Crusaders v Chiefs
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Havili started out at 12 for the Crusaders and really struggled. Moving to fullback was the making of him at this level and the position he was selected for the ABs is.
I think he will transition back into midfield over the next few seasons and it will be interesting to see how that translates, whether his early struggles were related to him developing at this level.
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@Stargazer said in Crusaders v Chiefs:
@shark Havili was excellent at 12 during the 2018 Mitre 10 Cup season.
NPC form means next to nothing.
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Lol... Dallas McLeod is being talked up a lot on this forum, how many have actually seen him play?
Don’t think he even played more than a handful of games of senior club rugby last year. Based on what I saw from him at Christ’s College he’s a prospect, but I’m not sure he’ll be starting 12 next year.
I’m a big fan of Havili, he was great for Ta$man last year at 12 (which counts for a bit in my opinion) and is an excellent defender in the line.
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@SammyC said in Crusaders v Chiefs:
I’m a big fan of Havili, he was great for Ta$man last year at 12 (which counts for a bit in my opinion) and is an excellent defender in the line.
Yeah - I think NPC form is significant. Havili seems like he's been around for ages, but he just turned 24 in December.
He's quite small for a midfielder, though - especially marking up against the likes of SBW, Nonu and Laumape. Maybe giving away 20kgs.
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Most of the guys playing for the Crusaders Knights side are worthy of consideration and McLeod appears to be on an arc that’ll take him into the NPC side (hello, who did we have last year??) and potentially into the Crusaders in a position that we might be a little light in.
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I need to qualify what I meant by my comment about NPC form meaning nothing. It can certainly play you into a Super Rugby squad, but doesn’t neccessarily mean you can translate that form into SR, and some find that step up much harder than expected. It’s relatively easy to dominate at the lower level but then the next step is becoming harder by the year as our depth is eroded. Problem being, how often in the NPC is a freshie coming up against an established Super Rugby player, or veteran, in ten rounds?
