Blues vs Crusaders
-
@steven-harris said in Blues vs Crusaders:
It’s seems you need a chisel and hammer to prize James Parsons out of this Blues starting lineup,it pisses me off no end..
I have heard through a few sources he’s not overly liked,but seems to have crawled so far up the backside of the coaching staff,they can’t see past him..what’s the definition of stupidity,doing the same thing and expecting different result..!And given we are just playing for pride and nothing else ,give Matt Moulds a go,he can scrum just as well as Parsons,and with his bigger body can run into contact and actually shift somebody..throwing might be a issue,but for the life of me,give Moulds a go so we can at least see what he’s got.
You can't just ignore a whole set piece like that. If your hooker can't throw well (and Moulds has had significant issues with this) it's a huge problem. There are usually more lineouts than scrums too.
If he wants to dislodge Parsons he has to improve this area, not enough of a difference in around the field play otherwise.
-
@kirwan blues lineout success sits at 11th...like above for some reason Parsons seems immune to being dropped regardless of form, whether it has been Moulds or whoever else has spent time getting splinters behind him often only given 5 or 10 mins at the end.
-
While Moulds hasnt had a mountain of minutes - he has never shown anything to suggest he is deserving of any more than he is getting.
Moulds is better than Apisai but that isnt saying much.
The best bench impact from a hooker this season came from Ross Wright off the bench v the Lions in Joburg
Someone who hasnt had any chances is Kurt Eklund - who was the real improver in a poor Auckland team last year and played really well in the Blues development team win over the Chiefs development team.
-
@taniwharugby said in Blues vs Crusaders:
@kirwan blues lineout success sits at 11th...like above for some reason Parsons seems immune to being dropped regardless of form, whether it has been Moulds or whoever else has spent time getting splinters behind him often only given 5 or 10 mins at the end.
It’s up to the other hookers to force him out. Moulds doesn’t get a lot of minutes, but has had many opportunities to show he’s better and hasn’t taken them.
All that means to me is we have lots of shit hookers.
-
@kiwimurph Kurt Eklund has had a major knee injury. Will not feature at all this year
-
@kirwan he has had 19 opportunities in 3.5 seasons, so.e of these less than 5 mins, so not really lots of opportunities
Parsons isn't that good that he shouldn't be dropped which is the point of this, how does a player take opportunities when rarely given them?
To me it's not about moulds or whoever that hasn't stepped up, even when Parsons has been average he hasn't been dropped when others have, thus giving an opportunity to actually seize.
-
@kiwimurph Ross Wright showed what sort of person he is,showed up to Kaiwaka last night to support the Northland HP squad,even though he’s based down here in Auckland.
I asked him what the deal was when he came off in the first half,he had taken a knock on the knee and came off as a precaution..
He’s with the squad for one more game,but with returning players ,it’s pretty much his lot unless there are injuries.. -
Whether he has a good or poor game Parsons goes full noise. He isn't the most talented guy, but he seems to work hard. A poor man's Monty bethem I reckon. But no one appears to have come close to tipping him. If Coles had had a faster rehab we may have seen a young hooker from the canes heading north... like really north.
-
@taniwharugby would not make another NZ franchise team,should never have been an All Black,was fortunate to have been in Britain when he was called into the ABs..mind you he’s got the losing speech downpad
-
@paekakboyz geez they've already plundered the Canes rich stocks for Apisai. When will it end?
-
@african-monkey said in Blues vs Crusaders:
@bones James O'Reilly will probably be next on Tana's radar.
Tana is Petone. I can't see him opting for a HOBM player.
-
Moulds and Pleasants-Tate have had similar fates, sitting behind captains is hard on the arse. Opportunities have been far to few, I rate them both over Ricky Telly, but there's a guy whose got the opportunity because the captains out and the upcoming is injured.
-
@northlandallday Pleasants-Tate was awful last year for Auckland in M10 Cup. Did not look Super standard at all. Eklund outplayed him completely - whereas a couple of years earlier it was the opposite between the two players.
-
@nzzp said in Blues vs Crusaders:
On the way to the game. Wet and cold. Not expecting a big crowd, but we live in hope... Maybe no pressure suits the unstructured game we play.
Also, a set piece battle against the crusaders on a wet night... Yeah we're going to get smoked
I decided to dip into the corporate trough for this so will be at the game watching from the comfort a box, thankfully given the weather. A shame it's wet though, was hoping the Blues might throw caution to the wind given the expectation is they'll get crushed.