Old AB teams discussion
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@MN5 said in All Blacks 2023:
@canefan said in All Blacks 2023:
@MN5 said in All Blacks 2023:
@Nepia said in All Blacks 2023:
@MN5 said in All Blacks 2023:
@Nepia said in All Blacks 2023:
@MN5 said in All Blacks 2023:
@canefan said in All Blacks 2023:
@Nepia said in All Blacks 2023:
@mariner4life said in All Blacks 2023:
@Bones said in All Blacks 2023:
@Stargazer said in All Blacks 2023:
@Bones The win % says more than the total number of wins.
He's no Laurie Mains, but everyone's gotta have goals.
John Mitchell done so dirty by that graphic
Foster seems like a guy a little out of his depth, Mitchell has always seemed like a KHunt. So not done dirty at all in my book.
At least Foster's players genuinely seem to be fond of him. Not sure any of Mitch's players would lay on a grenade for him. I dislike the man for clear reason. His only redeeming feature is that he has a son that plays cricket for NZ and does it very well
He gave some pretty clear reasons for why he dropped Cullen but by Christ they went down like a shit sandwich.
I guess that comes down to was a case of was a 80% Cullen as good as 100% MacDonald/Blair ?
……so many on here have had a go at Foster for NOT dropping guys that are that tiny bit past it so it kinda proves you can’t win as an AB coach no matter what you do.
Not sure why you're implying the problem with Mitchell was merely Cullen (and yes his reasoning was utter b/s).
I’m not I’m just using one example and even the biggest fans ( of which I was one ) have to admit he wasn’t the player he was.
To engage you in your one example, even if he wasn't the player he was he was still the best 15 in the country in 2003. France managed to get performances out of Blanco after he wasn't the player he was.
Quite frankly Mitchell got lucky with the Blues centre after early trying a Blues winger at fullback.
Yeah but Cullens whole game relied on extreme pace and mobility which he didn’t quite have anymore. It’s debatable whether that version of Cullen was better than MacDonald/Blair. Fully fit from a couple of years back ? No contest.
I’m not defending Mitchell but I can see his point.
That's revisionist mate. Cullen was still one of the two best FBs in NZ, if not the best that year. I remember at one presser John Mitchell tried to explain that CC used poor technique when running with ball in hand, which was a ridiculous way to seemingly try to humiliate him
...... I want people thinking I love Mitchell.
FIFY
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@MN5 said in Old AB teams discussion:
@Nepia said in All Blacks 2023:
@MN5 said in All Blacks 2023:
@Nepia said in All Blacks 2023:
@MN5 said in All Blacks 2023:
@canefan said in All Blacks 2023:
@Nepia said in All Blacks 2023:
@mariner4life said in All Blacks 2023:
@Bones said in All Blacks 2023:
@Stargazer said in All Blacks 2023:
@Bones The win % says more than the total number of wins.
He's no Laurie Mains, but everyone's gotta have goals.
John Mitchell done so dirty by that graphic
Foster seems like a guy a little out of his depth, Mitchell has always seemed like a KHunt. So not done dirty at all in my book.
At least Foster's players genuinely seem to be fond of him. Not sure any of Mitch's players would lay on a grenade for him. I dislike the man for clear reason. His only redeeming feature is that he has a son that plays cricket for NZ and does it very well
He gave some pretty clear reasons for why he dropped Cullen but by Christ they went down like a shit sandwich.
I guess that comes down to was a case of was a 80% Cullen as good as 100% MacDonald/Blair ?
……so many on here have had a go at Foster for NOT dropping guys that are that tiny bit past it so it kinda proves you can’t win as an AB coach no matter what you do.
Not sure why you're implying the problem with Mitchell was merely Cullen (and yes his reasoning was utter b/s).
I’m not I’m just using one example and even the biggest fans ( of which I was one ) have to admit he wasn’t the player he was.
