Southland vs Northland
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Good way to start the season for the Taniwha Boys..best for Northland I thought were Josh Goodhue, really good in the air and got through a ton of work around the paddock, loved the fact that he tracked all the way a nailed Isaac Te Tamaki in a tackle
Jordon Hyland was all power on the wing..
Plenty to work on but good to get the W first up ,well played Southland -
@Machpants yes not ideal.
Kane Jacobson can’t get a break, he didn’t play a single club game this year due to a concussion he picked up in M10 last year, now he was helped off with what looks like could potentially be a serious leg injury.
Boy oh boy did we make hard work of that. But a win is a win as they say.
Pretty simple job for the coaches this week, practice, practice and practice again some of the basics of rugby, like passing, catching, holding on to the ball in contact.
Lineout needs work too.
As I mentioned earlier, wouldn’t mind our backs sending it wide once or twice either. Where was the Northland flair?
Gonna have to step up big time if we want to compete with Auckland next week.
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@Machpants said in vs Southland:
Pretty tense, messy tho. Can't believe the wasn't a yellow
And WTF with the mascot? That's embarrassingly awful behaviour
Which mascot? What happened?
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@Gunner said in vs Southland:
@Machpants said in vs Southland:
Pretty tense, messy tho. Can't believe the wasn't a yellow
And WTF with the mascot? That's embarrassingly awful behaviour
Which mascot? What happened?
During the captain's interview the Taniwha stood right behind him, and shoved a shield with adverts on it to the side of his head. The cameraman eventually zoomed super close to mats face, then the director cut away. Needs a kicking, the mascot idiot
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@African-Monkey said in vs Southland:
@Gunner Yeah not easy tbf on a cold night but they still did some good things out there too. Think they'll be better for the run.
Yep you’re right, plenty of good things out there. I shouldn’t post during games, I get too worked up and all rationality goes out the window 😂
I don’t know who was offical MOTM, but it’s Jordan Hyland for me. Not a flashy player, but bloody hell he’s super consistent and does all the basics well and more often than not beats one or two tackles.
Goodhue was good also.
Concerning that we had 3 of 4 looses injured, McNamara didn’t return after half time, Stokes went off with the head knock and Jacobson at the end with the leg injury... add Tom Robinson to that list. A real test of depth coming early in the season.
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@Gunner said in vs Southland:
I don’t know who was offical MOTM, but it’s Jordan Hyland for me. Not a flashy player, but bloody hell he’s super consistent and does all the basics well and more often than not beats one or two tackles.
He was clearly the best Northland player. I’d like to see him start in the midfield. I’m not convinced wing is his best position.
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Banana skin game. Cold and Wet. We played the right tactics keeping it tight generally. Broken play lead to 2 of their tries. Both against the run of play - but we have to be better than that. Agree Hyland was very good but like him as a roving player option. Gregory looks the goods as does McNamara. Debreczeni carrying will continue provide us with options - Gregory or Hyland running off him. Like to see Tua back to second five as long as he works hard on D. Thought Josh Goodhue was dominant and as Steven says his work to get back when Southland scored was huge. Lineout is a huge work on. A few times no jumpers? Also options off the back of the scrum need tidying up. 5 or 6 out of ten but some signs that we can improve on this.
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Plenty of positives to take from that.
Getting an opening round win on an average night in Invercargill...why yes, I will take that thank you.
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@taniwharugby said in vs Southland:
Plenty of positives to take from that.
Getting an opening round win on an average night in Invercargill...why yes, I will take that thank you.
Northland looked well drilled too. Good defensive lines, and two breakaway tries didn't tell the story of the game. A win is a win though, and they dominated the back end of the game I reckon.
Well played SOuthland, shows that grit can take you a long way in the game. Hard not to like them, but they will struggle against a number of sides I suspect.
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@nzzp yeah, now that we have gotten past them, I hope SOuthland do tip over a couple of teams, Northland fans know all too well what it is like to be following a team in thier situation.
Sure you keep on turning up to the home games and supporting them, but you become very cynical and negative about the team (shit I find I still am alot of the time, at halftime last night for example) and alot of the time, it is the mental battle for these players, rather than the physical one, actually believing they can win, when many of the players in the team are unlikely to have experienced a win at this level before.
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@Duluth when he came to Northland many years ago, it was as a centre, has never been an out and out winger due to lack of top end pace, but he has done pretty well and is very effective.
Thought last year they may have given him a run at 13, would certainly attract defenders and potentially open space outside.
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We have an Argentinian import...
Northland have opened their 2019 provincial campaign with a hard-fought 27-17 win over Southland in the 'Battle of the Compass' in Invercargill on Thursday night.
Despite being on the wrong side of a huge disadvantage in both possession and territory, the Stags managed to keep themselves in the contest with a staunch defensive effort, producing two impressive field-length counter-attack tries.
But ultimately the Taniwha turned up the heat and the heart and took the game away from the southerners, led from the front by their Argentinian linchpin Jack Debreczeni
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@taniwharugby Really pleased with Debreczini, he’s a class act and definitely one of the better pick ups the Taniwha have had in recent years.
Being a tall rangy chap ,he takes on the line so well and I really like how he identifies space wether it be on the outside or on the inside channels and more importantly has a great boot when it comes to exit plays..In fact I thought both Marty McKenzie and Debreczini had very good kicking games last night.
Feel a bit for Southland, hope they do get that long awaited wins preferably against a championship team. -
Happy to come away with the points from this one. Was always going to be tricky down there regardless of Southlands recent history.
I was happy with our go forward, just about every carry we made it over the advantage line. Not pleased with some of our ball control though. Those two length of the field tries came from a shit offload by Isi and and dropped pass. Got to tidy that up for Auckland or else they will go nato on us.
Impressed with White Jonah Hyland, Josh G and J Deb.
Wasn’t too impressed with Hohaia to be honest, he’s a tiny guy who always seems to want to crash it up, doesn’t offer much direction. Hopefully Tua slots in there or Gregory.
Although not a lot of ball went Leiluas way you can tell he could be a threat, just his defence was a little suss.
All in all, just happy to win first up, very important result with some tough matches coming up.
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Northland's injury list is starting to grow after three players, all loose-forwards, picked up injuries against Southland on Thursday night.
Aorangi Stokes, Sam McNamara and Kane Jacobson all left Rugby Park Stadium prematurely in the Taniwha's 27-17 win over their southern foes two nights ago. Stokes, who started at number eight, was taken off for a head injury assessment in the second half, which he failed.
Blindside flanker McNamara came off with a shoulder injury in the first half and was replaced by Jacobson. The reserve almost made it through to 80 minutes until an injury saw him supported from the field by medical staff.
All three are considered in doubt for Thursday's vital clash against Auckland in Northland's first home game of 2019 until more information on the injuries is made available today.
Those players could add to the list of five already injured Northlanders, midfielder Tamati Tua, flanker Tom Robinson, first five Dan Hawkins, halfback Harrison Levien and outside back Rene Ranger.
Both Robinson (meniscus tear) and Tua (suspected high ankle sprain) were expected to be out for a couple of weeks, while Hawkins could possibly be available for selection against Auckland.
Levien, who has had concussion issues, was being considered week by week for his selection. Ranger (ruptured ACL) would be unlikely to feature for Northland this season.
Fano Fanaki who can play blindside flanker and lock from the Waipu and Jared Byrnes from OBM who can play 7 or 6 from the OBM club have been added to the squad..
