Exodus 2017
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The replenishment of the props will be interesting, mainly because the next tier have little or no international experience - yet.
At TH, Charlie is leaving and Franks won't be going on forever. Ofa T is obviously considered the next in line and he will get more opportunity at TH for the Blues from next season to prove he's up to it. After that there is Laulala and JTA.
At LH, Crockett is 34 so will need to be replaced before 2019. The next tier is Hames, Manu and Goodes.
There should be a place available on the EOYT for one of the above.
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@mariner4life well Piri even played at 10 for a decent part of a game too didn't he, meaning we played 5 different people at 10.
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@Tim said in Exodus 2017:
@Bovidae How do you rate Atu Moli's prospects?
I was going to suggest Moli might be a candidate as an apprentice on the EOYT tour. Moli has only just turned 22 so is still very young for a prop. He is playing mostly off the bench at TH for the Chiefs, is a big unit and mobile. He could be someone they look at to fill the role that Charlie does.
Laulala is not really a ball-carrier, more Franks-like. Let's see how JTA goes tonight.
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@taniwharugby said in Exodus 2017:
@mariner4life well Piri even played at 10 for a decent part of a game too didn't he, meaning we played 5 different people at 10.
It's also likely that if Cowan wasn't in such cabbage form that they might have just gone with Piri at 10.
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@Chris-B. said in Exodus 2017:
@Rapido I think that's why Hansen was annoyed at losing Luatua. More than any of them, he probably had the physical attributes to replace Kaino (who is talking of hanging around for another RWC, but I'm pretty doubtful - he's well past 34 - won't be surprised if we get an announcement from him in the next few months. Even Read is not far from 32. Vito is gone and Messam looks to be on recent evidence.
At the moment, Squire is at the head of the queue, but he's very injury prone - has been even at NPC level. Then apparently Ioane and Fifita, Dixon has dropped back in the running from last year. A wildcard is Luke Whitelock, who is playing much better rugby than when he made the ABs several years ago. Most of his web stats list him as 104kg, but I find that hard to believe. He could probably do with adding a couple more kgs to his frame for international rugby, but he wouldn't be the worst. I'd have him ahead of Shields and Jordan Taufua, who needs some platform shoes to make him a lineout option.
That Luke Jacobson looks a good prospect with the U20s. The little I saw of him was impressive.
I think Akira is the obvious replacement for Kaino. He's really finding his feet at this level now, and was huge for the Maori playing in a pack that was well beaten.
Cane is only 25 so will be around for 5+ years easy.
Read is the biggest problem, he's very difficult to replace as he's such an integral part of the team. Ardie has been great and is a genuine option at 8, but we lose a lot in the lineout.
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@mariner4life said in Exodus 2017:
Luatua, Faumauina and TKB hurt. Fekitoa will hurt too. These are international standard players ready to step in if we lose anyone, and still not overly weaken us (Charlie is more than that, he's a huge part of our gameday squad). They aren't guys at the end of their careers building a well deserved nest egg, they are players in their prime.
Surely this has got to bite at some point? We can't keep turning guys up to fill these holes, it's just not possible.
Though we've lost a lot of players overseas one thing that has been very constant since Henry took over is the coaching personal. Which is why I am (gulp) comfortable with the idea of Foster taking the reigns from Hansen when the time comes - IMO we need that continuity to help offset/manage the inevitable player loss.
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NQ - I reckon Ardie's lacking a bit of height and weight to be a genuine option as an international No. 8. No matter how much energy he brings it's hard to see him as a bullocking, hard driving 8 that I like to see. Even as an openside flanker I reckon Hansen would like to see him a bit bigger a la Cane and McCaw.
@Stargazer - I'd have Mitchell Drummond on your halfback's list somewhere around Weber and Pulu. He's much improved from last year, not brilliant but playing very solidly in pretty much all aspects. It would be interesting to see how he went behind a weaker pack.
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@No-Quarter see how long our love of this succession planning and continuity lasts if we start losing a bit.