To engage you in your one example, even if he wasn't the player he was he was still the best 15 in the country in 2003. France managed to get performances out of Blanco after he wasn't the player he was.
Quite frankly Mitchell got lucky with the Blues centre after early trying a Blues winger at fullback.
Yeah but Cullens whole game relied on extreme pace and mobility which he didn’t quite have anymore. It’s debatable whether that version of Cullen was better than MacDonald/Blair. Fully fit from a couple of years back ? No contest.
I’m not defending Mitchell but I can see his point.
The 2003 version.of Cullen was better than them both in 2003 even if he wasn't Cullen of earlier.
@MN5 said in Old AB teams discussion:
I don’t want people thinking I love Mitchell.
Too late, you're his fluffer in chief.
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@Bovidae said in Old AB teams discussion:
@ACT-Crusader said in Old AB teams discussion:
@nzzp said in Old AB teams discussion:
@ACT-Crusader upvote for Brown at 3.
But Bunce at 12? Wasn't he a centre?
Bunce very first test match for the ABs was at 2nd 5, but all of his other ones were at centre.
Good old Laurie thinking Little was a centre. No wonder they lost to the World XV.
I'm curious why he thought Little was a centre, not a great tackler, more a magician with twinkly footwork I would have thought.
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@Nepia said in Old AB teams discussion:
@MN5 said in Old AB teams discussion:
@Nepia said in All Blacks 2023:
@MN5 said in All Blacks 2023:
@Nepia said in All Blacks 2023:
@MN5 said in All Blacks 2023:
@canefan said in All Blacks 2023:
@Nepia said in All Blacks 2023:
@mariner4life said in All Blacks 2023:
@Bones said in All Blacks 2023:
@Stargazer said in All Blacks 2023:
@Bones The win % says more than the total number of wins.
He's no Laurie Mains, but everyone's gotta have goals.
John Mitchell done so dirty by that graphic
Foster seems like a guy a little out of his depth, Mitchell has always seemed like a KHunt. So not done dirty at all in my book.
At least Foster's players genuinely seem to be fond of him. Not sure any of Mitch's players would lay on a grenade for him. I dislike the man for clear reason. His only redeeming feature is that he has a son that plays cricket for NZ and does it very well
He gave some pretty clear reasons for why he dropped Cullen but by Christ they went down like a shit sandwich.
I guess that comes down to was a case of was a 80% Cullen as good as 100% MacDonald/Blair ?
……so many on here have had a go at Foster for NOT dropping guys that are that tiny bit past it so it kinda proves you can’t win as an AB coach no matter what you do.
Not sure why you're implying the problem with Mitchell was merely Cullen (and yes his reasoning was utter b/s).
I’m not I’m just using one example and even the biggest fans ( of which I was one ) have to admit he wasn’t the player he was.
To engage you in your one example, even if he wasn't the player he was he was still the best 15 in the country in 2003. France managed to get performances out of Blanco after he wasn't the player he was.
Quite frankly Mitchell got lucky with the Blues centre after early trying a Blues winger at fullback.
Yeah but Cullens whole game relied on extreme pace and mobility which he didn’t quite have anymore. It’s debatable whether that version of Cullen was better than MacDonald/Blair. Fully fit from a couple of years back ? No contest.
I’m not defending Mitchell but I can see his point.
The 2003 version.of Cullen was better than them both in 2003 even if he wasn't Cullen of earlier.
@MN5 said in Old AB teams discussion:
I don’t want people thinking I love Mitchell.
Too late, you're his fluffer in chief.
do I remember right that there was no love lost between Cullen and Mitchell?
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@nostrildamus said in Old AB teams discussion:
@Nepia said in Old AB teams discussion:
@MN5 said in Old AB teams discussion:
@Nepia said in All Blacks 2023:
@MN5 said in All Blacks 2023:
@Nepia said in All Blacks 2023:
@MN5 said in All Blacks 2023:
@canefan said in All Blacks 2023:
@Nepia said in All Blacks 2023:
@mariner4life said in All Blacks 2023:
@Bones said in All Blacks 2023:
@Stargazer said in All Blacks 2023:
@Bones The win % says more than the total number of wins.
