AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?
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@pakman said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
@mariner4life said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
@DMX said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
@mariner4life said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
@nzzp said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
@mariner4life said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
I think half the problem is, up until the start of last year, the ABs thought they were perfectly positioned. And then they got muddled in their thinking, panicked, and left us in a mess. And a few chickens came home to roost as well with regards to developmental processes.
Lost faith in their senior players who fell off a cliff, didn't keep experience on the paddock, had terrible luck with injuries, missed a strong leader, and you get the volatile performances that wind up in a semifinal spanking.
In a world cup year it's a bit much to
change your back 3
constantly shuffle your midfield
change your 10
change your thinking at 6. twice.In my mind way simpler than that, our three workhorses Rettallick, Whitelock and Read all came up empty. Read probably stuck around 2 years too long, Rettalick underdone and Whitelock nothing left in the tank.
that was massive for us. But i can only blame the coaches for 1 of those. And in reality, those were the "development" things i was talking about, we did not have a back up 8 or lock of any substance.
There is also the overseas money. Hard to keep a capped player who is set to ride the pine when there’s huge bucks available. Assuming Read was recognised as having just taken too much damage — back in particular — Steve Luatua would have been great to have had in squad. Charlie F, too.
Add to that anxiety related issues for Squire and Iaone, the cupboard was pretty bare. They tried to get Fritzell up to speed but just to early.
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@DMX said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
@pakman said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
@mariner4life said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
@DMX said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
@mariner4life said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
@nzzp said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
@mariner4life said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
I think half the problem is, up until the start of last year, the ABs thought they were perfectly positioned. And then they got muddled in their thinking, panicked, and left us in a mess. And a few chickens came home to roost as well with regards to developmental processes.
Lost faith in their senior players who fell off a cliff, didn't keep experience on the paddock, had terrible luck with injuries, missed a strong leader, and you get the volatile performances that wind up in a semifinal spanking.
In a world cup year it's a bit much to
change your back 3
constantly shuffle your midfield
change your 10
change your thinking at 6. twice.In my mind way simpler than that, our three workhorses Rettallick, Whitelock and Read all came up empty. Read probably stuck around 2 years too long, Rettalick underdone and Whitelock nothing left in the tank.
that was massive for us. But i can only blame the coaches for 1 of those. And in reality, those were the "development" things i was talking about, we did not have a back up 8 or lock of any substance.
There is also the overseas money. Hard to keep a capped player who is set to ride the pine when there’s huge bucks available. Assuming Read was recognised as having just taken too much damage — back in particular — Steve Luatua would have been great to have had in squad. Charlie F, too.
Add to that anxiety related issues for Squire and Iaone, the cupboard was pretty bare. They tried to get Fritzell up to speed but just to early.
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@pakman said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
@Frank said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
Peter Umaga Jensen should be the second-five.
Actually has played there and has real size.
PUJ 12/Jack G 13 would be interesting.
EDIT: Thanks, Shark!
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@voodoo said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
@No-Quarter you'd imagine it still haunts Hanson and co!
mate, stop triggering me.
Hanson/Hansen
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@shark said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
By the way I'm with those who're saying this squad naming is pointless. No games scheduled, the world is in a state of flux and all this can do is detract from what could otherwise be the best NPC in many years.
In AFL they name an all australian team every year that causes debate , and they play no one ,
its got that feel about it
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@kiwiinmelb said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
@shark said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
By the way I'm with those who're saying this squad naming is pointless. No games scheduled, the world is in a state of flux and all this can do is detract from what could otherwise be the best NPC in many years.
In AFL they name an all australian team every year that causes debate , and they play no one ,
its got that feel about it
Like a league first team. One for the record books
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@kiwiinmelb said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
@shark said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
By the way I'm with those who're saying this squad naming is pointless. No games scheduled, the world is in a state of flux and all this can do is detract from what could otherwise be the best NPC in many years.
In AFL they name an all australian team every year that causes debate , and they play no one ,
its got that feel about it
We should be getting in 4 games against the Aussies though - I can see that scenario coming up very quickly.
Otherwise, this will be a Mitre10 for the ages!
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@nzzp said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
Otherwise, this will be a Mitre10 for the ages!
It would make a nice break from the repetition.
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@pakman said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
@Bovidae said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
@shark said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
For what it's worth, my 23:
Moody Ofa T
With the 6 props named I don't think you will see much of Ofa at LH again. Cron and Hansen seemed to want to move him there with varying results.
Late in the North-South game when Ofa returned to play LH with Ta'avao at TH and Scrafton at lock, the NI scrum was going backwards.
Not sure Ta’avao is match fit. Ofa LH and Nepo at TH would be pretty solid.
But agree it looks like he’s going to be focussed on TH.
Don't agree with his at all, Props are Specialist in their positions that is why we got out muscled by the Poms.
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@number9 said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
@pakman said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
@Bovidae said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
@shark said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
For what it's worth, my 23:
Moody Ofa T
With the 6 props named I don't think you will see much of Ofa at LH again. Cron and Hansen seemed to want to move him there with varying results.
Late in the North-South game when Ofa returned to play LH with Ta'avao at TH and Scrafton at lock, the NI scrum was going backwards.
Not sure Ta’avao is match fit. Ofa LH and Nepo at TH would be pretty solid.
But agree it looks like he’s going to be focussed on TH.
Don't agree with his at all, Props are Specialist in their positions that is why we got out muscled by the Poms.
Broadly agree with principle, but Joe and Nepo started in semi, which doesn’t seem to support your point.
My hunch is that BBBR wasn’t at 100%, because Itoje at TH lock is a weakness which Boks exploited in final. -
@pakman said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
My hunch is that BBBR wasn’t at 100%, because Itoje at TH lock is a weakness which Boks exploited in final.
BBBR was a long way off his best. For one of the most remarkable locks I have ever seen he was way off his best coming back from injury.
Hopefully a year off sorts him out and he gets back. At his peak he was just incredible. The dummy and score against Australia where he sold the cameraman down the river was a thing of beauty
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@pakman said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
@number9 said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
@pakman said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
@Bovidae said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
@shark said in AB squad for the Bledisloe Cup?:
For what it's worth, my 23:
Moody Ofa T
With the 6 props named I don't think you will see much of Ofa at LH again. Cron and Hansen seemed to want to move him there with varying results.
Late in the North-South game when Ofa returned to play LH with Ta'avao at TH and Scrafton at lock, the NI scrum was going backwards.
Not sure Ta’avao is match fit. Ofa LH and Nepo at TH would be pretty solid.
But agree it looks like he’s going to be focussed on TH.
Don't agree with his at all, Props are Specialist in their positions that is why we got out muscled by the Poms.
Broadly agree with principle, but Joe and Nepo started in semi, which doesn’t seem to support your point.
My hunch is that BBBR wasn’t at 100%, because Itoje at TH lock is a weakness which Boks exploited in final.And Joe is a LH and Nepo TH that supports my point. This whole Hansen way of turning props into utility players weakened the ABs.
I can't stand Justin Marshall but for the fist time in my life I actually agreed with him. He broadly talked about specialist players across the positions, why he was alluding to was that utilities are used in desperate situations. This was echoed by Jeff Wilson I like Fosses approach to his squad selections.
