Updated the original table with a 'Total Votes' column

Ofa would jump a few places. Robinson & Akira go up, Romano & Sullivan down etc but mostly the same

TITO COMPLETES BLUES COACHING PICTURE — Blues Rugby TITO COMPLETES BLUES COACHING PICTURE — Blues Rugby

New Zealand rugby icon, Paul Tito, completes the Blues coaching staff picture today, signing on as Assistant Coach for the 2023 season. Tito comes to the Blues off the back of successful coaching stints with Georgia, who claimed victory over Wales in the recent autumn international window and for t

@Duluth said in Blues MOTM SR Final:

@KiwiMurph said in Blues MOTM SR Final:

@broughie said in Blues MOTM SR Final:

I still think he needs to run strata lines and use his big body to get over the game line instead of doing his fend thing.

At this point I don't think it's ever going to change. It's like expecting Beauden to start becoming an excellent punter.

One of the work ons that PGS was given was to use foot work going into contact. I'm sure the coaches have metrics about the best ways to get post contact metres or keep the hands free for an offload etc etc

I hope his other work on is falling over the tryline.

@Nevorian said in Final: Blues vs Crusaders:

At least one thing we learned about BB and RM in the last couple of weeks is they can both slot drop goals in pressure situations. May come in handy in coming weeks.

Not if Beauden is shitting the bed getting out of his own half 😉

@African-Monkey said in Blues MOTM v Brumbies (SF):

Nepo, AJ Lam, and Robinson (in that order).

Went for AJ and Robinson as my top 2.

And despite some rocks, there were some diamonds in there from Beaudie.

HM: R. Ioane, Laulala (best game in ages, perhaps the wet weather was a bit of a leveller in terms of it not being an open expansive game where he has struggled.

@junior It's seems quite scary to me haha.

Sotutu
Perofeta
BB

My takeaway was the ball skills of Sotutu is key. Can't just rush up on Barrett because he may not be the playmaker.

Romano is the easy choice for this one. Rest was pretty mixed , but great heart.

Went for Sullivan for drop goal under pressure and Vikina for being a good hooker. Ricitelli is shit.

@cgrant said in Blues U20 v Crusaders U20:

@Bovidae
Palmer (Chiefs) is a big munter. Not very tall (around 1.95) but bigger than most NZ locks.

He gives away stupid penalties so will need to sort that out. Palmer often alternated between lock and prop for TBC, but wasn't very good at the latter due to his height.

It would be good to have another lock like Lord in the U20s this year.

that Romano try is classic. He looks and moves like Homer Simpson crashing over for teh try. Awesome. He looks good in Blue (white)
767d20f3-e86b-4493-b17c-86d1a7df618d-image.png

@Stargazer said in Hurricanes Under 20s vs Blues Under 20s:

@cgrant That depends on where he was born (maybe he was born here), but yes, he may have French nationality. Whether that makes him consider himself French, is another matter entirely.

I'll bet it does if it involves getting a lucrative Top14 Contract under the "local player" classification.

In true Fern fashion, voting after only the first half.

Clarke, Telea and Sotutu. Monsters. Telea made great decisions with a high workrate, Sotutu and CC just went to beast mode.

So stoked with that result.

@booboo said in Brumbies v Blues:

@yourmatenate said in Brumbies v Blues:

@TheMojoman
I don’t think that many Brumbies supporters had much off a problem with penalties conceded, it was the lack of penalties that we thought should’ve been handed out to the Blues.

Probably should have been a shitload more both ways. Ref seemed to ignore any rules come breakdown time.

Except when he randomly applied them.

Always the most frustrating way of reffing for fans and players.

Maybe he has a weird judgement of materiality?

BB, Heem and Tucker for me.

@ACT-Crusader Yeah Eklund won't be getting a call up as good as he has been over the last few years.

@Bones said in Blues MOTM v Rebels:

Will leave it up to you fellas to vote, but surprised not to see more love for Christie.

Had a hole to climb out of for that pass for the try. He’s in great form though.

@Dice I noticed that live. Funny.

