Who is the AB's 4th choice at 10?
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@Nepia Most likely haha but he turned down the Blues in 2013 and ended up wasting his time in club rugby towards the end of his time at the Crusaders and then funnily enough found form once he was getting regular gametime after leaving.
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First signs of dementia for Ted.
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@Billy-Tell anyone is a possibility if they have two arms and two legs and a heartbeat
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@Nevorian said in Who is the AB's 4th choice at 10?:
@Billy-Tell anyone is a possibility if they have two arms and two legs and a heartbeat
I'm available.
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@booboo said in Who is the AB's 4th choice at 10?:
@Nevorian said in Who is the AB's 4th choice at 10?:
@Billy-Tell anyone is a possibility if they have two arms and two legs and a heartbeat
I'm available.
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Gotta agree.
I'd rather have a 3rd choice no.10 go down in a game against a minnow rather than a Test certainty like Crotty or TJP
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@sparky I don't think anyone will have any doubt Mo'unga will re-sign. Our 10-shortage increases his market value though. He's in a good negotiating position.
BB is probably already on top money (in NZ terms), but he's almost 28, so I can see him leave. All NZR can offer him is sabbaticals and out-clauses, so he can do some overseas' stints if he decides to stay. I can't see him re-sign for longer than 2 years tbh.
If I were NZR, I'd do some better scouting (in NZ). Ensure that all young, good & promising first five-eighths playing M10Cup have SR (development) contracts for the next few years, so that there's an adequate pathway for their development. Everyone who's read the Hurricanes thread, knows that that's not the case at the moment. Try converting current young fullbacks, halfbacks or second fives into 10s, at least up to "emergency standard" etc etc. I don't know what NZR are doing at the moment to increase depth, but I have the feeling they could do more.
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@Stargazer The challenge is, I think, that it takes a couple of years of training and cameo appearances, before a young first five is really ready to take the helm of a Super rugby team.
In an ideal world, our Super teams would still currently have Slade, Cruden, Barrett, Moúnga and Sopoaga as their first choice first fives - perhaps with Slade and Cruden about to take up their Euro pension jobs after the RWC - and Black and DMac having a couple of extra years of preparation in the wings. Instead, we're looking a bit thin due to being looted and, unfortunately, that's probably the case in a couple of other positions - where people like Charles Piutau, Steven Luatua, Dom Bird and James Lowe would, at a minimum, be handy options to have floating about.
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History tells us the NZ system is very good at building depth in troublesome positions so I am confident our ten stocks will sort themselves out in the next couple of years. We will be sweating about another position by then.
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Fox hints there might not be a 3rd first-five taken to the World Cup.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/rugby/news/article.cfm?c_id=80&objectid=12224267
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I think we all thought that, but I reckon they'll still bring one in for RC - so in case of emergency and a replacement RWC #10 is required then at least he is not coming in totally cold - even with minimal game time in RC he'll have squad time/training time/learning the books time. And they'll train as much as they can in NZ with the team before the team goes
IMO
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@Machpants said in Who is the AB's 4th choice at 10?:
I think we all thought that, but I reckon they'll still bring one in for RC - so in case of emergency and a replacement RWC #10 is required then at least he is not coming in totally cold - even with minimal game time in RC he'll have squad time/training time/learning the books time. And they'll train as much as they can in NZ with the team before the team goes
IMO
Agreed, for me it is a four part question:
- who is next in line if BB or RM are injured out?
- if he is outside the current squad, will they bring that guy in for the RC?
- will that guy even make the RWC squad?
- if they don’t take them to the RWC, who is covering there in the minnow games/knockout if the others will recover in time for the potential final?
My guess is Banks, Yes, No, Jordie for his goal kicking (TJP is too important at 9 to be fucking around at 10)
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If replacement is from of the franchises outside of the Hurricanes I suspect they will tip their hand at the June 3 South Island foundation day.
Also suspect if Cruden is coming back the financial play would be to head to Japan immediately after the RWC, which could be adding to any delay.
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All those going yeah for cruden. Have you seen him play recently?
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@Billy-Tell said in Who is the AB's 4th choice at 10?:
All those going yeah for cruden. Have you seen him play recently?
I haven't - heard he has been shit but.
I don't think the argument for Cruden is on form though - it's that he solves the issue of having to blood someone at international level in a year when there are not enough tests to adequately prepare two first-fives let alone three.
They also still need to resolve the first string centre combo, which would be made more difficult trying to jam a debutant ten in at every opportunity.
I'm also fine with taking two 10s, although Cruden would be handy to have in the pocket at Mitre 10 Cup if possible.
