Reds v Blues
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@Canes4life said in Reds v Blues:
@SammyC Easy to say as a Crusaders fan when you automatically attract talent based on your history and culture. I would rather have five strong NZ teams, than 2 like we do atm. I just feel like evening the playing field would bring more interest back into he game, because right now the crowds and viewership is seriously dwindling and it's a massive worry.
Nah I supported Canterbury through the bad times too... early to mid nineties were pretty tough....doesn’t make a difference where we are on the table.
It’s all swings and roundabouts.....The crusaders won’t be the best side for ever, but I’ll still support them and kids in this area will always grow up wanting to play for them.
I don’t want it to end up like American sport where people pick and choose who they support based on team branding and which players they recruit.
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@SammyC Yeah after losing the shield we went through Hell as Canterbury supporter's I thought we would never beat Auckland again.And then the first year SR we finished last.Then the frustrating Blackadder years we should have won more titles and kept falling over.It hasn't been all up hill being a Red n Black man.We have had pain like every other supporter.
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@SammyC Fair call, and same goes with me, I will always support Wellington sides no matter what. I just think there needs to be a way of spreading the talent across our teams rather than having this situation where there are a stack of healthy players sitting in the stands in one team because of depth, and holes to fill in another team.
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@SammyC Agree, although I can only relate to this at NPC level. Hawke's Bay have had some really bad years under Philpott, Ranfurly Shield wins excluded. Despite all the frustration, I would never be able to support another team. Last year, we finally saw some improvements with all the new local talent coming up and now I feel hopeful again and am looking forward to the new season, more than ever. I doubt I would feel that way if we signed our players on the basis of a draft.
American sports, I hardly watch them anymore, despite some amazing talent on show, now and then. Reason: it has no heart.
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@Canes4life The problem with the holes in teams is that some teams are just shit at recruiting. One example is the so obvious Wellington bias of the Canes. Hawke's Bay and Manawatu players ending up at other franchises, while the Canes need good players in their positions, is a typical example, that could have been avoided. Fakatava at the Highlanders is a very clear and recent example. Falcon at the Chiefs (forget his injuries, because that's hindsight) is another.
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@Stargazer Them not picking from Hawkes Bay, Manawatu etc doesn't mean they are recruiting badly, there are plenty of Wellington players that have been forced to move elsewhere because they haven't cracked the Canes.
When you think of it, the likes of Fatialofa, Uhila, Aso, Halaholo, Lam are all guys that have come in and flourished in a Canes jersey and they don't represent any of the Canes catchment areas. The game has changed now, you have to look all over the place for talent, not just in the areas that a franchise represents.
Same goes with the likes of Fakatava and Falcon, they obviously saw opportunities elsewhere and chose to move. I don't really see your point re Fakatava, the Canes wanted him but he wanted to learn from Aaron Smith down at the Highlanders. There isn't much you can do when a player makes a personal choice like that. That is also mirrored in Lomax's recent decision to join the Canes because his wife was offered a job. To me that doesn't reflect poor recruitment, in fact I've been happy with the Canes recruiting strategy over the last 4 or so years and it has reflected in their results. 2 finals and 2 semi finals.
They look pretty darn settled for next year aswell, assuming they sign the Barrett brothers and IWL (who ironically is from Hawkes Bay).
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@SammyC Haha I cop quite a bit of shit at work about the Blues (it's bound to happen living in Chch) but as I keep telling them, one day the Crusaders will fall and the the Blues will find their way back at the top. It could take years, decades even but it will happen one day and as you said, the Crusaders won't be at the top forever. It usually gets greeted with awkward silence or more Blues bashing when I start talking like that haha.
Oh, and you can always count on a Blues gameday thread to bring all NZ rugby fans on here together. There's always plenty of traffic on here when the Blues play.
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@African-Monkey Misery Loves Company ?
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@SammyC said in Reds v Blues:
I don’t want it to end up like American sport where people pick and choose who they support based on team branding and which players they recruit.
Is this true? My American mates are diehard supporters of their teams and none of them would ever support other teams based on players in a squad.
@Stargazer said in Reds v Blues:
@SammyC Agree, although I can only relate to this at NPC level. Hawke's Bay have had some really bad years under Philpott, Ranfurly Shield wins excluded. Despite all the frustration, I would never be able to support another team. Last year, we finally saw some improvements with all the new local talent coming up and now I feel hopeful again and am looking forward to the new season, more than ever. I doubt I would feel that way if we signed our players on the basis of a draft.
American sports, I hardly watch them anymore, despite some amazing talent on show, now and then. Reason: it has no heart.
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Yeah, as someone who has switched teams at Super level* there's no way I'd ever switch from the Magpies - as we've said repeatedly we'd rather lose with mostly HB talent than win with imports. TBF, our imports tend to be shit anyway.
*If the Hurricanes were actually supportive of HB players I may have remained a fan even through the Hammett era, but they aren't. The Canes have never really been representative of HB. The early days of Super rugby it was great being a Canes fan as it was new and exciting but that lessened as the years went on and they firmed as the Wellington and Taranaki Hurricanes. As for the Hammett Canes era, there was nothing enjoyable about being a Canes fan at that time, regardless of the results on the actual field, so it really was an easy decision to leave - plus, I'd seen the work Rennie had been doing for a while and figured the Chiefs would go well (they also had 6 Magpies in the squad).
@Canes4life IWL isn't from Hawkes Bay. Also, I think @Stargazer's main point is that it's Wellington first with the Canes and HB are an afterthought. That type of recruiting isn't going to keep HB (or the Poo) fans interested, especially when the selected Wellingtonians aren't better quality.
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@Nepia I'm fine with players from outside playing for us, but on the condition they have been playing cub footy here (super players excepted) which is a rule that has been in place for a number of years now.
Yeah not sure a draft system would work in NZ, I think the current one, is probably as good as we will get, much better than the one where players were all but made to sign for a province in the Super teams catchment.
I dont really support the Blues any more than any other NZ team, reasons are more than just they are/were cnuts to Northland
I want all Kiwi teams to go well and will always support a Kiwi side over a foreign one.
