EOYT 2017
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@act-crusader said in EOYT 2017:
@pukunui Nanai? Eh?? I don’t mind him but I don’t see him being close at all. Duffie on the hand has that good mix of brilliance and steady.
That was more of a my pick for the future not what i think the selectors will go with. Other than being brought into one of the AB camps a year or two ago i agree he is nowhere near at this stage.
However if he does manage to get some good gametime next year and keeps up his form i can see his as a guy who has the full back/wing skills but in the power winger body of Ioane or Folau.Duffie is very Ben Smithy. I think he would be really good at test level.
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@pukunui Plus Milner-Skudder in your back three list.
I think they've basically got seven places for eight good loose forwards. Someone is going to be unlucky unless they go short somewhere else.
For reasons of "politics" I'd be somewhat inclined to take Todd on this tour and let one of Savea or Ioane (or even Fifita) miss out. Todd is an important cog in the wheel - more important than the third choice 6 - and being "the guy who always misses out" isn't a great recipe for keeping him hanging around.
Yeah shit totally forgot NMS. You may be right about the Todd thing. In which case Ardie to stay behind and hit the gym.
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One thing the selectors have been is quite loyal. Savea/Seta T and Nanai have all been in the mix in past couple of years. In the circumstances, hard to believe at least one won't make it. For me, to go outside that only makes sense if there's a young gun burning it up. Not sure Duffie fits that mould.
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Being in London don't see a lot of NPC. Is there no under 25 loosehead out there making a name for himself? Tim Perry seems a bit old in the tooth and was ranked behind Hodgman at Saders. That said, being part of their scrum factory probably counts for selectors. Graham seemed pretty capable for Chiefs. And I have fond memories of Seiuli destroying Dan Coles in Highlanders BIL match!
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One thing the selectors have been is quite loyal. Savea/Seta T and Nanai have all been in the mix in past couple of years. In the circumstances, hard to believe at least one won't make it. For me, to go outside that only makes sense if there's a young gun burning it up. Not sure Duffie fits that mould.
The way I see it, Duffie doesn’t need to be the young’un burning it up. To me he is like an early Dagg / Bender type that can break the line, do something out of nothing, without trying too hard.
Given both Dagg and Bender are out then he could fill that void nicely.
Is Havili a certainty to go? Will be interesting to see if he gets another shot in Brisbane. Probably will if Beaudie is out.
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Moala appears noticeably slower this year. I hope he has a good run in off season and regain that speed.
Which is a real shame because I liked him on the wing for the ABs. Now with Reiko and Naholo providing pace and power game, it seems George has a huge fight to get close again.
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@act-crusader said in EOYT 2017:
One thing the selectors have been is quite loyal. Savea/Seta T and Nanai have all been in the mix in past couple of years. In the circumstances, hard to believe at least one won't make it. For me, to go outside that only makes sense if there's a young gun burning it up. Not sure Duffie fits that mould.
The way I see it, Duffie doesn’t need to be the young’un burning it up. To me he is like an early Dagg / Bender type that can break the line, do something out of nothing, without trying too hard.
Given both Dagg and Bender are out then he could fill that void nicely.
Is Havili a certainty to go? Will be interesting to see if he gets another shot in Brisbane. Probably will if Beaudie is out.
While certainty is a big word, I don't see any reason why they would drop Havili - after two faultless performances - for someone like Duffie. The ABs don't need a Duffie type player. Selecting Tamanivalu, or even JSavea, makes far more sense than introducing another newbie they won't need when BFA, Jordie and Dagg return.
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@act-crusader said in EOYT 2017:
One thing the selectors have been is quite loyal. Savea/Seta T and Nanai have all been in the mix in past couple of years. In the circumstances, hard to believe at least one won't make it. For me, to go outside that only makes sense if there's a young gun burning it up. Not sure Duffie fits that mould.
The way I see it, Duffie doesn’t need to be the young’un burning it up. To me he is like an early Dagg / Bender type that can break the line, do something out of nothing, without trying too hard.
