Highlanders 2024
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According to this article from Americas Rugby News (8 November 2023), halfback Connor McLeod is in the Highlanders WTG. Utah Warriors had announced earlier that McLeod wouldn't return to the club, but without giving a reason. McLeod was named in the HB team in July, but was loaned to Southland during the NPC season.
MLR stars named in Super Rugby Pacific rosters - Americas Rugby News
A handful of Major League Rugby’s best players from the 2023 campaign have been named in Super Rugby Pacific rosters for the 2024 season. Six players from the most recent season were named, with another 11 who have previously experienced professional rugby in North America. San Diego pair Ben Grant...
Has anyone seen a list of Highlanders WTG players to confirm this is true?
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@Stargazer said in Highlanders 2024:
According to this article from Americas Rugby News (8 November 2023), halfback Connor McLeod is in the Highlanders WTG. Utah Warriors had announced earlier that McLeod wouldn't return to the club, but without giving a reason. McLeod was named in the HB team in July, but was loaned to Southland during the NPC season.
A handful of Major League Rugby’s best players from the 2023 campaign have been named in Super Rugby Pacific rosters for the 2024 season. Six players from the most recent season were named, with another 11 who have previously experienced professional rugby in North America. San Diego pair Ben Grant...
Has anyone seen a list of Highlanders WTG players to confirm this is true?
I think it is unlikely they will release a list of WTG players, but this will be true. The Highlanders will want a fourth halfback of fair quality sticking around as the two Otago halfbacks are already in the squad...
And Connor McLeod playing for the Highlanders has been written in the stars for years!
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@Bovidae said in Highlanders 2024:
They start pre-season training this Thu (Nov 23) so maybe there will be photos on their SM showing extra players.
Yep, though I would expect they will be the academy boys, plus maybe a McLeod and maybe McKee. As we have 37/38 there on day one, we don't need so many extras.
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Was flying out of Dunedin this evening and saw the rookie landers on a return flight. Patchell is already in the country which is good to see. Expecially as it wasn't until Feb? That Burns turned up. Here's hoping for a good pre-season for Patchell
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Article about Kenny Lynn joining the coaching set up. https://www.odt.co.nz/sport/rugby/highlanders/lynn-raring-be-put-work-highlanders-rebuild
Friday, 24 November 2023
Lynn raring to be put to work as Highlanders rebuild
By Hayden MeikleKenny Lynn could not be happier to be home.
The coffee is good, the kids are climbing trees with abandon, there are reminders of southern hospitality everywhere — and he is thrilled to be a Highlanders man again."It feels good to be back," he told the Otago Daily Times.
"It’s been a nice transition coming back from France. It’s been like a period of planning, not too full-on, and a chance to get back into the rhythm of things in New Zealand rugby.
"Yeah, it feels bloody good to have the Highlanders logo back on."
Lynn has joined the Highlanders as attack guru in a beefed-up coaching team under head coach Clarke Dermody and new director of rugby Jamie Joseph.
He returned to Dunedin after nine years in France, where he finished his playing career — which included 36 games for the Highlanders — before embarking on a coaching spell that culminated with taking glamour club Lyon to third in the Top 14 as head coach.
A homecoming was always on the cards, and he did not have to think too long about accepting the Highlanders’ offer.
"French rugby is on the up and up. Everything’s growing — crowds are bigger, the money is bigger, the interest in the game is huge.
"So, yep, it was hard to leave that. But we knew we wanted to get the kids back to New Zealand, and see family and friends, so that didn’t make it that hard.
"And for me, I am massively driven by always learning, and trying to be as rounded as I can, and I knew that if I stayed in France any longer, it would have been harder to come back.
"I’d like to go back there in the future, but I wanted to be back, coaching Super Rugby, see a different way of doing things, with different players. It’s a whole new challenge, which gets me going."
The post-World Cup lament has been that rugby has got far too defensive at the top level.
That was a fair concern but there were still lots of opportunities to generate some attacking buzz, Lynn said.
"International rugby is very different to Super Rugby. It’s a little bit freer here, it’s faster, maybe a little bit looser.
"Rugby kind of goes in cycles, and defence has in general had it over attack in the last four or five years. Lots of rugby league coaches came in, which brought in that sort of suffocating rush defence.
"There are ways to attack differently to break that down.
"It’s about putting our most dangerous players in positions to touch the ball the most, and using our strengths in the wisest way possible."
Lynn wants to develop the Highlanders’ decision-making skills but knows that will take time.
