Just like the BBC, the pod is here to inform, educate and entertain so we were delighted to chat with Rob Graham from the Rosbifs Rugby pod about all things Pau.
He gives us an insight into this less fashionble club from the foot of the Pyrenees and predicts how they might shape up at Ashton Gate on Sunday.
We also hear from Mark and Cameron from the Bears Supporters Advisory Committee who give us an update on their successes so far (getting rid of air guitar and pre match smoke for starters) and outlines how supporters cna get in touch with them. The club will listen to feedbacka and these boys are on a mission to provide it.
So sit back, relax and listen to something slightly different to the norm.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_03 (00:05):
Okay, you're listening to Bears Beyond the
Gate, a Bristol Bears podcastmade by fans for fans.
Well everyone, as we alluded toin our main pod on Sunday, we're
gonna give you all a bonus edupod this week.
Specifically a deeper dive intoour champions cup fixture
against Poe with the help ofRoast Beaks the Roast Bee's
Rugby Pod.
(00:25):
And there's more.
We also took some time out thisweek to speak to Mark and
Cameron from the BearsSupporters Advisory Committee,
who talked us through whatthey've been up to this season.
More of that later, but to startwith, I'd like to welcome Rob
Graham from Roast Beef's Rugbyto educate you all with all
things Poe.
Rob, it's great to have you on,and thanks for giving up your
(00:46):
time to speak to us.
SPEAKER_00 (00:48):
Thanks very much for having me.
I think this is my technicallymy first guest appearance on a
on a podcast other than my own.
So yeah.
SPEAKER_05 (00:57):
Rob, can you just tell us what you're what you're
wearing for our listeners?
Can you describe what you'rewearing tonight?
SPEAKER_00 (01:02):
I am so the I am wearing my section paloise, my
Poe Christmas jumper.
Um now the key that we'vedecided is to for a good piece
of rugby stash is for for thosein the know to know that it's a
good piece of rugby, that it'srugby, but for those that have
no idea about rugby at all, tonot know it's rugby.
(01:24):
So to all intents and purposes,this is just a green and white,
the the ver et blanc of the ofthe section powers colours with
section emblazoned across thechest, and no reference to Poe,
no reference to Powars, noreference to rugby.
And no, my I do have aToulousean one, um, and the
Toulouse one does have the crestand it has a few rugby balls on
(01:45):
it.
Um so that's uh but yeah, so andobviously as a I'm I am a Poe
fan, so this is my favourite ofthe uh I think I've got three
French rugby Christmas jumpers.
SPEAKER_01 (01:57):
So did you I take it you got that around the festive
period in the Poe Club shop, Iwould hope, did you?
SPEAKER_00 (02:03):
I actually confession was I actually
ordered it online becausebecause I was I was almost
tempted to book a trip last uhlast year to Curley to go and
get it, and I thought, no,there's there's too much stuff
that I want from that shop umthat I'm just gonna order it
online.
I managed to find a loopholesomehow um to get around the the
(02:24):
shipping.
But the majority of them, um thebuy-on one I've got I picked up
in in April in like 25 degreeheat.
I picked up a kind of bargainbin uh Christmas jumper from the
Buy-on uh boutique in in April.
So yeah, most of them are.
This is that's actually the onlyonline purchase I've done of
the.
That's fine.
SPEAKER_01 (02:43):
I mean, Lee Lee loves honesty, he always tells
us that on our podcast, doesn'the?
So I'm sure he appreciates it.
Absolutely.
SPEAKER_03 (02:49):
I'm sure I'm sure some of our listeners would
would like to know how long ittook for it to arrive because
one of our listeners was waitingfor his uh his away shirt this
season, no, his home shirt fromBristol for about six weeks.
So uh we're always quiteinterested to know what the
merchandising kind of uh supplychain is like in other in other
clubs.
SPEAKER_00 (03:09):
I think it was I think it was better than six
weeks.
I don't think it was actuallythat long.
Oh great.
SPEAKER_03 (03:13):
Yeah, already you're already up.
Well, look, Rob, um thanks verymuch for dressing up for us.
We really appreciate it.
Um, but as uh as some of thelisteners know, I I'm a
geography teacher, so I thoughtit would be um uh it would be
very nice for you to perhapsstart by telling us a little bit
about where Poe actually is inFrance and then maybe a little
(03:34):
bit of background to the cluband and why it's actually called
Section Paloise and not Poe.
So off you go.
SPEAKER_00 (03:40):
Well, the I'm gonna start there.
Section Paloise, I genuinelydon't know.
Paloise is what you are calledif you are from Poe.
So you'll notice that a lot ofthe clubs have a kind of stat
like Stade Rochelet or StadeToulousan or Aveyron Bayonnais,
they're kind of of the town, asit were.
Um, and Section is just amulti-sports club or was a
(04:01):
multi-sports club.
It kind of founded in 1902, it'sone of the oldest in France.
Um, but it and it's the only onethat's called Section.
I think it's the only one in inFrance called Section.
Um, so I don't know where theorigin of that is, but Poise is
uh is of Poe from Poe.
Um and Po itself is kind of um,I guess a lot of people or many
(04:24):
people will know it as thecapital of the tour because it
is there's all basically alwaysa Tour de France leg starting or
finishing or both in Po becauseit's on the on the doorstep to
the Pyrenees, which is when yousee you, and if you go to Po,
you uh you don't quite get it onTV, but and it looks quite
rubbish on TV, but one end ofthe stadium is there's no stand,
(04:46):
and you actually have a view outover the kind of snow-capped
peaks of the Pyrenees from fromall around the stadium, it's
quite quite impressive.
Um so it's big, big withcyclists, um, and kind of a bit
of a cycling mecca in in thatarea of the Pyrenees.
It is in, oh no, you're testingme, it is in Department 64,
(05:07):
which is Pyrenees Atlantique, sotechnically in the same
department as kind of the sameregion, county, whatever you
want to call it, as Beerritz andBayonne.
Um and and probably current andcurrently when they do Derby
Day, um Poe play Bayon, becauseeven though Beiritz is is kind
of geographically very close toBayonne and people from Bayonne
(05:29):
are quite very adamant thattheir derby is is Beiritz, but
it's kind of there right downthe bottom of that southwest,
and obviously being in thePyrenees, it's quite near Spain.
Um, it is, however, not in theBasque Country, it is in the
kind of historical Bayernregion, which um you may see
you'll see them on Sunday whenyou guys go, or you'll see them
(05:50):
on TV.
It's the yellow flag with thetwo red bulls, is uh the Bayern
flag, and that's Bayern Sourceis from the Bayern region, but
it's kind of very proud umagricultural region, mountainous
region, obviously.
Um the the kind of logo of Po isone of the kind of iconic
(06:11):
mountain mountains or peakswithin the Pyrenees.
Uh, I can never remember whichone it is because there's
millions of them.
Uh I was just about to give youan A star there, but you've uh
but it's uh yeah, I think thethe kind of identity of the with
the with the Bayern region is isquite a big thing for for Poe.
And um having there's a lot ofof interesting kind of links to
(06:35):
the local area.
The green and white, forexample, is is but the colours
are to mirror the Pyrenees ofthe kind of fertile lands and
the snow.
SPEAKER_03 (06:43):
So um just one supplementary question from me.
Um, and I forgot to ask itfirst, actually, was is like
roast piece rugby pod.
I mean, obviously, those peoplethat speak a bit of French know
it it suggests that it's anEnglish or it's two English guys
that know a bit about Frenchrugby.
So, I mean, how did that comeabout?
Because you certainly don'tsound very French.
SPEAKER_00 (07:03):
I'm I'm not French, and and in true ros beef style,
we neither of us speakparticularly good French.
Um I kind of I kind of put my asa teacher, I think uh Pete, I
think we need this in the in thecurriculum or in the on CVs.
My my French is probably abovebasic, but at a level that I
would determine um good enoughto know when Google translate is
(07:25):
wrong.
And that is uh about I thinkthat should be an official
category on people's CVs, butthat's kind of the extent of it.
Um to be honest, it was weekendslike this that we started, we
got into it, Rich and I, um myfellow Rosbeef.
We we went to France for acouple of um Champions Cup
games, and then we did anothertwo kind of back to back because
(07:46):
the train travel in in France isis cheap and it's good and it's
it's quite easy to traverse thecut, and a lot of the clubs are
kind of within an hour or shorttrain journey from each other.
So we kind of started withChampions Cup and then uh for my
I was about to say give the ageaway from for my 30th, we did a
(08:08):
um we did, I decided that Iwanted to do a back-to-back pro
de and top 14, and that wasactually back then by on were in
pro de du.
So we did Bay on the Fridaynight and Poe on the Saturday,
and I woke up eventually on onmy 30th birthday in Poe, and
that was kind of where I kind ofgot my affiliation to Poe from.
(08:29):
But yeah, generally in terms ofthe podcast, we we kind of loved
it, and it was brilliant likegoing to these new towns that we
knew nothing about, and theculture there, and all the
incredible food at some of theseplaces is it makes it puts
English sports stadia to toshame with some of the culinary
offerings.
(08:49):
Um and yeah, and so we've we Ithink we're now between Rich and
I, I think we're up to 32different grounds in or watch
rugby at 32 different grounds.
So I think a lot of them are.
I mean, Stade de France istechnically a football stadium,
so a few of them are especiallythe World Cup venues, were
football stadiums, but yeah, weuh and so and then after the
(09:10):
World Cup, yeah, I guess therewas the kind of outflow of
British talent to France, and wefound that no one was talking
about it, and we were like,well, I feel like someone needs
to loosely know what they're onabout, and I'm not sure we are
that, but yeah, we kind ofhighlight we highlight the trips
because that's how we fell inlove with it, and that's how a
(09:31):
lot of people fall in love withit, especially to kind of
non-French speakers, to kind ofgo and travel to France, because
it is a brilliant country, andand uh yeah, I'm now a fully
fledged Francophile, as much asI am a a Rosbeef, their uh their
pejorative term for the Englishor British.
