2016 Northland Mitre 10 Cup Squad.
-
Lets hope Dans time I. Melbourne has made him a better player, cos him at 10 has me dreading the season already....what is it coaches see in him that I am missing?
-
The other little concern has been in and around Peter Breens goal kicking,whilst his general play has been first class,his goal kicking has been sub par,probably another reason Hawkins is still in the hunt,hopefully with a much better preparation across the board,we can see the best of Dan<br><br>
I thinks it's a case of the devil they know with Dan,let's look at what he does do well,Kicks goals and tackles,and has got experience,the reality is,if you look in the cupboard in the Northland area,it's pretty bare,like I said,it is depending on a medical,one guy who probably would have been a shoe in,if he attended the training camps is Ben Mather from Waipu,saw him playing for Waipu,looked really classy,playing first five,can also play fullback and halfback,I'm JacNath would agree with me. -
<p>It looks to be a decent squad on paper - especially in the forwards. I'm not getting too carried away though as I was expecting us to be good last season and we definitely weren't!</p>
<p> </p>
<p>On Hawkins and the fullback/first-five issue, why didn't we give Tyler Landsdowne another crack? Think he would have been a handy fullback option too if needed. Matt Wright definitely leaves a big hole. Can see the rationale behind bringing Hawkins back - they know what he can do and would be a solid guy to have on the bench.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I like the idea of the academy players added to the squad and happy with most of the positions that are covered but would have thought focusing on positions we have been traditionally weak would've been a good bet. Think a young first-five academy player would have been a good idea.</p> -
<p>Tua does look a good prospect, so would be a great story if he can make the cut this season!</p>
-
<p>Anyone watched much club rugby and can give a bit of a run down on some of the newbies.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Mainly thinking guys like Apoua, Kite, Tupou, Larsen, Markwick, Mcleod, Tua, Cherrington, Lama, Alaimalo.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Can obviously see their positions, but more of a rundown of what they're good at how they play etc</p>
<p> </p>
<p>On another note, I hope Michael Faleafa is a massive step up from Dan Faleafa...</p> -
<p>I've only watched a few games with these teams: Kamo/Hika/Sharks/Wellsford, so not much help really!</p>
<p> </p>
<p>As an aside, if we have to play Hawkins, throw him at FB where he is less likely to stifle our backline, he and Breen can alternate on offence/defence there if need be.</p> -
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="taniwharugby" data-cid="598664" data-time="1469139132"><p>
Tua does look a good prospect, so would be a great story if he can make the cut this season!</p></blockquote>Just remember Tua is very young and Cherrington are both very young,if they were in Auckland,I suspect they would be either in the Auckland colts or their development teams given the log jam,<br>
On the club comp,I have seen a few games this year,OBM and Mid Northern,even though they have been tipped up on the odd occasion,with all their players available are light years ahead of everybody else,Western Sharks and Waipu have been the big improvers ,Sharks,not unexpected with Tom Robinson and Matt Matich, on board,and Mark Wells doing a good job at Waipu,although with so many Fijian boys can be loose at times,<br><br>
Wellsford with all the injuries,and unavailable players from last year are not a patch on the 2015 side,but will finally be at full strength for their semi final tomorrow,their coaches have done a great job to get them this far,considering,<br><br>
Other sides,like Otamatea and Mid-Western have gone backwards,Otamatea especially,struggling at times to field a quality premier team,hate to keep harking on about it,but if club rugby is not addressed moving forward,there will be bigger issues fielding a quality Taniwha team.<br><br>
Just on a final,I have spoken to a couple of referees from Auckland that have officiated games in the southern districts comp,according to these chaps I spoke to,the top reserve grade teams in Auckland would compete favourably in the Southern districts comp,scary thought when you think about it..!<br><br>
Also thought I would mention,Tyler Landsdowne has only,as of 2 x weeks ago returned from injury,been out most of the year..! -
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Steven Harris" data-cid="598700" data-time="1469148173">
<div>
<p> Mid-Western have gone backwards</p>
</div>
</blockquote>
<p>Yep, too many injuries and not enough depth to cover them.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>And just general lack of numbers through retirements and people moving away, meant the reserve team was struggling to get 15 on the park each week. In the last few games they had the odd player playing 2 games, which is never good. They finished their last game with 8 guys on the field, who had played a minimum of 40 minutes for the reserves.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Not a good year, but we'll bounce back.</p> -
