Blues 2017
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Writing this here because the game thread has been jacked.
I thought the young lock pairing went well, which hopefully means less Tupou going forward. I thought GCT was probably our best out there.
Luatua put in a good shift. Apparently he'd done PBs in fitness during his time off, and it really showed out there.
Duffie is turning into the complete winger for us. What's really surprising this season is how he's able to get over the gain line so easily with that skeleton frame of his.
I think it might be time to end Moala's time at 12. Before the season started, I thought there was a low chance of him playing 12 this season, because there was little to no flow to our attack with him there last year, which is why he was dropped for Francis, but we didn't learn our lesson and went straight back to it this year
. I think we should stick with SBW and Faiane at 12, while Moala can share centre duties with Rieko and play a bit of wing if needed.I thought Akira came in and put in some good work, but we probably should've brought him on a lot earlier. I don't think he should be only getting 18 minutes, especially after his performance last week. At the very least, he should've come on before Tupou. And if Scrafton needed to be subbed off(Tupou came on for Scrafton), we could've just moved Luatua to lock and brought Akira on at 8/6.
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@Dice Agree with all of the above. The two locks were the real highlight for me. High involvement, accurate - that was great to see.
It's a bit of a worry that someone with such midfield experience as Tana can't see the issues of having Moala at 12 brings. If I had to guess i'd say they'll go with SBW 12, Moala 13, Rieko/Nanai wing/bench.
I think Hodgman might be close to selection this week, not sure on Nock, would be really nice to have both of them on the bench instead of Prattley/Guyton.
Regarding Akira hopefully Tana gives this week as Tupou's rest week (as he didnt get one last week) assuming Pat T is fit.
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The Faiane brothers are pairing up for Pakuranga this year. Is this a possible glimpse into Auckland's 10-12 combo this year?
āTJ Faiane (12) in our backs led us well. His work rate was phenomenal in both attack and defence. He was constantly putting pressure on defence and then continued making gain line in attack,ā said Alatini.
āAlso, it was great to see him combine up with his younger brother Wiseguy Faiane (10) who also had an outstanding game with his directional play and goal kicking.
āIt could have been the first time they have played first and second five as they attended different high schools. Namatahi Waa (prop) and Dave Adams (openside flanker) were both strong in their core roles and were busy throughout the whole game.''
PURC season begins with big win
Pakuranga United Rugby Clubās (PURC) premiers got the season off to a cracking start with a convincing 31-13 win against Ponsonby on Saturday. The clubās Premier Development and Under 20s teams also came away with wins over Ponsonby. Pita Alatini, PURCās director of rugby and premier coach, said a...
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@KiwiMurph said in Blues 2017:
@Dice Agree with all of the above. The two locks were the real highlight for me. High involvement, accurate - that was great to see.
It's a bit of a worry that someone with such midfield experience as Tana can't see the issues of having Moala at 12 brings. If I had to guess i'd say they'll go with SBW 12, Moala 13, Rieko/Nanai wing/bench.
I think Hodgman might be close to selection this week, not sure on Nock, would be really nice to have both of them on the bench instead of Prattley/Guyton.
Regarding Akira hopefully Tana gives this week as Tupou's rest week (as he didnt get one last week) assuming Pat T is fit.
Guyton played very well against the Hurricanes : passed quickly and accurately, and saved two possible tries.
