Battle of the Bays: Steamers v Magpies
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@Stargazer Are you sure about that as I can recall us losing the title in a preseason game a few years back pre Philpott days when we did not play them during the NPC proper?
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@Donsteppa So one "true Bay" fan on this thread then?
What happened to the mafia?
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A few conclusions about the Magpies:
- Ash Dixon is probably our most important player; not only because of the way he plays, but also the way he leads (better captain). I'd like to know why he was a late withdrawal; hopefully not a serious injury;
- Kerery-Symes was good in the line-out, but obviously is still a rookie. He has also had very little game time in the previous games.
- we missed the physicality of Walker-Leawere badly;
- O'Connor was the least effective of our loosies, but I would like both him and Cridge on the bench for the next games, and Mikaele-Tu'u and Flanders starting (moving Evans to 7);
- extra tackle practice needed this week;
- where is Waa? Hintz with his stupid behaviour could cost us in close games;
- Fakatava has been good this season, but we obviously miss the leadership and experience of Weber. Nothing we can do about that; Fakatava is only 19 and still learning;
- Ili got injured during the game (hence the early appearance of Sapsford); hopefully it's not too serious;
- reportedly, Lowe is close to full health, but not sure on when he's expected back. Hopefully he can make a difference, preferable at centre.
- I'd like to know how McNicol is tracking; we need our SR players for the finals.
- Ozich was probably right in the post-match interview in that you learn more from a loss than from a series of wins. Maybe we needed this loss to perform well during the remaining games. A kick up the backside might put us back into gear and get rid of any complacency that may have been present before today's game.
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@Nepia said in Battle of the Bays: Bay of Plenty v Hawke's Bay:
Mathew Cooper signing the praises of the local club ground this match is being played at - clearly he's been living in the Chiefs region too long.
The ground is fine. Completely fit for purpose.
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@Damo said in Battle of the Bays: Bay of Plenty v Hawke's Bay:
@Nepia said in Battle of the Bays: Bay of Plenty v Hawke's Bay:
Mathew Cooper signing the praises of the local club ground this match is being played at - clearly he's been living in the Chiefs region too long.
The ground is fine. Completely fit for purpose.
Stop it. I am enjoy Hawkes fans complaining about playing grounds. The irony is delicious
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@Baron-Silas-Greenback said in Battle of the Bays: Bay of Plenty v Hawke's Bay:
Stop it. I am enjoy Hawkes fans complaining about playing grounds. The irony is delicious
Their ground was fit for a purpose, just not the one they used it for.
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Well Done to The Bay, Looks like the top qualifying spot may be crucial for semis and final where these two teams will almost defiantly meet. Hope the bay of plenty rugby union has signed Tiatia beyond this season he is so dangerous at 12.
Another Outstanding forward effort allowing the backs to show how electric they can be. GO THE BAY!! -
@Stargazer
Had a quick chat to a couple of players and Mark Ozich at the end of the game..
Firstly ,just want to pay credit to the Steamers. Thought they were superb with their physicality they bought both with line speed and breakdown ..
And in the backline Chase Tiatia was a constant threat, in fact he’s more of a threat in the midfield than he is at fullback in my opinion ,simply because I think you can formulate a game plane to expose a weakness he does have around field position (refer super rugby Canes v Saders in Wellington)When he does have his hands on the ball he’s deceptively strong for his size, but thing that impressed me the most he attracts defenders on attack ,but is always talking looking for opportunities for players around him,and the big left foot kick is a bonus..saw that with Joe Ravouvou who was standing directly behind the scrum, we all thought he was gonna come off Trask either in or out, but came off Tiatia instead
One thing I can’t stand is midfielder who does not grow his game and his go to is the tuck and crash..unless you have footwork or some other strings to your bow , your no more than a filler in my book..(and there’s a few of those types running around in Mitre 10 Cup ) won’t name them, not to offend anyone..
Credit to Danny Toala, he’s a genuine line breaker who uses his low to the ground centre of gravity and footwork brilliantly..
Paul from the Driving Maul did an interview with Tiatia where he was lavishing in his praise for Fakatava, McClutchie & Toala regarding their ability moving forward and given how young they all are.