Dalton, RTS then a close call after that. Scrum was huge, went for Hodgman

@Chris-B said in Force v Blues:

@African-Monkey He's only 20 so far from the finished article.

According to his stats a centimetre shorter than Read, which looks about right.

He doesn't look fast enough to be a 7 to me, so pack a bit of weight on him and play him as a 6/8.

I think he'll end up an Ethan Blackadder/Luke Jacobson type loosie ie, can cover all 3 backrow positions. Agree with you even at 108KG he doesn't seem quick enough to be a 7. Also looks like he'll put on 5KG without sacrificing mobility.

@Kirwan not too disimilar to Cully in his peak where he was able to use his pace in cover defence.

@Nepia said in Blues v Drua:

@TheMojoman said in Blues v Drua:

@gt12 said in Blues v Drua:

I love Rieko’s speed. I cant see any reason why he needs to be on the wing, he’s showing how he can use it on offense and defense.

The dude is lightning..reminds me of Rokocoko 2003-2005 period.

I understand why some are reluctant to see him at 13 given some of his brain farts - think dropped ball over try line vs Wallabies in 2020, but I think we need to accept that as part of him as a player. What he brings in attack/defence more than makes up for the odd brain fart.

Huh. He really doesn't have that many brain farts (and especially no more than Jordie) - one dropped ball, hell Cullen and Jonah both did the same thing in the same match.

I'm only reluctant because I think he's our best weapon on the left wing.

Brain farts was prob an exageration but I have noticed at times not giving to support players and going himself, defensive lapses which he covers well with his pace. Last week in 49th minute he drifted hard on the Drua fullback which allowed Drua winger to get outside RTS and place a dangerous kick downfield which Telea covered. Again, I'm probably nitpicking but just something I noticed.

Ofa
Dalton
Rieko

Then a whole lot of others. Marshall sounding bitter in his post match, suck it up

Q4 Rewatch.

First thing to say is that both teams played some very good footy in the period, but Blues were just a bit better when it counted.

Some specific points:

Blues kicking. After the game I was very critical of BB and by association Sullivan for poor kicking. But on analysis there was only one poor kick in period, BB's chip kick around 67 which went to Drummond on Chch 10m line, and he passed to Jordan who took advantage of the misaligned Blues 'D' (they hadn't expected chip). He made a good 30m, and this led quickly to Reece try, albeit via an earlier regather, having knocked ball 5 feet forward and with hint of Blues touch which would have made it a knock on.
Other big Chch gain off a kick was where they spread it wide to edge near their 22 and Lester chipped to Blues 10m line. That one was allowed to bounce (wickedly) and Chch regathered going deep into Blues 22. Then BB charge down with Jordan knock in goal which wasn't checked. But Blues kick itself was actually good!
All that said, it was the case that Ritchie was getting more distance on punts than BB.

Red card period ran through to 67. At 63 Blues awarded penalty and took the 3. At the time I thought that was feeble, and after rewatch I'm convinced. Blues still had the momentum, and with the extra man ought to have kicked to corner. Another try would have been match winner. They got the 3, but failure to press the advantage exposed their mental frailty, which wouldn't have gone unnoticed and offered ray of hope to oppo.
Once the Red card period finished Chch were reinvigorated, whereas Blues looked like they were in 'hold on' mode.

Last 8 minutes. It was 23-27 and all to play for. At 73.30 Christie knocked himself out and that definitely weakened Blues. At 74 Sullivan kicked 22 to 22, and close to touch (see above), but Chch with the lucky bounce off Lester chip went the length of the field back. From there they threw the proverbial kitchen sink at Blues, as one would expect. To their immense credit Blues D was indomitable and legal. The Ioane/Paps tackle got the raps, but the last 4 minutes were a case of they shall not pass: bravo!

So Blues better than I thought, but IMO key lesson was not to become too tentative when Chch were still man down. That said, BB is no closer. That chip was a totally unnecessary gamble and had he just nudged the ball into the corner I very much doubt we'd have seem the Chch fightback.

