Boys and their Balls - Part 56

Pétanque

Pétanque, also known as Boules (which means balls in French), is a game developed in France.  Above, Joueurs de Boules (Game of Bowls), a 1908 painting by Matisse.  Apparently there was already a tradition of playing the game naked.

The object of the game is to toss balls as close as possible to a target ball.  It can be played with one or more players on each team, and the team that gets a ball closest to the target wins.  Above, measuring the distance to the orange target ball.

This birthday card was called "Boules and balls."

Chris Hughes and Kem Cetinany were on the British dating show Love Island in 2017, along with girlfriends, but the surprising show development was the bromance between Chris and Kem.  In 2018 they starred in a reality show You vs Chris & Kem, where they took part in challenges sent in by viewers.  One challenge was to play naked boules, which they did, above, though they seem to be paying more attention to each other than to the game.

Petanque or boules has become a favorite activity at nudist resorts worldwide.

Above, a nude boules tournament in Limburg, Holland is crashed by a clothed streaker.

Petanque players at the Cypress Cove nudist resort in Florida.

Petanque at Cypress Cove.

Petanque at Cypress Cove.

This leaked photo of New Zealand judge David Saunders raking his petanque court caused a scandal in 2016.  In 2021, after the judge had retired, he went public about his nudist lifestyle.

Bocce is another game similar to petanque, though in bocce the balls are bowled at the target, and in petanque they are thrown.  But naked bocce has never become popular at nudist resorts like petanque has.  Above, bocce players at a Burning Man festival.

We close with a note about one of the rules in petanque.  If the losing side scores no points at all, it's called a "fanny," and the loser(s) are supposed to kiss the bottom of a girl named Fanny.  Well, what if a girl named Fanny isn't available?  I'm sure another fanny could be be found for kissing.

Boys and Their Balls - Part 55

More Australian Rugby Players

Last time, we saw a bunch of Australian professional rugby players who got naked off the field.  Today we see some more who are even more uninhibited.  Above, a selfie by Ben Hunt, a player for the Brisbane Broncos.

And another selfie by Ben Hunt after, well, you know.

A video of Liam Knight, player for the South Sydney Rabbitohs, getting naked in the locker room.

And in case you didn't catch it, here's a screen capture of Liam from that video.

Wade McKinnon, who played for the Rabbitohs as well as other teams, posted a few photos of himself.  To older Americans, this V sign means "V for victory", and to younger Americans it means "peace", but to Australians, as well as in New Zealand, the U.K., Ireland, and South Africa, if the back of the hand faces the observer, it means "up yours."

Here's a photo of Wade from the rear.

And here's a photo of Wade in action.

Wade was not the only NRL (National Rugby League) player who photographed himself in that kind of action.  Above is an excerpt from a video of Dylan Napa of the Canterbury Bulldogs.

By comparison, this shot that someone took of Keenan Palasia of the Brisbane Broncos looks almost demure.

And then there's Brisbane Broncos player Kotoni Staggs, above.

Here's a rear view of NRL player Johnathan Thurston.

Alex Twal of the Wests Tigers tries to conceal the goods.

This is Michael Witt of the Manly Sea Eagles, named after the town of Manly, though Michael looks pretty manly himself.

We end with teammates Angus Crichton and Tom Hughes, both players for the South Sydney Rabbitohs, raising up that team spirit.  And something else of theirs might be raising up, too.

Boys and Their Balls - Part 54

Australian Rugby Players

Last time we saw a bunch of Australian rugby players getting dacked (pantsed) on the field.  But lots of Aussie rugby players have gotten exposed off the field, too.  Above, Matt Ballin of the Manly Sea Eagles.

Dylan Brown of the Parramatta Eels in a scenic location, unfortunately concealing the most scenic feature.

But here's another scenic view of Dylan Brown and a friend.

Justin Carney of the Canberra Raiders.

David Williams of the Manly Sea Eagles.  The team is named for a town called Manly, although, judging by David (and Matt Ballin in the first photo), the players are also pretty manly.

John Dugan of the Cronulla Sharks getting taped up.  Did this Shark get bitten?

Sandor Earl of the Melbourne Storm.

Adam Elliott of the Canberra Raiders, in and out of uniform, and ...

teammate Zac Woolford shows Adam his team spirit.

We end with John Eales of the Queensland Reds.  John is the most successful captain in the history of Australian rugby.  He was given the nickname 'Nobody' ...

because "Nobody's perfect."

Boys and Their Balls - Part 53

 Dacked

In rugby, more than any other sport, we see a player being tackled by an opposing team member grabbing him by the hem of his shorts, pulling them down and giving the audience an interesting view.  This seems to happen in Australia more than anywhere else.  Aussies call this getting dacked.  Today's photos are all of Australian players getting dacked.

We start with a video clip of Penrith Panthers player Josh Mansour getting taken down by his pants, so you can see the purpose of the maneuver – to stop the guy with the ball.

Above, Cameron Munster of the Melbourne Storm team gets dacked.

Here's Cameron Munster again.  This time he's not playing for his home team but for the Queensland Maroons, in one of a set of rugby matches between Australian states where each state team is composed of players from multiple regular teams.

Corey Oates of the Brisbane Broncos being tackled by Brenk Lee of the Canterbury Bulldogs, whose face has ended up in an interesting spot.

This photo of Dave Taylor of the South Sydney Rabbitohs went viral for showing frontal nudity, not normally seen on the field.

Unfortunately, it was a fake.  The original photo is above.  It was a clever fake, though.

Drew Mitchell playing for the Australian Wallabies, a team representing the nation of Australia in international competition, in this case against Italy, in 2010.

Jake Mullaney of the Parramatta Eels in a game against the Melbourne Storm in 2013.

James Tedesco of the Sydney Roosters gets up after being tackled and dacked.

And here's James Tedesco again in 2022.

Joe Galuvao of the Penrith Panthers being taken down by the Canberra Raiders in 2003.

John Sutton of the South Sydney Rabbitohs is stopped by multiple Brisbane Broncos in 2006.

Josh Morris of the Sydney Roosters running with his pants down in a game against the Melbourne Storm in 2021.  I can only assume that an an opponent grabbed and pulled down his pants but lost his grip, and Morris kept running with the ball.

Nathan Hindmarsh of the Parramatta Eels.  The guy who looks like he's hugging him is an opponent who grabbed him to stop him, and the guy behind him is the one who dacked him and now seems to be taking a closer look.

Rocky Elsom, playing for the Australian Wallabies, the national team, against the New Zealand All Blacks in 2010.

Christian Welch of the Melbourne Storm.

We end with a rare frontal exposure, and I don't think this one is a fake.  This is Jack Cogger of the Newcastle Knights.