Hurricanes 2025
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@Canes4life said in Hurricanes 2025:
In a podcast released earlier today Ardie Savea was ready to sign on the dotted line for the Canes after the World Cup. Then his bro was released from the Canes (rightfully so) and that made him question his loyalty to the Canes and the fact he felt he wasn't specifically valued at the Canes.
Whether he denies it or not, Julian leaving is an obvious reason why he's gone to MP even if he tries to state otherwise. Doesn't he realise he's in a results driven business and players (no matter their reputation or loyalty) will be released if they aren't good enough. Good on him for doing what he thinks is right but I think it's a little precious of him to hold anything against the Canes for trying to improve their performance. It's a shame though because I think he probably would have felt more inclusive playing under Laidlaw than he would have playing under the limited Holland.
In saying all this, I think the Hurricanes CEO Avan Lee has a bit to answer for. You'd think for any business meeting you would invite Ardie's wife as part of that conversation. Apparently she was never brought in on any conversations with the ABs or Canes so maybe re-thinking about how he goes about things in terms of dealing with players is something he needs to work on.
Whatever his reasons, he's gone. If he was getting all precious about his brother's situation it's human, but it's part of the business. I seem to recall a while back the talk that Julian's wife was tough to deal with, if that's the case I'm sure they gave as good as they got during negotiations. Ardie gave us his best and now it's time for the new guard to go on with how they did last season
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I guess he wants to play with his brother and not against him.
Would be interesting if MP drop Julian.
I'm not that upset about him leaving, with his sabbatical, he seems to be always coming and going, just causing disruption.
Hopefully Brayden Iose returns to early 2024 form. -
I'd laugh if Moana also felt Julian wasn't up to it anymore and decided to not play him much next season. Would Ardie move to another franchise if that was the case? I just think the whole sour grapes thing is a little over the top but in saying that I think the Canes will be a better team overall with him leaving. I feel like we were heavily reliant on him when he was with us, whereas this year certain players i.e. Aumua, Proctor were encouraged to step into more senior roles and I think as a collective we played much better. It's no surprise that Aumua and Proctor then made the ABs off the back of being vice captains and holding more of a voice within the Canes.
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@Landers92 I fully agree with you, but yeah, word around Chch is, is that he's returning a year early.
As you would know, Chch is a small place where everyone apparently knows everyone.
Sorry Canes fans, as you were.
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I see Tyler Laubscher is back with Manawatu this season. He played very well in his one cameo for the Canes before getting injured. If he can stay on the park and show form for the Turbos, he could be an option to replace Savea.
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@Canes4life said in Hurricanes 2025:
I see Tyler Laubscher is back with Manawatu this season. He played very well in his one cameo for the Canes before getting injured. If he can stay on the park and show form for the Turbos, he could be an option to replace Savea.
He looked an exciting prospect. But was always injured so a big risk even if he if fine for Manawatu. But might be wortha punt if he can stay the NPC distance
Has Howden re-signed. Also looks promising but Tyler more so
Tyler LAUBSCHER profile and stats
Tyler LAUBSCHER : bio, stats, play time, birthdate, height, weight...
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@Winger said in Hurricanes 2025:
@Canes4life said in Hurricanes 2025:
I see Tyler Laubscher is back with Manawatu this season. He played very well in his one cameo for the Canes before getting injured. If he can stay on the park and show form for the Turbos, he could be an option to replace Savea.
He looked an exciting prospect. But was always injured so a big risk even if he if fine for Manawatu. But might be wortha punt if he can stay the NPC distance
Has Howden re-signed. Also looks promising but Tyler more so
Tyler LAUBSCHER profile and stats
Tyler LAUBSCHER : bio, stats, play time, birthdate, height, weight...
I reckon TK Howden has a very big future, whether that's with the Canes or not remains to be seen as there might not be enough room for him going forward. Unfortunately he was injured for most of the Super campaign but he was our best forward in pre-season.
He'll be 24 by the time the next season comes around and at 1.96m and 109kg, with a bit more weight he could be exactly what NZ is looking for in a 6. He's got all the silky skills and does everything very well, he just needs to mature a bit more and he could be a beast.
I'd like Howden to get more time at 6 next year if they see Delany purely as a lock. I think he's more of a natural 6 than Flanders and now with Ardie gone I think we could start Howden (ahead of the aging Shields) and use Flanders off the bench as 6/8 cover. I wouldn't mind seeing this pack next year at some point with Walker-Leawere and Flanders coming off the bench.
- Xavier Numia
- Asafo Aumua
- Tyrel Lomax
- Caleb Delany
- Zach Gallagher
- TK Howden
- Peter Lakai
- Brayden Iose
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@Canes4life said in Hurricanes 2025:
@Winger said in Hurricanes 2025:
@Canes4life said in Hurricanes 2025:
I see Tyler Laubscher is back with Manawatu this season. He played very well in his one cameo for the Canes before getting injured. If he can stay on the park and show form for the Turbos, he could be an option to replace Savea.
He looked an exciting prospect. But was always injured so a big risk even if he if fine for Manawatu. But might be wortha punt if he can stay the NPC distance
Has Howden re-signed. Also looks promising but Tyler more so
Tyler LAUBSCHER profile and stats
Tyler LAUBSCHER : bio, stats, play time, birthdate, height, weight...
I reckon TK Howden has a very big future, whether that's with the Canes or not remains to be seen as there might not be enough room for him going forward. Unfortunately he was injured for most of the Super campaign but he was our best forward in pre-season.
