Bledisloe I
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I would be surprised if it wasn't Crotty/ALB that we see starting.
The ABs don't throw away experience unless there is a very good reason to do so.
Starting the season, a key match, a bit of a grudge....not time for selection whims.Not necessarily a judgement on Goodhue, his time will come.
DMac is in that same boat. He has gathered a lot of test match experience in the past year so will get the bench alongside either Laumape or Goodhue. My feeling here is that Laumape brings more impact so will get the nod.
I do expect to see a Crusaders backline selection in one of the Argie games.
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It's funny to see complaints about how our backline is unsettled, only to then suggest a new combination. Thereby ensuring the circus continues.
Goodhue's combination with Crotty isn't helpful because 1) the starting 2nd five is SBW when fit, 2) Crotty will just injured soon enough, and 3) the ABs play a very different pattern from the Crusaders, making provincial combinations rather less useful.
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@mariner4life I'm in Switzerland, no idea how I'm going to watch the game.
After the last two Sydney Bledisloe matches I've decided that I am the problem. I'm the bad luck charm, and so have taken myself as far from the ground as feasibly possible.
Combine that with a stronger XV and hopefully a bit of luck, we might get to half time with a deficit of only 20-25.
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@shark said in Bledisloe I:
@mariner4life said in Bledisloe I:
@shark said in Bledisloe I:
ALB is bench fodder. Don't let those late season jinking feet fool you: he isn't half the centre Goodhue is, although he would be quicker. Goodhue is the man who can put the outside backs in holes. ALB may be nippy but he's a boy trying to do a man's job.
Obvious troll is obvious. ALB is way truth and light. Feeds outsides, runs quick, tackles. Total package.
The northland kid can wait his turn until both SBW and Crotty are on the sick list. Ie next week
He's another midget Chief who doesn't know which position he is.
ALB is 1.87 m tall and weighs 103 kg. Not exactly a midget.
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@cgrant said in Bledisloe I:
@shark said in Bledisloe I:
@mariner4life said in Bledisloe I:
@shark said in Bledisloe I:
ALB is bench fodder. Don't let those late season jinking feet fool you: he isn't half the centre Goodhue is, although he would be quicker. Goodhue is the man who can put the outside backs in holes. ALB may be nippy but he's a boy trying to do a man's job.
Obvious troll is obvious. ALB is way truth and light. Feeds outsides, runs quick, tackles. Total package.
The northland kid can wait his turn until both SBW and Crotty are on the sick list. Ie next week
He's another midget Chief who doesn't know which position he is.
ALB is 1.87 m tall and weighs 103 kg. Not exactly a midget.
Also can't be a real Cantab either.
His name gives away the fact that both of his parents have been identified. -
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@shark said in Bledisloe I:
@mariner4life said in Bledisloe I:
@shark said in Bledisloe I:
ALB is bench fodder. Don't let those late season jinking feet fool you: he isn't half the centre Goodhue is, although he would be quicker. Goodhue is the man who can put the outside backs in holes. ALB may be nippy but he's a boy trying to do a man's job.
Obvious troll is obvious. ALB is way truth and light. Feeds outsides, runs quick, tackles. Total package.
The northland kid can wait his turn until both SBW and Crotty are on the sick list. Ie next week
He's another midget Chief who doesn't know which position he is.
Whereas Crotty's AB position is well known?
Crotty's relatively small size to ALB doesn't bother me, but that he is made of glass does. (McKenzie appears to be made of elastic.)
Also, McKenzie has played one position all season hasn't he? That you don't like his position doesn't mean he and his coaches don't. It's not like Beauden doesn't play a fair bit of fullback (and the Mo'unga fans reckon it's a plus that he can play there too -- so why is it a downside for only one player?).
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@smuts said in Bledisloe I:
@nzzp I'd settle for you lot having another year like 2009...
for the record
http://www.allblacks.com/Fixtures/2009Lost to France (2-1 series win)
Lost 3 to teh Saffers,
beat the Ockers thricethen won 5 on the bounce in teh NH tour, but lost the last hitout to the barbarians (nontest match). Wales, Italy, England, France, adn the fourth test against the Aussies
Overall season 10-4 in tests.
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If there is going to be any surprise selections I'm picking Hemopo or L Whitelock ahead of S Barrett on the bench. Barrett is really surplus to requirements in a 23 as both locks will go 80 mins so you are looking for a replacement for Squire. I know Barrett has played at 6 but Hansen and co see him more as a lock who covers 6 not the other way around.
