Northland 2024
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@muddyriver yeah I think 10 players made thier debut yesterday?
Several of the Auckland debutants have played national age group recently too, so yep, quality of depth is always an issue.
I like the look of the squad, but will need some players to really step up, particularly the leaders, as you say some very young players, that I guess fits with how McLeod generally prefers to develop players.
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@muddyriver said in Northland 2024:
Northland look like they had 10 caps outside lisati milo-Harris in the backline. I would say, look to have signed too many youngsters in the backs.
So the pack went ok? Was it just bad defence in the backs?
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@Duluth very different packs each half for northland. But for the majority, set pieces were even. Auckland had a scrum advantage with certain front rows. Auckland looked to play the Blues Power game up the middle, which was very effective, but I think teams will just have to learn how to defend it rather than it being a quality issue.
Northland back 3 in particular did not offer very much and starting half back was very club level.
Northland on defense a lot because of bad game management and bad kicking. Alot of aucklands tries just very poor 1v1 defense on the wings.
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@muddyriver Boyd who started at 9, is a good strong player, but his decision making is suspect, has been the last 2 seasons, obviously easier to paper over those at club level (still better than bringing an Aussie over as I heard they were looking at)
Similarly, Duncan on the wing, often he takes contact when he should pass, and then passes when he should gas it, the other wing, Warehau has played midfield all all season...plus I heard heem was in fine form creating stuff creating headaches out wide.
I heard our lineout went well even nabbed.a few off.Auckland but also heard that Auckland did play similar to the Blues, so good to see that happening.
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Not comparing Northland with Auckland, but I think Northland have enough resources to make themselves competitive.
I do compare them with the likes of Hawke’s Bay, Taranaki and Ta$man.
They have been more than just competitive, with similar resouces to Northland, and that comparison hasn’t been good for a long time.I rate Dale MacLeod as a coach and the players have potential.
I'm not talking bout winning the comp, just getting more Ws than Ls.You only have to look at the player who is not there. He finally got a run with a team that wins most of its games, and now he’s got a nice fulltime contract.
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@Duluth said in Northland 2024:
@mohikamo said in Northland 2024:
You only have to look at the player who is not there. He finally got a run with a team that wins most of its games, and now he’s got a nice fulltime contract.
Who is that?
Tua?
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@mohikamo he had an out clause and from what i heard, was always looking further.
Tbf he had done his dash here, never quite lived up to where he could have.
Has all the physical attributes, but had a tendency to miss tackles, particularly going for big hits and glancing off.
Just another in a long line of players that never reached thier ceiling.
@kev here is the team named for the game v NH at Pohe Island today, but weather is shite, been raining the last 24 hours and gonna rain the next 24.
Pack looks close to the best we can run out, backs a few shy of our 1st team, and looking at some of the social media from yesterday, several of the names in the unavailable list look good to go, so being cautious I guess?
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@taniwharugby yeah, hope the players not available are good to go next week. The backline looks young so good they get game time but we also want balance of experience.
Frustrated that Northland aren’t consistent with announcements - 5 options - text, email, instagram, Facebook, website. I tend to look at website but that obviously doesn’t work. Don’t have an instagram account. Avoid Facebook mostly. But if I knew which one they are going to use I could look out for it.
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@kev the posts on FB are replicated on IG, that includes other stuff (training stuff, age group trials, squads etc)
Those platforms usually get updated before the website.
Not sure the game will be upto much today unfortunately, ground will be very wet, rain not massively heavy at moment but has been raining consistently, kids sports cancelled, my golf course closed for the weekend...we are under a heavy rain watch until tomorrow.
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@taniwharugby I haven’t seen a squad announcement? Not even in the news section of the website?
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@taniwharugby said in Northland 2024:
he had an out clause and from what i heard, was always looking further.
Tbf he had done his dash here, never quite lived up to where he could have.
Has all the physical attributes, but had a tendency to miss tackles, particularly going for big hits and glancing off.
Just another in a long line of players that never reached thier ceiling.
Yeah, Tua was good enough to make an NZ SR squad, not quite good enough to get into the 23 regularly. No shame in that.. far better than the vast majority of players.
At the Brumbies his straight running was good but struggled a bit on defence. I'm not sure how much longer he could've lasted there. However he got enough game time to make him interesting to a UK club
Not sure how Northland can be criticised for anything here? He gave SR a decent crack and I'm sure he just got a pay rise
Evans moving to Northland probably made the decision (from both sides) easier too
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Awesome player.
Rene Ranger type.
One of the few players to walk out on the All Blacks.
Classic.
He didn’t like the vibe at an AB wider squad session down Hamilton way. I think John Hart was the coach.
Grabbed his bag and started hitching back to Whangarei.
Got picked up by a bloke who was going to Auckland, who then took home all the way home to Whangarei when he realised who he was.
Said his mum went off her head when she found out what he had done.
I think the story goes something like that.
Passed early a few years ago, in Perth I think. -
@Duluth
Agree with all you say about his play.
The point is tho, he played in a winning team which led to him getting more opportunities.
There are quite a few other players in the current squad in the same category.
If the team gets wins, they’ll get opportunities. If they don’t win, they’ll more likely be passed over.I’d say Tua was in career best form at the Brumbies. What ever you think about Aus rugby, the Brumbies have an excellent rugby environment. They seem to get the utmost out of every player included.
Nice if Northland could create something like that.No criticism of Northland RU. Like to think the Northland elite program is all about getting the players into fulltime rugby employ - wherever.
Don’t think Tua is gonna tear it up and play for England, so expect to see him back in the blue someday.
