DAMN. because the Kiwis got torched, not because Jesse Bromwich did what you and I may have done on a night out.

Wonderful folks of Aotearoa, before getting into another trans-Tasman rugby league massacre, this is a nice platform to address the issue that everyone's talking about. But if you're expecting an over-reaction, you're probably best going to one of the mainstream media outlets because we offer alternative opinions and don't toe that line, a line that is rather conservative (on a variety of issues) and seeped in history; cheers old people.

It's definitely not ideal that Jesse Bromwich and Kevin Proctor decided to apparently dabble in some cocaine after the massacre. Most of us would be looking to dabble in something after yet another horrible loss to Australia, but I understand that this isn't a good look for kiwi league, let alone kiwi sportsmen after Ali Williams also got caught up in a similar situation.

However, does dabblin' in cocaine demand such a reaction? When you ponder the 'war on drugs' narrative our generation unfortunately fell into, there is absolutely no surprise that drug use by athletes and general members of the public is so heavily frowned upon by many older people. These older folk are the same people who drive the narratives of media organisations, thus influencing how much of Aotearoa feels on such a matter.

Is doing a line of cocaine really that bad?

Is hitting a bong of marijuana really that bad?

Compare the impact drug use has on society with the impact alcohol and fast food, for example, has on society and it's a no contest. I'd suggest that the biggest issues in Aotearoa are alcohol abuse (leading to drink driving, public mischief and violence) and obesity (diabetes and other health-related issues that obesity contributes to). Our society cries foul when athletes use cocaine, but wonders why we have so much alcohol-related crimes and an obesity epidemic despite our major sporting organisations promoting alcohol and terrible food.

Our sporting organisations and to a large extent, our society promotes alcohol and fast food which are responsible for far more problems than drug use. Yet drug use in this country (and Australia) is viewed as taboo, despite the number of countries who have decriminalized personal drug use increasing every year. If it's all good for other countries to decriminalize drugs, flipping it from a criminal issue to a public health issue, then what makes Aotearoa so special that we are still knee deep in a war on drugs?

Peep this from Vice.com about Portugal's decriminalization of drugs...

“Though often narrowly assessed in reference to its decriminalization law, Portugal’s experience over the last decade and a half speaks as much to its free public health system, extensive treatment programs, and the hard to quantify trickle down effects of the legislation. In a society where drugs are less stigmatized, problem users are more likely to seek out care. Police, even if they suspect someone of using drugs, are less likely to bother them. Though at least 25 countries have introduced some form of decriminalization, Portugal’s holistic model and its use of dissuasion panels sets it apart.

The rate of new HIV infections in Portugal has fallen precipitously since 2001, the year its law took effect, declining from 1,016 cases to only 56 in 2012. Overdose deaths decreased from 80 the year that decriminalization was enacted to only 16 in 2012. In the US, by comparison, more than 14,000 people died in 2014 from prescription opioid overdoses alone. Portugal’s current drug-induced death rate, three per million residents, is more than five times lower than the European Union’s average of 17.3, according to EU figures.”

Then peep this from Vice.com about how dumb a zero-tolerance policy against drugs is...

“Hailing from a dozen countries, including the United States, Switzerland, Mexico, and Nigeria, the commission’s 22 members wrote in the Lancet medical journal that the zero-tolerance stance wasn’t based on scientific evidence, and ultimately spurred “lethal violence, communicable-disease transmission, discrimination, forced displacement, unnecessary physical pain, and the undermining of people’s right to health.”

”It’s time for us to rethink our approach to global drug policies, and put scientific evidence and public health at the heart of drug policy discussions,” Dr. Chris Beyrer of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, a commission member, said in a statement.”

I start this thingy about the Kiwis massacre in Canberra with the above because the Niche Cache has a platform and when issues like this arise, we will use that platform as we see fit. Our audience is of the younger variety and we live in a country that is run by old folk, old folk who are responsible for continuing the war on drugs, blatant racism and suppression of Maori culture and older folk who aren't exactly living healthy lives. Those older folk have dictated terms, however younger folk are more open-minded and those open-minds allow for freedom of choice.

There's little to no impact from Bromwich and Proctor doing cocaine on their respective NRL clubs and had this not been made public, they would show up for NRL training as per usual. Bromwich would run out for Melbourne Storm next weekend as still play like the best prop in the NRL, while Proctor would still be viewed as a vital leadership cog with Gold Coast Titans. The reason Melbourne and Titans had to take action, or feel some sort of way is because it is a negative factor against their club, their brand and how society views them. A society that has waged a failing war against drugs for a long time.

We have a voice and we'll continue to use it. So instead of hating on Bromwich and Proctor, we'll share our beliefs for an open-minded Aotearoa.

As for the massacre, yeah it wasn't good. In reflection I have had sympathy and this idea that the Kangaroos are similar to the All Blacks floating around in my noggin' and this themes then led to a nice end point.

Sympathy is evident in how I view Bromwich and Proctor's actions. Many of you reading this would have use a drug at some point in your lives, so like me you are sympathetic to Bromwich and Proctor being scolded. Perhaps we're criminals for using drugs, so we're no different to them.

But that sympathy had me feeling sorry for the Kiwis as I watched Blake Ferguson sprint down-field to score the second try. Australia started this game brilliantly with Jonathan Thurston executing a beauty of a chip for Josh Dugan to score the first try, then came Ferguson's intercept-try and I just felt sorry for Aotearoa because it felt as though nothing was going their way, despite playing pretty well.

