2022 HB Tipping Team
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Right time for those with black and white blood flowing through our veins to stick their hands up to tip for The Bay in KPs prestigious tipping competition which kicks off at 7.05pm this coming Friday. We somehow managed to lose form in the final last season and had to settle for the silver medal after Counties/Waikato somehow found a way to tip us over in the final so need to put in a concerted effort to once again reign supreme, something that we have not done since the arrival of the pesky Wairarapa-Bush team (although I think we knocked them over in last year's semi-final).
Normally we have a settled team but need to know who is in and who is out (for the time being anyway!) for this season. Last year the team lined up as @stargazer @stockcar86 @Propsicle @Paj @Delicatessen @Higgins but we are always on the lookout for new talent as we never know for sure who is going to front up until we see the entries that do come in. As a result of that the call is going out to the likes of @kiwimatrix @Billsy111 @Number-10 to step into the breach as rumour has it that
i) Stargazer is carrying an injury from the mauling we got in last years final that is proving very slow to come right and may have to become a casualty before the season even kicks off.
ii) Propsicle is proving difficult to find so his availability too must be in big doubtThis is the link that will take you to the Tipping Competition area
and this is the one to take you directly to the page needed to submit your picks on
Once again the formerly compulsory Hawkes Bay 17+ pick has been relaxed in case anyone was wondering.
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Just the three of us in so far Stockcar86, McKenzie and Delicatessen (four if you count me) so we are still needed at least another two to fill out our roster. It is becoming more likely @stargazer might have to pass a late fitness test and suit up at the final seconds if we are still down from the maximum six tippers allowed for each team
Tipping entry form link is below. Deadline for the first game is 7.05pm NZ time tonight
https://www.thesilverfern.com/tipping-submitEDIT: And is if by magic Life Member PAJ has submitted his trips and one suspects @stockcar86 might be having second thoughts about his Northland 17+ tip over Taranaki!!!!!!
One tipper still required
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@Higgins said in 2022 HB Tipping Team:
Just the three of us in so far Stockcar86, McKenzie and Delicatessen (four if you count me) so we are still needed at least another two to fill out our roster. It is becoming more likely @stargazer might have to pass a late fitness test and suit up at the final seconds if we are still down from the maximum six tippers allowed for each team
EDIT: And is if by magic Life Member PAJ has submitted his trips and one suspects @stockcar86 might be having second thoughts about his Northland 17+ tip over Taranaki!!!!!!
One tipper still required
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@Paj And a good start you have made score wise too, coming in leading HB scorer.
Sadly we got rolled by Counties-Waikato in the teams event and don't think even the missed conversion by our kicker by our kicker in the HB v Waikato game would have saved us as some of them also HB 1-8, shows how much confidence they had in their own team!Anyway onward and upward against the BoP pretenders this week. Like us they are also usually up near the front but they also had a stinker first up so will be pulling out all stops as well. Fingers crossed that we can kick them where it hurts and send them to the foot of the table with a 0 - 2 start to the season.
The Auckland v 'Poo game on Wednesday night is not on the tipping schedule so deadline for this week is again 7.05pm on Friday night.
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Bit of an error in my previous post in that we are up against Wellington and not BoP but still no reason not to get out there and boot them where it hurts! Like us our opponents also got taken down last week so all going well the same will happen to them again this week. We have not exactly made the most confident of starts with not a single tipper having submitted theirs yet.
Weather and track condition here in the Bay today are not normal Bay like with a fairly grey cloudy sky that is doing its bests to become a bit more blue with a hint of a very slight souwesterly breeze which would be coming in from almost the southern side of the Rodney Green Stand (formerly Centennial Stand) more and a temperature hovering around just about 13 degrees.@Stargazer @Stockcar86 @delicatessen @Paj @Mackenzie use this information above before you decide whether it is a Bay 17+ or just a Bay 9 - 16.
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I am just about to start rugging up in multiple layers of woollies in preparation for being suitably attired for the McLean Park chill so this is the last call @Stargazer @delicatessen @MacKenzie - tips in please gentlemen.
Hopefully there will be more gates open tonight so the bag inspection before the admittance to the ground queue will not be the 200metres is was when I got there for the Poverty Bay challenge.
