Force v Chiefs
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The Gallagher Chiefs team to play the Western Force at 9.45pm (NZT) Saturday is:
- Siegfried Fisi’ihoi (18)
- Brayden Mitchell (3)
- Atu Moli (18)
- Dominic Bird (18)
- Brodie Retallick (78)
- Liam Messam (152)
- Sam Cane (86)
- Michael Leitch (28)
- Tawera Kerr-Barlow (74)
- Aaron Cruden (co-captain) (80)
- James Lowe (43)
- Anton Lienert-Brown (31)
- Sam McNicol (13)
- Shaun Stevenson (14)
- Damian McKenzie (40)
RESERVES:
- Hika Elliot (111)
- Aidan Ross**
- Sosefo Kautai (2)
- Taleni Seu (24)
- Lachlan Boshier (12)
- Finlay Christie (4)
- Stephen Donald (95)
- Toni Pulu (19)
() = Gallagher Chiefs caps in brackets
**denotes Investec Super Rugby debutUnavailable for selection: Brad Weber, Mitchell Graham, Nathan Harris, James Tucker, Glen Fisiiahi, Tim Nanai-Williams, Liam Polwart, Michael Allardice, Nepo Laulala, Johnny Faauli and Mitchell Brown.
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Force
1 Ben Daley, 2. Tatafu Polota-Nau, 3. Tetera Faulkner, 4. Lewis Carmichael*, 5. Ross Haylett-Petty, 6. Isi Naisarani, 7.Matt Hodgson (capt), 8. Richard Hardwick
9 Ian Prior, 10. Luke Burton, 11. Luke Morahan, 12. Bill Meakes, 13. Marcel Brache, 14. Curtis Rona, 15. Dane Haylett-PettyReserves:
16 Heath Tessmann, 17. Francois Van Wyk, 18. Pek Cowan, 19. Onehunga Havilli, 20. Brynard Stander, 21. Mitch Short**, 22. Jono Lance, 23. Alex Newsome*Denotes Super Rugby Debut
**Potential Super Rugby Debut
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Chiefs have won 3/5 matches in Perth, 2 by 13+ and the other by 8, both losses were under 3 points.
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@akan004 said in Force v Chiefs:
Wonder what Messam offers that Sanders doesn't? Sanders is desperately unlikely to only get one start this year.
Experience, leadership and consistency? I like Sanders but the choice between him and Messam is a no brainer.
@Bovidae Yeah, I know Allardice had his knee injury, I just wasn't sure about Tucker. But now that I think about it, I guess it's the same injury that ruled him out of the NPC last year?
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@akan004 said in Force v Chiefs:
@Nepia Messam hasn't been any good for a couple of years though. And experience doesn't count for much when he's constantly giving away stupid penalties. Sorry, I have never rated him that highly.
Well that shows how little your opinion of him is worth then, huh? He's had a fantastic season so far and those "stupid penalties" seem to happen more often in imaginations than reality.
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Had a quick look on those opta stats in the herald but they don't show penalties conceded.
If you do a comparison of Messam v Sanders then Sanders carrying stats look the better but the key thing as far as the Chiefs are probably concerned is that Messam is a lineout target and passes and offloads far more. For the style they play, this would rank him much higher.
Now if you run a comparison against Kaino you can see why Messam is below him in the pecking order quite easily. -
@Nepia said in Force v Chiefs:
@akan004 said in Force v Chiefs:
Wonder what Messam offers that Sanders doesn't? Sanders is desperately unlikely to only get one start this year.
Are you seriously wondering that?
I can't think of a single AB as successful as Messam has been who gets as much shit as he does. It's quite ridiculous.
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@MN5 said in Force v Chiefs:
@Nepia said in Force v Chiefs:
@akan004 said in Force v Chiefs:
Wonder what Messam offers that Sanders doesn't? Sanders is desperately unlikely to only get one start this year.
Are you seriously wondering that?
I can't think of a single AB as successful as Messam has been who gets as much shit as he does. It's quite ridiculous.
I get your point but.
Julian Savea?
Dagg before last season?
TJP before last season?
Toeava?
Nonu?
SBW? -
@pukunui said in Force v Chiefs:
I get your point but.
Julian Savea?
Dagg before last season?
TJP before last season?
Toeava?
Nonu?
SBW?Toeava is the only one in that lot I would agree with.
The others have had their detractors, but all of them have had periods when they were generally acknowledged as great players.
For example, I was angry that Dagg kept getting selected when his form was poor year after year, but that was only when his form was poor. I was happy picking him when it was good, and want him to play wing this year.
Messam gets shit even when he's playing well, in a way Dagg never did.
(SBW gets shit all the time, but not because he isn't a good player. It's because he tends to act as if the rest of the world will fit in for him, which makes many people think he is a tool.)
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@Chester-Draws said in Force v Chiefs:
@pukunui said in Force v Chiefs:
I get your point but.
Julian Savea?
Dagg before last season?
TJP before last season?
Toeava?
Nonu?
SBW?Toeava is the only one in that lot I would agree with.
The others have had their detractors, but all of them have had periods when they were generally acknowledged as great players.
For example, I was angry that Dagg kept getting selected when his form was poor year after year, but that was only when his form was poor. I was happy picking him when it was good, and want him to play wing this year.
Messam gets shit even when he's playing well, in a way Dagg never did.
(SBW gets shit all the time, but not because he isn't a good player. It's because he tends to act as if the rest of the world will fit in for him, which makes many people think he is a tool.)
Yeah Messam gets the grief as all the above have admittedly but they also get the 'wow he used to be shit but by golly he's good now' posts which Messam doesn't seem to.
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@SammyC said in Force v Chiefs:
Never really noticed the Messam hate, he's one of the more popular Chiefs players down this way
One of my personal favourite AB's in the last 5 years. Never takes a backwards step
That's not a common opinion. He got the "placeholder" tag which allowed the casual observer to overlook his efforts. Then that penalty in South Africa happened, and opinions crystalised.
One of, if not the greatest Chiefs ever, on and off the field
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@Chester-Draws said in Force v Chiefs:
The others have had their detractors, but all of them have had periods when they were generally acknowledged as great players.
For example, I was angry that Dagg kept getting selected when his form was poor year after year, but that was only when his form was poor. I was happy picking him when it was good, and want him to play wing this year.
Messam gets shit even when he's playing well, in a way Dagg never did.
(SBW gets shit all the time, but not because he isn't a good player. It's because he tends to act as if the rest of the world will fit in for him, which makes many people think he is a tool.)
I don't think Messam is comparable to those other players (apart from Toeava) - Julian Savea, Dagg and Nonu at their best were all World XV candidates - Messam at his best was not.
TJP is in a totally different stage of his career where he is still ascending so its a bit wait and see when he ends up. SBW you have mentioned.
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Lots of guys who would never have made a World XV don't get treated that way though.
Crotty, for example. Everyone goes on about how dependable and reliable he is, rather than how he's just a placeholder until someone else comes along. Yet he is almost exactly in the Messam category.
