Hurricanes v Blues
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Easy W for the Canes. 😁
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Expecting our pack to get munched, and the Blues to pull away in the second half as they did last time. It's really difficult to stay in the game when you're on the back foot for 60 minutes, and we don't have the quality of the Crusaders to turn that around. I reckon the Blues are the real deal this year - that the Crusaders managed to turn that around in the last 20 minutes was a really special effort that not many teams are capable of.
That said, it should be a cracker. Jordie has been in fine form and has given our backs a heap more confidence since his return, so anythings possible.
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@Tim said in Hurricanes v Blues:
@Hooroo Three of our regular loose forwards are out!
Basically our starting backrow from week 1 are all out.
I thought we'd move Papali'i to 6 this week and had Lamborn in at 7, but Papali'i has probably been the form openside in the comp, so it might be hard to move him from 7 right now.
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@No-Quarter said in Hurricanes v Blues:
Blues are crazy continuing to play Beauden at 15. From a Canes POV the less he gets the ball the better.
Why punish your 10 who is playing well and who actually will be with the team next year?
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@No-Quarter Home advantage is pretty huge, so I kind of like the Canes for this one - especially given that the Blues are missing a few big players.
Blues will be desperate to keep the heat on the Crusaders, while Canes will be desperate to get back on level terms with the Blues - points-wise.
Should be a cracker.
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@KiwiMurph said in Hurricanes v Blues:
@No-Quarter said in Hurricanes v Blues:
Blues are crazy continuing to play Beauden at 15. From a Canes POV the less he gets the ball the better.
Why punish your 10 who is playing well and who actually will be with the team next year?
Depends if you want to actually win this year I guess? The more Beauden touches the ball at this level, the better he gets, and the more unstoppable the Blues will become. As it is he's struggling to get himself into the game from the back and his form hasn't picked up.
Black is playing pretty well but his ceiling is so much lower than Beauden's it's not even funny.
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@canefan yeah Smith looked far more assured against the Highlanders. I don't know where Holland's head's at, there is absolutely no consistency in selection apart from Blackwell & Prinsep.
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@No-Quarter I actually have it the other way around. Our bench looks better than the Blues and I expect us to pull away in the last 20.
It could really go either way though, really depends on which team decides to turn up on the day.
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@Canes4life said in Hurricanes v Blues:
@canefan yeah Smith looked far more assured against the Highlanders. I don't know where Holland's head's at, there is absolutely no consistency in selection apart from Blackwell & Prinsep.
I heard he's gonna swap out Aso for Umaga Jensen as well. Why not leave the combo that did the business against the Landers?
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@Canes4life said in Hurricanes v Blues:
@canefan yeah Smith looked far more assured against the Highlanders. I don't know where Holland's head's at, there is absolutely no consistency in selection apart from Blackwell & Prinsep.
I didn't think Smith looked far more assured. JGB has been playing well enough. One area where JGB is better is his in field kicking. He also has more bulk when needed. Maybe that's the Canes game plan. To try and smash though the other team. So Aso goes. Replaced by a less skilled but bulkier player.
My bigger concern is Armstrong returns (his defense can be awful). As does Prinsep (although his last start was much better). And Blackwell is still there. Hopefully he doesn't pass the ball to the ground like he does at times. Or waves opposing players through as he did in the last Blues match. And the lineout goes ok with only one good line-out forward
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@Winger said in Hurricanes v Blues:
@Canes4life said in Hurricanes v Blues:
@canefan yeah Smith looked far more assured against the Highlanders. I don't know where Holland's head's at, there is absolutely no consistency in selection apart from Blackwell & Prinsep.
I didn't think Smith looked far more assured. JGB has been playing well enough. One area where JGB is better is his in field kicking. He also has more bulk when needed. Maybe that's the Canes game plan. To try and smash though the other team. So Aso goes. Replaced by a less skilled but bulkier player.
We must be watching a different game. JGB's passing and distribution is laboured, he takes space from his outside players instead of giving them more space. More comfy at M10 level IMHO
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@Canes4life said in Hurricanes v Blues:
@No-Quarter I actually have it the other way around. Our bench looks better than the Blues and I expect us to pull away in the last 20.
Pretty sure you said this the last time we played.
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@canefan said in Hurricanes v Blues:
@Winger said in Hurricanes v Blues:
@Canes4life said in Hurricanes v Blues:
@canefan yeah Smith looked far more assured against the Highlanders. I don't know where Holland's head's at, there is absolutely no consistency in selection apart from Blackwell & Prinsep.
I didn't think Smith looked far more assured. JGB has been playing well enough. One area where JGB is better is his in field kicking. He also has more bulk when needed. Maybe that's the Canes game plan. To try and smash though the other team. So Aso goes. Replaced by a less skilled but bulkier player.
We must be watching a different game. JGB's passing and distribution is laboured, he takes space from his outside players instead of giving them more space. More comfy at M10 level IMHO
JGB passing was good in the Chiefs match. Before this game the whole attack of the Canes was poor. Whereas Smith has a odd passing style. But Smith has certainly improved (he was awful in his first few starts) but for me is not clearly better. His main advantage is he's much faster but that's about it. With Barrett at FB I think either can start. But if I had to pick one for this match I would just go for JGB
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@Tim said in Hurricanes v Blues:
@Hooroo Three of our regular loose forwards are out!
Not easy going into a match without the likes of Jones, Brooke and Blowers 😉
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@Canes4life the Smith/Laumape/Aso combo looked good last week. Probably the most promising on both sides of the ball.
