Otago 2023
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Both Hurley and Millar are Southlanders.
I don't think it is realistic to have players be tagged to their province of origin. While we want our best guys to stick around people will always move.
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@SouthernMann Haha true, yes I forgot they are both from Southland... just shows city boys are big softies down south.
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Our greatest Otago players for the last 25 years, bugger all are from Otago.
Sadly the best ever player from Otago is a Canterbury and Crusaders legend.
Dunedin as a city doesn't produce that many top quality sports people.
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@SouthernMann after richie the list is short, Ben Smith...
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@Kiwiwomble said in Otago 2023:
@SouthernMann after richie the list is short, Ben Smith...
Cricketers it is Brendon McCullum, Hamish Rutherford and Michael Bracewell.
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@SouthernMann Oh come on does Glenn Turner not count?
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@African-Monkey said in Otago 2023:
Oh come on does Glenn Turner not count?
Did not make his debut in the last 25 years. Only those three did I think.
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@SouthernMann Fair enough, will teach me to read the whole thread instead of bits of it haha.
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Another game of frustration. Barring a miracle, that's finals footy gone already, and to me with some of the players we have got, that is unacceptable. Donnelly should be given the boot at the end of the season, but not sure it will happen... there were some things to take away from that game though:
- Great batch of young props, @SouthernMann has talked him up, Wingham looks the business and will be a Lander in 2025 you'd think. Ma'u has looked superb with the increased game time, and seems to be putting his size to full effect, and is fulfilling the potential we know he has. Expect him to potentially push past Ainsley for the Landers
- Both Bell and Jackson are tidy options at this level, think Bell takes better options around the feed, and was dynamic when he came on
- Great set of locks... Fabian Holland, what a footballer. All Black in waiting
- Loosies all did well, but how about that for a debut from Will Stodart? They said he went off injured at the end which was a shame, hopefully not too bad. Surely a Lander in waiting be it 25' or 26'. Lio-Willie's replacement right there
- Both halfbacks are tidy, like the look of Hastie, particularly with his good left boot. Probably could work at being a little quicker round the field, but think it is more of an angles thing which will come with playing more games
- Faleafaga with another solid game... gut feel is that he is going to more of a 12 than a 10. I'm yet to see a kicking game which convinces me he could play 10 at SR level. Don't think he controls the game as well as Millar either.
- Leslie solid, best I have seen from Te Hiwi. Definitely better balanced than TUJ and Te Hiwi. Playmaker at 12, hard runner at 13 looks the way to me
- I say it every time, and actually thought he was better vs. BOP, but Hurley isn't the man - not even for Otago. Does he have flashes of brilliance? Of course, but lacks the big boot, and has yet to break a game open, and does those stupid dinky kicks which give away possession every time.
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@pakman I was going to suggest this, but think it is a case of one step at a time. To me, he looks like another Ethan de Groot, just playing on the other side of the scrum.
A tight five of de Groot, Whichever hooker, Ma'u, Holland and Parkinson has some serious size to it. Probably means the Highlanders can be a little more mobile in the loose, with something like Haig, Harmon and Broughton.
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@frugby said in Otago 2023:
Barring a miracle, that's finals footy gone already
It's unlikely but remember this dumb competition has QF's. 8 out of 14 teams play finals footy
Otago with 1 win from 6 games is still only 4 points off of 8th place
Remaining games:
v Northland (Dunedin)
v Taranaki (Dunedin)
v Waikato (Hamilton)
v Counties (Dunedin)Win all four and Otago would surely be top 8
Win three and it will be close -
@Duluth said in Otago 2023:
@frugby said in Otago 2023:
Barring a miracle, that's finals footy gone already
It's unlikely but remember this dumb competition has QF's. 8 out of 14 teams play finals footy
Otago with 1 win from 6 games is still only 4 points off of 8th place
Remaining games:
v Northland (Dunedin)
v Taranaki (Dunedin)
v Waikato (Hamilton)
v Counties (Dunedin)Win all four and Otago would surely be top 8
Win three and it will be closeYou could be right, but we missed out with five wins last year, and we haven't picked up many bonus points.
I've seen nothing though, that convinces me we can win four in a row.
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As FrRugby mentions the forward stock is looking really impressive. I'm confident all is going well there.
With the backs I believe our biggest problem is we are working through a process of understanding the capability of our young players. What their positions, talent ceilings, combinations and style. This is the stuff you previously ironed out at club rugby. Now it has to occur at provincial rugby.
The problem is, we have a range of players who are still stuck carrying the utility label. Gilbert especially. Te Hiwi probably some confusion around whether he is a 12 or 13. Whaanga will eventually be a 13, however he is talented and warrants a place on the wing.
Hurley, it just seems we are making the same mistakes with him we did with Koroi.
I do think Faleafaga is a 10. He just needs to work on his tactical game management kicking.
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weird one, as ive got older im much more likely to pick up a cap or beanie for one of my teams than a jersey or even a hoodie...the downside being decent caps are few and far between for rugby teams IMO, couple of months back Otago announced they were dropping a Corduroy Cap....description might not sell it but i thought it looked cool and they obviously thought it was worth mentioning in its own post.....never seen it mentioned again and is not on their store, seen the staff wearing them on game day...weird
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This season is basically done, and it could hardly have gone any worse. Has been a gloomy year for the footy teams I support to say the least!
Looking ahead to next year, it will be interesting to see what happens around the coaching situation, and how the playing squad shapes up... if Donnelly were to get the sack, or if he were to walk, Mackintosh and Ben Smith are the two names who will pop up.
Neither have any head coaching credentials, though that I think is the same for all of our coaches since and including Tony Brown. Whoppa could certainly harness a good environment, so perhaps he takes it on with Bender just given the attack portfolio. Not sure who drives the attack at the moment, but find it hard to believe Bender would have the team playing such boring, defensive rugby. I believe it may be Flutey... he should be on borrowed time too, has hardly done anything good with the Landers.
What they need to do is work out a better, more attractive gameplan that will get the best out of the side. Most of the gaps will be filled by academy players... The tight five, barring Dickson should be back, along with Bower, which will mean five really good props. The next lock will be one of those Highlanders academy boys I'd imagine, or maybe Dunshea might transfer down. Lio-Willie likely to be the only major loose forward departure, but we have hardly struggled there, and that is offset by the return of Haig. Been impressed with Stodart in the 140 minutes he has played.
As for the backs, TUJ & Timu may be heading overseas, whilst Naholo will be chopped. Need to find a winger ideally, but reckon things are looking fairly stable.
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The forward pack is great.
The backline I genuinely think have a fair bit of talent. But, for a fair bit of the season we have borderline run a colts backline. They need to have some time in the gym, get bigger, become smarter rugby players. THis is a very young team, especially in the backs.
