Blues 2020
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@African-Monkey It's a bit more pronounced on instagram, whereas on facebook, you'll see more older players getting votes because more older fans will be on there.
@shark said in Blues 2020:
@Dice Orene Ai'i as well?
Not sure if I'd have him ahead of Piutau.
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@Steven-Harris Not sure if we could've won a title without both Jonah and Joeli in 96/97, but we could win without one of them, as we showed in 97 without Lomu, but we had a pretty handy replacement with Brian Lima.
We probably still had a decent chance to win in 2003 without Caucau because Joe Roks and Rico Gear on the wings is still bloody good.
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The Crusaders won with James Kerr (and the ref) so of course the Blues could have won without those wingers.
Those teams were stacked with class all round.
The Canes couldn't fucking win with Cullen, Jonah and Umaga because they had cabbage 10s and average packs.
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@Dice said in Blues 2020:
@Bovidae said in Blues 2020:
How close is Cashmore to Mils in fan voting? Recency bias will likely play a part but Cashmore was very good in that era.
Mils got far more votes than Cashmore. Piutau seemed to be 2nd in votes for FB, which was a surprise.
Piutau is maybe the 6th best FB I've seen in a Blues jersey, so really shouldn't be getting many votes IMO. I'd have Mils, Cashmore, Nacewa, Howlett and Toeava ahead of him, although the last 2 were not part of the FB nominations.
Piutau is one of those players who gets better the longer he's away though.
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@African-Monkey said in Blues 2020:
@Steven-Harris Yes to all 3. 1996 was probably lucky for us but only because Natal did us a huge favour by upsetting Queensland who had famously smashed us during the season. It would have been a massive task if we had to go to Ballymore.
1997 we went undefeated and Lomu didn't even play that season although Vidiri was lethal that season (and the previous season), we weren't gonna be stopped.
We were too quick for everyone in 2003 and yes, Rupeni was a boost, but we were blowing teams away anyway apart from tripping up against the Highlanders. The only other close game we had that season was against the Crusaders in the final and the Sharks pushed us (a bit). Carlos had the backs firing that season.
I watched highlights of the Blues vs Natal on facebook today .Vidiri was a big, solid and FAST unit and the way he went round Andre Joubert like he didn't exist without a hand being laid on him was off the charts in a way Wilson or Umaga couldn't have replicated......The ABs in 96/97 missed out by not having him available. I think he's up there with Caucau in terms of unfulfilled talents.
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@MN5 said in Blues 2020:
@African-Monkey said in Blues 2020:
@Steven-Harris Yes to all 3. 1996 was probably lucky for us but only because Natal did us a huge favour by upsetting Queensland who had famously smashed us during the season. It would have been a massive task if we had to go to Ballymore.
1997 we went undefeated and Lomu didn't even play that season although Vidiri was lethal that season (and the previous season), we weren't gonna be stopped.
We were too quick for everyone in 2003 and yes, Rupeni was a boost, but we were blowing teams away anyway apart from tripping up against the Highlanders. The only other close game we had that season was against the Crusaders in the final and the Sharks pushed us (a bit). Carlos had the backs firing that season.
I watched highlights of the Blues vs Natal on facebook today .Vidiri was a big, solid and FAST unit and the way he went round Andre Joubert like he didn't exist without a hand being laid on him was off the charts in a way Wilson or Umaga couldn't have replicated......The ABs in 96/97 missed out by not having him available. I think he's up there with Caucau in terms of unfulfilled talents.
Until they did....
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@Bones said in Blues 2020:
@MN5 said in Blues 2020:
@African-Monkey said in Blues 2020:
@Steven-Harris Yes to all 3. 1996 was probably lucky for us but only because Natal did us a huge favour by upsetting Queensland who had famously smashed us during the season. It would have been a massive task if we had to go to Ballymore.
1997 we went undefeated and Lomu didn't even play that season although Vidiri was lethal that season (and the previous season), we weren't gonna be stopped.
