The Silver Fern

@Tim said in Chiefs v Brumbies:

@Duluth Yeah, after watching some of the first half, the Brumbies defence and ruck work is really off. Usually they're good as slowing down opposition ball and getting set on defence.

I wonder if the concerns over the organisation's security aren't having an unsettling influence on the players?

Or it could've just been a shit day at the office.

@cgrant said in Chiefs v Crusaders:

I wonder why Parker warmed the bench for such a long time. He came in at the 75th minute. It's very odd since the Chiefs forwards needed more fresh legs in the second spell.

Yeah, he should be come on with 20 to go. I thought that McMillan was very conservative with his subs.

I guess NZR is trying to be "different" but what I will generously call the "jocular" commentary combined with the sub standard production made the entire thing look like an amateur shambles.

"Cringe" is what I think the hip young youth of today call it...

I think that O'Neill will be the backup TH prop but he went off injured. Less concern on the LH side although Ross didn't start in either game. Having our top two hookers should also help, as both are ball-carriers.

@Yeetyaah said in Preseason - Wild Knights v Chiefs (Feb 4th):

Well that was a tough one to watch as a Chiefs fan.

It certainly was. At least no injuries AFAIK.

Panasonic are clearly the strongest Japanese club but I can't remember the Chiefs playing as badly as that in a long time. Boshier Jr wasn't a success at 7, and clearly didn't play to the ref like his big brother. This game also showed the importance of DMac and the first-choice back three with the kicking game and counter-attack, which was almost non-existent.

@Trig

If Vai wasn't in the frame for the Olympic sevens he could have been selected for the NZ U20s. Maybe he is injured.

@nostrildamus said in Final: Chiefs v Crusaders:

pakman is supposed to be a Blues fan? Should be all out of tears!

He’s getting in practice for next year

@cgrant Hell I reckon Vai'i has been bloody good all year, mind you I a real Lord fan too.

Impressive from McReight -

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@Dan54 said in Force v Chiefs:

@Crucial Mind you, I don't recall commentators hardly ever calling tghe tackler's name anyway, or someone who has done grunt work, ie climbing of ground repeatedly. They do on odd occasion, and to be fair to them you can't name everyone involved while play is in motion.

True but this bloke made 20 tackles and you hardly heard his name.

This was a nice game to watch today, hearing the least educated rugby crowd again making the most noise whinging.

I agree but I wouldn’t mind Moorby on the right wing when Love returns. He kind of reminds me of Jane, has speed, a good fend and is strong for his size, pretty sound under the high ball aswell.

I think the Chiefs game was a little out of the norm. The Canes are not normally left short in the kicking department but with Love and Cameron injured, Barrett unavailable and Godfrey with the Under 20s we kind of ran out of options.

@ploughboy said in Chiefs v Reds:

interesting moli only got time when ryan had hia

I thought that maybe because they needed to hold someone back on bench, there were getting to be a lot of injuries in their forwards.

@Stargazer said in Highlanders v Chiefs:

@Frank I can write my opinion when I want to. Deal with it! It being a minority opinion doesn't make it more fluffing than when you read most other threads where posters say something positive about a player. I'm passionate about my team and players. I also rather look at the positives than the negatives (if present). You should try it sometimes. Much better than the constant moaning on the Fern by a bunch of GOM.

Nah, being a GOM is way more fun.

@ploughboy said in Chiefs v Crusaders:

@Crucial said in Chiefs v Crusaders:

Watched Stevenson try a few times to try and work out how DMAc had such a huge hole to run into.
Havili totally misread the play and bit in on a forward runner well after the pass out the back from Gatland was made.
I still have no idea what Christie and Ennor were doing charging up out wide as if DMac was going to pass before running.
Really poor defence and good taking advantage of it.

crusaders took the space outside dmac away in the first half, filled there lines with defenders. which will be why christie and ennor rushed up. dummy runnerin close fotced them to take him and make a different destion . good coaching who ever made the change at half time

Good point on them taking up the space out wide but in this case they failed to stay connected. The reason I rewatched is that they created such a huge hole.
Havili wasn't forced to come in, he misread the play IMO although I think RM had two runners coming at him so given his defensive weaknesses maybe Havili thought he had no option. Not a good sign for the ABs and will have been written down by other coaches with glee.
Would have to watch the phases beforehand to work out why the backline D was so out of order. It appeared to be RM, DH, TC, BE. Neither Saders or Chiefs had any wingers in that direction and Burke was MIA for the Saders.

@Bovidae said in Chiefs v Drua:

@ARHS said in Chiefs v Drua:

If no Nankivell or ALB, Wrampling starts ahead of Rona in my view.

Hopefully Nankivell is back, otherwise I expect Rona to start again. Wrampling is being used as a 2nd 5, like Poihipi, so one of them would have to play out of position as a combination.

I want us to start with Finau over Sowakula also.

Who starts at 6 will be the big call. Watching the replay today, I was interested to see Finau say he is about 1.96 m/118 kg, so taller and heavier than officially listed.

Geez that Finau has the looks of a bloody good blindside, and has for a couple of years! Really excited to see how far he goes.

@Crazy-Horse said in Hurricanes v Chiefs:

@Winger said in Hurricanes v Chiefs:

I would prefer either Barrett or Godfrey at first for this reason alone.

Have you seen Godfrey at 10?

He played at 10 when he came on at Levin in preseason and I commented then how much potnetial he had, good boot and running etc.
In saying that I also commented on how badly Morgan kicked out of hand that day, and if it is a problem and rest of game is good perhaps using someone else off line is the answer?

@number9 said in Chiefs v Blues:

@Tim the coaches are distracted mate we will struggle against the Rebels.

Might be something to that!

I finally had a chance to watch this game. Good to see Wrampling have a strong game until he had to leave the field with cramp. I hadn't realised he was still so young, being eligible for the U20s next year too. Gabe Robinson did his NZ U20 chances no harm either.