Positions and players to watch - 2021
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@shark said in Positions and players to watch - 2021:
@sparky is Segner even in the core Crusaders squad??
Not yet, but I'd be amazed if he doesn't get some game time if the injuries mount up. If he steps up, then he could become part of the ABs' 2023 plans.
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@shark said in Positions and players to watch - 2021:
Ash Dixon would be going through The Change Of Life if he were a bird, he's so fucking old.
Played the best Rugby of his life in 2020. He might be one of those who matures late. Tom Brady is still going in his 40s, so why not Ash Dixon in his mid-30s?
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@Bones said in Positions and players to watch - 2021:
@sparky said in Positions and players to watch - 2021:
Billy Proctor,
National selectors no. Canes might want to see a return on investment though.
Billy Proctor is not knocking on the door of national selection yet, but I liked his work at the end of the 2020 season for Wellington and the NZ Maori. Worth keeping an eye on him as an AB bolter for 2022 or 2023, but as you say he'll need to string some strong performances for the Hurricanes together before that.
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@shark Excellent post, I agree with a lot of that apart from:
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I think Akira Ioane, Cullen Grace, Dalton Papalii and Tom Robinson are all better options at 6 than Frizzell, Squire and Fifita. Fifita looked done to me in 2020.
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If he can build on his form in 2020, Hoskin Sotutu should be the first-choice All Black 8 for a long time.
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I think Aaron Smith will be around in 2023 but as the second or third Half Back.
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@KiwiMurph said in Positions and players to watch - 2021:
Akira did not put a foot wrong in his 1.5 tests - he was excellent.
Yeah, he was impressive, and I'd like to see him start a few more tests before I'm 100% convinced his dickhead inclinations have been laid to rest.
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@shark said in Positions and players to watch - 2021:
@sparky Sam Darry will be promising if he can ditch his Isaac Ross physique. He clearly needed to board at Christ's College in order to build muscle whilst jostling for the filet mignon and shaved truffle in the dinner queue.
That's what happens when your mother is the AB nutritionist. Quality of food over quantity.
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@Bovidae All possibly true, it was basically my list of guys with a handful or no caps who I think might develop into International-quality players by 2023. Slater will come really good in time I suspect. I don't expect all of that lot to be knocking on the door of AB selection this year.
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@sparky I'm picking Devan Flanders to have a huge year. Wouldn't be surprised at all if he features as a 6/8 option for the All Blacks later this year.
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@Canes4life said in Positions and players to watch - 2021:
@sparky I'm picking Devan Flanders to have a huge year. Wouldn't be surprised at all if he features as a 6/8 option for the All Blacks later this year.
He may do but there is a backlog of other good, already identified, talent there that is waiting for a chance. There may not be room.
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@sparky said in Positions and players to watch - 2021:
@shark said in Positions and players to watch - 2021:
Ash Dixon would be going through The Change Of Life if he were a bird, he's so fucking old.
Played the best Rugby of his life in 2020. He might be one of those who matures late. Tom Brady is still going in his 40s, so why not Ash Dixon in his mid-30s?
big Dixon fan...but I think he's firmly in this weird place in his career. RWC final and we've lost three hookers through injury, id bring ash in rather than some up and comer as he's got the maturity to handle it if not the experience at the international level...its real niche
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@Crucial yeah but I think Flanders potentially has a higher ceiling than some of that already identified talent, he just needs time on the field.
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@Kiwiwomble Yep, he's captained the Maori All Blacks since 2016. I'd trust him more than anyone else in the circumstances that you describe. With Coles having become very injury prone the last few years, and Aumua also having had quite a few injuries already, it's not unthinkable. Rather Dixon than Coltman, but you know, these ABs selectors .... They'd probably still pick Parsons, despite him having retired.
