I get that they are grown men and are playing a tough, physical game.We should cut them some slack on some occasions. But I think it is becoming too much.
And so we got to the end of the match, but even that was not done properly and rarely is it ever in modern sports of all kinds. The winning team celebrate amongst themselves whilst the losing team stand and wait for an opportunity to shake hands and congratulate the victor. This one is perhaps a little old fashioned but the winning team should go to the losing team and commiserate, not the other way round. After that they can run around like lunatics to their hearts content.
As for the walking away whilst the speeches were being made, that appears from the outside to have been poor. If they felt they were slighted in some way that doesn't justify the snubbing. If you feel that an opponent has failed to behave properly then you need to hold yourself to a higher standard, not allow yourself to be dragged down into the mud with them.
Rugby League is a wonderful game played by some great human beings. We need to make sure that those great human beings are not allowing the lowlife's in their ranks to decide the behaviour of the the group as a whole. When you are done with the game, don't just be remembered for your great skills but be shining examples of humanity as well.
Saturday, 9 July 2016
Arthur Hennessy : Rabbitoh's founding father
I was watching the movie "Chariots of Fire" the other day and really enjoyed the historical story of the Scotsman, Eric Liddell. Obviously, I had seen it years ago but was digging through my CD collection and thought I would give it another go. Eric's wonderful story, or at least the small part covered by the movie compelled me to look for more historical sporting figures and the stories behind them. So today I bring you the story of the Founding father of the South Sydney Rabbitohs Rugby League Football Club, Arthur Hennessy.
Arthur was born in 1876 and died in 1959 at the age of 82. He packed in quite a bit to those 82 years. Sporting achievements of the man include being Australia's first Rugby League captain, the first captain of New South Wales, the Founding father of the South Sydney Rabbitohs and more.
As an 18 year old he played Rugby with Boys Brigade before moving to Bayview in 1896. By 1901 he was a regular first grader at "Souths" Rugby Union. He represented NSW in 1901, 1902, 1904 and 1907. By 1907 he was captain of Souths. In Rugby Union he played breakaway and hooker. He was only small and when he represented against New Zealand the Kiwis mistook him for a halfback because of his diminutive size. He played above his weight and they were forced into a change of mind by game's end.
The New Zealand All Golds toured in 1907 against a breakaway New South Wales Rugby League team and it was Arthur who captain coached the side. These initial games were played under the old Rugby Union rules as the new laws of the game had not arrived from England as yet. On receipt of the new 'laws' of the game Arthur is understood to have proclaimed that "this is a game for racehorses". Arthur worked as a Labourer and perhaps this is part of the reason he enthusiastically jumped on board with the Rugby League when it arrived in Australia. Rugby League was formed in the mining areas of Northern England as a break from the Amateur game of Rugby Union, primarily so that workers could be compensated for time off work when they were injured during matches. Arthur, whose work involved physical labour would have been easily imagined to be in the same boat as his mining brothers from England. I think I am right in saying that by taking part in the matches for NSW the players were expelled from the Rugby Union. On the back of that move, Hennessy sent a circular to all the Rugby Clubs in the area to attend a meeting at his home in Chapman Street, Surry Hills. To say that the meeting was not well attended (at least numerically) is an understatement. There were, including the host only 4 attendees. As Paul Kelly said "from little things, big things grow" and so it was in this case. One of those who attended was Samuel George Ball whose name is on the trophy for the Under 18's junior representative competition of the NSWRL.
From the 4 and 1 apology for the first meeting, things built. By the 17th of January, 1908 a meeting was held to officially form the South Sydney Rabbitohs at Redfern Town Hall. The 3 founders of the Rugby League in Australia Henry Clement Hoyle (Politician), J.J. Giltinan (entrepreneur) and Victor Trumper (test cricketer) were on the podium to make South Sydney official. South Sydney were the 3rd club to be formed behind Glebe on January 9 and Newtown on January 14.
Hennessy was Souths' inaugural captain coach. Souths' went through the 11 match season losing just 1 game. That being to Eastern Suburbs 13 points to 12. They did however win the match that mattered and take the premiership. The premiership decider was played whilst both Souths and Easts had 6 players each on the boat to England for the first Kangaroo Tour. Amongst them was Arthur Hennessy. During the first season Arthur was Souths' hooker. He was also one of two of the clubs delegates to the NSWRFL. During the season Australia played it's first 2 test matches, against New Zealand losing both. Arthur was Australia's first captain. When in 2004 the Australian Rugby League gave a number to each of it's Rugby League representatives Arthur was given the number 1. Also during that first season, Arthur captained NSW in the first interstate match against Queensland. NSW won 43 to nil.
