Blues v Highlanders
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@taniwharugby said in Blues v Highlanders:
@pukunui the other 2 are younger, both been slated past couple of weeks, and they are playing...Black is simply benefiting from not playing and thus looking by far the best option...if we use the Ngatai rule, he will get better the longer he doesnt play
With the current state of Blues results that is the general rule that gets applied to any player not taking the field. Continual grasping at straws with 'why isn't so and so playing instead, they are better' followed by 'why was so and so picked, they were crap'. Anyone not playing gets talked up as a potential saviour.
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@steven-harris Collins has two big limits: speed and kicking game. Kicking game is surprisingly poor. Agreed that he is probably otherwise one of the safer and better thinking players.
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@tim I thought his game against the touring Lions team last year was outstanding,he fielded all the high kicks that came his way and his kicking game on the night was first class.
In the bigger picture,Collins is the least of the Blues problems.. -
@steven-harris said in Blues v Highlanders:
@pukunui I’m curious about why in your opinion Collins is rubbish,and who you would play there..?.
As for Otere Black only time will tell if he’s a decent pivot,have heard from some turbo supporters that Jade Te Rure is a better allround player.I just think he offers very little other than this supposed "communication" that keeps getting talked about. Rarely beats a man with strength, a step or speed, isn't flash on defence and kicking is no better than average. Fullback is hugely important position and he has been there most of the last two seasons and the Blues have been shit in that time. I think he is part of it and his communication isn't adding much.
I think a Ioane/Nanai/Duffie back three in whatever order you put it should be the first choice. Nanai isn't the finished product by any means but he has been stuck behind Collins unable to get the minutes he needs to develop.Again for Black, not suggesting he is a saviour. Just refuting the claim that they haven't recruited anyone decent. He has already proved himself decent. Could all turn to shit but that doesn't come into it.
Still waiting on a list of experienced guys they didn't sign. -
@pukunui You got me interested which led me to this:
http://www.espn.com.au/rugby/playerstats?gameId=292124&league=242041It's the only one I've looked at so far, but the only player that beat more defenders is Akira in this list. Obviously it's only stats, but if he's not beating them with speed/step/strength, what do ya reckon it is? Guile while on his way to the sideline to be subbed?
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@bones said in Blues v Highlanders:
@pukunui You got me interested which led me to this:
http://www.espn.com.au/rugby/playerstats?gameId=292124&league=242041It's the only one I've looked at so far, but the only player that beat more defenders is Akira in this list. Obviously it's only stats, but if he's not beating them with speed/step/strength, what do ya reckon it is? Guile while on his way to the sideline to be subbed?
Maybe he communicated them into slipping over and plodded past.
Regardless i trust my eyes more than i trust some very basic stats. His highlight reel would be great for curing insomnia. -
Experienced first-fives they might have chased (or kept) include:
Tom Taylor
Stephen Donald, after Rennie arrived
Gareth AnscombeBut they weren't looking for players like that. They didnt want solid and reliable. They wanted superstar players. Since none were available they signed kids hoping they'd come right.
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@chester-draws said in Blues v Highlanders:
Experienced first-fives they might have chased (or kept) include:
Tom Taylor
Stephen Donald, after Rennie arrived
Gareth AnscombeBut they weren't looking for players like that. They didnt want solid and reliable. They wanted superstar players. Since none were available they signed kids hoping they'd come right.
You keep mentioning Anscombe as a 10. He wasn't a Super level quality 10. Chiefs played him at 15. If memory serves me correctly he was named to start one Super game at 10 for the Chiefs at Pukekohe but got injured in the leadup and didn't play.
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@chris-b didn't they try to sign Slade?
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@taniwharugby said in Blues v Highlanders:
@chris-b didn't they try to sign Slade?
Not that I can recall - at least, not at that time.
I recall suggesting at the time that they should - but, the Blues fans didn't seem keen on the idea.
You'd have to think that for the right deal he would have been signable - I'm pretty sure the Crusaders wouldn't have been in a position to throw a bucket of money at him and his previous shift to the Highlanders and subsequent shift to Pau suggests he wasn't wedded to them.
