Blues 2025
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@Tim said in Blues 2025:
Any opinions on Blues U20 and Harbour NPC players Jack Lee and Tristyn Cook? Cook seems to play more as a six than a lock now.
Can't say I've seen a lot of Jack Lee, at least not enough to form any sort of informed opinion.
I've seen a lot more of Tristyn Cook, for Blues, Harbour, NZ Schools and NZ U20s. Then again, I find it hard to place him. He's got some tools - he's got good hand-eye coordination and body mechanics for a taller player, he's got pace, solid in the lineout - but I'm not sure he completely knows how to put all of those together in the optimal way.
His biggest improvement area to me would be in the contact area: footwork at the line, accelerating into contact, body positioning in the collision, all of these could be better, I think. And those are important factors if you want to play 6.
But those things often come with age and with putting on some more weight. I thought players like Cam Christie and Taine Plumtree had similar issues, but they've both improved their contact work massively in recent years. No reason Cook can't do the same.
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@Bovidae said in Blues 2025:
Sam Hainsworth-Fa'aofo would be a better option as a 7 in the immediate future.
He'd definitely be more SR-ready than a player like Woodley. But if we're talking about players potentially replacing Choat specifically, then I think Woodley is the more like-for-like replacement.
Hainsworth-Fa'aofo strikes me as more of a 7/8 while Choat is a 6/7: someone who works hard on defence, who is mainly a support option on attack, looks to disrupt the opposition ruck and aims to win the physical battle at the breakdown.
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@brodean said in Blues 2025:
Anyone know what Lotu Inisi is doing? That guy was dynamite last year.
I agree with that.
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Hearing another rumor to go along with the Slater one. Blues are in on/have signed Ioane Moananu. Just something I heard over the weekend, no reason to believe it isn’t true but would take with a grain of salt. Worth a share at least
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@Landers92 said in Blues 2025:
Hearing another rumor to go along with the Slater one. Blues are in on/have signed Ioane Moananu. Just something I heard over the weekend, no reason to believe it isn’t true but would take with a grain of salt. Worth a share at least
I would love for that to be true. Not holding my breath, but would be awesome.
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Blockbuster marquee signing for the Blues. Showing their true pulling power!
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@African-Monkey from a guy I’ve not got oil from before so unsure how reliable
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@brodean said in Blues 2025:
We had 5 hookers signed for 2025.
There's a difference between a full squad signing and having to bring guys in due to an injury crisis
Moananu seems too good to be true so I would assume Slater is the signing.
Blues website states Mullan is signed until end 2026.
