Blues 2024
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Apart from the extra players already mentioned (Annandale, Harford, Milo-Harris, Klein), some other young players I think I recognized from the One news clip were
Maliu Nuiafe, Ben Ake, Sam Hainsworth - Fa'aofo, Xavi Taele, Xavier Tito - Harris, Leo Gordon. i could be wrong with some as they were from matching brief clips to googled photos (yes a slow night shift), so a hairstyle or facial hair change can make it tricky. There were several others that I could not identify.Can anyone I.D. this young player who was in the news clip and training with the Blues today?
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@Chris said in Blues 2024:
Harford is no Carter that is for sure.
Weird one for me Harford at the Blues,the Crusaders have had him in the WTG for the last 2 years and this year didn’t give him a WTG spot.
Maybe they see something in him that led to them thinking he can’t step up.Interestingly Crusaders also had Cashmore in their set up a couple of years ago but now prefer Kemara. Will be fun to track their progress.
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That looks like Rico Simpson (NZ Schools 1st 5) but it would be strange to have him there ahead of McKenzie and Smith.
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This is Riley Williams at the Bronco this morning -
Who is this ?
Apparently Cole Forbes had the best Bronco time.
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@Daffy-Jaffy I see Jock McKenzie has been called up to the Auckland Aces side, so maybe he's trying his hand at Cricket for the time being?
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@KiwiMurph said in Blues 2024:
@Chris said in Blues 2024:
Harford is no Carter that is for sure.
Weird one for me Harford at the Blues,the Crusaders have had him in the WTG for the last 2 years and this year didn’t give him a WTG spot.
Maybe they see something in him that led to them thinking he can’t step up.Interestingly Crusaders also had Cashmore in their set up a couple of years ago but now prefer Kemara. Will be fun to track their progress.
Yes Andrew Webb the academy manager was a big driver in Kemera being signed up ahead of Cashmore and Harford.
I am not sure he was right.
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BLUES, CHIEFS TAKE PRE-SEASON TO JAPAN — Blues Rugby
The Blues and Gallagher Chiefs are taking pre-season on the road this February, with the newly established ‘Cross-Border Rugby 2024’ seeing the two New Zealand DHL Super Rugby Pacific sides take on four teams from Japan Rugby’s League One. The matches will take place in early February, with an eye
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@Wurzel said in Blues 2024:
Rico Simpson got a National Development Contract with the Blues
If we assume the NDC players are now training with the main squads you might be able to work out who they are before the official announcements.
As I mentioned in the NZ Schools thread I like the look of Simpson after I first saw him playing for the Māori U18s last year. He is a much taller/bigger 1st 5 than the others who have come through the age-group system in recent years. One for the future I believe.
The player that has disappeared is Essendon Tuitupou. Maybe he has a long-term injury or has gone back to basketball.
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@Dan54 the Blues and Highlanders have the best coverage out of the Super teams, especially on social media. I’ve been really disappointed with the Canes. Their socials are very poor with little fan engagement, and then they have the cheek to ask people to sign up to be members when they’ve given us nothing.
The Blues and Landers aren’t afraid to push the boundaries either, plenty of creativity.
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@Daffy-Jaffy said in Blues 2024:
@Trig said in Blues 2024:
surprised to see Alex Harford
Yeah I don't get that. He is 24 and has had 5 starts for Canterbury in 3 seasons. I don't know what he has done to get called up ahead of two local, younger but promising 10's that were already in their system in Jock McKenzie and Byron Smith. It kind of annoys me like the Shek over Ahio decision. Unless he is going to be the next Dan Carter!
I would add Oscar Koller to these names.
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@Canes4life said in Blues 2024:
@Dan54 the Blues and Highlanders have the best coverage out of the Super teams, especially on social media. I’ve been really disappointed with the Canes. Their socials are very poor with little fan engagement, and then they have the cheek to ask people to sign up to be members when they’ve given us nothing.
The Blues and Landers aren’t afraid to push the boundaries either, plenty of creativity.
The issue with the Canes is they have no continuity in that space. They are basically recruiting a new comms person every year. It comes with a decent title, but pays 85 - 90k (last time I checked); and that is for weekend work, social channels management, media engagement, internal comms and managing Wellington rugby as well. It is a tough gig. If they paid people better, they would get a decent level of candidate and keep them in the role for longer. I've spoken to a few people who have been around the org and they have said it is draining, people are undervalued and a lot is expected because it is a 'dream job'. That just tends to wear thin when you know you can get other roles than pay 20 - 30k more and you do fewer hours.
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@SouthernMann yeah that’s pretty annoying, having a few roles wrapped into one is just stupid and massively limits the ability for the Canes to engage with their fans. It’s definitely showing because they’ve been almost lifeless across all channels.
The thing is they aren’t even getting the simple basics right which is a bad reflection of their admin environment.
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@Tim said in Blues 2024:
I found that quite insightful. At least more than the usual cliches. Exciting to see what sort of attack the Blues come up with and what sort of new dimensions can be added to Rieko's game.
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@KiwiMurph said in Blues 2024:
@Tim said in Blues 2024:
I found that quite insightful. At least more than the usual cliches. Exciting to see what sort of attack the Blues come up with and what sort of new dimensions can be added to Rieko's game.
I'st going to be interesting to see who O'Halloran selects first up at 12. There's a few options but they are quite different
Heem, when in form, can do pretty good Jordie Barrett impersonation. Plummer has been tidy at 12, has potential to be an old school 2nd 5/8 but hasn't been used like that yet. Evans is an option but I think the NPC showed he went better wider out (13/15)
A left field option could be Grindlay? The bulk of his rugby has been at 13 but has a game that could work at 12