As mentioned earlier Arthur toured England with the first Kangaroos in 1908&09 but did not play a test due to 2 broken jaws. He did however play in 7 matches on the tour. There was some drama on the tour as Arthur was a selector as well as a player. Arthur weighed in at 79 kg and was 173 cm tall. In those early days of rugby league there was no 6 tackle rule as there is today. Tackles were unlimited. Arthur implemented a no kicking policy at Souths, which was the foundation of the teams success. The running and passing style of game which Arthur implemented in those early days was what gave South Sydney the title "the pride of the league". His footballing creed was Position, Possession, Penetration and Pace. Through much of the South Sydney Rabbitohs' glory days this remained the root of their style of play. It remained that way until the implementation of the limited tackle rule came into the game in 1967. In around 1953 Arthur wrote a book titled "Winning Rugby Moves : and how to play them". A copy is still available at the NSW state library.
In 1909 Arthur played 4 games for Easts including captaining them in a semi final. He also appeared for Souths in the same year. 1909 saw Souths win the infamous no show grand final against Balmain by forfeit. The match was scheduled to be played as a curtain raiser for the Wallabies V Kangaroos match to which Balmain protested and did not play. Souths played a match against a fill in team to appease the crowd. They won the match 18 to 10. In those first 2 seasons Arthur played only 6 matches with Souths and 4 with Easts. In 1910 and 11 he played a further 20 games in Red and Green. Souths made the grand final in 1910 where a 4 all draw was enough to secure the premiership for the mighty Newtown side. Souths 1911 side were knocked out in the semi final by Eastern Suburbs. Souths season lost impetuous when the Australian side left for England in early August. Arthur would have been 35 by the end of the season and did not play for Souths again.
It appears for there he moved into coaching and did so for many years. In 1913 he coached a New South Wales side on a tour of New Zealand. The coach notably implemented a steak only diet for lunch on game days. Arthur coached both codes of Rugby at school and higher levels for much of his life. He also spent time as a boxing coach. He coached Australian lightweight champion Sid Godfrey. Arthur coached Souths' in 1918, a season in which they won their fourth premiership. This win occurred during the final year of the first world war which has given me cause to wonder what kind of players they would have been whilst most young men were away fighting a war.
Arthur's other coaching credits included St Ignatius college, Riverview, the King's School and Waverley college. In 1929&30 Arthur coached the Australian Kangaroos on their tour of England where they were unlucky not to bring home the Ashes. He was the first non playing Australian coach to tour. The next such appointment was Clive Churchill in 1959.
In 1946 Arthur again coached the Rabbitohs', this time without success. That is an understatement. Souths went through the season without a win, losing all 14 games. Coaching careers usually don't end on high otherwise they wouldn't usually end. I guess this is also the case with Arthur's career.
When not playing or coaching Arthur spent his time as a bookmakers' clerk or similar, he invested in Maroubra Speedway, a Maroubra cinema opposite his home and a mini golf course.
Arthur had lived a sporting life to the full with a range of achievements that shine brightly for all to see. When you watch your Rugby League team run around this weekend spare a thought for Arthur and where it all began.
Bibliography
Photos of Arthur By : State Library of New South WalesDirect link, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=19273020
The first Kangaroos : https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=16602048
South Sydney : Pride of the League by Ian Heads 1994
Wikipedia : Arthur Hennessy
Australian Dictionary of Biography : Hennessy, Arthur Stephen (1876 to 1959) by Chris Cunneen
Rugbyleagueproject.org : Arthur Hennessy
 |
| 1908&09 Kangaroos Arthur is in front row 3rd from right |
As an 18 year old he played Rugby with Boys Brigade before moving to Bayview in 1896. By 1901 he was a regular first grader at "Souths" Rugby Union. He represented NSW in 1901, 1902, 1904 and 1907. By 1907 he was captain of Souths. In Rugby Union he played breakaway and hooker. He was only small and when he represented against New Zealand the Kiwis mistook him for a halfback because of his diminutive size. He played above his weight and they were forced into a change of mind by game's end.
The New Zealand All Golds toured in 1907 against a breakaway New South Wales Rugby League team and it was Arthur who captain coached the side. These initial games were played under the old Rugby Union rules as the new laws of the game had not arrived from England as yet. On receipt of the new 'laws' of the game Arthur is understood to have proclaimed that "this is a game for racehorses". Arthur worked as a Labourer and perhaps this is part of the reason he enthusiastically jumped on board with the Rugby League when it arrived in Australia. Rugby League was formed in the mining areas of Northern England as a break from the Amateur game of Rugby Union, primarily so that workers could be compensated for time off work when they were injured during matches. Arthur, whose work involved physical labour would have been easily imagined to be in the same boat as his mining brothers from England. I think I am right in saying that by taking part in the matches for NSW the players were expelled from the Rugby Union. On the back of that move, Hennessy sent a circular to all the Rugby Clubs in the area to attend a meeting at his home in Chapman Street, Surry Hills. To say that the meeting was not well attended (at least numerically) is an understatement. There were, including the host only 4 attendees. As Paul Kelly said "from little things, big things grow" and so it was in this case. One of those who attended was Samuel George Ball whose name is on the trophy for the Under 18's junior representative competition of the NSWRL.