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@chris-b said in Blues v Highlanders:
I recall suggesting at the time that they should - but, the Blues fans didn't seem keen on the idea.
Slade could have been the new Chris Noakes. I really don't think it would have made any difference who signed at 10.
The main problem is internal standards. No one is accountable for anything. Board, coaches and players. The search for a flyhalf obsession is just another excuse for people not to perform their jobs properly and blame an external factor
Poor Umaga, Redman, players. If only they had Beauden Barrett. It's just not fair! The reality is if Barrett came to the Blues he would be surrounded, at every level, by people with such low standards he would fail.
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@duluth Quite possibly, though you'd still have been better off with Slade than Benji Marshall - or pretty much anyone else who's been available.
You're probably right about the rest.
Someone posted this article about the new Warriors CEO a few weeks back. He is talking a lot of sense.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/league/102882832/how-cameron-george-fixed-the-warriors
The part that struck me most was him saying, "I only get one chance of getting this right and we haven't got it right yet, but I feel like with the contribution of everyone now, we're heading in a direction that can really help us win back our fans and put pride in our performances, which is my ultimate goal."
One thing I'm pretty sure about these rugby franchises is that they operate very similarly to any other workplace. There will be people who are not up to their jobs and people who are actively undermining things - as much as possible, you've got to weed them out.
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Cheers, that's an interesting article. It appears they have done what I want the Blues to do - raise expectations and take responsibility.
There are a handful of players with high personal standards, but not enough.
As for leadership, Parsons is the only leader I can recall in recent seasons taking responsibility for anything. Jackson is close, at least he doesn't make excuses.
The rest are just excuse makers and shoulder shruggers. That has to filter through the entire organisation. The same people who take no responsibility are the ones that talk about 'culture' incessantly. They are the problem not the solution. It's infuriating.
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@chris-b said in Blues v Highlanders:
@duluth Quite possibly, though you'd still have been better off with Slade than Benji Marshall - or pretty much anyone else who's been available.
You're probably right about the rest.
Someone posted this article about the new Warriors CEO a few weeks back. He is talking a lot of sense.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/league/102882832/how-cameron-george-fixed-the-warriors
The part that struck me most was him saying, "I only get one chance of getting this right and we haven't got it right yet, but I feel like with the contribution of everyone now, we're heading in a direction that can really help us win back our fans and put pride in our performances, which is my ultimate goal."
One thing I'm pretty sure about these rugby franchises is that they operate very similarly to any other workplace. There will be people who are not up to their jobs and people who are actively undermining things - as much as possible, you've got to weed them out.
Yep, I want to a talk on leadership by Paul Blackwell a year or so back, the former owner of the Breakers who turned them from laughing stock to repeat champions. He spoke about having to weed out people from the players right up to the CEO who were basically rotten and undermining the whole organisation with shitty attitudes, a lack of responsibility and even straight out corruption, contributing to a toxic environment.
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@no-quarter isn't that what Rennie did at the Chiefs?
Players who wouldn't do what he wanted were asked to move on. The whole structure of the organisation was changed too.
The thing is, that you need someone doing the change who is good at picking who to keep and who to release, and can sell the process. Such people are hard to find.
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only takes one or 2 bad eggs to mess up things for everyone, much worse if they are senior players too.
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@chester-draws said in Blues v Highlanders:
Experienced first-fives they might have chased (or kept) include:
Tom Taylor
Stephen Donald, after Rennie arrived
Gareth AnscombeBut they weren't looking for players like that. They didnt want solid and reliable. They wanted superstar players. Since none were available they signed kids hoping they'd come right.
Tom Taylor was gone from NZ rugby well before Tana took over the Blues. He was clearly cashing in overseas given if he wanted to stay in NZ he had a clear path to the Crusaders 10 spot with Carter and Slade leaving after the RWC in 2015.
Gareth Anscombe had been tried and let go from the Blues years ago also. That was JK's choice. (One i think was a silly move). As mentioned earlier he then mainly played 15 for the chiefs before leaving. He was never a viable option.
Stephen Donald is an interesting one i haven't heard mentioned before. He may have been an option to be a mentor in place of Gatland. He might have been able to help with the team "culture" side also.
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