Ep 212 - A mid week 'Edu-Pod' with a deep dive into all things Pau and a chat with the Bears Supporters Advisory Committee

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.

Transcript

SPEAKER_03: 0:05

Okay, you're listening to Bears Beyond the Gate, a Bristol Bears podcast made by fans for fans. Well everyone, as we alluded to in our main pod on Sunday, we're gonna give you all a bonus edu pod this week. Specifically a deeper dive into our champions cup fixture against Poe with the help of Roast Beaks the Roast Bee's Rugby Pod. And there's more. We also took some time out this week to speak to Mark and Cameron from the Bears Supporters Advisory Committee, who talked us through what they've been up to this season. More of that later, but to start with, I'd like to welcome Rob Graham from Roast Beef's Rugby to educate you all with all things Poe. Rob, it's great to have you on, and thanks for giving up your time to speak to us.

SPEAKER_00: 0:48

Thanks very much for having me. I think this is my technically my first guest appearance on a on a podcast other than my own. So yeah.

SPEAKER_05: 0:57

Rob, can you just tell us what you're what you're wearing for our listeners? Can you describe what you're wearing tonight?

SPEAKER_00: 1:02

I am so the I am wearing my section paloise, my Poe Christmas jumper. Um now the key that we've decided is to for a good piece of rugby stash is for for those in the know to know that it's a good piece of rugby, that it's rugby, but for those that have no idea about rugby at all, to not know it's rugby. So to all intents and purposes, this is just a green and white, the the ver et blanc of the of the section powers colours with section emblazoned across the chest, and no reference to Poe, no reference to Powars, no reference to rugby. And no, my I do have a Toulousean one, um, and the Toulouse one does have the crest and it has a few rugby balls on it. Um so that's uh but yeah, so and obviously as a I'm I am a Poe fan, so this is my favourite of the uh I think I've got three French rugby Christmas jumpers.

SPEAKER_01: 1:57

So did you I take it you got that around the festive period in the Poe Club shop, I would hope, did you?

SPEAKER_00: 2:03

I actually confession was I actually ordered it online because because I was I was almost tempted to book a trip last uh last 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 um that I'm just gonna order it online. I managed to find a loophole somehow um to get around the the shipping. But the majority of them, um the buy-on one I've got I picked up in in April in like 25 degree heat. I picked up a kind of bargain bin uh Christmas jumper from the Buy-on uh boutique in in April. So yeah, most of them are. This is that's actually the only online purchase I've done of the. That's fine.

SPEAKER_01: 2:43

I mean, Lee Lee loves honesty, he always tells us that on our podcast, doesn't he? So I'm sure he appreciates it. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_03: 2:49

I'm sure I'm sure some of our listeners would would like to know how long it took for it to arrive because one of our listeners was waiting for his uh his away shirt this season, no, his home shirt from Bristol for about six weeks. So uh we're always quite interested to know what the merchandising kind of uh supply chain is like in other in other clubs.

SPEAKER_00: 3:09

I think it was I think it was better than six weeks. I don't think it was actually that long. Oh great.

SPEAKER_03: 3:13

Yeah, already you're already up. Well, look, Rob, um thanks very much for dressing up for us. We really appreciate it. Um, but as uh as some of the listeners know, I I'm a geography teacher, so I thought it would be um uh it would be very nice for you to perhaps start by telling us a little bit about where Poe actually is in France and then maybe a little bit of background to the club and and why it's actually called Section Paloise and not Poe. So off you go.

