Manawatu vs Northland
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@kev Tua has the pace, but he is so far off at moment (both sides of the ball) I guess I can see why he wasnt even starting for Kamo in thier semi-final.
Is a shame though, given what, 2 years ago he looked a massively promising player with a great future, picked up a Blues contract, had that idiotic injury last year, now, gone backwards at a rate of knots, he and Hohaia lucky to be in the squad at present.
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I agree with the comments above. The midfield needs a change. Gregory should come into 12 or 13. I’d even be inclined to bring Cherrington in as well. Might as well, as season is pretty much dead and buried.
Not sure why we’re flogging a dead horse with what we have there now. Most of what was wrong with last night stemmed from the midfield area.
Looking ahead to next year I think some midfielders need to be top of the shopping list.
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@J77 most of what has gone wrong so far this season has centered around our mid-field IMO...
Struggling to get over the gain line using Hohaia running from deep, and cos he is so far back, our forwards have had to change lines to get back
Mix-ups between 10/12 or 10/13 resulting in dropped ball...dont think the problem is the number 10
Ball rarely able to get past 12/13 clean enough giving their outsides time to catch the ball before getting an opposition defender
Poor handling
Poor comms, both attack and defence...one minute the 12 and 13 are so far apart you could drive a car in between, next they are so close they could hold hands leaving gaps either side, then there is the execution of the tackles...yes they have made some good hits, but bigger picture they have struggled to work together.I had hoped Tua would at least provide a spark going forward last night...
Yeah they need to give some of the young guys a run now, making the top 4 is done, especially with Canterbury (H) BOP (A) Wellington (A) Ta$man (A) and Otago (H) left to go.
At very best, I see 10 points there, could more easily be 0 too!
Sadly, even with 5 games to come, we need to have 1 eye on 2020 already.
I'd like to see more of Mayavanua but we also need to give Byrne, Levien, Smith, Graham (as a project player, not sure he is allowed to come in barring injury?) Cherrington a decent run too. I'd like to see Rae have a run too but I think he might be injured?
Am assuming will still not be allowed to play Robinson?
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@taniwharugby I am hopeful Tua will come right. He hasn’t had the game time this year and is a young player. Plus he is a Northlander. The Coaches need to get these guys going. We don’t have so much talent we can afford to throw it away. I look at Gregory, and what I like about him is he plays without fear. Not mistake free but with real impact. Nock started running against Manawatu and the gaps were there.
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@kev I'd love for him to to prove me wrong, but the rookie errors he is making, he shouldnt be making, still. I think he should be pushed to the wing if they play him.
I do hope we can hold onto Caird, I wasnt sold on him in club footy, thought he looked too lightweight, but he seems to be thriving at the next level.
We do have talent about, but its getting the right mix of talent.
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I think we are pretty much done for the year given the run home..these next 4 games are looking god damn scary .
I would like to see some of the guys they actually selected in the squad given a run ,James Cherrington and Jonty Rae come to mind and at least start thinking about next year..
I would not be rushing anybody back who is not 100%.,I agree with the coms of Taniwhrugby the midfield has been underwhelming, would like to see Scott Gregory push into centre and try Johnson at 2nd five.,give Jonty Rae a crack at fullback and Cherrington an opportunity off the bench..
Give Jarod Byrnes a crack in the 7 jersey and see what he can do..really think we have missed the boat not having a specialist 7.
Have not spotted Boyd Wiggins or Tom Stevens...?
Just hoping the coaches have not bottled it when it has come to selections -
@taniwharugby the two that just keep putting their hands up are McNamara (played rugby with his Dad) and Matiu.
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@Steven-Harris I’m all for not rushing players back now since the horse has more or less bolted, but one guy I would like to see from this week is Tom Robinson, he’ll be keen to rip into it no doubt. He’s the type of guy that will lift others around him, and against Canterbury that’s what we will need in spades.
I wouldn’t be rushing Josh Goodhue, he’s so susceptible to injury. An enforced break through to Super Rugby is what he need to get his body right.
I think Ranger will be itching, what’s the bet he comes back ASAP and goes all kamikaze. He won’t be 100%, but he’d be a massive improvement on what we have in midfield now. Can’t beat natural class.
Unsure what the status is on guys like Olsen and Matich??
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@Steven-Harris said in v Manawatu:
@J77 I just want 5 performances that make me think we are at least going in the right direction ..
And yes Robinson would be a welcome edition ..
Not sure on the status of Olsen and MatichYep that’s all you can hope for. If we can sure up that midfield (getting sick of mentioning them!) I believe we’ve got it in us to cause some upsets before this seasons done.
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Yeah. Dunno why they are not giving Gregory a run at 12. Especially when the incumbents are not really showing anything. I laughed when I saw the replay of the try where Laumape ran straight up the middle of the field untouched. It's a different camera angle, Laumape in the foreground, and if you look in the background you can see Johnson and Tua having a "discussion". Haha. What a f...ing shambles. This is starting to reflect badly on Witcombe and Konia. Defence is all about attitude and organisation, coaches can have a big influence on that. Seasons gone, move Gregory to 12. If he's guna make the big time, it'll be in that position. And I'm guna say it.... he even reminds me a bit of Joe Morgan. And jeez my second team is going good, just watched them demolish Counties. They've superceded Canterbury in the Crusaders franchise, incredible, imagine if Northland did that to Auckland.
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@mohikamo ultimately buck stops with Derren, but wtf is Konia up to, our back play is poor, particularly a number of moves centre on our mid-field which just isn't working, how is it we can see this but they can't?
If Ranger was available I expect it would make a positive difference, we have options, although you have the argument our cattle ain't up to it (Hohaia, Tua, Johnson) so if that's the case you minimise use of them as key parts of your moves.
Split them on attack and defence, skip passes...use them as decoys more.
They are too heavily involved in our plays that they have an influence on the execution, and with both 12 and 13 struggling it doubles the chance of it going wrong.
Broken record over.
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@taniwharugby haha reading between the lines I’m interpreting you saying let’s just run out there without a midfield! Why not..wouldn’t make much difference anyway.