Given both Dagg and Bender are out then he could fill that void nicely.
Is Havili a certainty to go? Will be interesting to see if he gets another shot in Brisbane. Probably will if Beaudie is out.
Thinking about it, in the 14/15 hybrid category, fully fit we have BFA/Dagg/Dmac/[NMS]. In the midfield/15 mix Barrett (J) and Havili, with Ngatai on the fringe. In 13/14 slot Ioane (R) and Seta T. Could argue we're best catered for in the 14/15 hybrid department and ought to develop another pure three quarter.
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I have a theory (which may be totally wrong) about where they want to go with Havili. The AB coaches always seem to have a longer term vision than us - and especially the clickbait driven, sensationalist media. I think Havili may be primed - in the mid- to longer term - to be the replacement of BFA, while Jordie may eventually become the replacement of SBW at second-five. DMac is still a bit of an experiment and it's uncertain what role he will play; fullback, first-five (Mo'unga should be in the mix, too) or even halfback. He may, however, also end up being an utility back, which may make him an excellent bench option.
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@pakman My thoughts exactly. I just don't think there's an obvious candidate and I think that - at the moment - Tamanivalu fits that mould best. There are quite a lot of young players emerging from the 2016-2017 NZU20s and it will be interesting how they develop in the next - say two - years.
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@stargazer when I looked forward to a possible RWC mix (as I am sure the selectors are doing as well) it was obvious that somewhere (or in two areas) the back selection has to contain players adept in more than one area. Not just wing and fullback. With the squad sizes as they are you need to have a 9/10 (very rare these days), a 10/15, a 10/12 (again, not very common now) and/or a midfield/wing.
DMac becomes important here as the next decision is which spot he primarily fills. Do you have him in your back three quota or your 10 quota? If you put him in the back three you end up carrying 4 potential 10s and reducing squad options. I think they will have fingers crossed that he shows he can handle time at 10, become the third option there and get room for 2 others to join Bender and Ioane in the outsides quota. -
@act-crusader said in EOYT 2017:
One thing the selectors have been is quite loyal. Savea/Seta T and Nanai have all been in the mix in past couple of years. In the circumstances, hard to believe at least one won't make it. For me, to go outside that only makes sense if there's a young gun burning it up. Not sure Duffie fits that mould.
The way I see it, Duffie doesn’t need to be the young’un burning it up. To me he is like an early Dagg / Bender type that can break the line, do something out of nothing, without trying too hard.
Given both Dagg and Bender are out then he could fill that void nicely.
Is Havili a certainty to go? Will be interesting to see if he gets another shot in Brisbane. Probably will if Beaudie is out.
Thinking about it, in the 14/15 hybrid category, fully fit we have BFA/Dagg/Dmac/[NMS]. In the midfield/15 mix Barrett (J) and Havili, with Ngatai on the fringe. In 13/14 slot Ioane (R) and Seta T. Could argue we're best catered for in the 14/15 hybrid department and ought to develop another pure three quarter.
I might agree if it wasn't for the fact that we are missing our top three 14/15s and another 15. ie. Smith, Dagg, NMS plus Jordie. We have a hole to fill for THIS tour so building overall depth might have to take a back seat for the sake of team balance.
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@stargazer when I looked forward to a possible RWC mix (as I am sure the selectors are doing as well) it was obvious that somewhere (or in two areas) the back selection has to contain players adept in more than one area. Not just wing and fullback. With the squad sizes as they are you need to have a 9/10 (very rare these days), a 10/15, a 10/12 (again, not very common now) and/or a midfield/wing.
DMac becomes important here as the next decision is which spot he primarily fills. Do you have him in your back three quota or your 10 quota? If you put him in the back three you end up carrying 4 potential 10s and reducing squad options. I think they will have fingers crossed that he shows he can handle time at 10, become the third option there and get room for 2 others to join Bender and Ioane in the outsides quota.In that case, a player like Seta could be gold as he covers midfield and wing well. An excellent squaddie and potential bench player. Another in the same category is Ngatai, who can play anyway from 10 out.
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