Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Nikki Kaye reportedly set to quit politics, clearer indications of what response to renewed community transmission would be, and Auckland Council to debate emergency budget. The most prominent liberal in the National Party is expected to quit politics today, in what will be a massive … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Self-inflicted story puts National on the defensive, another escape attempt from managed isolation, and a series of party events ahead of election. There’s a convention in journalism called Betteridge’s law of headlines. Basically what it means is that headlines that end in a question mark can … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Contact tracing in focus as NZ prepares to leave lockdown, how businesses should manage level three, and Winston Peters fails in bid to sue National MPs. The decision is in, and we will be leaving level four – just not until next Monday night. PM Jacinda … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: New report paints dire picture for freshwater, outline of life in level three given, and bad times looming for property investors. The latest major report on freshwater quality has shown our rivers and lakes are still in a perilous state. As the NZ Herald reports, the stats revealed … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Questions over how environmentally friendly Covid-19 recovery will be, consistent daily updates of new cases, and repatriation flights from India organised. There has been an increasing amount of commentary about the state of the environment during and after the pandemic. Air quality in cities has improved dramatically, … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Cancer sufferers react to govt’s new plan, data shows big increase in land sales for forestry, and a striking warning about NZ’s future of defence. Over the weekend, the government made their major announcement on addressing the cancer treatment model. So with the benefit of a … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Measles cases grow as outbreak spreads, far fewer young people committing crimes compared to a decade ago, and DHB psychologist strike to deepen. This is what an outbreak looks like. Measles cases and stories are starting to pop up all over Auckland, and worryingly, spreading further … Read more
Fresh shadows are descending on Australian rugby – and it goes further than the Israel Folau saga, writes Trevor McKewen. Folau’s dismissal from his $A4m four-year playing contract was as predictable as the inevitable legal appeal that will follow – and probably swallow up his salary, savings and more. There have been missteps all over the … Read more
Shaun Johnson burst into the NRL as the presumptive saviour of the ever-woeful Warriors, but his moments of transcendent brilliance were increasingly few and far between, and now he’s been cut loose. Jarret Filmer looks back on his career. There were few things in Warriors history more exhilarating than a Shaun Johnson sidestep. There’s some … Read more
The NRL’s International Rugby League proposals are a sign that they’re finally waking up to the potential of giving Pacific Island nations something serious to play for. On the face of it, it seems obvious. An Oceania Cup between New Zealand, Tonga, Samoa and Fiji and an international Nines tournament in 2019. A Four Nations … Read more
What’s in a name? Once again not much, if you’re an NRL commentator. The 2018 edition of the NRL kicked off last night, with a new look St George-Illawarra Dragons drawing a packed house for their clash with the Brisbane Broncos. Things have changed down in the land of the famed Red V, with a … Read more
After ending their dreadful 2017 season with a 9-game losing streak, the Warriors will be looking to create some more positive memories for their beleaguered fans. But where does last year’s abysmal failure sit within the pantheon of poor performances? James Dann looks back over the club’s history since 1995 to rank each of their … Read more
Billy Idol’s bizarre 2002 performance in Sydney was a seminal moment in NRL grand final history. Now, 15 years on, a Sydney journalist has commemorated the event by having Idol’s hovercraft performance tattoed onto his leg. Jamie Wall talks to Steve Zemek about his courageous move to immortalise this piece of rugby league history. The Warriors … Read more
After their worst loss of the year all but guaranteed a sixth straight season without finals footy, James Dann asks if it’s finally time to abandon all hope of the Warriors ever being good at rugby league again? The New Zealand Warriors were gifted a perfect start to Saturday afternoon’s must-win game against the bottom-of-the-table … Read more
It was one of the greatest things that has ever happened in a game of rugby league, but at what cost, asks Calum Henderson. Fullback Ben Barba scored two first half tries to lead the Cronulla Sharks to a 26-10 victory over the Penrith Panthers at Pepper Stadium on Sunday afternoon – the team’s 13th … Read more
Given his track record on social media it was only right that we would learn of Konrad Hurrell’s new NRL club via Facebook post, writes Ben Stanley. But will the Gold Coast prove boom or bust for the mercurial former Warrior? There would be no scoop by a Sydney tabloid. No official release timed by … Read more
Using Tinder for its original intended purpose only brought Jamie Wall bad times, so he deleted it. But with the Warriors’ latest calamity weighing heavy on his mind, he decided to reinstall – this time to try and crowdsource a solution to the rugby league club’s woes. (All correspondents have given permission for their replies … Read more
The NRL may or may not be the greatest sports competition on Earth, but it is definitely home to the greatest fan-made banners. James Dann selects six of the best. Rugby league has given so much to our culture over the years. Mullets. Russell Crowe. The term “Hopoate”. But what has often been overlooked is its contribution to … Read more
The NRL set up the @NRLBunker Twitter account in an attempt at transparency. Instead it has become a multi-media sideshow brimming with fan fury. Calum Henderson scoured the account for this list of devastating burns. Getting absolutely fuming mad and shouting at the ref every time he makes what you perceive to be a wrong decision is a hugely important … Read more
This Warriors season seems to be shaping up as a disaster, but still has a way to go before it’s officially worse than 2004, writes Andrew Mulligan. When you lose an NRL game 42-0, it’s bad. When you have to discipline six players for getting so hammered they couldn’t crawl out of bed, pop a … Read more
In the beginning there was darkness. Then professional sports said: let there be garish uniforms, nonsensical team names and frightening, hallucinatory mascots. Calum Henderson looks at the real heroes of the NRL. Almost every professional sports team in the world has one now, but few leagues have embraced the humble mascot as enthusiastically and wholeheartedly … Read more
Why can’t we get rugby or league jerseys with numbers on the back, wonders Jamie Wall. All across the sports world, it’s pretty much common practice to make individual player number jerseys available for rabid fans to buy. So why do the two main footy codes in the Southern Hemisphere refuse to do it? It’s … Read more
Trouble overwhelming? Panic setting in? James Dann offers a few reasons to stop despairing over the Warriors’ terrible start. After a third successive loss, and on the brink of setting a record for their most consecutive losses, many Warriors fans might be thinking this could be another season to forget. But James Dann’s original 1995 … Read more
The NRL ought to use players like Packer and Greg Bird as ‘What Not To Do’ mentors to help young players avoid making the same mistakes they did, writes Ben Stanley. The Russell Packer redemption song reached its crescendo in Melbourne on Monday. It was sung in hushed tones, really. There he was: just another … Read more
Is there a more depressing NRL team to support than the Warriors? A man who failed 6th form maths has developed a simple formula to find out. The New Zealand Warriors’ season was barely 20 minutes old when an all-too-familiar anguish began to ripple through their fanbase. Trailing Wests Tigers 16-0 in a game they … Read more