SPEAKER_01 (09:48):
I can ask a quick question.
Um, obviously, you you talkabout you know signing a few
Brits over the year.
I mean, Poe were obviously doingexceptionally well this season,
but uh, I guess historicallythey haven't been top of their
game, haven't they?
But you know, they were signingwell, they've obviously you've
got a fantastic uh person in thein Joe Simmons who's playing for
(10:08):
them.
SPEAKER_00 (10:10):
Um I'm gonna have to correct you there, I'm gonna
have to correct you there.
Rich is uh is an extra fan andhe likes to make sure that he is
given this full title of JoeSimmons MBE.
SPEAKER_01 (10:20):
Sorry, I've sat down just to make that certain, you
know.
Uh and now you've obviously gotMontorio as well.
I mean, did they is it a sort ofclub that has generally
attracted high-class talent fromabroad, Poe?
SPEAKER_00 (10:31):
Yes and no.
Uh so you're right, and theyhave been in the lower reaches
of the top 14 for a while.
They got promotion back in in2016, I think, and this is the
first time they've been in theChampions Cup since 2001.
Um, and or kind of what was theHeineken Cup, and obviously it's
a bit easier to get into now aswell.
(10:53):
Um, and generally, like my timebeing a post supporter has been
more looking downwards thanupwards, whereas kind of qualify
the back end of last season kindof turned the corner and got
into the Champions Cup, and it'svery much now a publicly stated
aim to get into the top six, theplayoffs, this season.
Um, but they are there has beena shift.
(11:15):
So historically, there wereoverseas signings, they've had a
few, they've kind of got quite aconnection with some iconic all
blacks.
So Conrad Smith was there for awhile, they signed well, Luke
Whitelock is still on the on thebooks, he's had a horrible time
with injuries, but Sam Whitelockwas signed after the World Cup
and um had a retired after aseason.
(11:36):
But they've kind of there's afew kind of iconic players from
generally New Zealand who haveum settled down there and and
kind of made links with withPoe.
But uh this season there was a abit of a change in this in the
transfer policy and signingJulio Montauger uh for Kundo
Issa, who who you you'll befamiliar with with his time from
(11:58):
Toulon and Argentina.
Um they're they were the kind oftwo big ones, but also um a guy
called Thomas Leclayat whoplayed France in the autumn
basically off the back of hisreturn to form for Poe.
But big things were his youngtighthead or youngish tighthead,
a lot of things were expected ofhim a couple of years ago, and
he's kind of lost his way a bitof wrestling, but it was the
first kind of time in a whilethat they'd signed a number of
(12:21):
players, and you thought, oh,that's a really good signing,
that's exactly what they need.
Um, and I'd say certainly at themoment it's not it's not
necessarily a policy of we wantto sign big overseas players in
the same way that Toulon wouldor Rasing 92 have historically.
Um because the focus at themoment is very much bringing
(12:43):
through players from theacademy.
So the head coach, SebastianPiccarones, was head coach of
France under 20s about three,four years ago, back when France
under 20s were theall-conquering force of
under-20s rugby.
He was the man in charge and hewas kind of brought in with the
specific goal to bring through alot of talent and bring through
(13:04):
this kind of crop of youngplayers, and it just seems at
the moment like a never-endingproduction line of exciting
backs.
Um, there are so many, and youkind of you they they've got a
few injuries, and they there arejust more kind of appearing from
the woodwork.
Um, and and Piccarones isclearly doing a very good job
because while they have signedsome big name players, they've
(13:26):
not had them for large chunks ofthis season, and they are still
second in the league, andthey've picked up wins again
away at Bordeaux and at home toToulouse and at home to La
Rochelle, with not all of thosekind of big name players
playing, all those internationalplayers playing.
So, yeah, that's the that's thekind of focus for them these
days.
And and they certainly this theinternational players they
(13:46):
signed over the summer is muchmore of a sprinkling or a cherry
on the cake type thing to kindof take them to the next level.
SPEAKER_05 (13:57):
Yeah, I just want to say Rob.
I mean we're we did fans thethree of us expanded the all
podcast.
I mean you cover all you coverall bases, which is yeah, it's
not easy to do i in the hour asas we're talking about in just
video.
Um specifically it wasn't uh thestrongest code team against
(14:20):
North Anton State.
And we know there was a coupleof issues like uh Montage who
got injured with it in thewarm-up, but specifically with
the game in mind on the weekend,what are we likely to see in
BS3?
SPEAKER_00 (14:35):
It's a brave man that predicts anything about
French rugby, um, or a foolishman, which I think is probably
the category Rich and I fallunder.
Do you know what?
I w we we said this um on our onour pod that we were it's been a
weird round last weekend becausewe were pleasantly surprised by
some of the teams that wereselected.
(14:56):
So Cast, Toulon, um Claremontall sent pretty strong sides
away.
And Poe and Bayonne, whoprobably had their most winnable
games at home in and they arethe two teams or two of the
teams with unbeaten records athome in the top 14, so very
proud records, uh picked the theweakest sides of all the top 14
(15:17):
sides um in the Champions Cup.
With Poe, it was it was partlydue to injury, partly due to
injuries and and necessitybecause of that, partly due to
choice.
So there were it it was aninteresting selection looking at
the Poe side, in that anyonethat is um French international
(15:39):
or has trained with Francegenerally was not selected, and
they were still obviously theytried to have Montoja, they
tried to have Jack Maddox um whowere uh Australian
international, and I think thatis because of the the the GIF
rule or the GIF rule in France.
So you have the kind of number,you have to have an average um
(16:00):
of 16 players per match daysquad who are GIF.
That doesn't necessarily meanFrench, so um it just means that
they have to have been kind offormed in France and through a
French academy.
So someone like Becca Golgadza,who is Georgia captain, he is
GIF qualified because he's kindof come through in France and he
was rested.
So all of the guys, it was quitean interesting the only big
(16:21):
names that were initiallyselected were international
players that were available,whereas or kind of non-GIFs that
were available, whereas um wellthey Attasog Bay and uh Milian
Garten are injured.
Joe Simmons is actually injuredas well.
Uh sorry, Joe Simmons MBE.
Um but kind of the other guysthat were involved with the
(16:42):
France squad or certainly playedfor France in the autumn
internationals, like Hugo Oridu,Thomas LeClayat, um Jimmy
Maxman, I think actually mighthave been injured, but he
trained with France over theautumn, those were all the guys
that were arrested.
Um and I would be very surprisedif there is a departure from
that policy this weekend.
I think the the team the teamthey put out on Sunday against
(17:05):
Northampton, when I first sawit, I thought was alright.
Um, a lot of those guys have arenow second choice, but in the
past have been first choice andare also the same guys that have
put in some very, very goodperformances in the top 14 this
season.
The big one, and I'm thinkingahead to Bristol, and I was
(17:26):
slightly worried when you guyssaid that Ellis Ellis Genge was
probably gonna probably gonnastart is post-Scrum.
This year has actually beenpretty good, it was terrible on
Sunday, but over the last coupleof seasons has been a really,
really blindingly obviousAchilles heel, and when you
start taking away some type fiveforwards who are who are kind of
(17:50):
good quality internationalplayers, that starts to kind of
bear its bare its head.
Um, so yeah, I I think I've notreally answered your question
there, Lee.
But I think I don't think it'llbe I don't think we'll see.
SPEAKER_01 (18:03):
I'd be amazed if we see um I mean there's not that
like classly different squad isobviously I mean I mean you said
I mean there were the I listenedto your podcast, you said there
were like seven scrum penaltiesand what nineteen in total given
away.
That's a tremendous amount.
I mean, um yeah, you know right,and and you're right, Ellis Gen
he'll be gunning for that.
(18:23):
You know, he loves a good scrumpen, doesn't he?
So um I I I hope it is a goodgame, I really do, and I hope
that you know that Pose send adecent squad.
And but you know, I guesshistorically British fans would
always say the French don'tparticularly travel well, do
they?
And the the time is rubbish,half past seven on a on a Sunday
evening.
We're we're not convinced as faras five show, we're not we're
(18:46):
not convinced as fans that thestadium's gonna be that full,
even with season ticket holders,so must be even worse for Poe to
come over and play at that time,yeah, for sure.
SPEAKER_05 (18:56):
On a positive note though, Rob, it sounds to me
like maybe Poe are focusing moreon uh top 14 and and not the the
champions uh cup.
Would that be a fair assessmentfor this season?
SPEAKER_00 (19:09):
Yeah, and and we even before I'd seen the team
selection for last weekend, Icould have could have predicted
that that would be the casebecause it's such a publicly
stated ambition of them to tokind of get to the playoffs for
the first time in a long, longtime.
Um and you generally see it withthe the smaller budget squads
from France.
So we've seen it in the pastwith the likes of Cast, who who
(19:33):
actually have been a bit betterin Europe over the last couple
of years or bit.
Um, but it's generally thebigger budget sides like Toulon,
Toulouse, Bordeaux that havehave put out stronger squads.
Um so but uh I kind of go backto I can't I can't remember the
which one of you uh asked it,but the the I kind of do you
(19:56):
should reiterate that like theseguys have have put in a really
good shift.
Season, so while it's weaker andlacks a bit of stardust, there
is an element of the way theyplay is very, very well set out
and they are very well coached.
They are renowned as playingsome very exciting attacking
rugby, which you possibly expectwhere when you know they've put
sides out with an average backline of 21 years old or
(20:19):
something like that.
Um, and obviously uh Dan Robsonhelps a bit with that with his
age.
