Northland Rugby 2022
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@Steven-Harris well as I have said plenty of times, Hohaia doesnt stand out in club rugby (and I watch Kamo more often than most other teams) makes the same poor decisions.
Hawkins can control a game, and is a courageous defender, but he is not a plyer to ignite an attack, as you say, he sets so deep, and as he isnt the quickest pace wise or his distribution, we are so often caught well behind the gain line, and when you are setting targets for your loosies, it aint great, and his kicking game isnt long enough.
Aside from a few signings that I have mentioned maybe once or twenty times, overall I think we will have a strong squad, but my concern is our coaches have shown very little to indicate they are able to pick the right players or get the best out of players and also put systems and structures in place for us to build on.
The development behind the scenes seems lacking, they arent as bad as when Ferris was running things pulling in randoms from outside Northland left right and centre, but from what I hear, they arent really development focused.
I think our starting 15 or even 23 this year could be very good, loosies are the one area I am not 100% on where we will go though, assuming fitness, Tom should be at 6, meaning McNamara, Matiu, Matich, Mau'u, Faukafa (given the depth we have at lock, assume he will again focus on loosie) all battling for the 7/8 spots.
At lock we have Goodhue, Caird, Hallam-Eames, Craig and then Vaipulu in the wings here too.
The players at our disposal, if we cant win more than 1 game this year, our coaches should be sacked!
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All Blacks in Northland for Matariki 2022
The All Blacks are heading to Northland for their first full squad training camp and will be in Kerikeri on Friday June 24th, Matariki, for a public training session.
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weather looking scratchy for this weekend, key game for me is the Kamo v HH one, and I will be going to watch this one.
One of the hardest hitting defenders in the comp is Kamo prop, Iose Brown, and HH have a beast of a prop in Esile Fono, so should be good seeing them square off!
Probably too close to call, especially with Kamo losing Tua to the Blues, if I had to stick my neck out, I reckon HH could sneak it in a close one
Sharks will be too strong for KK
Waipu should account for Wellsford
OBM should get past Hika, although OBM have been all over the show this season, losing at home to KK, and then winning away over the Sharks, so if they lost it wouldnt surprise me
MN v Morewa / United Kawakawa could be a good game, but the MN grounds will be heavy with all the recent rains, so the forward battle will decide that, reckon MN will take it.Current top 4 of MN, HH, Kamo, Waipu should all still be top 4 at the end of the weekend, but 4th-6th will be tight come tomorrow afternoon.
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Another tight round, with all bar 1 result going as I predicted, and that was Wellsford getting up over Waipu.
In mild but breezy conditions, Kamo went down to HH in a tight contest which was a bruising and niggly game.
HH did better with ball in hand, but defended for long periods in thier 22, and a 70m intercept try proved to be the difference.
The Kamo 9 under pressure at the back of a scrum, stepped inside the loosie, ran 5 and opened a gap, but instead of taking it, threw a pass that was plucked off by the HH 12....
Scrums were hit and miss, with one side dominating one, then next the other team, Kamo lineout struggled again, throw long, lose >50% of the time, so attacking lineout in the 22, where do they throw it...
Otherwise bit of an odd game where no one really stood out, Kamo made silly errors in the wrong parts of the field, while HH were a bit more accurate, although did concede a try when they were down to 14 following a YC for what appeared a cynical play.
Defence won this for HH, but errors robbed Kamo of the opportunity to really push thier defence.
This opens a gap for 1 & 2, while 4 points separates 3rd-5th and only 4 points between 4th-7th
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@Tim ok, so the bench...
Bruce Kauika-Peterson, Justin Davies, Ross Wright, Hallam-Eames/Caird, Loosie, Milo-Harris, Hawkins, Hohaia
Obviously not my favoured bench, but I expect Reihana/Hawkins likely the other way around Cooper is floating about, and Hohaia...
Plenty of locking options behind those mentioned - Craig, Vaipulu, King
Hoping Murray gets some starts alongside Tua, but coach fave Hohaia likely to get more than his share, allowing Ranger to start on the wing or come on from the bench.
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@taniwharugby Is Jarred Adams joining your squad?
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@Tim I think he is signed although IIRC @Steven-Harris said he had picked up an injury that may rule him out for the season???
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Fairly straight forward looking round this weekend, although I am going to Okara Park to watch footy, so no club rugby this weekend for me.
I think MN (1) will be too strong for Kamo (3) who will likely now lose 3 on the bounce as they look to cling onto a top 4 spot, which will be dependent on other results, MN will stay at #1.
HH should account for Hika to cement #2
OBM should beat Wellsford as they make a late charge to break into the top 4
Waipu (5) v Sharks (4) is the toughest to pick, Waipu with an upset loss last week, Sharks unconvincing in thier tight win...a win for Waipu will put them ahead of the Sharks into the top 4, and thats the way I'm leaning, a home side win.
