AB squad for the EOYT
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Pretty good squad. Even with the guys we have missing. SBW/NMS/Harris/Ngatai
Not good that our locks both have i jury concerns now but im sure pat t and romero can do the job again Ireland if needed.
Happy to see Ioane there. He has a heap of potential. Will be interesting to see if they play him as a wing or a midfielder. Haven't see any comments for Hansen so this might have been covered. Also haven't therefore heard about Dmac. Where are they seeing him playing now?
Also good to see Luatua there. But they have a lot of back rowers now with Todd in. Will be interesting to see how they play it.
Bit surprised to see S Barrett and Fifita (more so)called in ahead of Bird. Fifita doesn't strike me as a test lock and we have plenty of 6 cover.
Good to see Jordie taken as an apprentice. Can only be good for him IMO.
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@pukunui said in AB squad for the EOYT:
Pretty good squad. Even with the guys we have missing. SBW/NMS/Harris/Ngatai
Not good that our locks both have i jury concerns now but im sure pat t and romero can do the job again Ireland if needed.
Happy to see Ioane there. He has a heap of potential. Will be interesting to see if they play him as a wing or a midfielder. Haven't see any comments for Hansen so this might have been covered. Also haven't therefore heard about Dmac. Where are they seeing him playing now?
Also good to see Luatua there. But they have a lot of back rowers now with Todd in. Will be interesting to see how they play it.
Bit surprised to see S Barrett and Fifita (more so)called in ahead of Bird. Fifita doesn't strike me as a test lock and we have plenty of 6 cover.
Good to see Jordie taken as an apprentice. Can only be good for him IMO.
Hansen said that they'll be using him as a wing only.
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The Fifita call is a little odd although the EOYTs are one of the opportunities they have to get someone on their wanted list into camp. I'm pretty sure his athleticism has caught their notice and given that they are always on the hunt for a lock/6 of quality I guess it isn't too much of a surprise.
My guess is that they see great potential in Fifita for a bench role. Imagine bashing the shit out of the opposition with Cane and Kaino then bringing Fifita and Ardie on to cut lose.
Fififita has some freakish qualities and playing lock as well has jumped him ahead of Akira. -
@pukunui said in AB squad for the EOYT:
Also good to see Luatua there. But they have a lot of back rowers now with Todd in. Will be interesting to see how they play it.
Bit surprised to see S Barrett and Fifita (more so)called in ahead of Bird. Fifita doesn't strike me as a test lock and we have plenty of 6 cover.
In the past they talked about using Luatua as a 6/8 with ability to cover lock. I wonder if they're pitching Luatua directly against Fifita (a lock with potential to cover 6).
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@Tregaskis said in AB squad for the EOYT:
If Squire's bench cameos slip from "wicked" to merely "quality" we might have to look at Fifita. But yeah, he's definitely a prospect to be another weapon in that lock / 6 area.
I understand Fifita's pretty "fresh". Is he some sort of poach?
I saw during the Grant Fox interview with Sumo at the announcement that Fifita wasn't eligible earlier this year.
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@Crucial said in AB squad for the EOYT:
Fififita has some freakish qualities and playing lock as well has jumped him ahead of Akira.
Not in the same category. They called Fifita a lock who can cover loose forward (the opposite of Luatua, who they called a loosie who could cover lock at a pinch)
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@Crash said in AB squad for the EOYT:
While I 'm stoked for a recall for Luatua, and the likes of DMac, PT, Rieko, Fifita - I also think Reggie Goodes / Kane Hames (I know Hames is in the Maori squad) were unlucky to miss the cut. Do they really want to unleash Tu'ungafasi on an unsuspecting NH? Unless the thought was to try him out and give him a rude awakening against NH scrums, can't see why he would be picked over either Hames/Goodes.
Tu'ungafasi supposedly can play both sides, though is predominantly a tighthead - so I guess he's not really competing much with Hames/Goodes/Paulasi Manu (looseheads). I don't mind that Ofa has gone as the third tighthead, because I've not seen anyone else beating down the door - though, quite what happens next year when hopefully Nepo Laulala will be back, I'm not sure.