Um, but you know, the majorityof their outside backs are in
their early 20s, um, and they'replaying some thrilling stuff.
It kind of cost them the losingbonus point at the end against
Northampton, where Greg Warfoy,who scored two brilliant tries,
tried to run it out from behindhis own try-line and got caught.
(20:40):
So it should be extra.
I had a little glance at theweather actually.
It's not fantastic on Sunday,but the way that Bristol play
and and certainly the way Poeplay, it should be a thriller.
If no matter who Poe turns up,who turns up for Poe.
SPEAKER_03 (20:54):
One thing Ashton Gate has got going for it is
it's got a pretty good surface,and and that was actually just
something we found at Scarlet'smay have been one of the reasons
it wasn't such a good gamebecause it was quite a heavy
ground.
So um, yeah, I mean, if you'vegot two two teams that are going
to come and play rugby, I meanwe we've experienced that at the
Bears.
Um, it's always a bit of aroller coaster.
Although I've got to say, thisseason we feel like there is
(21:17):
they've been a little bit morepragmatic, and uh, and obviously
if you play a a high tempo, highpr precision game, it's all
great until it doesn't work, andyou know, you you get and and
actually Bristol often get putunder pressure by by uh kind of
heavy defences to to forcemistakes, but it kind of sounds
(21:37):
it might be quite refreshing toactually play a team that that
is a bit like us and uh see howwe kind of cope with it as well.
I'm sure Pat and his videoanalysts have uh are well on top
of of your game plan.
SPEAKER_00 (21:50):
Um yeah, I think you should get plenty of ball.
Poe have been particularly goodrecently at cough because of the
way they play at coughing upball, whether it's knock-ons or
they've just been a bitinaccurate breakdown.
SPEAKER_03 (22:01):
It could be a coff a thon, to be honest, because
Bristol are quite good atcoughing it up as well.
Um I just one other question Iwas gonna ask you, um, really,
and it's always a pretty rubbishquestion when you get guests on.
We're gonna ask it anyway.
So, uh, so what do you think Ais is gonna be, what's the
result gonna be?
And and do you do you have anysort of idea of a score
(22:23):
prediction, which is usually ameaningless question, but I'm
gonna ask it to you anyway.
SPEAKER_00 (22:27):
Um I would caveat this by saying that Rich and I
do predictions for all theresults of SOT 14 and ProD every
week, and I think I think we weget it 100% right in one of the
leagues about twice a season.
So it's it's yeah, like I said,it's a fool that predicts
anything in French rugby.
(22:48):
I I'm not holding out too muchhope for for Poe.
I was gonna try and come down,but the British rail prices are
considerably more expensive thanthan French rail prices.
If we were in you know, theequivalent journey in France
would probably be about half theprice, and then it'd be slightly
less uh less prohibitive to takeback to London at God knows what
time on a Sunday evening.
(23:09):
Um but yeah, even so like Ithink the fact that I if I
thought that Pi were coming witha full noise team, I'd I perhaps
could be tempted.
Um I think they should becompetitive, it shouldn't be a
full blowout.
Um I wouldn't put I wouldn't besurprised if it's a kind of 15
(23:32):
point plus margin though.
Um they did pretty well to stayin the fight for so long against
Northampton.
Hopefully the scrum will bebetter, it can't be much worse,
but um yeah, I I I genuinelyhave no idea what what team is
gonna send be put out if theykind of pick um the likes of of
LaClaya and Hugo Uradoo, thenthen it will be very competitive
(23:55):
because that will fix the scrum,and Hugo Oridoo is currently the
best line out forward in the top14.
Um so that that would make ahuge difference.
The backline will play a lot,whoever it is.
Um so but I'm not I think Ithink Bristol have probably got
on too much in terms of don'thave too much star quality in
(24:16):
that starting lineup for for Poeto really push them that hard.
SPEAKER_03 (24:21):
Well, I mean we've we've only got a couple of
minutes left, actually, boys.
Um on the We Are Cheapskates,we've only got a free zoom call
here.
Um lads, I don't know if you'vegot uh one last very quick
question for Rob before we saygoodbye.
Um I I'm exhausted, mind Lee,you've got one.
Let's finish off with one fromyou then.
SPEAKER_05 (24:40):
It's just a really quick one, actually, Rob.
I just want to say because we'veum we listened to your pod and
we we uh uh we heard that you uhyou I think you did have a
cliche vow at some stage.
We had a bingo during the SixNations.
SPEAKER_00 (24:53):
Oh, we might have had a cliche bowl, yeah.
But we definitely did SixNations bingo for all the
clichés as well.
SPEAKER_05 (24:59):
And I just I it just made me uh it made me laugh
because we we had a cliche vowelas well at one stage, didn't we?
SPEAKER_00 (25:08):
Retire it, yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (25:10):
That was a trouble.
SPEAKER_00 (25:12):
Yeah, I imagine there's a few that I imagine
there's a few lazy assumptionsmade about Bristol that in the
same way that people think theyknow what they're talking about.
SPEAKER_03 (25:20):
Well, I think it's more the case that we have a
fairly limited vocabulary andand use the same adjectives all
the time, which has been pickedoff on by uh by by our kind of
regular listeners.
We we don't we can't really hideanywhere.
So uh well it's good to hearthat uh the other pods uh revel
in uh the use of cliches aswell.
Well, look, Rob, we really,really appreciate your time.
(25:43):
Um you definitely have educatedus, uh, and I'm sure that a lot
of our listeners will be uh whowill be at the game as well,
will go to the game with a witha bit of an intellectual spring
in their step now that they knowwhat the opposition are like.
Um so we really appreciate it.
And obviously, we've gotBordeaux uh after in January, so
maybe we could uh get back intouch with you, you know, when
(26:05):
we're closer to the time when weplay the play Bordeaux, and
there may be a few permutationsthat might be interesting to
talk about then.
SPEAKER_00 (26:11):
Um yeah, absolutely.
I think uh yeah, the the top 14Bordeaux is very different to
the one that we saw.
Well, this season's been verydifferent to the one we saw on
Saturday, and they were theywere magnificent.
But yeah, there's always thatkind of um trade-off between
which which team you get withthe top 14 sides.
Do you get the one that turns upin Europe or do you get the one
that turns up in the top 14?
SPEAKER_03 (26:32):
It's always another layer to it.
And if by some sort of quirk offate we actually do manage to
qualify for the knockout roundsfor the first time in three
years, it would be fantastic ifit was a French team.
And we'd obviously then have toget in touch with you for not
just rugby advice but alsotravel advice, culinary advice,
(26:52):
and but clearly not any languageadvice.
SPEAKER_00 (26:54):
So uh Yeah, well, you can definitely the thing
about the the last 16 is becauseyou kind of got a bit of a beal
lead up time, you can identifythe uh the ProDo or National
games that recur that arehappening on the on the Friday
night and double up and get getget a lot of bang for your buck
by uh by taking in a few gamesin a short space of time.
(27:14):
That's the that's the best wayto do it.
SPEAKER_03 (27:16):
Well look, Rob, I uh really appreciate that.
And uh yeah, uh all those peopleout there, I'd recommend uh
having a listen to the RoastBeaks rugby pod this week
because they've got a preview ofthe game.
And and actually, your partnerin crime was on BBC Bristol the
Scrum tonight.
And I've got to say, he didn'tsay much about the Bears Po
game, so I think we've uhdefinitely complimented our
(27:38):
friends at Radio Bristol.
SPEAKER_00 (27:39):
But anyway, so he's a cat, he's a cast fan, he hates
he hates talking about po games.
He did skirt over it.
SPEAKER_03 (27:45):
I mean they did skirt over there, so I thought
it's a perfect opportunity to tohear have a bit more of a deep
dive from you.
So so as I say, it's uh reallyappreciate that.
And uh well, enjoy your uh yourfrancophile rugby.
SPEAKER_00 (27:57):
Thanks very much, guys.
Um enjoy enjoy Sunday evening.
I hope it's an absolute cracker.
Um thanks very much for havingme on.
Really appreciate it.
SPEAKER_03 (28:07):
Okay, we're here with um Mark and Cameron from
the Bear Supporters AdvisoryCommittee.
And uh they they contacted us uhbecause they they wanted to uh
have an opportunity to sort oftalk about what they're doing
and uh and how you can get intouch with them and things like
that.
So uh yeah, we're really reallypleased to have them.
So um I'll I'll start with you,Mark.
Do you want to give us a littlebit of an overview of of of the
(28:29):
committee and and what your roleis and and so forth?
SPEAKER_07 (28:32):
Yeah, so sure.
Um so my name's Mark, I'm thechairman of the Bears Committee
for this season.
Um what the committee is broughtin to do is to be the conduit
between the fans and BristolBears higher-ups.
Um, there's seven of us on thecommittee with a big demographic
of different people on thecommittee.
(28:52):
We've all jugged very well.
Um, Tom Tainton, um, he chairsthe meeting.
We have one um every quarter andum go from there.
SPEAKER_06 (29:03):
And Cameron, how did you uh get involved with it?
Um well, I mean, it was a bit ofa weird one really.
It was like I I saw a um it waslike a there was a Facebook post
out by the club saying callingfor for fans to apply for the um
sports committee.
I was like, alright, that'll benice and interesting.
Okay, get stuck in with that,put in a little application
rope, a little bit about what Iwant to get from it.
(29:23):
Heard nothing for months, andthen it was like August,
September time, I think it was.
So this like email pops up, it'slike, oh, we'd like to have you
along.
I was like, happy days,brilliant, go from there.
SPEAKER_03 (29:33):
So you it's like applying for a job then.
Yeah, pretty much was, yeah.
I mean, annoyingly, I'm stillwaiting for my reply, but
anyway, uh so it's good to haveyou boys here.