SPEAKER_00: 3:40

Well, the I'm gonna start there. Section Paloise, I genuinely don't know. Paloise is what you are called if you are from Poe. So you'll notice that a lot of the clubs have a kind of stat like Stade Rochelet or Stade Toulousan or Aveyron Bayonnais, they're kind of of the town, as it were. Um, and Section is just a multi-sports club or was a multi-sports club. It kind of founded in 1902, it's one of the oldest in France. Um, but it and it's the only one that's called Section. I think it's the only one in in France called Section. Um, so I don't know where the origin 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 people will know it as the capital of the tour because it is there's all basically always a Tour de France leg starting or finishing or both in Po because it's on the on the doorstep to the Pyrenees, which is when you see you, and if you go to Po, you uh you don't quite get it on TV, but and it looks quite rubbish on TV, but one end of the stadium is there's no stand, and you actually have a view out over the kind of snow-capped peaks of the Pyrenees from from all around the stadium, it's quite quite impressive. Um so it's big, big with cyclists, um, and kind of a bit of a cycling mecca in in that area of the Pyrenees. It is in, oh no, you're testing me, it is in Department 64, which is Pyrenees Atlantique, so technically in the same department as kind of the same region, county, whatever you want to call it, as Beerritz and Bayonne. Um and and probably current and currently when they do Derby Day, um Poe play Bayon, because even though Beiritz is is kind of geographically very close to Bayonne and people from Bayonne are quite very adamant that their derby is is Beiritz, but it's kind of there right down the bottom of that southwest, and obviously being in the Pyrenees, it's quite near Spain. Um, it is, however, not in the Basque Country, it is in the kind of historical Bayern region, which um you may see you'll see them on Sunday when you guys go, or you'll see them on TV. It's the yellow flag with the two red bulls, is uh the Bayern flag, and that's Bayern Source is from the Bayern region, but it's kind of very proud um agricultural region, mountainous region, obviously. Um the the kind of logo of Po is one of the kind of iconic mountain mountains or peaks within the Pyrenees. Uh, I can never remember which one it is because there's millions of them. Uh I was just about to give you an A star there, but you've uh but it's uh yeah, I think the the kind of identity of the with the with the Bayern region is is quite a big thing for for Poe. And um having there's a lot of of interesting kind of links to the local area. The green and white, for example, is is but the colours are to mirror the Pyrenees of the kind of fertile lands and the snow.

SPEAKER_03: 6:43

So um just one supplementary question from me. Um, and I forgot to ask it first, actually, was is like roast piece rugby pod. I mean, obviously, those people that speak a bit of French know it it suggests that it's an English or it's two English guys that know a bit about French rugby. So, I mean, how did that come about? Because you certainly don't sound very French.

SPEAKER_00: 7:03

I'm I'm not French, and and in true ros beef style, we neither of us speak particularly good French. Um I kind of I kind of put my as a teacher, I think uh Pete, I think we need this in the in the curriculum or in the on CVs. My my French is probably above basic, but at a level that I would determine um good enough to know when Google translate is wrong. And that is uh about I think that should be an official category on people's CVs, but that's kind of the extent of it. Um to be honest, it was weekends like this that we started, we got into it, Rich and I, um my fellow Rosbeef. We we went to France for a couple of um Champions Cup games, and then we did another two kind of back to back because the train travel in in France is is cheap and it's good and it's it's quite easy to traverse the cut, and a lot of the clubs are kind of within an hour or short train journey from each other. So we kind of started with Champions Cup and then uh for my I was about to say give the age away from for my 30th, we did a um we did, I decided that I wanted to do a back-to-back pro de and top 14, and that was actually back then by on were in pro de du. So we did Bay on the Friday night and Poe on the Saturday, and I woke up eventually on on my 30th birthday in Poe, and that was kind of where I kind of got my affiliation to Poe from. But yeah, generally in terms of the podcast, we we kind of loved it, and it was brilliant like going to these new towns that we knew nothing about, and the culture there, and all the incredible food at some of these places is it makes it puts English sports stadia to to shame with some of the culinary offerings. Um and yeah, and so we've we I think we're now between Rich and I, I think we're up to 32 different grounds in or watch rugby at 32 different grounds. So I think a lot of them are. I mean, Stade de France is technically a football stadium, so a few of them are especially the World Cup venues, were football stadiums, but yeah, we uh and so and then after the World Cup, yeah, I guess there was the kind of outflow of British talent to France, and we found that no one was talking about it, and we were like, well, I feel like someone needs to loosely know what they're on about, and I'm not sure we are that, but yeah, we kind of highlight we highlight the trips because that's how we fell in love with it, and that's how a lot of people fall in love with it, especially to kind of non-French speakers, to kind of go and travel to France, because it is a brilliant country, and and uh yeah, I'm now a fully fledged Francophile, as much as I am a a Rosbeef, their uh their pejorative term for the English or British.