From the 4 and 1 apology for the first meeting, things built. By the 17th of January, 1908 a meeting was held to officially form the South Sydney Rabbitohs at Redfern Town Hall. The 3 founders of the Rugby League in Australia Henry Clement Hoyle (Politician), J.J. Giltinan (entrepreneur) and Victor Trumper (test cricketer) were on the podium to make South Sydney official. South Sydney were the 3rd club to be formed behind Glebe on January 9 and Newtown on January 14.
Hennessy was Souths' inaugural captain coach. Souths' went through the 11 match season losing just 1 game. That being to Eastern Suburbs 13 points to 12. They did however win the match that mattered and take the premiership. The premiership decider was played whilst both Souths and Easts had 6 players each on the boat to England for the first Kangaroo Tour. Amongst them was Arthur Hennessy. During the first season Arthur was Souths' hooker. He was also one of two of the clubs delegates to the NSWRFL. During the season Australia played it's first 2 test matches, against New Zealand losing both. Arthur was Australia's first captain. When in 2004 the Australian Rugby League gave a number to each of it's Rugby League representatives Arthur was given the number 1. Also during that first season, Arthur captained NSW in the first interstate match against Queensland. NSW won 43 to nil.
As mentioned earlier Arthur toured England with the first Kangaroos in 1908&09 but did not play a test due to 2 broken jaws. He did however play in 7 matches on the tour. There was some drama on the tour as Arthur was a selector as well as a player. Arthur weighed in at 79 kg and was 173 cm tall. In those early days of rugby league there was no 6 tackle rule as there is today. Tackles were unlimited. Arthur implemented a no kicking policy at Souths, which was the foundation of the teams success. The running and passing style of game which Arthur implemented in those early days was what gave South Sydney the title "the pride of the league". His footballing creed was Position, Possession, Penetration and Pace. Through much of the South Sydney Rabbitohs' glory days this remained the root of their style of play. It remained that way until the implementation of the limited tackle rule came into the game in 1967. In around 1953 Arthur wrote a book titled "Winning Rugby Moves : and how to play them". A copy is still available at the NSW state library. In 1909 Arthur played 4 games for Easts including captaining them in a semi final. He also appeared for Souths in the same year. 1909 saw Souths win the infamous no show grand final against Balmain by forfeit. The match was scheduled to be played as a curtain raiser for the Wallabies V Kangaroos match to which Balmain protested and did not play. Souths played a match against a fill in team to appease the crowd. They won the match 18 to 10. In those first 2 seasons Arthur played only 6 matches with Souths and 4 with Easts. In 1910 and 11 he played a further 20 games in Red and Green. Souths made the grand final in 1910 where a 4 all draw was enough to secure the premiership for the mighty Newtown side. Souths 1911 side were knocked out in the semi final by Eastern Suburbs. Souths season lost impetuous when the Australian side left for England in early August. Arthur would have been 35 by the end of the season and did not play for Souths again.
It appears for there he moved into coaching and did so for many years. In 1913 he coached a New South Wales side on a tour of New Zealand. The coach notably implemented a steak only diet for lunch on game days. Arthur coached both codes of Rugby at school and higher levels for much of his life. He also spent time as a boxing coach. He coached Australian lightweight champion Sid Godfrey. Arthur coached Souths' in 1918, a season in which they won their fourth premiership. This win occurred during the final year of the first world war which has given me cause to wonder what kind of players they would have been whilst most young men were away fighting a war.
Arthur's other coaching credits included St Ignatius college, Riverview, the King's School and Waverley college. In 1929&30 Arthur coached the Australian Kangaroos on their tour of England where they were unlucky not to bring home the Ashes. He was the first non playing Australian coach to tour. The next such appointment was Clive Churchill in 1959.
In 1946 Arthur again coached the Rabbitohs', this time without success. That is an understatement. Souths went through the season without a win, losing all 14 games. Coaching careers usually don't end on high otherwise they wouldn't usually end. I guess this is also the case with Arthur's career.
When not playing or coaching Arthur spent his time as a bookmakers' clerk or similar, he invested in Maroubra Speedway, a Maroubra cinema opposite his home and a mini golf course.
Arthur had lived a sporting life to the full with a range of achievements that shine brightly for all to see. When you watch your Rugby League team run around this weekend spare a thought for Arthur and where it all began.
Bibliography
Photos of Arthur By : State Library of New South WalesDirect link, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=19273020
The first Kangaroos : https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=16602048
South Sydney : Pride of the League by Ian Heads 1994
Wikipedia : Arthur Hennessy
Australian Dictionary of Biography : Hennessy, Arthur Stephen (1876 to 1959) by Chris Cunneen
Rugbyleagueproject.org : Arthur Hennessy
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