Blues 2019
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@rotated No we shouldn't I think McDonald has not had a hard enough apprenticeship to take on a very tough coaching Job.I was really surprised he took over the HC job so quickly.He is and was not ready for it.
In my opinion until the internal cultural problems are sorted the Blues will continue to struggle and that starts at the top of the organisation way above the coaches head. -
So, the Blues already have another coach ready for the scrap heap?
Probably time to blame the players for making stupid errors that professional rugby players shouldn’t be making or the team “leaders” for utterly failing to lead the team or blame the shitty culture of the organisation that has resulted in decades of mediocrity.
The coach isn’t the problem.
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@pukunui said in Blues 2019:
So, the Blues already have another coach ready for the scrap heap?
I don't really see them as different coaches; Lam, Umaga and MacDonald are similar coaches all appointed under the same faulty logic. This is largely why I was against the MacDonald appointment as there was a natural opportunity at the end of the RWC cycle to appoint a better candidate, however now they are continuing attempting to find a boy wonder.
As for the culture rot at the Blues, if you believe that starts with the board down then they changed that a year ago and those things surely take time. But I'm more of the school that a strong coaching team can turn things around very quickly which we saw at the Chiefs.
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@pukunui said in Blues 2019:
So, the Blues already have another coach ready for the scrap heap?
I only see one poster suggesting that.
The squad quality has been talked about quite a lot. Including prior to this season. Unfortunately poor selections linger for years as we wait for contracts to expire.
The lack of trust in 2nd tier players has been talked about constantly too.. which is fine if the players not trusted by the current coaches do not get extensions.As for Leon the jury is out. Like many other Blues fans I thought he pretty much had a free pass this year.
I don't think he has made the most of that leeway.For instance, my prediction at the start of the year was that the Blues would be shite again (too many holes in the squad) and the second half of the season would be about experimentation looking forward to 2020.
I was right about the first part (insert shitty joke here) but why not the second part?
It was a missed opportunity to not look at Tale'a in the midfield earlier. Why did we wait until the last game to look at Robinson as a lock? Is Dalton as good at 8 as he is at 6? Can Sotutu be trusted with a start? Renata was worth a look from the bench rather than playing our props for 80mins. Is Pierce ready for this level?
It was missed opportunity to test a handful of things
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What are the rules about bringing in players for long term injuries?
Matich was included when two opensides were injured at the start of the year.
Li was added when Lindenmuth was out
Why didn't we bring in a back for Perofeta? It was known 1/3 of the way through the season he wasn't going to be fit. Trainor was also out.
Tupou was unavailable too. Why no extra loosie?
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@Machpants said in Blues 2019:
@pukunui yeah it's hard to know where to point the blame, but changes in personnel on the field and coaching box haven't made a difference for years.
Are you pukunui on ENWorld?
Nah not me. This is pretty much the only forum im on these days.
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The Blues have finished another season at the bottom of the New Zealand Super Rugby conference and the post-mortem is already underway. And it seems everyone - including chief executive Michael Redman - is under the microscope. A new board and a new coaching group were ultimately unable to prevent the franchise's campaign coming to another disappointing conclusion. Blowing a 19-point lead against the Hurricanes wasn't how the Blues hoped to end their season. The match wasn't a reflection of the season for chairman Don Mackinnon, but he pulls no punches in his summary of where the Blues are positioned. "Firstly, can I say it's not good enough," Mackinnon told Newshub. "Finishing fifth out of five isn't where we're aiming to be. "We need leaders, no doubt about that. I'm unashamedly going to encourage the organisation to look for talent outside of the region." -
@KiwiMurph good article, echoes my thoughts. I like the board is putting themselves under review as well. For a new board it's living the culture you want.
I'm eternally hopeful, despite recent losses
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THe silver lining of another failed season is we can continue the broom in the back office. The CEO and Hanks need to go as well, they are huge parts of the reason why we are in groundhog day here.
Not sure how the process works with contracts, but we need to fast track moving some of these players on and let Leon put his own stamp on the squad. he clearly doesn't trust the squad based on his selections.
If that's the case, he's better off getting some rookies and working with those.
Obvious holes at 2, 9, 13 that need really good recruitment to fill. Plummer needs help with his goalkicking, whats their plan for that?
Second big test for the new board, do they hold the back office as accountable as the coaches and players? First test was getting rid of Tana, and clearing out the board.
Wonder how we taking advantage of having the NZRU on our board? Can we open up some overseas selections, or poach from other Super Rugby teams?
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@Kirwan said in Blues 2019:
Plummer needs help with his goalkicking
Plummer was kicking at 54%
He was a very good kicker in the u20's etc. He seemed to pick up a technical issue in the last NPC when his %age suddenly dropped
If he raised his kicking %age to the low 70's (liker Black, but still lower than some other primary NZ kickers) a couple of results would probably flip.
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@KiwiMurph said in Blues 2019:
"We need leaders, no doubt about that. I'm unashamedly going to encourage the organisation to look for talent outside of the region."
How are they going to attract these 'leaders'?
For my mind, leaders are experienced players, they are struggling to attract much frontline up and coming players, let alone attracting established Super rugby players, and leaders at that.
As with others above, 1st 2 on the chopping block needs to be teflon-Redman and Hanks.
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@taniwharugby said in Blues 2019:
How are they going to attract these 'leaders'?
It's a chicken and egg. We need to be not totally dismal, and have a good environment... then you can get season ticket holders, private sponsors, and enough $$$ to throw at some leadership signings. To be not totally dismal though, you need leaders ....
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@Stargazer said in Blues 2019:
Of course, nobody likes being the fifth NZ franchise, but it isn't the biggest problem. To me, it seems, being 13th overall is much worse.
We'll fix that next year when we get to play everyone. Having to play 4 of the gun sides home and away is damn tough
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@KiwiMurph said in Blues 2019:
@nzzp You mean the year after next. There's still a year left of the Conference system.
aw crap, really? That's a twisted, broken system that no one understands properly. It's shit, and not in the spirit of rugby.
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