Toll Northland Mitre 10 Cup Squad for 2017
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Dropped in to the Silverdale Rugby Club yesterday to watch the Northland Development XV play Waikato Dev XV yesterday.
This match was more of a trial for the 2 x coaches Tui & Graham Dewes,my apologies not sure what the head coach Tui's second name is,looked like they had close to their number 1 side on the paddock,they were 10-0 up,and with some better handling could have been up by 20,the other problem they had was putting phases together,
Unfortunately Waikato hit back with 2 x tries before halftime,to lead 14-10,after a whole heap of changes in the 2nd half,Waikato scored a couple more tries to win 29-10,The team has definitely got some talent,very good loose forwards,Hayden Jurlina,Connor Lawson & Aorangi Stokes,they with heaps of energy and make plenty of tackles,they have a good ball winner in the tall rangy Justin Fredericks,and some really exciting outside backs,
Renata Roberts TeNana,a very athletic Fijian centre from Waipu who looked really good with ball in hand,very physical as well.There was also a very promising young winger from Kerikeri,tall,but very light,looked to have really good game management,and the one opportunity he had,put the after burners and looked very quick..
The player that impressed me no end,was the starting halfback Emil Pittman from Mid Western,had a quick catch up with him at games end..he is a former Mt Albert Grammar old boy,played XV,also played for Samoa at the 2014 Under 20 World Cup,and then played In France for Valence Romans Drome Rugby,they play in the 3rd division of French rugby
Pittman seems to have all the attributes required for a top half back,good game managent,reasonable high kick game,but what impressed me the most about him,is his toughness,came up with the hit of the game,only 23 years old,he commutes up to Mid Western from Auckland,hopefully someone from Mid Western can also give us a rating,saw him play in one of the earlier HP games,also impressed me on that occasion.
I would imagine some of the guys from the number 1 squad will be released to play for the Bs during the season,should be interesting watching these guys.
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@Steven-Harris am sure @Gunner will be able to give you a run down on Pitman, although he may not play for MW next year with them being relegated?
Have heard good things about Te Nana, but the 2 times I watched him, he didnt stand out (but that was only 2 games)
Whats Meltzer upto? When I watched him he looked threatening and pretty quick, although he also looked like the only weapon his team had too.
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@taniwharugby actually remiss of me not mention Whiria Meltzer,was probably Northlands most dangerous back,he was always dangerous when he had ball in hand,really plays above his weight,even though he's small,does'nt mind having a crack at the line,always beats the first tackler with his impressive footwork..defensively he was very good as well.
I would love to see the NZ sevens coach give him a crack as a playmaker,I reckon he's got all the skills required..
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Jersey's available here
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A replica top for under $100, pretty well priced when compared with other brands.
Be grabbing one when the other top comes available.
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@Stockcar86 said in Toll Northland Mitre 10 Cup Squad for 2017:
Jersey's available here
Our range is quite limited compared to the other teams. Where's the hoodies, singlets and polo shirts etc?
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@Duluth while there is a good feel about this team now and beyond I'm still tempering my expectations considerably given the years of disappointment.
I said at the squad naming this was probably our best squad this century, but they still need to do the job on the park.
Slowly slowly, Whitcombe is making the right noises about the job is yet to be done despite us winning twice as many game already than we did in 2015/2016.
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What's the status of Kara Pryor? Is he recovering from injury, being rested or rotated? I thought he looked the goods early on.
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@ACT-Crusader said in Toll Northland Mitre 10 Cup Squad for 2017:
What's the status of Kara Pryor? Is he recovering from injury, being rested or rotated? I thought he looked the goods early on.
Some sort of niggly injury according to our local rag up here. Sounds like he'll be good next week. We don't often get full injury status updates, so a lot of what we hear is word of mouth etc.
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D Duluth moved this topic from Taniwha Rugby on
