Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Oceania Championships

The New Zealand team for the Oceania Championship is:

Women: Roberta Campbell (Bay View_, Pam Jenkins (Herne Bay), Barbara Johnston (Masterton), Christine Strichen (Wanganui East), Tina Targett (Christchurch), Christine Taylor (Christchurch)

Men: Maurice Belz (Bay View), Christian Fouquet (Herne Bay), David Lippard (Herne Bay), Michael Rocks (Khandallah), Ron Sandilands (Cockle Bay), Richard Swaney (Herne Bay)
The coach is John Targett (Christchurch).

The Oceania Championships will be held in New Caledonia from 31 August to 4 September.

Update: Claire Bradburn (Silverstream) has replaced Roberta Campbell in the Women's team and Lee Taffard (Napier) has replaced Maurice Belz in the Men's team.

The reasons for these replacements is not known. -Tom.

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well done to these players. and well done to PNZ. this tournament is more worthy an event ( my view) than the worlds. as a comment recently said we seem to be stronger than Aus right now so this is our next stepping stone and then into the asian games. when we start to compete at this level then again look at the worlds.

Myles.

P.s
Go well and fly the kiwi flag.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

so again tom Has had to remove a post. I did not see it before it was removed so cant comment on what it said.
But i can guess. Well nothing changes where that is concerned at least i can say i have never hidden behind
anonymous. But Tom you ask why these people have withdrawn from the team. there is not always a problem behind the seens. these players have families and lives to live and may well of pulled out for personal reasons.

Again go well guys and to the players that are stepping up give it your best shot.

Myles.

Anonymous said...

My understanding is that Maurice is focusing on going to the World's, that's why he has withdrawn from going to Oceania, but don't quote me on that ;)
Simon

NZPC Editor (Tom) said...

You are right Myles we still have people who like to throw stones from behind a wall. The poor sods are so afraid. One person made a comment about Ron's age but was not strong enough to provide us with his/her name. Like you say "nothing changes where that is concerned".

Myles, I never insinuated that there was something untoward with regards to the replacements. I only stated: "The reasons for these replacements is not known". However, I just wish PNZ could be more open and upfront. Why not say he or she has withdrawn for private reasons, because of injury, or to concentrate totally on the World Champs. This is the norm in other sports, so why not Petanque?

Bryan Wells said...

What has Ron's age got to do with anything? If he is good enough to be selected he goes. I am not sure that we can say that we seem to be stronger than the Aussies right now. As I understand it the Aussies sent their B team to the Trans Tasman this year - because their top players were involved in their Nationals, but I do agree with Myles - stick to the Oceanea and the Asian, and once you have mastered them go to the World's. Unfortunately this does not satisfy those who want the kudos of the World's on their CV.
Bryan

Bryan WQells said...

My God!! I have agreed with Myles!! As the banker says: "The world really is changing!!"

Bryan

Anonymous said...

Tom.
Communication has never been and is still not a strong point of PNZ.
Don't be to surprised Bryan I have agreed with a lot of things you have said and i have disagreed with a number also, I like to call that healthy debate. You are right the world is an ever changing landscape and we are but the gardeners, so i will continue to do the weeding and manicure the flowers.

Myles.

Bryan Wells said...

May a thousand flowers bloom for you Myles!! Keep up the healthy debate.
Bryan

NZPC Editor (Tom) said...

Pam Jenkins (Herne Bay) has withdrawn from the team. A replacement has not yet been announced by PNZ.

NZPC Editor (Tom) said...

In one of his comments above, Bryan states: "....As I understand it the Aussies sent their B team to the Trans Tasman this year - because their top players were involved in their Nationals...."
Does anyone know if this indeed happened?

Did we go through an elaborate selection process and considerable expense, only to play against a B team? If Bryan's assertions are correct it begs the question, how can two countries organise a major international tournament when it clashes with (in this case) the Australian Nationals?. If correct, it would also explain the enormous disparity between the 2010 TT teams.

Was this the first TT against a lesser Australian team, a B team?

Bryan Wells said...

Tom,
If my information is correct about the Aussies sending their B team to this year's TT you should be asking the Aussies about this instead of trying to make trouble for the PNZ. The PNZ went through their selection processes to select their best team. How are they to control what the Aussies do with their selection processes?

Bryan

NZPC Editor (Tom) said...

Bryan,

First of all I am not "trying to make trouble for PNZ" - I am asking questions.
However, I do take your point about PNZ not having any control over what type of team the Australians select for the TT.
If your information is correct about the Australians sending their B team to this year's TT we should still ask the question why not their A team.
Did they agree to the dates of the 2010 TT knowing that all their top players would be engaged with their National Championships?

The Australians have always fielded their strongest players for the TT and to not do so this year is in my opinion unsporting and insulting.
It's simple, If you value the tournament and respect your opponents you send your very best players. This is what the All Whites have just done in the World Cup.

But maybe I am barking up the wrong tree and the TT is just a social get together between Australia and New Zealand - not a serious international petanque event at all.

If there are any Australians out there, can you please shed some light on this A team / B team issue.

Anonymous said...

As I understand it, the tournaments were not at the same time but their National Triples were across in Perth and as they use these to determine their team for the World Champs some of those players had to factor in the cost of getting to Perth and being available to also come to New Zealand. I think the location of their Nationals reduced the number of players available to do both.

Bryan Wells said...

Thanks - whoever you are. It is always a problem for the PNZ (and I guess the Aussies) to try and find a clear time in each others annual calendar to stage the TT. It is always a compromise and now with the advent of such internationals as the Oceania and the Asian, in addition to the Worlds, we are going to find it even more difficult to always field our top teams. Fortunately, with the coaching programmes now producing more top players in NZ we are not as reliant on a few players to fill all the places needed.

Bryan

NZPC Editor (Tom) said...

The contributor (without a name) makes it sound like only some top players could not make it. I believe (please correct me if I am wrong) that in the entire 2010 TT Australian team only one player had been in a TT before. It therefore seems that none of their top players could make it.

Don't get me wrong, it's great Australia can field a B team in the TT and give these players some international exposure. It's just not what I would have expected from what has always been seen as an important high level event. Maybe next year we can give our New Zealand B players the same opportunity.

Bryan Wells said...

The TT is an opportunity to expose some up and coming players, so rather than send a B team per se we could mix some newer talent in with the experienced
Bryan

Anonymous said...

Hi there People

Let them go and give they best shot at it. lets support them instead of Criticizing them. GO HARD BOYZ AND GIRLS

GO KIWI ?

Georgio

Anonymous said...

Hello to Christine Taylor - congrats on your win at the Oceania Championships!!! Go Kiwis!
FROM YOUR USA FRIEND, BETSY