AB EOYT 2018
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Look, i know I'm as guilty as anyone about the on-going Akira drum beating but...
It looks to us from the outside as being bullshit. And the coaches "explanations" are either bullshit or wildly inconsistent.
Which i could handle if the loose forwards they selected were actually playing the house down. But the sad fact of the matter is they are not. the 6 jersey is a gaping hole of mediocrity, with no player actually looking up to it at the moment. And a couple that have been selected looking miles from the required standard. Squire is the only one who looks half decent, and he is battling to stay on the park. At #8 we have Read, who is a point of difference, but beyond that? Savea had a good game, but it was against Argentina, and i think there is enough evidence around that we shouldn't read too much in to one-offs v Argentina. Luke Whitelock is journeyman level as a test player, he's not good enough to be a starting player for the All Blacks. I can almost see why he is in the squad, almost. Then you get down to Hemapo, a small lock playing 6, and the slow Barrett, who is again a stop-gap measure.
Not a single one of these players is a "complete package" and all have work ons (so, so may work ons). And yet they are brought in because they have something the selectors like, and the coaches back themselves to iron out the rest. And yet the guy who plays better than all of them at the level below somehow has work ons that mean he can't be picked. And he won't benefit from being in the camp. That right there doesn't add up.
If he's a cockhead, and you don't want him around the group, fucking say it. Or say something slightly more definitive than the mealy-mouthed bullshit being floated at the moment. Because absolutely no one except Crucial is buying it.
Akira does shit in games no other player in the country is doing, and yet he rots in the NPC and the Maori tour while our loose forward options run around in Black being below par.
I actually worry about us against Ireland with Savea at 7 and one of the shit 6s. Fucking Retallic better be back, and both Read and Whitelock better have stormers.
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@mariner4life said in AB EOYT 2018:
the 6 jersey is a gaping hole of mediocrity, with no player actually looking up to it at the moment. And a couple that have been selected looking miles from the required standard.
Papali'i
He's been picked as a 6 & 7
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@mariner4life Well said. Bit more than analysis than my frustration post.
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@duluth said in AB EOYT 2018:
@mariner4life said in AB EOYT 2018:
the 6 jersey is a gaping hole of mediocrity, with no player actually looking up to it at the moment. And a couple that have been selected looking miles from the required standard.
Papali'i
He's been picked as a 6 & 7
yea, what i have watched i have liked. I like him at 7 given the way he plays. But i don't expect him to make the 23 in any of the big games unfortunately.
But my point was the AB squads so far this year.
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@duluth said in AB EOYT 2018:
@mariner4life said in AB EOYT 2018:
the 6 jersey is a gaping hole of mediocrity, with no player actually looking up to it at the moment. And a couple that have been selected looking miles from the required standard.
Papali'i
He's been picked as a 6 & 7
He's becoming the great white (but with a poly name) hope.
Although I don't actually disagree that he's the best long/mid term hope out of those.
But I doubt he will get much test match action at 6 (or 6 substitue) at this green stage of his career.
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At the risk of offending @Billy-Tell I'm going to continue the "WTF where's Akira?" theme.
His non selection in either of these squads is put in perspective by the selection of Gareth Evans. I’m a huge fan of Evans, he’s a Hawkes Bay boy born and bred and is a class attacking player. Emphasis on the attacking player part. He’s not a stand one off from the ruck and make tackle after tackle kind of guy like Whitelock, he’s not a toil away in the rucks ‘all game’ type of guy like – you know what, who is an example of this type of player? He’s a runner out wide, he’ll do some hit ups and he’ll make some tackles. Evans is a white version of Akira and if you compare them head to head in the Super comp (where Evans was considered to be on fire) and at the stuff you select an Evans for (attack) then Akira comes out on top every time.
I don't know how any of the selectors stand up in a press conference and defend the Evans selection over Akira - although I know they'll probably trot out he can play 7.
In saying all that I hope Evans a. gets a run in Japan and b. carves up ... because if they're not going to select Akira then they may as well select more Magpies in the team.
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@rapido said in AB EOYT 2018:
But I doubt he will get much test match action at 6 (or 6 substitue) at this green stage of his career.
Maybe. Although I think his selection might be an indication of what they want to do with the bench next year
There is no Test quality 6/lock or lock/6 at the moment, but we do have good bench locks.He covers the loosies from the bench in a different (IMO better) way than the other options. The selectors made a big deal out of how no one else covers 6 & 7
One year out from the RWC, if he's a serious bench option for that tournament, they should have a look at him in both positions on this tour
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@billy-tell said in AB EOYT 2018:
Anyone else bored with the Akira stuff?
