Mitre 10 Cup 2018
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So, after things looking like being on an upward trajectory from 2017, we lose one of our star players in Alaimalo who is off to Ta$man!!
Also rumours swirling about other changes (not quite as significant as losing Alaimalo) but doesnt appear any are ones coming to Northland!
SO no Alaimalo and likely sporadic use of Goodhue, 2018 aint looking quite as rosy as it was a few weeks back...
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So, after things looking like being on an upward trajectory from 2017, we lose one of our star players in Alaimalo who is off to Ta$man!!
Also rumours swirling about other changes (not quite as significant as losing Alaimalo) but doesnt appear any are ones coming to Northland!
SO no Alaimalo and likely sporadic use of Goodhue, 2018 aint looking quite as rosy as it was a few weeks back...
In better less surprising news:
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@taniwharugby this whole thing stinks like a fat pile of shit. How on earth do we let one of our stars go after building what’s verging on one of the more successful Northland sides in a long time?? Beats me.
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The Northland Union has totally dropped the ball,the biggest loss is Dale Macleod , Alaimalo was quite prepared to stay with Northland as he has a great relationship with the assistant coach which goes back to his days in Canterbury but only if Macleod was resigned as the Northland assistant coach.
The union kept MacLeod on tender hooks waiting to reconfirm his position for 2018 , from what I understand he had lured Otago first five Fletcher Smith North to check out the facilities at toll stadium as they had a player coaching relationship previously down in Canterbury, Smith was very impressed with what he saw and was looking good to move until he heard about the assistant coaches possible departure.
The great thing about MacLeod he has awesome contacts and has been working recently at the NZ under 20 camps which means there are great opportunities for networking with up and coming players.
Most intriguing thing he received glowing player feedback from the reviews and is well liked around the region for much of the work he does outside his role.
Not to mention the work he does to promote our players,both Douglas and Matich picked up contracts with both the Canes and Chiefs simply because their was an advocate to push their claims and more importantly had contacts within their respective franchises.This fuck up of epic proportions pisses me off no end,sometimes in life you have got to work out what an individual brings to the table , the union should have been walking over broken glass to keep him given what he has bought to the table.
The union in a panick after hearing Alaimalo and Smith were not going to sign,tried to offer Macleod a job within the union , but not the assistant coaching job which I suspect he will decline.
At this time I really am wondering who is running the Northland rugby union Alister McGinn or Derrin Whitcombe.
With George Konia returning as assistant coach in 2018,the only confirms to me who really is running the ship.
What really worries me,Do Whitcombe and Konia really have Northland at heart. .?,or they just looking to push their own claims as career coaches..?,after all they were they were both quick to bail and head off to Japan at the end of the 2014 season.
I understand there are some very disappointed people within the union on how this has played , but unfortunately at times like this people need to stand up.
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Forgot to mention,from the mail I have heard both first fives will not be returning to Northland
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@steven-harris fuck!
We have enough issues getting it right on the park, we dont need this adminstrative BS undermining things as well!
Yeah would seem odd both Konia & DW would come back from big salaries in Japan to coach Northland for what has to be much, much less money, so they are doing it for the love, or there is another agenda...
Yeah I have heard nothing but good things about MacLeod, so to lose him and Alaimalo is a huge blow...
So 2018 with off-field issues, does that mean we will be scrapping with Southland for the wooden spoon, or will these issues be sorted and we will make back to back semi finals??
So Blundell looking very likely steering us about next year!
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Agree 100% about Dale. He was Sydenham coach and/or rugby development guy for around 10 years. He helped establish the Sydenham rugby academy graduates of which are currently All Blacks (Taylor and Laulala) and Scottish internationals (Berghan and Jonny Gray - Jonny was at Sydenham for a year as an 18 yr old) and a former Irish international (Ah You). He managed to stop the standard Christchurch thing where junior club players going off to Boys’ High and St Bede’s were snapped up by HSOB and Marist (think Nasi Manu and Elliot Dixon) and got them back to Sydenham. He was hugely popular with the players. He is a genuinely nice guy who was always prepared to have a 10 minute conversation about rugby wherever you met him. I still txt him for advice about my car!
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Clap clap for the handicapped. Well done Northland rugby, you’ve done it again. Just when things look rosy you go and shit in your nest. Congratulations 👍
So that’s both 10’s, Ranger and Alaimalo now. Sounds very much like there could be more unless the NRU run an appropriate damage control operation. By the sounds of this saga they couldn’t run a piss up in a brewery.....
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@wally
I have found Dale awesome to deal with, I and am gutted how this has played out..He is a massive loss to Northland,the union has not not considered what McLeod has bought to the table,unfortunately they have taken the side of the head coach who it seems as self interest at heart..
Watch this space,when it all turns pear,because they won’t have Ranger,Alaimalo and Goodhue who were their best backs this year they could be battling it out with Southland , and that could be an irony given whom might be coaching the stags.
I wish Dale all the very best no matter where he lands up. -
@steven-harris fuckity fuck fuck...
GUess this just sums up what it is to be a NOrthland fan, go in with zero expectations, when they deliver you cant be upset, but if they do something decent as they did for part of this season, you bask!
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@steven-harris Dale sounds like a decent bloke and I wish him all the best on his next adventure, who knows he may come back one day when our current coaches decide they’ve had enough of Northland again..
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@tim he applied for the Auckland head coach role,got down to the last 3 or so but I guess they would’nt Know a decent coach if even if one fell into their lap,they certainly don’t know a decent player when they see one, rumour I have heard,he’s down to the last 2 in line for the Southland job,hope he gets it..
If that’s the case,the Northland v Southland game next season will have some extra spice.
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Seems as though self absorbed arrogance is getting in the way of making good decisions in this case. A union like Northland always has a battle in terms of recruitment and reatainment, but with the right people (Macleod) in the right places we have a fighting chance of being better than average. Lose those sort of blokes and it all becomes a little harder.
In this day and age player/coach relationships are important, as it doesn’t take much for someone to pull up stumps and move on if they aren’t happy. It’s just how it is in the professional era. Plenty of learnings here for the NRU.
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@higgins it would appear they have learned nothing in the past 10-15 years...think back to when Northland and Ta$man had thier heads on the block...one team has plodded along and had the odd moment to keep thier fans coming, the other was in the final again this year...
Granted Ta$man enjoys a considerably better relationship with the Crusaders than we have had with the Blues up until the past couple of years...and even then it isn't as helpful as it could be given Lomax was supposedly looking at coming here but was no support from the blues so he went to Ta$man/Highlanders
Just hope the good fortune we have had with super contracts the past couple of seasons will mitigate this off field stuff somewhat.
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So MacLeod didn't get the Southland job, does that mean the NRU have done enough to keep him or did they shit the bed so bad he is off anyway...?