It will be a period of change for the team following the departure of talisman Aaron Smith and first five Mitch Hunt, the absence through injury of Thomas Umaga-Jensen, and the introduction of outside backs Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens and Timoci Tavatavanawai.
The initial priority with the new attacking weapons would be getting them comfortable in the southern environment, Lynn said.
He has seen plenty of the Highlanders’ most unknown newcomer, veteran Welsh first five Rhys Patchell.
"He’s an attack-minded 10. He’s got international experience, and he’s a real student of the game.
"What we want from him is to impart a lot of what he’s learnt, bring some of his ideas, and play with that attacking approach."
Outside the camp, expectations on the Highlanders will be fairly low in 2024.
Lynn can handle that but believes the investment in youth, the return of Joseph and the overall direction of the club will give the fans plenty of reasons to smile if they have patience.
"We’re all about our people. We want to inspire our people. How that will look at the start might be different to how it looks eventually, because we’re playing a long-term game here.
"The key thing is we want to put out something that people will go, yep, they are playing for us and this is good to watch.
"Jamie is going to bring so much experience to our environment and leadership. I really like he is there to challenge us but support us as well."
Lynn and wife Becs have settled in Mosgiel with 9-year-old daughter Sophie and 6-year-old twins Remy and Leo.
The youngsters are keeping up their French lessons but getting right back into life as Kiwi kids.
The Highlanders officially assembled yesterday, and just like that the 2024 campaign has begun.
All Blacks prop Ethan de Groot is getting a well-earned holiday but otherwise all the contracted players plus some various add-ons have gathered for fitness testing, strategy sessions and team bonding.
The Highlanders have confirmed their first preseason game will again be a clash with Moana Pasifika in Queenstown. It will kick off at 6pm on Friday, February 2.
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As suggested in an earlier Paul Cully tweet, the two school imports who have signed with Southland are Tayne Harvey and Josh Augustine.
I was reading this article which also outlines other school rugby players who have signed with Southland's academy.
RUGBY SOUTHLAND ACADEMY 2024
YEAR 1
Gregor Rutledge, JJ Fisher, Justin Shaw, TJ Gallen, Jerome Buckley Fa’atoia, Tayne Harvey, Josh Augustine, Louis Lepionka, Henry Scott, Wyndham Patuawa.YEAR 2
Rico Fisher, Caleb Williams, Hunter Fahey, Sione Baker.YEAR 3
Liam McIntosh, Billy Andrew, Hunter Areaiiti Burgess, Jackson Bevin, Kaea Nikora Balloch.RUGBY SOUTHLAND ACADEMY DEVELOPMENT GROUP 2024
Keflar Morrison, Josh Evans, Sean Howlett, Ryley MacRae, Jordan O’Connell, Rico Muliaina, Preston Evans, Hoani Nikora Wilson, Thomas Jennings, Jake Evans, Jayden Broome, Thomas Spain, Noah Sutton, Mika Muliaina.
Rugby Southland signs New Zealand secondary schools midfielder
“We are grateful they have given us the opportunity to take their game to the next level, so we’ve just got to deliver on that.”
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We need some more training photos! I suspect all the guys from the high performance group would have been on there. Plus may be one or two from around the country
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Aussie media is saying Hugh Renton is negotiating with the St George Dragons. That'll be a fascinating move. I reckon he'd either be an 80 minute prop or a lock in league. From a Landers perspective would be sad to see him go, but awesome to watch.
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Was just going to paste the same, don’t blame him if he can make a big enough name for himself without looking at the higher honours, go make some money
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It would be a hell of a punt for St Geoege to move in on a guy who has never played league before for a mid-season switch. Luckily for the Landers loosie is an area we are well loaded up
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He wants to play fullback, which was the motivation to move south. Also had discussions with the Crusaders.
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The big issue with our competition is there are too many good players in the better squads holding tackle bags on game days. It says a lot for their systems that they'd rather be paid to watch than play. From a Highlander's perspective we only have ourselves to blame. Players are more likely to maintain their worth not playing for a good team than getting smoked with the Landers. Then the more we lose the harder it is to recruit. It is a ghastly cycle. While the franchise's are their own entities, NZR's goal should be to have the best seven or eight players in each position getting regular gametime.
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One of the best examples of how unattractive we were for a number of years was our post Lima Sopoaga recruitment at 10. We had the best halfback NZ has ever produced. All we could land was a procession of some of NZ's most average first fives, with the best being a midget with a high school level kicking game. Mitch Hunt was a great team man and once hit a stunning drop goal. It is just he is the classic case study to show our complete inability to recruit.
