The Silver Fern

I can't believe it has taken the coach this long into the season to put Corey Evans in to 12. Having another play maker and a left footed kicking option at 12 makes our backline far less predictable and more dangerous. Tavita Latu 9 times out of 10 seems to just crash the ball straight up and it makes it so easy to shut down our attacks.

Other thing I would question the coach on is how he has treated some of the young guys this year. Nankivell came off the bench in the 2nd half against Waikato but then was subbed off again. Seemed to go ok in the Bs game against Akl the other week. That sort of thing can't do a young dudes confidence any good. Also don't understand why Tavita Nabura got the bench spot last week over a guy like Tama Anderson. Anderson seemed to go ok last year in his few appearances, why not give him another go.

One thing about this game that surprised me during the NH game was how unfit some of the NH guys looked...Cameron Suafoa was the one that stood out in that respect. I know he's had his health issues but thought he would be fitter after playing for the Blues.

Shaun Stevenson has to be one of the most niggly players playing pro rugby in NZ. He would've copped a few whacks 20 years ago I reckon how he carries on off the ball

The standard of officiating won't be helping the cause. I watched 10 mins of the Wellington Vs Southland game last weekend and there was about 3 massive blunders in 10 mins. One of them a Southland player stood fully over the line and the AR missed it and let play carry on. That one especially was an absolute disgrace.

Given the nature of some of our performances so far, I think the coach is going to be under some pressure to turn the performances around. I think we performed better under Leslie and he only had a month or 2 to get the team ready.

Also be keen to hear why the coach put Nankivell on for his debut for Hawkins and then subbed him off again. If he's injured fair enough but if that was tactical that's poor coaching

Set piece was the big difference between the teams today. Coaches need to get that sorted ASAP. Plenty of changes from last game but set piece shouldn't fall away that far

The ref has been very inconsistent with not straight calls. The last two lineouts were obviously not straight and neither contested yet he only called one. It's not a difficult decision to get right

Think Salmon is making a good case to keep the 14 Jersey. Looks a good prospect. Would like to see Murray come on in place of Nabura, Nabura doesn't really look like a 13. Feel like we haven't really had the rub of the green with the ref - not that he has been bad. Considering the amount of changes it is not really a surprise the set piece is struggling but we do need to get it sorted.

Only watched the Northland Vs Canterbury game. I thought Heremaia Murray was the most dangerous back on display

Would've been a very interesting game of we had better maul defense today. Think 4 or 5 tries conceded from mauls and other than that Canterbury didn't really look threatening. Considering how many tackles we had to make we hung in there and defended very well.

Also another day theres a line ball forward pass and a held up call that may well have gone our way.

Plenty to work on but overall a very positive game first up

Good try. We need to keep hold of the ball. We look dangerous when we have it

Can't understand why the held up call didn't go to TMO...it looked like he may have got it down. Not even a replay or 2nd look on the coverage was weird.

Pretty tight call to rule out a Northland try with a forward pass. It didn't look forward live but ref was directly in line. Good work to create the opportunity though

Northland are definitely up for it but can't have silly mistakes like Rush ignoring the ref and giving a penalty away right in front of the posts and Trainor knocking on at the 22 under no pressure

@African-Monkey said in EPL 2024/2025:

@Chiefy07 He's only doing what he's told tbf?

The only club that he probably could have been sent to is Hibs, as Bill Foley owns them too.

And also, other clubs have to actually want him for a move to be sanctioned, it's not as easy as just saying, go and play in the Eredivisie.

He's also not even the All Whites number 1 GK, Max Crocombe is.

Do you really think he doesn't get a say in what club he goes on loan to? Matt Dibley-Dias just chose Northampton to go on loan to out of 5 different clubs. After his season in the A League he would've been in demand in EFL if shopped around, plenty of clubs want a keeper that can play out from the back like him. He also isn't just limited to Foleys clubs. That would be the ideal, but if they have genuine hopes of him being a first teamer then finding the right club for his development would be more beneficial. Really all this is doing is helping AFC - not Bournemouth or Paulsen.

I don't think Auckland have done anything massively wrong here. Possibly slightly unethical but they're just doing the best to put a successful team out with the resources they have. I do wonder how much influence the $25 million license fee has earnt them - this rule has been around for a while. Auckland has been in the comp 2 mins, pays a big license fee, TV money has dried up and the rule miraculously changes. TBF the rule change seems widely supported but I guess it is the overall look of it that is a tad worrying.

From a fan point of view, I am happy Paulsen will be playing for AFC as I am planning on coming down for as many games as I can and I want them to be successful.

Think if Northland are to have a shot in this game they will need to win it up front. If we can get parity or better at set piece it could be interesting. I do worry our set piece will be dominated though

Stupid move from Paulsen too. He's already proved he's too good for the A League. This means he's just going to tread water in his career for a year rather than going on loan to an EFL Club or even a Scottish PL or Dutch Eredivisie club.

A good mix of players. Definitely seems like a bit of speed out wide.

Hopefully Auckland don't use this list to tap a few on the shoulder...

There is definitely enough Kiwi talent around to justify a second team. Currently a lot of guys having a crack in lower league Europe and even USA that could be tempted back if the $ and opportunity are right. Also the NZ National League is virtually ignored by the Phoenix of late as they are promoting from their own academy.

I can see guys like Logan Rogerson, Bill Tuiloma, Andre DeJong, Nik Tzanev/Stefan Marinovich being targeted by the new squad and whilst none have been setting the world on fire lately, all would have a point to prove and at the least would all make handy squad players at a minimum. Locally, you would think Francis DeVries and Cam Howieson would be high up a potential signing list and both would be A League starting team level.

Biggest concern would be the amount of time they have to get it all off the ground.

If he does put his money where his mouth is and get a genuine marquee like Sydney FC did years ago with Dwight Yorke and Alessandro Del Piero they could get some big buy in very early in the piece.

Easy for him to say it, but the thing that excites me the most is the talk about investing in facilities and infrastructure like stadia and training grounds etc. From a Northland local POV it was good to see him talk about Northland often in his open letter to the Northern Region clubs.

I thought Lisati Milo-Harris would end up somewhere. Also thought with the shortage of locks Sam Caird and Liam Hallam-Eames might have had a look in somewhere

@taniwharugby Probably didn't quite have the impact we expected from him but I would still rank him well ahead of Craig. To me Craig just doesn't have the size or physicality to be a lock.

That disallowed try for Murray changed the game. Definitely a pull on the shirt but any other stage of the game that doesn't get penalised. Brain explosion from Goodhue and milked big time by Garland because he knew shirt pull or not he wasn't catching him. We score then I reckon result would've been different

Letoga looked promising coming off the bench - definitely brings some physical ball carrying that none of our other loosies bring.

Not sure why they took Milo Harris off so early. Definitely lose a bit when he goes off.

Expected more from Trainor. On that performance we would be better off getting Tama Anderson more experience. His missed tackle on Stevenson in the first half was an absolute shocker.