Highlanders 2025
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@SouthernMann I had no idea who he was two weeks ago!
But now that you've tarnished him, I'm not interested
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@frugby it's obvious JJ has the team galvanized this season, we had essentially 5 - 6 loose forwards in the 23 able to contribute towards the victory, where as an inferior coach (just my opinion) such as R Penney has a reliable team figure in Tom Christie out playing for a development side, what I'm more or less trying to say I think the team culture of the landers is on the upswing, the boys are clearly fit Sean withy and Holland huge shifts the past week, big Soane Vikena & Sefo Kautai quite remarkable endurance last night
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@Grooter said in Highlanders 2025:
where as an inferior coach (just my opinion) such as R Penney
I suspect you are not alone in thinking this
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@SouthernMann said in Highlanders 2025:
For a guy of only 21 he has certainly copped some shit since he first played top flight footy at 19. Hopefully what he can do overshadows the occasional clanger.
Absolutely love to see Finn having the game he did last night. The only place I’ve seen him cop shit is on here funnily enough so it’s lovely watching the ones that are constantly on him eat their words. Not bad for a 21 year old eh, massive talent! Couldn’t be happier for him.
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@SouthernMann said in Highlanders 2025:
We are becoming a fun team to watch again. Long-range tries, and linking well. Sure beats how we have farted about in previous seasons.
What vision and time on the ball, and that try! But my fave moment is perhaps "Barrett with authority" then gets crunched by the smallest guy on the field...
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I've been replaying the last twenty minutes of the game last night over and over.
I think it speaks to how much we need the Jamie Joseph style of coaching in the deep south. I miss that style of highlanders where each position was filled by a larger than life bloke who fought in the trenches for the team. Guys like Big Nasi, The Barracuda, Joe Wheeler, Elliot Dixon, Alex Ainley, Ash Dixon. Blokes who at best were only ever on the All Black fringes but just turned up with a chip on their shoulder.
Last night felt like the super rugby final of 2015 all over again. Just a grim determination to refuse to die no matter the odds. Anyone seen the TV Shoresy? There's a line in there that really stood out to me 'I don't want a team of winners, I want a team who hate losing more than anything else'.
Big Jim surely has to have a ticket into the All Blacks after that. Fabian Holland has to be not long behind him too. Taylor, Hurley, Withy and Fakatava had immense shifts last night too and probably moved up the pecking order a bit.
Blooyd proud right now, and wish i was in Dunedin to celebrate in the octagon. It would have been a wild night.
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@Landers92 said in Highlanders 2025:
@SouthernMann said in Highlanders 2025:
For a guy of only 21 he has certainly copped some shit since he first played top flight footy at 19. Hopefully what he can do overshadows the occasional clanger.
Absolutely love to see Finn having the game he did last night. The only place I’ve seen him cop shit is on here funnily enough so it’s lovely watching the ones that are constantly on him eat their words. Not bad for a 21 year old eh, massive talent! Couldn’t be happier for him.
Was quite interesting to hear both Jamie and Finn himself discussing the need for balance in his game
I won’t pretend like I haven’t been a critic, but I reckon his decision making has been vastly better in these two games this season. I have felt in the past he has misexecuted things which were the wrong option.
It’s amazing the difference a good coach can make… Jamie Joseph might be even more of a messiah than we ever thought!
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@SouthernMann said in Highlanders 2025:
@Bones said in Highlanders 2025:
@SouthernMann yeah Robinson is the player that many imagined Millar was. Extremely good option taker and top notch execution.
Hurley really is DMac MKII.
I had no idea who Taine Robinson was when his name dropped last year in the squad. I just had nightmares about the last 10/15 we had from Ta$man in Mitch Hunt
Robinson looked pretty good for Ta$man last year I thought, and I genuinely thought the Crusaders would snap him up.
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@frugby ive been a huge critic....but i also hugely respect players that visibly work on their game and he is making much better decisions like not playing like hes bigger than he is whilst at the same time improving his strength and technique so when he does have to take down bigger guys he can
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The Highlanders are clearly impressing a few people, even getting a feature article by Nick Bishop at RugbyPass:
Jamie Joseph could lead the Highlanders to the promised land and himself to the All Blacks job
There are hallmarks of Joseph's 2015 Super Rugby champions in his newly assembled crop of a decade later.
Nothing too insightful - including some strange references to Scott Gregory and Mitch Hunt as 'old dependables' - but it's nice to see the clear bounce back of the franchise recognized.
Has anyone heard an update on Saula Ma'u's injury? Tighthead depth might be the one clear weakness the team still has. Kautai has been a great addition but I'm not sure Wingham is quite ready for regular minutes at this level.
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@Mauss said in Highlanders 2025:
Has anyone heard an update on Saula Ma'u's injury? Tighthead depth might be the one clear weakness the team still has. Kautai has been a great addition but I'm not sure Wingham is quite ready for regular minutes at this level.
Saula is back training this week so doesn’t seem to be anything too serious which is a good sign. Whether he plays or not this coming Friday though is up in the air.
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@handa457 said in Highlanders 2025:
Daniel Lienert Brown suspended for three games with a chance to reduce to two through training programme.
Bender has said EDG & Ma’au are looking like they’re available for selection this weekend.
Unsurprising really... Zero mitigation etc.
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Injury status update.
Oliver Haig (foot / 7 weeks )
Jonah Lowe (ACL / 4 weeks )
Jona Nareki (ankle / 2 weeks)
JRK (neck / 7 weeks)
Josh Whaanga (back / 1 week)Whaanga popping up this week but good to see nobody else added.
Anyone know if there’s a development game this weekend?
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@Landers92 said in Highlanders 2025:
Injury status update.
Oliver Haig (foot / 7 weeks )
Jonah Lowe (ACL / 4 weeks )
Jona Nareki (ankle / 2 weeks)
JRK (neck / 7 weeks)
Josh Whaanga (back / 1 week)Whaanga popping up this week but good to see nobody else added.
Anyone know if there’s a development game this weekend?
Back three will be a good conversation when we have
Lowe, JRK and Nareki back. JRK and Nareki would have been first stringers. Hurley and Tangitau/Gilbert have got a good few rounds to keep them out.Same with Haig in the loosies. I'm a massive fan. Hope he can work his way back in.
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If you would have drawn up the backline halfway through the NPC. It would have only had Tele'a and Fakatava in the spots they are currently occupying
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@SouthernMann some good depth in the backs once everyone is back healthy. Something we haven’t had for years
