Auckland Rugby 2019

[Steven Harris]

If I were Northland , I would make a play for Blake Gibson, he’s got got family in whangarei and it looks like his career has stalled ,a change of scene could be the tonic for this talented 7

[African Monkey]

@Steven-Harris Or even Mitchell Gibson who's stuck behind Harmon and Christie at Canterbury. Suprised he went there tbh.

[Tim]

Representative Results (Saturday 7 & Sunday 8 September)

Another weekend of representative rugby has flown by with a mixture of results across the board for those donning blue...

[shark]

Auckland 2/5 to start the season (halfway actually). Yep, Canterbury are too, but one side is muddling around while the other is gaining momentum after a poor start.

At this stage Auckland is panning out as predicted.

[Hooroo]

@shark said in NPC Final - Auckland vs Canterbury (free entry):

Auckland 2/5 to start the season (halfway actually). Yep, Canterbury are too, but one side is muddling around while the other is gaining momentum after a poor start.

At this stage Auckland is panning out as predicted.

Isn't it similar to how Auckland went last year too?

[Duluth]

@Hooroo said in NPC Final - Auckland vs Canterbury (free entry):

Isn't it similar to how Auckland went last year too?

Started well, then stumbled through the last third of the round robin

[Hooroo]

@Duluth said in Auckland Rugby 2019:

@Hooroo said in NPC Final - Auckland vs Canterbury (free entry):

Isn't it similar to how Auckland went last year too?

Started well, then stumbled through the last third of the round robin

and then went on to win it.

[Duluth]

@Hooroo

Yup. I doubt we'll do it this year. The squad is slightly weaker and we haven't replaced the locks in particular.

However I think we'll get better throughout this season as a few players are returning from injury.
Having a genuine fullback would be a good start

[African Monkey]

@shark You're an arrogant fluffybunny aren't ya haha.

[Tim]

Representative Results - Saturday 14 September 2019

It was a topsy-turvy weekend of representative footy with mixed results across the different teams and grades. The...

[Tim]

Representative Results (Saturday 21 September 2019)

The Under 85s claimed the weight-restricted title with a narrow victory over their counterparts from Counties Manukau....

[Duluth]

Auckland had its awards. Some of the NPC winners:

NPC player of the year - Clarke
NPC team man of the year - Scrafton
NPC defensive player of the year - Choat

[Duluth]

@Dice said in Ta$man vs Auckland (Premiership semi-final):

The way we corrected things in the last few weeks, I'm hopeful of next season. We were just a totally different team late in the season.

Hooker, Lock and Halfback are the three positions that are concerning still

Hooker

Abel is with the Tahs so will probably be with an NRC side next year.
Apisai was on loan
Sosene-Feagai didn't get much game time

Apisai had his moments in general play. Lineout is still a big concern. The fact he was selected so often makes me think the Blues were influencing his selection.
Maybe he fully moves to Auckland because he won't get time in Wellington?

I'd like to Eklund come back next year. The Bay have depth at hooker so it's hard for him to get a start. He's not quite back to pre-injury form but I do think he has a high ceiling

Lock

Is Scrafton still with us next year? Hurricanes players from Auckland tend to turn into Wellington players.
He is starting to rival Gibson for the frequency of injuries though

Whetton is one of the more underrated players in the NPC. We played him into the ground this year.

Lane lacks impact around the field. Maybe an off season of gym/eating will help?

Hopefully some new options come out of club rugby

Halfback

All our halfbacks were erratic. Ruru in particular looked frustrated.

I do wonder if some of the blame belongs with the cleanout work in phase play

Maybe Funaki will be the starter next year?

Other Stuff

I though Choat did well late in the season. Maybe he starts edging ahead of GIbson? I think Gibsons best form was a couple of years ago when he got called into the AB's camp.. the cumulative effect of all the injuries might be taking its toll

Zarn Sullivan should get some starts next year. Plummer has spent time at 12 and 15 this year so we could have both of them on the field.
I still think long term that Plummer will be a 12

[Tim]

@Duluth Yeah, Gibson's link play and ball carrying was missing a bit this year. He needs a good run of games without injury.

[Dice]

@Duluth A back-up fullback would be another need. Trainor isn't the most durable.

I expect Papali'i to be an AB next year with a couple of backrow spots opening up. I think WRK is the top candidate to take that 6 jersey next year. If he packs on some weight, he should be able to take his game to another level.

I think Rayasi only had one year left on his contract, I wonder if he's re-signed with us? If he left, Wellington would probably be where he ended up, but they're not exactly short of wingers down there. Hopefully he sticks around.

[Duluth]

@Dice said in Auckland Rugby 2019:

I think Rayasi only had one year left on his contract, I wonder if he's re-signed with us? If he left, Wellington would probably be where he ended up, but they're not exactly short of wingers down there. Hopefully he sticks around.

You’d assume he’d want to play SR and NPC in the same city. So it probably depends on the Blues more than Auckland

It’d be great to have Clarke and Rayasi at the Blues after their 7s stints

[Tim]

@Duluth I thought the Hurricanes signed Rayasi to a long term contract?

[Tim]

@Tim 2021 for Rayasi:

cache:wMsMD9jdSDIJ:https://www.hurricanes.co.nz/news/article/hurricanes-extend-contracts-with-exciting-young-players/ - Google Search

[Duluth]

@Tim

Oh well.. I had thought it was the end of 2020