Blues 2019
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@Steven-Harris said in Blues 2019:
I have also heard Ma Nonu apperars to be settling into some bad habits,pissed off that he was dropped after the Jaguaries game..the former All Black sat on his own in a corner stewing on his phone during the Blues v Sunwolves game as opposed to joining the non playing group who either joined the Coaches in the box or sat with the rest of reserves..
Hopefully they take a hard line with him. If he is introducing negativity like that I would rather he was paid to sit at home and not be involved with the squad at all. Negativity is contagious.
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@Duluth no issues with what you are saying,as long as we can have 3 hookers that can apply some genuine pressure on each other..
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Yeah and we should definitely be trying hard to recruit other hookers. The main issue is there aren't 15 Super Rugby quality hookers in NZ. If Parsons is a pro and will handover knowledge that keeps him in the mix
I would like to see Moulds start now that some other leaders are back (Gibson, Scrafton, Duffie etc)
And hopefully a guy like Eklund has a good NPC
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He'd make a nice third hooker, but I guess the problem arises when the youngsters aren't accurate enough, so then you're left with him starting and - while being more accurate - also not being very effective. Seriously, would be you all be happy losing Moulds now (who seems to be getting there) and keeping Parsons?
You know it's bad at the Chiefs when I'm commenting on the Blues development thread. We are going to be a dumpster fire for a few years.
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Aumua has already extended with the Canes until 2021. I'm pretty sure he extended before Coles extended, so I'm wondering if he regrets it now.
TTT is one I'd like us to target. It's best to strike now while he's still only getting 10 minutes off the bench for the Chiefs. Leon has said that he wants to play an uptempo style of rugby and TTT fits that a whole lot better than our current crop of halfbacks.
It'd be nice if Leon could get David Havili to be our fullback. I think he's off contract this year.
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@Dice said in Blues 2019:
@gt12 We might be the only NZ franchise where he'd have no competition for minutes. He could wait to see if Weber goes overseas after this year and re-sign for the Chiefs, but he might be too pissed off at Cooper by then to do that.
Nothing to argue about there. With Rennie and Smith (also at the Saders) they also often switched their two main HBs (eg Drummond & Hall) but we haven’t seen that yet. If we lose TTT, I’ll fucking spew.
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@Duluth said in Blues 2019:
@Steven-Harris said in Blues 2019:
I have also heard Ma Nonu apperars to be settling into some bad habits,pissed off that he was dropped after the Jaguaries game..the former All Black sat on his own in a corner stewing on his phone during the Blues v Sunwolves game as opposed to joining the non playing group who either joined the Coaches in the box or sat with the rest of reserves..
Hopefully they take a hard line with him. If he is introducing negativity like that I would rather he was paid to sit at home and not be involved with the squad at all. Negativity is contagious.
Agreed. Blues are much better giving Tele'a, Faiane and even Aumua gametime. MacDonald should take the long term view - this season is about setting the Blues up for next year and beyond.
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@Steven-Harris said in Blues 2019:
I have also heard Ma Nonu apperars to be settling into some bad habits,pissed off that he was dropped after the Jaguaries game..the former All Black sat on his own in a corner stewing on his phone during the Blues v Sunwolves game as opposed to joining the non playing group who either joined the Coaches in the box or sat with the rest of reserves..
Seems like a teachable moment for both guys. Leon use his experience sitting on benches for a good part of his AB career to show Ma'a how to do it. Nonu can use his experience has a world-class midfielder to teach Rangi the basics of midfield play.
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@Steven-Harris said in Blues 2019:
I have also heard Ma Nonu apperars to be settling into some bad habits,pissed off that he was dropped after the Jaguaries game..the former All Black sat on his own in a corner stewing on his phone during the Blues v Sunwolves game as opposed to joining the non playing group who either joined the Coaches in the box or sat with the rest of reserves..
Is this telling us something..?,one thing I will give SBW ,whenever he is not involved in the playing 23,he’s one of the most supportive players in the squad.I think it's telling us that Umaga and Rangi have/had a very different vision of signing Nonu.
Putting him at 13 against the Saders (which showed a loss of edge in pace, especially in defence) then discarding him was a bit dumb. They should be using a SBW/Nonu double act at 12. SBW to start and Nonu to come on and add punch in the last half hour. -
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@Steven-Harris said in Blues 2019:
My mail is telling me James Parsons will be re signing with the Blues for another 2 x seasons
Geez i hope not! If they are that desperate to resign him then atleast give him one year contracts otherwise we
are going to end up with another Leni Apisai.
Hopefully Rangi can convince Ben Funnell to come up, he’s 3rd choice at the Crusaders these days but would be a starter for us. Robbie Abel or Greg Pleasants-Tate could be other options. -
@shack said in Blues 2019:
@Steven-Harris said in Blues 2019:
My mail is telling me James Parsons will be re signing with the Blues for another 2 x seasons
Geez i hope not! If they are that desperate to resign him then atleast give him one year contracts otherwise we
are going to end up with another Leni Apisai.
Hopefully Rangi can convince Ben Funnell to come up, he’s 3rd choice at the Crusaders these days but would be a starter for us. Robbie Abel or Greg Pleasants-Tate could be other options.He's just a Canterbury version of Parsons.
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@Nepia said in Blues 2019:
@shack said in Blues 2019:
@Steven-Harris said in Blues 2019:
My mail is telling me James Parsons will be re signing with the Blues for another 2 x seasons
Geez i hope not! If they are that desperate to resign him then atleast give him one year contracts otherwise we
are going to end up with another Leni Apisai.
Hopefully Rangi can convince Ben Funnell to come up, he’s 3rd choice at the Crusaders these days but would be a starter for us. Robbie Abel or Greg Pleasants-Tate could be other options.He's just a Canterbury version of Parsons.
I almost wrote that Parsons was the Auckland version of funnel earlier
Good backup/ 3rd string hooker. But not enough of an athlete to dominate at super level.
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@Tim He's a different sort of player to most of the hookers in NZ - maybe more like that Steve Thompson who played when England won the RWC.
Big unit, not hugely mobile, but with good ball skills - plus he can scrum and hit his lineout targets.
His relative mobility might be an issue for the ABs, where he might not be able to simply slot into a team without adjustments elsewhere - but, he can play.
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