Wellington vs Northland
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On the performance itself, Wellington definitely have the firepower to win this competition if they can keep their best XV fit and healthy. Dominic Bird seems to be a great edition to a solid pack and the backline has the ability to score from anywhere.
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@canes4life said in Wellington vs Northland:
I agree, these games need to be moved to a smaller venue. Mixing the matches between JC Stadium and The Hutt Rec would be a great option IMO.
I agree - but these are made for TV, and the pre-fixed TV points at larger stadiums are helpful.
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@chiefy07 yep Nock would have been a massive point difference for us yesterday, whilst he probably wouldn’t have changed the result the margin could have been significantly lower.
Just shows with a team like ours we can’t afford to lose one or two quality players. We have no depth coupled with average selections from the coaches, that’s a concoction for disaster.
Our union seems to be making most of its noise off the field with new facilities etc etc, but we’re still lacking where it counts and that’s building depth and getting our recruitment and retention right. I still hold hope we can be successful like other unions our size, but shit I’d like to be still alive to see it!! And I’m not that old yet.. 😂
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@taniwharugby Pryor should be ready either round 5 or 6 ..would like to see Jonah Mau’u given a crack ,after all he was selected as specialist 7.
I think the coaches have made a massive mistake not picking Matt Matich ,he will give you work rate ,especially on the tackle ,we missed 40 x tackles which just unacceptable..
I would bring Matich into the squad at least as cover for Robinson… -
@steven-harris is he not even in nz yet then?
Yeah I'd have been on the phone to matich last week if I had been dumb enough to leave him out in the first place.
Smacks of arrogance to continue ignoring a player of his class just because it would be admitting you were wrong not picking him to start with.
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That’s all I was told regarding Pryor ,Regardless of where he is at the minute R5 or R6 return ..
Like yourself I am annoyed like hell over the performance or lack of it , not acceptable and after having watched most of the teams ..we are bottom of the barrel by a long way . -
@steven-harris if he has a 3 week ban, and isnt due to play until 5 or 6, means he likely isnt even in NZ yet, I assume judiciary take into account 2 weeks in isolation cant count toward games you miss too.
Last year we started like we did yesterday too, although was v Manawatu, in Whangarei and we pulled out fingers out in the 2nd half and got the W.
Cos based on the way other teams have looked, we will be propping up the table, which we shouldnt be, this is largely the squad that made the final last year. This is where our coaches show thier worth
Any news on Ranger or other injuries?
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The crowds at Sky Stadium are certainly a bit of a problem.
I just can't see moving the games to the other locations as a viable solution.
Porirua is only 4k.
Petone rec only has the grandstand and no embankment. Also, imagine adding another 1000 cars for a decent game day to the Hutt. I live two minutes walk from Petone Rec and traffic on a normal Saturday is bad enough.
Same problem for the Hutt Showgrounds.
My solution would be to drop ticket prices at Sky Stadium to $10. Then do what ever you can to talk Metlink into having trains run on game days. We normally always have bus replacements on Saturday/Sunday's and having trains on and incorporated into the ticket prices would bring people in to watch the games. I will not catch a bus from Petone to go to the game. But, I will jump on the train.
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@southernmann You used to be able to use the busses for free going to and from the game in the past, all you nee3ded to to show your ticket and they did not charge you. Not sure that is still happening but I used to take advantage of it all the I did not have free car park tickets!
Incidentally there was not much of an attendance last year at Jerry Collins Stadium when Wellington played the combined Nelson Bays/Marlborough outfit. Admittedly it was a rather awful day and Wellington were not performing all that well going into the game and were Absolutely Postively Woeful on that particular day. -
Yeah buses are fine. I just don't want to have to sit on one from the Hutt to Sky Stadium which could be a 30 minute journey in peak traffic.
I want me train, which is often down for maintenance on weekend.
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@taniwharugby
Ranger is done for the season , In surgery today where they will put a metal plate in , it was a clean break to the are , so it should heal faster , a real bugger especially when your stuck on 99 x games .
There’s an outside chance he will come back for one game , but unless he’s got a Fijian witch doctor aka Waisake Naholo.., he might have to wait until next year .
Likely replacement will be Kalani Going.
Also Tom Robinson will be unavailable for 6 x weeks, good news is , there is no symptoms of the concussion , hoping their will be an assessment depending on recovery and he can be cleared for round 8 or 9..Also hearing a replacement halfback will be added as Sam Nock may not be available this weekend..
When it rains it pours , feels like the season is over before it started ..
Got a fair idea who it is, but will announce it later in the week. -
@steven-harris yeah bro, I'm all set for a long season....maybe our coaches are still hanging onto the fact this is largely the same team that made the final last year and not thinking they needed to do much to lift from there.
I can only hope Saturday was an anomaly and our players will step up this weekend and show some mettle, we have won our last 2 games in Whangarei v 'naki, so
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@taniwharugby said in Wellington vs Northland:
@steven-harris yeah bro, I'm all set for a long season....maybe our coaches are still hanging onto the fact this is largely the same team that made the final last year and not thinking they needed to do much to lift from there.
I can only hope Saturday was an anomaly and our players will step up this weekend and show some mettle, we have won our last 2 games in Whangarei v 'naki, so
Hope springs eternal if you are a Northland fan. But there was very clear evidence with selections and the performance that we are a long way away from where we should be.
Frankly it is not good enough with all the players we now have - or should have . Our expectation (mine?) is that we should be competitive in every game.
Some players didn’t look fit? How does that happen? But smashing yourself up in a preseason game against Auckland a week out for a start is not smart. Save that for the first game at least.
As a team they were all over the place. I know nothing about scrums but from the first scrum Te Whata-Colley was clearly angling in. When the pressure was applied he was folded and popped. The backline defence was terrible e.g. Blake Hohaia at one point ran about 5 metres up and out of the line and then fell over. Gregory had to stop and turn in to cover the massive gap he left. When he fell over we had no one defending in the centre’s.
Ruck and maul work. One time when we were on attack, Goodhue peeled off a ruck to take the next ball up which he duly received and took forward but he was absolutely 100% by himself. Not a Northland player to be seen when we were hot on attack. Of course the ball was turned over. It’s going to be a very long season if your forwards can’t do the work at ruck and maul time.
We had the ball stripped one on one 5 times - wtf?
And then, our lineout work with Olsen off the field was just awful.
When the team plays together everyone lifts. But when, the team plays like we did on Saturday, everyone looks bad.
Players have to want to make their tackles ( looking at you Johnny Cooper ) and then get up and clean out - intensity, speed. Trust your mate to do their job, stay in the pattern.
The feeling is that last year was a false dawn and the Management team haven’t done the hard work in the off season.
That said Reihana looked awesome. 👍