So, Mark, I mean, you kick off.
I mean, what what specificallyhave you talked about so far
this season?
And um maybe run through some ofthe results you've already had.
SPEAKER_07 (29:52):
So we've had a real so at the start of the season, I
don't know if you remember theLeicester game, so they came out
with the smoke machine, yeah,and they had the smoke machine
in the dolman stand as well.
So we had quite a lot ofresponses to say that that was
pretty poorly designed, andthere was a lot of smoke for
like five minutes in a dolmanstand.
So they took the club took thaton board and said, Yeah, we will
(30:13):
stop that from going forward.
And then also when AJ done hismaster's career season end and
injury, it was like they wentstraight to the cat, like it was
a guitar, no, it was an airguitar.
SPEAKER_03 (30:26):
It was an air guitar.
SPEAKER_07 (30:27):
This was mentioned on our pod as well, yeah.
Um we was like that was quite alot of responses as well through
more social media than the emailbox we got.
So then we took it back to Tom,he took it on board, and um
yeah, going from there, andthere's like suggestions at the
moment from the Dolman stand, soyou can't see a shot clock.
No, so we've gone back to Tom tosee during the Premier games, is
(30:49):
there a way the club can takethat for player uh for fans in
the Dolman stand?
So that's things like that.
Yeah, the dolman stand is thebest stand, isn't it?
SPEAKER_03 (30:58):
Obviously, well, yeah, I mean, also it's not just
the shot clock you can't see,it's it's when they have
fireworks off the roof as wellyou can't see at the Dolman
stand.
But yeah, I mean, I know youhave I have seen you have put a
summary of some of the resultsout on various sort of forums,
haven't you?
On the the Bristol rugbyknot.net forum, Facebook group.
So there's some more detail onthat is out there at the moment
(31:20):
that people can go and find.
Yeah.
Um how many so Cameron, how manyhow many meetings do they have a
year?
Um we tell we try and meet atleast quarterly.
Um so I was that was for Mars'benefit.
SPEAKER_06 (31:30):
Can you explain what course it is?
Exactly.
Four times a year typically.
Um our next one is in February.
February.
SPEAKER_03 (31:38):
February 4th.
Yeah.
Um so for that meeting, just outof interest, how who sets the
agenda for that?
Do you set it or do the club?
SPEAKER_06 (31:46):
Um it's a bit of a kind of a two-way conversation
with ourselves and Tom Taintonin advance, um, whether that's
you know a collision of thingsthat we've put to him via email
over sort of that time period orstuff that he's picked up
through kind of because theythey also monitor kind of the
fan forums and and they do readthem.
So it's kind of a you know, Tomwill propose an agenda, we'll
add and change what we thinkneeds to go in there.
(32:06):
Have you got anythingparticularly, Mark, that's on
your case?
SPEAKER_07 (32:10):
Go for it.
So the women's game, I reallywanted to send out there today.
The club are very aware throughthe social media channels that
there's a few, like quite a fewfans who go to the women's and
men's, and there's a like aconflict between the games.
SPEAKER_02 (32:24):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_07 (32:24):
Um, so we spoke to Daisy um and Tom, and they're
really um uh what am I trying tolook frustrated by by this, like
but he they were saying it wasto do with the TV schedule,
yeah, yeah.
And um they're looking into itto talk to the broadcasters and
see what can happen.
But at the moment they're tiedby what the TV's saying.
SPEAKER_04 (32:46):
I'm glad you mentioned that because that was
one of the things we were goingto talk about on the pod
tonight.
So that's that's great.
SPEAKER_07 (32:50):
So that's one, and then the season tickets were
coming into the next.
So if anyone's got any ideaswhat they think they would like
in their season tickets, umthey're looking in to what to do
benefit-wise and stuff likethat.
So if anyone's got any goodideas, send it through to our
email address.
SPEAKER_03 (33:07):
Well, that that's that's what sort of moves me on.
I was gonna say is like itsounds like obviously you want
ideas or suggestions, and that'skind of pure democracy, isn't
it?
And that's what you want.
So I was gonna say to you like,how do people get in touch with
you with their ideas or theirtheir queries or their comments?
SPEAKER_07 (33:25):
Yeah, so we've got an email address called the
supporters advisory.
Yeah, so on cameron.
SPEAKER_06 (33:30):
Go on, Cameron.
I've got it off, I've got it.
Uh it's supporter advisory atBristol Bears Rugby.com.
Okay.
Um, so any kind of fan feedback,if you want to ask us a
question, get us to race or theclub.
SPEAKER_07 (33:41):
Or do it through social media channels if they've
if people feel more comfortabledoing it that way.
So yeah, we'll we'll always pickup in tickets.
SPEAKER_03 (33:49):
I think there's in there a space on the the
official website as well.
I've not sure I'm sure I've seenit, but anyway, I'm sure if you
just googled it as well, peoplewill get find it.
So you're very clear about that.
You you want as much informationas you can, but uh so that you
can sort of collate it, take itto the club, and so on.
SPEAKER_07 (34:06):
Because it was like the sorry to interrupt you, it
was like the Prava band.
I don't know if you've got thelandstands.
But the Dolman stands fansdidn't get that, so it was just
like that's that made me getanother pipe and watched the
band because I was like, Well,this is different, didn't expect
it, it was great, and um, but itwasn't one on the Dolman side,
so I said it'd be great if theyhad both, yeah.
(34:28):
Um, and then the also the otherthing Tom was saying that they
really want to push this seasonis fans to do the Bears run.
Yeah, so welcoming the fans uhthe players 85 minutes before
kickoff.
Yeah, um, they're really tryingto the all the players are
coming in by coach, yeah, byAshton Road.
Yeah, um, as many fans can getaround would be amazing.
SPEAKER_03 (34:48):
Because I I went to the first one actually, the
Tigers one, and the band wasthere as well, and it was well
supported that Bears run then,and it was really it was
carnival atmosphere, it was itwas really, really good.
So yeah, also quite warm, isn'tit?
And sunny, yeah, it was nice andsunny.
SPEAKER_01 (35:01):
I I guess yeah, you know, depending on the time of
the match, you might get morefans down than others.
But I think that's a that's agreat run.
I think I suspect from previousseasons there's maybe some
negativity about playerengagement.
I'm guessing maybe that's whythis has come about.
I mean it worked brilliantly ata big day out in Cardiff, so
yeah, I I think it's reallypositive.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (35:20):
Yeah, I was just gonna add to that actually,
because we went to um Chiefs andthey had two bands, so obviously
then one band would finish, thenthe other would start, and it
was actually really good, wasn'tit, Moral?
And we were just like you say,it's keeping everyone at HQ,
which is what we all want, isn'tit?
We want to, you know, especiallyafter a win, definitely, you
know, even uh in a defeat, youcan commiserate, so you're still
(35:43):
spending your money there at theground, which is yeah, what we
all want, really.
SPEAKER_03 (35:48):
Great.
Um, so I don't know, is thereanything else you want to add?
It's your chance to uh to to putit on the recorder and we'll
we'll stick it on the pod.
SPEAKER_06 (35:57):
Um one thing that's worth highlighting is obviously
the uh the exhibition game.
Yeah.
Um we we spoke about that kindof at length in our in our last
meeting with Tom and um a fewother people from the club.
Um and it's sort of they're verymuch on the same page as a lot
of us fans, and it's kind oflost that um the the initial
alert pizza um that we had firstup with that South Africa game
(36:19):
where we had a huge selloutcrowd and it's sort of you know
fallen down year on year sincethen.
So I mean there's a few ideasfloating about as to kind of
what to do with that one thingthat we propose to sort of doing
it biannually, so having oneevery other year.
Yeah, you might fray up a bit ofcash to attract a bigger side,
you know, maybe uh all blacksex.
That's what we all want.
That's what we all want, that'swhat the fans want.
(36:40):
Um, and it just kind of keeps itfresh rather than having that
kind of almost like a nothinggame that you know not many fans
particularly want to go to, letalone you know, we season take
holders may not want to go, letalone people just paying to go
in general.
SPEAKER_03 (36:54):
Yeah, no, I think I think that's a really good one.
Well, we uh yeah, well we'rewe're kind of you know, we do
our little thing, you know, abit similar to you as well, but
it's it's and I'm and uh we tryand sort of mention stuff that
people say to us as well.
But it's nice to know foreveryone that there is a kind of
formalised channel because uhand and it's good, I guess it is
good for people to know uh thatthey do genuinely you go and
(37:17):
present this information, andTom and other members of their
kind of management do actuallyyou know have that and have to
respond to it.
SPEAKER_07 (37:25):
I will I will say after the two meetings I've had
with Tom, you can tell he cares.
Yeah, he cares about what wethink, he he looks he does take
suggestions away if they can'timplement them, he's very much
X, Y, and Z, well, you can't dothis, so it's very he's very
forthcoming in terms of like Iwant what the fans want, but
like so he's gotta he's gonnakind of put it all into the
(37:49):
jigsaw pieces and buzz alltogether, hasn't he?
SPEAKER_03 (37:51):
Yeah, but I guess the important thing is that it's
for everyone out there, it it'slike if you do have something to
say, yeah, you know, you knowthat it will get there and you
know that it will be listenedto.
Um so I think that's a reallyreally important message.
Yeah, probably a good way to uhto knock it on the head and
finish it.
So appreciate you boys comingdown.
Yeah, no worries, thanks hard.
We'll get emailing, boys, shouldwe?
SPEAKER_04 (38:12):
We should say actually, Cameron's looking very
fresh.
The Scarlet's game with usyesterday.
Uh we are he's looking far toofresh, this this young lad
today, isn't it?
He's a young part.
SPEAKER_06 (38:23):
A little weather snapper compared to the old
timers.
