ABs 2020: Who didn't get a fair crack?
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Media tells us that Foster was trying to blood new players and give a chance to some who were recent but needed to get established. How well has this actually happened?
While the programme was a bit disrupted and team selection plans had to react to poor performances, who do you think drew the short straw and deserved more of a chance?Dalton Papalii is one IMO. Not quite sure how he fits in but a bench spot at least would have been nice to see. He was looking in fantastic form when he turned out for CM. A real class above those around him.
Luckily Will Jordan managed to pull off his opportunity even if he probably should have had more time. -
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@Stargazer said in ABs 2020: Who didn't get a fair crack?:
@Crucial Cullen Grace, obviously.
Yep. They took a few options to find the solution at 6 and seemed reluctant to use them until it became obvious that Akira didn't get his fair go so they gave him another.
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I'm sure if everything had gone to plan this last game against Argentina would have been used to give some of the other squad players a game. Winning the Bledisloe Cup was priority no.1 so minimal selection risks (from the AB coaches perspective) were taken in those first 3 games.
You can't include any of the injury replacements in this list.
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Tough for Dalton to get a shot when the captain is at seven. That's going to bite us if he ever gets injured.
Watching Akira's workrate and accuracy on defence (even stealing lineouts now), it's going to take a hell of a performance to move him from six. Grace is still pretty green, he might just have to wait like Akira had to, and get ahead of Frizzel in the pecking order.
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@Machpants said in ABs 2020: Who didn't get a fair crack?:
I think what the lack of actual success and limited time for many palyers means is an even better SRA. The number of players that are playing for an AB slot is high, hopefully this will see a standards lift even better than this years.
Yeah. I certainly think that the last game showed that we really need a prop that consistently plays like Laulala did. He hasn't done that enough. Makes a huge difference to getting on the front foot. That is one target that I am hoping someone will step up into.
I also hope that Aumua progresses. Coles is on the slide and Taylor seems to be a shadow of himself.
We could do with another halfback stepping up too.
What we really miss though is a huge multi skilled ugly lock. Anybody know of one? -
I think every few new guys got a decent crack and when the did they didn't get to build on it.
PUJ looked good...hardly seen again
AI looked good, only got one other gamemust be hard for these guys to know what they have to do to get a start...playing well isn't enough apparently
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@Kiwiwomble said in ABs 2020: Who didn't get a fair crack?:
I think every few new guys got a decent crack and when the did they didn't get to build on it.
PUJ looked good...hardly seen again
AI looked good, only got one other gamemust be hard for these guys to know what they have to do to get a start...playing well isn't enough apparently
PUJ got concussed, and was a fill in anyway
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@Kiwiwomble thing is, there has always been a history of 'loyalty' to the current squad.
Tough to get into, but tougher to get out it seems.
ANd an injury replacement doesnt mean that new guy has an 'in'
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I'm not really a fan of the thread title, because it's the All Blacks and not the Under-10s. If you're not established as the best player in your position then any time you get is a privilege.
Plus - we only had six tests, we struggled, and when Fozzie pushed the rotation button a bit, we lost (though players not on the park had a fair bit to do with that).
That first bit sounds a bit sanctimonious - but, what I mean is a complete newbie like Cullen Grace - any time he got was a bonus.
A slightly different tack - people who I'd want to see in the first test next year (based on what we've seen).
Nepo Laulala, Scott Barrett, Akira Ioane, Will Jordan.
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@KiwiMurph said in ABs 2020: Who didn't get a fair crack?:
Another one is Tupou Vaai - he got game time but there's an argument he should have got more and come on earlier in his bench appearances.
When is that giant from the highlanders back from injury ? Surely he'll get a hoon ?
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I think this is one of the worst failures of the coaches this year. The initial team selection was filled with out of position and out of form players and explained away as an “experienced” selection to lock up the Bledisloe.
That only changed through injuries.After the Bledisloe was locked up they fucked up by making wholesale changes. Then panicked and reverted to the “top” team full of flawed selections after the loss to the Wallabies. Then the worst case scenario happened and we lost to the Argies.
What this all meant was that we didn’t get to see some of these newer guys come in and play along side the top players. It was either in a team with wholesale changes or getting 2 min off the bench.
Clarke should have been at 11 ahead of Bridge from the start.
Frizzel should have been rotated out after the first two games to try one of the other options at 6.
Jordan should have started early on.
Papalii and Grace should have been given more than a handful of minutes.Unfortunately it means we are now a full season into the RWC cycle and some of the lessons that should have been had and some of the experience that should have been built, wasn’t.
So, some big questions remain. Some have been partially answered but lots of the answers were “no this doesn’t work” with no clues about what does.
Who is the best 6? Probably not Frizzel. Akira went well but we only got to see a short sample. Grace didn’t get a real shot. What is Papalii’s role?
What is the most balanced back row? Akira and Sotutu both looked good, so did Cane and Ardie. But how do they all fit together? We didn’t try many options that didn’t have Cane and Ardie at 7 and 8.
Are our back up 9’s up to it?
Is Laumape up to it?
Is Aumua up to it?
Is RIoane really best used in midfield or should he still be a winger?
Does RM+BB actually work or should we pick one of them at 10 and a real 15 at 15 eg. Jordie?
Is it a good idea to play Jordie at 14 ? (The answer to this should be obvious) or are there better options?
Is Pat T up to starting or is he only a bench option?
Are JG and ALB being used the right way around?
