AB bolters thread
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<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="SouthernMan" data-cid="573865" data-time="1461235141">
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<p>I'd say the last out and out bolter was Joe Moody when he first came into the team. Everyone went Joe whooooo.</p>
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<p>Thats true. There is more chance for props as no one really pays any attention to then during the Super season, and its often the guys who seemingly do nothing that are actually test candidates, because they aren't going 60m bumping guys off as they are buried in rucks & scumaging.</p> -
Agree SM, Moody was a genuine come from nowhere. He was a sometimes bench player not that long ago and then when he started to feature more in the Saders prop rotation all of a sudden he was wearing black. <br><br>
I thought Tuipoluto was a bit of a bolter. -
Moody came from nowhere. But it turned out to be a bloody good call by Steve and the lads.
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Worst bolster. Joe McDonnell. I remember the kid look as surprised as everyone in the room and Mitchell wanking on about his "explosive power".
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<p>I think there were a few bolters who got picked to literally lock them into the ABs. There's a LOT of guys with Tongan / Samoan hereitage who didn't really look like ABs but got 1 or 2 caps then dumped. The cynic in me feels that was less because the selectors thought they might be good right now, more because they thought they might be good in 5 years & didn't want them getting poached by Samoa on the back of a Samoan granny. </p>
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<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="mikedogz" data-cid="573874" data-time="1461237955">
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<p>who was that Hawkes Bay and Hurricanes lock selected by henry, I didn't even know who he was. I still wouldn't recognise him if I saw him.</p>
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<p>Bryn Evans?</p> -
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="MN5" data-cid="573844" data-time="1461228178"><p>
That guy as an AB ? you serious ????/</p></blockquote><br>
Cgrant isn't Robinson Crusoe on Buckman. I reckon he's got something. Just because he looks a little weird shouldn't count him out. -
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Calf" data-cid="573877" data-time="1461238888">
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<p>Bryn Evans?</p>
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<p>Maybe I wasn't paying enough attention, but the first time I registered Ben Smith and Toeava was during respective EOYT selections.</p>
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<p>Hadn't Toeava won player of the tournament while captaining the U21's to a WC or something?</p>
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<p>So he'd been earmarked right through the youth grades but was very much a bolter as he'd not even played Super. So I'd guess most coaches etc in NZ rugby had him penciled in as a future AB, but not till probably a year or 2 later. In hindsight he could have done with that extra year... </p> -
Yeah Bryn Evans was a bit of a head scratcher. That 2009-10 period had a few where they were perhaps known on fringe super level but not at all discussed before selection.<br><br>
I recall the fern gearing up for Donnelly or Beckhius to get picked in 2009 and then they pulled Hoeata off the Highlander bench.<br><br>
Isaac Ross I don't remember being in the frame before selection either and the strength of conviction they had with him (albeit briefly) was equally baffling. -
<p>Steve Hansen is a waaaay better selector than Henry, who had quite a few hit and misses.</p>
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<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="rotated" data-cid="573881" data-time="1461243603">
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<p>Yeah Bryn Evans was a bit of a head scratcher. That 2009-10 period had a few where they were perhaps known on fringe super level but not at all discussed before selection.<br><br>
I recall the fern gearing up for Donnelly or Beckhius to get picked in 2009 and then they pulled Hoeata off the Highlander bench.<br><br>
Isaac Ross I don't remember being in the frame before selection either and the strength of conviction they had with him (albeit briefly) was equally baffling.</p>
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<p>Greg Rawllinson, Kevin O'Neil - basically if you were a lock in that era and you didn't get picked you have every right to feel shafted.</p> -
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Nepia" data-cid="573884" data-time="1461245107">
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<p>Greg Rawllinson, Kevin O'Neil - basically if you were a lock in that era and you didn't get picked you have every right to feel shafted.</p>
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<p>They went thru about 3 years randomly picking locks to try fix our terrible lineout, then in the end just switched the coach responsibilities & stopped that "4 runs to 6, 6 runs to 2, 2 turns and lifts 5, we throw it to 7 who is being lifted by 4 & Matfield catches it at 4 having not moved at all" bullshit we did every lineout & weirdly it all clicked.</p>
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<p>The bolter for me this year will be them having another look at Ben Smith at 13 by the time the EOYT rolls around.</p> -
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="gollum" data-cid="573886" data-time="1461247972">
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<p>They went thru about 3 years randomly picking locks to try fix our terrible lineout, then in the end just switched the coach responsibilities & stopped that<strong> "4 runs to 6, 6 runs to 2, 2 turns and lifts 5, we throw it to 7 who is being lifted by 4 & Matfield catches it at 4 having not moved at all" </strong>bullshit we did every lineout & weirdly it all clicked.</p>
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<p>The bolter for me this year will be them having another look at Ben Smith at 13 by the time the EOYT rolls around.</p>
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Actually lol'd. God I don't miss those days.</p> -
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="ACT Crusader" data-cid="573868" data-time="1461236290">
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<p>Agree SM, Moody was a genuine come from nowhere. He was a sometimes bench player not that long ago and then when he started to feature more in the Saders prop rotation all of a sudden he was wearing black.<br><br>
I thought Tuipoluto was a bit of a bolter.</p>
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<p>Not really. He was smashing sides around in 2014. </p> -
<p>Lineout got fixed when Kaino and Read came on the scene an our third and fourth options were no longer guys standing on tiptoe to cast a shadow on Ardie Savea.</p>
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<p>A bolter is likely to come at tighthead prop, because you need two of them for every test and pickings behind Franks and Faumuina are pretty slim. I know or suspect people like Alaalatoa, Halanukunuku and Geldenhuys are ineligible - so, you're probably looking at a very small group from the North Island franchises. Toomaga-Allen might be a reasonable bet. I guess he's had 10 minutes of AB rugby so he's not uncapped, but I'd class him as a bit of a bolter. </p>
