Hurricanes 2023
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@Stargazer yeah no point rushing the kid. Hopefully he takes over from Kirifi.
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@Crucial said in Hurricanes 2023:
Why are you all looking at the loosies when it is locks and 10s that you need?
If you want to back Moorby and Love then go ahead and target the semis as a development year for them. It's the best option.
Depth in the second row is your next problem.The big question for me is where Cameron will go - either the Canes or the Landers (possibly Chiefs, but that would be assuming we don't re-sign Dmac, so hopefully not).
My feeling is that Cameron would be a good fit for the Landers, but he was rumored to be a Canes target (I think I read that somewhere). If he doesn't sign, then aiming to be the third best NZ side and try to steal a semi would be over-achieving.
In terms of lock talent, one question could be whether the Chiefs can keep all of theirs. Picking up even McWhannell could be good for the Canes.
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@Canes4life said in Hurricanes 2023:
This 8 would be awesome for the Canes next year:
- Mafileo
- Coles
- Lomax
- Walker-Leawere
- Sangster
- Howden
- Savea
- Flanders
You’re forgetting Blackwell.
Typo I assume 😉
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@Stargazer said in Hurricanes 2023:
The Canes should sign Cridge again. Only not sure Cridge would want to. He gets consistent game time at the Waratahs. He might be watching from the sideline a lot at the Canes, despite being far better - and taller - than Blackwell.
Nah Cridge is average, he started a couple of games for the Waratahs and soon became out of favour there once they realised he’s big but doesn’t make much impact. I would prefer Tom Parsons, he looks to have a great work rate.
We need locks and props who can scrum and have high work rates. Sangster was a brilliant find this season but we need to find more gold nuggets.
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@Canes4life LOL, I don't know how you make up that bs about Cridge. He started 7 games (both at the beginning and near the end of the comp), came off the bench in 4, was injured in round 3 (ankle), 13 (hand), 15 (concussion) and the QF (concussion). So he played in 11 of their 15 games. He played pretty well for a rookie who had one SR game under his belt before the season started. He has consistently been one of the best locks in NPC, too, the last few years, and has a huge workrate.
I think Parsons is class and deserves to play SR, but he's 31 years old.
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@Stargazer nah Cridge isn’t anything special, definitely not the sort of lock I would be looking for to help bolster an area of weakness within the Canes.
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@Canes4life said in Hurricanes 2023:
@Stargazer nah Cridge isn’t anything special, definitely not the sort of lock I would be looking for to help bolster an area of weakness within the Canes.
Right, so you are quite happy to persevere with Mr. Blackwell then?
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@Higgins said in Hurricanes 2023:
@Canes4life said in Hurricanes 2023:
@Stargazer nah Cridge isn’t anything special, definitely not the sort of lock I would be looking for to help bolster an area of weakness within the Canes.
Right, so you are quite happy to persevere with Mr. Blackwell then?
Of course not, have you not been reading the Canes thread for the last couple of years? If we want to be title contenders we need to do better than players like Blackwell and Cridge.
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@Canes4life But you do agree that you just made up the bs you said about him getting out of favour at the Tahs, right? And that "they realised he's big but doesn't make much impact" was also also an argument you just fabricated without it being based on fact? Because if it was true, they wouldn't have kept picking him over the other locks in their squad.
You may not find him special, but he offers a heck of a lot more than Blackwell and not just centimetres in height.
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@Canes4life What you want is an ABs standard lock. Don't we all? But they don't grow on trees and there are few of those around. Until we find one, it's better to look for upgrades on who we have in the squad now. Cridge may not be ABs standard, but he is an upgrade compared to Blackwell.
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@Stargazer man you get defensive every time someone talks dirt on a Hawkes Bay player. Sheesh, stats don’t always tell you a full picture about a player, Cridge is someone I’ve watched quite closely ever since he made the Canes at the beginning of his career (including his stints for the Tahs this year) and he’s always been an average player at best, just a big body who shows the odd flash of potential but has never really pushed on to the heights many thought he would.
When you compare him to guys like Rettalick or Whitelock in their prime you quickly understand why no one has rushed out to sign him, highlighted by the fact he’s playing for the Tahs and not a NZ Super side.
And before you mention Blackwell, he too is just another average Super lock that is preventing the Canes from reaching their potential.
THE CANES NEED BETTER LOCKS! (Better than Cridge and Blackwell anyway).
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@Canes4life So you're agreeing you talk dirt?
You can't have watched him closely if you think he just had "stints" at the Tahs, this year. As I said, he didn't play just 20 minutes off the bench every game. He started most games he played in.
And yes, I'm defensive if someone makes stuff up about our players. You can have a different opinion on a player, but don't pretend to state facts when you've just fabricated them.
And as you can read in my following post, I didn't compare him with ABs locks. You are. As ABs quality locks are hard to find, they should go for an upgrade until they find or develop one.
But as I said, Cridge probably doesn't want to go back anyway, so it's a moot point. He's better off at a franchise where he gets to play regularly. Hopefully, a player like Sangster will eventually push Blackwell out and one or more of the U20s players turn out to be gems. But with Larsen still in charge, some talent will probably slip through the Canes' nets.
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@Canes4life said in Hurricanes 2023:
@Stargazer man you get defensive every time someone talks dirt on a Hawkes Bay player. Sheesh, stats don’t always tell you a full picture about a player, Cridge is someone I’ve watched quite closely ever since he made the Canes at the beginning of his career (including his stints for the Tahs this year) and he’s always been an average player at best, just a big body who shows the odd flash of potential but has never really pushed on to the heights many thought he would.
When you compare him to guys like Rettalick or Whitelock in their prime you quickly understand why no one has rushed out to sign him, highlighted by the fact he’s playing for the Tahs and not a NZ Super side.
And before you mention Blackwell, he too is just another average Super lock that is preventing the Canes from reaching their potential.
THE CANES NEED BETTER LOCKS! (Better than Cridge and Blackwell anyway).
You can't have been watching all that closely or else you will have noticed that his sum total of Hurricanes games total exactly one during his time with them which was wrecked completely with a series of injuries that kept him sidelined for almost the entire period. Congratulations on being so perceptive as to form an opinion on him in less than eighty minutes of action.
In terms of Magpies appearances (59 in total) he was never outclassed and that includes all the matches against Wellington where the Bay won every time. -
@Canes4life said in Hurricanes 2023:
@Stargazer nah Cridge isn’t anything special, definitely not the sort of lock I would be looking for to help bolster an area of weakness within the Canes.
That's unsurprising, you're as blinkered with your favouritism towards Wellington players as the Canes coaches and management.
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Lol surprise, surprise, here comes the Hawkes Bay Mafia.
You guys getting all defensive won't change the fact that Cridge is an average Super Rugby lock at best, just like James Blackwell and many other locks out there atm. We need better than that if we want to reach that next level.
@Nepia what Wellington favouritism? I literally just said we need to get rid of James Blackwell aswell.
Talk about the broken record award.
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@Canes4life But your comments say indicate that you prefer him over the also Mr. Blackwell. Then you go on to say that "compared to guys like Retallick or Whitelock in their prime you quickly understand why no one has rushed out to sign him". Well if you use that standard to rate a lock's suitably to be signed for super rugby in NZ then we are going to be rather short of them.
Oh and how do you explain the Hurricanes failure to sign Brodie Retallick? Surely he must rate a tad higher than the likes of Mark Reddish and Jeremy Thrush.