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Right, after last nights heart stopper we are now up to four tippers in for this week but still awaiting @stargazer and @MacKenzie. Come on chaps we can still pull off a major come from behind win over Wellington, even though they have gone en masse for Canterbury to easily tip over their mob in the field in Christchurch tonight.
Tips in please -
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@Stargazer Oh yeah I see that now, don 't know how I managed to miss that, must haver been too busy thinking how I was going to tip myself, or possibly hoping that you would tip twice and both of them be counted! We had them at a sure 17+ last night only for the wheels to fall off, almost big time - in fact I thought they had but somehow had forgotten about the beautiful lineout drive try in the second half so when Counties got their late try thought it was 32 - 28 to them!
Where are you @MacKenzie?Have you managed to unearth any other games at Park Island today?
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@Higgins said in 2022 HB Tipping Team:
Have you managed to unearth any other games at Park Island today?
Just posted in the HB Rep Rugby thread:
The Tui play at Tremain Field (2.05pm) against Taranaki.
All other teams play away or at other grounds:
https://www.forum.thesilverfern.com/post/756448 -
Well, well, well, the HB Tipping Team is experiencing things never ever having been experienced or faced before. Unbelievable our form slump now sees the hitherto allconquering Bay propping up the table with a total of seven teams ahead of us after last weeks catastrophic punch over by Wellington. Clearly we go into this weeks match with a great deal of nervousness given the precarious spot on the table we hold.
Action has been taken and we are pleased to announce that Mr. I. Foster holds no position within the group in an endeavour to turn our lacklustre performances around. We need something special this week to ensure the previously alsoran Northland team are put back into their more accustomed position rather than leading the table. Hopefully they will get stage fright and completely and utterly collapse under our new gameplan that will be unravelled this week.
Just three tippers in so far so please use the remaining prematch build up to
give microscopic consideration of all variables before getting your tips in @Stargazer @Paj and newcomer @BorderJB (welcome to the team JB) who takes over the spot of MacKenzie after the pressure seems to have got too much for our Mac to bear and was nowhere to be seen last week. Maybe Mac might reappear later in the season?Right then tips in before 7.05PM tonight and as it's The Poo the Bay is up against on the playing field then there is only the one real option you should even be considering. In fact I'm almost tempted to request a 100+ option be included in @KiwiPie 's end of season debrief to cover situations like HB v The 'Poo and HB v BoP
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At last something worked for the team when our new gameplan worked to a tee against table toppers (until last week anyway) Northland. Sory confused and worried were they that two of their team even went into hiding and never showed their faces to submit tips!
With all the upsets happening on the field scoring was way lower than usual but even that did not stop the team, led by PAJ's heroic top score of the week for all entrants leading the way to us recording the highest total of all competing teams. Just shows all the preparation and study beforehand put in over the seconds of thought worked a treat.
Despite the convincing thrashing doled out we somehow only lifted one spot on the points table but at least we are on a roll and are one of only a couple of teams without a negative points difference.As luck would have it we are up against the current points table leaders again this week and our record against the jammy Wai-Bush is not too flash over the years, I know that for sure as I usually have to front u with a jug or a six-pack to some of their somewhat infuriating tippers that call in (or call up nowadays) to collect the spoils of their usually very lucky wins. Last year saw the boot on the other foot after the trouncing we gave them but I am still waiting for one of them to honour their debt! Be sure to keep the form run up so we can make it two in a row against the dreaded foe.
We should be at full strength this week after BorderJK missed tipping cutoff time last week after getting injured in a slightly vigorous Captains Run. There has been sufficient recovery in the intervening time and coupled with plenty of strapping it has enabled a nice early entry that looks really accurate and one that looks like it has had lots of thought put into it has already been submitted. Looks like he went with the head rather than the heart by taking HB by 9 - 16 rather than 17+. Not sure whether I can bring myself to be quite so conservative on that one!
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Three tippers in already but a warning to @Stargazer and @Stockcar86 that there are two games tonight with the first one getting underway at 5.35pm and NOT the ususal 7.05pm. Make sure you get your tips done in time to be able have all seven games count this week!
