NPC Final - Auckland vs Canterbury (free entry)
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I agree that it's just a start, but it's clear the new coaching regime and the Auckland back office have set a new foundation to try and build more consistent results. They didn't expect the turnaround to be so drastic, a nice bonus.
That includes how talent is identified, not just how they are coached (that alone was a massive improvement this year), btw. And all the neglected areas in the past few years of team culture, responsibility, etc.
For such a young team, I was really impressed at the work on defence, and the ability to get themselves out of bad situations. The mental strength and self belief in the final was phenomenal and will be a huge benefit going into next year. In those conditions, to come back from so far behind against what used to be the best side in NZ, and then to just steamroller them, was great viewing. One of the best crowds I've been part of as well, it was epic.
As for the Blues, long way to go there. The new coaches are a start, as are the changes on the board. And apparantly work is under way to improve the poor relationship with Auckland Rugby. I suspect we still need a new CEO, and still a few more changes on the board, and new talent scouts. That's before we shed the Tana error awful squad selections of the past three years.
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@shark said in NPC Final - Auckland vs Canterbury (free entry):
Epic game of footy. Well played Auckland.
Thanks fella.
The difference in the game I think was Romano going off. He was epic - not sure if he won NPC player of the year, but he should have. Ioane stayed on, Romano went off - and no matter the Auckland mental toughness, that's probably the difference.
As for the rest of your post, will be interesting to come back to after a year or two. The stark difference for me is a side that seemed to want to play for each other and for pride in the jersey. That is not something that I've seen for the past few years. They certainly won my respect, and that of 20,000 of my closest friends
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I have the utmost respect for what the coaches and playing group were able to acheive in 2018. The issue is whether there is any longevity to it, because of the apparent inherent 'back-office' issues in Auckland rugby and talent identification and player retention difficulties. As long as they continue to haemorrhage the Brayden Ennors to the likes of the Canterbury academy, there is little hope. Retaing Niko Jones is a start though, assuming those now tasked with managing his development are up to it (is this another issue?)
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@shark said in NPC Final - Auckland vs Canterbury (free entry):
I have the utmost respect for what the coaches and playing group were able to acheive in 2018. The issue is whether there is any longevity to it, because of the apparent inherent 'back-office' issues in Auckland rugby and talent identification and player retention difficulties. As long as they continue to haemorrhage the Brayden Ennors to the likes of the Canterbury academy, there is little hope. Retaing Niko Jones is a start though, assuming those now tasked with managing his development are up to it (is this another issue?)
They seem to have done a pretty decent job of managing the development of Papali'i and Harry Plummer. It will be interesting to see how some of the fringe Auckland guys go in the Blues this year (Sotutu, Tele'a, Lindenmuth etc.)