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MÄori All Blacks lock joins as replacement
Taranaki and Maori All Blacks lock Leighton Price has joined the Blues for the rest of the Investec Super Rugby competition. The 1.98m, 112kg lock is a replacement for North Harbourās Brandon Nansen, who is out for the rest of the competition with injury. Price has played 41 first class games for Hawkes Bay, Bay of Plenty and Taranaki, as well as a New Zealand Under-20 representative and in last yearās Maori All Blacks for their northern tour. He may be pressed into action immediately dependant on the severity of injuries to current Blues second rowers, Jimmy Tupou, Patrick Tuipulotu and Josh Goodhue. Two other young players have assembled with the club as short term injury replacements. North Harbourās Hapakuki Moala Liavaāa, a former New Zealand Schools and New Zealand Under-20 representative, returns to cover at loose forward, after completing the pre-season training with the Blues. Auckland outside back Pisi Leilua, a Samoa Under-20 and Auckland Sevens player from the Suburbs club, is also a short-term injury replacement after impressing with the Blues A team.Finally clarity:
- Price is the replacement of Nansen
- Tupou, Tuipulotu and Goodhue are all injured (no room for the conspiracy theories that I've read at some places regarding PT)
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@mimic said in Blues 2017:
I'm guessing Tana is hoping that Moala can make the same progress that Nonu made.. People said the same thing about Nonu earlier in his career
Moala is 26, so already older than Nonu was when he was already the #1 AB 2nd-5. Nonu took a while to develop, but that was because he started out so young.
Moala isn't going to get that much better than he is now. Play him on the wing Tana.
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@Chester-Draws Also, while Nonu had plenty of power I think it was his footwork that was underrated - especially in the mid-later part of his career - he could really step himself into gaps/weak shoulders.
Moala is a more traditional power player where he will power through/over people. He's probably a tad slow than ideal for the wing but yes Moala on the wing and Nanai at fullback would be a much better option than the current situation of Collins at fullback - it doesn't matter so much in non-NZ derby matches but in the NZ derbies Collins just doesnt add enough. Can't see it changing now though unfortunately.
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i think Nonu went to another level of excellence as a test player when he developed his distribution game
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@kiwiinmelb have to wonder if some part of that was driven by the arrival of SBW and therefore someone to really push him, obviously he matured a lot, but having the competition from what would be one of the more high profile recruitments by NZR where some (less knowledgable) expected him to waltz in and take Nonu's 12 jersey would have helped greatly.
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@kiwiinmelb said in Blues 2017:
i think Nonu went to another level of excellence as a test player when he developed his distribution game
I still remember when he had a glaring miss on BOD in Waikato, and most people said 'he'll never play for the ABs again'. Shows that an attitude to learn and improve goes a long way - by the end he was the complete package.
Man I miss Nonu. And Smith. And McCaw.
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@nzzp i think he had a few issues in his early days in defence as a 13 with guys beating him on his outside ,
those problems all seemed to go when he moved to 12
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@kiwiinmelb said in Blues 2017:
@nzzp i think he had a few issues in his early days in defence as a 13 with guys beating him on his outside ,
those problems all seemed to go when he moved to 12
Sure helped having Conrad outside you telling you where to stand. What a player. Sensational.
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Thinking about the Blues in 2018. In a good sign, there won't be a huge number of spots available, but there won't be none either.
There are probably 22 players who will definitely be picked:
As Perofeta covers fullback, I expect that they'll try for four 1st 5s: Black, West, Gatland, and him. West is short (5'9"), but I'd love to see him counter attacking from the back in the last 20-mins. I wonder if he will head to the Hurricanes if we pick up Black?
Half back is a bit of a mystery, Nock will need to show something this year, with Milo-Harris the other in-zone option? Who else can we pick up?
Matt Vaega is a good option to cover centre and wing, and there are four players who can play 12 in the squad (SBW, Moala, Faiane, Collins). If he has another good NPC he might be hard to retain though.
Will Jordan Trainor get picked up again? He's another young player who needs consistent game time in which to demonstrate some form. Caleb Clarke is very promising, but young and raw. Should be good competition in the Mitre 10 cup - there's seldom a shortage of decent wings in NZ ...
I expect Dalton Papali'i to be signed as a loose forward, as well as Murphy Taramai. Hopefully we retain (the superior) Kara Pryor.
One more lock, hooker, and prop on each side remain. No idea who they'll be. Would like to see GPT return, but perhaps they will look for someone a bit more dynamic around the park.
That gives 36 players, with seven unnamed. Anyone know how big squads are next year?
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@Tim I thought Nock signed on for 3 years...he needs to get uninjured and play some rugby!
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@taniwharugby Cheers dude. He is definitely in next year then. Hope he gets some decent ball from the Northland backs this year!
