Highlanders 2024
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@Landers92 i hope im wrong but i just think his size is always going to limit him too much, just doesnt have the levers to be big kicker or out jump others under the high ball, hes fast but not lightning, hes doesnt seem to have that ability to shrug off a tackle like nareki...his real assets seems to be some vision fearless in the tackle, the more i see him play the more surprised i am he hasn;t become a halfback
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@Kiwiwomble said in Highlanders 2024:
@Landers92 i hope im wrong but i just think his size is always going to limit him too much, just doesnt have the levers to be big kicker or out jump others under the high ball, hes fast but not lightning, hes doesnt seem to have that ability to shrug off a tackle like nareki...his real assets seems to be some vision fearless in the tackle, the more i see him play the more surprised i am he hasn;t become a halfback
Well we might just find out on Saturday...
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It is clear Hurley is our back-up fullback for 2025. The provincial season will be big for the little fella. Here is hoping he has a confidence boosting campaign. Needs to stop playing like a confused sevens player and rag doll like he did last year.
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@SouthernMann he need to get it hammered into him to always run to support and not get caught...never go to ground...if he cant connect and offload then he should just plug a corner
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In terms of Josh Whaanga. I have a feeling he will play a fair bit of the NPC on the wing. With Gilbert, Te Hiwi, Kack Leslie and may be Timu and TUJ (if they are still around) getting the midfield time. I would have liked to have seen Asi and Kyan Rangitutia as genuine wingers get a go.
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@SouthernMann hurley preferred 15?
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@Kiwiwomble said in Highlanders 2024:
@SouthernMann hurley preferred 15?
That would be my hope. Especially if the Highlanders view him as our back-up 15. Considering the options, it appears as if there will be a lot of players who are midfield/wingers. There might end up being a lot of mixing of players each week. Some of the young locks may be interesting to watch. While loosies, halfbacks, first five and midfield will need to be rotated during the provincial season.
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Paul Dwyer talks to Highlanders award winners https://www.odt.co.nz/sport/rugby/landers-chat/odt-landers-chat-highlanders-awards-2024?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR1ExiuqFR9RsTlyia2ZtIt8MRsKIyhdvA9ZOmESlLW5GQXURgEDm22YEGs_aem_AVjSU5_rwknuagioMyx6dgoUetZxZD9_H0E8_0mMVULqofc5VnBcwEQcGDU7OWPBtWEEcKiZRCX1Gp-m_KJ0WL5T
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@Bones said in Highlanders 2024:
Outside back required? That guy Punivai at the canes might be a good pickup.
Big
Strong
FastSurely he's off to the Blues to make sure he gets the full set
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@ploughboy said in Hurricanes v Highlanders:
@SouthernMann said in Hurricanes v Highlanders:
@frugby said in Hurricanes v Highlanders:
@SouthernMann said in Hurricanes v Highlanders:
@frugby said in Hurricanes v Highlanders:
@SouthernMann said in Hurricanes v Highlanders:
An issue the Highlanders also face is that Dunedin is a great place to be 18 - 23 and 35+, it is just a lot of people leave the city in their mid 20s to early 30s. This means players may get pressure from their partners to leave, or feel lonely if the majority of their friends leave Dunedin. What we can do is hope that a few make the All Blacks and others feel close and want to stay. Three - five years is realistic for a lot of the guys who will never make the All Blacks.
Which goes back to my point, that local guys are more likely to stay because they at least have something to hold them here.
For example, there was nothing to hold Tyrel Lomax here, so he left.
Of course. As someone mentioned as well, home franchises tend to keep their better players as well. That helps too. We just need to keep the flow of players coming, and have some decent talent ID running around the country.
Exactly. For every Aidan Morgan, there is a Daniel Lienert-Brown who falls in love with their adopted club and stays for a lengthy period of time.
If you can have a good local core, and a decent contingent of All Blacks, sprinkle in a few loyal players from elsewhere and you can stay competitive for a while. Highlanders have the right idea in regards to the first part, stage two is watching some of these guys trickle into the ABs...
In a best case scenario of the current squad, I think the following could have ABs careers:
de Groot
Holland
Haig
Withy
Stodart
Fakatava
Faleafaga
Ratumaitavuki-KneepkensStill need a top end midfielder, but you can see a spine of a very competitive side there.
Out of the age grade players I'll add in Dylan Pledger and I really hope Kiseki Fifita returns down south. He looks to be the best outside back the lower south has produced in a long time. Dam Mormon missions!
kiseki hasnt even left for his misson. gone for two years when he goes. has already turned down another team to sign for highlanders academy
@ploughboy that is really good news that he will be returning to the Highlanders. What is the process around these missions? How is it decided when and where he goes? How long do you think it will take him to get up to speed after returning? I'm not hugely knowledgeable in the world of mormon processes.
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Didn't a high profile player decide not to go on a mission recently, deciding his rugby career would take precedence? I can't remember if he put it off until after his career or isn't doing one at all. Something is telling me that it was Clarke, but I could be wrong about that.
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@SouthernMann said in Highlanders 2024:
@ploughboy said in Hurricanes v Highlanders:
@SouthernMann said in Hurricanes v Highlanders:
@frugby said in Hurricanes v Highlanders:
@SouthernMann said in Hurricanes v Highlanders:
@frugby said in Hurricanes v Highlanders:
@SouthernMann said in Hurricanes v Highlanders:
An issue the Highlanders also face is that Dunedin is a great place to be 18 - 23 and 35+, it is just a lot of people leave the city in their mid 20s to early 30s. This means players may get pressure from their partners to leave, or feel lonely if the majority of their friends leave Dunedin. What we can do is hope that a few make the All Blacks and others feel close and want to stay. Three - five years is realistic for a lot of the guys who will never make the All Blacks.
