Graham Lowe: Sport helps mould our community

The London bombing and its aftermath have really got me thinking how lucky we are in New Zealand that our lifestyle tends to guide people away from the radical thinking that produces terrorists.

The attacks were too close to comfort for us holidaying with my wife Karen's parents in the north of England. It's easy to become blase about what we have in New Zealand.

Part of what makes it a great country is a great attitude, approach and commitment to sport, from the volunteers who mow pitches and put out flags, the referees who give their time, the mums and dads who drive the kids all over town to attend netball, soccer, tennis, league or whatever, and the organisers who raise money to keep it all rolling.

In Britain there are far fewer young people who know what that life is all about.

Sport is not such a big part of the scene in their personal lives, and many of them are the poorer for it.

Young people who have to go through the fundamentals of learning what sport is about - socialising, accepting different ideas, getting together and striving for success, coping with disappointments, getting over arguments - will be better prepared for what life throws at them.

Sport will provide them with a healthy occupation and a healthy education, as well as many opportunities, including travel that will broaden their outlook.

They will learn ways to enjoy themselves. They will also be less susceptible to the crazy ideas that must prey on the minds of those who were involved in the London massacre. It was horrific to see the reactions of people in the couple of days after the bombings, and good to see that a few days later they had responded with the attitude that they were not going to bow down. They were getting back to their routine.

Sport has the ability to plough through personalities, politics and ideological or religious differences, and it is such a powerful tool that we are lucky it is such a large part of most people's lives in New Zealand.

Unfortunately, that is not the case in many parts of the world.

THE Warriors will certainly benefit from the return of Steve Price this weekend, but whether that will be enough to make their season, I'm not so sure.

He will no doubt instil some better discipline and they may not give away the silly penalties. His communication will improve the defence.

There is no doubt Steve is a good natural leader and he's experienced enough that he can come straight back into the starting line-up.

But I suspect the pattern for the Warriors, the mould of the game plan, has already been set while he has been off the field, and it will be difficult to adjust much now, bar that discipline factor.

Certainly the Warriors cannot afford to give away penalties considering the position in which they have manoeuvred themselves.

Silly penalties have cost them in several games. Interfering with the ball in the tackle and the play-the-ball, despite earlier warnings from the refs, have been their main problems.

Some people claim the referees have it in for them because they are the New Zealand club, but I don't accept that. You make your own luck with the 50-50 calls and the referees.

When you are in the top four and your captains such as Darren Lockyer and Nathan Cayless go to the ref, they may get a better hearing than do those captains of the lower-rated teams who are not high-profile internationals.

But that's true for all 15 sides.

Monty Betham, as Warriors vice-captain, should never have put his side in the position of losing the game against the Roosters through his ill-discipline. He has given away more than his share of penalties this season.

When you think back to his loss of a season in 2003 for clobbering Fijian Petero Civoniceva across the head with his more-brittle forearm, you would think he might have learned to just play the game and forget the silly stuff.

Whatever you think of Tim Mander and his touch judges - and it's fair to say that in the normal run of 50-50s, Francis Meli would have been awarded at least one first-half try - it was ridiculous of Betham to threaten the team's two competition points. Had they lost, their season might have been over.

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Former Warriors and Kiwis coach Frank Endacott is starting to come in for a bashing in England as Widnes slip towards relegation.

The fans are not forgiving of failure and after Widnes were thumped last weekend by Wakefield, who now sit five points above them on the Super League table, the knives can be heard being sharpened.

Frank was his usual self with a quip afterwards when asked what they could do to turn things round.

"We're off to church to pray because we've tried everything else," he said.

Like Michael Hagan at the Newcastle Knights, he has had a terrible run with injuries to top players.

But he did not have a winning run with the club before that to balance his record, and in England, when coaches who preside over teams who are relegated see the light at the end of the tunnel, it is usually a freight train coming the other way.