@Tim be annoyed if they drop Tupaea for Havili, Tupaea earned another chance to start, Havili offers versatility so is actually a good option off the bench.

talk about mountain out of a molehill...bet it was Fozzie that recorded this and released it to take the heat off him!

not really a Meme, but...

@bayimports we picked 3 hookers and wanted to give each a run, we also picked 1 specialist 8, but decided not to give him a run..

It is an odd sort of feeling as I sit and reflect on our 2022 season.

After years of enduring record losses, multiple winless seasons, sitting at the foot or near the foot of the table year after year, and always being pointed at as a team that doesnt deserve to sit at the top table of NZ rugby.

In 2022, Northland have had their best season they have had in quarter of a century:

• first time since 1997 we have won 6 games in the RR
• first time since the NPC began in 1976 Northland beat Auckland in Whangarei
• first time since 2000 we beat Wellington in Wellington

We pushed a strong Canterbury team pretty close in Christchurch in a quarter final too, and yet, as I do every other year, I sit and think about what could have been!

On paper, when you look over our squad, I think the quarter finals were actually par for the course, with probably one of the stronger squads we have fielded in many a year.

We started the season with a grinding win over Taranaki in New Plymouth that was built around defence, and it was here that this team surprised a few, including myself.

After 4 rounds, Northland had the best defence in the comp, conceding the fewest points and tries of any team, after facing Taranaki, Wellington, Waikato & Auckland no less...all signs pointing to former Northland lock and new defence coach, Marty Veale adding some steel.

Then we had a good 45 mins against Canterbury where a glimmer of another upset was on the cards, and then all of a sudden, all the good we had been doing, vanished, and Canterbury put us to the sword.

This would be the same against NH, a mixed 45 mins, only to be destroyed in the final part of the game, Tasman similar.

We were probably fortunate at this point, in the middle of storm week, BOP strategically opted for an under strength team that we snuck past thanks to a clutch penalty by Dan Hawkins.

Leaving us only to beat a winless Manawatu to take us into the quarter finals, that we did.

But the odd thing for me,is that from that 2nd half v Canterbury, right through to large parts of the BOP game, is that team looked different to the one that had preceded the Canterbury meltdown, we looked like the unorganised, uncoached team that managed a solitary win in 2021.

In the quarter final of the new format, we hit an experienced Canterbury side at home; a team as accustomed to winning finals footy, as we were to not even play finals footy!

After 10 mins it looked like it'd be a rout, but we dug deep and fought, and at about 65 mins, that glimmer of an upset showed itself again, but it wasnt to be.

So again, I go back to the fact that on one hand, this has been our most successful campaign for 25 years, yet I genuinely think we could have done better!

I have not been a big fan of our coaching team (with the exception of Veale who joined this year) from what I see and hear around the place, they certainly don't seem to have gotten the best out of our squad, and even the region when it comes to players and development!

Too often we looked like a club team in our early season games, minimal fitness, minimal game plan and still getting to know one another and how each plays.

As above, on paper, this team was as strong as we have put together for many years, so in my opinion, a quarter final was where we should have been, but as with previous years of disappointment, you kinda just expected us to under-perform, again.

For the most part, this squad was fitter than we have been for some time, and you could tell where deep in games we were still making tackles and pressuring opposition (previously mentioned games aside)

I think our squad props still lack the required fitness, in particular Corey Te Whata-Colley...I love watching this guy play, he loves the contact with and without the ball, and seems to really enjoy playing yet he seemed to fade in and out of games, particularly scrums, and I put this down to his fitness, O'Donnell and to a lesser extent Puafisi could do with improving their fitness too.

While we have had injuries, most notably Tom Robinson, Chris Apoua, but Josh Moorby for a few games, Matt Moulds, Sam Caird, Jack Goodhue (who may or may not have had an AB recall) spent time on the sidelines, but the gaps were largely filled, and players stepped up.

A few players have had breakout seasons, specifically Rob Rush and Heremaia Murray, Rivez Reihana had easily his best season for us with consistent starts, Jonah Mau'u was very good, Alan Craig finding his feet, Esile Fono and Tama Anderson got a taste for this level too.

Others found a new lease of life, like Jone Macilai, Matt Matich (although it was always there, just not selected last year) and Jared Adams, while others continued to build on previous years work like Tamati Tua, Josh Goodhue & Liam Hallam-Eames, and there was also Ofa Tu'ungafasi who I never expected would actually pull on a jersey, but did, and he certainly wasn't there making up numbers!