Which goes back to my point, that local guys are more likely to stay because they at least have something to hold them here.
For example, there was nothing to hold Tyrel Lomax here, so he left.
Of course. As someone mentioned as well, home franchises tend to keep their better players as well. That helps too. We just need to keep the flow of players coming, and have some decent talent ID running around the country.
Exactly. For every Aidan Morgan, there is a Daniel Lienert-Brown who falls in love with their adopted club and stays for a lengthy period of time.
If you can have a good local core, and a decent contingent of All Blacks, sprinkle in a few loyal players from elsewhere and you can stay competitive for a while. Highlanders have the right idea in regards to the first part, stage two is watching some of these guys trickle into the ABs...
In a best case scenario of the current squad, I think the following could have ABs careers:
de Groot
Holland
Haig
Withy
Stodart
Fakatava
Faleafaga
Ratumaitavuki-KneepkensStill need a top end midfielder, but you can see a spine of a very competitive side there.
Out of the age grade players I'll add in Dylan Pledger and I really hope Kiseki Fifita returns down south. He looks to be the best outside back the lower south has produced in a long time. Dam Mormon missions!
kiseki hasnt even left for his misson. gone for two years when he goes. has already turned down another team to sign for highlanders academy
@ploughboy that is really good news that he will be returning to the Highlanders. What is the process around these missions? How is it decided when and where he goes? How long do you think it will take him to get up to speed after returning? I'm not hugely knowledgeable in the world of mormon processes.
not that im a morman but my understanding is you apply for your mission and wait to when you are told. kiseki hasnt been told yet but isnt as far as i know not playing any rugby at the moment. mission will be for two years. his sister has just come back from hers (18 months for females) and back playing for the steel and has talken most of the season to get back to speed and not back to where she was before going.so really a person by person thing i would think.
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@ploughboy said in Highlanders 2024:
@SouthernMann said in Highlanders 2024:
@ploughboy said in Hurricanes v Highlanders:
@SouthernMann said in Hurricanes v Highlanders:
@frugby said in Hurricanes v Highlanders:
@SouthernMann said in Hurricanes v Highlanders:
@frugby said in Hurricanes v Highlanders:
@SouthernMann said in Hurricanes v Highlanders:
An issue the Highlanders also face is that Dunedin is a great place to be 18 - 23 and 35+, it is just a lot of people leave the city in their mid 20s to early 30s. This means players may get pressure from their partners to leave, or feel lonely if the majority of their friends leave Dunedin. What we can do is hope that a few make the All Blacks and others feel close and want to stay. Three - five years is realistic for a lot of the guys who will never make the All Blacks.
Which goes back to my point, that local guys are more likely to stay because they at least have something to hold them here.
For example, there was nothing to hold Tyrel Lomax here, so he left.
Of course. As someone mentioned as well, home franchises tend to keep their better players as well. That helps too. We just need to keep the flow of players coming, and have some decent talent ID running around the country.
Exactly. For every Aidan Morgan, there is a Daniel Lienert-Brown who falls in love with their adopted club and stays for a lengthy period of time.
If you can have a good local core, and a decent contingent of All Blacks, sprinkle in a few loyal players from elsewhere and you can stay competitive for a while. Highlanders have the right idea in regards to the first part, stage two is watching some of these guys trickle into the ABs...
In a best case scenario of the current squad, I think the following could have ABs careers:
de Groot
Holland
Haig
Withy
Stodart
Fakatava
Faleafaga
Ratumaitavuki-KneepkensStill need a top end midfielder, but you can see a spine of a very competitive side there.
Out of the age grade players I'll add in Dylan Pledger and I really hope Kiseki Fifita returns down south. He looks to be the best outside back the lower south has produced in a long time. Dam Mormon missions!
kiseki hasnt even left for his misson. gone for two years when he goes. has already turned down another team to sign for highlanders academy
@ploughboy that is really good news that he will be returning to the Highlanders. What is the process around these missions? How is it decided when and where he goes? How long do you think it will take him to get up to speed after returning? I'm not hugely knowledgeable in the world of mormon processes.
not that im a morman but my understanding is you apply for your mission and wait to when you are told. kiseki hasnt been told yet but isnt as far as i know not playing any rugby at the moment. mission will be for two years. his sister has just come back from hers (18 months for females) and back playing for the steel and has talken most of the season to get back to speed and not back to where she was before going.so really a person by person thing i would think.
Thanks for the info @ploughboy, really interesting. He is certainly the sort of player that doesn't come up regularly down south. Hopefully he can get into the misssion, accomplish what the church needs him to and back to rugby. It is a shame he isn't playing while waiting to go on it too. Hopefully he can keep his skills up behind the scenes while on the mission. Sounds like we won't have him back into the system until 2027 and unlikely to be playing for the top team until the year after. Without the mission, he'd probably be playing for Southland this year and in the Highlanders the year after.
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Anyone heard those rumours about Sevu Reece signing with the landers?!?
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@HLD2023Champions said in Highlanders 2024:
Anyone heard those rumours about Sevu Reece signing with the landers?!?
That would be a massive signing, he's literally been the Saders best this year.
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There is a rumour that he is going to sign with Southland. I reckon it is more about Ta$man seeing little value in keeping an All Black who barely plays on their books. Even if there is a NZRU rebate for ABs. Would be awesome if we could land him. Seems it would be an interesting signing though. Our back three when they have been on the field have been great. May be Reece wants to play centre haha
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@SouthernMann said in Highlanders 2024:
.. May be Reece wants to play centre haha
Could actually play 12?
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