Highlanders v Crusaders
-
@kiwiwomble said in Highlanders v Crusaders:
@mariner4life christ... you're right...and that makes it sound thoroughly unenjoyable game to watch
it sorta can be if your mindset isn't right. Fuck being a pro ref. You have to find the balance of materiality between "letting the game flow" or just blowing everything. And you absolutely know which ever way you go, people will crucify you.
All you can do is your best to be consistent. But even being consistent will differ depending on the timeframe of the game.
And someone will lose, so half the viewers will fucking hate you. And a losing coach will blame you.
-
@bovidae said in Highlanders v Crusaders:
Hunt is going to have to play much better than he did against the Chiefs.
Ayden Johnstone hasn't played at all so far, including the preseason games, but isn't listed as being injured.
The whole team will have to play better, the amount of ball turned over to the Chiefs through dropped balls was iinsane for this level. Almost as high as the amount of times the Chiefs coughed up a line out lol.
I think Umaga -Jensen and Mikaele-Tu'u made a decent impact last week, one rewarded with a start.
Forwards solid which will help keep them in this one, but Crusaders backs look stronger, so saders for me
-
@mariner4life i just dont remember it being that bad back in the day, almost certainly due to social media giving everyone a voice but also, rules seems to have become more intrusive and needing more interpretation from refs which is just a recipe for disaster
-
@kiwiwomble said in Highlanders v Crusaders:
@mariner4life i just dont remember it being that bad back in the day, almost certainly due to social media giving everyone a voice but also, rules seems to have become more intrusive and needing more interpretation from refs which is just a recipe for disaster
how far is "back in the day"? because it has been like this for ages. As soon as rugby teams were made up of 15 dudes who are good at the breakdown every ruck became a shit fight.
Professional rugby means way better analysis and prep, so teams know exactly how to push the laws to the fullest extent.
Social media heightens the gripe. Super slow-mo crystal clear replays of eeeeeeverything gives commentators ample time to look at something and say how the ref was wrong (even if they just made the law up aye Justin?).The law changes are legislators trying to free the game up. But they are dumber than the coaches, so every change is exploited negatively almost instantly.
There is no way to "fix" rugby without a fundamental rethink of the game. And then the coaches will fuck it up anyway. Coaches are paid to win, not entertain.
-
@mariner4life yeah, pretty much agree. I feel even the 90's, you'd talk about a clanger of an individual call rather than games in general
ive said it so many times...i would love to see a study where someone takes the laws back to first principles to see if they even resemble what we have now or if we're just witnessing the result of building flawed rules onto of flawed rules
-
@kiwiwomble said in Highlanders v Crusaders:
building flawed rules onto of flawed rules
i don't blame the laws. I blame coaching
-
@mariner4life and im the opposite, don't blame people playing whats in front of them, we litterally tell everyone to play to the whistle
-
@kiwiwomble said in Highlanders v Crusaders:
@mariner4life and im the opposite, don't blame people playing whats in front of them, we litterally tell everyone to play to the whistle
so tell me how to legislate the breakdown?
-
@mariner4life never said i had the answers, but at a high level...id just let more stuff go, leave it to the players to stop the opposition pinching the ball, more and more rules about very specific ways we can turn over the ball are a) just derived from people upset they're own team lost the ball...hardly impartial and b) too open to subjective calls by the ref which then makes people annoyed again
i honestly dont care if a jackle has gone on his hands before grabbing the ball or if theyre knees are touching someone on the ground, clear the fucker out or you dont deserve the ball
-
@kiwiwomble said in Highlanders v Crusaders:
@mariner4life never said i had the answers, but at a high level...id just let more stuff go, leave it to the players to stop the opposition pinching the ball, more and more rules about very specific ways we can turn over the ball are a) just derived from people upset they're own team lost the ball...hardly impartial and b) too open to subjective calls by the ref which then makes people annoyed again
i honestly dont care if a jackle has gone on his hands before grabbing the ball or if theyre knees are touching someone on the ground, clear the fucker out or you dont deserve the ball
welcome to an absolute fuck load of kicking. And far more conservative attacking patterns.
-
@mariner4life honestly think id prefer that to penalties (and potentially losing points) for things i dont care about, id rather be talking about the players playing a form of rugby, even if unattractive to some, than talking about the refs and how much they affected the game
obviously realise its only my preference and only answered because you asked
-
https://crusaders.co.nz/latest/news/corey-kellow-set-to-become-crusader-255-against-the-highlanders/
1 Joe Moody
2 Brodie McAlister
3 Oli Jager
4 Samuel Whitelock
5 Scott Barrett (C)
6 Pablo Matera
7 Tom Christie
8 Cullen Grace
9 Mitch Drummond
10 Fergus Burke
11 Leicester Fainga'anuku
12 David Havili (VC)
13 Braydon Ennor
14 Sevu Reece
15 Will Jordan16 Shilo Klein
17 George Bower
18 Tamaiti Williams
19 Quinten Strange
20 Corey Kellow*
21 Bryn Hall
22 Simon Hickey
23 George Bridge -
-
@canes4life said in Highlanders v Crusaders:
I know alot of Ferners on here think the same but probably don’t want to express that opinion. The difference is I don’t care.
🤣 This guy! Speaking up for the little man! So unflinchingly brave.
-
@bones no? he looked ok last week and was very good for Otago in last years NPC
-
@mariner4life said in Highlanders v Crusaders:
the simple fact is, rugby is a stupidly complicated game with laws based on timing and interpretation.
I look at so many highlight gifs on instagram and think "how was that not a penalty at the breakdown?"
You can look at any game, and find probably a dozen penalties you "should have gotten" and think you got robbed. It's a game of non-stop contest, decided by milimetres/miliseconds, by players cheating at every single opportunity.
Did you watch the crusaders game in the weekend? Watch many last year?
I'd be bloody interested in the penalty split between franchises when playing for the ABs too.
-
@kiwiwomble said in Highlanders v Crusaders:
@bones no? he looked ok last week and was very good for Otago in last years NPC
I barely watch NPC, but I thought Gilbert was pretty meh last week, had some yuck moments and looked anything but comfortable...
-
@bones ok fair play, as i say thought he looked very good under the high ball and where things did start to fall apart was where he didn't get support once he attacked the line, got caught out running to upright true but some better support would have helped there, didn't say perfect but i thought enough to have another go to build on
I guess we'll see if this way around works better, im just concerned CGB seems more of a natural finisher and so id rather have him on the wing going for the corner
-
@kiwiwomble said in Highlanders v Crusaders:
@bones ok fair play, as i say thought he looked very good under the high ball and where things did start to fall apart was where he didn't get support once he attacked the line, got caught out running to upright true but some better support would have helped there, didn't say perfect but i thought enough to have another go to build on
I guess we'll see if this way around works better, im just concerned CGB seems more of a natural finisher and so id rather have him on the wing going for the corner
CGB last year stood out (before getting injured obvs) as a creative runner from the back. Anyway that back three combo has to be an improvement over last week.
-
@kiwiwomble I think it works - Gilbert with less decisions to make, less pressure. He just looked a bit overwhelmed last week and took some poor options. Plenty of potential though, especially once the lump learns to throw the body around (like Jordie).
