Hurricanes 2022
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@steven-harris said in Hurricanes 2022:
I don’t know why James Blackwell gets such a hard time on this forum.., sure he’s not the biggest lock you would ever see but the guy has some engine and from what I have heard ticks all the required training boxes .
You can’t do anything about the body you were born with when it comes to height .
I have seen some locks that are well over 1.98 and have nowhere near the work rate as Blackwell, I suspect if he was playing in the Crusaders nobody would notice his height.Do you think he would be selected for the Crusaders as a lock? Because that’s the reason why Cane’s fans are down on him. He’s certainly a hard worker and I’m sure he trains the house down, but he just doesn’t have a big enough body for the position in which he plays.
As you said, you can’t do anything about the body you were born into.
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@gt12 Todd Blackadder ,1.90 6.2 126 games for Canterbury, 71 x games for the Crusaders and 12 tests for the All Blacks not the tallest guy , but good number of those games at lock . ..in fact he’s exactly the same height as his son Ethan ..
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@steven-harris said in Hurricanes 2022:
@gt12 Todd Blackadder ,1.90 6.2 126 games for Canterbury, 71 x games for the Crusaders and 12 tests for the All Blacks not the tallest guy , but good number of those games at lock . ..in fact he’s exactly the same height as his son Ethan ..
It's kind of you to make my arguments for me.
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@steven-harris Come on mate that was in the 90s....
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@steven-harris I don't think anyone begrudges James Blackwell's work rate around the park and the leadership he brings to the side, it's more to do with his size. His lack of height means he quite frequently gets out played at lineout time, something you can't do in those big games. Our scrum also seems to function slightly worse when he's on the park, purely through lack of weight compared to the bigger locks out there.
I certainly don't mind having Blackwell in the pack when he's surrounded by bigger forwards. My frustration comes into play when Holland picks Blackwell, Kirifi, Prinsep and Savea all at once which severely impacts our ability to dominate physically.
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@canes4life then your issue should be directed at the Canes forwards coach Chris Gibbs ,plenty of good lineout forwards in Canes region , Parsons and Cridge from Hawkes Bay , Mitchell from the Turbos , and even Scrafton ,
I believe the Canes should be looking away from Princep and looking for a bigger physical presence in the 6 jersey ,Princep and Blackwell to me are similar type of players , they work their backsides off but in reality don’t always get gainline TK Howden from the Turbos is a very promising young guy with size and a lineout game.The Hurricanes should be doing everything in their power to get Marino Mikaele Tu’u back from the Landers ,Flanders at number 8, and Ardie in the 7 jersey , that would be the perfect fit for the Canes style , all the back 3 can be used as lineout options and Scrafton who is your best lineout jumper can rotate with either Blackwell or ITW ..
My front row would be Lomax ,Rakete Stones and Coles , that’s your best starting front row right there.
Canes current problem at the minute in my opinion Chris Gibbs . -
@steven-harris not necessarily, Holland is the head coach so he takes the blame IMO. Blackwell and Prinsep were being selected before Gibbes arrived on the scene aswell so they are obviously Holland's favourites.
You've just highlighted my point of having bigger forwards around Blackwell if he's continually going to be selected. I'd love to see a loose forward trio of 6. Howden / Plumtree 7. Savea 8. Flanders for next year but I highly doubt that will happen. Hopefully with Dominic Bird at the Canes this year, we should have a bit more size in the locking department aswell.
In terms of props, I rate both Numia and Mafileo (who's been out with injury for a while now) slightly ahead of Rakete-Stones. They are all young and promising though so I will be interested to see who steps up there. Having Owen Franks in the squad will be great for all their development, especially for someone like Alex Fidow who may find himself on the outer if he doesn't improve his scrummaging next year.
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Hopefully one day the Hurricanes will actually make a signing that's exciting.
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@canes4life said in Hurricanes 2022:
Hopefully one day the Hurricanes will actually make a signing that's exciting.
Announcing the return of Hammett would generate a lot of excitement (on The Fern anyway)
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@stockcar86 said in Hurricanes 2022:
@canes4life said in Hurricanes 2022:
Hopefully one day the Hurricanes will actually make a signing that's exciting.
Announcing the return of Hammett would generate a lot of excitement (on The Fern anyway)
Paj isn't here anymore so only @Chris-B would get aroused by that these days I assume?
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@canes4life said in Hurricanes 2022:
Hopefully one day the Hurricanes will actually make a signing that's exciting.
Holland doesn’t do exciting you know this.
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If I’m being completely honest both Crosby and Flanders look a little undersized to be 8s at the next level.
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@canes4life I think he's a few centimetres shorter than Devan, but if he's anything like Devan, he'll bulk up considerably in the next few years. Devan was still quite skinny when he left school.
Having said that, I'm hoping the Magpies Academy develops him as a 7. He's great at making turnovers already.
He's been a great captain and decision maker. I can see him becoming a captain at a higher level, too.
It's a pity that Mr and Mrs Flanders stopped having children after Cooper ...
