Positions and players to watch - 2021
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@Nepia said in Positions and players to watch - 2021:
@Crucial said in Positions and players to watch - 2021:
@Nepia said in Positions and players to watch - 2021:
@Kiwiwomble said in Positions and players to watch - 2021:
@Crucial said in Positions and players to watch - 2021:
@Bones said in Positions and players to watch - 2021:
@Crucial said in Positions and players to watch - 2021:
Very surprised that halfback hasn’t entered the conversation. Weber is a stopgap measure as number 2 (although we do need him if AS falls over). Still looking for the next cabs off the rank.
I know sometimes @Tim's posts are a bit cryptic, but his OP discussing halfbacks was pretty clear!
You expect us to actually read previous posts? This is the fern!
Actually I did read that. My comment was more that no one picked up in it and carried it on. I think halfback and hooker are by far the most worrisome spots given their critical contribution to playing style.
I think 3T still has the potential, just needs a decent run of games to show it. None of the others mentioned has a fast pass.
ive said before, I love smith, but I really hope Fakatava gets a good run this year coming on with 20-30 at the start of the season and starting later on, smith cant play forever
The issue isn't really Smith, it's the coach playing the other halfback in the squad more often than Fakatava like Mauger did last year.
Probably would have been a good year for Fakatava to be at the Canes ... pity they can never see past their nose.
Similar problem at the Canes where Weber was given nearly all the minutes and TTT stagnated
Wasn’t that more a case of TTT’s form stagnating? He was in the box seat, was the regular 3rd AB halfback but got overtaken by Weber for both ABs and Chiefs.
I don't recall him being given much of a chance. Saying that, Weber was in a purple patch and the way the games were going whenever it hit that moment of subbing him it looked risky to do so.
Maybe circumstances more than outright form?
It's a difficult job as a sub if the number one is playing well. You are on a hiding to nothing and any minor error is amplified. -
it would be shorter to list the positions we don't need to look at
Openside. We have two good ones. Clark on the left wing looks great, and Ioane is pretty handy as well
Hooker is fucked. Props, while not fucked, are not amazing. Lock is fucked. Blindside is fucked. 8 is fucked if the selectors don't open their goddam eyes. Back up halfback is fucked. A good 10 would be nice. The midfield muddle is fucked. Right wing is fucked. Fullback is okay i guess?
This is also the year the coaching and selecting of the National side should be under pressure to deliver. We were dogshit last year.
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@mariner4life said in Positions and players to watch - 2021:
it would be shorter to list the positions we don't need to look at
Openside. We have two good ones. Clark on the left wing looks great, and Ioane is pretty handy as well
Hooker is fucked. Props, while not fucked, are not amazing. Lock is fucked. Blindside is fucked. 8 is fucked if the selectors don't open their goddam eyes. Back up halfback is fucked. A good 10 would be nice. The midfield muddle is fucked. Right wing is fucked. Fullback is okay i guess?
This is also the year the coaching and selecting of the National side should be under pressure to deliver. We were dogshit last year.
We've been dogshittish since the Lions.
I really, really want another good lock this year.
I think we have a good halfback coming, at Prop there are two really good ones at the Saders, and in the loosies we have heaps of talent but the selectors need to stop being pussies.
At first five, we're thin, and the midfield is still weak - they need to decide between ALB and Goodhue and find a 12.
We have no shortage of potentially v. good right wingers and fullback isn't a position of weakness.
Many/most of these problems come from dodgy selecting and a game plan that hasn't evolved since the 2015 WC where about half of them were all-time All Black players in their position.
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@mariner4life said in Positions and players to watch - 2021:
it would be shorter to list the positions we don't need to look at
Openside. We have two good ones. Clark on the left wing looks great, and Ioane is pretty handy as well
Hooker is fucked. Props, while not fucked, are not amazing. Lock is fucked. Blindside is fucked. 8 is fucked if the selectors don't open their goddam eyes. Back up halfback is fucked. A good 10 would be nice. The midfield muddle is fucked. Right wing is fucked. Fullback is okay i guess?
This is also the year the coaching and selecting of the National side should be under pressure to deliver. We were dogshit last year.
Missed the final test of the year did you?
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@KiwiMurph said in Positions and players to watch - 2021:
@mariner4life said in Positions and players to watch - 2021:
it would be shorter to list the positions we don't need to look at
Openside. We have two good ones. Clark on the left wing looks great, and Ioane is pretty handy as well
Hooker is fucked. Props, while not fucked, are not amazing. Lock is fucked. Blindside is fucked. 8 is fucked if the selectors don't open their goddam eyes. Back up halfback is fucked. A good 10 would be nice. The midfield muddle is fucked. Right wing is fucked. Fullback is okay i guess?
This is also the year the coaching and selecting of the National side should be under pressure to deliver. We were dogshit last year.
Missed the final test of the year did you?
oh no, i know who i would pick. I know who i would pick nearly everywhere
the problem is finding players who are effective, and who the selectors also like. There seems to be a huge disconnect between those two levels.
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@Crucial Nock has a quick accurate pass, just hope he can carry on what seemed like a turning point for him in terms of consistency and all round game in 2020
I'd say Fakatava shades him at present, explosiveness and physicality, but Nock certainly looked on the right trajectory last year.