SPEAKER_03 (38:26):
Yeah, and I did see him drinking a pint of water in
between uh all his other pointsas well, and pouring a bit of
his beer in the uh we shouldtalk about what Miles is
drinking uh when we do thatlater.
SPEAKER_02 (38:37):
Anyway, right, that's brilliant, boys.
Fantastic.
Thanks for doing that.
Okay, you're listening to Bears Beyond the
Gate, a Bristol Bears podcastmade by fans for fans.
Well everyone, as we alluded toin our main pod on Sunday, we're
gonna give you all a bonus edupod this week.
Specifically a deeper dive intoour champions cup fixture
against Poe with the help ofRoast Beaks the Roast Bee's
Rugby Pod.
(00:25):
And there's more.
We also took some time out thisweek to speak to Mark and
Cameron from the BearsSupporters Advisory Committee,
who talked us through whatthey've been up to this season.
More of that later, but to startwith, I'd like to welcome Rob
Graham from Roast Beef's Rugbyto educate you all with all
things Poe.
Rob, it's great to have you on,and thanks for giving up your
(00:46):
time to speak to us.
SPEAKER_00 (00:48):
Thanks very much for having me.
I think this is my technicallymy first guest appearance on a
on a podcast other than my own.
So yeah.
SPEAKER_05 (00:57):
Rob, can you just tell us what you're what you're
wearing for our listeners?
Can you describe what you'rewearing tonight?
SPEAKER_00 (01:02):
I am so the I am wearing my section paloise, my
Poe Christmas jumper.
Um now the key that we'vedecided is to for a good piece
of rugby stash is for for thosein the know to know that it's a
good piece of rugby, that it'srugby, but for those that have
no idea about rugby at all, tonot know it's rugby.
(01:24):
So to all intents and purposes,this is just a green and white,
the the ver et blanc of the ofthe section powers colours with
section emblazoned across thechest, and no reference to Poe,
no reference to Powars, noreference to rugby.
And no, my I do have aToulousean one, um, and the
Toulouse one does have the crestand it has a few rugby balls on
(01:45):
it.
Um so that's uh but yeah, so andobviously as a I'm I am a Poe
fan, so this is my favourite ofthe uh I think I've got three
French rugby Christmas jumpers.
SPEAKER_01 (01:57):
So did you I take it you got that around the festive
period in the Poe Club shop, Iwould hope, did you?
SPEAKER_00 (02:03):
I actually confession was I actually
ordered it online becausebecause I was I was almost
tempted to book a trip last uhlast year to Curley to go and
get it, and I thought, no,there's there's too much stuff
that I want from that shop umthat I'm just gonna order it
online.
I managed to find a loopholesomehow um to get around the the
(02:24):
shipping.
But the majority of them, um thebuy-on one I've got I picked up
in in April in like 25 degreeheat.
I picked up a kind of bargainbin uh Christmas jumper from the
Buy-on uh boutique in in April.
So yeah, most of them are.
This is that's actually the onlyonline purchase I've done of
the.
That's fine.
SPEAKER_01 (02:43):
I mean, Lee Lee loves honesty, he always tells
us that on our podcast, doesn'the?
So I'm sure he appreciates it.
Absolutely.
SPEAKER_03 (02:49):
I'm sure I'm sure some of our listeners would
would like to know how long ittook for it to arrive because
one of our listeners was waitingfor his uh his away shirt this
season, no, his home shirt fromBristol for about six weeks.
So uh we're always quiteinterested to know what the
merchandising kind of uh supplychain is like in other in other
clubs.
SPEAKER_00 (03:09):
I think it was I think it was better than six
weeks.
I don't think it was actuallythat long.
Oh great.
SPEAKER_03 (03:13):
Yeah, already you're already up.
Well, look, Rob, um thanks verymuch for dressing up for us.
We really appreciate it.
Um, but as uh as some of thelisteners know, I I'm a
geography teacher, so I thoughtit would be um uh it would be
very nice for you to perhapsstart by telling us a little bit
about where Poe actually is inFrance and then maybe a little
(03:34):
bit of background to the cluband and why it's actually called
Section Paloise and not Poe.
So off you go.
SPEAKER_00 (03:40):
Well, the I'm gonna start there.
Section Paloise, I genuinelydon't know.
Paloise is what you are calledif you are from Poe.
So you'll notice that a lot ofthe clubs have a kind of stat
like Stade Rochelet or StadeToulousan or Aveyron Bayonnais,
they're kind of of the town, asit were.
Um, and Section is just amulti-sports club or was a
(04:01):
multi-sports club.
It kind of founded in 1902, it'sone of the oldest in France.
Um, but it and it's the only onethat's called Section.
I think it's the only one in inFrance called Section.
Um, so I don't know where theorigin of that is, but Poise is
uh is of Poe from Poe.
Um and Po itself is kind of um,I guess a lot of people or many
(04:24):
people will know it as thecapital of the tour because it
is there's all basically alwaysa Tour de France leg starting or
finishing or both in Po becauseit's on the on the doorstep to
the Pyrenees, which is when yousee you, and if you go to Po,
you uh you don't quite get it onTV, but and it looks quite
rubbish on TV, but one end ofthe stadium is there's no stand,
(04:46):
and you actually have a view outover the kind of snow-capped
peaks of the Pyrenees from fromall around the stadium, it's
quite quite impressive.
Um so it's big, big withcyclists, um, and kind of a bit
of a cycling mecca in in thatarea of the Pyrenees.
It is in, oh no, you're testingme, it is in Department 64,
(05:07):
which is Pyrenees Atlantique, sotechnically in the same
department as kind of the sameregion, county, whatever you
want to call it, as Beerritz andBayonne.
Um and and probably current andcurrently when they do Derby
Day, um Poe play Bayon, becauseeven though Beiritz is is kind
of geographically very close toBayonne and people from Bayonne
(05:29):
are quite very adamant thattheir derby is is Beiritz, but
it's kind of there right downthe bottom of that southwest,
and obviously being in thePyrenees, it's quite near Spain.
Um, it is, however, not in theBasque Country, it is in the
kind of historical Bayernregion, which um you may see
you'll see them on Sunday whenyou guys go, or you'll see them
(05:50):
on TV.
It's the yellow flag with thetwo red bulls, is uh the Bayern
flag, and that's Bayern Sourceis from the Bayern region, but
it's kind of very proud umagricultural region, mountainous
region, obviously.
Um the the kind of logo of Po isone of the kind of iconic
(06:11):
mountain mountains or peakswithin the Pyrenees.
Uh, I can never remember whichone it is because there's
millions of them.
Uh I was just about to give youan A star there, but you've uh
but it's uh yeah, I think thethe kind of identity of the with
the with the Bayern region is isquite a big thing for for Poe.
And um having there's a lot ofof interesting kind of links to
(06:35):
the local area.
The green and white, forexample, is is but the colours
are to mirror the Pyrenees ofthe kind of fertile lands and
the snow.
SPEAKER_03 (06:43):
So um just one supplementary question from me.
Um, and I forgot to ask itfirst, actually, was is like
roast piece rugby pod.
I mean, obviously, those peoplethat speak a bit of French know
it it suggests that it's anEnglish or it's two English guys
that know a bit about Frenchrugby.
So, I mean, how did that comeabout?
Because you certainly don'tsound very French.
SPEAKER_00 (07:03):
I'm I'm not French, and and in true ros beef style,
we neither of us speakparticularly good French.
Um I kind of I kind of put my asa teacher, I think uh Pete, I
think we need this in the in thecurriculum or in the on CVs.
My my French is probably abovebasic, but at a level that I
would determine um good enoughto know when Google translate is
(07:25):
wrong.
And that is uh about I thinkthat should be an official
category on people's CVs, butthat's kind of the extent of it.
Um to be honest, it was weekendslike this that we started, we
got into it, Rich and I, um myfellow Rosbeef.
We we went to France for acouple of um Champions Cup
games, and then we did anothertwo kind of back to back because
(07:46):
the train travel in in France isis cheap and it's good and it's
it's quite easy to traverse thecut, and a lot of the clubs are
kind of within an hour or shorttrain journey from each other.
So we kind of started withChampions Cup and then uh for my
I was about to say give the ageaway from for my 30th, we did a
(08:08):
um we did, I decided that Iwanted to do a back-to-back pro
de and top 14, and that wasactually back then by on were in
pro de du.
So we did Bay on the Fridaynight and Poe on the Saturday,
and I woke up eventually on onmy 30th birthday in Poe, and
that was kind of where I kind ofgot my affiliation to Poe from.
(08:29):
But yeah, generally in terms ofthe podcast, we we kind of loved
it, and it was brilliant likegoing to these new towns that we
knew nothing about, and theculture there, and all the
incredible food at some of theseplaces is it makes it puts
English sports stadia to toshame with some of the culinary
offerings.
(08:49):
Um and yeah, and so we've we Ithink we're now between Rich and
I, I think we're up to 32different grounds in or watch
rugby at 32 different grounds.
So I think a lot of them are.
I mean, Stade de France istechnically a football stadium,
so a few of them are especiallythe World Cup venues, were
football stadiums, but yeah, weuh and so and then after the
(09:10):
World Cup, yeah, I guess therewas the kind of outflow of
British talent to France, and wefound that no one was talking
about it, and we were like,well, I feel like someone needs
to loosely know what they're onabout, and I'm not sure we are
that, but yeah, we kind ofhighlight we highlight the trips
because that's how we fell inlove with it, and that's how a
(09:31):
lot of people fall in love withit, especially to kind of
non-French speakers, to kind ofgo and travel to France, because
it is a brilliant country, andand uh yeah, I'm now a fully
fledged Francophile, as much asI am a a Rosbeef, their uh their
pejorative term for the Englishor British.
SPEAKER_01 (09:48):
I can ask a quick question.
