Mitre 10 Cup 2018
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Temo Mayanaranua is the Fijian Boy from Waipu,very big lad,Fano Funaki from Waipu is also a very big unit.
Very exciting looking teams,the outside backs look very impressive.
Will be very interstesting to see how Jacob Matiu goes as a hooker and we get our first look at Jono Kitto at halfback,
Great to see Sean Sweetman back playing,will be interested to see his progress.
I see a few boys from the Mangonui have been rewarded for their efforts.On paper,without all the contracted players,it looks a stronger HP squad than 2017.
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@steven-harris said in Mitre 10 Cup 2018:
Jono Kitto
Jono Kitto played for BOP a few years back. He will be a good aquisition.
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@snollygoster even better is with him and Emil Pittman, Nock will be under huge pressure to step up or he will be gone.
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Francois Marias is a former North Harbour age group player if he makes the Northland squad,could had some real height,iand is a very big man,list at 2.04 metres 118kgs..
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@taniwharugby up to the Coachs to get best out of Nock. He will be working hard to get another Super contract. Just quicker decision making, more running, and some assertiveness with his forwards.
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@kev tbh I think he will have to work hard to be re-signed with Northland.
Unfortunately has only shown fleeting glimpses of the talent that had him as a highly rated school boy.
Hopefully he will respond to the pressure from Kitto and Pittman, although he hasn't done so with Ruru overtaking him at the Blues.
Both he and Ruru had a huge chance to take hold of the Blues 9 jersey when Pulu was injured.
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@taniwharugby he is young so he had that on his side. Honestly I think the rapid promotion of school boy players is flawed. He should take some time, get his game together, work on his physicality and he could still be the next big thing...or not...but up to him.
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@kev yes the promotion is flawed, many are simply not up to it yet and are unable to learn thier trade against veterans, but he's had 3 years at both M10 and Super, I'd of liked to see more improvement than we have had.
And yep, still has time on his side, but he needs to start making progress.
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I thought he was good for Northland last year. He's not the only one in the Blues squad massively under performing under Tana Umaga. It would've been interesting to see how he would go at one of the other NZ franchises. His confidence looks shot to me.
Northland seem to be building a decent squad. Without Ranger, Alaimalo and probably Goodhue we do look a little short of game breakers in the backline at this stage though...
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Yep I thought nock was good for Northland last year albeit not near a finished package.
But abysmal this year for the blues.
I think the blues have done very poorly on player development and guys like nock just have not played enough rugby. He should have 2 solid club seasons under his belt as often he was not in the 23.
I don't think nock is in danger of losing mitre10 contracts but potentially super I still think someone would have a crack. But like Bryn Hall he needs to leave to get better.
The blues are just terrible at development. Whether it's leadership coaching culture whatever players just don't grow there. -
@muddyriver said in Mitre 10 Cup 2018:
Yep I thought nock was good for Northland last year albeit not near a finished package.
But abysmal this year for the blues.
I think the blues have done very poorly on player development and guys like nock just have not played enough rugby. He should have 2 solid club seasons under his belt as often he was not in the 23.
I don't think nock is in danger of losing mitre10 contracts but potentially super I still think someone would have a crack. But like Bryn Hall he needs to leave to get better.
The blues are just terrible at development. Whether it's leadership coaching culture whatever players just don't grow there.Yeah, hard to grow new talent when the team is searching for wins. It all adds to more problems down the track. Winning teams can develop new players more easily, as has been seen with the ABs.
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@muddyriver yeah last year was his best for Northland, but you are on the money again with the Blues development.
@Chiefy07 yeah he has no confidence, and with that I cant see any other franchise that will pick him up.
I see Isi tu'ungafasi has signed for Northland, and have heard Wiseguy Faiane will be playing for Old Boys Marist this weekend.
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@muddyriver said in Mitre 10 Cup 2018:
I think the blues have done very poorly on player development and guys like nock just have not played enough rugby. He should have 2 solid club seasons under his belt as often he was not in the 23.
He was given a reasonable amount of game time in 2016 but that dried up in 2017. It's like the coaches lost faith in him but he stayed on the roster. Either find a way to cut him, or keep investing in him.. they did neither.
So now in 2018 there's an injury at halfback and the coaches had to turn to a player that was stagnatingThen you add in silliness like swapping the starting halfback during the warmup (the only explanation the fans have had for that was 'Tana had a change of heart' in the nzherald)
I have sympathy for a guy like Nock because he has not been managed well at all. Then you add in the fact that the Blues patterns seem off (exit plans, attacking structure). Even simple plays look tortured.. how much blame should a guy like Nock have when everything is dysfunctional?
@muddyriver said in Mitre 10 Cup 2018:
The blues are just terrible at development. Whether it's leadership coaching culture whatever players just don't grow there.
Redman said the players are 'growing'. The team is making progress and we can't make drastic changes as that would throw out the progress.
I think you are right and Redman is wrong.
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@chiefy07 yes some big losses. But we have Super players Tamiti Tua, Macali, Hyland still there and the new signing Regan Verney. And some great young talent in mix ( both Hohaia and Gregory ) and in trial squads ( Shelford, Te Nana ....) We will need a few of them to stand up.
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has been confirmed Rene Ranger has re-signed with Northland.
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Assume like the other unions, many backing up from Saturday and likely need to back up for club again next Saturday....Old Boys Marist were pretty beat up at the end of their game v Kamo on Saturday, so a few of their boys will be nowhere near 100%.
NZ Vikings Team to start vs North Harbour
- Tom Stevens
- Cambell Matthews
- Paddy Joe Atkins
- Lucas Albornoz
- Shane Neville
- James Carlton
- Jarod Byrnes
- Nela Manu
- Emil Pittman
- Wiseguy Faiane
- Tavite Gadeisuva
- Lyric Brownlee
- Dan Wells
- Dougie Te Puni
- Noah Cooper
NZ Vikings Team to start vs Auckland (@ halftime)
- Isileli Tuungafasii
- Jordan Olsen
- Boyd Wiggins
- Francois Marais -
- Tom Robinson
- Sam McNamara
- Kane Jacobson
- Jaycob Matiu
- Mac Sykes
- Myles Thoroughgood
- Waylen Skipps
- Mitchell Miller
- Rene Ranger
- Renata Roberts-Tenana
- Matty Wright
Reserves
1.Dan Koroi
2.Temo Mayanavanua
3.Jono Kitto
4.Tim Blundell -
