Bledisloe One: Wellington, October 11
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@chimoaus said in Bledisloe One: Wellington, October 11:
I wonder in the case of Savea, is he worse off for having to play all 3 positions instead of becoming an expert at 1?
Certainly. His game and skills suit playing at
128, but there are better 8s in the country. -
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@chimoaus said in Bledisloe One: Wellington, October 11:
It appears coaches think if a player is world class in their main position, they can easily transfer those skills to another position. But is it that easy? We always consider 2, 9, and 10 to be specialist but could you not argue that 1-15 are all specialist spots that take many many hours of game time to learn and master? Why do we think we can simply change a player at test level and expect it to work?
Experts in any field are experts because they don't think about why they do something; they just do it instinctively. How long does it take a player to become a specialist?
I wonder in the case of Savea, is he worse off for having to play all 3 positions instead of becoming an expert at 1?
I agree, shuffling players around is almost always detrimental to their development. We've seen it so many times before and there's little doubt it has hindered the likes of Jordie and DMac really finding their feet at test level.
Jordie has played plenty of 15 now and has come of age in that position. He either plays 15 or he doesn't start.
Same for Savea at 7. Same for Goodhue at 13.
I also think it's too soon for Rieko as a centre. He needs more time to learn the craft. We know he's electric on attack but that's only one aspect of playing centre. He has the potential to be world class in that position but it's going to take some time.
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@No-Quarter I couldn't agree more, the best 12 and 13 combos have had specialists in those positions that work well as a unit, Little Bunce, Nonu Smith, Horan Little. We seemed to have found a very good 13 in Goodhue who was solid on D and straight on attack. Yet we seem to have fuked him around with multiple partners and now moving him to 12.
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@No-Quarter said in Bledisloe One: Wellington, October 11:
@chimoaus said in Bledisloe One: Wellington, October 11:
It appears coaches think if a player is world class in their main position, they can easily transfer those skills to another position. But is it that easy? We always consider 2, 9, and 10 to be specialist but could you not argue that 1-15 are all specialist spots that take many many hours of game time to learn and master? Why do we think we can simply change a player at test level and expect it to work?
Experts in any field are experts because they don't think about why they do something; they just do it instinctively. How long does it take a player to become a specialist?
I wonder in the case of Savea, is he worse off for having to play all 3 positions instead of becoming an expert at 1?
I agree, shuffling players around is almost always detrimental to their development. We've seen it so many times before and there's little doubt it has hindered the likes of Jordie and DMac really finding their feet at test level.
Jordie has played plenty of 15 now and has come of age in that position. He either plays 15 or he doesn't start.
Same for Savea at 7. Same for Goodhue at 13.
I also think it's too soon for Rieko as a centre. He needs more time to learn the craft. We know he's electric on attack but that's only one aspect of playing centre. He has the potential to be world class in that position but it's going to take some time.
Rodders is one of my favourite ABs and when he made the 2002 EOYT and got one start (Wales?) I was stoked for him. But then he makes the starting side for the winter test against England and the test we prefer not to remember I thought okay he’s young, but for a starting AB no.8 he will need to get better and quickly or the pressure and noise on him and the AB coaches would be fever pitch.
Rodders played as a flanker for Wellington. He had excellent speed from being a quality 7s player and getting off the mark quickly.
He got some limited opportunities thereafter but it wasn’t until 05 BIL series that Henry had confidence that this is our guy and we will back him in for the long haul and the rest is history.
Some players have more conventional paths along their AB career, but others less so. I doubt Kahui ever thought he would be playing as a starting winger for an AB RWC campaign.
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@Crazy-Horse said in Bledisloe One: Wellington, October 11:
@Kirwan said in Bledisloe One: Wellington, October 11:
@westcoastie said in Bledisloe One: Wellington, October 11:
@Crazy-Horse Aaron Smith does have a habit of trying to do too much, when his first role should be give the ball to the 10. He box-kicked heaps from our 22 when I would've preferred he give it to RM. Maybe Nugget is the issue?
Maybe Smith wasn’t liking RMs option taking?
Who knows, but for much of the game it looked like RM didn't get much of a chance to make decisions because we didn't have the damn ball.
And when we did he froze completely
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I guess the question is do you give the starting players an opportunity at
ASB StadiumEden Park or dump them? The problem with either approach is players may freeze worrying that a mistake may cost them selection for the next match.Personally I'd prefer the selection meeting focused on getting the best XV to start with by focusing on position rather than shoehorning the best XV players onto the field.
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@ACT-Crusader said in Bledisloe One: Wellington, October 11:
@No-Quarter said in Bledisloe One: Wellington, October 11:
@chimoaus said in Bledisloe One: Wellington, October 11:
It appears coaches think if a player is world class in their main position, they can easily transfer those skills to another position. But is it that easy? We always consider 2, 9, and 10 to be specialist but could you not argue that 1-15 are all specialist spots that take many many hours of game time to learn and master? Why do we think we can simply change a player at test level and expect it to work?
Experts in any field are experts because they don't think about why they do something; they just do it instinctively. How long does it take a player to become a specialist?
I wonder in the case of Savea, is he worse off for having to play all 3 positions instead of becoming an expert at 1?