He'll be 24 by the time the next season comes around and at 1.96m and 109kg, with a bit more weight he could be exactly what NZ is looking for in a 6. He's got all the silky skills and does everything very well, he just needs to mature a bit more and he could be a beast.
I'd like Howden to get more time at 6 next year if they see Delany purely as a lock. I think he's more of a natural 6 than Flanders and now with Ardie gone I think we could start Howden (ahad of the aging Shields) and use Flanders off the bench as 6/8 cover. I wouldn't mind seeing this pack next year at some point with Walker-Leawere and Flanders coming off the bench.
- Xavier Numia
- Asafo Aumua
- Tyrel Lomax
- Caleb Delany
- Zach Gallagher
- TK Howden
- Peter Lakai
- Brayden Iose
I wonder of Iose is a bit of a highlights player and disappear when the going gets tough
Maybe Flanders at 8 instead. I think hes too good not to start. But if we keep Howden and sign Tyler it will give a lot of backrow options
We just need a quality 1st 5. Otherwise we will never be the finals winner
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Starting Howden, Lakai and Flanders at 8 could be a go, with Iose as x-factor off the bench. He would be a great guy to bring on when everyone is tired.
In saying that I think Laidlaw will go with the following pack, with Gallagher coming in for IWL who is always hit and miss.
Likely starters
- Xavier Numia
- Asafo Aumua
- Tyrel Lomax
- Caleb Delany
- Zach Gallagher
- Devan Flanders
- Peter Lakai
- Brayden Iose
Back-ups
- Tevita Mafileo/Pouri Rakete-Stones
- Raymond Tuputupu (likely)
- Pasilio Tosi/Siale Lauaki
- Isaia Walker-Leawere
- Josh Taula/Tom Allen
- TK Howden/Brad Shields
- Du Plessis Kirifi
- Tyler Laubscher (if signed)
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Captain now that Ardies gone will be a big decision. My view is Shields might be a bit past it now to be captain. Let him focus on fitness and playing
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@Winger yeah Brad Shields is probably passed it now. It needs to be a player that's well respected, is a locked down starter for nearly every game and has great game awareness. I would promote Billy Proctor from vice to captain. I would leave Aumua as a co-vice because it brought the best out of him this year and I would maybe have someone like Brayden Iose or Devan Flanders as the other co-vice. Or maybe even Cam Roigard.
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1.93. Same as Flanders
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@Landers92 said in Hurricanes 2025:
As I posted in the exodus thread. Been informed TJ Perenara has signed on in Japan on a 3 year deal. Leaving after the All Blacks season after the end of year tour. Odd because he’s supposedly got a contract running through next year.
I've heard the same thing. So the Canes lose Barrett, Ardie and Perenara for next year. Those are three big blows.
Maybe this latest injury has made him re-think his future. Fair play to him if he moves on.
We've got Roigard and the exciting Vijoen in our squad so his loss won't be felt too badly. And fair play to him aswell, go and make some money for your family pal, you've got nothing left to prove.
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@Duluth said in Hurricanes 2025:
Scurrying off of a sinking ship. Whats going on at the Canes
Thankfully we've got plenty of talent to replace these guys. Vijoen for Perenara, Higgins for Barrett and Ardie wasn't at the Canes this year anyway so won't feel like a big loss with all the loose talent that we already have.
Without those three players I think it might bring the best out of the Canes tbh.
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@Canes4life said in Hurricanes 2025:
Without those three players I think it might bring the best out of the Canes tbh.
All three are currently in the AB squad. I guess they should drop them
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As a Canes fan it's a bit frustrating, but, not doom & gloom in my eyes.
As much as I love TJ, Roigard is far better, and Viljoen is more than capable.
Losing Ardie sucks, but, at least we have depth in our back row.
Barrett is the biggest loss of the 3 imo, not that Higgins isn't good, but Barrett and Proctor are a great pairing. Obviously he'll be back.
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@foobaNZ said in Hurricanes 2025:
As a Canes fan it's a bit frustrating, but, not doom & gloom in my eyes.
As much as I love TJ, Roigard is far better, and Viljoen is more than capable.
Losing Ardie sucks, but, at least we have depth in our back row.
Barrett is the biggest loss of the 3 imo, not that Higgins isn't good, but Barrett and Proctor are a great pairing. Obviously he'll be back.
Yeah it’s not doom and gloom at all. Higgins has been around the squad for three years now so primed to step up. Vijoen showed this year that he is probably the closest thing to Aaron Smith that we have in NZ atm, so looking forward to what he can do backing up Roigard, and with Iose, Flanders and Lakai we’ve got talent to burn in the loose.
Agree that Barrett probably effects us most but he’ll be back.
Losing Ardie and Perenara will give us a bit more cash aswell to go after more talent to strengthen us in areas that we are weaker.
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@Canes4life said in Hurricanes 2025:
@foobaNZ said in Hurricanes 2025:
As a Canes fan it's a bit frustrating, but, not doom & gloom in my eyes.
Losing Ardie and Perenara will give us a bit more cash aswell to go after more talent to strengthen us in areas that we are weaker.
It just doesn't really work like that in Super Rugby though does it? FWIW, as an outsider I don't think either are huge losses, but equally it is all negative noise. If things were to go against the Canes early in the season as they did to the Crusaders this year, these things can quickly spiral.
