Highlanders 2023
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It is a tough one. We should be looking to fill from the top and empty from the bottom. Meaning all the players we potentially bring in have a higher ceiling than what we have at the moment, while we focus on getting rid of players who are at the bottom of the pile.
In the backs the players who are on the way out should be, Paea, Gregory, Koroi, Banks, Dawai.
In the forwards any of the hookers and apart from them, I think most of the forwards can justify their places in the squad.
But the question is; if we are getting rid of at least five backs, who is going to replace them. We know one is Jake Te Hiwi, but who else?
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@SouthernMann i do feel for koroi, he gets a couple of half games a season to be judged on
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He isn't a 10/winger or a 15. He won't get game time for Otago in any of the positions. We can't justify picking him.
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@SouthernMann i always thought he looked very comfortable on the wing or at 15 and passable to 10, i would have had him as 3rd choice 10 ahead of banks
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Who knows I may be wrong.
But I expect the wingers for Otago to be out of Nareki, Jermaine Pepe, Mefi Tupou, Oscar Schmidt-Uili and Jeremiah Asi. No room for Koroi.
Fullbacks will be Gilbert (may be a 12) and the midget Hurley
10s will be Ioane, Millar and Faleafaga
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@SouthernMann not saying he WILL play ahead of any other those guys, its clear the next generation is coming, just that over the last couple of years i would have given him more game time as ive always liked what i saw when he played
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@friedrugby said in Highlanders 2023:
Yes it is a hard one, I guess, outside of Nareki and Smith, and maybe Gilbert at a push, I don't think any of these guys start for any of the other New Zealand franchises, which already means that our backups are quite poor.
Ideally you'd ship them all out, but replacements are needed. Is TUJ one of our better backs? Yes. Is TUJ good enough? I'm not sure, but you'd like to keep him for the purposes of depth. I like the academy route, but outside of 9&10, not sure I'm convinced by any of these young fellas coming through.
Lowe was a regular starter for the Chiefs. I think for any winger it's hard playing with players like Hunt, Paeal (& Gregory) in the halves/midfield. But I maintain that coaching is also a major problem at the Highlanders, because they also don't seem to get the best out of players like TU-J & CG-B, and even Nareki and Fakatava, who are all players who can play better than they do at the moment (admittedly, Fakatava is steadily getting better in his way back from injury; Nareki also just returned from injury).
@SouthernMann said in Highlanders 2023:
In the backs the players who are on the way out should be, Paea, Gregory, Koroi, Banks, Dawai.
Yep.
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@Stargazer yeah, you can see in how we play we're just not putting our wingers in space (as the AB's have been guilty off over the last few years), if it makes it past the midfield at all it is often just shovelled out and our wingers might be covered by two people and we're like "go on...score the try...."
wingers are definitely on the list of players we need to improve...but if i have to prioritise they would come after 10-13
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Yeah 10,12, 13 and fullback are the focus areas. The wingers of Nareki, Bogado and Lowe should be fine if there are players around them who have the ability to set things up.
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From reading a few posts on here, I would suggest that the thoughts of a clean out are wide of the mark. Highlanders look to me a team that has decided they have to go with youth for long ru results. Only sensible thing to do in NZ, and I think their payoff will be 3-4 years down track. Anyone recall Chiefs results a couple of years back? Patience is required of their supporters at moment I think.
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I think a 'clear out' of 8 - 10 players is realistic, and with the players coming in, is likely. Just a change in results shouldn't be guaranteed.
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Two hookers, DLB, Frizzell, Lentjes, Smith, Banks, Koroi, Paea, Gregory, Dawai
That is 11.
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@SouthernMann i just hope we stick the course and dont lose a few games and bring back old hats like banks to "steady the ship", we need to be telling these young guys it could be a hard couple of seasons as they learn to step up but that as long as they keep trying that will be supported
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@SouthernMann Is DLB leaving (like Frizell), or do you want him replaced?
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@Stargazer said in Highlanders 2023:
@SouthernMann Is DLB leaving (like Frizell), or do you want him replaced?
I think now is the right time for him to move on. We can bring in a Rohan Wingham or see if Abraham Pole is willing to come down south from MP
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@SouthernMann Or Pouri Rakete-Stones from the Canes. I understand Jamie Mackintosh rates him highly.
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the other thing im a little worried about is leadership, i think we need some big personalities to revive a bit of team culture, make the team attractive to join, something like that 2015 group lead by Ben Smith and Nasi Manu is what we need back
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@Stargazer said in Highlanders 2023:
@SouthernMann Or Pouri Rakete-Stones from the Canes. I understand Jamie Mackintosh rates him highly.
Nah. I would be quite happy with Rohan Wingham or Pole. Either player needs to be happy to sit on the bench. de Groot is the no1 for a very long time.
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I would suggest moving on too many old heads is not answr either. A lot of these young fellas need to be handled carefully, and no way would you want to rely on too many of them next year, it's closer to 2-4 years for bringing them up to starters. I would be keeping likes of DLP etc as he still has stuff to offer, but I thought it was mistake to hold Banks over last couple of years.
