Waikato 2020

[Bovidae]

@Yeetyaah Hautapu won the comp. The only other Oto players would have been Iti and Hetet (with BOP).

A lot of them end up playing for King Country as loan players or players of origin.

Also note that Hautapu has a lot of forwards in the squad but not one back.

[Yeetyaah]

@Bovidae oops my bad, mixed it with the the other grade.

[Yeetyaah]

Also, no Jeriah Mua?

[Bovidae]

They will have to have extra players training with the main squad. A third halfback at least!

[Yeetyaah]

@Bovidae is it potentially a financial thing?

[Bovidae]

@Yeetyaah It could be. You could have replaced another back with an extra halfback.

[OleOleOle]

@Yeetyaah yeah, that surprised me too. Maybe they are running a WTG alongside the 31 named. Once (if) ALB and DMac join the ABs that only leaves a squad of 29....doesnt leave much in the way of injury cover'.

[Bovidae]

Last year Waikato had a 43-man squad, which also included ABs who never played, and some injured players. So a big reduction in squad size.

[Bovidae]

There was also a U20 game on at Beetham Park between Waikato and Taranaki U20s today at the same time as the FPC game. I haven't found the Waikato team listed, only the Taranaki team.

[Yeetyaah]

@Bovidae classic Waikato comms

[Bovidae]

@Yeetyaah Yep. While walking to the car after the game I asked one of the Taranaki players what the score was. 22-19 to Taranaki. I'm curious who was in the
Waikato team. I don't recognise any players in the Taranaki team.

[Bovidae]

@Bovidae said in Waikato 2020:

There was also a U20 game on at Beetham Park between Waikato and Taranaki U20s today at the same time as the FPC game.

An update:

Firstly, never ask a player involved in a game what the score was. Taranaki won 24-19.

Secondly, this wasn't an U20 game as such, but one of a series of games between the academy players from each province within the Chiefs region. The Waikato team is mainly U19 and younger than most of the other teams they are playing.