Blues v Sharks

KiwiMurph

Blues have made big strides in the scrum this season too. It's not an Achilles heel like last year. Ofa T has gone better when he has switched to tight head and agree with TR that Waa looks to have something about him. Even Prattley has improved to the point where he is competent. With Mayhew coming back soon things are looking solid in that area.

African Monkey

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="KiwiMurph" data-cid="572948" data-time="1460859067">
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Blues have made big strides in the scrum this season too. It's not an Achilles heel like last year. Ofa T has gone better when he has switched to tight head and agree with TR that Waa looks to have something about him. Even Prattley has improved to the point where he is competent. With Mayhew coming back soon things are looking solid in that area.
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Yup sure has. Everyone playing their part which is good to see. Our set piece is working very well at the moment.

Dice

I forgot to mention the 3 clutch line-out steals we got in the last 10 minutes with the Sharks deep in our half. :good1:

Rancid Schnitzel

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="booboo" data-cid="572943" data-time="1460857876">
I've been wanting West to deliver but he just hasn't. 
Doesn't Francis play 10? He looks like he's got a bit about him. 
Swap him for West. Moala to 12. Ioane to 13.</blockquote>
 
Yeah I thought he looked very solid. Nothing flashy, but dependable and less likely to do something stupid. 
Moala has to be there somewhere.

Immenso Rapido

Wow. Piers Franzis as a starting 10 at SR level. Never would have thought that would happen. I would have thought there are about 25 better NZ 10s around, admittedly half or more of them are overseas ......

booboo

What other 10s are still in NZ and not contracted? 
I just think they need to do something different to West 
And Francis has looked solud and prepared to take the defence on at 12.

gt12

Can Little play 10? I'd like to see him get a few more opportunities (mainly because the Littles are friends of the family and Michael is a good kid, I can't say I saw much of his NPC play).

African Monkey

Lol I'd still rather have a struggling Ihaia West ahead of any other options thrown around.

taniwharugby

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="African Monkey" data-cid="572979" data-time="1460873956">
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Lol I'd still rather have a struggling Ihaia West ahead of any other options thrown around. 
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that is the main problem, the cupboard is bare...all the eggs are in the West basket...gotta take the cards they been dealt with (thats a trio of cliches right there)

African Monkey

He's not great but not as bad as he's being made out to be over the course of the season. He made a few errors last night but also did some good things and is the 3rd highest points scorer this season (not that anyone will care about that stat).

Dice

I think we might just ride it out with West until the end of the season, as the other 10 options really aren't that good. If Banks is available next year, we should try to sign him.
 
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="gt12" data-cid="572973" data-time="1460872601">
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Can Little play 10? I'd like to see him get a few more opportunities (mainly because the Littles are friends of the family and Michael is a good kid, I can't say I saw much of his NPC play).
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He can play 10, but I don't think he's played 10 at ITM Cup level for a few years. With Ranger out for the season, he's probably one midfield injury away from getting game time.

gt12

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Dice" data-cid="572995" data-time="1460878405">I think we might just ride it out with West until the end of the season, as the other 10 options really aren't that good. If Banks is available next year, we should try to sign him. 
He can play 10, but I don't think he's played 10 at ITM Cup level for a few years. With Ranger out for the season, he's probably one midfield injury away from getting game time.</blockquote>
 
Be great to see him do well if he gets s chance, although I imagine he'll go on to represent Fiji anyway.

leytonandamanda

Hickey to come back next season isn't he? Not that I really think much of him 
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

African Monkey

Hickey should stay where he is, where the level of play is slow and ponderous enough for him to be a star in.

Dice

I'd rather sign Jim Hickey.

taniwharugby

Has Breen been getting any time for the dev side??

? Offline

West didn't have a good game, but my observation was he was standing deep only when he kicked. Whenever he ran or passed he was up.

Nepia

I'm still bemused reading these Blues threads. Every time I read a thread about them I expect them to have Crusaders forward pack and a Canes backline with DC at 10 going by the comments.
 
Then I see the team on paper.
 
They scraped a win, but they won. When the 'good' teams scrape a win the comments are all "played badly but the sign of a good team is when they win the tight ones". 
 
Their losses have been to much better squads in the NZ conference.
 
3 wins and a draw from 7 with that squad is pretty decent if you ask me. 
 
As I said in an earlier thread, being unattached to the team must make things different for me viewing how they're going.

African Monkey

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Nepia" data-cid="573185" data-time="1460943803">
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I'm still bemused reading these Blues threads. Every time I read a thread about them I expect them to have Crusaders forward pack and a Canes backline with DC at 10 going by the comments.
 
Then I see the team on paper.
 
They scraped a win, but they won. When the 'good' teams scrape a win the comments are all "played badly but the sign of a good team is when they win the tight ones". 
 
Their losses have been to much better squads in the NZ conference.
 
3 wins and a draw from 7 with that squad is pretty decent if you ask me. 
 
As I said in an earlier thread, being unattached to the team must make things different for me viewing how they're going.
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Hahaha well said mate especially the winning ugly part. When it's any other side it's described as fine and that they're slowly building to something special, where as if it's us, it's the same old 'Ihaia West is awful', 'the Blues game plan is awful', 'they're an embarrassment to all the other NZ sides', they have the highest talent pool in the country and are still shit' rubbish we hear week after week.
 
We're far from the finished product don't get me wrong, but we've made giant strides from last year with what is still a youngish and inexperienced side and as Nepia said, we've played 4 NZ games already compared to everyone elses 2. 
 
We're going ok and we're also learning the art of winning ugly which is a great sign and Umaga is slowly building some depth throughout the squad which will hold us in good stead going forward.

taniwharugby

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="African Monkey" data-cid="573187" data-time="1460944656">
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Hahaha well said mate especially the winning ugly part. When it's any other side it's described as fine and that they're slowly building to something special, where as if it's us, it's the same old 'Ihaia West is awful', 'the Blues game plan is awful', 'they're an embarrassment to all the other NZ sides', they have the highest talent pool in the country and are still shit' rubbish we hear week after week.
 
We're far from the finished product don't get me wrong, but we've made giant strides from last year with what is still a youngish and inexperienced side and as Nepia said, we've played 4 NZ games already compared to everyone elses 2. 
 
We're going ok and we're also learning the art of winning ugly which is a great sign and Umaga is slowly building some depth throughout the squad which will hold us in good stead going forward.
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West is still pretty average ;)

The Silver Fern

Blues v Sharks