Blues 2020

[Bovidae]

There will be a few teams after Parkinson, the Chiefs being another, but you would have to think the Highlanders would be keen to keep him.

[Yeetyaah]

@Bovidae dude's from Whakatane though, should rep his home for sure

[Bovidae]

@Yeetyaah I wasn't 100% sure of where he was from.

[Tim]

Tumua Manu is training at the same gym as Blake Gibson, Akira Ioane, and Dan Kirkpatrick, so hopefully he's with the Blues.

[Yeetyaah]

@Tim pains me a bit as a Chiefs supporter, but we have a stacked midfield and dudes 09 hard.

[Bovidae]

@Tim As Manu does live in Auckland it could just be for convenience. We'll see in a week or so.

[OleOleOle]

@Duluth I hope the other lock is Tucker...if he's not picked up by the Chiefs

[Steven Harris]

@Duluth
Just on Josh Goodhue , he is recovering from a shoulder injury , and should be right for the start of 2020 season .
Apparently, now I don’t know how correct this information is , he may have signed a 2 year deal before the start of the 2019 season ..

Sam Caird will be used as injury cover and will probably be part of the wider training squad for the Blues ..

Jordon Hyland has also been signed by the Blues for the 2020 season ..did not see this one coming..

[Tim]

@Steven-Harris said in Blues 2020:

Jordon Hyland

WTG or full squad?

[Steven Harris]

@Tim full squad

[Tim]

@Steven-Harris Midfield or wing?

[African Monkey]

I assume he's a replacement for Clarke then? Not a huge fan of Hyland and I don't know why we re-singed Duffie either. 2 strange signings.

[Tim]

@African-Monkey said in Blues 2020:

Hyland

Turning circle of an 18-wheeler.

[Tim]

@African-Monkey I can maybe see Duffie as a fullback option, but I'd rather have Mark Telea than either of them.

[Steven Harris]

@Tim to be used as a wing option

[Daffy Jaffy]

@Tim While Hyland went OK when he was at the Highlanders last season it will annoy me if they've picked a 30 year old journeyman over young explosive prospects like Telea and AJ Lam or if it means Trainor misses out on the back three mix. Then we usually loose those prospects to other teams. Wing is the first position you should be punting on youthful speed and enthusiasm over experienced battlers. I wonder if Telea has returned to the Canes where he was as injury cover last season. I am also worried that they are going to do similar with the midfield. I know Coventry rates Groundwater but really he struggles to make any consistent impact at mitre 10 level and makes too many basic errors for me. As for Goodhue, I am not convinced that he has the drive to succeed at this level. I would pick Pierce, Whetton, Caird, James Tucker, Nee Nee all ahead of him in my team. I hope he proves me wrong.

[Tim]

@Daffy-Jaffy said in Blues 2020:

While Hyland went OK when he was at the Highlanders last season it will annoy me if they've picked a 30 year old journeyman over young explosive prospects like Telea and AJ Lam or if it means Trainor misses out on the back three mix

Yeah, seems insane to me.

[Steven Harris]

The Blues had 5 locks that were selected in the 2019 squad

Gerard Cowley-Tuioti,
Josh Goodhue,
Jacob Pierce,
Scott Scrafton,
Patrick Tuipulotu

Baden Wardlaw I would imagine is a straight swap for Scott Scrafton..
If the James Tucker has been picked up and personally think he would be good signing ..really like the guys work rate ..it possibly means someone has been cut..unless they are going to carry 6 locks ..?

[Jonty lean]

@Steven-Harris what about Geoff cridge

[Steven Harris]

@Jonty-lean that would be a surprise..