There does seem some good stuff going on at lower levels now too, with decent U16 and U18 rep/development programmes running this year, our dev side had a couple of hit outs, ideally should have had more, but small steps and hopefully this will start to show through in the coming years.

I dont want to celebrate mediocrity but also cant ignore the good we did this year, so all in all, a solid season, with an asterix, as always, about what could have been!

😅

Sooo...went along to the Family Group Conference for the boy that mugged TR Jnr today.

This kid...when you hear the story, he's been up against it from day 1...and I think the way the system is geared hasnt helped either, but cant really go into too much here

Anyway, I got to say my piece for TR Jnr and added a bit from me, and I actually got quite emotional during it, which isnt what I had expected.

This kid had been busy, were other parents there, one of the other boys came as well, from incidents over a 4 month period .

Quite a draining experience, I went in with an open mind that this is a worthwhile process, and even told the boy I wanted to believe that there is some good in him and he can set himself on a positive path in life with the support he has around him.

After going through it, I'm no better able to determine if he will change his ways or if he will end up in prison (or worse...) in a year or 2.

He is in a good place (police enforced) at present and has been for 2 full months and will be for at least another 6 weeks or so, but whether he wants to move on, is upto him and equally as much, the ongoing support that he will need.

@FakatavaAllBlack wonder if they can call in someone from some of the other squads, someone like Rivez Reihana would do well given he is well down the list at the Chiefs at 10 and 15 and yet to be seen.

@Kiwiwomble price has alot to do with us buying alot of merch....price to go, price to buy anythign there.

It seems the braodcast income is all that matters, bums on seats is secondary, and time games are aired is a factor.

Entertainment is another, we are bombarded with those fucktard DJ's playing the same tracks over and over at every single break in play rather than just at actual stoppages previously.

People used to go to games, pre 2000s there was still easy 10k+ going to pretty much every NPC game, I know even when we were in the old 2nd div, game day was a big deal, it was the place to be.

@Duluth maybe like NPC, they will allow Super teams to negotiate thier own?

That is a pretty long standing relationship now, I think it was c 2011 when Adidas re-negotiated a new contract well prior to it's expiry too.

interesting the talk of this multi billion dollar investment, while other parts of NZ's infrastructure is so fragile and doesnt seem a plan going forward to future proof it - see Coromandel, Brynderwyns, parts of HB and Gisborne, am sure there are plenty of other examples too.

Mar 29  /  Politics

Five options for new Auckland harbour crossing revealed as timeline brought forward | Newshub

Here's what has been announced

@Bovidae said in Star Wars VII ****contains spoilers****:

The latest episode will please those who want plenty of action.

Yeah I liked it, it also has a bit of an old school / retro feel to it, which comes off pretty well IMO.

Bo Katan's Mandolorian suit is pretty well shaped too...

I did think though, it is somewhat amusing that I expect they pay Pedro a fair old chunk of cash, yet you never even see his face, its just his voice.

@george33 there have been whispers he will head up here for quite a while, heard negotiations had stopped and then restarted...

@Windows97 could be in part maturity too.

He has been in good form for around a year now, and as you said, he is more diamonds at present.

Maybe the talk of options outside rugby last year gave him a bit of a boost or something that has seen him relax more or look at things differently, who knows, but ling may it continue.

He could be to 2023 that NMS was to 2015, but.SS probably has more game too.

@Old-Samurai-Jack I don't mind karaoke, as long as people don't keep trying to pressure me into having go...I ain't joining in, no matter how many times you ask me or who else you pressure to have a go...

@Victor-Meldrew I honestly dont know anymore.

I think as @dogmeat said above "50% totally bemused and just trying to get on with life" alot of people just want to get on and do thier own thing, and arent interested in all the BS.

I mean my household falls into that category, Mrs TR still watched the news and follows all the shit on social media, where people talk about all the petty crime, issues with this that and the other, and always tries to engage me in them, and honestly, I dont give a shit...I always retort with no I didnt see that and you know I dont really care...I mean when she leaves the room if I am watchign TV I flip off the news to watch anything else, or just switch it off.

I have enough going on in my own life trying to deal with my kids BS, find ways to save a $ given the way costs are rising, if it doesnt affect me, I mostly dont care about other stuff in the world - sure that may seem small minded or selfish, but again, I dont really care

@Tim added that to my watch list the other day

Finished Murder in the Pacific, 3rd ep mainly dealt with the French side of it, the internal 'investigation' and the French govt involvement (which as a pre-teen at the time, I knew very little of aside from the end result of the 2 spending f-all of thier jail time in jail) and the subsequent French media investigation into the Govt Investigation...

Very good doco!