SPEAKER_01: 9:48

I can ask a quick question. Um, obviously, you you talk about you know signing a few Brits over the year. I mean, Poe were obviously doing exceptionally well this season, but uh, I guess historically they haven't been top of their game, haven't they? But you know, they were signing well, they've obviously you've got a fantastic uh person in the in Joe Simmons who's playing for 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 and he likes to make sure that he is given this full title of Joe Simmons MBE.

SPEAKER_01: 10:20

Sorry, I've sat down just to make that certain, you know. Uh and now you've obviously got Montorio as well. I mean, did they is it a sort of club that has generally attracted high-class talent from abroad, Poe?

SPEAKER_00: 10:31

Yes and no. Uh so you're right, and they have been in the lower reaches of the top 14 for a while. They got promotion back in in 2016, I think, and this is the first time they've been in the Champions Cup since 2001. Um, and or kind of what was the Heineken Cup, and obviously it's a bit easier to get into now as well. Um, and generally, like my time being a post supporter has been more looking downwards than upwards, whereas kind of qualify the back end of last season kind of turned the corner and got into the Champions Cup, and it's very much now a publicly stated aim to get into the top six, the playoffs, this season. Um, but they are there has been a shift. So historically, there were overseas signings, they've had a few, they've kind of got quite a connection with some iconic all blacks. So Conrad Smith was there for a while, they signed well, Luke Whitelock is still on the on the books, he's had a horrible time with injuries, but Sam Whitelock was signed after the World Cup and um had a retired after a season. But they've kind of there's a few kind of iconic players from generally New Zealand who have um settled down there and and kind of made links with with Poe. But uh this season there was a a bit of a change in this in the transfer policy and signing Julio Montauger uh for Kundo Issa, who who you you'll be familiar with with his time from Toulon and Argentina. Um they're they were the kind of two big ones, but also um a guy called Thomas Leclayat who played France in the autumn basically off the back of his return to form for Poe. But big things were his young tighthead or youngish tighthead, a lot of things were expected of him a couple of years ago, and he's kind of lost his way a bit of wrestling, but it was the first kind of time in a while that they'd signed a number of players, and you thought, oh, that's a really good signing, that's exactly what they need. Um, and I'd say certainly at the moment it's not it's not necessarily a policy of we want to sign big overseas players in the same way that Toulon would or Rasing 92 have historically. Um because the focus at the moment is very much bringing through players from the academy. So the head coach, Sebastian Piccarones, was head coach of France under 20s about three, four years ago, back when France under 20s were the all-conquering force of under-20s rugby. He was the man in charge and he was kind of brought in with the specific goal to bring through a lot of talent and bring through this kind of crop of young players, and it just seems at the moment like a never-ending production line of exciting backs. Um, there are so many, and you kind of you they they've got a few injuries, and they there are just more kind of appearing from the woodwork. Um, and and Piccarones is clearly doing a very good job because while they have signed some big name players, they've not had them for large chunks of this season, and they are still second in the league, and they've picked up wins again away at Bordeaux and at home to Toulouse and at home to La Rochelle, with not all of those kind of big name players playing, all those international players playing. So, yeah, that's the that's the kind of focus for them these days. And and they certainly this the international players they signed over the summer is much more of a sprinkling or a cherry on the cake type thing to kind of take them to the next level.