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@cgrant said in Bledisloe I:
@shark said in Bledisloe I:
@mariner4life said in Bledisloe I:
@shark said in Bledisloe I:
ALB is bench fodder. Don't let those late season jinking feet fool you: he isn't half the centre Goodhue is, although he would be quicker. Goodhue is the man who can put the outside backs in holes. ALB may be nippy but he's a boy trying to do a man's job.
Obvious troll is obvious. ALB is way truth and light. Feeds outsides, runs quick, tackles. Total package.
The northland kid can wait his turn until both SBW and Crotty are on the sick list. Ie next week
He's another midget Chief who doesn't know which position he is.
ALB is 1.87 m tall and weighs 103 kg. Not exactly a midget.
And on another site his stats are 1.85m and 96kg. Hardly a big guy in his position, in this day and age.
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@chester-draws said in Bledisloe I:
@shark said in Bledisloe I:
@mariner4life said in Bledisloe I:
@shark said in Bledisloe I:
ALB is bench fodder. Don't let those late season jinking feet fool you: he isn't half the centre Goodhue is, although he would be quicker. Goodhue is the man who can put the outside backs in holes. ALB may be nippy but he's a boy trying to do a man's job.
Obvious troll is obvious. ALB is way truth and light. Feeds outsides, runs quick, tackles. Total package.
The northland kid can wait his turn until both SBW and Crotty are on the sick list. Ie next week
He's another midget Chief who doesn't know which position he is.
Whereas Crotty's AB position is well known?
Crotty's relatively small size to ALB doesn't bother me, but that he is made of glass does. (McKenzie appears to be made of elastic.)
Also, McKenzie has played one position all season hasn't he? That you don't like his position doesn't mean he and his coaches don't. It's not like Beauden doesn't play a fair bit of fullback (and the Mo'unga fans reckon it's a plus that he can play there too -- so why is it a downside for only one player?).
Crotty can play 12 and 13 equally well so that argument is moot. Crotty weighs in the same as ALB, according to Wikipedia.
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@shark said in Bledisloe I:
@cgrant said in Bledisloe I:
@shark said in Bledisloe I:
@mariner4life said in Bledisloe I:
@shark said in Bledisloe I:
ALB is bench fodder. Don't let those late season jinking feet fool you: he isn't half the centre Goodhue is, although he would be quicker. Goodhue is the man who can put the outside backs in holes. ALB may be nippy but he's a boy trying to do a man's job.
Obvious troll is obvious. ALB is way truth and light. Feeds outsides, runs quick, tackles. Total package.
The northland kid can wait his turn until both SBW and Crotty are on the sick list. Ie next week
He's another midget Chief who doesn't know which position he is.
ALB is 1.87 m tall and weighs 103 kg. Not exactly a midget.
And on another site his stats are 1.85m and 96kg. Hardly a big guy in his position, in this day and age.
So is Crotty a Crusader midget on the @shark scale?
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@shark said in Bledisloe I:
@cgrant said in Bledisloe I:
@shark said in Bledisloe I:
@mariner4life said in Bledisloe I:
@shark said in Bledisloe I:
ALB is bench fodder. Don't let those late season jinking feet fool you: he isn't half the centre Goodhue is, although he would be quicker. Goodhue is the man who can put the outside backs in holes. ALB may be nippy but he's a boy trying to do a man's job.
Obvious troll is obvious. ALB is way truth and light. Feeds outsides, runs quick, tackles. Total package.
The northland kid can wait his turn until both SBW and Crotty are on the sick list. Ie next week
He's another midget Chief who doesn't know which position he is.
ALB is 1.87 m tall and weighs 103 kg. Not exactly a midget.
And on another site his stats are 1.85m and 96kg. Hardly a big guy in his position, in this day and age.
just proving you can be the best midfielder in the greatest rugby nation on earth without being a big munter. What. A. Guy.
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@chester-draws said in Bledisloe I:
It's funny to see complaints about how our backline is unsettled, only to then suggest a new combination. Thereby ensuring the circus continues.
Goodhue's combination with Crotty isn't helpful because 1) the starting 2nd five is SBW when fit, 2) Crotty will just injured soon enough, and 3) the ABs play a very different pattern from the Crusaders, making provincial combinations rather less useful.
