Rebels vs Highlanders
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@Stargazer yeah, i should have said vaguely familiar with him at NPC level, just had missed him in any super discussions
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@nzzp said in Rebels vs Highlanders:
@Old-Samurai-Jack said in Rebels vs Highlanders:
Jeez, Smith looks a pale shadow of his former self.
Couldn't disagree more.
His ability to hit a runner with a flick of the wrists and a bullet pass is unmatched. He plays the refs well, he's a lock for the RWC next year (gulp).
Fakatava looked good, but brought something different against a tiring side. Don't be sucked in, it's the 2007 Byron Kelleher argument all over again
I just wish he could offer a running threat, he just doesn’t go anymore. That is bad news at international level, as they can relax around the ruck when he’s there. Unless it’s dry powder…
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@Machpants i honestly think its just as much we dont have the weapons to back him up if he does run...and he knows it, so he's playing "safer", feed someone for a small hit up and make sure he's there to feed the next one...and the next one. If he runs he risks getting isolated and possibly at the bottom of a ruck
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@Kiwiwomble said in Rebels vs Highlanders:
@Machpants i honestly think its just as much we dont have the weapons to back him up if he does run...and he knows it, so he's playing "safer", feed someone for a small hit up and make sure he's there to feed the next one...and the next one. If he runs he risks getting isolated and possibly at the bottom of a ruck
OK that’s a fair point!
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@Machpants said in Rebels vs Highlanders:
I just wish he could offer a running threat, he just doesn’t go anymore. That is bad news at international level, as they can relax around the ruck when he’s there. Unless it’s dry powder…
I've wondered about this over the last couple of years. Opposition teams know that if Smith is picking up the ball you can pretty much guarantee it's either going to be kicked (averagely) or passed (brilliantly) - he isn't going to run it. This was all good when the forwards did their jobs and the backs did theirs. This isn't always the case at the moment.
Still he's still head and shoulders above the next best. And we don't want to head down the Brendon Leonard route if we don't have to.
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@Machpants said in Rebels vs Highlanders:
@Kiwiwomble said in Rebels vs Highlanders:
@Machpants i honestly think its just as much we dont have the weapons to back him up if he does run...and he knows it, so he's playing "safer", feed someone for a small hit up and make sure he's there to feed the next one...and the next one. If he runs he risks getting isolated and possibly at the bottom of a ruck
OK that’s a fair point!
just to elaborate, if you go back to when we had guys like osbourne/naholo/fekitoa and smith....nug ran loads...loved the blind side snipe...but he had at least one of those guys on his shoulder....the closest we have now is TUJ or MMT, the former plays much wider so harder for nug to get too...and the latter loves to run from deep up the middle more than on the fringe...we're a different team in both style and just skill level
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@Kiwiwomble But he also hasn;t done it much for ABs over the past few years if IIRC. I dunno if I’m misremembering tho
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@Machpants the AB's that have played bridge on the wing? and even when we have had a better wing it is often changed around a lot so he might just not have had the vibe to try his luck
dont get me wrong, hes older now than before...as happens...so im sure he's lost a yard or two of pace...but it feels to me hes still at least trying to make a decision based on the clubs in his bag
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@Machpants said in Rebels vs Highlanders:
@Kiwiwomble But he also hasn;t done it much for ABs over the past few years if IIRC. I dunno if I’m misremembering tho
the ABs don't play around the ruck. They are heavily committed to 2 passes
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@Kiwiwomble said in Rebels vs Highlanders:
@SouthernMann really? dont remember ever hearing of him before last week, if so may bad
Here was an article from February of him being injured in the game of three halves https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/super-rugby/127758011/super-rugby-highlanders-lose-winger-rory-van-vugt-to-broken-wrist-play-it-safe-with-james-lentjes
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@Toddy yep, he needs to run more to give opposition that extra option to consider.
I mean when he is setting for the kick, it is blindingly obvious, so you know when thats coming, so all other times, he is passing it.
The best part of his passing game is speed and accuracy helping his ability he has to hit a man in traffic with other moving parts...yet we dont have alot of the other moving parts, he is quickly hitting his man, but we dont have all the other bodies in motion or deception, meaning the opposition know if he is passing, and exactly where it is going.
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@Kiwiwomble said in Rebels vs Highlanders:
@Machpants said in Rebels vs Highlanders:
@Kiwiwomble said in Rebels vs Highlanders:
@Machpants i honestly think its just as much we dont have the weapons to back him up if he does run...and he knows it, so he's playing "safer", feed someone for a small hit up and make sure he's there to feed the next one...and the next one. If he runs he risks getting isolated and possibly at the bottom of a ruck
OK that’s a fair point!
just to elaborate, if you go back to when we had guys like osbourne/naholo/fekitoa and smith....nug ran loads...loved the blind side snipe...but he had at least one of those guys on his shoulder....the closest we have now is TUJ or MMT, the former plays much wider so harder for nug to get too...and the latter loves to run from deep up the middle more than on the fringe...we're a different team in both style and just skill level
Fakatva is running though, and doing it effectively.
I was going to make the case that he could do this because he's a bigger and faster unit, but all the preliminary data that google throws up suggests that while Fakatava is 3 inches taller than Smith, he's 3kgs lighter at 80kgs!!!
FFS.
Skinny little Fakatava!!!
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If the Highlanders had more talent and leadership we would be in a position to have Aaron off the bench, closing out games. It is just at the moment he simply has to be there running the cutter.
The club is in a pretty sad state at the moment.
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@Chris-B no argument the younger guy probably has a couple of extra yards of pace...but he also came on against a tiring and team almost certainly with a order to score tries because we were chasing the game
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@Kiwiwomble I guess my point is that (without having watched the Highlanders avidly) Fakatava is a guy who runs frequently and the team seems able to accommodate that. I'm guessing that's the case even when he's started.
TBH it wouldn't be the stupidest move for Tony Brown to roll the dice and start Fakatava against the Blues. Give them something different to contend with than what they expect.
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@Chris-B ive love to find out the fakatava and koroi had been training together all season and strated next week like world beaters...we can dream
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@Kiwiwomble You guys are clearly not going to win if you play the same way you have for the last several weeks, so I'd be pretty inclined to start with that pairing - rather than Smith/Banks.
If Frizell is fit, he has to start. There's no point bringing him on when the Blues are 30 points ahead. Not sure who or what else you guys have in the cupboard?
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@nzzp Agreed about the ability to find the player and he is still NZ's No.1 (no argument there) but I don't think he tests defenses around the fringe anymore and teams can fan out on defense with this knowledge. At least he is getting a lot of practice behind a pack that isn't dominant. He might need that if the ABs don't change things up.
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@ACT-Crusader said in Rebels vs Highlanders:
That fullback for the Rebels, Nick Jooste, played a very good game. Runs hard, has size, covers the ground well and has good timing coming into the line.
Everything Hodge isn't.
