v Hawkes Bay
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@J77 said in v Hawkes Bay:
If we actually sit back and try and watch it neutrally the blinkers will come off.
good luck with that.
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@taniwharugby said in v Hawkes Bay:
@J77 said in v Hawkes Bay:
If we actually sit back and try and watch it neutrally the blinkers will come off.
good luck with that.
Yep exactly! Impossible
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There is some talent there but not the mentality
I mention it during the Blues season and Northland fans get all defensive.. then you guys say the same shit during the NPC
4 SR seasons. This is his 5th NPC season. Yet the same complaints keep coming up. How long can you have ‘potential’?
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@Duluth most fans get defensive when they feel people are unfairly criticising players from thier teams...
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It’s the same criticism
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@Duluth and same issue with others...Akira is a prime example, same issues, same criticisms, same defences, how long can he have potential?
Although pretty sure Nock copped plenty of shit from Northland fans in his time for the Blues, not just this year too.
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@Duluth Oh look I agree, but I believe it won’t take much for him to flick a switch mentally..whether he wants to or not is another story.
We’ve had nothing but rocks and diamonds for five years from him. Just needs to stop holding back and put the foot on the throttle!
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That example doesn't make any sense. I was just laughing at how the criticism is the same but it gets forgotten by some fans when we are talking about SR contracts
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@J77 said in v Hawkes Bay:
@Duluth Oh look I agree, but I believe it won’t take much for him to flick a switch mentally..whether he wants to or not is another story.
Is he capable of flicking that switch? That's the question I have. I have doubts over the mental side of his game..
I'll repeat what I've said at least 3 years in a row. He's contracted to the Blues next year, I hope he proves me wrong
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@Duluth said in v Hawkes Bay:
@J77 said in v Hawkes Bay:
@Duluth Oh look I agree, but I believe it won’t take much for him to flick a switch mentally..whether he wants to or not is another story.
Is he capable of flicking that switch? That's the question I have. I have doubts over the mental side of his game..
I'll repeat what I think I've said at least 3 years in a row. He's contracted to the Blues next year, I hope he proves me wrong
Only he’d know that, but when you look at how long he’s been on the scene and not done it, it makes you wonder.
A lot of us Northlanders have been a harsh critics of his at times and have called for his benching many times. I know when Jono Kitto was with us last year it happened. When Nock finally got his jersey back he was on form. Just needs the fire lit under his ass..
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@taniwharugby Nock is a frustrating player, he’s got a ton of potential and I do believe he needs some one on one help.it’s not as if he has a work ethic issue in and around keeping fit.
It took Ofa Tuangafasi as an example 4 years to find his feet from and from what I understand he ticked all the right boxes in and around strength training and fitness
but I tell you what, he got owned by every man and his dog at scrum time in the early days which had many supporters including Auckland questioning what the hell he was doing in the Blues squad..
He apparently has been mentored by the All Black scrum coach Stu Cron and we have seen those improvementsWe all thought Bryn Hall was a little slow when playing for the Blues, but put him in the Crusaders , and he all of a sudden looks world class ..I don’t think Nock has had that luxury with at least 2 of the packs he gets to play behind.
I have got a bit of time for the player who works his backside off in and around training , what I don’t have time for is the individual that doesn’t do the mahi regardless how talented they are..and then gets defended by supporters, that’s when loyalty is totally blinded ..
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@Duluth not when we have made the same criticisms.
JUst pointing out how fans of Akira defend him despite having the same shortcomings, similarly Nock, makes the same errors, or not so much errors, just doesnt up the aspects of his game that could take him to the next level...but agree, I wonder if he is capable? LIke to think so, but not holding my breath.
TBH I wonder how different a player he may have been if he had gone off and played club footy for a season or 2 before stepping into Super rugby, to often these days players are pushed in too early, some thrive, some dont.
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Yeah. Player development. You would have to say that every player in the Taniwha squad would be a better player if they were in, say, the Canterbury/Crusaders system. Individual player development in Northland has been poor for decades. I grew up with the North Auckland teams of the 70's. Teams capable of beating any opposition. With a coach who had been in the position for 25 years! And with a No 9 who was the greatest sniper of all time! Nock should take note of that legacy! It's hard to look at the 12's getting a run at the moment as well, after having had sixteen seasons (consecutive) of Joe Morgan in that pos. I still watch, but it aint easy. Especially when my second team has always been Nelson/ Ta$man!!!
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@mohikamo some very good coms, I can remember attending club games in the Bay of Islands in the 70s and the quality in the Bay at the time was very good and well supported..and then attending the Harding Shield rally days and those games were another level.Even Hokianga who were the weakest of the 6 sub union teams would never roll over..
One area I know Northland really struggles with is trying to retain really promising youngsters, and to be honest you can’t blame parents for letting their kids take up a scholarship at an Auckland secondary school..there are many examples of kids that gone to Auckland and have ended up in either the Auckland system or have been picked by other franchises..we get the odd or 2 back, but in the whole a lot of the cream gets picked off..I must reiterate again I have no issue with that, if I were a parent I would be encouraging my child to the same thing..
I was told on Saturday that the current Auckland under 19 team has 6 Northlanders in their top side , The Auckland development has 3 Northlanders , both Matt Storm and Johnny Cooper and there’s one other that escapes my mind and the Auckland top side Waimana Reidlinger Kapa who I know would dearly love to come home and play for Northland..The dynamics of the early years have changed, it’s very difficult to put a senior club team together in a rural area when many of your young males have moved away from an area because of lack of work..you do need a strong local community bond and a couple of strong driven coaches and they need to be supported 100%
I stopped into Okaihau yesterday on my way back from visiting Whanau at a fantastic Cafe,Kiwi Kai, I recommend it big time, the best pulled pork Panini I have tasted, ordered a 2nd one it was that good..
I looked out on to the street remembering passing a rugby ball across the street with my team mates as on a Saturday morning waiting for car pooling parents to pick us up.There were some young boys from Okaihau college during the lunch break walking down the street passing a rugby ball, a couple of these kids were sizeable lads as well..
I spoke to the owner of Kiwi Kai , Murray Smith ,he told me that his nephew was Tom Smith who made his debut for the Taniwha on Saturday ..what a small world I thought ..Murray also mentioned there was a ton of young talent around but it need good structures and more importantly a good competitive competition which really brings the cream to the top .
Thats something I remembered about the Bay of Islands competition in the 1970s..waiting for the club results to come through on radio Northland ,most of the games would be extremely close ..and of course the bottom lip would drop if Okaihau seniors had gone down haha..
The old times I guess will never be the same, but if you have raw talent, put a structure in place that at least gives at a pathway hopefully to go on and wear a Taniwha jersey..
We have got to take note as a union ,its actually heart breaking to see what Southland is going through at the minute, a neglected club competition and player development has bitten them big time.
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D Duluth moved this topic from Taniwha Rugby on