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Chiefy" data-cid="598675" data-time="1469141169">
<div>
<p>On another note, I hope Michael Faleafa is a massive step up from Dan Faleafa...</p>
</div>
</blockquote>
<p>He'll have some work to do to achieve that, as from what I hear he is hopelessly unfit.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>And if he's not at least 10% better than Taniela Manu or Jaycob Matiu, after they both got cut, I'll be really pissed off!</p> -
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Steven Harris" data-cid="598700" data-time="1469148173">
<div>
<p>Just remember Tua is very young and Cherrington are both very young,if they were in Auckland,I suspect they would be either in the Auckland colts or their development teams given the log jam,<br>
On the club comp,I have seen a few games this year,OBM and Mid Northern,even though they have Ben tipped up on the odd occasion,with all their players available are light years ahead of everybody else,Western Sharks and Waipu have been the big improvers ,Sharks,not unexpected with Tom Robinson and Matt Matich, on board,and Mark Wells doing a good job at Waipu,although with so many Fijian boys can be loose at times,<br><br>
Wellsford with all the injuries,and unavailable players from last year are not a patch on the 2015 side,but will finally be at full strength for their semi final tomorrow,their coaches have done a great job to get them this far,considering,<br><br>
Other sides,like Otamatea and Mid-Western have gone backwards,Otamatea especially,struggling at times to field a quality premier team,hate to keep harking on about it,but if club rugby is not addressed moving forward,there will be bigger issues fielding a quality Taniwha team.<br><br>
Just on a final,I have spoken to a couple of referees from Auckland that have officiated games in the southern districts comp,according to these chaps I spoke to,the top reserve grade teams in Auckland would compete favourably in the Southern districts comp,scary thought when you think about it..!<br><br>
Also thought I would mention,Tyler Landsdowne has only,as of 2 x weeks ago returned from injury,been out most of the year..!</p>
</div>
</blockquote>
<p> </p>
<p>I know Tua is very young, just saying that it would be a cool story if he can make the step up so quickly, and obviously a promising sign.</p> -
<p>bit of an oddly worded article with a couple of comments, specifically the first bolded ones.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='http://www.nzherald.co.nz/northern-advocate/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503448&objectid=11679309'>http://www.nzherald.co.nz/northern-advocate/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503448&objectid=11679309</a></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Rugby: Super players bolster squad</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Northland won't be relying on their Super Rugby players, but are hoping they'll contribute to a successful Mitre 10 Cup season.</p>
<p>Northland have named a 36-strong squad, with eight Super players in the mix.</p>
<p>They are hooker Matt Moulds, prop Namatahi Wa'a, loose forwards Dan Pryor, Kara Pryor and Jack Ram, NZ under-20 halfback Sam Nock, first-five Dan Hawkins and wing Jone Macilai.</p>
<p><strong>Coach Richie Harris said while it's great to have the experience of those players, they won't be answering an S.O.S. call</strong>.</p>
<p>"They come in on their own terms and add to the group," he said.</p>
<p><strong>"Last year they came to save us on the field, but the goal is for the team to effectively function without the Super players."</strong></p>
<p>Northland will contest for the Championship after a disappointing 2015 campaign where they went winless in 10 games.</p>
<p>However Harris feels the side is in a far better position this year.</p>
<div> </div>
<p>"We are way further in our development than last year in terms of what our players and coaching staff know," he said.</p>
<p>"Now we know what the players are about<strong> and what the Mitre 10 Cup is all about."</strong></p>
<p>Northland have three pre-season hit outs before the season starts, beginning with North Harbour next Friday.</p>
<p>They then take on Bay of Plenty on August 5 before battling it out in the 'Game of Three Halves' against Counties-Manukau and the All Blacks.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>They have definitive goals they want to achieve during the pre-season.</p>
<p>Harris is hoping his side makes a decent fist of the season.</p>
<p><strong>"Ideally, we'll make the finals of the Championship. To get there though, it's all about getting our processes right."</strong></p>
<p>Five academy players have been included in order to further develop and to provide cover for injured players, returning Super players and players involved in club finals through the pre-season window.</p>
<p><em>Of note among those academy players is prop Sesimani Tupou, fresh out of St Kentigern College, where he played in an unprecedented five 1A finals.</em></p>
