Northland v NH
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@taniwharugby said in Northland v NH:
As awful as the officials have been, we have been worse
Poor game mgmt 1st half. Missed opportunities start of 2nd, then mistakes (lack of control and composure) then a shambles at the end.
That should be Rene’s last game. The less said the better.
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@kev I think Nock is working his way out the door too, he was a huge part of that awful start...I think there are at least 4 players that have been lucky to make it (again) this season.
I dont think we scored in the 2nd half last week, and this week was 60 mins we failed to score?
MOTM poll
https://www.forum.thesilverfern.com/topic/5581/northland-motm-v-nh
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@taniwharugby said in Northland v NH:
@kev I think Nock is working his way out the door too, he was a huge part of that awful start...I think there are at least 4 players that have been lucky to make it (again) this season.
I dont think we scored in the 2nd half last week, and this week was 60 mins we failed to score?
MOTM poll
https://www.forum.thesilverfern.com/topic/5581/northland-motm-v-nh
Nocks charge downs have the same issue - not enough length in ruck, and he steps to side to kick. If he is going to do that he needs to start closer to the blindside. Coaches should be all over that. He needs to boss his forwards and not take the kick without those things in place.
We also had plenty of times where backs could have kicked in 1st half but didn’t.
This was by far our worst game. We missed way to many one on one tackles.
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@kev TBF he has been pretty poor all season, I have hoped the pressure from LMH would be the catalyst for him to kick on and realise his enormous potential, unfortunately he has gone backwards, poor decisions, poor handling, inaccurate passes, poor kicks, think that is his 3rd charge down of the year?
He is usually the king of fucking around with the ball at the back of a ruck settign it perfectly, he is clearly struggling.
That game was just hugely disappointing, having not beaten NH since 2014, that was a huge chance, and despite the start, we were still in the game at about 50 mins.
While we had started falling apart before that awful piece of officiating where they coulda called it on 3 separate errors, that really was the nail that put us away well and truly....we just had nothing in that final quarter.
Was frustrating, any 50-50 ball, we shelled, any 50-50 NH seemed to somehow hang on, those are the little things that make all the difference.
Huge game next week now, given the way Tom, Moorby, Caird et al were running about in warm up, hopefully we have all back on deck next week to have a real crack at what is now a must win!
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@taniwharugby we need them back, and a team reset.
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Crazy game. Harbour started with real intent and we held them out well for first 5 mins before Nock's godawful chargedown. You guys are right, his form has dropped off massively. His first touch v Canterbury last week was a chargedown too. Other teams will be targeting his exit kicks big time now.
The rest of the first half was hairbrained stuff from both sides, we were playing catchup the whole first half. Couldn't believe we were only 6 points down at half time.
We started the second half strong, but they kept us out, partly due to Northland errors. Pity that throw in near their line was crooked. From that point it was all downhill. Once they got the ball in the second half it was night and day. Surged upfield with ease, breaking us open at will. The ugly blowout to the scoreline felt inevitable in the end. Yeah, we were on the wrong end of a couple of poor decisions, but the fact is they were far too good for us to stay with them.
We desperately need some of those injured players back, and Reihana with his knee is a worry.
Feels like the wheels have started falling off - hope I'm wrong and they are back to playing competitive rugby next week. If we end up heading to BOP needing to win to make top 4, we are in deep shit. They have been handed the recipe for how to tear us to shreds by Harbour today.
It's as if this year's side has been kinapped and replaced by the 2021 team all of a sudden. Absolutely gutted. -
@fidz71 that’s the worry, the habits we had worked to eliminate all came back to haunt us:
- exits - Nock main offender, but others not kicking as well
- chasing was poor, first up tackles missed
- missing key moments start of second half
- then complete lack of pattern later on. We don’t have the pace in back 3 to match NH so needed to play tight and plug corners. The looser the game the better for them.
- Really disappointed with Rene’s decision to chip kick by our 22, when all by himself. Just terrible.
Hopefully we can get our heads in the game this week.
Thought set piece first half was excellent.
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@kev Completely agree mate.
That back 3 of theirs... probably best in the comp. So, we have forward dominance in that first half in particular, scrums looking excellent, lineout assured, secure at the breakdown - and what do we do? Get sucked into playing crazy festival rugby against a side that LOVES to play that way. Beggars belief.
Where did that excellent, structured, solid defensive side go? How bigger part of this is Moorby's absence? Or is it that those other injuries has meant our bench impact later in the games is non existent now and getting totally trumped by the opposition? Until the Canterbury and Harbour games we were finishing very strong. But now we are leaking BIG points.
I don't understand the game well enough to be able to pinpoint where it's going so horribly wrong.
Nock, Ranger had games to forget that's for sure. Yeah Kev, that chip kick of Ranger's inside our 22 was one of the stupidest bits of rugby I've seen in a long time. -
Guys like Ranger and Ross Wright have had their time in the sun, they were great for us and brought so much to our jersey, but it’s time to move on from them now.
I would be looking seriously at the future of a few others as well. Unfortunately I’d be placing Nock in that category right now. Something clearly isn’t right with him, so unless he can sort himself out and be the player he’s capable of being I’d be looking at perhaps taking a stint overseas like what Josh Goodhue is doing.
Like some other views on here it’s staggering how quickly we can go from the best defensive team in the competition to being right down there with Manawatu and Southland. Pathetic really, only we can serve up inconsistencies like that.
Expecting a massive improvement heading into storm week, especially if all our injured guys are on deck. We need them desperately, as our depth is not as strong as I thought it would be.
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@J77 I am still a supporter of Nock but feeling a bit vulnerable now. At the same time as his all round play has improved - running, tackling, breakdown work the other parts that used to be good - passing accuracy and kicking are not where they used to be. I thought he played well for Blues with limited game time, but agree that he has been mixed for us. Hopefully they work with him to get it right.
Rene and Ross looked slow against NH, time is not on their side but they have been big players for across many seasons. 🤩
