Northland v Canterbury
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1 Daniel Lienert- Brown 2 Brodie McAlister 3 Owen Franks 4 Cullen Grace 5 Mitchell Dunshea 6 Reed Prinsep 7 Tom Christie 8 Luke Whitelock 9 Ere Enari 10 Brett Cameron 11 Ngane Punivai 12 Inga Finau 13 Brayden Ennor 14 Sam Gilbert 15 Josh McKay
Reserves: Seb Siataga, Harrison Allan, Siate Tokolahi, Will Tucker, Whetukamokamo Douglas, Regus Burke, Dallas McLeod
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I've just had a look and can't see any talk of injury to either Romano or Bateman. Neither were over-used by the Crusaders and didn't play any rep footy between Super rugby and the NPC. Canterbury need to settle on a 1st XV and carry on their momentum FFS.
What i also find fucking weird is they give McLeod two games on the wing, with mixed success but still better than his debut off the bench in his specialist position of 12. He must have gained in confidence from starting and crossing the chalk though. But instead of taking advantage of his improvement and giving him the chance to give Bateman the breather, they dump him back to the bench and give Finau the 12 jersey.
At lock rather than give specialist Tucker another crack, they give the start to utility forward Grace.
At fullback McKay gets his sixth straight start. I'm really in two minds about him. In half a gap he's electric. Jet shoes. But he's small and frequently gets tossed around in the tackle and turns the ball over. He's gotta get better at finding support players, or somehow improve his body position in the tackle, or something. I'm not sure who the next option is at 15. Burke? Gilbert? Perhaps one of them. Should have been given this game.
And where the hell has Osborne gone?! Is that one game all we get??
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@shark said in Northland v Canterbury:
> At lock rather than give specialist Tucker another crack, they give the start to utility forward Grace.
I watched most of the U20 games this year and though that Grace was one of the weaker players in the side. Surprised he's being picked as a Canterbury starter.
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@shark said in Northland v Canterbury:
Another midfield combo and locking pair
you talking us or you
Doesnt matter who you roll out this week, 5 points in the bank.
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@mofitzy_ said in Northland v Canterbury:
@shark said in Northland v Canterbury:
> At lock rather than give specialist Tucker another crack, they give the start to utility forward Grace.
I watched most of the U20 games this year and though that Grace was one of the weaker players in the side. Surprised he's being picked as a Canterbury starter.
I didn't know that, but it adds fuel to the fire.
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@taniwharugby said in Northland v Canterbury:
@shark said in Northland v Canterbury:
Another midfield combo and locking pair
you talking us or you
Doesnt matter who you roll out this week, 5 points in the bank.
Yeah, probably. But all the more reason to use the game to add momentum to combinations and/or give guys confidence for tougher games to come.
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@shark I hope so too, but given our current injury list which equates to half a team of probable starters, I am not holding my breath....
I just hope we put up a good fight.
As an aside, Jake was more than a few years back, probably a dozen for that game
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@taniwharugby said in Northland v Canterbury:
@shark I hope so too, but given our current injury list which equates to half a team of probable starters, I am not holding my breath....
I just hope we put up a good fight.
As an aside, Jake was more than a few years back, probably a dozen for that game
How DARE YOU question my usage of the word few'. For that, I hope we put 100 on.
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@taniwharugby Correct me if I'm wrong but I seem to recall prop Nick White kicking a goal from the sideline in that game haha.
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Good to see Canterbury keeping up the trend of starting midget locks.
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The handing has been horrendous from both sides so far.
