Your 4 midfielders for the Lions
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@infidel said in Your 4 midfielders for the Lions:
SBNZ
ALB
Crotty
FekitoaYep, me too. Moala is very close & probably next cab, but I don't buy the idea that in a Lions test they'd look at guys like Crotty & Fekitoa who have been in the system for years & are playing well & go "hmm.. maybe we should pair Laumape & Procter with Rieko on the bench?"
The selectors have never really once in 10 odd years been anything other than conservative & coinsistant bar the odd wing. I doubt they'll start tossing wild cards v Gatland. Plus, super form is a shit thing to go by.
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@gollum said in Your 4 midfielders for the Lions:
@infidel said in Your 4 midfielders for the Lions:
SBNZ
ALB
Crotty
FekitoaYep, me too. Moala is very close & probably next cab, but I don't buy the idea that in a Lions test they'd look at guys like Crotty & Fekitoa who have been in the system for years & are playing well & go "hmm.. maybe we should pair Laumape & Procter with Rieko on the bench?"
The selectors have never really once in 10 odd years been anything other than conservative & coinsistant bar the odd wing. I doubt they'll start tossing wild cards v Gatland. Plus, super form is a shit thing to go by.
Yep. As long as injury doesn't interfere I think you can ink Crotty in at 12. The incumbent 13s (Fekitoa and ALB) will battle it out for first shot.
That provides 3 midfielders and there is probably only going to be 4. SBW gets the last spot as he is not only always in the coaches plans they love using him for impact in the last 20.
I think selecting our bench is going to be one of the big keys in this series. The NH teams have finally caught up with the realisation that the bench shouldn't just be your next best cover player but someone that can take on the responsibility to keep the tempo up and better still someone with the vision to spot weak areas where tired players are grouped.Crockett, Faumuina, Squire, Ardie Savea, TJP, SBW are all proven in this regard. Nathan Harris was probably the guy they really wanted to sub on for Coles but Taylor fits for now. Biggest question would be whether they take a chance on DMac on the bench.
Back to the midfield options though the next in line players are probably Tamanivalu, Ioane, Moala, then the group that includes Ngatai, Proctor, Laumape and Buckman
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@MN5 said in Your 4 midfielders for the Lions:
Umaga
McCallister
Smith
MaugerNo room for Bunce or Little?
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@No-Quarter said in Your 4 midfielders for the Lions:
@MN5 said in Your 4 midfielders for the Lions:
Umaga
McCallister
Smith
MaugerNo room for Bunce or Little?
Stensness and E Clarke get a look in too.
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@MN5 said in Your 4 midfielders for the Lions:
@No-Quarter said in Your 4 midfielders for the Lions:
@MN5 said in Your 4 midfielders for the Lions:
Umaga
McCallister
Smith
MaugerNo room for Bunce or Little?
Stensness and E Clarke get a look in too.
Surely Matthew Cooper, no?
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MacDonald, Mils, Cullen certainties. And Ben Smith to round out the four.....
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@ACT-Crusader said in Your 4 midfielders for the Lions:
MacDonald, Mils, Cullen certainties. And Ben Smith to round out the four.....
That one hurt.
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@Crucial it was a line ball call between Bender and Toeava
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On Proctor, it might be a longshot, but he does have that Milner-Skudder type game. Can create something from nothing, but then does all the basics to a high level.
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@ACT-Crusader said in Your 4 midfielders for the Lions:
On Proctor, it might be a longshot, but he does have that Milner-Skudder type game. Can create something from nothing, but then does all the basics to a high level.
As does ALB or have we forgotten some of his touches last year?
You are right about Proctor and maybe he moves a few rungs up the order if injury occurs but other than that I can't see them swapping out like for like when one guy has no test experience. -
Remember when we worried about replacing Nonu and Smith? There is some real depth now, and excluding Fekitoa who doesn't fill me with ease on attack as the ABs need accuracy and critical decision making to work their magic and he has never demonstrated it to the best of my recollection
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For me, the best midfielders this year have been (in alphabetical order) : Buckman, Crotty, Laumape and Proctor.
But I think the selectors will go with ALB, Crotty and SBW. The fourth spot is more open to debate. Fekitoa is the best, defensively speaking. But as the Lions tests should be very close, I would take someone who could bring an X-factor off the bench. So, I'll take Rieko Ioane. He's been on tour with the AB last November so he's already in their environment. He is a player who can make things happen and cover centre and wing (as can Proctor but the latter is not capped yet so it is probable that Hansen and Co won't take too many risky choices). -
Most of our centres have not tended to be x-factor creators, they've tended to be rock solid positional guys who defend well, read plays well & know when to pass & when to hold. Super Rugby sure, its x-factor as far as the eye can see, but as soon as the tests roll round the selectors select guys a mile from the X Factor template.
We dont create tries with x-factor, we create tries because 15 guys can catch & pass at the right time, or know to throw a skip. A huge number of our tries are were we create a yard of space out wide & 4 guys pass fast & accutately to each other to hit it. That happens 10-1 v SBW throwing one behind his back.
I can see Proctor getting a chance later this year as he has that "does the basics well" vibe. But more often than not the most outrageously talented guys available haven't had much of a sniff, not just recently, but way back too - Eroni Clarke, Norm Berryman, Rene Ranger, Regan KIng, they lost out at times to, on the face of it, some pretty bland guys who were outstanding at the basics. When Nonu was passing off the deck every 5 seconds he got dropped, as a great he just ran hard & threw very good passes. Then they replaced him with Crotty. The definition of "does the basics well"
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@gollum said in Your 4 midfielders for the Lions:
Most of our centres have not tended to be x-factor creators, they've tended to be rock solid positional guys who defend well, read plays well & know when to pass & when to hold.
Should we add Kenny Rogers to the contenders list?
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@gollum said in Your 4 midfielders for the Lions:
@Crucial said in Your 4 midfielders for the Lions:
Should we add Kenny Rogers to the contenders list?
I reckon he's got a similar chance of starting v the Lions as Procter, Laumape & Reiko
They'll be time enough for counting when the selection's done.
