The Silver Fern

@Crucial

Tui is faster than Woodman.
Woodman has only looked good against lesser opponents. Against the big two (England and France) she has been ineffective in the past. I was getting my hopes up when she started running in the final but unfortunately she got knocked out.

Tui is the far better winger for the big teams. That try she scored vs France was one of the best in the World Cup. Woodman simply doesn’t have that out and out pace that Tui has. Tui’s defence is also far better than Woodman’s.

Having said that, Woodman obviously deserved her starting spot in the knockouts but I wasn’t at all worried with her replacement (Leti-Iiga) who was excellent this year.

I’m disappointed the 7s stars aren’t going to be there. Marketing opportunity lost to really promote Aupiki to get the crowds and tv audience in so that some major sponsors can get on board for 2024-2025.

The Blues - excited that Vahaakolo is there. Her and Brunt will provide some serious strike power with Demant there. Unfortunately Fitzpatrick isn’t there (7s duty) which is a downer. Our tight-forwards are probably the weakest of the SRA teams with only old veteran Blackwell in there (Charmaine Smith moving to the Chiefs). Loose forwards are ok with Mikaele-Tuu there alongside McMenamin. Hopefully some of the young newbies step up.

@Stargazer - Indeed. If Robinson is talking about cross-over matches with Australia, he must surely be contemplating increased financial support for the players as well. I remain very hopeful of this. An extension of the season clearly needs the players to be paid appropriately.

In light of the success of the World Cup, Robinson should seriously consider home & away for Aupiki. He has already said he’s in negotiations with Australia for cross-over matches so if he’s still tinkering with the season this late in the year, he can tinker again to add an extra three rounds for home & away fixtures. If they market it right, I reckon the crowds will be there next year, spurring interest with sponsors. Perhaps a little bit of Silverlake money can be used as seed funding for next year until competition sponsors get on board. They can’t afford to miss this opportunity after the highs of the World Cup.

@Stargazer

Grass embankments and maybe temp stands. They might well be thinking (although I’m only speculating here) of turning Nga Puna Wai into some sort of permanent home base for training and games??? The changing rooms might well be quite flash and modern too.

I hope they get the festival tents out and the Childen’s rides and turn it into a day out experience.