This leads me into the concept of Australia being on par with the All Blacks, which holds a lot of merit. Australia play rugby league under Mal Meninga at the highest level, just as Aotearoa plays rugby union at the highest level. Other international rugby union teams are good, but they simply don't offer the same physicality, tempo or skill that Aotearoa plays rugby union with. The gap between the All Blacks and the next best rugby union team is hefty, kinda because other teams aren't that good but mainly because the All Blacks are what we call 'nek level'.

The Kangaroos are nek level, but just as the British and Irish Lions (an All-Star rugby union team, not an international rugby union team) believe they can topple the All Blacks, the Kiwis have to believe they can topple the Kangaroos consistently. And with the roster that the Kiwis have and will have in the coming years, that's far more plausible that the Wallabies or Springboks thinking they can kick it with the All Blacks because neither Australia or South Africa have the rugby union talent that Aotearoa has.

The Kiwis do have that talent, which saw me throw the sympathy out the window. Yes Australia are nek level at rugby league, but we've seen the Kiwis been utterly dismantled in at least their last four outings against Australia. And it's really not good enough.

Yet there's no room to sit on being utterly dismantled and call for blood. We need to face the fact that whether we like it or not, David Kidwell will coach Aotearoa at the World Cup and that's where he will fall on his sword or lead the Kiwis into the future; judgement. There is no excuse for what happened in Canberra, fuck all the noise about the Kiwis not performing in one-off Tests, saving their best for tournaments in which they can build their culture and team vibes etc. That's an excuse and the talent in this Kiwis team leaves no room for any excuse.

Losing as they did in Canberra demands the 'massacre' description, but we must move forward. We must accept that Kidwell will coach this team into the World Cup and we've gotta ride with our team, which is a whole lot easier when I go back to the sympathy vibe and remember that the Kiwis did have a few positive points in Canberra.

Russell Packer looked like a legit international prop and Packer offers a level of aggression that no other Kiwis forward has.

Australia defended as you'd expect them to, or as you'd expect the All Blacks to defend and this stopped Aotearoa staying in the contest. Against any other team, the little half-breaks near Australia's line would have easily result in tries but guys like Cooper Cronk or Matt Gillett (insert any other Roo in there as well) stopped tries purely on international-level effort. Two tries down and up against some inspirational defence resulted in what I viewed as an 'ah, shit' moment for the Kiwis as they realised what they were up against.

Kodi Nikorima changed the flow of the game by himself at dummy half. His injection coincided with Kenny Bromwich replacing Proctor on the right edge and the younger Bromwich was almost as influential as Nikorima.

Simon Mannering went from playing through the middle in the NRL to playing left edge in the international arena, looking like the Kiwi with the most mana. Every time I see Mannering play, I think of mana and there's no rugby league player from Aotearoa who has mana like Mannering's.

Shaun Johnson isn't Jonathan Thurston or Cooper Cronk, we know that. For each of his grubbers that drifted over the dead-ball line, there was a nice kick that pinned Australia in a corner or a grubber that did earn a repeat set. It's just that Johnson and Kieran Foran aren't close to being a combo like Thurston and Cronk.

Crucially, I saw the blueprint for Kiwis success in this Anzac Test. The problem is that this wasn't evident often enough and that when the Kiwis did roll down field, attacking the area behind the ruck with brutal speed, the game was all but over. When the Kiwis did use their weapons around the ruck, it worked and this is how they will be successful at the World Cup.

This isn't on the same level as the Four Nations, but I'm not convinced we saw the strongest Kiwis 17 in Canberra. Again, no excuse there but I'm more intrigued about what the strongest Kiwis team looks like and you've got to believe that guys like Nelson Asofa-Solomona (who was ruled out via injury), Joseph Tapine, Tohu Harris and possibly David Fusitua would be in the mix.

To wrap things up with a nice little bow, ahead of this Test we heard Mal Meninga's complaints about how little the Kiwis/NZRL was doing to promote international rugby league. I didn't really care for Meninga's comments because this Test was in Australia which is his backyard, but it did plant this seed: the best thing for international rugby league is competition.

The best thing the Kiwis can do for rugby league is to win, or provide highly entertaining Test match footy. At the moment, the Kiwis are failing international rugby league because they do nothing but embarrass themselves when the play against Australia. They have everything they need to do their duty to international rugby league and provide a wonderful footy experience for those 80 minutes, but they don't, they fail miserably.

Oh and how about growing some kahunas to get the Kiwis playing in Aotearoa. At the moment there is no connection to the Kiwis because we never see them, most of the players play for Aussie clubs and there's not Test match footy in Aotearoa.

This team represents Aotearoa and that's a strong base level for any international team, we see the pride in the haka and we know that these players are honoured to represent Aotearoa (Packer understood how important his re-call was). But many of these players have never represented their country in front of their people and very few kiwis around Aotearoa have seen their rugby league team play in the flesh.

How can we really get behind this team when they never play in Aotearoa?

How can the players really, truly, genuinely understand what all of this means if they never play in Aotearoa ... ya know, the country they represent?

The NZRL can very easily make this possible, outside of the control of the NRL and as our national body, that should be their responsibility. But they fail at that, just as the Kiwis fail at their duty for international rugby league by being competitive against Australia.

Y'all know the drill: if you like our vibes then hit an ad like you hit a bong and support the Niche Cache. It costs you nothing but helps us out heaps.