Our midfield combo is all over the show. Even if we assume that SBW and Crotty are the #1 combo when both fit, what are the chances of that actually happening for an extended period as they're both ibncreasingly probe to injury? So we have to either keep the Crusaders midfield together or re-unite Crotty and ALB. Then after a couple of games SBW comes back. At some point in the RC they may try something entirely different such as SBW and ALB or SBW and Goodhue, or they may be forced to by injury. This could easily continue into 2019 and after that SBW will be gone, as may well be Crotty also. I'm not all that confident we'll even have both at our disposal this time next year.
What gets me re the midfield is we've had two and a bit seasons since we lost Nonu and Smith, yet we still don't have a clear #1 combination that's actually sustainable, nor a clear succession plan.
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@nepia said in Bledisloe I:
@shark said in Bledisloe I:
@cgrant said in Bledisloe I:
@shark said in Bledisloe I:
@mariner4life said in Bledisloe I:
@shark said in Bledisloe I:
ALB is bench fodder. Don't let those late season jinking feet fool you: he isn't half the centre Goodhue is, although he would be quicker. Goodhue is the man who can put the outside backs in holes. ALB may be nippy but he's a boy trying to do a man's job.
Obvious troll is obvious. ALB is way truth and light. Feeds outsides, runs quick, tackles. Total package.
The northland kid can wait his turn until both SBW and Crotty are on the sick list. Ie next week
He's another midget Chief who doesn't know which position he is.
ALB is 1.87 m tall and weighs 103 kg. Not exactly a midget.
And on another site his stats are 1.85m and 96kg. Hardly a big guy in his position, in this day and age.
So is Crotty a Crusader midget on the @shark scale?
He's a well-proportioned 12 and an under-sized centre, for mine. But he plays above his weight at 13, and it's also mightily helpful that he's has SBW inside him (ahem) for a number of tests. Crotty and ALB together in midfield is a little small for my liking.
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@shark said in Bledisloe I:
@chester-draws said in Bledisloe I:
@shark said in Bledisloe I:
@mariner4life said in Bledisloe I:
@shark said in Bledisloe I:
ALB is bench fodder. Don't let those late season jinking feet fool you: he isn't half the centre Goodhue is, although he would be quicker. Goodhue is the man who can put the outside backs in holes. ALB may be nippy but he's a boy trying to do a man's job.
Obvious troll is obvious. ALB is way truth and light. Feeds outsides, runs quick, tackles. Total package.
The northland kid can wait his turn until both SBW and Crotty are on the sick list. Ie next week
He's another midget Chief who doesn't know which position he is.
Whereas Crotty's AB position is well known?
Crotty's relatively small size to ALB doesn't bother me, but that he is made of glass does. (McKenzie appears to be made of elastic.)
Also, McKenzie has played one position all season hasn't he? That you don't like his position doesn't mean he and his coaches don't. It's not like Beauden doesn't play a fair bit of fullback (and the Mo'unga fans reckon it's a plus that he can play there too -- so why is it a downside for only one player?).
Crotty can play 12 and 13 equally well so that argument is moot. Crotty weighs in the same as ALB, according to Wikipedia.
I'd have thought he weighed more tbh, glass is heavy.
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@shark said in Bledisloe I:
@chester-draws said in Bledisloe I:
It's funny to see complaints about how our backline is unsettled, only to then suggest a new combination. Thereby ensuring the circus continues.
Goodhue's combination with Crotty isn't helpful because 1) the starting 2nd five is SBW when fit, 2) Crotty will just injured soon enough, and 3) the ABs play a very different pattern from the Crusaders, making provincial combinations rather less useful.
Our midfield combo is all over the show. Even if we assume that SBW and Crotty are the #1 combo when both fit, what are the chances of that actually happening for an extended period as they're both ibncreasingly probe to injury? So we have to either keep the Crusaders midfield together or re-unite Crotty and ALB. Then after a couple of games SBW comes back. At some point in the RC they may try something entirely different such as SBW and ALB or SBW and Goodhue, or they may be forced to by injury. This could easily continue into 2019 and after that SBW will be gone, as may well be Crotty also. I'm not all that confident we'll even have both at our disposal this time next year.
What gets me re the midfield is we've had two and a bit seasons since we lost Nonu and Smith, yet we still don't have a clear #1 combination that's actually sustainable, nor a clear succession plan.
sort of back to the bad old days before Nonu and Smith.
My problem with SBW and Crotty as a combo is speed. Surprisingly i would be happier with ALB to add a bit of speed. I do understand why selectors love Crotty though, he's a fucking smart player.
Shark you are bang on with your points about settling though. Deciding that the two most injury prone guys are the #1 combo is fucking dangerous. However we've seen before having your eggs in a bunch of baskets can pay off come World Cup time.