Kudos, though, to Chch. Outplayed for most of match, at the point when the oppo showed a lack of confidence, and gave them a chink of light, they stormed back like the champions they've been.

Can only hope for more such derbies from here...

Beaudie, Hodgman, Robinson.

I'd rather see him in a black jersey than G. Bridge. The latter is known to be safe (that 2022 SA game aside) but is not of international calibre in terms of danger for the opposition.
It would be interesting to see his stats (defenders beaten, meters gained, aso).

Current standings

4 Perofeta
3 Christie
3 Hodgman
3 Sotutu
3 Goodhue
3 Plumtree
2 Clarke
2 Tucker
2 Papali’i
2 Sullivan
2 Choat
2 Romano
1 Eklund

@nogusta In all fairness to Plummer though, he's only started about 10-15 matches in that time and a lot of those were at 12 where he had to learn the position on the job. He's been chucked around a fair bit too in all honesty where he's barely played 2 games in a row in the same position.

The only reason why he played so many games consecutively was because he could cover both 10 and 12 and a fair few of those games would have been 10-15 minute cameos.

Current standings

4 Perofeta
3 Sotutu
3 Goodhue
3 Plumtree
2 Clarke
2 Tucker
2 Papali’i
2 Sullivan
2 Choat
2 Christie
1 Eklund

@mariner4life said in Moana Pasifika v Blues:

@bones said in Moana Pasifika v Blues:

@mariner4life said in Moana Pasifika v Blues:

@bones said in Moana Pasifika v Blues:

@antipodean said in Moana Pasifika v Blues:

@kiwimurph said in Moana Pasifika v Blues:

Are these players ever going to learn? Seriously?

He seemed bemused too, like he couldn't believe his actions there would be deemed a problem.

Yeah, standing there shaking his head - but this is the reaction we're going to get when half the time fans jump all over WR/Refs and say they've ruined the game. How often have we seen that recently and it goes on for days/weeks, without mention of the player? Laulala will probably get a ban, but other than reporting on that, there'll be next to nothing written about him being a grub.

Even as one of the more vocal about the red card situation

that's a fucking red every day. That's a dumb, and yes, grubby act that got what it deserved. Laulala is shit and not overly bright on the field and the ABs should get rid.

There is a mile of difference between this card and say, the one in the England v Ireland game

Yep you're right, the poor player that Ewels hit couldn't play on because he was knocked the fuck out, Laulala only gave someone a light touch up, why should he care?

Nice way to illustrate my point though!

Way to be a huge dick just for something new and different

Rugby sux lol

Current standings

4 Perofeta
3 Goodhue
3 Plumtree
2 Papali’i
2 Sullivan
2 Choat
2 Christie
1 Eklund

@tim said in Highlanders vs Blues:

Paea could've been carded twice in the first half (high tackle on Sotutu, lifting Goodhue's legs and dropping him at a maul). Poor reffing.

He was consistent at letting things go (see: Liam Coltman at the maul). It's just so random from week to week

@daffy-jaffy said in Crusaders v Blues - Postponed:

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/super-rugby/300543358/crusaders-and-blues-eye-easter-weekend-for-postponed-match
The Crusaders and Blues are likely to scrap their Easter break and play their postponed match in Christchurch next month.

While the rescheduled fixture hasn't yet been confirmed, it’s understood organisers are lining up the weekend of April 16-17, when both sides were scheduled to take their bye week.

Good solution

Games not over yet bro!

Kurt, Perofeta and Clarke for me.

Blues post match press conference

@taniwharugby said in Blues MOTM v Hurricanes:

Choat was into everything, top drawer performance stepping in for the captain.

Yeah his normal strong game on defence (19 tackles, 1 miss). He also showed more of a carrying and linking game. Huge depth in the Blues loosies

@canes4life said in Blues vs Hurricanes 02/2022:

@pakman I think you need another angle to safetly say there was no doubt it went over. Those images are far too blurry to suggest that it definitely went over.

My technological skills are inadequate to get clear pictures on Fern, but if you run the tape back and forward there’s no doubt.

It doesn’t change anything, except maybe the referee’s association should ask the touchies what they were doing!