Blues v Crusaders
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@Landers92 said in Blues v Crusaders:
@Bones said in Blues v Crusaders:
rumour spreading that maca springer is dropped to the bench
Imagine scoring 5 tries and being dropped for Fihaki…
This is the opportune moment for any CEO/coach of another NZ team to go after Springer. With Lester coming back next year Springer may not even make the 23 so if you offered him a contract now he may just take it. Looking at you Avan Lee/Clark Laidlaw.
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@Canes4life said in Blues v Crusaders:
@Landers92 said in Blues v Crusaders:
@Bones said in Blues v Crusaders:
rumour spreading that maca springer is dropped to the bench
Imagine scoring 5 tries and being dropped for Fihaki…
This is the opportune moment for any CEO/coach of another NZ team to go after Springer. With Lester coming back next year Springer may not even make the 23 so if you offered him a contract now he may just take it. Looking at you Avan Lee/Clark Laidlaw.
I don't think anyone is going to be beating down doors for Springer. At best, he'd be a slight upgrade on Jonah Lowe.
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@Bones I saw him play plenty in U20s, both super and for NZ in 2022. He and Bell were the two best players of that crop through those games, especially in a NZ team that went quite badly given some of the talent they had. Bell's had injury problems since obviously, not sure what happened to Springer last couple of years as I don't see Ta$man play and missed last years Super Rugby, but he was an excellent wing/fullback who didn't make many errors at U20 level and a good kicker. Would be very odd if he doesn't get plenty of gametime from here on out as he was excellent last week.
Worth noting despite going to a smaller school in Waimea he was player of the tournament in the Crusaders schools comp in 2020. Fair to suggest given his history at lower levels, he's been more on the AB coaches long term radar than many realise, similar to Bell last year.
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Important game this one for both sides. Blues obviously due to their position on the ladder, and especially for the Crusaders. If they win, then they have a case for being the 2nd best side in the competition behind the Chiefs, if not, then do they get the pretenders tag next to them for the time being?
Tough one to pick. The Crusaders always get up for the Blues no matter the situation, but the Blues are in a desperate situation so early in the comp, so they really need to show something if they want to stay alive in this years comp, and last weeks performance should give them hope that they can pull off a win.
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The Crusader defence has been poor so far this year and I don't see the Blues leaking points like the Reds and the Force. I think the Crusaders are pretenders.
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@Crazy-Horse said in Blues v Crusaders:
I think the Crusaders are pretenders
Quite possibly, but confidence (Inc lack of) can do odd things
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@Bones said in Blues v Crusaders:
rumour spreading that maca springer is dropped to the bench
Penney said Fihaki’s form in the Crusaders’ victory over the Reds the week before meant he deserved a recall.
“Chay was almost man of the match, created an opportunity for Macca and Macca took the opportunity, and now we’ve resurrected Chay back into the position. It’s simple, really,” Penney told reporters.
Talk about turning yourself in knots to justify a bullshit call. Future NZR management material
Almost MOTM 💩
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@Machpants said in Blues v Crusaders:
Talk about turning yourself in knots to justify a bullshit call. Future NZR management material
Penney’s strange word salad notwithstanding, I think Fihaki’s reintegration into the side is fine. Fihaki looks like a much-improved player to me this season.
The biggest change seems to me to be the quickness of his decision-making. While he would, in earlier seasons, linger too long with the ball when given too much time and space (which would often result in errors), now he’s become much faster in his decision-making. He either immediately attacks the space ball-in-hand, or he quickly kicks, passes or offloads. He looks to be playing with a lot more clarity and it’s paying off.
Springer obviously had a great game as well against the Force. I’d like to see him given a few games at fullback, as I think that’s his best position in the long-term.
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@Bones said in Blues v Crusaders:
@Canes4life said in Blues v Crusaders:
@Landers92 said in Blues v Crusaders:
@Bones said in Blues v Crusaders:
rumour spreading that maca springer is dropped to the bench
Imagine scoring 5 tries and being dropped for Fihaki…
This is the opportune moment for any CEO/coach of another NZ team to go after Springer. With Lester coming back next year Springer may not even make the 23 so if you offered him a contract now he may just take it. Looking at you Avan Lee/Clark Laidlaw.
I don't think anyone is going to be beating down doors for Springer. At best, he'd be a slight upgrade on Jonah Lowe.
Bad comparison, at least compare him to someone that gets on the park.
Macca Springer has been around a while but he's still only 22. I'd definitely back him to come right at some stage and he'd be an improvement on some of the Canes outsides we have in the squad atm.
You could also argue he's starting to come right, in one appearance he scored five tries. Hard to argue with. Lowe would have fluffed half those chances.
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@nzzp said in Blues v Crusaders:
From a mate:
Q: when was the last time EB played 4 games in 4 weeks?Answer: May 2022
insert glass gif here
When Razor selects him for the ABs this year you can bet he'll go on about his amazing toughness, durability and character.
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@Canes4life said in Blues v Crusaders:
Bad comparison, at least compare him to someone that gets on the park.
Ummm... wouldn't that make him an upgrade?
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@Bones said in Blues v Crusaders:
@Canes4life said in Blues v Crusaders:
Bad comparison, at least compare him to someone that gets on the park.
Ummm... wouldn't that make him an upgrade?
Scoring 5 tries in your debut game of the season is a little more than a 'slight' upgrade when comparing him to someone that never plays.
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@Canes4life I could see a scenario where he makes the ABs squad this year as wing/fullback cover and is reported like some huge bolter than came out of nowhere, when he was a schoolboy star who was one of our best U20s players of his year. The combo of a small school, playing for Ta$man and the Crusaders having a bad year last year means he's flown under the radar for the average rugby follower.
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@HugeCarrot2 said in Blues v Crusaders:
@Canes4life I could see a scenario where he makes the ABs squad this year as wing/fullback cover and is reported like some huge bolter than came out of nowhere, when he was a schoolboy star who was one of our best U20s players of his year. The combo of a small school, playing for Ta$man and the Crusaders having a bad year last year means he's flown under the radar for the average rugby follower.
He has plenty of upside and I'd imagine if he came available all franchises would jump at the chance to sign him. He had a poor season last year but so did the rest of the Crusaders. I think he's got a massive future in the game but in saying that he might find it hard to nail down a starting spot at the Crusaders if Lester comes back in next year, hence why he may look to go elsewhere.
The Canes would be a nice fit. Riley Higgins and Harry Godfrey played with him in the under 20s so already have that connection but I'm obviously being hopeful rather than anything.