He’s not selected for the umpteenth time, we know people don’t understand, but there’s only so many vitriolic posts before it becomes...repetitive.
Quoted, just to repeat this as well. Akira is the Māori Jesus of the forwards. The Charlie Ngatai of the forwards. Geez, I have faith in the selectors, and if they have good reason not to select him, I trust that decision. If they have reasons not to disclose the full details of why he isn't selected, then I trust their judgment as well. Some people feel way too entitled to that information. It may actually not be in his best interests that everything is disclosed.
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@stargazer given the employer/employee relationship, they are entitled to privacy around what they have discussed, but I think people are calling BS on alot of thier reasoning.
Just say, we have discussed with Akira, he knows what our reasons are and what he needs to work on, he is free to tell you if he chooses, but the reasoning we have been given leads to much more speculation as you can clearly see there is much more to it.
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If we can't complain about player selection and non-selection then the Fern is fucked. No more discussing Jonah from you @Stargazer if that's the case.
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@stargazer said in AB EOYT 2018:
@nepia The complaining has reached excessive levels though. Everyone is repeating everyone. It's not a broken record. It's a broken record collection.
We're all having a shot at the Broken Record Award that @Rancid-Schnitzel has been the front runner for 2 minutes after The Last Jedi was released.
Hansen could solve it all by giving him a game, if he fails we'll shut up.
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@stargazer just because you are a super fan who is loath to say anything even remotely negative about the All Blacks or any All Black players doesn't mean the rest of us have to be.
We have some gaping holes in our pack. A player who looks like he could fill those is consistently over looked despite form. Reasons given don't stack up. That sounds like the perfect thing to talk about on a sports forum.
If you don't like it, why don't you go trawl instagram and find some nice rugby "stories" to share for a while.
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@mariner4life said in AB EOYT 2018:
@stargazer just because you are a super fan who is loath to say anything even remotely negative about the All Blacks or any All Black players doesn't mean the rest of us have to be.
We have some gaping holes in our pack. A player who looks like he could fill those is consistently over looked despite form. Reasons given don't stack up. That sounds like the perfect thing to
talkrepetitively moan about on a sports forum.If you don't like it, why don't you go trawl instagram and find some nice rugby "stories" to share for a while.
It's the repetive moaning I don't like. We've heard the complaints hundreds of times. Nothing new is being said. That's what I don't like; not the fact that it's being discussed.
I agree that that 6 spot isn't settled and that the coaches are still searching and trying. I agree that from the outside it looks logic to give Akira a shot at it as well, but they obviously have reasons not to give him that chance just yet, while they continue to try with other players in who they obviously see something some of us from the outside have questions about (or some of you lot, reject without knowing what the coaches are exactly looking for). If they are - for one reason or another - are not willing to give us full disclosure on their selection decisions, then I accept they may have good reasons for it. Yes, others may not accept it and moan about. But do you really have to do that hundreds of times?
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@mariner4life add in the other players that are in both the extra 19 and the Maori squad already, I woulda thought the Japanese game ideal for Akira (I mean Akira is Japanese name isnt it?
) and it still means he gets all that extra meaningful gametime in the Americas while being part of the extended AB squad. -
@nepia said in AB EOYT 2018:
If we can't complain about player selection and non-selection then the Fern is fucked. No more discussing Jonah from you @Stargazer if that's the case.
Yep. It's an interesting talking point days after a very unusual squad was selected. It's exactly why a site like this exists.
There is a great technique for people not interested in a post or thread; Just keep scrolling.
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@stargazer actually yes. Because i watch our current options getting walked over repeatedly, offering very close to fuck all. And yet get picked again the next week.
So i either say repeatedly "Why the hell isn't Akira Ioane being selected" or i repeatedly say "both Frizzle and Fifita are blatantly not good enough. Squire is barely adequate, but always hurt. What is Luke Whitelock?"
I guess a new one is "What is a Gareth Evans"
Pick your poison.
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Fifita by his own admission loathes the hard work despite his athleticism, so he's back proving himself there. Frizell was solid if unspectacular in his outings and is worth persevering with. Very few good blindsides start their test careers dominating at that level.
Akira plays at 8, so he's behind Read. If you've got an inexperienced blindside, you probably want experience at the back of the scrum in case Read is injured.
