Wellington Lions 2023
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@maxwell said in Wellington Lions 2023:
@Canes4life Cue all the fringe representative loose forwards looking elsewhere to stake their claim for higher honours
Persico on the comeback too, let's get him back onboard.
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Wellington Rugby Football Union [WRFU] has today confirmed the three assistant coaches who will assist the recently appointed head coach, Tamati Ellison, for the 2023 Bunnings Warehouse NPC competition.
Current Wellington Lions scrum coach Greg Halford will be joined by Alando Soakai and Trent Renata, with the group to take up their respective roles ahead of the 2023 NPC season.
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Connor Garden Bachop and Pepesani Patafilo have also re-signed with the Lions for 2023.'
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What happened to Tito. Shame as the forwards went well last year. I was hoping they could keep as many of the 2022 coaches as possible. Although at least it's Ellison's coaching team now
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Wellington Lions sign three up and comers on 2 year deals. I don't expect to see much of Ropeti unless injuries strike.
I'm hoping for a big year from Hugo Plummer, he's put on plenty of beef and is a sizeable lock with a good work-rate. In years gone past he's probably been a bit skinny for his height, but when he made his debut for the Canes against the Force this year, he looked significantly bigger than James Blackwell.
Wellington Lions Sign Three up-and-comers
Three talented local youngsters have inked deals with the Wellington Lions ahead of the 2023 Bunnings Warehouse NPC competition.
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@Canes4life the article mentions the position of only one player. I looked it up and found there are two locks and one outside back .
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Unless I missed something I don't think there are any outside backs there.
Hugo Plummer is a lock, Dominic Ropeti is a loose forward (but played lock for the U20 team recently - I'd be surprised if we saw him play there at NPC) and Bradley Crichton at prop.
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Yeah Plummer is a lock out of Tawa, played for most of the Wellington rugby rep teams but I know the academy have taken their time with him. He's 1.98m but Wellington have held him back and have instead tried to beef him up before offering him a full contract. He looks the part now and I think he's weighing in at 115kg. Hopefully he can play well enough this year to compete for a Canes contract.
Ropeti (blindside flanker) and Chrichton (prop) are two players coming through the system, I don't expect to see much of them this season.
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So the Wellington Lions will need to put together a make-shift side going into the first two Ranfurly Shield defences against Horewhenua and South Canterbury thanks to the Under 20 WC, the All Blacks XV commitments and obviously the All Blacks.
Players they won't have available for those first two matches are:
Bradley Chrichton - prop (Under 20s)
Siale Lauaki - prop (Under 20s)
Xavier Numia - prop (All Blacks XV)
Asafo Aumua - hooker (All Blacks XV)
Du Plessis Kirifi - loose forward (All Blacks XV)
Peter Lakai - loose forward (Under 20s)
Billy Proctor - centre (All Blacks XV)
Ruben Love - fullback (All Blacks XV)
Dane Coles - All Blacks
Ardie Savea - All Blacks
TJ Perenara - injured
Julian Savea - injuredWith the retirement of Pek Cowan we will only have one prop (PJ Sheck) available from last year's squad meaning we will have to dig deep into club rugby to find a few replacements. Other areas should hopefully be covered.
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@Canes4life Has Pek Cowan really retired? He was recently named in the initial Wellington Māori squad for 2023.
Te Upoko O Te Ika 2023 Initial Squad
The Initial Te Upoko O Te Ika Squad for 2023 has today been announced.
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@Stargazer an article came out last year of him retiring at the end of the season. He's been in the coaching setup for Petone and was going to be the next man up for the Crusaders if they had any further propping injuries apparently.
He's 36/37 now so he might step in for those easy Shield games but I don't think he'll feature for the Lions in the season proper unless things get dire.
Tuitupou could prob do a job too...
