Countdown to RWC 2019 - ABs state of the play
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I reckon with his pace, there is room for DMac to play the 14 role that NMS has, but with more pace.
Wouldn't discount Dagg either, he and Smith work so well at the back together.
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At the moment, Romano is our third best lock (and best bench option) and then there is daylight. It seems Pat.T and Barrett are having trouble adjusting to test rugby.
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Moli ahead of Crockett and (more likely IMO) Hames is an interesting call.
His conversion to loosehead is going to be pretty dependent on Colin Cooper buying into that plan and it's a bit hard to see why Cooper would. He's picked three tightheads and three looseheads for the coming season and you'd imagine Plan A will be mainly Hames and Graham playing loosehead and mainly Laulala and Moli playing tighthead.
Can't disagree to much with the rest, though, right now, I'd tend to think it would be a choice of either DMac or Jordie, but probably not both.
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DMac is an interesting one. Derided by most on here (with good reason), his early starts were very inconsistent to put it nicely. However imho he has improved greatly and looks like he's fitting in well, taking guys on without trying to hard. 2018 will be a massive year for him
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@kiwimurph said in Countdown to RWC 2019 - ABs state of the play:
I'd suggest NMS is further down the pecking order. Fantastic player but in 2017 his form was not nearly as strong as 2015 and has huge trouble staying healthy.
could be an 11 cap all black with a RWC winners medal!
Better than Pauliasi Manu -- uncapped, with a medal I believe
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@chimoaus is an interesting one, because if he was at centre he plays a more structured position whereas on the wing he gets to roam a bit more, gets kick returns, so if he is at 13 it might not have the same opportunities?
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@nzzp said in Countdown to RWC 2019 - ABs state of the play:
Better than Pauliasi Manu -- uncapped, with a medal I believe
Make a great trivia question down the track.
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@nzzp said in Countdown to RWC 2019 - ABs state of the play:
@kiwimurph said in Countdown to RWC 2019 - ABs state of the play:
I'd suggest NMS is further down the pecking order. Fantastic player but in 2017 his form was not nearly as strong as 2015 and has huge trouble staying healthy.
could be an 11 cap all black with a RWC winners medal!
Better than Pauliasi Manu -- uncapped, with a medal I believe
If he doesn't make it back Nehe will be able to hang his hat on being one of the stars of the 2015 event. His play during that short run was superb, apart from a little bit of trouble with bombs
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@canefan not so much the issue with the bombs in that was more he is undertall....
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@taniwharugby said in Countdown to RWC 2019 - ABs state of the play:
@chimoaus is an interesting one, because if he was at centre he plays a more structured position whereas on the wing he gets to roam a bit more, gets kick returns, so if he is at 13 it might not have the same opportunities?
Yeah I agree, if he plays like he did this year I doubt the coaches will want to move him.
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Also there could be a player or 2 to come from nowhere and make the squad ,
We may not even know their names yet , but sometimes guys just seem to burst onto the scene at the right time and say pick me ,
NMS at the last WC comes to mind
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Our top back three is 11. R Ioane 14. B Smith 15. J Barrett - that has the best balance to it.
I can see Rieko moving to centre down the track but while he has his pace he's best suited to the wing at test level, he can break tight tests apart if he gets half a yard of space.
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@taniwharugby said in Countdown to RWC 2019 - ABs state of the play:
@canefan not so much the issue with the bombs in that was more he is undertall....
Most would write short, small or diminutive but you've created a whole new word. Great work.
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@mn5 said in Countdown to RWC 2019 - ABs state of the play:
@taniwharugby said in Countdown to RWC 2019 - ABs state of the play:
@canefan not so much the issue with the bombs in that was more he is undertall....
Most would write short, small or diminutive but you've created a whole new word. Great work.
Made me laugh. I would now describe myself as undershort but that sounds like a product from Jockey.
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@no-quarter said in Countdown to RWC 2019 - ABs state of the play:
Our top back three is 11. R Ioane 14. B Smith 15. J Barrett - that has the best balance to it.
I can see Rieko moving to centre down the track but while he has his pace he's best suited to the wing at test level, he can break tight tests apart if he gets half a yard of space.
While im a jordie fan too and im not disagreeing at the potential of this back 3 , it looks a winner on paper ,
We probably need to see it in a few tests first , correct me if im wrong but we havent seen it yet ?
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On the loose forward combo...
I had high hopes for Akira, Blake Gibson and Blade Thomson, but Akira seems to be not quite the finished article - Gibson is a tireless workhorse who punches way above his weight but also maybe undertall for what is required these days and Thomson seems to be continually injured...
I'm hoping Akira makes the grade...
