AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?
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@Snowy said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
@mariner4life said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
Someone mentioned a couple of weeks back a suspicion that Papali'i was "heavy footed" and having watched him, it's true. He really plods along the ground. May lack the foot speed to be a top level international loose forward
Hits like a truck though. The Blues are stacked with forwards who just want to hurt you every time you touch the ball.
Whilst I agree with all of that, I'm not sure that it matters, depending on the mix. England have had some very effective loosies of the same ilk. Hill and Dayglow spring to mind.
it's not 2003
@Duluth was right
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Quick feet is something he can improve.
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@mariner4life said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
it's not 2003
As I said, it's about the mix.
And no he wasn't.
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I don’t put Bosh in the one trick pony category because he doesn’t spend all game looking for steals. He goes for them if the opportunity arises and will set himself up to ‘do a pocockwomble’ only if required.
That’s why he gets so many at critical moments. -
@Toddy said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
@ACT-Crusader said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
@Tim bit of PR work from NZRU HQ never hurts aye...
He can't even make the top five
I don't believe those stats. Ardie Savea the most dominant tackler in SR? Fuck off.
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@Snowy said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
We are actually spoiled for choice and until some of these guys get a go at the top level we won't know.
Frizell has been impressive, along with Kirifi.
When will we see top level rugby again though?
Bledisloe Cup this year (cue comments about Australia not being top level)
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@KiwiMurph said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
@Snowy said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
We are actually spoiled for choice and until some of these guys get a go at the top level we won't know.
Frizell has been impressive, along with Kirifi.
When will we see top level rugby again though?
Bledisloe Cup this year (cue comments about Australia not being top level)
That was my thinly veiled insult.
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@mariner4life said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
Someone mentioned a couple of weeks back a suspicion that Papali'i was "heavy footed" and having watched him, it's true. He really plods along the ground. May lack the foot speed to be a top level international loose forward
I know this is a bit different to top end speed, but who were the guys chasing him when he made the break? Three if IIRC? He had a good lead but they didn't appear to be making ground.
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@Snowy said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
@mariner4life said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
Someone mentioned a couple of weeks back a suspicion that Papali'i was "heavy footed" and having watched him, it's true. He really plods along the ground. May lack the foot speed to be a top level international loose forward
I know this is a bit different to top end speed, but who were the guys chasing him when he made the break? Three if IIRC? He had a good lead but they didn't appear to be making ground.
Tomkinson closest, Gregory next closest and Frizell was a fair way back.
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@KiwiMurph said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
@Snowy said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
@mariner4life said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
Someone mentioned a couple of weeks back a suspicion that Papali'i was "heavy footed" and having watched him, it's true. He really plods along the ground. May lack the foot speed to be a top level international loose forward
I know this is a bit different to top end speed, but who were the guys chasing him when he made the break? Three if IIRC? He had a good lead but they didn't appear to be making ground.
Tomkinson closest, Gregory next closest and Frizell was a fair way back.
Well Gregory is pretty quick from what I have seen in sevens. Dunno about Tomkinson speed wise? Frizell is no slouch either.
As I implied they had to turn and he had a lead but Dalton seems quick enough for top end speed.
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@Machpants said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
Well I reckon Ozzies would, sat this moment in time, be fuck loads better then most Nations. They've actually played some rugby, recently
I think the wobs are going to be a very good team in a couple of years. They have a lot of young talented players that Rennie will mould into quality Test players in time.
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@Machpants said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
Well I reckon Ozzies would, sat this moment in time, be fuck loads better then most Nations. They've actually played some rugby, recently
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@Snowy said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
We are actually spoiled for choice and until some of these guys get a go at the top level we won't know.
Frizell has been impressive, along with Kirifi.We sure are! It's just a shame the blues players have no faults eh? The others can't get close! Not that you have any bias...
Kirifi is extremely lucky Gibson is injured.
P.S. No-one has had any doubts about Paps pace in a straight line on a break. Pretty sure if he held his pace until the tryline in the weekend the stand behind would have been in with a chance of complete destruction though.
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@antipodean fuck he'sa dense looking fluffybunny isn't he?
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@mariner4life It's his crazy tiny eyes
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@DMX said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
@junior said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
@Machpants said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
I think every squad people post should be prefixed with either 'what I'd pick' versus 'what will be picked' often a big difference. We've got a coach who got in on a ‘continuity and experience’ ticket, I can see him picking a ‘continuity and experience’ team - recently the ABs coaches went for form rather than experience. Maybe that didn’t work so well at RWC in their minds. Expecially after many years of trusting experience did so well for them? So I think we will see very conservative selections, but I hope they are bold
There's absolutely no reason why in this of all years a "form over experience" approach shouldn't be tried for most positions. If you look at the guys currently playing well, they're all pretty young guys either at the beginning of the SR or AB careers and who are likely to be at their peaks in 2023. Now is the perfect opportunity to take a punt on some of these guys and set them on the path to be the incumbents for 2023.
This is the one problem with 2 year contracts, I am not sure incentives are aligned for this approach. I don't believe the priority for Foster will be to develop through 2023, his first priority is to win, especially given that he does not know how many chances he is going to get in the next two seasons. Not saying there will be no new caps this year just think he will pay a lot of attention to experience and combinations.
I personally think that, this year, he will be able to both win and give the form guys who'll be good for 2023 some experience. The chances are we'll be playing only the Wallabies this year - there'll probably be no test matches against the Boks and those up north - so there will be opportunities to build experience whilst getting the Ws early on.
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@mariner4life said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
@antipodean fuck he'sa dense looking fluffybunny isn't he?
