Tasman v Counties Manukau
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mikedogz said:
Dice said:
Nanai looks special.
Tai Lavea needs to get him back to Auckland.
Piss off he is ours, we poached him fair and square thanks to Cousin TNW.
A team with a core of TNW relations would be rather useful
Nick Williams - Half brother
Sonny Bill Williams - Cousin
Future All Black Etene Nanai-Seturo (FAENS) - CousinI wonder if Melani Nanai is related.
With the cousin now in France, there's little reason to stay around now
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Higgins said:
Chris B must be getting a tad nervous now the score has closed to Ta$man 21 - 14 Counties with sixteen minutes still left to play.
I was nervous at 21-5.
There was actually a decent breeze behind Ta$man in the first half and Counties in the second - plus bombs were coming out of the sun for the team without the wind.
I knew we would lose Crockett and Lomax at some point, Parkinson had gone off injured, and Leon was subbing on random and inferior backs....
Game SHOULD have been put to bed in the first half. Who dropped the ball with the line open? Spowart? He wasn't the only offender - some very profligate rugby played!
@Tim - you should have flown down for the game - they had a special farewell for Billy Guyton who is retiring. I presume it is injury enforced, because he's only 28. Just when I was expecting a return to the Blues!
p.s. Unless Fukofuka has improved markedly from when I last saw him, you should be backing Ruru as halfback. He looks like he's becoming good to me!
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Will Jordan looks an outstanding prospect. He reminds me of BFA for his ability to accelerate carrying the ball in both hands and to step off either foot.
The next stage will be for him to work on his frame and his passing game. I'd love to see the All Blacks take Will Jordan with them as an apprentice on their EOYT. -
@sammyc I think he might start out on Seta's wing?
If I were David, I'd be pretty keen to hold onto that fullback slot, because he's a bit small for a Super rugby midfielder.
I think he'll struggle to deny Jordan, though. "Bigger, stronger, faster"! Still plenty of work- ons for Jordan in terms of accuracy, but he's an exciting prospect!
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sparky said:
The next stage will be for him to work on his frame and his passing game. I'd love to see the All Blacks take Will Jordan with them as an apprentice on their EOYT.
I think he's been working on his frame. He already looks bigger this year and is a pretty solid unit in real life.
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Chris B. said:
@sammyc I think he might start out on Seta's wing?
If I were David, I'd be pretty keen to hold onto that fullback slot, because he's a bit small for a Super rugby midfielder.
I think he'll struggle to deny Jordan, though. "Bigger, stronger, faster"! Still plenty of work- ons for Jordan in terms of accuracy, but he's an exciting prospect!
Surely there isn't a huge difference in size between Havili and Ryan Crotty?
Tim Bateman is even more of a shrimp and he did pretty well at 12 for us last year.
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What are Israel Dagg's chances of making a comeback? Seems to me like he should have signed overseas after the last World Cup.
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Canes4life said:
What are Israel Dagg's chances of making a comeback? Seems to me like he should have signed overseas after the last World Cup.
He basically became our number 1 right wing before injury after the RWC - although I'd assume his injury has pushed him quite far out of the reckoning. But TBF we do move BFA to 14 so if he has a good Super campaign with the evil empire he could push himself back into the reckoning.
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SammyC said:
Chris B. said:
@sammyc I think he might start out on Seta's wing?
If I were David, I'd be pretty keen to hold onto that fullback slot, because he's a bit small for a Super rugby midfielder.
I think he'll struggle to deny Jordan, though. "Bigger, stronger, faster"! Still plenty of work- ons for Jordan in terms of accuracy, but he's an exciting prospect!
Surely there isn't a huge difference in size between Havili and Ryan Crotty?
Tim Bateman is even more of a shrimp and he did pretty well at 12 for us last year.
David's pretty consistently listed at 88kgs on the internet. Even smaller than Bateman. Crotty is listed variously at 91kg and 96kg.
I'd guess he's more likely the latter. Saw him running on the sidelines with SBW at Traf. Park and he's quite a solid unit - though by no means a big midfielder.
David marking up against people like Nonu and SBW is giving away 20kgs.
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Chris B. said:
SammyC said:
Chris B. said:
@sammyc I think he might start out on Seta's wing?
If I were David, I'd be pretty keen to hold onto that fullback slot, because he's a bit small for a Super rugby midfielder.
I think he'll struggle to deny Jordan, though. "Bigger, stronger, faster"! Still plenty of work- ons for Jordan in terms of accuracy, but he's an exciting prospect!
Surely there isn't a huge difference in size between Havili and Ryan Crotty?
Tim Bateman is even more of a shrimp and he did pretty well at 12 for us last year.
David's pretty consistently listed at 88kgs on the internet. Even smaller than Bateman. Crotty is listed variously at 91kg and 96kg.
I'd guess he's more likely the latter. Saw him running on the sidelines with SBW at Traf. Park and he's quite a solid unit - though by no means a big midfielder.
David marking up against people like Nonu and SBW is giving away 20kgs.
Havili's Crusaders & Ta$man profile: 95kg / 1.84m
Crotty's Crusaders profile: 96kg / 1.81m - All Blacks profile: 94kg / 1.81m
Tim Bateman's Crusaders profile: 91kg / 1.82m -
@nepia Wouldn't surprise me.
Saw him on Sunday and he's not big.
But he is compared to his brother Willy, who is presumably also Tongan and looked like a skinny kid.
Incidentally, you say "only" like a BMI disbeliever. Tane Norton played many tests for the ABs as an 88kg hooker!
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@chris-b That ABs profile is old. Havili's Crusaders profile from 2016 also had him at 88, but they changed that to 95kg at the end of that year. Considering his age, I find it entirely credible that a beginning SR player gains that amount of weight in the early years of his career.