After a particularly dry summer, the proud Republic of Loftus and its surrounding colonies are enjoying a somewhat late downpour of biblical proportions this week. Braais have to be improvised in living rooms and your neighbour’s favourite Steve Hofmeyr album can hardly be heard over the steady precipitation of canines and felines. A welcome comfort then despite the several cases of indoor braai-smoke inhalation reported to date. […]
Posts written by: Martin van Niekerk (vanmartin)
Always take the weather with you
17 Mar 16 09:39 by Martin van Niekerk (vanmartin) | 52 Comments
Blood, Sweat and Beers
8 Dec 15 15:05 by Martin van Niekerk (vanmartin) | 55 Comments
Last night saw a number of the Sharks faithful joining forces one again. The ultimate objective? To defeat the challenge set forth by the evil overlords wonderful organisers that put together the Builders Sports Quiz. […]
What to expect when you’re expecting…
11 Feb 15 14:46 by Martin van Niekerk (vanmartin) | 28 Comments
… a Super Rugby title.
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Marcell Coetzee facts
25 Aug 14 08:00 by Martin van Niekerk (vanmartin) | 32 Comments
Lacklustre performances from both the Sharks and Boks this weekend leaves us with a lot more questions than answers. The few answers we do possess should however be transcribed for the sake of future generations. […]
Have you ever seen the rain (comin’ down on a promising game)?
18 Aug 14 10:58 by Martin van Niekerk (vanmartin) | 13 Comments
If you don’t count yourself among the Loftus faithful, the northern fortress can be inhospitable venue at the best of times. Get caught in the wrong team’s colours and it can turn downright hostile. The same apparently applies when rain is bucketing down on the stadium. […]
Sharks under 21s blindsided
15 Aug 14 20:06 by Martin van Niekerk (vanmartin) | 7 Comments
A game marked by a number of handling errors from both the Sharks and Cheetahs inside the opening 20 minutes saw only one side address their early struggles. The teams traded early penalties but the Cheetahs landed the first serious blow with a neatly worked try in the corner. The Cheetahs would go on to score three more tries to win the match 30 to 3, with the Sharks unable to offer any reply of their own despite camping on the Cheetahs tryline on a number of occasions. […]
Ye olde double whammy
2 Jun 14 09:47 by Martin van Niekerk (vanmartin) | 23 Comments
Coaches and teams let you down, it’s part of the deal we buy into as supporters and to put it into perspective it’s really no different from anything else that forms part of the human experience. […]
Settle Down
29 May 14 10:36 by Martin van Niekerk (vanmartin) | 34 Comments
I’ve been trying to get this article out since our loss to the Brumbies but circumstances have conspired against me. A fair amount of water has passed under the bridge since that game but it has in the process confirmed a few of my own suspicions regarding what the Sharks have been missing during their midseason malaise. It’s by no means the only contributing factor but I’d like to focus on this particular facet because it is so often overlooked. […]
Mastering the positional shuffle
14 Apr 14 11:24 by Martin van Niekerk (vanmartin) | 16 Comments
Sharks fans in general balk at the idea of positional player switches and from a historical point of view, with good reason. It’s driven players from the union and resulted in talent being underutilized. It’s prevented players from settling in a position and in some cases even closed the door on promising youngsters close to making the step up to the senior squad. It would of course be remiss not to acknowledge scenarios where players are experienced or competent in playing more than one position or the coach’s hand is forced, injury and lack of squad depth being the usual suspects in these cases. […]
Mvovo’s magic breaks Ellis Park hoodoo
12 Apr 14 22:17 by Martin van Niekerk (vanmartin) | 40 Comments
A game marking Odwa’s 100th Super Rugby appearence almost started succumbing to the curse of milestone player achievements combined with the Sharks past struggles at Ellis Park.
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Back to the drawing board?
24 Mar 14 09:27 by Martin van Niekerk (vanmartin) | 77 Comments
Sharks players and fans alike hate losing to the Bulls. Losing at Loftus borders on offending something in our basic makeup. A bonus point win at home against the Bulls is expected and proves we’re a decent side but a win at the fortress seems required before we can claim that we’re better than the Bulls. […]
Sharks denied at Loftus
22 Mar 14 21:29 by Martin van Niekerk (vanmartin) | 101 Comments
In what could be described as nothing short of a devastating first half at Loftus, the Sharks somehow managed to come out ahead on the scoreboard at 6 – 13. […]
Dark side of the sauna
19 Mar 14 11:00 by Martin van Niekerk (vanmartin) | 23 Comments
Let me get my apology for what must be one of the worst headlines to ever grace the Sharksworld website out of the way first – I’m sorry! In my defence, I’m still suffering from the after-effects of what must have been one of the worst workouts I’ve ever had the misery of enduring. More on that a bit further down though. […]
Feeding Frenzy at Ellis Park
8 Feb 14 09:41 by Martin van Niekerk (vanmartin) | 60 Comments
The writing was on the wall for this encounter when the hooter sounded for half-time with the Sharks having taken a comfortable 31 – 0 lead over the Lions. Any lingering doubts were erased by Jake White emptying his entire 11-man bench for the second half. The reinforcements, consisting of mainly under-studies, had their own point to prove however and would go on to score a further 26 points in the second half while conceding 14 to the Lions.
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Notes on Loftus
21 Jun 11 12:40 by Martin van Niekerk (vanmartin) | 43 Comments
I was one of the lucky ones who attended the Loftus game along with some of the other Sharksworld faithful and thought I’d put down some thoughts on the experience as a whole. […]