KK v Morewa / United Kawakawa, battle of the mid-north...on form, M/UKK should be too strong as they press thier case for the top 4, and a win will keep them in touch with 3rd and 4th as we head to the final round.Next weekend will be some very interesting match ups battling for 3rd and 4th, with 1 & 2 playing one another to determine who gets the top spot.
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@taniwharugby Why the early kick offs?
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@Higgins been 2.15pm for a few years now.
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@taniwharugby Hell the curtainraisers must kick at lunchtime. Does this impact much when the reserve team from the northern areas like Kerikeri plays Wellsford reserves as the early game, for example?
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@Higgins thier games k/o at 1230, KK - Wellsford is the biggest distance travelled, which would be about 2.5 hours on a bus.
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@taniwharugby Blimey that means the reserve team would have to leave about 8.00am to get there and be ready for kick off. Not so bad for the return trip though with plenty of refreshment stop options on the way back! I suppose it does impact negatively on working people making themselves available for those long away games and there would be a lot of mix and match patch up away teams making do with who they can rustle up.
My nephew plays fourth grade for Sydney Uni where they usually kick off at something like 0910hrs and it never tires me remarking that they must be bullying the Under 6s off the field so they can have their games! Having said that I see he has been dropped for this week (Uni publish the starting lineups for all their teams on their website every Thursday night) which can only mean one or a combination of
i) unpaid subscription
ii) injured - obviously gets that from his mother's side
iii) new girlfriend on the scene
iv) did not turn up for training
v) slept in and did not make kick off time last time they played
vi) simply not being good enough to warrant selection now that his father is no longer coaching him -
the MN v Kamo game was cancelled due to a number of Kamo players getting covid.
Fortunate for Kamo, unfortunate for MN as they get 2 points each, meaning HH go to the top of the table, although with MN-HH playing next week, it wont really matter.
Other results went as expected, although Kamo getting 2 points leaves them in 3rd on 26 points, Waipu back into the top 4 in 4th and 3 other teams all in striking distance of the top 4
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Final round of play leading into the finals.
Top 2 are certain, I guess there is a mathematical chance Kamo could snare 2nd, but no...top 2 play one another this week, havent seen if one or both will put out full strength sides yet, given both have home semis and the final will be at Okara.
Its the battle for the final spot that will be interesting, Waipu (4th) face bottom of the table Hikurangi in Waipu, so they are all but assured a top 4 spot.
Kamo (3rd) are facing OBM (6th) in a crucial match up...Kamo win, they finish 3rd, lose with a BP and things become interesting.
OBM really need to win with a BP, while denying Kamo one.
Ngati Hine Moerewa / Kawa Kawa United also have a shot, but do so with the tough prospect of beating the sharks, last years champs; if they win with a BP, then only a Kamo win can keep them out of the top 4.
The Sharks are also an outside chance, needing a BP win, but other results to fall thier way.
No idea on who to pick between 1 v 2 until teams named, but reckon at home, HH will sneak it.
OBM v Kamo - OBM to beat Kamo, but only getting 4 points, Kamo will get a BP keeping them ahead of OBM
NHM/KKU v Sharks - home side to nab it, pushing them to 27 points, which will be the same as Kamo, but as they beat Kamo a few weeks back, I believe they will go through on that.The other game, with no bearing on the final placings is KK v Wellsford.
Top 4:
1 - HH
2 - MN
3 - Waipu
4 - NHM/KKU
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dumb arse me, I knew there was a game today, but thought was the Waipu-Hika game...turns outs, that was last night, as expected, Waipu accounted for Hika 46-7 to book thier place in the top 4.
But the surprise today (in both not realising this game was today, and the result) was the top of the table clash between HH & MN, both sides fielding pretty much full strength lineups, and MN laying a marker, comfortably seeing off HH 8-36 to claim top spot, in what would have been damp conditions.
In doing so, they also took away whatever mathematical chance Kamo may have had of finishing 2nd.
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todays results see Moerewa/United Kawa Kawa take the final spot in the top 4 as they finish after they were far too strong for the Sharks 41-7.
OBM and Kamo finished at 22 all, which left Kamo & M/UKK on 28 points, M/UKK with a superior f/a and they beat Kamo several weeks back, well deserving of thier top 4 finish.
Next weeks semi finalists:
Mid Northern v Ngati Hine Moerewa / United Kawa Kawa
Hora Hora v Waipu
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Great to see the big fella back for another round!
Amid rumours of our coaches looking at calling players in from elsewhere (not marquee signings either) ignoring guys like Wright and Davies, who have put in the mahi this year, kicking it in club footy for years and still able to foot it in npc...not to mention there seems to be little development of the small number of promising young props playing locally.
