Blues 2019
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@Tim Don't forget Luteru Tolai in your mix of hooker prospects. I was impressed by him in the 2 dev. games I saw. He is only 20 years old but is a big powerful unit (119kgs). Hopefully he can get enough minutes playing behind Parsons at harbour to develop his game and for us to assess him properly.
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@Daffy-Jaffy Had no idea he was that young.
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@Daffy-Jaffy He's a converted hooker too as he spent all his school years playing in the back row.
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@Tim said in Blues 2019:
Abel and Sosene-Feagai both played well for Auckland, and Eklund and Olsen also look promising. The last two are inexperienced at this level, and there are questions over athletic ability.
Nathan Harris and Samisoni Taukei'aho are both off contract, and I think that Makalio and Funnell are too. Then there's Coltman. We should try for all of those names and Abel. Who would you prefer?
Maybe GPT is in the mix too?
His form has been all over the place. We might see improvements with a NPC season under Tiatia then Coventry at SR level
No idea what his contract situation is. Canterbury NPC last year, but it appears he has no fully pro contract (he was in that 'World XV' that played the Force recently)
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The moment Tom Robinson's All Black quest came to an end….. for this year
Tom Robinson the red-haired whirling dervish, ginger-ninja blindside flanker has been setting the pace in this year’s Super Rugby tournament.
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Yes, it's overstating the importance of that error
He isn't in the squad
The Tahs going down the blindside was really obvious though. Plummer had come on for Rieko.. I doubt he played much wing before and he was getting advice from team mates on where to stand.
Robinson should have been expecting the Tahs to go down that side -
haha the moment his AB quest came to an end...NZ Media started his AB quest this year, and now they are ending it.
He was (and I guess still is given the nature of the game) a very rank outsider to make the ABs this season, odds would be less if not a RWC year. but I'd rather have him tearing shit up for Northland this year.
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@taniwharugby I don’t believe he was ever in the picture,people have got to remember even if you think back to his time with the Taniwha,I would doubt very much if he has played any more than 12 games in the number 6 jersey,add in several for the Blues this season,that’s around 20 x games in the 6 jersey at Mitre & Super level..talking about learning on the Job,when he was originally selected for Northland it was as lock who could fill in at 6..
The great thing is,I see heaps more improvement in Robinson,Saturday’s night,sure he got caught out on the blindside,but that will come with experience..personally I think it’s the writer who may jumped to conclusions -
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Gee that Nonu signing isn't looking terribly bad now is it?
I'd like to say it was a masterstroke from Tana but signing an experienced 12 to cover for an injury prone player with mandated rest periods was a bit of a no brainier. Let's hope Leon can pull off more canny signings like this one now that he is in charge.
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@rotated said in Blues 2019:
Gee that Nonu signing isn't looking terribly bad now is it?
I'd like to say it was a masterstroke from Tana but signing an experienced 12 to cover for an injury prone player with mandated rest periods was a bit of a no brainier. Let's hope Leon can pull off more canny signings like this one now that he is in charge.
What? Signing three 12s and no 13 is not a master stroke FFS. The best 12 in the squad has to play 13.
But always good to start the day with a laugh, so thanks.
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@Duluth my spies are telling me that the Blues are currently involved in talks with Robbie Abel which is a good move in my opinion,very experienced at super level and good enough to push the Parsons project..I do like the idea of carrying a really good young promising hooker..
Both Moulds and Apisai will be gone come seasons end. -
Which of the three would you have cut from the squad?
Nonu and SBW are both capable of playing 13 and Faiane has proven to be no slouch either.
This is squad has the previous RWC World Cup winning centre combo, yet somehow they are inept at playing centre? Baffling.
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@rotated said in Blues 2019:
Which of the three would you have cut from the squad?
Nonu and SBW are both capable of playing 13 and Faiane has proven to be no slouch either.
This is squad has the previous RWC World Cup winning centre combo, yet somehow they are inept at playing centre? Baffling.
It’s not 2015 anymore, they are not the same players.
Nonu was tried at 13 and was run around like he wasn’t even there. Funnily enough at 36 he’s lost some pace. It’s happened at 12 as well, where he was out paced by a flanker. A huge problem for a back.
SBW would have the same issues at 13.
TJ, as huge a fan as I am of his, has missed way too many tackles out of position. So all of them are not great options at 13.
That leaves squeezing them into 12, so the best 12 gets moved to 13 because the others would be worse and then you make do with an over the hill player subbing in when the injury prone one gets injured.
Where is the master stroke again? Laughable.
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@Kirwan said in Blues 2019:
The best 12 in the squad has to play 13.
For most of this season he was the worst defensive midfielder in the competition. He's improved in the last couple of rounds and has now missed the 3rd most tackles and gotten his % above 70
A large number of those misses came in weeks 2 & 3. That of course doesn't count the ones where he was so far out of position, or the misses made by those around him trying to cover for him.
The Sharks game was blew out at the end butt he Jags match was very close. Would we have won with a centre who wasn't missing 5 tackles in the match?I don't blame TJ for it.. he's been put into a shitty position and is forced to learn a new position at a high level.
MacDonald has covered for him well in the press. After his worst game on defence he told the press TJ was great on defence and everyone just believed itHe is improving too. Thats not a surprise he's a very good player. That doesn't make the initial squad selection balanced though.
Also, I am unsure if the Stormers or Tahs were asking enough questions of him.Hopefully the worst is behind us now
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@Kirwan said in Blues 2019:
That leaves squeezing them into 12, so the best 12 gets moved to 13 because the others would be worse and then you make do with an over the hill player subbing in when the injury prone one gets injured.
I agree that this is sub-optimal. I would have preferred they signed a world class centre (and fullback too for that matter), but I just don't see what compelling options that were turned down.
Given the inexperience at 10 (again could not be fixed with recruitment) guaranteeing a steady hand at 12 for every fixture is a better percentage play than picking a M10 Cup journeyman - even if it means Faiane gets found out a bit in the 13 slot.
So to be clear your answer is Nonu would be cut?