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@Chris-B. said in Exodus 2017:
NQ - I reckon Ardie's lacking a bit of height and weight to be a genuine option as an international No. 8. No matter how much energy he brings it's hard to see him as a bullocking, hard driving 8 that I like to see. Even as an openside flanker I reckon Hansen would like to see him a bit bigger a la Cane and McCaw.
Lacking a bit in height probably, but in a similar mold to Rodders who did a great job for us over a number of years. He made some very strong runs when he came on in the weekend, his leg drive is out of this world, so I'm not sold that he doesn't have the physicality required with ball in hand. The wide ranging game suits him a lot better then staying tight and smacking blokes backwards like Cane and Kaino.
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@mariner4life if Foster takes over and we lose a couple I'll probably lead the angry mob calling for his head... but right now I can see the sense in it...
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@No-Quarter said in Exodus 2017:
@mariner4life if Foster takes over and we lose a couple I'll probably lead the angry mob calling for his head... but right now I can see the sense in it...
good luck getting to the front of that mob, there are a whole bunch of Chiefs fans on here who have never got rid our torches and pitchforks (they're just in storage)
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@No-Quarter said in Exodus 2017:
@Chris-B. said in Exodus 2017:
NQ - I reckon Ardie's lacking a bit of height and weight to be a genuine option as an international No. 8. No matter how much energy he brings it's hard to see him as a bullocking, hard driving 8 that I like to see. Even as an openside flanker I reckon Hansen would like to see him a bit bigger a la Cane and McCaw.
Lacking a bit in height probably, but in a similar mold to Rodders who did a great job for us over a number of years. He made some very strong runs when he came on in the weekend, his leg drive is out of this world, so I'm not sold that he doesn't have the physicality required with ball in hand. The wide ranging game suits him a lot better then staying tight and smacking blokes backwards like Cane and Kaino.
Yeah, lets say looking in the future that it's Cane at 7 and a slightly tighter Akira at 6 then you could definitely have a wider ranging 8.
Maybe Squire will be the guy for a few years, ticks the height and then robustness, age might count against him, but players last a bit longer these days.
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@antipodean said in Exodus 2017:
@Rapido I'm sure he'd get a call up if he removed the toasters from his hands.
Is this a real thing now though? Are there stats to back this up, especially for this year? I have not seen him drop a ball in a while
He does brig a lot of leadership. He is not a Reid, but he is not a bad player -
@Darren-Nicholson that's only because the 'canes have had a month off...
He's got "early years Rodney So'oialo" hands
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@Nepia said in Exodus 2017:
@No-Quarter said in Exodus 2017:
@Chris-B. said in Exodus 2017:
NQ - I reckon Ardie's lacking a bit of height and weight to be a genuine option as an international No. 8. No matter how much energy he brings it's hard to see him as a bullocking, hard driving 8 that I like to see. Even as an openside flanker I reckon Hansen would like to see him a bit bigger a la Cane and McCaw.
Lacking a bit in height probably, but in a similar mold to Rodders who did a great job for us over a number of years. He made some very strong runs when he came on in the weekend, his leg drive is out of this world, so I'm not sold that he doesn't have the physicality required with ball in hand. The wide ranging game suits him a lot better then staying tight and smacking blokes backwards like Cane and Kaino.
Yeah, lets say looking in the future that it's Cane at 7 and a slightly tighter Akira at 6 then you could definitely have a wider ranging 8.
Maybe Squire will be the guy for a few years, ticks the height and then robustness, age might count against him, but players last a bit longer these days.
On the other hand - assuming that Kaino really does retire this year - we can hopefully have at least Squire/Ioane, Cane/Ardie, Read combos through to 2019, by which time the landscape will have changed quite a lot.
You'd hope that, imminently, we're only likely to lose Kaino and Crockett due to age - aside from those already with seats booked on the plane - with Kieran Read, Ben Smith (get well!) and SBW as the next tranche - maybe after the next RWC.
It all bodes pretty well and - despite that he annoys me at times - you have to say Steve Tew has done a pretty sterling job in running NZ rugby. Especially when you see the way the Aussies and Jaapies are struggling.