Um, obviously, you you talkabout you know signing a few
Brits over the year.
I mean, Poe were obviously doingexceptionally well this season,
but uh, I guess historicallythey haven't been top of their
game, haven't they?
But you know, they were signingwell, they've obviously you've
got a fantastic uh person in thein Joe Simmons who's playing for
(10:08):
them.
SPEAKER_00 (10:10):
Um I'm gonna have to correct you there, I'm gonna
have to correct you there.
Rich is uh is an extra fan andhe likes to make sure that he is
given this full title of JoeSimmons MBE.
SPEAKER_01 (10:20):
Sorry, I've sat down just to make that certain, you
know.
Uh and now you've obviously gotMontorio as well.
I mean, did they is it a sort ofclub that has generally
attracted high-class talent fromabroad, Poe?
SPEAKER_00 (10:31):
Yes and no.
Uh so you're right, and theyhave been in the lower reaches
of the top 14 for a while.
They got promotion back in in2016, I think, and this is the
first time they've been in theChampions Cup since 2001.
Um, and or kind of what was theHeineken Cup, and obviously it's
a bit easier to get into now aswell.
(10:53):
Um, and generally, like my timebeing a post supporter has been
more looking downwards thanupwards, whereas kind of qualify
the back end of last season kindof turned the corner and got
into the Champions Cup, and it'svery much now a publicly stated
aim to get into the top six, theplayoffs, this season.
Um, but they are there has beena shift.
(11:15):
So historically, there wereoverseas signings, they've had a
few, they've kind of got quite aconnection with some iconic all
blacks.
So Conrad Smith was there for awhile, they signed well, Luke
Whitelock is still on the on thebooks, he's had a horrible time
with injuries, but Sam Whitelockwas signed after the World Cup
and um had a retired after aseason.
(11:36):
But they've kind of there's afew kind of iconic players from
generally New Zealand who haveum settled down there and and
kind of made links with withPoe.
But uh this season there was a abit of a change in this in the
transfer policy and signingJulio Montauger uh for Kundo
Issa, who who you you'll befamiliar with with his time from
(11:58):
Toulon and Argentina.
Um they're they were the kind oftwo big ones, but also um a guy
called Thomas Leclayat whoplayed France in the autumn
basically off the back of hisreturn to form for Poe.
But big things were his youngtighthead or youngish tighthead,
a lot of things were expected ofhim a couple of years ago, and
he's kind of lost his way a bitof wrestling, but it was the
first kind of time in a whilethat they'd signed a number of
(12:21):
players, and you thought, oh,that's a really good signing,
that's exactly what they need.
Um, and I'd say certainly at themoment it's not it's not
necessarily a policy of we wantto sign big overseas players in
the same way that Toulon wouldor Rasing 92 have historically.
Um because the focus at themoment is very much bringing
(12:43):
through players from theacademy.
So the head coach, SebastianPiccarones, was head coach of
France under 20s about three,four years ago, back when France
under 20s were theall-conquering force of
under-20s rugby.
He was the man in charge and hewas kind of brought in with the
specific goal to bring through alot of talent and bring through
(13:04):
this kind of crop of youngplayers, and it just seems at
the moment like a never-endingproduction line of exciting
backs.
Um, there are so many, and youkind of you they they've got a
few injuries, and they there arejust more kind of appearing from
the woodwork.
Um, and and Piccarones isclearly doing a very good job
because while they have signedsome big name players, they've
(13:26):
not had them for large chunks ofthis season, and they are still
second in the league, andthey've picked up wins again
away at Bordeaux and at home toToulouse and at home to La
Rochelle, with not all of thosekind of big name players
playing, all those internationalplayers playing.
So, yeah, that's the that's thekind of focus for them these
days.
And and they certainly this theinternational players they
(13:46):
signed over the summer is muchmore of a sprinkling or a cherry
on the cake type thing to kindof take them to the next level.
SPEAKER_05 (13:57):
Yeah, I just want to say Rob.
I mean we're we did fans thethree of us expanded the all
podcast.
I mean you cover all you coverall bases, which is yeah, it's
not easy to do i in the hour asas we're talking about in just
video.
Um specifically it wasn't uh thestrongest code team against
(14:20):
North Anton State.
And we know there was a coupleof issues like uh Montage who
got injured with it in thewarm-up, but specifically with
the game in mind on the weekend,what are we likely to see in
BS3?
SPEAKER_00 (14:35):
It's a brave man that predicts anything about
French rugby, um, or a foolishman, which I think is probably
the category Rich and I fallunder.
Do you know what?
I w we we said this um on our onour pod that we were it's been a
weird round last weekend becausewe were pleasantly surprised by
some of the teams that wereselected.
(14:56):
So Cast, Toulon, um Claremontall sent pretty strong sides
away.
And Poe and Bayonne, whoprobably had their most winnable
games at home in and they arethe two teams or two of the
teams with unbeaten records athome in the top 14, so very
proud records, uh picked the theweakest sides of all the top 14
(15:17):
sides um in the Champions Cup.
With Poe, it was it was partlydue to injury, partly due to
injuries and and necessitybecause of that, partly due to
choice.
So there were it it was aninteresting selection looking at
the Poe side, in that anyonethat is um French international
(15:39):
or has trained with Francegenerally was not selected, and
they were still obviously theytried to have Montoja, they
tried to have Jack Maddox um whowere uh Australian
international, and I think thatis because of the the the GIF
rule or the GIF rule in France.
So you have the kind of number,you have to have an average um
(16:00):
of 16 players per match daysquad who are GIF.
That doesn't necessarily meanFrench, so um it just means that
they have to have been kind offormed in France and through a
French academy.
So someone like Becca Golgadza,who is Georgia captain, he is
GIF qualified because he's kindof come through in France and he
was rested.
So all of the guys, it was quitean interesting the only big
(16:21):
names that were initiallyselected were international
players that were available,whereas or kind of non-GIFs that
were available, whereas um wellthey Attasog Bay and uh Milian
Garten are injured.
Joe Simmons is actually injuredas well.
Uh sorry, Joe Simmons MBE.
Um but kind of the other guysthat were involved with the
(16:42):
France squad or certainly playedfor France in the autumn
internationals, like Hugo Oridu,Thomas LeClayat, um Jimmy
Maxman, I think actually mighthave been injured, but he
trained with France over theautumn, those were all the guys
that were arrested.
Um and I would be very surprisedif there is a departure from
that policy this weekend.
I think the the team the teamthey put out on Sunday against
(17:05):
Northampton, when I first sawit, I thought was alright.
Um, a lot of those guys have arenow second choice, but in the
past have been first choice andare also the same guys that have
put in some very, very goodperformances in the top 14 this
season.
The big one, and I'm thinkingahead to Bristol, and I was
(17:26):
slightly worried when you guyssaid that Ellis Ellis Genge was
probably gonna probably gonnastart is post-Scrum.
This year has actually beenpretty good, it was terrible on
Sunday, but over the last coupleof seasons has been a really,
really blindingly obviousAchilles heel, and when you
start taking away some type fiveforwards who are who are kind of
(17:50):
good quality internationalplayers, that starts to kind of
bear its bare its head.
Um, so yeah, I I think I've notreally answered your question
there, Lee.
But I think I don't think it'llbe I don't think we'll see.
SPEAKER_01 (18:03):
I'd be amazed if we see um I mean there's not that
like classly different squad isobviously I mean I mean you said
I mean there were the I listenedto your podcast, you said there
were like seven scrum penaltiesand what nineteen in total given
away.
That's a tremendous amount.
I mean, um yeah, you know right,and and you're right, Ellis Gen
he'll be gunning for that.
(18:23):
You know, he loves a good scrumpen, doesn't he?
So um I I I hope it is a goodgame, I really do, and I hope
that you know that Pose send adecent squad.
And but you know, I guesshistorically British fans would
always say the French don'tparticularly travel well, do
they?
And the the time is rubbish,half past seven on a on a Sunday
evening.
We're we're not convinced as faras five show, we're not we're
(18:46):
not convinced as fans that thestadium's gonna be that full,
even with season ticket holders,so must be even worse for Poe to
come over and play at that time,yeah, for sure.
SPEAKER_05 (18:56):
On a positive note though, Rob, it sounds to me
like maybe Poe are focusing moreon uh top 14 and and not the the
champions uh cup.
Would that be a fair assessmentfor this season?
SPEAKER_00 (19:09):
Yeah, and and we even before I'd seen the team
selection for last weekend, Icould have could have predicted
that that would be the casebecause it's such a publicly
stated ambition of them to tokind of get to the playoffs for
the first time in a long, longtime.
Um and you generally see it withthe the smaller budget squads
from France.
So we've seen it in the pastwith the likes of Cast, who who
(19:33):
actually have been a bit betterin Europe over the last couple
of years or bit.
Um, but it's generally thebigger budget sides like Toulon,
Toulouse, Bordeaux that havehave put out stronger squads.
Um so but uh I kind of go backto I can't I can't remember the
which one of you uh asked it,but the the I kind of do you
(19:56):
should reiterate that like theseguys have have put in a really
good shift.
Season, so while it's weaker andlacks a bit of stardust, there
is an element of the way theyplay is very, very well set out
and they are very well coached.
They are renowned as playingsome very exciting attacking
rugby, which you possibly expectwhere when you know they've put
sides out with an average backline of 21 years old or
(20:19):
something like that.
Um, and obviously uh Dan Robsonhelps a bit with that with his
age.
Um, but you know, the majorityof their outside backs are in
their early 20s, um, and they'replaying some thrilling stuff.
It kind of cost them the losingbonus point at the end against
Northampton, where Greg Warfoy,who scored two brilliant tries,
tried to run it out from behindhis own try-line and got caught.
(20:40):
So it should be extra.