Does seem a bit strange to me that with a 36 man squad they've only taken five props - especially since
Wyatt Crockett is pushing 34, so we're going to be looking for a replacement fairly shortly. I guess they've had Hames and Manu in before and Hames went pretty well playing - but, you'd think he'd benefit quite a lot from having a month in the AB environment.We seem to have no shortage of good looseheads, but a dearth of tightheads. If I were in the loosehead queue (near, but not at the top) I'd be thinking about trying to become another "plays both sides option". Seems like there's a bright neon "Vacancy" sign shining there. Doubtless easier said than done.
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@Rapido said in AB squad for the EOYT:
Worried about the height of our lineout minus Sam and Brodie.
I absolutely love our lineout.
I want me some Bird!
Yeah what exactly has he done to get the push ? I thought this had been a bit of a breakout year for him in that he was finally playing with the aggression to match the presence.
"Thrush and Bird slipping down the pecking order" is still one of THE best Dad jokes of the old fern though.....
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@Chris-B. said in AB squad for the EOYT:
Does seem a bit strange to me that with a 36 man squad they've only taken five props
Yeah, I was surprised but they did have a good point about Hames. He'll be on the Maori tour and can be called in at short notice.
They believe he is better off playing at the momentHe won't be that far away throughout the tour:
04 Nov Chicago
vs USA Eagles12 Nov Limerick
vs Munster17 Nov London
vs Harlequins -
@Frank said in AB squad for the EOYT:
I would have taken douche-bag older brother Ioane instead of either Dixon or Fifita.
Probably his own fault, I think his play has regressed this year a little bit.
He seems to spend less time running hard and strainght, more time jinking around on the spot pushing tacklers away. Perhaps this is a result of the sevens experience.
Agree, he's a massive douche
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@Chris-B. 5 props isn't many, but crockett is still playing good footy and if laulala wasn't injured he'd be there. with hames in the wings anyway, and ofa t a dubious selection at this stage they're happy to just wait this tour out and see how things look next season i reckon.
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@reprobate said in AB squad for the EOYT:
see how things look next season i reckon.
You mean when Cheika's face goes from purple back to normal?
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@Chris-B. Crockett's pushing 34 but he's in career best form. They way I see this EOYT is that unless there is a genuine need or a bit of uncertainty, new players aren't going to be introduced. This is the final big series before the Lions and they will want a fairly settled group heading into next year.
EOYT 2017 I think we will see a bit more of a change
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Yeah he's had a bit of a disrupted year all around. Was brilliant in the 7s in Wellington and Sydney. Then came back to Super for the Blues and looked underweight for 15s and was used off the bench, went back to 7s and was decent but not as a dominating as at Welly and Sydney. Came back for ITM and Auckland were a complete shambles, the whole team never really got a handle on the rules.
He has a lot of work ons - I think getting away from 7s and having a proper preseason will help. I agree with his attack - he has a bad habit of taking the ball flatfooted - gets away with it at Mitre 10 Cup level but it won't work higher up. Also defensively - he's not really a dominant tackler - what he is is incredibly strong which means he can hold players up and create mauls/turnovers that way. He can also jackal over the ball and get turnovers.
A lot to work on but obviously a ton of potential - must be remembered he's still just a pup - 21 years old - Dixon is 27. The key is whether he has the mindset to improve on his natural talent - that is to be determined. I think the douche stuff is overrated - he loves a bit of niggle but it has never cost his teams even a penalty that I can remember and his team mates seem to love him.
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@ACT-Crusader said in AB squad for the EOYT:
@Chris-B. Crockett's pushing 34 but he's in career best form. They way I see this EOYT is that unless there is a genuine need or a bit of uncertainty, new players aren't going to be introduced. This is the final big series before the Lions and they will want a fairly settled group heading into next year.
EOYT 2017 I think we will see a bit more of a change
Seems like it.
It seems a bit odd to me, though, that they've taken eight loose forwards and only five props - given that you're often going to have four of each in a match day squad (seemingly five loosies at present).
I sort of wonder whether they're concerned that if they leave Luatua (and/or Todd) out in the cold for too long that they'll decide to head for the offshore money.
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From a players workload perspective the 8 loosies / 5 props combo is certainly a bit strange. You wonder whether they'll find a way to draft in a loosehead (Hames) for the Italy test, so that Franks and Moody can get a rest prior to the big two games of the tour.