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@PAJ @Stargazer @BroderJB @Stockcar86 @delicatessen
The official mourning period after last weeks mauling from the not quite so humble in victory Bush outfit (the phone calls from my mates in their team started coming in early and none of them were overly commissary!) is now over. Not sure how we stumbled so badly against them off all teams but after the casualties have been cleared from the battlefield we are now back in eighth spot whilst the Bush have retained their leading position.
Nothing we can do about that now except to up our games and win every outing from now on to see if we can scrape into the semi-finals where we might get the chance to extract revenge for the hiding they handed out to us. Naturally with our spot on the table we are up against teams that are leading us but at least this week we only concede one place to our combined Auckland-North Harbour opponents.
In our favour is that they have the worst defensive record of all teams taking part but on the other side our attack has been the most feeble of everyone. It really is the dance of the desperates with the loser dropping out of Premiership semi-final contention. They always front with a full lineup so lets make sure the Bay also does likewise as we cannot afford to hit them at any less than full strength.
The Knockout Cup competition gets underway this week and after last weeks brutal matchup where we sustained three early injuries putting paid to the qualification of half our team we only mount a three strong challenge for the silverware this year. The matchups look challenging but there are a couple where our guys are lurking away as underdogs ready to spring the trap and knock their opponents over!
Higgins v Sportboy (BoP) 4th v 18th
Stargazer v Bay Imports (BoP) 32nd v a miraculously flukey 9th
BorderJB v Langakali (Bush) 46th v 3rdWith the Magpies away in Chch in a non Shield encounter the HB 17+ protocol is being relaxed for this somewhat inconvenient game! Tip hard and tip strong - Good Luck guys
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Well last week was about a bad as it could possibly get. Firstly a gender undetermined ESOL speaker failed to give way at a compulsory stop sing and T-Boned our team bus on the way to the ground, hospitalising two our our guys, thus we were able to front up with just the four of us that did not require hospital treatment.
So traumatised were the survivors that we were unable to perform anywhere near to the hoped for level and to be brutally honest we were absolutely obliterated by the combined North Harbour-Auckland outfit. From memory that was probably the first time they have ever taken us down, or even got within seven points of us in defeat. We hang our heads in shame!Obviously new tactics will be employed this week with members urged to tip early to avoid any further last minute incidents that might prevent a tip being submitted this week. Looks like PAJ has taken that to heart by tipping late Sunday morning to make sure of it!
Bay of Plenty must be shaking in their boots about us this week. They loose to the clear last placed team and they become the laughing stock of the competition and if we someone manage to get beaten then it is only to be expected given our current performance level so we have got nothing to lose.
Still waiting for @stargazer and @BorderJB to get their tips in. The latter is still carrying injuries from last weeks mishap and might still be touch and go. Hopefully he will still manage to be well enough to slot onto the wing or somewhere like that where there is not too much pressure.
BoP, the pressure is all on you!!!!!!!! Lose to the far distant last placegetters and you slip out of play off contention......................
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So close and yet so far last week. We had the BoP mob stuffed right up until Nth Harbour rolled over, pulled their pants down and willingly allowed themselves to be reamed by BoP. Needless to say we were 100% in favour of Nth Harbour winning and that unexpected turn of events proved the difference between a convincing HB Tipping Team win and a very fortunate BoP sneaking up for a draw.
So it's now official we have qualified for the Bowl Division which will be a novel experience for our team that have been almost permanent competitors in the Cup Division come playoff time and we are not looking too good on the individual ladder either with none of us looking remotely like finishing on the podium.
Time to pull out fingers starting with our matchup against fellow cellar dwellers the South Island combination. A win against them will see us deprived of the only trophy we are strongly contending for so far this season, the Minor Premiership Wooden Spoon!
Tip confidently and that includes you @BorderJB. I have checked the Death Notices in the newspapers all week and do not see you amongst them so that must mean you are out of the Intensive Care Ward and will be able to tip this week. Our opponents always have their six tippers available so we must match them to allow for any one of us having a stinker.
AS it is a Shield Defence against our dreaded and first equal disliked opponent Wellington (along with The 'Poo and The Steamers) it is highly recommended that we show total loyalty in considering a Home 17+ for that particular game. Still four tippers to front so time to stop dilly dallying and get your tips done @Stockcar86 @Stargazer @hIggins @BorderJB
TSF Tipping