Cant wait to see the full interview .Thought the Magpies set piece scrum was very solid in the main,May and Rakete Stones put a decent amount of pressure on their Steamers counterparts who right up there in terms of completed scrums .
Ash Dixon pulled out a day before with illness ,has some sort of virus from what I believe ,not to serious ,so should be back for the CM game on Thursday night.I know he’s only one man, but he’s also a key figure in the magpies pack, and I know the coaches would not admit it , but being at the game, it stood out like the proverbial..
Isaiah Walker Leawere was also unavailable because of the birth of his child, and to me against a grunty Steamers pack , he would have been a starter in my book..
All in all, I thought it was a very flat performance from the Magpies, O’Connor looks banged up and in need of a rest and I do wonder if rolling most of the same team in the last 7 rounds with not a lot of rotation is starting to bite..
this is not taking anything away from the Steamers, they are the team to beat in the championship, no question, especially with such a solid pack,very good halves and threats in the back division.
I do believe these 2 x teams will meet in the final, but in Rotorua.Just on a footnote, I had some information passed on to me that Geoff Cridge has not been re signed by the Hurricanes..
Sam McNicol is very close to being back on the field, if not against CM, definitely against Ta$man
On Namatahi Waa, Hintz is rated ahead of Waa in the contracting pecking order, maybe not anymore after yesterday. -
@Steven-Harris Thanks for all the info - even if I want this thread to die a quick death and never resurface again.
My takeaway from this game is that if Toala was playing for the Steamers with Tiatia (edit) they probably would have run up a century against us. Thankfully they didn’t poach him along with the Mua’s and Bartlett.
Question: Do you work for Sky/NZR etc? As you always seem to be at various games.
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@Steven-Harris Awesome, thanks for all that info! You confirm my impressions of the game (that's all I'm going to say about it, haha)! I knew about Cridge; it's a pity, but his injuries have hampered his development and may be partly responsible for ruining a potential SR career. I hope he stays in Hawke's Bay and doesn't return to Chch, even if he may be more suited for a bench role in future, due to Flanders/Mikaele-Tu'u/Walker-Leawere leapfrogging him. Really good to hear about McNicol. I hope he can stay injury free from now on.
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@Stargazer be interesting to see if Cridge gets picked up by someone else..?
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@Nepia said in Battle of the Bays: Bay of Plenty v Hawke's Bay:
@Steven-Harris Thanks for all the info - even if I want this thread to die a quick death and never resurface again.
My takeaway from this game is that if Toala was playing for the Steamers with Tialata they probably would have run up a century against us. Thankfully they didn’t poach him along with the Mua’s and Bartlett.
Question: Do you work for Sky/NZR etc? As you always seem to be at various games.
Last time he played against Hawkes Bay he lost 08 - 06 and ended up finishing the game pretty much fast asleep if my memory serves me correctly!
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@Steven-Harris Yeah, 2m locks are hard to find in NZ and his time with the Canes must be handy for any franchise. The Highlanders lose at least Tom Franklin and I don't know whether they've re-signed all of their other locks. Cridge won't be a starter, but with further development he could be handy on the bench, esp because he plays at 6 as well.
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I think the Hawkes backs are being over rated. They looked incredibly average, and as for Toala... meh... he had a couple of good moments, but he fell off a lot of tackles and went backwards alot.
Alot of that could be either a tough day at the office or inexperience.McClutchie and Ili just had bad days, Ili in particular should wipe this game, I think it was the 5th try? The kick through bu Tiatia Ili a ventre was ahead of Karpik in the cchase by 5 metres, dawding back.. karpik oasses him and wins the try,lazy lazy work.
And McClutchie was an incredibly incredibly ineffective in the tackle.
MAybe these guys just had an off day, -
@Baron-Silas-Greenback .I think the average age of the Hawkes Bay backline is 21, 3 x 20 year olds ,they are practically kids, to call this an average backline so early in their careers is either just a cheap shot or so poorly thought through.
Chuck in the fact they are missing Brad Weber on All Black duty..Jonah Lowe, Sam McNicol and Tiahn Falcon who would all be starters if they were not injured ..
As previously said, the Steamers were deserved victors yesterday ,but it was the Hawkes Bays backs that pulled the score back to 24-36 with 12 minutes to go
