Toll Northland Mitre 10 Cup Squad for 2017
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I will start with the good,the set piece scrum apart from one wobbly scrum in the main was very good,the lineout in the first half was good but in the 2nd half was struggled at times,but that may have had more to do with Moulds having left field just before halftime with a rib injury.
Matt Matich when he was on got through a mountain of work,not far behind was Namatahi Waa,Josh Goodhue and Matt Moulds while he was on.
Kara Pryor and Dan Pryor were defensively very good when they came on in the 2nd half,and were instrumental in keeping Harbour at bay when they had all the ball and possession,even Josh Goodhue pitched in with the odd turnover
In the backs Jordon Highland stood out with good option taking,strong carries and was rewarded with a good try which he finished well,Tamati Tua also looked strong in the midfield,looks several KGs heavier than last year,very good off short passes,and defended well.
Was disappointed with the halves,where I thought Nock & Breen failed to gel,some of the passing left a bit to be desired,the receivers stopping to receive passes,not to mention some of their option taking,
Nock did limp off with what looked like an ankle injury,hopefully not too seriousRene Ranger continues to be an enigma,with some really good stuff and some really awful option taking,to be fair to Rene he was still trying things right to the finish,one thing he is exceptional at,is his over the ball stuff,pulled off at least 3 turnovers.
Northland only had 3 available backs,Monty Lama,Dan Hawkins & Matt Marwick who played well when he came on,had to deal with some very poor ball at times.
A solid enough first half,but did not take all their chances,thought at times they tried to play too much rugby,when they actually looked more dangerous when they went through the forwards,pick and go and mauling,had Harbour on the back foot on several occasions.
The poorest part of the performance was the defence on Matt Duffy & Tevita Lee especially,Lee ran around like he had a disease that nobody wanted to catch,his try he set up came about by running 30 metres sideways finding a hole that had'nt been covered,getting behind Northland and drawing the last man.
From a Harbour Piece,Lee was always dangerous whenever he had the ball,Glen Preston in the forwards was my pick,but the Harbour player of the day was Matt Duffy,looked the best player on the paddock,all class
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@Steven-Harris great to catch up today!
Today was such a contrast to last weeks match, for me the huge difference was the fact Harbour had the likes of Li, Duffy, Stevenson and Parsons back in their lineup. Those guys made a huge difference for them. On today's evidence they should make a reasonable impact on the Premiership.
For Northland, as Steve said, we started well enough. I thought we were going to give them a torrid time as we had them camped in their territory for the first 20 odd minutes.
From there it came unstuck, we were trying too much and seemed to be kicking possession away way too much.
My thoughts on good performances echo Steves, so no need to delve into that side of things.
I still think with a 10 day break we'll put the Steamers to the sword come Sunday, I like the look of this squad, and with three quality players still to arrive I think we'll be humming!
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I hate pre-season games, win and they mean nothing, lose and you start to wonder if this is just more of the same!
If we can have next to no injuries, I think we should make the top 4 and be aiming for the final. Is Wright our 3rd hooker behind Moulds & Olsen?
@Steven-Harris @J77 how did Bond & Murray go?
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@taniwharugby I think we're still well on track, yesterday will be a good wake up call for the team, they'll take heaps out of it and as I said earlier, I think we'll hit the ground running against BOP.
Looking back, Harbour only scored 3 proper tries (one penalty try) and our defence for the best part was good. I just think we need to work on shutting dangerous runners down before they get going, that was our only big downside yesterday. We became turnstiles for the likes of Li and Duffy.
Bond and Murray have officially retired from rowing mate!
I'm picking you mean Bond and Douglas? Both were a lot quieter than the week before, but were solid in the tight exchanges. Nothing flashy, just solid..
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@taniwharugby and yep, Wright was reserve hooker yesterday as Olsen didn't strip.
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@taniwharugby Haha I knew what you meant! Come to think of it Douglas would be a bloody powerful rower, maybe him and Tim Bond can be the new double sculls sensations after footy!
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Just an update on a couple of injuries from the preseason game against North Harbour,Sam Nock left the field with a calf injury,walked off under his own steam,might be touch and go if he starts the first game.
