NPC Final - Auckland vs Canterbury (free entry)
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What with the Auckland vs Canterbury player debates and their win yesterday a decent superrugby season should be enough to make me despise them again.
This was only six months ago
https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/super-rugby/103358560/auckland-rugby-is-now-too-bad-to-hate
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@nepia which, IMO all adds up to there being something else to the whole sorry saga...and yea we get sick of the speculation, but thats all we have.
Is it something off field, has he done something in camp that lead the coaches to believe he will be a bad choice regardless of his on field play?
Be interested to get some of his data from the stats they have access to, cos I cant see it telling us a huge amount different to what we know already.
Even if he is a tool, he is such a talent that it'd be good to get him immersed in the environment, point out what dickheadedness things he is doing so he can choose to change them or not.
Wile it is not out of the question for him to make the RWC squad, the way these coaches operate means it will take something pretty special from him to leap frog however many players they have pegged ahead of him...or they all get injured.
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@chchfanatic said in NPC Final - Auckland vs Canterbury (free entry):
Ioane is a flog. Totally outplayed by whitelock
Riiight
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@pukunui said in NPC Final - Auckland vs Canterbury (free entry):
With 1:30 left the rain came over my house and sky decided it was too hard to get a signal dammit.
Great game. Congrats Auckland, great comeback.
Good for the comp to have them win IMO.Shit i'd rather have Akira AND Seu in the ABs ahead of about 5 of the Highlanders loose forwards. Would take Plummer ahead of Cameron too.
Biggest moment of the game was Ruru getting dragged.
Haven't watch much M10C but Plummer looked awful handy
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@chchfanatic said in NPC Final - Auckland vs Canterbury (free entry):
Was a great game of footy won by the best team all season. Canterbury played awesome today but just couldn’t get up. Today showed why whitelock is an all black and ioane is a pretender. The crusaders were offered ioane to try and sort him out. Razor just laughed at them and said he’s not what we’re looking for.
Was Whitelock playing?
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@stargazer said in NPC Final - Auckland vs Canterbury (free entry):
@tim Whether Akira was Auckland's best player is debatable. He was one of the best in the 2nd half and ET, but was mostly invisible and completely dominated during the first half; also got correctly yellow carded. TJ Faiane was good for the entire match, one of the few who stood out in the first half.
Not so sure he was that bad in the 1st half.
I watched the recording this morning with premeditated ideas and thought he was pretty good. Walked a couple if times sure.
Didn't see much of Whitelock.
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Congrats Auckland.
After a few fallow years of pitying the pricks in blue and white, it'll be nice to go back to downright hating them again 😉, ( except when they play overseas opponents, in which case I find I feel very fond of them 😀, for a couple of hours anyway)
"Strong Auckland, strong ABs" no longer applies bit it's no fun having a large rugby organisation as an example of shoddy admin.
Enjoy the premiership, played well all season.
The Akira bullshit whining is all based on an entitled view that Hansen hasn't seen the same performances as a tv watching expert. That Hansen, if confronted about Akiras play would simply remark " really, I haven't seen him play much so I left him out, thanks for the tip"
The Akira whinging has quite frankly reached the level of Quade Cooper whining in Australia
But no no, you sure as fuck know as much about Akira as Shag does, so by all means continue the toy throwing...
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@siam This place runs on toy throwing, it's part of the fun. Yours and @Stargazer's throwing of toys at the throwing of toys about Akira just add to the fun.
Sadly, with Aaron Smith out of form we miss out the old classics like when @Canerbry claims any other player would be a better bet at 9 than him.
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Zzzzz an appeal to authority argument.. we're reaching the bottom of the barrel now
Henry thinks it was a mistake. You think you know more than Ted!!?!!?!
Imagine this place if we weren't allowed to question a coaches/refs/players decisions? They have more info! Never question! They are always correct! Hahaha
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@duluth the logic of the "the coaches can't see what I can" is worthy of investigation.
Appeal to authority is a sound position in many instances in life. Ever had cancer? Deferring to someone's judgement who has more data and knowledge isn't as flawed as insisting your opinion is better
Nothing wrong in pointing out a lack of logic in an emotional plea devoid of useful data, particularly after months of incessant opinion based bleating
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@duluth said in NPC Final - Auckland vs Canterbury (free entry):
Imagine this place if we weren't allowed to question a coaches/refs/players decisions? They have more info! Never question! They are always correct! Hahaha
Nobody has suggested this. Straw man argument for the incessant wailing
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@kiwimurph said in NPC Final - Auckland vs Canterbury (free entry):
@siam are you gonna comment on Sir Ted's opinion?
Nah, my work is done 😀, except to say, the reality is he too is not privy to AB selectors information
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@duluth we didn’t find a replacement for Matt Todd’s ball carrying. He’s been excellent for us at this level. He would make plenty of metres through the middle because of his support play.
Burleigh was a mystery selection for me all year.
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@act-crusader said in NPC Final - Auckland vs Canterbury (free entry):
@duluth we didn’t find a replacement for Matt Todd’s ball carrying. He’s been excellent for us at this level. He would make plenty of metres through the middle because of his support play.