I agree, shuffling players around is almost always detrimental to their development. We've seen it so many times before and there's little doubt it has hindered the likes of Jordie and DMac really finding their feet at test level.
Jordie has played plenty of 15 now and has come of age in that position. He either plays 15 or he doesn't start.
Same for Savea at 7. Same for Goodhue at 13.
I also think it's too soon for Rieko as a centre. He needs more time to learn the craft. We know he's electric on attack but that's only one aspect of playing centre. He has the potential to be world class in that position but it's going to take some time.
Rodders is one of my favourite ABs and when he made the 2002 EOYT and got one start (Wales?) I was stoked for him. But then he makes the starting side for the winter test against England and the test we prefer not to remember I thought okay he’s young, but for a starting AB no.8 he will need to get better and quickly or the pressure and noise on him and the AB coaches would be fever pitch.
Rodders played as a flanker for Wellington. He had excellent speed from being a quality 7s player and getting off the mark quickly.
He got some limited opportunities thereafter but it wasn’t until 05 BIL series that Henry had confidence that this is our guy and we will back him in for the long haul and the rest is history.
Some players have more conventional paths along their AB career, but others less so. I doubt Kahui ever thought he would be playing as a starting winger for an AB RWC campaign.
But they played Rodders at 8 consistently, and it did take him quite a while to find his feet in that position despite his talents. That kind of proves my point, you can't keep switching players positions around and expect them to excel, especially at test level.
Kahui was an OK winger and very much just a "safe"option for us then. The main reason he never settled in one position at test level was he was injured 99% of the time.
One player that immediately made it work was Mils. Picked on his form at 13 and ethen excelled at 15. But again he played basically nothing but 15 from then onwards.
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@No-Quarter Rodders first test under Henry, he was selected to play blindside. Then in the BIL series you may recall he started the 3rd test at openside.
My point is that players can be moved around early in their AB career and then can settle into a position. Obviously there are many factors at play - ability, who else is available and their experience and ability.
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The other key thing for me is the combination, and whilst the debate of Savea vs Cane has almost reached Trump/Biden levels, it was evident that the combination just wasn’t there with our back row. I remember the scratchy play initially with Collins, McCaw and Rodders before that settled. Many calling for a bigger (Lauaki) or someone taller (Tuiali’i) or something else because it wasn’t performing. Also some criticised Collins for drifting in and out of games.
What I saw today was a team not in sync. It was evident though that when we were on the counter or in broken play, our instincts kick in and it seems to trigger something in our backs at least. But in set piece or phase play it was off.
The question for the coaches is are they ‘all in’ on the back row and midfield? Or are we testing combinations like what other AB coaches have done when they’ve started out before landing on the sweet spot.
See for me ALB is the best midfielder in the squad including those unavailable due to injury. But he’s on the bench?
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@Nepia said in Bledisloe One: Wellington, October 11:
@rotated said in Bledisloe One: Wellington, October 11:
The leader in the clubhouse for worst first year is Laurie Mains' and Fozzie ain't off to a good start.
Bit hard on Laurie, he had to mould together a new team against the current RWC holders after a disastrous ABs RWC campaign rife with division - and he lost 2-1 in one of the greatest and closest Bledisloe Cup series ever (I think the exact same number of points were scored by both teams and the biggest margin was 3 or 4).
It wasn't just the Bledisloe; they lost the midweek game to NSW, lost to World XV then lost to SA on reentry. They should have lost to Ireland in Dunedin that year too?
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Its always hard to know what to make of a draw. Strange we were at home, picked 3 full backs and still seemed to struggle with the conditions. I did not have much of a problem with the forwards, not quite sure why Fritzell catching so much flack but was happy with Sotutu but don't really expect many changes to the pack. In the backs I would expect Clarke to come in to the XV and BB to 15 if fit. Even though Bridge is not as bad as some make out the ball carrying of Clarke is something we need. If BB and Mounga are fit DMac has almost no shot at being in the 23. Also not seeing how Reiko is going to start next game.
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@DMX said in Bledisloe One: Wellington, October 11:
Its always hard to know what to make of a draw. Strange we were at home, picked 3 full backs and still seemed to struggle with the conditions. I did not have much of a problem with the forwards, not quite sure why Fritzell catching so much flack but was happy with Sotutu but don't really expect many changes to the pack. In the backs I would expect Clarke to come in to the XV and BB to 15 if fit. Even though Bridge is not as bad as some make out the ball carrying of Clarke is something we need. If BB and Mounga are fit DMac has almost no shot at being in the 23. Also not seeing how Reiko is going to start next game.
Mounga openly admitted in the "In the Sheds" video after the match that he hated playing at the Caketin because of the conditions. Such a shit attitude - you're playing in an AB test match, which could go a long way to securing your stewardship of the 10 jersey for the foreseeable, and you've resigned yourself to having a shitter from the off. Explains a lot about his performance and suggests he might not have what it takes to make it at test level
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@junior He just hates playing at test level altogether judging by his first 19 tests. Why not just let him enjoy himself by bullying the domestic scene like he always does.
He's like the Mathew Sinclair of NZ rugby.
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Mounga had a really poor game I thought given the weather. I also think goodhue should be 13 or not in the team. Best memory will be Clarke’s cameo. O for awesome. You’d have to think BB to 10 and JB to 15 for the next game.
