NPC - news, injuries etc
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@stargazer said in Mitre 10 Cup - news, injuries etc:
Michael Naitokani
Breakthrough Alumi- L-R: Mr Benedito Kanarogo and Mr Michael Naitokani at the Crusaders gym.
Michael was our fullback/Winger, is now at the Crusaders Academy while Ben( Hooker/ Flanker/Halfback...nona taucoko ga😂) is studying engineering in Christchurch. ....E dua lai gym, e dua lai vakana bulumakau nodratou na Crusaders 😂😂from the Breakthrough-Fiji Facebook page Naitokani has been at pre season training with the Crusaders 2019 and 2021 after injury in 2020
[link text](link url)https://www.facebook.com/1677013032588381/posts/breakthrough-alumi-l-r-mr-benedito-kanarogo-and-mr-michael-naitokani-at-the-crus/2412451242377886/
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@stargazer 100% he’s not in the academy. Gone home to Fiji.
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I wish every province was communicating their signings as well as Southland.
More signings for 2021 & beyond:
- Matt James (loosie) and Tevita Latu (outside back)
- props Ethan de Groot and Siate Tokolahi
- @Tim already posted an article about Solomon Alaimalo's signing
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i honesty dont get how southland is able to attract these Highlanders but Otago isn't/doesn't
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@kiwiwomble it's because of McLeod isn't it?
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@Yeetyaah @taniwharugby its been happening for a while, sopoaga went down long before mcleod
maybe otago just doesnt try, i know when we went bankrupt they said they were going to concentrate on building local talent rather than bringing in highlanders...but i would have thought the odd one wouldn't hurt
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@kiwiwomble said in Mitre 10 Cup - news, injuries etc:
@Yeetyaah @taniwharugby its been happening for a while, sopoaga went down long before mcleod
maybe otago just doesnt try, i know when we went bankrupt they said they were going to concentrate on building local talent rather than bringing in highlanders...but i would have thought the odd one wouldn't hurt
Was just going to post the bolded bit, but don't quite know what you're complaining about. Otago has far more talent than Southland in their squad. Southland is just trying to catch up a bit. They're hardly Ta$man or BOP.
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@stargazer i think the fact we've never made it out of the championship suggests we could do with a little more x factor
Its just interesting if the Highlanders attract someone to the south they almost never also move to Otago where do seem to go to southland
not a go at Southland, more a go at Otagos recruiting
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@kiwiwomble You got Josh Ioane, Vilimone Koroi, Jona Nareki, Thomas Umaga-Jensen, Sam Gilbert, just to name a few. None of them are from Otago; all of them signed by the Highlanders.
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@stargazer the majority were signed by otago BEFORE making the highlanders, few seem to move to otago after which seems like an easier target
and in all fairness all those names have been labelled as something along the times of "not good enough" which the track record does support to some extent
sorry my desire for otago to get some new/better blood is so annoying
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@kiwiwomble said in Mitre 10 Cup - news, injuries etc:
sorry my desire for
otagoinsert team to get some new/better blood is so annoyingIf everyone had to apologise for that, we'd have an immediate 25% increase in posts.
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@kiwiwomble Not annoying at all. Just remember, in terms of a home grown player pool, Otago is in the same position as most smaller provinces, but at least Otago has a university that attracts players; that's an advantage other smaller provinces (Manawatu excluded) don't have. They may not always play for the Highlanders, but there regularly are (or have been) SR players among them. Count yourself lucky you have a university.
More than 17 players from the 2020 Otago squad play Super Rugby, and the great majority of them play for the Highlanders. That's way better than many other provinces, particularly the smaller ones. Hawke's Bay, for example, more than half of our SR players do not play for the Hurricanes. The Hurricanes do, however, sometimes dump new players from outside their catchment in Hawke's Bay; usually players we don't want (remember Ben Franks, Ben May).
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@stargazer it does sound a lot like youre saying i should be happy with what we have and not want them to do better
i'm pretty sure the whole idea of a comp is to want to do better than the other teamsthe Uni isn't what it was, most of these guys are getting picked up from school, its hardly draw card for a bloke thinking he got the skills to be an AB
a whole lot of super players that mainly got picked up because they were already in Dunners and they were in Dunners because they're playing for a team that cant get out of the championship isn;t exactly something to brag about
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@kiwiwomble Of course I'm not saying you should be happy with what you have (not being able to get out of the Ch'ship), but I don't think it's as bad as you seem to suggest and it's slightly funny that you complain about Highlanders players going to Southland, a team that has been sitting at the bottom of the pit for years and could only attract leftovers from elsewhere in previous years.
If I were an Otago fan, I'd be having a good look at the coaching staff.
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@stargazer Southlands made it out of the championship
it didn't really start as a big moan, just an observation that southland seem to try and bring in players the Highlanders have already attracted to the south and Otago seems to bring through young guys theyve brought down...where a bit of both might be whats needed
and the coaching staff turns over pretty regularly
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@kiwiwomble there needs to be a balance between those outside the region though, otherwise locals get pissed off that they are just importing players with no connection or passion for the province.
Was only a few years ago they had articles about not using enough local players in Southland, but if they get the results, fan will come round, back then they weren't.
As above, I know SOlomon is a fan of McLeod, and will follow his advice and play under him if he can, I suspect he played a big part if getting his brother down there too.
