North vs South

[cgrant]

Slater for Eklund for me as the head coach is Fozzie.

[KiwiMurph]

Over 32,000 tickets already sold apparently.

[Kiwiwomble]

@KiwiMurph 6sixty announced for half time, glad they seem to be making it a big event

[nzzp]

@KiwiMurph that's really cool, but I just cannot get excited about it at all. Seems way to artificial.

A trial match, on the other hand, I'd be on like kong

[Canes4life]

@nzzp agreed, it’s not a true N v S match when you have the likes of ALB & McKenzie playing for the North and The likes of Whitelock & Goodhue playing for the South. Should have just called it a trial.

[Bones]

@Canes4life said in North vs South:

Should have just called it a trial

Now you're just trying to confuse @nzzp

[Canes4life]

@Bones a probable vs possible match for a better name.

[nzzp]

@Canes4life @Bones I could get into a trial, I could get into a N v S game with decent selection criteria. The current option seems to fall between two stools though, and just be a bit artificial.

Just me though, they'll get 40k there, which is awesome.

[Bones]

@nzzp see, it's a trial!

[mofitzy_]

Should make it a case by case basis, guys like DMac would choose to represent the South if given the choice and obviously that's a more reasonable decision.

[nzzp]

@Bones wait till we see the team lists. I think it'll be close to a trial, but wait and see who misses out due to the artifical selection criteria.

Look, I've got no issue with it, I'm just not that interested in it

[Bovidae]

I'll watch but have no interest in going to the game myself. I did go to the AB trial at Eden Park back in 2004.

[Machpants]

Man I'm going. Just cos game will be high quality. Really those two teams would be ranked in the top 6 or 8 teams in the world.

[Yeetyaah]

Wasn't the first province basis how it was traditionally chosen? Minus the 2012 game.

[Number 10]

It was the province you were playing for at the time. There are a number of players who have played for both Islands over the years.

[mariner4life]

everyone is giong to be very disappointed if this is more All Star game than State of Origin

[Kiwiwomble]

@mariner4life my money is on all star, lots of fancy moves and individual brilliance and little caring about winning

[Machpants]

@Kiwiwomble said in North vs South:

@mariner4life my money is on all star, lots of fancy moves and individual brilliance and little caring about winning

Hope so, and hopefully they have Phoenix there like the blues games. Happy then

[Bovidae]

This game will be a trial of sorts for the coaches too, as it will be their first chance to work with these players as "AB coaches".

[KiwiMurph]

Whilst the teams depth may be uneven, the quality of player overall should be higher than the last North-South game in 2012 which didn't include current ABs (at the time) and was played in front of 7500 fans.

See squads below.

North Island

Forwards: Jeffery Toomaga-Allen (Hurricanes), Toby Smith (Chiefs), Josh Hohneck (Chiefs), Dane Coles (Hurricanes), Tom McCartney (Blues), James Broadhurst (Hurricanes), Michael Fitzgerald (Chiefs), Filo Paulo (Blues), Faifili Levave (Hurricanes), Brad Shields (Hurricanes), Scott Waldrom (Chiefs), Luke Braid (Blues)

Backs: Brendon Leonard (Chiefs), Alby Mathewson (Blues), Andrew Horrell (Chiefs), Hadleigh Parkes (Blues), Richard Buckman (Hurricanes), Charles Piutau (New Zealand Sevens), David Raikuna (Blues), Lelia Masaga (Chiefs), Lachie Munro (Blues), Robbie Robinson (Chiefs)

South Island

Forwards: Jamie Mackintosh (Highlanders), Chris King (Highlanders), Ma'afu Fia (Highlanders), Jason Rutledge (Highlanders), Quentin MacDonald (Crusaders), Jarrad Hoeata (Highlanders), Tom Donnelly (Crusaders), Culum Retallick (Highlanders), Tim Boys (Highlanders), Scott Fuglistaller (Highlanders), Matt Todd (Crusaders), Luke Whitelock (Crusaders)

Backs: Jimmy Cowan (Highlanders), Willi Heinz (Crusaders), Tom Marshall (Crusaders), Glenn Dickson (Highlanders), Kendrick Lynn (Highlanders), Adam Whitelock (Crusaders), Kade Poki (Highlanders), Buxton Poppali'i (Highlanders), Patrick Osborne (Crusaders), Kurt Baker (Highlanders)