SPEAKER_05: 13:57

Yeah, I just want to say Rob. I mean we're we did fans the three of us expanded the all podcast. I mean you cover all you cover all bases, which is yeah, it's not easy to do i in the hour as as we're talking about in just video. Um specifically it wasn't uh the strongest code team against North Anton State. And we know there was a couple of issues like uh Montage who got injured with it in the warm-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 foolish man, which I think is probably the category Rich and I fall under. Do you know what? I w we we said this um on our on our pod that we were it's been a weird round last weekend because we were pleasantly surprised by some of the teams that were selected. So Cast, Toulon, um Claremont all sent pretty strong sides away. And Poe and Bayonne, who probably had their most winnable games at home in and they are the two teams or two of the teams with unbeaten records at home in the top 14, so very proud records, uh picked the the weakest sides of all the top 14 sides um in the Champions Cup. With Poe, it was it was partly due to injury, partly due to injuries and and necessity because of that, partly due to choice. So there were it it was an interesting selection looking at the Poe side, in that anyone that is um French international or has trained with France generally was not selected, and they were still obviously they tried to have Montoja, they tried to have Jack Maddox um who were uh Australian international, and I think that is 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 of 16 players per match day squad who are GIF. That doesn't necessarily mean French, so um it just means that they have to have been kind of formed in France and through a French academy. So someone like Becca Golgadza, who is Georgia captain, he is GIF qualified because he's kind of come through in France and he was rested. So all of the guys, it was quite an interesting the only big names that were initially selected were international players that were available, whereas or kind of non-GIFs that were available, whereas um well they Attasog Bay and uh Milian Garten are injured. Joe Simmons is actually injured as well. Uh sorry, Joe Simmons MBE. Um but kind of the other guys that were involved with the France squad or certainly played for France in the autumn internationals, like Hugo Oridu, Thomas LeClayat, um Jimmy Maxman, I think actually might have been injured, but he trained with France over the autumn, those were all the guys that were arrested. Um and I would be very surprised if there is a departure from that policy this weekend. I think the the team the team they put out on Sunday against Northampton, when I first saw it, I thought was alright. Um, a lot of those guys have are now second choice, but in the past have been first choice and are also the same guys that have put in some very, very good performances in the top 14 this season. The big one, and I'm thinking ahead to Bristol, and I was slightly worried when you guys said that Ellis Ellis Genge was probably gonna probably gonna start is post-Scrum. This year has actually been pretty good, it was terrible on Sunday, but over the last couple of seasons has been a really, really blindingly obvious Achilles heel, and when you start taking away some type five forwards who are who are kind of good quality international players, that starts to kind of bear its bare its head. Um, so yeah, I I think I've not really answered your question there, Lee. But I think I don't think it'll be 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 is obviously I mean I mean you said I mean there were the I listened to your podcast, you said there were like seven scrum penalties and 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. You know, he loves a good scrum pen, doesn't he? So um I I I hope it is a good game, I really do, and I hope that you know that Pose send a decent squad. And but you know, I guess historically British fans would always say the French don't particularly 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 far as five show, we're not we're not convinced as fans that the stadium'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 more on uh top 14 and and not the the champions uh cup. Would that be a fair assessment for this season?

SPEAKER_00: 19:09

Yeah, and and we even before I'd seen the team selection for last weekend, I could have could have predicted that that would be the case because it's such a publicly stated ambition of them to to kind of get to the playoffs for the first time in a long, long time. Um and you generally see it with the the smaller budget squads from France. So we've seen it in the past with the likes of Cast, who who actually have been a bit better in Europe over the last couple of years or bit. Um, but it's generally the bigger budget sides like Toulon, Toulouse, Bordeaux that have have put out stronger squads. Um so but uh I kind of go back to I can't I can't remember the which one of you uh asked it, but the the I kind of do you should reiterate that like these guys have have put in a really good shift. Season, so while it's weaker and lacks a bit of stardust, there is an element of the way they play is very, very well set out and they are very well coached. They are renowned as playing some very exciting attacking rugby, which you possibly expect where when you know they've put sides out with an average back line of 21 years old or something like that. Um, and obviously uh Dan Robson helps a bit with that with his age. Um, but you know, the majority of their outside backs are in their early 20s, um, and they're playing some thrilling stuff. It kind of cost them the losing bonus point at the end against Northampton, where Greg Warfoy, who scored two brilliant tries, tried to run it out from behind his own try-line and got caught. So it should be extra. I had a little glance at the weather actually. It's not fantastic on Sunday, but the way that Bristol play and and certainly the way Poe play, 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's may have been one of the reasons it wasn't such a good game because it was quite a heavy ground. So um, yeah, I mean, if you've got two two teams that are going to come and play rugby, I mean we we've experienced that at the Bears. Um, it's always a bit of a roller coaster. Although I've got to say, this season we feel like there is they've been a little bit more pragmatic, and uh, and obviously if you play a a high tempo, high pr precision game, it's all great until it doesn't work, and you know, you you get and and actually Bristol often get put under pressure by by uh kind of heavy defences to to force mistakes, but it kind of sounds it might be quite refreshing to actually play a team that that is a bit like us and uh see how we kind of cope with it as well. I'm sure Pat and his video analysts 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 good recently at cough because of the way they play at coughing up ball, whether it's knock-ons or they've just been a bit inaccurate breakdown.

