Northland v Canterbury
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@Duluth said in Northland v Canterbury:
Northland midfield's this year:
Hohaia/Johnson
Johnson/Gregory
Hohaia/Johnson
Hohaia/Johnson
Tua/Johnson
Hohaia/TuaI only have confidence in one of those players - Gregory. They seem to prefer him at fullback though
Good to see Isi starting again
What that says is Hohaia has had a charmed run. Would put Johnson over him, yet Johnson isn’t even in the 23.
I’d be going Gregory/Tua for this one, but that will only happen when Canterbury start drilling us.. which will likely be in the first 10-15 minutes.
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@Stargazer handy injury list
Good to see Rae getting a run...hope he goes well.
Giving another mid-field combo a shot, seems clear they want Gregory at the back, so Hohaia gets another shot....although who knows how they will finish the game.
Again, I look at that pack and it looks solid, and has performed solidly (except v Auckland, but we never do) even with the changes they have made, it seems to be when we (and opposition) get the ball a bit wider the problems start; tactics, confidence, cohesion, execution
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Rene Ranger
Tom Robinson
Josh Goodhue
Dan Hawkins
Jack Straker
Jordan Olsen
Kane Jacobson
Temo MayanavanuGone from last year
Matt Moulds
Murray Douglas
Ropate Rinakama
Kara Pryor
Matt Wright
Jono Kitto
Mac SykesJust seeing that injury list made think of 8 other players that we no longer have from last years team.
Add in that we have not had Rene Ranger and Tom Robinson available , I was just wondering if maybe we have under estimated losing that many players and most of them would have starters in the playing XV has hurt us more than we like to admit.
It’s almost a full playing XV
Whilst I am disappointed with how the season has gone at the halfway mark I am pleased with several of our forwards..
Sam Caird, Sam McNamara, Temo Mayanavanua, all around the 22 year old mark along with Jacob Matiu Jacob Matiu have been outstanding...the set piece scrum and lineout has been solid in the main..
It’s a shame Jacobson has been injured most of the season, it would have been nice to have had quality no 7 during the campaign..that way we could have rotated Matich around the 6,7 and 8 jersey..I was originally excited about the selection of Matt Johnson, but have to say ,underwhelming comes to mind..in fact all of our midfielders have been disappointing..
It’s a real bugger Jordon Hyland has been injuried, he uses his size very well, but I feel he’s be under used as blindside option off the first five...do this move and you hold the loose forwards in.I really like Scott Gregory, but I do wonder if he’s being wasted at fullback given the form of the midfield
Pisi Leilua I would love to see given a run at fullback, played most of his club footy in this position and made the squad on the back of performances in that position..
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@Tim well that is an interesting question...word is he was good to go last week but Blues not wanting him to play...
@Steven-Harris that is a long list of missing players, but I still think the talent we have is better than the results and how we have played.
Look at that pack this week, still pretty solid looking despite the names missing.
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@Tim the latest I have heard ,Robinson has had to have his knee rescanned and is unlikely to feature this year.and the news just keeps getting better .not..!,Josh Goodhue and Jordon Olsens injuries are most likely season ending injuries .
Still good opportunity for those outside the match day 23.Jordon Hyland Hamstring 1-2 weeks
Temo Mayanavanua Calf 1-2 weeks
Supporters..Depressed another 5 weeks... -
@taniwharugby i here what you are saying and that seems to be what has happened since Whitcomb took over the first time then harris, alot of broken play and tries from turn overs etc, but where i am coming from is the northland teams in the past that have been successful can stay in the grind for the 80mins,complete their basics for long periods, under whitcomb they keep phasing in and out and rely on other teams to click off, i still cant get past the fact that even tho they have made semi finals a couple of times it still is only 11th, 12th in new zealand over all, back in the day north auckland would win 2nd div alot of the time then compete in the 1st div untill relegation but would still be clear class above the hawks bays and bay of plentys etc, one thing that i think would help the team is design a game plan that our weakest players can follow in their sleep, and let our more natural or better skilled players stand out later in the games, i belive all the bad passes, drop ball and dumb penalties result in some of our players trying to execute things that dont come natural to them. We have a great squad and simplifying the structure may be the key to winning, id like to see debreceney take the line on more and look to off load, if the off load not on 2nd phase comes off gregory from the back, these kind of plays will allow our looses more time to be effective and stop doing too much tight stuff.
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@Nath-Jac think we are sorta on the same page.
We have had some good forwards over the years, but North Auckland/Northland have never been a strong pack that dominates, unlike teams like Southland and Taranaki who have always had traditionally strong packs.
I remember plenty of times when we were bullied up front by these teams, yet we were in the fight because of our attacking game...
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1 Daniel Lienert- Brown 2 Brodie McAlister 3 Owen Franks 4 Cullen Grace 5 Mitchell Dunshea 6 Reed Prinsep 7 Tom Christie 8 Luke Whitelock 9 Ere Enari 10 Brett Cameron 11 Ngane Punivai 12 Inga Finau 13 Brayden Ennor 14 Sam Gilbert 15 Josh McKay
Reserves: Seb Siataga, Harrison Allan, Siate Tokolahi, Will Tucker, Whetukamokamo Douglas, Regus Burke, Dallas McLeod
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I've just had a look and can't see any talk of injury to either Romano or Bateman. Neither were over-used by the Crusaders and didn't play any rep footy between Super rugby and the NPC. Canterbury need to settle on a 1st XV and carry on their momentum FFS.
What i also find fucking weird is they give McLeod two games on the wing, with mixed success but still better than his debut off the bench in his specialist position of 12. He must have gained in confidence from starting and crossing the chalk though. But instead of taking advantage of his improvement and giving him the chance to give Bateman the breather, they dump him back to the bench and give Finau the 12 jersey.
At lock rather than give specialist Tucker another crack, they give the start to utility forward Grace.
At fullback McKay gets his sixth straight start. I'm really in two minds about him. In half a gap he's electric. Jet shoes. But he's small and frequently gets tossed around in the tackle and turns the ball over. He's gotta get better at finding support players, or somehow improve his body position in the tackle, or something. I'm not sure who the next option is at 15. Burke? Gilbert? Perhaps one of them. Should have been given this game.
And where the hell has Osborne gone?! Is that one game all we get??
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@shark said in Northland v Canterbury:
> At lock rather than give specialist Tucker another crack, they give the start to utility forward Grace.
I watched most of the U20 games this year and though that Grace was one of the weaker players in the side. Surprised he's being picked as a Canterbury starter.
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@shark said in Northland v Canterbury:
Another midfield combo and locking pair
you talking us or you
Doesnt matter who you roll out this week, 5 points in the bank.
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@mofitzy_ said in Northland v Canterbury:
@shark said in Northland v Canterbury:
> At lock rather than give specialist Tucker another crack, they give the start to utility forward Grace.
I watched most of the U20 games this year and though that Grace was one of the weaker players in the side. Surprised he's being picked as a Canterbury starter.
I didn't know that, but it adds fuel to the fire.
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@taniwharugby said in Northland v Canterbury:
@shark said in Northland v Canterbury:
Another midfield combo and locking pair
you talking us or you
Doesnt matter who you roll out this week, 5 points in the bank.
Yeah, probably. But all the more reason to use the game to add momentum to combinations and/or give guys confidence for tougher games to come.
