Blues 2018
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@wurzel not to mention his form was hardly compelling enough to warrant guaranteed starts...I guess the only consolation is that neither back up 9 are probably pushing hard enough to press claims to start, but if they do, it makes it harder to drop your captain.
Wasn't Parsons captain last year?
Interesting to see Wright there, I had heard he was being looked at as injury cover in another franchise, but still great news for him, 2017 been a huge year for the 31 year old who debuted for Northland in 2009.
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One of the podcasts talked about Pulu earlier this year. Their "inside word" was that Pulu was good at maintaining standards off the field, and that the attitude of the Blues' All Blacks wasn't great when they returned to the squad after the Lions series, with Pulu being one of the few who would have the "mana"/character to stand-up to those players and correct the attitude. Parsons might be too nice to be able to do that.
Wouldn't be my choice as on-field captain though.
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Im a bigger fan of Pulu than most. He's not a conventional 9 but he's a bloody good rugby player.
Having a decent 10 outside him might help too.
Parsons was ok as captain but i'm happy with the change.
Excellent to see the young guns Plummer etc training with the squad over preseason and the replacement pickups look tidy too - Orbyn Ledger in particular.
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I like some of the young players we picked up there.
Pulu's erratic play doesn't seem suited for captaincy duties. You sort of want someone steady and consistent in that position. Pulu is a talker though, which is probably what the Blues need in a captain now, but he has too many silly plays in him, which isn't ideal for a captain.
Not a fan of Parsons either, though. We are sort of stuck for now in regards to captains. Guys like Dalton Papali'i and TJ Faiane have traits that are well suited for captaincy, but both aren't set starters yet.
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@dice yeah pretty thin on candidates for a leader, unless you go back to Kaino, PT doesn't seem ideal...Blake Gibson would be a player who demands selection, but not sure on his leadership.
I'm not a fan of Parsons full stop, but he leads NH and did for the Blues last year.
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@kiwimurph I think if Pulu reigns in the errors, he'll be fine. His error rate was not near as high at the Chiefs as it was with the Blues this year. I think Tana just lets him go rouge here, which leads him to trying too much. A good 10 could help that though, as he might not be compelled to do so much.
@taniwharugby Yup, I think going back to Kaino would be a backwards move.
From what I've seen of Gibson over the years, he's quiet as a mouse and seems pretty camera shy. He use to stutter like crazy in pre/post-game interviews when he was captain at St Kents, so I don't think he'd want captaincy even if offered. Even so, TJ Faiane felt like the real captain of that St Kents team.
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@dice Yep I don't think the Blues 10s helped Pulu - i'd like to see the Pulu/Perofeta combo be given a serious go. They looked really promising vs B&I Lions.
If the Blues have a similar plan to this past season I imagine quite a few of these extra players will be taken to the Brisbane 10s alongside Carlos for a run.
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@kiwimurph well if 'los goes well in the 10's...
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Good to see Afeaki as scrum coach too. From memory Harbour's scrum was good in Mitre 10 Cup. Blues badly needed to address their scrum for years (especially when replacements came on).
I imagine he had some input in not selecting Prattley either - that's a good sign in itself.
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@wurzel said in Blues 2018:
Pulu strikes me as someone with a bit of a discipline problem, and often seems to have bad rapport with refs. Would be well down my list of potential captains.
You could have said the same about Dane Coles before Canes made him captain
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@kiwimurph Good to see Afeaki has a business and I hope he got a decent insurance payout. He probably would have been a regular fixture in black by now if not for concussion.
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@wurzel said in Blues 2018:
Pulu strikes me as someone with a bit of a discipline problem, and often seems to have bad rapport with refs. Would be well down my list of potential captains.
Can't say I've ever noticed this, apart from the odd high shot. Care to point out some examples?
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@dice said in Blues 2018:
I think if Pulu reigns in the errors, he'll be fine. His error rate was not near as high at the Chiefs as it was with the Blues this year.
Pulu didn't play as many minutes for the Chiefs as he does for the Blues. I like Pulu as a player but in the big games TKB always started with Pulu being the finisher. Against tired players he could be sensational.
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@bones said in Blues 2018:
@wurzel said in Blues 2018:
Pulu strikes me as someone with a bit of a discipline problem, and often seems to have bad rapport with refs. Would be well down my list of potential captains.
Can't say I've ever noticed this, apart from the odd high shot. Care to point out some examples?
Pulling the padding off the post in the recent npc game was a pretty stupid move. Not something i'd want my captain doing.
While i think the Blues need to change things up a bit im not sure Pulu is the guy to do it. Don't ask me who is though. SBW?
It's the second time i've seen the point about the Blues ABs turning up after the Lions with a "poor attitude". Kind of a weird thing to bring up. Firstly there aren't many Blues ABs so it is really singling these guys out. Secondly the Blues season was well and truely over by then. The attitude of the ABs post lions had nothing to do with that.
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