I had a little glance at theweather actually.
It's not fantastic on Sunday,but the way that Bristol play
and and certainly the way Poeplay, it should be a thriller.
If no matter who Poe turns up,who turns up for Poe.
SPEAKER_03 (20:54):
One thing Ashton Gate has got going for it is
it's got a pretty good surface,and and that was actually just
something we found at Scarlet'smay have been one of the reasons
it wasn't such a good gamebecause it was quite a heavy
ground.
So um, yeah, I mean, if you'vegot two two teams that are going
to come and play rugby, I meanwe we've experienced that at the
Bears.
Um, it's always a bit of aroller coaster.
Although I've got to say, thisseason we feel like there is
(21:17):
they've been a little bit morepragmatic, and uh, and obviously
if you play a a high tempo, highpr precision game, it's all
great until it doesn't work, andyou know, you you get and and
actually Bristol often get putunder pressure by by uh kind of
heavy defences to to forcemistakes, but it kind of sounds
(21:37):
it might be quite refreshing toactually play a team that that
is a bit like us and uh see howwe kind of cope with it as well.
I'm sure Pat and his videoanalysts have uh are well on top
of of your game plan.
SPEAKER_00 (21:50):
Um yeah, I think you should get plenty of ball.
Poe have been particularly goodrecently at cough because of the
way they play at coughing upball, whether it's knock-ons or
they've just been a bitinaccurate breakdown.
SPEAKER_03 (22:01):
It could be a coff a thon, to be honest, because
Bristol are quite good atcoughing it up as well.
Um I just one other question Iwas gonna ask you, um, really,
and it's always a pretty rubbishquestion when you get guests on.
We're gonna ask it anyway.
So, uh, so what do you think Ais is gonna be, what's the
result gonna be?
And and do you do you have anysort of idea of a score
(22:23):
prediction, which is usually ameaningless question, but I'm
gonna ask it to you anyway.
SPEAKER_00 (22:27):
Um I would caveat this by saying that Rich and I
do predictions for all theresults of SOT 14 and ProD every
week, and I think I think we weget it 100% right in one of the
leagues about twice a season.
So it's it's yeah, like I said,it's a fool that predicts
anything in French rugby.
(22:48):
I I'm not holding out too muchhope for for Poe.
I was gonna try and come down,but the British rail prices are
considerably more expensive thanthan French rail prices.
If we were in you know, theequivalent journey in France
would probably be about half theprice, and then it'd be slightly
less uh less prohibitive to takeback to London at God knows what
time on a Sunday evening.
(23:09):
Um but yeah, even so like Ithink the fact that I if I
thought that Pi were coming witha full noise team, I'd I perhaps
could be tempted.
Um I think they should becompetitive, it shouldn't be a
full blowout.
Um I wouldn't put I wouldn't besurprised if it's a kind of 15
(23:32):
point plus margin though.
Um they did pretty well to stayin the fight for so long against
Northampton.
Hopefully the scrum will bebetter, it can't be much worse,
but um yeah, I I I genuinelyhave no idea what what team is
gonna send be put out if theykind of pick um the likes of of
LaClaya and Hugo Uradoo, thenthen it will be very competitive
(23:55):
because that will fix the scrum,and Hugo Oridoo is currently the
best line out forward in the top14.
Um so that that would make ahuge difference.
The backline will play a lot,whoever it is.
Um so but I'm not I think Ithink Bristol have probably got
on too much in terms of don'thave too much star quality in
(24:16):
that starting lineup for for Poeto really push them that hard.
SPEAKER_03 (24:21):
Well, I mean we've we've only got a couple of
minutes left, actually, boys.
Um on the We Are Cheapskates,we've only got a free zoom call
here.
Um lads, I don't know if you'vegot uh one last very quick
question for Rob before we saygoodbye.
Um I I'm exhausted, mind Lee,you've got one.
Let's finish off with one fromyou then.
SPEAKER_05 (24:40):
It's just a really quick one, actually, Rob.
I just want to say because we'veum we listened to your pod and
we we uh uh we heard that you uhyou I think you did have a
cliche vow at some stage.
We had a bingo during the SixNations.
SPEAKER_00 (24:53):
Oh, we might have had a cliche bowl, yeah.
But we definitely did SixNations bingo for all the
clichés as well.
SPEAKER_05 (24:59):
And I just I it just made me uh it made me laugh
because we we had a cliche vowelas well at one stage, didn't we?
SPEAKER_00 (25:08):
Retire it, yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (25:10):
That was a trouble.
SPEAKER_00 (25:12):
Yeah, I imagine there's a few that I imagine
there's a few lazy assumptionsmade about Bristol that in the
same way that people think theyknow what they're talking about.
SPEAKER_03 (25:20):
Well, I think it's more the case that we have a
fairly limited vocabulary andand use the same adjectives all
the time, which has been pickedoff on by uh by by our kind of
regular listeners.
We we don't we can't really hideanywhere.
So uh well it's good to hearthat uh the other pods uh revel
in uh the use of cliches aswell.
Well, look, Rob, we really,really appreciate your time.
(25:43):
Um you definitely have educatedus, uh, and I'm sure that a lot
of our listeners will be uh whowill be at the game as well,
will go to the game with a witha bit of an intellectual spring
in their step now that they knowwhat the opposition are like.
Um so we really appreciate it.
And obviously, we've gotBordeaux uh after in January, so
maybe we could uh get back intouch with you, you know, when
(26:05):
we're closer to the time when weplay the play Bordeaux, and
there may be a few permutationsthat might be interesting to
talk about then.
SPEAKER_00 (26:11):
Um yeah, absolutely.
I think uh yeah, the the top 14Bordeaux is very different to
the one that we saw.
Well, this season's been verydifferent to the one we saw on
Saturday, and they were theywere magnificent.
But yeah, there's always thatkind of um trade-off between
which which team you get withthe top 14 sides.
Do you get the one that turns upin Europe or do you get the one
that turns up in the top 14?
SPEAKER_03 (26:32):
It's always another layer to it.
And if by some sort of quirk offate we actually do manage to
qualify for the knockout roundsfor the first time in three
years, it would be fantastic ifit was a French team.
And we'd obviously then have toget in touch with you for not
just rugby advice but alsotravel advice, culinary advice,
(26:52):
and but clearly not any languageadvice.
SPEAKER_00 (26:54):
So uh Yeah, well, you can definitely the thing
about the the last 16 is becauseyou kind of got a bit of a beal
lead up time, you can identifythe uh the ProDo or National
games that recur that arehappening on the on the Friday
night and double up and get getget a lot of bang for your buck
by uh by taking in a few gamesin a short space of time.
(27:14):
That's the that's the best wayto do it.
SPEAKER_03 (27:16):
Well look, Rob, I uh really appreciate that.
And uh yeah, uh all those peopleout there, I'd recommend uh
having a listen to the RoastBeaks rugby pod this week
because they've got a preview ofthe game.
And and actually, your partnerin crime was on BBC Bristol the
Scrum tonight.
And I've got to say, he didn'tsay much about the Bears Po
game, so I think we've uhdefinitely complimented our
(27:38):
friends at Radio Bristol.
SPEAKER_00 (27:39):
But anyway, so he's a cat, he's a cast fan, he hates
he hates talking about po games.
He did skirt over it.
SPEAKER_03 (27:45):
I mean they did skirt over there, so I thought
it's a perfect opportunity to tohear have a bit more of a deep
dive from you.
So so as I say, it's uh reallyappreciate that.
And uh well, enjoy your uh yourfrancophile rugby.
SPEAKER_00 (27:57):
Thanks very much, guys.
Um enjoy enjoy Sunday evening.
I hope it's an absolute cracker.
Um thanks very much for havingme on.
Really appreciate it.
SPEAKER_03 (28:07):
Okay, we're here with um Mark and Cameron from
the Bear Supporters AdvisoryCommittee.
And uh they they contacted us uhbecause they they wanted to uh
have an opportunity to sort oftalk about what they're doing
and uh and how you can get intouch with them and things like
that.
So uh yeah, we're really reallypleased to have them.
So um I'll I'll start with you,Mark.
Do you want to give us a littlebit of an overview of of of the
(28:29):
committee and and what your roleis and and so forth?
SPEAKER_07 (28:32):
Yeah, so sure.
Um so my name's Mark, I'm thechairman of the Bears Committee
for this season.
Um what the committee is broughtin to do is to be the conduit
between the fans and BristolBears higher-ups.
Um, there's seven of us on thecommittee with a big demographic
of different people on thecommittee.
(28:52):
We've all jugged very well.
Um, Tom Tainton, um, he chairsthe meeting.
We have one um every quarter andum go from there.
SPEAKER_06 (29:03):
And Cameron, how did you uh get involved with it?
Um well, I mean, it was a bit ofa weird one really.
It was like I I saw a um it waslike a there was a Facebook post
out by the club saying callingfor for fans to apply for the um
sports committee.
I was like, alright, that'll benice and interesting.
Okay, get stuck in with that,put in a little application
rope, a little bit about what Iwant to get from it.
(29:23):
Heard nothing for months, andthen it was like August,
September time, I think it was.
So this like email pops up, it'slike, oh, we'd like to have you
along.
I was like, happy days,brilliant, go from there.
SPEAKER_03 (29:33):
So you it's like applying for a job then.
Yeah, pretty much was, yeah.
I mean, annoyingly, I'm stillwaiting for my reply, but
anyway, uh so it's good to haveyou boys here.
So, Mark, I mean, you kick off.
I mean, what what specificallyhave you talked about so far
this season?
And um maybe run through some ofthe results you've already had.
SPEAKER_07 (29:52):
So we've had a real so at the start of the season, I
don't know if you remember theLeicester game, so they came out
with the smoke machine, yeah,and they had the smoke machine
in the dolman stand as well.
