Blues 2019
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Anymore average Ta$man players wanna sign for us? Isaac Salmon and Tim O'Malley will probably follow.
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Thought Christie was decent for Ta$man last year, but he hasn't done well at all with his chances at the Canes.
Hard to figure out what other halfbacks we should bring in. Maybe we should scout Japan for a halfback. The halfbacks I've seen from there seem to all have a sweet pass and fast service.
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@Stargazer ew, i’d rather Nock.
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@@nzzp Peter Saiili physically had the body shape to dominate, but that’s about where it ended , his core skills were quite frankly bloody awful..the number of times he got caught behind the scrum, I would lose count..and when he dropped back in the pocket to defuse a box kick, there was an 80% chance he would drop the ball cold..
One of the poorest selections the Blues ever made..incredible that he had 6 seasons with the Auckland franchise playing 70 x games..
I pointed Colin Bourke who was an unbelievably talented no 8 who had played for both Bays with a skill set that’s made Saili look Ordinary to say the least to Bryce Woodward whom I had close relationship with.
He came back to me ,and informed me Pat Lam did not rate him, and had the numbers 8s covered at the time..
One of them was Saiili ,the other 8s were Viliamu Mafu and a very average Ponsonby no 8 by the name of Chris lowery ..
Tells you a lot about Pat Lam’s inability as a selector to actually recognise a skillful player..
The crazy thing is, Saiili kept getting selected for another 5 bloody years...in his final starting turning up to training with Alcohol on his breath... -
@Canes4life don’t be surprised if Nock ends up at the Canes or the Highlanders.
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@Steven-Harris said in Blues 2019:
@@nzzp Peter Saiili physically had the body shape to dominate, but that’s about where it ended , his core skills were quite frankly bloody awful..the number of times he got caught behind the scrum, I would lose count..and when he dropped back in the pocket to defuse a box kick, there was an 80% chance he would drop the ball cold..
One of the poorest selections the Blues ever made..incredible that he had 6 seasons with the Auckland franchise playing 70 x games..
I pointed Colin Bourke who was an unbelievably talented no 8 who had played for both Bays with a skill set that’s made Saili look Ordinary to say the least to Bryce Woodward whom I had close relationship with.
He came back to me ,and informed me Pat Lam did not rate him, and had the numbers 8s covered at the time..
One of them was Saiili ,the other 8s were Viliamu Mafu and a very average Ponsonby no 8 by the name of Chris lowery ..
Tells you a lot about Pat Lam’s inability as a selector to actually recognise a skillful player..
The crazy thing is, Saiili kept getting selected for another 5 bloody years...in his final starting turning up to training with Alcohol on his breath...Chiefs didn't rate Bourke either. Neither did the other NZ teams it seemed.
Viliami Ma'afu was awesome in his lone season with us though. Was probably the form 8 in Super Rugby that year.
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@Dice Bourke still had more skill than of the 3 no8s ,so your telling me Saiili and Lowery were better selections..?
Saiili was mud and Lowery no better..real home town selections in my opinion ,if Mafu was that good, why was he not re signed for another season..? -
@Steven-Harris Nah, I'm just saying no other team seemed to rate him either.
Ma'afu was pretty skillful but he also had the physicality to go along with it. I rated him higher than Bourke.
I'm wondering if Bourke was too skillful for his own good as he was a bit of an odd ball player and played so differently to any other 8.
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@Steven-Harris said in Blues 2019:
@Dice Bourke still had more skill than of the 3 no8s ,so your telling me Saiili and Lowery were better selections..?
Saiili was mud and Lowery no better..real home town selections in my opinion ,if Mafu was that good, why was he not re signed for another season..?I'm sure we wanted to sign him again, but he got a decent overseas offer and left right away for it.
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https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=12242648
Might be hope for Blues in 2020
A first five who can actually kick the ball and organise a backline
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@Dice Yes I like how no one else seemed to rate Colin Bourke yet we get criticised for not signing him but yes, Saili was poor for a lot of his tenure. His hands were terrible. Dare I say him being a St Peter's boy enhanced his reputation with Pat Lam. Funnily enough, I thought 2013-2014 were his best seasons for us and he definitely outplayed Luatua in 2014.
