NPC - news, injuries etc
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@KiwiMurph Yes we look far stronger this year. Interesting to see how we fit our backs in with that squad. I'll probably look stupid by saying this but we really should be pushing for the title this year.
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@African-Monkey said in Mitre 10 Cup - news, injuries etc:
@KiwiMurph Yes we look far stronger this year. Interesting to see how we fit our backs in with that squad. I'll probably look stupid by saying this but we really should be pushing for the title this year.
Anything less than a finals appearance would be a disappointment for me. This team is as talented, if not more talented than the 2015 team that went to the finals.
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@Dice @African-Monkey Yes certainly the omission of Simon Hickey from a) the captaincy and b ) the squad makes me very happy.
Im holding off getting too excited though - Nick White's first year as head coach last year was abysmal - he gets a bit of a pass due to the weird ruck rules last year but Auckland were very poorly coached - I'm hopeful but not expectant.
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@KiwiMurph said in Mitre 10 Cup - news, injuries etc:
@Dice @African-Monkey Yes certainly the omission of Simon Hickey from a) the captaincy and b ) the squad makes me very happy.
Im holding off getting too excited though - Nick White's first year as head coach last year was abysmal - he gets a bit of a pass due to the weird ruck rules last year but Auckland were very poorly coached - I'm hopeful but not expectant.
Oh yes, no Hickey for once! What makes me doubly happy is that Hickey's double, Elkington-McDonald, didn't get selected. I was worried we were going to pick him again. We still have the other Hickey though...
White is my biggest worry this year. I hope he's at least average, because that'd be a big upgrade to last year.
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@Dice had a chat to a player who was in the Auckland squad last year that has moved to another province,reckons many of the super players came back with a crap attitude,did'nt seem to care,Akira Ioane after a stellar previous season always found a reason not to train..I went to the Ta$man game last year,not one of their locks,some of them with Super rugby experience could take a kick off receive to save themselves that night,it was embarrassing,they also struggled once starting props left the field,in the last 20 they always seemed to struggle at scrum set piece..
Looks a stronger team on paper,there should be a couple of boys with a point to prove,Tuipulotu & Ioane for starters. -
@Steven-Harris said in Mitre 10 Cup - news, injuries etc:
@Dice had a chat to a player who was in the Auckland squad last year that has moved to another province,reckons many of the super players came back with a crap attitude,did'nt seem to care,Akira Ioane after a stellar previous season always found a reason not to train.
That pisses me off to hear, and I'm not even a Blues or Auckland fan.
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@Steven-Harris said in Mitre 10 Cup - news, injuries etc:
@Dice had a chat to a player who was in the Auckland squad last year that has moved to another province,reckons many of the super players came back with a crap attitude,did'nt seem to care,Akira Ioane after a stellar previous season always found a reason not to train..I went to the Ta$man game last year,not one of their locks,some of them with Super rugby experience could take a kick off receive to save themselves that night,it was embarrassing,they also struggled once starting props left the field,in the last 20 they always seemed to struggle at scrum set piece..
Looks a stronger team on paper,there should be a couple of boys with a point to prove,Tuipulotu & Ioane for starters.Interesting. Only Ben Lam and Pasquelle Dunn have gone to another province from last years team... I'm not sure why an active player would disclose this sort of information though, it seems pretty risky, because if told to the wrong person, they could easily be outed, and the information could be put out there for everyone to see. And if that was the case, and they remained at the team or saw the players around, it'd be pretty awkward.
I know some thought Akira was poor last season, but outside of the last two games, I thought he was pretty good. He and Rieko were the only reason we won any games at all last year, and they also kept us in some games we eventually lost.
Here are Akira's stats from last year:
139 carries
589 metres gained
59 beaten defenders
13 linebreaks
11 offloads
77 tackles - 7 missed - 91.2% tackle completionStats aren't everything, but for the most part, his stats matched the eye test for me. If it weren't for the last couple of games, he was on track for a great season, rather than just a pretty good one.
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@Dice for what is worth it's was'nt any of the 2 mentioned players,but I reckon it's only fair i keep the player anonymous as I had asked the player off the record,as I had also heard whispers from people within the union.
