AB EOYT 2018
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Congratulations to Dalton Papali'i. Great to see his hard work rewarded. A wonderful opportunity for him to now become a mainstay of the All Blacks backrow for the next decade or so
I'm delighted to see Matt Todd there and that something could be worked out to get him in the All Blacks squad.
Surprised about the non-inclusion of Shannon Frizell. Is he injured? I guess they see Vaea Fifita as a like for like replacement.
In the backs,. SBW stays. I hope he repays the selectors remarkable faith in him and his circus. Apart from that the main squad looks pretty much spot on.
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From the Marty Banks facebook page:
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@rocky-rockbottom said in AB EOYT 2018:
FFS. Akira has CLEARLY somehow ran afoul of the No Dickheads test
Let's review Shag's selection notes:
Loose Forwards:
Gareth Evans: 27 year old journeyman. ANOTHER Highlander!
Something must be really brewing down there!Ummm.....
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On the less controversial side, that is a very strong propping squad.
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Brett Cameron being picked as reserve 10 must be the biggest bolter for a couple of decades, even if he is just there as extreme injury cover.
Is Mitchell Hunt injured or out of contract? I presume Bryn Gatland has not been selected because Fozzy didn't like the sound of Gatland for the All Blacks.
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@samurai-jack Great to see Nepo Laulala and Joe Moody back.
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Fox was reluctant to publicly pinpoint the aspects of Ioane's game that should improve when the squad was named at the Prebbleton club rooms near Christchurch on Monday, but indicated he was making satisfactory gains. "He's getting better at the areas he's been asked to improve at, and I'm not going to drill down into those," Fox said. "If he comes with us, he's not necessarily going to get a lot of game time. "He knows what he needs to do and we think he's better off with the New Zealand Maori team and playing, being a number one for them, playing footy, and working on the areas that he needs to work on." "We're still very much interested in what he can offer, and Super Rugby next year is going to be quite defining," Fox added. "He's going to have a new forwards coach and hopefully we're going to see that little upward curb continue, we're seeing it now in the areas that he has to continue on. Hopefully we see it in Super Rugby next year." -
@tim I think those in the main squad will miss out as the final Bledisloe is next week. So the likes of Dalton might miss Saturday's match against Wellington.
Those players named in the Japan squad will probably play the NPC final and then fly out afterwards.
Can someone confirm?
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@canes4life Exactly my read on it too. Given Hansen's comments a few days ago that's exactly what it sounds like.
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@canes4life The Australia game is on the 27th, so two weekends away.
