Highlanders 2024
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@SouthernMann said in Highlanders 2024:
@Kiwiwomble said in Highlanders 2024:
talking with some of the boys at rugby last night and one of them know Patchell, apparently he's already back in the UK, id missed he was gone for the season, I know its a job for these guys but i cant help but think i'd hang around too support the team, i guess he has a family back home
Has probably been away from his partner for nearly six months. He isn't going to play. Makes sense to leave. I'm sure he would have asked the team if it was ok. Co-captaincy next will be interesting. EDG will maintain one of the spots. Will Withy step up as a co-captain? Someone will need to lead the team in the last 20 minutes while EDG is normally off. Doesn't look like any of the backs are options. Especially as Gilbert seems to have fallen out of favour as a leader.
yeah, not suggesting he left without permission and i acknowledged he might have family or surgery....just personally i didn't realise his season was done, thought we might have got him back...and if i had planned around being in NZ till july i might have hang around to support the team i'd been working with for 6 months
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@Kiwiwomble said in Highlanders 2024:
@SouthernMann said in Highlanders 2024:
@Kiwiwomble said in Highlanders 2024:
talking with some of the boys at rugby last night and one of them know Patchell, apparently he's already back in the UK, id missed he was gone for the season, I know its a job for these guys but i cant help but think i'd hang around too support the team, i guess he has a family back home
Has probably been away from his partner for nearly six months. He isn't going to play. Makes sense to leave. I'm sure he would have asked the team if it was ok. Co-captaincy next will be interesting. EDG will maintain one of the spots. Will Withy step up as a co-captain? Someone will need to lead the team in the last 20 minutes while EDG is normally off. Doesn't look like any of the backs are options. Especially as Gilbert seems to have fallen out of favour as a leader.
yeah, not suggesting he left without permission and i acknowledged he might have family or surgery....just personally i didn't realise his season was done, thought we might have got him back...and if i had planned around being in NZ till july i might have hang around to support the team i'd been working with for 6 months
Yeah it’s an odd one, you’re contracted for a full season…
If in a dream world we make a finals run, his experience and guidance for the young 10s, or more or less the whole backline would be incredibly valuable. That’s what makes me think he’s gone back for surgery, get a head start so he’s ready for wherever his next stint is and in goodwill the Highlanders have granted him that. If so, Good for him.
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@Landers92 might have been less surprised if id realised he was done for the season
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An ODT article from the time said he had avoided surgery, and it was a 6 - 8 week recovery. If I was in a foreign country with a long-term injury, no real ability to train or play. I'd probably bugger off home too. As mentioned, while he played the Force game, he had spent a fair bit of time playing club footy previous to that.
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to each their own, i think 6 months with the squad would make them pretty tight knit (especially if you didnt have distractions of normal life back home) and id hang around to back in the boys
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@Kiwiwomble in Dunedin, in the middle of winter.
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as i say...all fair, i just hadn't realised his season was done
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At this stage, who has potentially played their last game for the team? Parkinson, CGB, Patchell (of course haha) and Bogado. Bogado was a bit of a failed experiment. Roll th3 clock back three or four years ago and there was plenty of hype around Parkinson and CGB. It is always interesting when players arrive and there is a bit of excitement and come their departure, they just drift away.
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@Kiwiwomble said in Highlanders 2024:
talking with some of the boys at rugby last night and one of them know Patchell, apparently he's already back in the UK, id missed he was gone for the season, I know its a job for these guys but i cant help but think i'd hang around too support the team, i guess he has a family back home
Yep, left 2-3 weeks ago, all the Landers boys were wishing him well when we played the Blues. I have no issue with it, has a partner at home, can't blame him.
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@SouthernMann said in Highlanders 2024:
@Kiwiwomble said in Highlanders 2024:
talking with some of the boys at rugby last night and one of them know Patchell, apparently he's already back in the UK, id missed he was gone for the season, I know its a job for these guys but i cant help but think i'd hang around too support the team, i guess he has a family back home
Co-captaincy next will be interesting. EDG will maintain one of the spots. Will Withy step up as a co-captain? Someone will need to lead the team in the last 20 minutes while EDG is normally off. Doesn't look like any of the backs are options. Especially as Gilbert seems to have fallen out of favour as a leader.
I'd imagine de Groot will just be skipper... this co-captaincy thing is a smoke-screen. Grooter was 100% calling the shots (literally) v the Drua... Harmon a calming influence, but they've done the changing of the guard.
Withy will be VC I would imagine, maybe with Gilbert. Main reason Gilbert fell out of favour as I understand it was more because he was no longer assured of his place in the team, and Grooter has really stepped up as the season has gone on.
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@frugby yeah...dont know how many times i have to say i dont really have a problem either, lots of good reasons, i had just missed he was done was so a surprise and i guess it seems a little anticlimactic, and then on an almost separate note, if i was in the position i think i might have hung around (Me, not him) and seen it through, end of season celebration, bookend his adventure
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@frugby said in Highlanders 2024:
@SouthernMann said in Highlanders 2024:
@Kiwiwomble said in Highlanders 2024:
talking with some of the boys at rugby last night and one of them know Patchell, apparently he's already back in the UK, id missed he was gone for the season, I know its a job for these guys but i cant help but think i'd hang around too support the team, i guess he has a family back home
Co-captaincy next will be interesting. EDG will maintain one of the spots. Will Withy step up as a co-captain? Someone will need to lead the team in the last 20 minutes while EDG is normally off. Doesn't look like any of the backs are options. Especially as Gilbert seems to have fallen out of favour as a leader.
