Blues 2019
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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.
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@kiwimurph We need @Steven-Harris in here to clear this up.
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@kiwimurph ah ok, yeah he wasnt in the WTG, I think you are right in that they had offered him a WTG contract but the Chiefs had been looking at him anyway and offered a full contract (think he may have played for the Crusaders development team before coming to Northland)
@Tim he's in Tahiti!
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https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=12095821
It's also believed that there could yet be more arrivals pending at the Blues - signings that have been made possible thanks to the arrival of Coventry, who has is respected nationwide for his ability to get the best out of forwards. It is believed that Akira Ioane committed to the Blues - he was talking to the Hurricanes - once he knew Coventry was on board. -
@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.
Luke Romano would be a great signing for next year.
Romano won’t sign, if he doesn’t make the crusaders squad next year I’d expect a move into coaching.
I think your best chance of pinching a lock from us is dunshea. Not sure they rate him that highly now that Quentin Strange has come along.
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@kiwimurph Trainor got signed due to his form with Waikato where he was pretty decent.
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@duluth said in Blues 2019:
@tim Papali'i should be the starting 6. He can move to 7 when Gibson breaks again
One of the first on the teamsheet to me. I think he's our best 6, but he might also be our best 7 too.
It'll be interesting to see where Auckland play Papali'i if Akira is with the All Blacks. He might end up playing 8 this NPC season with Gibson and Havili on the flanks.
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@dice said in Blues 2019:
@kiwimurph Trainor got signed due to his form with Waikato where he was pretty decent.
I'm fairly certain Trainor played about 1 or 2 games for Waikato that year (one was a shield game from memory).