The injury to Matt Moulds is a bit more serious,what i' m hearing is rib cartilage damage from heavy impact in that area,,which can mean anything from 6 x weeks upwards,depending on the grade,if it is more serious,his season could be done.Hoping it's the lesser of these 2,would be a big blow to lose your skipper from the get go.
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@Steven-Harris oh fantastic, the Northland injury curse strikes again. Happens every year. Big chance for Olsen to step up here.
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@J77 lets hope for best but trust that Olsen and Wright can step up. We have our best squad for years - set piece stability, loose fowards with both speed and size, and more talent in the backs that I can ever remember. So, when you look at that last NH result ( aside from the odd player missing ) you think that we still have to learn how to win - discipline, game management, being mentally tough. Like making sure you everyone knows what's happening, you kick well, come up in a line, close down space, make tackles etc Very excited about this year and hope the team is up for it!
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@Steven-Harris so if Moulds is out, who captains?
Dan Pryor? Matich?
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@taniwharugby Josh Goodhue based on last year but those are also good options...
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@taniwharugby not sure but he was Captain for Mt Albert at schoolboy level
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@kev Wiki says nothing about him captaining U20, but says Josh was captain at MAG and Jack was VC.
It might have been Jake Heenan who was co-captain when he played U20
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Dropped in to the Silverdale Rugby Club yesterday to watch the Northland Development XV play Waikato Dev XV yesterday.
This match was more of a trial for the 2 x coaches Tui & Graham Dewes,my apologies not sure what the head coach Tui's second name is,looked like they had close to their number 1 side on the paddock,they were 10-0 up,and with some better handling could have been up by 20,the other problem they had was putting phases together,
Unfortunately Waikato hit back with 2 x tries before halftime,to lead 14-10,after a whole heap of changes in the 2nd half,Waikato scored a couple more tries to win 29-10,The team has definitely got some talent,very good loose forwards,Hayden Jurlina,Connor Lawson & Aorangi Stokes,they with heaps of energy and make plenty of tackles,they have a good ball winner in the tall rangy Justin Fredericks,and some really exciting outside backs,
Renata Roberts TeNana,a very athletic Fijian centre from Waipu who looked really good with ball in hand,very physical as well.There was also a very promising young winger from Kerikeri,tall,but very light,looked to have really good game management,and the one opportunity he had,put the after burners and looked very quick..
The player that impressed me no end,was the starting halfback Emil Pittman from Mid Western,had a quick catch up with him at games end..he is a former Mt Albert Grammar old boy,played XV,also played for Samoa at the 2014 Under 20 World Cup,and then played In France for Valence Romans Drome Rugby,they play in the 3rd division of French rugby
Pittman seems to have all the attributes required for a top half back,good game managent,reasonable high kick game,but what impressed me the most about him,is his toughness,came up with the hit of the game,only 23 years old,he commutes up to Mid Western from Auckland,hopefully someone from Mid Western can also give us a rating,saw him play in one of the earlier HP games,also impressed me on that occasion.
I would imagine some of the guys from the number 1 squad will be released to play for the Bs during the season,should be interesting watching these guys.
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@Steven-Harris am sure @Gunner will be able to give you a run down on Pitman, although he may not play for MW next year with them being relegated?
Have heard good things about Te Nana, but the 2 times I watched him, he didnt stand out (but that was only 2 games)
Whats Meltzer upto? When I watched him he looked threatening and pretty quick, although he also looked like the only weapon his team had too.
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@taniwharugby actually remiss of me not mention Whiria Meltzer,was probably Northlands most dangerous back,he was always dangerous when he had ball in hand,really plays above his weight,even though he's small,does'nt mind having a crack at the line,always beats the first tackler with his impressive footwork..defensively he was very good as well.
I would love to see the NZ sevens coach give him a crack as a playmaker,I reckon he's got all the skills required..
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Jersey's available here
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A replica top for under $100, pretty well priced when compared with other brands.
Be grabbing one when the other top comes available.
Jack Goodhue - Wikipedia