@Duluth yeah given the AB's had been monitoring Robinsons injury situation in 2019, you wonder if last year they thought they'd leave him to play out a full NPC and have him firing for Super.
Blues are pretty flush with loosies.
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@Winger said in Positions and players to watch - 2021:
The Highlanders snapped up Fakatava fairly quickly. As they did Smith.
Geez now you're turning your bollocks brush to rugby too.
Smith was selected for the Highlanders in 2011, after a stint at the Blues. He debuted in 2008 in NPC.
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@Bones said in Positions and players to watch - 2021:
@Winger said in Positions and players to watch - 2021:
The Highlanders snapped up Fakatava fairly quickly. As they did Smith.
Geez now you're turning your bollocks brush to rugby too.
Smith was selected for the Highlanders in 2011, after a stint at the Blues. He debuted in 2008 in NPC.
As soon as he showed quality form (esp with the Maori ABs coached by Joseph where he was class and looked like one for the future) he was snapped up by the Highlanders (I was hopping the Canes would sign him after the Maori AB game). Before then he wasn't good enough to get a super rugby contract (WTG doesn't count esp when he got nil game time). But even then he was only a back-up not the regular starter (Cowan)
But I guess the Canes could have taken a punt
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@Tim said in Positions and players to watch - 2021:
Starting off in the backs.
At halfback it's pretty clear that there is a huge drop off after Smith, and we're not sure if he will be available in good form for the World Cup.
Fakatava should be exciting to watch; Nock has the skills and is growing mentally, especially in leadership; Xavier Roe plays confidently and could be a bolter; Enari has a lot to prove - will he emerge at last?
Can't say much about the Hurricanes halfbacks without seeing them play Super Rugby. Not a fan of Christie so far, hope he proves me wrong.
What ever happened to TTT?
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@antipodean He looked better for BOP last year, but was only coming off the bench for them.
I'm guessing he has a lot of issues directing the game and playing in tighter conditions.
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@mariner4life said in Positions and players to watch - 2021:
@MN5 said in Positions and players to watch - 2021:
@Canes4life said in Positions and players to watch - 2021:
@MN5 yeah that game against the Blues last year at the Cake Tin was something else by Laumape. Must of had about five red bulls before that game, certainly played like one.
.....and for those doubting whether he has the more subtle touches to his game could look at how Nonu developed these at a similar age.
Similar ages? Laumape is the same age nonu was at the 2011 world cup. This so called development is a couple of years behind
Nonu was also 4cm taller and 10kg heavier
According to the internet you've got those numbers around the wrong way.
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@antipodean said in Positions and players to watch - 2021:
@mariner4life said in Positions and players to watch - 2021:
@MN5 said in Positions and players to watch - 2021:
@Canes4life said in Positions and players to watch - 2021:
@MN5 yeah that game against the Blues last year at the Cake Tin was something else by Laumape. Must of had about five red bulls before that game, certainly played like one.
.....and for those doubting whether he has the more subtle touches to his game could look at how Nonu developed these at a similar age.
Similar ages? Laumape is the same age nonu was at the 2011 world cup. This so called development is a couple of years behind
Nonu was also 4cm taller and 10kg heavier
According to the internet you've got those numbers around the wrong way.
Aye? That wouldn't pass the eye test
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@mariner4life said in Positions and players to watch - 2021:
@antipodean said in Positions and players to watch - 2021:
@mariner4life said in Positions and players to watch - 2021:
@MN5 said in Positions and players to watch - 2021:
@Canes4life said in Positions and players to watch - 2021:
@MN5 yeah that game against the Blues last year at the Cake Tin was something else by Laumape. Must of had about five red bulls before that game, certainly played like one.
.....and for those doubting whether he has the more subtle touches to his game could look at how Nonu developed these at a similar age.
Similar ages? Laumape is the same age nonu was at the 2011 world cup. This so called development is a couple of years behind
Nonu was also 4cm taller and 10kg heavier
According to the internet you've got those numbers around the wrong way.
Aye? That wouldn't pass the eye test
Apparently Laumape is 10cm shorter but only five kilos less in weight. I don't think he's as big as those numbers suggest.
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@antipodean no way he is that much wider than nonu. Nonu was frikken massive. Especially in the legs.
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@mariner4life said in Positions and players to watch - 2021:
@antipodean no way he is that much wider than nonu. Nonu was frikken massive. Especially in the legs.
Depends which era nonu you're talking about. In those '05 Lions games someone posted the other day he looks pretty trim.
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I remember trying to tackle those fucking tree trunks before he was proper famous and they were huge!
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@mariner4life said in Positions and players to watch - 2021:
I remember trying to tackle those fucking tree trunks before he was proper famous and they were huge!
Only time I played him I broke his thumb so I didn't have to face him again. RUN AT ME
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@Bones said in Positions and players to watch - 2021:
@mariner4life said in Positions and players to watch - 2021:
I remember trying to tackle those fucking tree trunks before he was proper famous and they were huge!
Only time I played him I broke his thumb so I didn't have to face him again. RUN AT ME
If I see him at the pools as I often do on Saturday can I check whether this story is remotely true ?
MN5: hi Ma’a, a guy I know from the internet said he broke your thumb, did this ever happen ?
Ma’a: ( stares blankly, wishing he wasn’t a famous ex All Black )
Actually even in my mind this conversation sounds awkward, I might just respect his privacy....
