Off the bench: Betting scrum tramples tradition

By CHRIS RATTUE

The Super 12 has turned the rugby world on its head.

Throw in the influence of TAB betting, office and pub sweepstakes and margin gambling and you end up in a crazy atmosphere of divided loyalties and confused fans who sometimes don't know whether to laugh or cry when their teams win or lose.

I have witnessed in the past few years New Zealanders screaming at television sets, urging South African or Australian teams to beat those from this country. Some, having taken the plunge by betting against their own team, are wrecks by game time, feeling a touch of guilt and unsure who to support during the contest.

Others have been seen going into meltdown, trying to work out if the Bulls - a team who are as much threat in the Super 12 as a paper dart in a nuclear war - might only lose by a certain margin against their favourite team.

During the week, when the bets and picks are made, there is a constant battle between the head and the heart.

Patriotism and provincial loyalty can be tossed around with the sort of madness that seems to be at the core of the Blues' game plan these days.

Come game-time, all that's left are confused characters unsure if the Super 12 table is the one titled Sweepstake and pinned to the pub wall, or the one in the paper on Monday morning which at the moment has a lot of New Zealand teams in the bottom half.

The sweepstake becomes their Super 12. It's not just a case of money but the battle of knowledge and egos between mates.

Consider what it is like for the beleaguered Blues' fans at the moment. Do they look at the form book, or stick with their team and suffer a sweepstake death in the name of the cause?

Then there is the latest phenomenon around Auckland.

"I'm not giving the Blues another vote this season - on principle," is the sort of phrase being flung about the city these days.

The vote, in this case, is the sweepstake pick - an ethereal version of sending a good-luck telegram to the team on the eve of a game.

Voting - okay betting - can even induce anger.

"Those ******** always win when I don't pick them," is the usual cry.

Joe or Jane Punter may stick with their team for only so long, as the sweepstake slide gains momentum or they wonder if they are part of some TAB Benevolent Fund.

One of the more fanatical sweepstake participants at my local watering hole came up with a solution to all his dilemmas on Friday night by picking a draw between the Blues and the Cats. It was his version of MMP voting.

And as the Sweepstake becomes an integral part of the rugby season, so it breeds its own type of tactics and responses.

One Sweepstaker, who puts in the selections for his absentee mate, has submitted what he thought were the worst selections possible for his comrade. There's no room for sentiment in this battle.

Trouble is, the switch voter has had a season which mirrors the Blues, while his absentee mate is doing so well he is nicknamed The Shark. Which sums up the topsy-turvy Super 12.

Inspired by events in Florida, this season has also seen the rise of the challenge. Frustrated Sweepstakers, unable to believe their weekend's bad luck, have claimed a miscount.

And with the Super 12 in its sixth season, retirement talk has crept in.

Like an old footballer, battered by injuries, insults and injustice, they announce this will be their last season. Their enjoyment of the Super 12 is being damaged by Sweepstake Syndrome. Sometimes, with the season in tatters and their dreams broken, they reveal it is time to hang up the pen.

At the very least, they announce they will do a Wilson and take a season off to recharge the batteries.

Only a few have managed to stick to the pledge.

As the next season draws near, most find life in weary picking bones and throw themselves and $20 into another campaign.

"I really think this is the year the Blues will pick up again," they declare - and blindly pick their team again in the first round.

It is a problem Blues supporters, with the glory years becoming just a memory, are facing right now.

There is little consolation for these diehards who suspect, deep down, that weeks of agony lie ahead on the field and in the sweepstake.

Maybe the only relief they can find is that at least they don't back the Bulls.