Don't even get me started with Chris Lowrey he was awful.
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@Steven-Harris said in Blues 2019:
@Dice Bourke still had more skill than of the 3 no8s ,so your telling me Saiili and Lowery were better selections..?
Saiili was mud and Lowery no better..real home town selections in my opinion ,if Mafu was that good, why was he not re signed for another season..?The problem with Bourke wasn’t his skills (which were exceptional). It was his willingness to do any hard work whatsoever.
The bloke thought he was part of the backline and spent the whole game playing that way.
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@SammyC No issues with what you are saying, there may have been issues in and around his work ethic but you can’t deny his skill level which was ahead of the numbers 8s the Blues had available at the time..
The Peter Saili selection I will always point to as home town selection from a Marist Old Boys coach who could not see past his own..To be honest it’s just another in a long line of questionable selections made by Blues coaching staff for well over a decade..
Interesting hearing from a friend who was at the Blues awards the other night, Many of the younger players and their partners where going through alcohol like it was kids drinking fizz..
Laughing and chatting while awards were being handed out..talk about disrespectful, apparently the sponsors were not impressed.
Saw an interview with Te Arihi Maipi and TJ Faiaane ,he sounded as though he was drunk .bloody embarrassing if you ask me..
Quite frankly given the circumstances of their season you have got to wonder -
@Steven-Harris said in Blues 2019:
@SammyC No issues with what you are saying, there may have been issues in and around his work ethic but you can’t deny his skill level which was ahead of the numbers 8s the Blues had available at the time..
The Peter Saili selection I will always point to as home town selection from a Marist Old Boys coach who could not see past his own..To be honest it’s just another in a long line of questionable selections made by Blues coaching staff for well over a decade..
Interesting hearing from a friend who was at the Blues awards the other night, Many of the younger players and their partners where going through alcohol like it was kids drinking fizz..
Laughing and chatting while awards were being handed out..talk about disrespectful, apparently the sponsors were not impressed.
Saw an interview with Te Arihi Maipi and TJ Faiaane ,he sounded as though he was drunk .bloody embarrassing if you ask me..
Quite frankly given the circumstances of their season you have got to wonderFree piss is still free piss even for highly paid professional athletes.
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@SammyC said in Blues 2019:
@Steven-Harris said in Blues 2019:
@Dice Bourke still had more skill than of the 3 no8s ,so your telling me Saiili and Lowery were better selections..?
Saiili was mud and Lowery no better..real home town selections in my opinion ,if Mafu was that good, why was he not re signed for another season..?The problem with Bourke wasn’t his skills (which were exceptional). It was his willingness to do any hard work whatsoever.
The bloke thought he was part of the backline and spent the whole game playing that way.
I hope Vaea Fifita is reading this
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@African-Monkey I think bad hands is a St Peter's trait.
Just when Saili was starting to look decent, he left.
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@SammyC said in Blues 2019:
@Steven-Harris said in Blues 2019:
@Dice Bourke still had more skill than of the 3 no8s ,so your telling me Saiili and Lowery were better selections..?
Saiili was mud and Lowery no better..real home town selections in my opinion ,if Mafu was that good, why was he not re signed for another season..?The problem with Bourke wasn’t his skills (which were exceptional). It was his willingness to do any hard work whatsoever.
The bloke thought he was part of the backline and spent the whole game playing that way.
He was a fullback stuck in an 8s body.
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@Dice said in Blues 2019:
@SammyC said in Blues 2019:
@Steven-Harris said in Blues 2019:
@Dice Bourke still had more skill than of the 3 no8s ,so your telling me Saiili and Lowery were better selections..?
Saiili was mud and Lowery no better..real home town selections in my opinion ,if Mafu was that good, why was he not re signed for another season..?The problem with Bourke wasn’t his skills (which were exceptional). It was his willingness to do any hard work whatsoever.
The bloke thought he was part of the backline and spent the whole game playing that way.
He was a fullback stuck in an 8s body.
Liam Messam tightened up his game considerably. Bourke never did.
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@Dice Hey! You take that comment back!
But yeah, just as Saili started to play some good rugby, other younger players began to overtake him so it was a bit of bad timing for Saili. We needed him to come right about 3 years before that and so did he for the benefit of his own career.