SPEAKER_03: 22:01

It could be a coff a thon, to be honest, because Bristol are quite good at coughing it up as well. Um I just one other question I was gonna ask you, um, really, and it's always a pretty rubbish question when you get guests on. We're gonna ask it anyway. So, uh, so what do you think A is is gonna be, what's the result gonna be? And and do you do you have any sort of idea of a score prediction, which is usually a meaningless 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 the results of SOT 14 and ProD every week, and I think I think we we get 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. I I'm not holding out too much hope for for Poe. I was gonna try and come down, but the British rail prices are considerably more expensive than than French rail prices. If we were in you know, the equivalent journey in France would probably be about half the price, and then it'd be slightly less uh less prohibitive to take back to London at God knows what time on a Sunday evening. Um but yeah, even so like I think the fact that I if I thought that Pi were coming with a full noise team, I'd I perhaps could be tempted. Um I think they should be competitive, it shouldn't be a full blowout. Um I wouldn't put I wouldn't be surprised if it's a kind of 15 point plus margin though. Um they did pretty well to stay in the fight for so long against Northampton. Hopefully the scrum will be better, it can't be much worse, but um yeah, I I I genuinely have no idea what what team is gonna send be put out if they kind of pick um the likes of of LaClaya and Hugo Uradoo, then then it will be very competitive because that will fix the scrum, and Hugo Oridoo is currently the best line out forward in the top 14. Um so that that would make a huge difference. The backline will play a lot, whoever it is. Um so but I'm not I think I think Bristol have probably got on too much in terms of don't have too much star quality in that starting lineup for for Poe to 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've got uh one last very quick question for Rob before we say goodbye. Um I I'm exhausted, mind Lee, you've got one. Let's finish off with one from you then.

SPEAKER_05: 24:40

It's just a really quick one, actually, Rob. I just want to say because we've um we listened to your pod and we we uh uh we heard that you uh you I think you did have a cliche vow at some stage. We had a bingo during the Six Nations.

SPEAKER_00: 24:53

Oh, we might have had a cliche bowl, yeah. But we definitely did Six Nations 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 vowel as 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 assumptions made about Bristol that in the same way that people think they know what they're talking about.

SPEAKER_03: 25:20

Well, I think it's more the case that we have a fairly limited vocabulary and and use the same adjectives all the time, which has been picked off on by uh by by our kind of regular listeners. We we don't we can't really hide anywhere. So uh well it's good to hear that uh the other pods uh revel in uh the use of cliches as well. Well, look, Rob, we really, really appreciate your time. Um you definitely have educated us, uh, and I'm sure that a lot of our listeners will be uh who will be at the game as well, will go to the game with a with a bit of an intellectual spring in their step now that they know what the opposition are like. Um so we really appreciate it. And obviously, we've got Bordeaux uh after in January, so maybe we could uh get back in touch with you, you know, when we're closer to the time when we play the play Bordeaux, and there may be a few permutations that might be interesting to talk about then.

SPEAKER_00: 26:11

Um yeah, absolutely. I think uh yeah, the the top 14 Bordeaux is very different to the one that we saw. Well, this season's been very different to the one we saw on Saturday, and they were they were magnificent. But yeah, there's always that kind of um trade-off between which which team you get with the top 14 sides. Do you get the one that turns up in 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 of fate we actually do manage to qualify for the knockout rounds for the first time in three years, it would be fantastic if it was a French team. And we'd obviously then have to get in touch with you for not just rugby advice but also travel advice, culinary advice, and but clearly not any language advice.

SPEAKER_00: 26:54

So uh Yeah, well, you can definitely the thing about the the last 16 is because you kind of got a bit of a beal lead up time, you can identify the uh the ProDo or National games that recur that are happening on the on the Friday night and double up and get get get a lot of bang for your buck by uh by taking in a few games in a short space of time. That's the that's the best way to do it.