Burleigh was a mystery selection for me all year.
I know a guy who would make plenty of metres for ... no wait, better not go down that rabbit hole. Although the discussion on MJ Jnr in the Super rugby thread might provide you with an option in the future.
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@act-crusader said in NPC Final - Auckland vs Canterbury (free entry):
@duluth we didn’t find a replacement for Matt Todd’s ball carrying. He’s been excellent for us at this level. He would make plenty of metres through the middle because of his support play.
Earlier in the year GPT was a great ball carrying option. He was missed. Romano was brilliant all year but he can't do it all
The momentum shifted when the rain arrived and consistent hard runs from the forwards became more important. One side had more options
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@nepia said in NPC Final - Auckland vs Canterbury (free entry):
@crucial said in NPC Final - Auckland vs Canterbury (free entry):
@kirwan said in NPC Final - Auckland vs Canterbury (free entry):
FFS, that’s a new low. Now he has to improve his body language?
I prefer he keeps performing goal line turnovers, holding up mauls, scoring try’s from the scrum, etc,etc
You know, being a great rugby player.
Next we’ll be talking about facial expressions, oh wait he’s been criticised for that too.
Yeah, yeah.
Instead of the kneejerk reaction why don’t you address the point which is that if the AB selectors are watching a group and one possible is looking very different to the others in the attitude they are conveying they may add that to the others questions they have about them.
I love the dynamics Akira brings to a game when he is involved and would love to see him do well in the ABs. I’m simply suggesting a reason why the selectors are a bit cold on him and, I feel that is the case, can understand where they are coming from.
I recall many on this board making similar comments about Sivivatu’s apparent disinterest at times in games.It's kind of understandable @Kirwan's reaction though don't you think?
Basically with Akira we've had reason after reason for why some aren't fans of his - and fair enough each to their own. But the goalpost moving has been a sight to behold. It's basically gone like the following since the early rounds of Super Rugby this year (and most of my fluffing of Akira started after I started casting a critical eye over things even though I was already a fan):
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Akira is lazy. Except, he had a huge workload in Super rugby, and on a stats by stats head to head on players who play a similar game to him (one who was trumpeted a lot before injury in Taufua and one who came from nowhere to make the ABs - nope not the Tongan but the Magpie in Evans) he kicked their arse. Ok, time for a goalpost move.
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Akira has ill discipline and is niggly. Except, his discipline isn't worse than a bunch of current ABs, there's two guys who are way niggly in the ABs but because one of them is our best player and the other is when fit our best hooker they get a pass. These two even get lauded for their niggle. Even setting aside the niggly aspect, Akira doesn't actually get penalised or yellowed that often anyway. Ok, time for a goalpost move.
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Akira doesn't make many tackles. And especially compared to Whitelock. Except, he was one of the top tacklers for the Blues. There were also multiple games where he pulled off try saving tackles when the Blues were under the pump. Whitelock plays in a Super team they kicks from hand and makes lots of tackles. Hunt made more tackles per game than any openside out there no one uses that one stat to advance him over Cane, Todd and Savea. Ok, time for the big goalpost move.
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Akira doesn't toil away in the rucks. This a bit mythical (it's hard to find useful stats about it) but it's the big one for the Akira detractors. But, let's say this from the start, getting caught up in rucks is not the best way to use Akira, any coach who advocates this as a plan must have rocks in their head. It's like advocating using Owen Franks as a ball runner over a ruck clearer outer/scrummager (oh, I forgot him in the niggle/discipline list too). Even so, in last nights game there were at least 3 occasions (IIRC) when Akira's ruck work gave Auckland an advantage. I find it strange that if this such an issue to the coaches that they don't back themselves to select him and then fix it in camp.
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So now we have Akira v Whitelock and 'Whitelock was so much better' in the final from some. Akira has a poor first half by his standards (and if anyone argues with that comment then clearly their bias is off the chart). But, he was dynamic in the second half when his team finally had some ball and field position. I'm surprised some fans would rather have the guy on the losing team who has a one dimensional style of play, that to his credit he does really well, rather than the guy who turned the game for his team. And let's remember Akira's team won and without him they wouldn't have been in a position to win.
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So now we have @Crucial's comment on how Akira looks on the field. I kind of understand where he's coming from re: the selectors. What I don't get in this is why the selectors don't select him and then back themselves to get the best out of him. They can see the style of game his Super team wants him to play and if they want him to play different bring him in and get him playing that style. If he fails then, then he fails. Because, this is exactly what has been done with Frizell (and Hemopo). They saw something they liked in him, and then backed themselves to get the best out of him despite the fact his coach only uses him as a bit part player (and Hemopo is used in a completely different position).
So that was a much longer thesis than my intention - stupid Sydney weather emulating Palmerston North and being crap has meant I'm chilling out inside getting angrier rather than hanging out in the sun.
You're looking in the wrong places, my friend.
Instead of wasting your time studying the Gospel According to St. Matthew - an obscure Welshman with little insight - seek the answers in the Gospel According to St. Mark.
There you will find enlightenment.
Study Chapter II Verse (iv) Thou shalt not be caught by the AB coach coming in from the pub at 4 am on a test match morning.
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