We were too quick for everyone in 2003 and yes, Rupeni was a boost, but we were blowing teams away anyway apart from tripping up against the Highlanders. The only other close game we had that season was against the Crusaders in the final and the Sharks pushed us (a bit). Carlos had the backs firing that season.
I watched highlights of the Blues vs Natal on facebook today .Vidiri was a big, solid and FAST unit and the way he went round Andre Joubert like he didn't exist without a hand being laid on him was off the charts in a way Wilson or Umaga couldn't have replicated......The ABs in 96/97 missed out by not having him available. I think he's up there with Caucau in terms of unfulfilled talents.
Until they did....
can you youtube some proof ? I don't think either of those two could have done it like he did and remember.....I watched Rugby in those days.
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@Bones TBH, he's a much better fullback now than when he was here. He was a much better winger than fullback when he was still in NZ.
Reminds me of a recent interview that Pat Lam had with Jim Kayes where he said that Eddie Jones told him that if Piutau and Luatua were eligible for England, he'd select both of them for England.
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@MN5 said in Blues 2020:
I watched highlights of the Blues vs Natal on facebook today .Vidiri was a big, solid and FAST unit and the way he went round Andre Joubert like he didn't exist without a hand being laid on him was off the charts in a way Wilson or Umaga couldn't have replicated......
Vidiri's acceleration was something to behold for a big man, and very noticeable watching him live.
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@Bovidae said in Blues 2020:
@MN5 said in Blues 2020:
I watched highlights of the Blues vs Natal on facebook today .Vidiri was a big, solid and FAST unit and the way he went round Andre Joubert like he didn't exist without a hand being laid on him was off the charts in a way Wilson or Umaga couldn't have replicated......
Vidiri's acceleration was something to behold for a big man, and very noticeable watching him live.
Another to add to the list of AB outside backs who shone brightly but briefly.
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@MN5 said in Blues 2020:
@Bovidae said in Blues 2020:
@MN5 said in Blues 2020:
I watched highlights of the Blues vs Natal on facebook today .Vidiri was a big, solid and FAST unit and the way he went round Andre Joubert like he didn't exist without a hand being laid on him was off the charts in a way Wilson or Umaga couldn't have replicated......
Vidiri's acceleration was something to behold for a big man, and very noticeable watching him live.
Another to add to the list of AB outside backs who shone brightly but briefly.
Did nothing in black, was cooked by the time his stand down came through
And if you ever run down Goldie like that again...
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@mariner4life yep, sadly Joelis best years were while in international isolation.
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Fan voted All Time Blues XV + 2nd XV.
As voted by you! Presenting our All-Time Greatest Blues XV!! (and as an extra bonus the 2nd XV)
Some interesting things about the voting:
- 10,000 votes were cast across Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Member emails.
- Sir Michael Jones makes BOTH teams. Winning the Openside by public demand and coming second in the Blindside voting.
- The closest fought positions were Loosehead Prop and Halfback. Each spot coming down to 25 votes or less.
- Rupeni Caucaunibuca’s inclusion on the right wing comes at the request of the public (Like ‘Iceman’) receiving more votes than the other choices.
- Carlos Spencer, Zinzan Brooke and Tony Woodcock dominated their respective positions, receiving more than 80% of the votes for their place in the team.
What do you think? Who was unlucky? Who would you switch? Which team wins head to head? Who would you choose as captain and coach?
The winner of the signed jersey will be announced next week!
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Michael Jones is in both teams. Swap him out in the 2nd XV with Gus Collins. Was no fan of Lee Stensness but he did more for us than SBW, would also probably have Cashmore ahead of Piutau.
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@African-Monkey Yep, SBW shouldn't be in there. His best years were with the Chiefs and Crusaders. But he has plenty of fans.
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@African-Monkey said in Blues 2020:
Michael Jones is in both teams. Swap him out in the 2nd XV with Gus Collins.
Can see why though. He was our best 7 and our second best 6. Gus comes in 3rd for sure.
