Blues 2019
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@duluth said in Blues 2019:
@kirwan said in Blues 2019:
Shows what having quality coaches can do, attract talent. Great news.
Come on MacDonald, where are your poaches? He's slipping behind in the two horse race to be head coach in 2020
That would be a pretty funny side affect of the bizarre structure the board has put in place.
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Christ I hope he doesn’t catch Warrioritis* like so many of the blues management and players suffer from . Once you have it you can’t shake it even if you move- look at the Phoenix .
*warrioritis- a condition typified by a general malaise and underachievement .
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Forward pack is starting to shape up.
1 Karl T
2 Parsons/Moulds
3 Ofa T
4 Scrafton
5
6
7 Gibson
8 Ioane16 Moulds/Parsons
17 Hodgman
18
19 Tuipulotu
20 Papali'iStarting 5 and 6, and reserve tighthead are the positions of contention. Might be nice to have some experience at 5 and 6, or perhaps a couple from the Crusaders ...
Without recruitment, Cowley-Tuioti and Goodhue will be a good contest for lock, and Papali'i might have enough NPC under his belt to be the regular starter at 6. Tupou is the other option in the squad, with Hoskins Sotuto probably being a bit raw. I still think that six could be Ioane's best position
Off contract locks:
Luke Romano, Quentin Strange, Scott Pierce, Ben Nee Nee, Mitchell Dunshea, Pari Pari Parkinson.
Off contract sixes and eights:
Heiden Bedwell-Curtis, Pita Gus Sowakula, Mitchell Dunshea, Sam Slade, Toa Halafihi, Glenn Preston.
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@tim Reiko is pretty good at jumping, maybe you could play him at 6. Would also move him even closer to the action, he's wasted out there at 12.
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@mariner4life Let me have my 5 minutes!
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@kiwimurph said in Blues 2019:
Riedlinger-Kapa
True, but I honestly think that we have lots of up-and-comers available, but lack that bit of experience.
Great player for the dev squad though.
Luke Romano would be a great signing for next year.
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@tim said in Blues 2019:
Luke Romano would be a great signing for next year.
So would Brodie or Sam, but are any likely?
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@taniwharugby At least Romano's an unsigned bench player!
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@tim said in Blues 2019:
@kiwimurph said in Blues 2019:
Riedlinger-Kapa
True, but I honestly think that we have lots of up-and-comers available, but lack that bit of experience.
Great player for the dev squad though.
That's true - but others squads can snap up players that are only offered development/wider squad contracts (think Alaimalo and Taleni Seu).
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@kiwimurph said in Blues 2019:
That's true - but others squads can snap up players that are only offered development/wider squad contracts (think Alaimalo and Taleni Seu).
dont think Alaimalo was in a WTG, thought he went straight into Chiefs (had heard they were looking at him before he even signed for Northland)
Problem is, you cannot sign everyone, and this is where they are coming unstuck signing kids for 3 or 4 seasons, and then they do not progress as they are expected (example here would be Nock)
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@taniwharugby said in Blues 2019:
@kiwimurph said in Blues 2019:
That's true - but others squads can snap up players that are only offered development/wider squad contracts (think Alaimalo and Taleni Seu).
dont think Alaimalo was in a WTG, thought he went straight into Chiefs (had heard they were looking at him before he even signed for Northland)
Problem is, you cannot sign everyone, and this is where they are coming unstuck signing kids for 3 or 4 seasons, and then they do not progress as they are expected (example here would be Nock)
I believe Blues only offered Alaimalo a WTG spot - same with Seu.
Agreed about signing youngsters - when I said 'could' be an option - what I meant was could be an option depending on Mitre 10 Cup form. The likes of Alaimalo and Seu showed enough in Mitre 10 Cup that suggested they were more than up to Super standard. Whereas the likes of Nock and Trainor were given contracts without showing anything at Mitre 10 Cup level.