If you think back to last year,the only premiership team Auckland beat was Hawkes Bay,and that was a fortune victory as Ihaia West missed a penalty right on full time.It also suggests to me they could not sustain tempo in games against the premiership teams
For the squad they had,they were a real disappointment,Akira for all the stats,had a terrible habit of waiting for contact,as opposed to going into contact,and the one stat I don't see is offloads,the number of times he took it upon himself to stand and wait for contact was ridiculous,when an off load or pass would have been the better option simply because he does attract many tacklers because of his power.
Not a Simon Hickey fan,but I actually thought he was one of the better players from last years squad,I suspect that one of the big issues that this union has,is lack of good Good old hard work ethic,I have nephew in one of Mitre 10 cup squads,it's his first year,and he can't speak highly enough about the super players that have come back to this level of rugby in terms of support for the new players.
It's a shame Jerome Kaino is tied up with the All Blacks ,I could'nt think of a better player to have around this group for the whole season.
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@Chris-B. said in Mitre 10 Cup - news, injuries etc:
A few summarizing comments about that Mako$ team.
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I wonder who the captain is? I'd be inclined to think Alex Ainley - but, at his age, he won't be on the field for every minute of every game - maybe Taufua or Samu?
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It's a smaller squad than last year - significant losses from last year (from memory) - Jesse MacDonald, Ross Geldenhuys, Shane Christie, Tevita Koloamatangi, Marty Banks, Kieran Fonotia, Caleb Makene - plus a couple who barely featured. Banks (especially) and Christie are serious losses.
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Significant gains - Ti'i Paulo, Jordan Taufua, Will Jordan - plus some rookies I know little or nothing about - Coxon and Aumua. Paulo, Taufua and Jordan should be upgrades on MacDonald, Koloamatangi and Hunt (as a fullback).
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The starting XV looks pretty strong, but if injuries bite in crucial positions we could be badly exposed - cover looks particularly thin at tighthead prop and first five. With a squad of only 28 it's hard to know who else is around to be called up.
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We don't really have a specialist openside - I presume Samu will start there with Blackadder as cover.
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Joass makes the team, but neither of the other Ta$man NZ sevens players - Knewstubb or Ng Shiu - are in there - but, maybe they have signed elsewhere?
A few selection coups for Ta$man.
Will Jordan obviously.
Plus Ryan Coxon, the U20s THP. From Cambridge.
I hadn't worked out who was preferred starting THP in this years U20s out of him and the hyphenated magpie. Before he got injured out of the tournament.Think he had good press.
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@Rapido Thanks - I know nothing about Coxon, but we need him to be good. It's been very handy having four of the better NPC props as a rotation, so we'll miss Geldenhuys. Be handy if Coxon or Hill can at least hold up the scrum competently from the subs bench.
Google has told me that Levi Aumua is a 120kg centre who comes via Queensland and Bordeaux.
http://redsrugby.com.au/NRC/nrcplayerprofile.aspx?pid=425
He'll be handy if he's like Nadolo or Jonah, but I'm not particularly hopeful!
In another answer to my questions - I see both Knewstubb and Ng Shui are down to play in the Ta$man team vs Wellington tomorrow.
Ta$man squad - effectively 27 with Squire unlikely to be available much if at all seems a fair bit leaner than most others - but, I guess they've got a few to call in if necessary.
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Northland Team to play North Harbour @ QBE Stadium, Albany.
Kick-off TODAY @ 2:30pm- Howard Sililoto
- Matt Moulds
- Namatahi Waa
- Tim Bond
- Josh Goodhue
- Murray Douglas
- Jack Ram
- Matt Matich
- Sam Nock
- Peter Breen
- Rene Ranger
- Troy Gilbert
- Tamati Tua
- Jordan Hyland
- Matty Wright
- Ross Wright
- Ropate Rinakama
- Phil Kite
- Chris Apoua
- Josh Larsen
- Kara Pryor
- Dan Pryor
- Jacob Matiu
- Michael Faleafa
- Matty Markwick
- Dan Hawkins
- Monty Lama
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@Steven-Harris you still gonna get along?
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@taniwharugby said in Mitre 10 Cup - news, injuries etc:
@Steven-Harris you still gonna get along?,
will be there,as I am away for the first game against BOP on the 20th