SPEAKER_03: 27:16

Well look, Rob, I uh really appreciate that. And uh yeah, uh all those people out there, I'd recommend uh having a listen to the Roast Beaks rugby pod this week because they've got a preview of the game. And and actually, your partner in crime was on BBC Bristol the Scrum tonight. And I've got to say, he didn't say much about the Bears Po game, so I think we've uh definitely complimented our 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 to hear have a bit more of a deep dive from you. So so as I say, it's uh really appreciate that. And uh well, enjoy your uh your francophile 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 having me on. Really appreciate it.

SPEAKER_03: 28:07

Okay, we're here with um Mark and Cameron from the Bear Supporters Advisory Committee. And uh they they contacted us uh because they they wanted to uh have an opportunity to sort of talk about what they're doing and uh and how you can get in touch with them and things like that. So uh yeah, we're really really pleased to have them. So um I'll I'll start with you, Mark. Do you want to give us a little bit of an overview of of of the committee and and what your role is and and so forth?

SPEAKER_07: 28:32

Yeah, so sure. Um so my name's Mark, I'm the chairman of the Bears Committee for this season. Um what the committee is brought in to do is to be the conduit between the fans and Bristol Bears higher-ups. Um, there's seven of us on the committee with a big demographic of different people on the committee. We've all jugged very well. Um, Tom Tainton, um, he chairs the meeting. We have one um every quarter and um 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 of a weird one really. It was like I I saw a um it was like a there was a Facebook post out by the club saying calling for for fans to apply for the um sports committee. I was like, alright, that'll be nice and interesting. Okay, get stuck in with that, put in a little application rope, a little bit about what I want to get from it. Heard nothing for months, and then it was like August, September time, I think it was. So this like email pops up, it's like, 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 still waiting for my reply, but anyway, uh so it's good to have you boys here. So, Mark, I mean, you kick off. I mean, what what specifically have you talked about so far this season? And um maybe run through some of the 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 the Leicester 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 of responses to say that that was pretty poorly designed, and there was a lot of smoke for like five minutes in a dolman stand. So they took the club took that on board and said, Yeah, we will stop that from going forward. And then also when AJ done his master's career season end and injury, it was like they went straight to the cat, like it was a guitar, no, it was an air guitar.

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 a lot of responses as well through more social media than the email box we got. So then we took it back to Tom, he took it on board, and um yeah, going from there, and there's like suggestions at the moment from the Dolman stand, so you can't see a shot clock. No, so we've gone back to Tom to see during the Premier games, is there a way the club can take that for player uh for fans in the Dolman stand? So that's things like that. Yeah, the dolman stand is the best 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 well you can't see at the Dolman stand. But yeah, I mean, I know you have I have seen you have put a summary of some of the results out on various sort of forums, haven't you? On the the Bristol rugby knot.net forum, Facebook group. So there's some more detail on that is out there at the moment that people can go and find. Yeah. Um how many so Cameron, how many how many meetings do they have a year? Um we tell we try and meet at least 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 out of 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 Tainton in advance, um, whether that's you know a collision of things that we've put to him via email over sort of that time period or stuff that he's picked up through kind of because they they also monitor kind of the fan forums and and they do read them. So it's kind of a you know, Tom will propose an agenda, we'll add and change what we think needs to go in there. Have you got anything particularly, Mark, that's on your case?

SPEAKER_07: 32:10

Go for it. So the women's game, I really wanted to send out there today. The club are very aware through the social media channels that there's a few, like quite a few fans who go to the women's and men's, and there's a like a conflict 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 to look frustrated by by this, like but he they were saying it was to do with the TV schedule, yeah, yeah. And um they're looking into it to talk to the broadcasters and see what can happen. But at the moment they're tied by what the TV's saying.

SPEAKER_04: 32:46

I'm glad you mentioned that because that was one of the things we were going to 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 ideas what they think they would like in their season tickets, um they're looking in to what to do benefit-wise and stuff like that. So if anyone's got any good ideas, 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 it sounds like obviously you want ideas or suggestions, and that's kind 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 their their 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 at Bristol Bears Rugby.com. Okay. Um, so any kind of fan feedback, if you want to ask us a question, get us to race or the club.

