QF - Wellington vs Hawkes Bay
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I expect there to be plenty of feeling in this one after the Ranfurly Shield battle a couple weeks ago.
I’m obviously picking our boys to get up but I don’t think there will be too much in it.
I’ll try and get along for this one and cheer the fellas on.
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Should be a good contest with plenty of feeling. Both of these sides can be streaky and can get on a scoring spree. Lions by 8-10 points.
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Does anyone know if Ardie Savea and Dane Coles are available for this week? Both players are short of a gallop so it would be good to have their experience off the bench atleast.
@Higgins somehow still believes that Hawkes Bay are stronger than Wellington this year and apparently they should have comfortably disposed of us in the Ranfurly Shield game a few weeks back. How nice would it be to role out a little more artillery just to prove a point.
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@Canes4life no they are not available
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@george33 said in QF - Wellington vs Hawkes Bay:
@Canes4life no they are not available
The lines are so blurred with All Black availability. Why is it that Ioane gets to play for Auckland?
They should just make it so All Blacks can’t be released during NPC playoffs to save the confusion.
Looks like Aumua will play big mins on Sat.
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@george33 said in QF - Wellington vs Hawkes Bay:
@Canes4life no they are not available
Strange esp Coles could do with game time. And we need a good Hooker after O'Reilly's injury
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Briefly there was an article about Coles on the Herald. The article is no longer visible for some reason
Wellington assistant coach Greg Halford says they were denied a request. “We asked the question and he is unavailable. We don’t put pressure on Colesy. We’ll bring another player in this week and we’ll go from there,” he said. “We can stay within our camp and everyone knows our process, our systems, so not saying we wouldn’t love to see Colesy running around with us, don’t get me wrong he’s a champion man and we’ve love to have him, but that’s the decision the All Blacks make and it’s out of our reach.”It'll be case by case. Some players will have niggles etc.
A player like Ardie has had a high workload until recently
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@foobaNZ said in QF - Wellington vs Hawkes Bay:
Coles would be good but it would be a bit odd if first choice ABs were turning out at this stage after not playing all season.
Used to be quite common. There were calls years ago that there should be rules like some unions have at club level that you can't rock up at finals without x number of appearances in the season.
I don't mind too much, as long as NPC teams don't turn into Super sides overnight for the franchise base sides which is likely for one team in particular that wears red and black. -
@foobaNZ said in QF - Wellington vs Hawkes Bay:
Coles would be good but it would be a bit odd if first choice ABs were turning out at this stage after not playing all season.
Agree with this. It would ruin the finals. Coles yes but not Ardie. There should be a rule on this really. Either ABs must have played x games for their npc team. Or less than x minutes for the ABs. As its kind of unclear why Coles is not available but 2 Aucklanders are
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Looks like former NZ Schools openside flanker Josh Southall could be in line to come into the Lions squad as the reserve hooker for this Saturday.
Plagued by injuries ever since he starred for St Pats Silverstream a few years back, he decided to make the position shift earlier this year. Hope he goes well.
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@Canes4life I have been wondering what happened to him I remember seeing his name and being like nah can’t be him he’s not a Hooker. Be interesting to see how he goes like having a 4th loose forward.
Has anyone seen him play Hooker this year? -
@mikey07 Some people say revenge for the Ranfurly Shield loss. No. That's bullshit. Even if the Bay won the game there not getting the Shield back. That argument is complete crap. This game is about who goes onto the semi-final. The loser packs there togs and chilly bin and heads to the beach. Wellington are in superb form no question. In Lakai, they have found a real talent. I've said it before, but the Bay as yet haven't put it together for 80 minutes yet. The performance against Ta$man was very good, but still not 80 minutes. I also think the weather could play a part. If it's a shitty day, then clearly the game could be decided in the first half. If it's a good still day then this could go anyway. Both these teams are evenly matched. Because it's finals footy the intensity and pressure will be on, and will intensify in the last 20 minutes. Whoever handles that best will progress. Either way it can and will be a great game.bolded text
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@Billsy111 said in QF - Wellington vs Hawkes Bay:
@mikey07 Some people say revenge for the Ranfurly Shield loss. No. That's bullshit. Even if the Bay won the game there not getting the Shield back. That argument is complete crap. This game is about who goes onto the semi-final. The loser packs there togs and chilly bin and heads to the beach. Wellington are in superb form no question. In Lakai, they have found a real talent. I've said it before, but the Bay as yet haven't put it together for 80 minutes yet. The performance against Ta$man was very good, but still not 80 minutes. I also think the weather could play a part. If it's a shitty day, then clearly the game could be decided in the first half. If it's a good still day then this could go anyway. Both these teams are evenly matched. Because it's finals footy the intensity and pressure will be on, and will intensify in the last 20 minutes. Whoever handles that best will progress. Either way it can and will be a great game.bolded text
Early signs for Saturday is that it's going to be beautiful day so no excuses for either side.
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