So we had quite a lot ofresponses to say that that was
pretty poorly designed, andthere was a lot of smoke for
like five minutes in a dolmanstand.
So they took the club took thaton board and said, Yeah, we will
(30:13):
stop that from going forward.
And then also when AJ done hismaster's career season end and
injury, it was like they wentstraight to the cat, like it was
a guitar, no, it was an airguitar.
SPEAKER_03 (30:26):
It was an air guitar.
SPEAKER_07 (30:27):
This was mentioned on our pod as well, yeah.
Um we was like that was quite alot of responses as well through
more social media than the emailbox we got.
So then we took it back to Tom,he took it on board, and um
yeah, going from there, andthere's like suggestions at the
moment from the Dolman stand, soyou can't see a shot clock.
No, so we've gone back to Tom tosee during the Premier games, is
(30:49):
there a way the club can takethat for player uh for fans in
the Dolman stand?
So that's things like that.
Yeah, the dolman stand is thebest stand, isn't it?
SPEAKER_03 (30:58):
Obviously, well, yeah, I mean, also it's not just
the shot clock you can't see,it's it's when they have
fireworks off the roof as wellyou can't see at the Dolman
stand.
But yeah, I mean, I know youhave I have seen you have put a
summary of some of the resultsout on various sort of forums,
haven't you?
On the the Bristol rugbyknot.net forum, Facebook group.
So there's some more detail onthat is out there at the moment
(31:20):
that people can go and find.
Yeah.
Um how many so Cameron, how manyhow many meetings do they have a
year?
Um we tell we try and meet atleast quarterly.
Um so I was that was for Mars'benefit.
SPEAKER_06 (31:30):
Can you explain what course it is?
Exactly.
Four times a year typically.
Um our next one is in February.
February.
SPEAKER_03 (31:38):
February 4th.
Yeah.
Um so for that meeting, just outof interest, how who sets the
agenda for that?
Do you set it or do the club?
SPEAKER_06 (31:46):
Um it's a bit of a kind of a two-way conversation
with ourselves and Tom Taintonin advance, um, whether that's
you know a collision of thingsthat we've put to him via email
over sort of that time period orstuff that he's picked up
through kind of because theythey also monitor kind of the
fan forums and and they do readthem.
So it's kind of a you know, Tomwill propose an agenda, we'll
add and change what we thinkneeds to go in there.
(32:06):
Have you got anythingparticularly, Mark, that's on
your case?
SPEAKER_07 (32:10):
Go for it.
So the women's game, I reallywanted to send out there today.
The club are very aware throughthe social media channels that
there's a few, like quite a fewfans who go to the women's and
men's, and there's a like aconflict between the games.
SPEAKER_02 (32:24):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_07 (32:24):
Um, so we spoke to Daisy um and Tom, and they're
really um uh what am I trying tolook frustrated by by this, like
but he they were saying it wasto do with the TV schedule,
yeah, yeah.
And um they're looking into itto talk to the broadcasters and
see what can happen.
But at the moment they're tiedby what the TV's saying.
SPEAKER_04 (32:46):
I'm glad you mentioned that because that was
one of the things we were goingto talk about on the pod
tonight.
So that's that's great.
SPEAKER_07 (32:50):
So that's one, and then the season tickets were
coming into the next.
So if anyone's got any ideaswhat they think they would like
in their season tickets, umthey're looking in to what to do
benefit-wise and stuff likethat.
So if anyone's got any goodideas, send it through to our
email address.
SPEAKER_03 (33:07):
Well, that that's that's what sort of moves me on.
I was gonna say is like itsounds like obviously you want
ideas or suggestions, and that'skind of pure democracy, isn't
it?
And that's what you want.
So I was gonna say to you like,how do people get in touch with
you with their ideas or theirtheir queries or their comments?
SPEAKER_07 (33:25):
Yeah, so we've got an email address called the
supporters advisory.
Yeah, so on cameron.
SPEAKER_06 (33:30):
Go on, Cameron.
I've got it off, I've got it.
Uh it's supporter advisory atBristol Bears Rugby.com.
Okay.
Um, so any kind of fan feedback,if you want to ask us a
question, get us to race or theclub.
SPEAKER_07 (33:41):
Or do it through social media channels if they've
if people feel more comfortabledoing it that way.
So yeah, we'll we'll always pickup in tickets.
SPEAKER_03 (33:49):
I think there's in there a space on the the
official website as well.
I've not sure I'm sure I've seenit, but anyway, I'm sure if you
just googled it as well, peoplewill get find it.
So you're very clear about that.
You you want as much informationas you can, but uh so that you
can sort of collate it, take itto the club, and so on.
SPEAKER_07 (34:06):
Because it was like the sorry to interrupt you, it
was like the Prava band.
I don't know if you've got thelandstands.
But the Dolman stands fansdidn't get that, so it was just
like that's that made me getanother pipe and watched the
band because I was like, Well,this is different, didn't expect
it, it was great, and um, but itwasn't one on the Dolman side,
so I said it'd be great if theyhad both, yeah.
(34:28):
Um, and then the also the otherthing Tom was saying that they
really want to push this seasonis fans to do the Bears run.
Yeah, so welcoming the fans uhthe players 85 minutes before
kickoff.
Yeah, um, they're really tryingto the all the players are
coming in by coach, yeah, byAshton Road.
Yeah, um, as many fans can getaround would be amazing.
SPEAKER_03 (34:48):
Because I I went to the first one actually, the
Tigers one, and the band wasthere as well, and it was well
supported that Bears run then,and it was really it was
carnival atmosphere, it was itwas really, really good.
So yeah, also quite warm, isn'tit?
And sunny, yeah, it was nice andsunny.
SPEAKER_01 (35:01):
I I guess yeah, you know, depending on the time of
the match, you might get morefans down than others.
But I think that's a that's agreat run.
I think I suspect from previousseasons there's maybe some
negativity about playerengagement.
I'm guessing maybe that's whythis has come about.
I mean it worked brilliantly ata big day out in Cardiff, so
yeah, I I think it's reallypositive.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (35:20):
Yeah, I was just gonna add to that actually,
because we went to um Chiefs andthey had two bands, so obviously
then one band would finish, thenthe other would start, and it
was actually really good, wasn'tit, Moral?
And we were just like you say,it's keeping everyone at HQ,
which is what we all want, isn'tit?
We want to, you know, especiallyafter a win, definitely, you
know, even uh in a defeat, youcan commiserate, so you're still
(35:43):
spending your money there at theground, which is yeah, what we
all want, really.
SPEAKER_03 (35:48):
Great.
Um, so I don't know, is thereanything else you want to add?
It's your chance to uh to to putit on the recorder and we'll
we'll stick it on the pod.
SPEAKER_06 (35:57):
Um one thing that's worth highlighting is obviously
the uh the exhibition game.
Yeah.
Um we we spoke about that kindof at length in our in our last
meeting with Tom and um a fewother people from the club.
Um and it's sort of they're verymuch on the same page as a lot
of us fans, and it's kind oflost that um the the initial
alert pizza um that we had firstup with that South Africa game
(36:19):
where we had a huge selloutcrowd and it's sort of you know
fallen down year on year sincethen.
So I mean there's a few ideasfloating about as to kind of
what to do with that one thingthat we propose to sort of doing
it biannually, so having oneevery other year.
Yeah, you might fray up a bit ofcash to attract a bigger side,
you know, maybe uh all blacksex.
That's what we all want.
That's what we all want, that'swhat the fans want.
(36:40):
Um, and it just kind of keeps itfresh rather than having that
kind of almost like a nothinggame that you know not many fans
particularly want to go to, letalone you know, we season take
holders may not want to go, letalone people just paying to go
in general.
SPEAKER_03 (36:54):
Yeah, no, I think I think that's a really good one.
Well, we uh yeah, well we'rewe're kind of you know, we do
our little thing, you know, abit similar to you as well, but
it's it's and I'm and uh we tryand sort of mention stuff that
people say to us as well.
But it's nice to know foreveryone that there is a kind of
formalised channel because uhand and it's good, I guess it is
good for people to know uh thatthey do genuinely you go and
(37:17):
present this information, andTom and other members of their
kind of management do actuallyyou know have that and have to
respond to it.
SPEAKER_07 (37:25):
I will I will say after the two meetings I've had
with Tom, you can tell he cares.
Yeah, he cares about what wethink, he he looks he does take
suggestions away if they can'timplement them, he's very much
X, Y, and Z, well, you can't dothis, so it's very he's very
forthcoming in terms of like Iwant what the fans want, but
like so he's gotta he's gonnakind of put it all into the
(37:49):
jigsaw pieces and buzz alltogether, hasn't he?
SPEAKER_03 (37:51):
Yeah, but I guess the important thing is that it's
for everyone out there, it it'slike if you do have something to
say, yeah, you know, you knowthat it will get there and you
know that it will be listenedto.
Um so I think that's a reallyreally important message.
Yeah, probably a good way to uhto knock it on the head and
finish it.
So appreciate you boys comingdown.
Yeah, no worries, thanks hard.
We'll get emailing, boys, shouldwe?
SPEAKER_04 (38:12):
We should say actually, Cameron's looking very
fresh.
The Scarlet's game with usyesterday.
Uh we are he's looking far toofresh, this this young lad
today, isn't it?
He's a young part.
SPEAKER_06 (38:23):
A little weather snapper compared to the old
timers.
SPEAKER_03 (38:26):
Yeah, and I did see him drinking a pint of water in
between uh all his other pointsas well, and pouring a bit of
his beer in the uh we shouldtalk about what Miles is
drinking uh when we do thatlater.
SPEAKER_02 (38:37):
Anyway, right, that's brilliant, boys.
Fantastic.
Thanks for doing that.
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