Blues 2017
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2017 Blues U18 Squad
The following 1st XV players have been selected to attend the annual Blues Under 18 schools camp at the Blues High performance facilities during the first week of the school holidays:
Auckland players:
Hayes Okesene (Kings College)
Millenium Saneviri (Kings College)
Junior Rotuva (Kings College)
Noah Perelini (Kings College)
Thorn Parkes (Kings College)
Aidan Morgan (Kings College)
Fatongia Paea (Sacred Heart College)
Sione (Taufa) Funaki (Sacred Heart College)
Lemeki Namoa (Sacred Heart College)
Zyon Holo (St Peter's College)
Kalin Felise (St Peter's College)
Paul Mohi (Aorere College)
JayJay Su'emai (Aorere College)
Mosese Pepa (Aorere College)
Saula Mau (Auckland Grammar School)
Tovo Faleafa (Auckland Grammar School)
Thomas Strachan (Auckland Grammar School)
Matt Timoko (Auckland Grammar)
Simeon Latu (Auckland Grammar)
Tamaiti Williams (St Kentigern College)
Robert Rush (St Kentigern College)
Caleb Milne (St Kentigern College)
Mitchell Gibson (St Kentigern College)
Wesley Tapueluelu (St Peter's College)
Calum McNab (St Peter's College)
Josh Wheeler (St Peter's College)
Ezra Vai (Kelston Boys High School)
Oliver Shepherd (Mt Albert Grammar School)
Jack Casey Pickering (Mt Albert Grammar School)
Terrell Peita (Mt Albert Grammar School)
John Latu (Mt Albert Grammar School)
Patrick Pati (Mt Albert Grammar School)
Harley Maynard (Mt Albert Grammar School)
TJ Ane (De La Salle College)
Lalomilo Lalomilo (De La Salle College)
Jesse Simi-Tuiala (Papatoetoe High School)
Isileli Manu (Dilworth School)
Tevita Hala (Dilworth School)
Kisi Sau (Tamaki College)
Christian Tuipulotu (St Paul's College)
Fua Schwalgar (Southern Cross Campus)North Harbour/Northland players
Finlay Brewis (Westlake BHS)
David Meki (Rosmini College)
Max Hicks (Rosmini College)
Miller Hazelman (Takapuna GS)
Simon Parker (Otamatea HS)
Lotu Inisi (Westlake BHS)
Tamarau McGahan (Rosmini College)
Brady Rush (Westlake BHS)
Bailee Katipa (Westlake BHS)
Joe Wadman (Kerikeri HS)
Josh Corrigan (Rangitoto College)
Arikitohia Hood-Kaitapu (Westlake BHS) -
Some good players in there, but as a whole, I don't think the squad is as good as past Blues U18 teams.
I've always liked the look and potential of Tevita Hala. He's a crafty little 10 who will remind you a bit of Cruden at times. He's only 16, so we'll need to wait a bit to get our hands on him.
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Parsons:
The biggest disappointment for me is that I couldn't manage to lead the boys to a performance that I felt was pretty crucial to show our club's growthThen quit the captaincy role
Both him and Umaga have 'taken responsibility'. Well what are the consequences of that?
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I'm not sure chucking the baby out with the bath water is the way to go. Whilst the Blues are an easy target this week I think looking at the big picture things arent all doom and gloom.
Hopefully the consequence of this is a response next season including the playoffs and winning NZ derbies. Failure to make the playoffs next season will see changes.
Whilst the end of the season game was horrendous the Blues only lost once (controversially) in their previous 7 games which included trips to Australia, South Africa, Samoa and a game against the Lions.
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Heard a good interview with Parsons and Darcy/Goran last night. He didn't shirk from fronting abut the performance, and purposely put aside the heats impact on things. But there seemed to a subtle undercurrent that some of the other players weren't as well prepared mentally - he kind of put that down to age/experience but that ongoing issue of mental toughness just won't go away (ask the Warriors ha!)
He backed Tana - and mentioned that Tana had fronted to the squad about misreading their level of prep. But again, a la the Warriors, where is the accountability for the players? Parsons did say that replacing a coach can be easier as it's just one person ... so that kind of pointed at some shake ups in the squad. Surely they have to make some changes with the guys that are up and down like a yoyo.
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so after Devlins rant about them in Fiji in the build up, he has now criticised them being in Japan for the time they were before the game.
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@Paekakboyz said in Blues 2017:
Heard a good interview with Parsons and Darcy/Goran last night. He didn't shirk from fronting abut the performance, and purposely put aside the heats impact on things. But there seemed to a subtle undercurrent that some of the other players weren't as well prepared mentally - he kind of put that down to age/experience but that ongoing issue of mental toughness just won't go away (ask the Warriors ha!)
He backed Tana - and mentioned that Tana had fronted to the squad about misreading their level of prep. But again, a la the Warriors, where is the accountability for the players? Parsons did say that replacing a coach can be easier as it's just one person ... so that kind of pointed at some shake ups in the squad. Surely they have to make some changes with the guys that are up and down like a yoyo.
The problem with just booting out the coach (as the Blues keep finding) is that it ends up sending a message to the players that the fault lies with someone else. They get to carry on under a new coach as if they did everything OK but the bloke trying to help them do better was to blame.
Somehow you need to find a way of changing the attitudes and overall culture of the group.
JJ did it at the Highlanders with a strict 'hard workers only' policy and it took a while to sink in. Rennie found a way at the Chiefs by drawing on a cultural theme and making the Chiefs a family with everyone taking responsibility but at the same time having full support of each other. Some of the changes were small but significant e.g. I know the person that used to sort out rentals for players that didn't live full time in Hamilton. Prior to Rennie the management used to sort everything out for them. When things changed each player would front up at the real estate office each month, pay their rent, thank the staff for helping them and deal with anything else themselves.I don't know how off field stuff works at the Blues but they obviously struggle to find the right recipe for the players to gel as one consistently
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the other issue with the Blues (and Warriors) is so often, on paper, their teams should be contendors, so they probably arent looking in the right place for the issues.
Have a bunch of guys that often dont look like they know one another, let alone need to be in tune and trust one another when playing rugby, which probably leads to players not being solely focussed on thier own role as they dont trust that the guy beside him will do his to the required standard.
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@Crucial sorry, didn't really do Parson's justice there. He pretty much said or alluded to your line of thinking. He talked quite a bit about their guys, especially the young'uns, learning about personal responsibility and staying switched on. Pretty much about being professional, full stop.
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2017 Blues Awards winners:
Player in the Community Award – sponsored by Nestle | Alex Hodgman
Development Player of the Year – sponsored by Go Media | Dalton Papalii
Rookie of the Year – sponsored by nib | Michael Collins (Lol)
Club Person of the Year – sponsored by Barfoot & Thompson | Matt Duffie
SKYCITY Fans’ Player of the Year | Rieko Ioane
BNZ Players’ Player of the Year | Steven Luatua
Most Valuable Player – sponsored by Bolton Equities | Steven Luatua
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@KiwiMurph said in Blues 2017:
2017 Blues Awards winners:
Rookie of the Year – sponsored by nib | Michael Collins (Lol)
Rookie of the Year – sponsored by nib | Michael Collins (Lol)
Rookie of the Year – sponsored by nib | Michael Collins (Lol)
Rookie of the Year – sponsored by nib | Michael Collins (Lol)
Rookie of the Year – sponsored by nib | Michael Collins (Lol)@Rocky-Rockbottom
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