EOYT 2017
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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!
I think it's a bit of a perfect storm at loosehead for Tim Perry to be in AB contention (if he indeed is). Not sure he was ever behind Alex Hodgman in the Crusaders' rankings though. I'm not sure Hodgman ever had more than a WTG contract (though I might be wrong on that), whereas Perry has had a full contract for several years. Just 2015 and 2016 he was broken for most of the Super seasons.
Perry is certainly a good loosehead at NPC level, but he's not played a great deal at Super level. I think he's only in contention because of a lot of injuries and I'm not sure why the seemingly more experienced Manu and Graham wouldn't be ahead of him.
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@act-crusader said in EOYT 2017:
Is Havili a certainty to go? Will be interesting to see if he gets another shot in Brisbane. Probably will if Beaudie is out.
I can't see why not. In a 37 man squad you'd surely take two specialist fullbacks and hard to see why (or who for?) they'd switch him out.
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@stargazer said in EOYT 2017:
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.
Not sure they'd have thought too hard about planning David's future. Reality is that he's probably only fifth (he may have graduated to 4th) in the fullback queue at present, so it's been a major bonus for him to get some test caps. In fact, DMac has really had Jordie's gametime and Havili has had Dmac's.
Ben Smith and Dagg will be back in the equation next year (though I reckon Israel's future is firmly stamped at right wing now) and I reckon Will Jordan will be pressing claims sooner rather than later - plus who knows who else. Barring injury, Ben Smith is pretty likely to have a lock on the position for most of the next two years, with Jordie getting some time to grow him, DMac getting an occasional look in and David requiring some luck with injuries to get a chance.
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@cgrant One plus about Ngatai, not mentioned above, is that he takes options very well, and thus makes those around him more effective. For me is also more of a direct crash ball threat than Crotty, which is handy when the rush needs to be kept honest.
Midfield is our real work on area, so would like to see six in squad. Room for Charlie and Jack. -
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Didn't think I'd say this a couple of years ago, but Luke Whitelock is really worth a look at for this team.
There's lots who can play 6 and 8 adequately, but it's quite possible he's the second-best specialist number 8 in the country.
Akira clearly outplayed Luke Whitelock tonight behind an an inferior pack.
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He’s covered 10 (and from drunk memory, played there in the case of injury) for the chiefs - so my point was only that he could make a useful squaddie or bench player in a small WC squad, where he could cover that from the bench against Namibia etc.
He primarily would go as a midfielder who can cover FB easily, plus wing off the bench. That’s a nice utility to have when he’s world class at 12 and 13, plus super handy at 15.
Anyway, I don’t see a place for him. He’s permanently broken, which is a shame.
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