He's no Laurie Mains, but everyone's gotta have goals.
John Mitchell done so dirty by that graphic
Foster seems like a guy a little out of his depth, Mitchell has always seemed like a KHunt. So not done dirty at all in my book.
At least Foster's players genuinely seem to be fond of him. Not sure any of Mitch's players would lay on a grenade for him. I dislike the man for clear reason. His only redeeming feature is that he has a son that plays cricket for NZ and does it very well
He gave some pretty clear reasons for why he dropped Cullen but by Christ they went down like a shit sandwich.
I guess that comes down to was a case of was a 80% Cullen as good as 100% MacDonald/Blair ?
……so many on here have had a go at Foster for NOT dropping guys that are that tiny bit past it so it kinda proves you can’t win as an AB coach no matter what you do.
Not sure why you're implying the problem with Mitchell was merely Cullen (and yes his reasoning was utter b/s).
I’m not I’m just using one example and even the biggest fans ( of which I was one ) have to admit he wasn’t the player he was.
To engage you in your one example, even if he wasn't the player he was he was still the best 15 in the country in 2003. France managed to get performances out of Blanco after he wasn't the player he was.
Quite frankly Mitchell got lucky with the Blues centre after early trying a Blues winger at fullback.
Yeah but Cullens whole game relied on extreme pace and mobility which he didn’t quite have anymore. It’s debatable whether that version of Cullen was better than MacDonald/Blair. Fully fit from a couple of years back ? No contest.
I’m not defending Mitchell but I can see his point.
The 2003 version.of Cullen was better than them both in 2003 even if he wasn't Cullen of earlier.
@MN5 said in Old AB teams discussion:
I don’t want people thinking I love Mitchell.
Too late, you're his fluffer in chief.
do I remember right that there was no love lost between Cullen and Mitchell?
Um, that could be said of a lot of players in that era. But specifically Domehead had screwed Cullen (and Wilson, Cribb) earlier in his reign by saying they were all dropped when they had injuries which impacted with their AB money.
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@Nepia said in Old AB teams discussion:
Um, that could be said of a lot of players in that era. But specifically Domehead had screwed Cullen (and Wilson, Cribb) earlier in his reign by saying they were all dropped when they had injuries which impacted with their AB money.
On that note this was an interesting read
https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/news/10634198/Inside-ex-All-Blacks-coach-Mitchells-journey -
@mencey said in Old AB teams discussion:
Cullen was the greatest full back in the history of the game IMHO.
Def one of. But I'd have Blanco & JPR up here too.
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@Bovidae said in Old AB teams discussion:
I blame Deans. You can argue how much influence he had, but he was the backs coach.
They both seemed intent on proving that you could have a winning ABs team filled with journeymen, as opposed to relying on stars
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@Victor-Meldrew said in Old AB teams discussion:
@mencey said in Old AB teams discussion:
Cullen was the greatest full back in the history of the game IMHO.
Def one of. But I'd have Blanco & JPR up here too.
Nepia
Hastings
Clarke -
@booboo said in Old AB teams discussion:
@Victor-Meldrew said in Old AB teams discussion:
@mencey said in Old AB teams discussion:
Cullen was the greatest full back in the history of the game IMHO.
Def one of. But I'd have Blanco & JPR up here too.
Nepia
Hastings
ClarkeNever saw Nepia (my dad raved about him like we rave about McCaw) but by all accounts way up there. Clarke & Hastings were great but not GOAT contenders IMHO
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@Victor-Meldrew said in Old AB teams discussion:
@booboo said in Old AB teams discussion:
@Victor-Meldrew said in Old AB teams discussion:
@mencey said in Old AB teams discussion:
Cullen was the greatest full back in the history of the game IMHO.