I'd imagine de Groot will just be skipper... this co-captaincy thing is a smoke-screen. Grooter was 100% calling the shots (literally) v the Drua... Harmon a calming influence, but they've done the changing of the guard.
Withy will be VC I would imagine, maybe with Gilbert. Main reason Gilbert fell out of favour as I understand it was more because he was no longer assured of his place in the team, and Grooter has really stepped up as the season has gone on.
It is just working out who is best suited to captaining the side in the last 20 minutes. Often a high pressure environment. De Groot for all his upsides is a 60 minute prop. It is a big task leading a side home
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Be interesting to see if it is indeed Vikena who the Highlanders have signed at hooker... you'd imagine with the way agents talk they were aware of Codie Taylor re-signing for the Crusaders.
IMO considering the performances of Bell and Taylor this year, the obvious thing to do would be not to over-commit on another young guy, and rather have a crack at one of George Bell or McAllister for 2026.
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@frugby said in Highlanders 2024:
Be interesting to see if it is indeed Vikena who the Highlanders have signed at hooker... you'd imagine with the way agents talk they were aware of Codie Taylor re-signing for the Crusaders.
IMO considering the performances of Bell and Taylor this year, the obvious thing to do would be not to over-commit on another young guy, and rather have a crack at one of George Bell or McAllister for 2026.
It will be an interesting acquisition. Going on with their desire to promote from within, I'd be expecting they will be circling A-One Lolofie as a squad member in 2026. Which is why it is very disappointing Otago has brought Coltman on-board for this season. One point will be whether Ricky Jackson will be around for the NPC or not. George Bell should be a bit miffed he will be sitting behind Taylor for another few more years, or at least sharing the spot with him. He should be owning a starting spot already.
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@frugby the Canes also have a raft of hookers, two will need to go. In camp atm we currently have Aumua, O'Reilly, Tuputupu (suspended), Devery (out all year injured) and Bason (Under 20s captain). Two of them won't pick up contracts next year so there's a couple more options.
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@Canes4life said in Highlanders 2024:
@frugby the Canes also have a raft of hookers, two will need to go. In camp atm we currently have Aumua, O'Reilly, Tuputupu (suspended), Devery (out all year injured) and Bason (Under 20s captain). Two of them won't pick up contracts next year so there's a couple more options.
Those are some top notch options. Surely they top three are Aumua, Tuputupu and Bason. O'Reilly for all his sins is thr sort of bloke you want as a third stringer. The Highlanders also have former NZ Schools hooker Shaun Kempton coming through as well. A NZ U20s hooker in Lolofie and a former schools hooker in Kempton.
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@SouthernMann I feel Devery will definitely be the one that misses out. O'Reilly has definitely stepped up in the last year so he will likely keep his spot. So I guess the last spot will be either Tuputupu or Bason. Unless they sign both or sign Bason on a dev contract.
Devery wouldn't be a bad player for the Landers to pick up. He would have been no2 for the Canes this year if he was fit but because he hasn't had a chance to push his case he will likely move aside for those that have performed this year.
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@SouthernMann said in Highlanders 2024:
@frugby said in Highlanders 2024:
Be interesting to see if it is indeed Vikena who the Highlanders have signed at hooker... you'd imagine with the way agents talk they were aware of Codie Taylor re-signing for the Crusaders.
IMO considering the performances of Bell and Taylor this year, the obvious thing to do would be not to over-commit on another young guy, and rather have a crack at one of George Bell or McAllister for 2026.
It will be an interesting acquisition. Going on with their desire to promote from within, I'd be expecting they will be circling A-One Lolofie as a squad member in 2026. Which is why it is very disappointing Otago has brought Coltman on-board for this season. One point will be whether Ricky Jackson will be around for the NPC or not. George Bell should be a bit miffed he will be sitting behind Taylor for another few more years, or at least sharing the spot with him. He should be owning a starting spot already.
Depends how good they think A-One is... also think Lolofie is probably a more likely candidate for regular NPC rugby in 2025, so shouldn't be an issue this year.
H Bell may even end up being Otago skipper given who has left.
If the Highlanders can get George Bell though, I think they will bend over backwards to do it, because I think that sends a bit of a message if we can bring home a guy who is being touted as the next big hooker for the All Blacks.
There is pretty much no chance the Crusaders hold onto all three. McAllister may look overseas I suppose, but if I was the Highlanders I'd also be moving heaven and earth to get Bell home. Not often is it that you have a chance to sign a player of that quality, so worth pursuing IMO... and with H Bell and Taylor, that would be three great hooker options.
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@Canes4life said in Highlanders 2024:
@SouthernMann I feel Devery will definitely be the one that misses out. O'Reilly has definitely stepped up in the last year so he will likely keep his spot. So I guess the last spot will be either Tuputupu or Bason. Unless they sign both or sign Bason on a dev contract.
Devery wouldn't be a bad player for the Landers to pick up. He would have been no2 for the Canes this year if he was fit but because he hasn't had a chance to push his case he will likely move aside for those that have performed this year.
Moot point because we've already picked up a hooker from Auckland, but if we can't get a top player, they won't go out of the region I don't think. Devery would be meh. If he isn't considered in the Canes top three, then he shouldn't be in our top two.
George Bell is an exception because of how good he is, and the fact he is a local boy.