SPEAKER_07: 33:41

Or do it through social media channels if they've if people feel more comfortable doing it that way. So yeah, we'll we'll always pick up 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 seen it, but anyway, I'm sure if you just googled it as well, people will get find it. So you're very clear about that. You you want as much information as you can, but uh so that you can sort of collate it, take it to 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 the landstands. But the Dolman stands fans didn't get that, so it was just like that's that made me get another pipe and watched the band because I was like, Well, this is different, didn't expect it, it was great, and um, but it wasn't one on the Dolman side, so I said it'd be great if they had both, yeah. Um, and then the also the other thing Tom was saying that they really want to push this season is fans to do the Bears run. Yeah, so welcoming the fans uh the players 85 minutes before kickoff. Yeah, um, they're really trying to the all the players are coming in by coach, yeah, by Ashton Road. Yeah, um, as many fans can get around would be amazing.

SPEAKER_03: 34:48

Because I I went to the first one actually, the Tigers one, and the band was there as well, and it was well supported that Bears run then, and it was really it was carnival atmosphere, it was it was really, really good. So yeah, also quite warm, isn't it? And sunny, yeah, it was nice and sunny.

SPEAKER_01: 35:01

I I guess yeah, you know, depending on the time of the match, you might get more fans down than others. But I think that's a that's a great run. I think I suspect from previous seasons there's maybe some negativity about player engagement. I'm guessing maybe that's why this has come about. I mean it worked brilliantly at a big day out in Cardiff, so yeah, I I think it's really positive. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 35:20

Yeah, I was just gonna add to that actually, because we went to um Chiefs and they had two bands, so obviously then one band would finish, then the other would start, and it was actually really good, wasn't it, Moral? And we were just like you say, it's keeping everyone at HQ, which is what we all want, isn't it? We want to, you know, especially after a win, definitely, you know, even uh in a defeat, you can commiserate, so you're still spending your money there at the ground, which is yeah, what we all want, really.

SPEAKER_03: 35:48

Great. Um, so I don't know, is there anything else you want to add? It's your chance to uh to to put it 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 kind of at length in our in our last meeting with Tom and um a few other people from the club. Um and it's sort of they're very much on the same page as a lot of us fans, and it's kind of lost that um the the initial alert pizza um that we had first up with that South Africa game where we had a huge sellout crowd and it's sort of you know fallen down year on year since then. So I mean there's a few ideas floating about as to kind of what to do with that one thing that we propose to sort of doing it biannually, so having one every other year. Yeah, you might fray up a bit of cash to attract a bigger side, you know, maybe uh all black sex. That's what we all want. That's what we all want, that's what the fans want. Um, and it just kind of keeps it fresh rather than having that kind of almost like a nothing game that you know not many fans particularly want to go to, let alone you know, we season take holders may not want to go, let alone 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're we're kind of you know, we do our little thing, you know, a bit similar to you as well, but it's it's and I'm and uh we try and sort of mention stuff that people say to us as well. But it's nice to know for everyone that there is a kind of formalised channel because uh and and it's good, I guess it is good for people to know uh that they do genuinely you go and present this information, and Tom and other members of their kind of management do actually you 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 we think, he he looks he does take suggestions away if they can't implement them, he's very much X, Y, and Z, well, you can't do this, so it's very he's very forthcoming in terms of like I want what the fans want, but like so he's gotta he's gonna kind of put it all into the jigsaw pieces and buzz all together, hasn't he?

SPEAKER_03: 37:51

Yeah, but I guess the important thing is that it's for everyone out there, it it's like if you do have something to say, yeah, you know, you know that it will get there and you know that it will be listened to. Um so I think that's a really really important message. Yeah, probably a good way to uh to knock it on the head and finish it. So appreciate you boys coming down. Yeah, no worries, thanks hard. We'll get emailing, boys, should we?

SPEAKER_04: 38:12

We should say actually, Cameron's looking very fresh. The Scarlet's game with us yesterday. Uh we are he's looking far too fresh, 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 points as well, and pouring a bit of his beer in the uh we should talk about what Miles is drinking uh when we do that later.

SPEAKER_02: 38:37

Anyway, right, that's brilliant, boys. Fantastic. Thanks for doing that.