Def one of. But I'd have Blanco & JPR up here too.
Nepia
Hastings
ClarkeNever saw Nepia (my dad raved about him like we rave about McCaw) but by all accounts way up there. Clarke & Hastings were great but not GOAT contenders IMHO
Nepia and Clarke off reputation.
Clarke roundly hailed as best AB 15 of the 20th century.
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@Victor-Meldrew said in Old AB teams discussion:
@booboo said in Old AB teams discussion:
@Victor-Meldrew said in Old AB teams discussion:
@mencey said in Old AB teams discussion:
Cullen was the greatest full back in the history of the game IMHO.
Def one of. But I'd have Blanco & JPR up here too.
Nepia
Hastings
ClarkeNever saw Nepia (my dad raved about him like we rave about McCaw) but by all accounts way up there. Clarke & Hastings were great but not GOAT contenders IMHO
Some reckon Andy Irvine and Stuart Hogg were better than old Gav.
He was a damn fine all round player though.
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@booboo said in Old AB teams discussion:
Clarke roundly hailed as best AB 15 of the 20th century.
He was an outstanding kicker when 55 yard rugby was the norm and had unbelievable hands apparently, but always thought he was regarded as pretty limited?
Personally, I'd rate Fergie McCormick up there.
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@Victor-Meldrew said in Old AB teams discussion:
@booboo said in Old AB teams discussion:
Clarke roundly hailed as best AB 15 of the 20th century.
He was an outstanding kicker when 55 yard rugby was the norm and had unbelievable hands apparently, but always thought he was regarded as pretty limited?
Personally, I'd rate Fergie McCormick up there.
Fergie played all of 16 tests...
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@booboo said in Old AB teams discussion:
@Victor-Meldrew said in Old AB teams discussion:
@booboo said in Old AB teams discussion:
@Victor-Meldrew said in Old AB teams discussion:
@mencey said in Old AB teams discussion:
Cullen was the greatest full back in the history of the game IMHO.
Def one of. But I'd have Blanco & JPR up here too.
Nepia
Hastings
ClarkeNever saw Nepia (my dad raved about him like we rave about McCaw) but by all accounts way up there. Clarke & Hastings were great but not GOAT contenders IMHO
Nepia and Clarke off reputation.
Clarke roundly hailed as best AB 15 of the 20th century.
Huh? Never heard that before, it 's always me.
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@booboo said in Old AB teams discussion:
@Victor-Meldrew said in Old AB teams discussion:
@booboo said in Old AB teams discussion:
Clarke roundly hailed as best AB 15 of the 20th century.
He was an outstanding kicker when 55 yard rugby was the norm and had unbelievable hands apparently, but always thought he was regarded as pretty limited?
Personally, I'd rate Fergie McCormick up there.
Fergie played all of 16 tests...
About 5 years worth.
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@Nepia said in Old AB teams discussion:
@booboo said in Old AB teams discussion:
@Victor-Meldrew said in Old AB teams discussion:
@booboo said in Old AB teams discussion:
@Victor-Meldrew said in Old AB teams discussion:
@mencey said in Old AB teams discussion:
Cullen was the greatest full back in the history of the game IMHO.
Def one of. But I'd have Blanco & JPR up here too.
Nepia
Hastings
ClarkeNever saw Nepia (my dad raved about him like we rave about McCaw) but by all accounts way up there. Clarke & Hastings were great but not GOAT contenders IMHO
Nepia and Clarke off reputation.
Clarke roundly hailed as best AB 15 of the 20th century.
Huh? Never heard that before, it 's always me.
Let me tell you a little tale....
Did a sponsored walk from Naenae to Wellington in my early teens. Bloke at the finish signs my form as completed. Bloke had charisma and looked a fit mid-60's. Go home, show my form to my Dad and he gets very excited and asked me to describe bloke.
The name on the form was "George Nepia".