<p>The Taniwha open their Championship campaign on August 19 against the Manawatu Turbos in Whangarei.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Northland 2016 Mitre 10 Cup Squad:</strong></p>
<p><strong>Forwards:</strong> Chris Apoua, Phil Kite, Howard Sililoto, Matt Talaese, Namatahi Wa'a (Blues), Sesimani Tupou (Academy), Matt Moulds (Blues), Jordan Olsen, Ross Wright, Josh Goodhue, Shane Neville, Tom Robinson, Sean Sweetman, Josh Larsen (Academy), Michael Faleafa, Matt Matich, Dan Pryor (Highlanders), Kara Pryor (Blues), Jack Ram (Blues), Aorangi Stokes, Epineri Uluviti (Academy).</p>
<p><strong>Backs:</strong> Matty Markwick, Malcolm McLeod, Sam Nock (Blues), Peter Breen, Dan Hawkins (Rebels), Warren Dunn, Troy Gilbert, Jordan Hyland, Tamati Tua, James Cherrington (Academy), Solomon Alaimalo, Monty Lama, Waisea Lawebuka, Jone Macilai (Crusaders), Levi Clark (Academy).</p>
<p>- <a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='http://www.northernadvocate.co.nz/'>Northern Advocate</a></p> -
<p>new jersey, would prefer a slightly darker shade of blue, but otherwise like it</p>
<p> </p>
<p><a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='http://www.taniwha.co.nz/merchandise/attachment/2016-northland-rugby-merchandise/'><img height="800" src="http://www.taniwha.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/2016-Northland-Rugby-Merchandise.jpg" width="554" alt="2016-Northland-Rugby-Merchandise.jpg"></a></p> -
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="taniwharugby" data-cid="600606" data-time="1469589933">
<div>
<p>new jersey, would prefer a slightly darker shade of blue, but otherwise like it</p>
</div>
</blockquote>
<p>Yay! No silly cartoon on the front</p> -
<p>I like it. Only thing I would change is putting the two white strips on either side of the Toll logo rather than both underneath. I like the white trim again.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>A flash new jersey isn't going to count for much if we play like last season...</p> -
<p>provided we don't get ravaged by injury, we wont play like last year, only way is up!</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Tough start to the comp though, and that is always key, get down on confidence early makes it tougher to climb out!</p> -
<p>a rookie side was destroyed by NH in the pre-season game, which featured players fromoutside the squad, with those involved in the finals tomorrow being unavailable.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="color:rgb(29,33,41);font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;background-color:rgb(246,247,249);">Starting team for Northland was Alaimalo,Taquea,Landsdowne,Tua,Hyland,Paraki,Subritsky,Matich,Robinson,Faleafa,Sweetman,,Neville,Talaese,Tou,Topou</span></p> -
<p>Popped along to North Harbour stadium today</p>
<p>Very much an understrength Northland team,with up to 18 x players unavailable because of club final tomorrow,and not to mention several super rugby players missing,<br>
very much a learning experience for many of the players that took the field in what looked like a thrown together team,whilst the scoreline was'nt flattering.<br>
Harbour had a decent sprinkling of their Mitre10 Cup players running around,whilst defensively,you could understand there were some issues,there were some individuals that really impressed,<br>
starting in the pack,Shane Neville put himself about defensively,and always carried hard,taking it to the Harbour pack,Matt Matich who ended up on the wing in the 2nd half,has a massive engine,<br>
and along with Tom Robinson was was always close to the action,in the backs,Jordon Hyland was superb,running at that line really hard,making a very good line break and offload which<br>
lead to Northlands only try.<br>
Hylands defensive work was also very good,several punishing shots,at fullback,Solomon Alaimalo looks player with a ton of potential,he made a very good fist of fullback,would have loved to see him with more space,as he has superb footwork and good strength.<br>
just a bit conerning we had a few injuries in the first 20 minutes,Sean Sweetman,Micheal Faleafa and Sesimani Topou all left the field early,hopefully all are not to serious,<br>
.Just wanted to also mention a couple of players from the far north,Dane Subritsky at halfback deserves a mention,having to deal with some messy ball with Harbour forwards pouring through the ruck,<br>
though he did very well and cleared the compatently,also my first look at Epineri Uluviti,was quite impressed with his ability with ball in hand,certainly got the size to progress into a very good<br>
player,and finally just a shame we could',nt get a bit more ball out to Isimeli Taqea,looked dangerous when he had the ball,finished off Northlands only try with superb run from 50 metres out<br>
after some excellent lead up work from Hyland,Tua and Alaimalo.</p>
<p> Tamati Tua looked good at times,but will need to work on his defence,got a little caught out at times,one thing that did look promising in the first 20 minutes until players started leaving the field,was the scrum,although once all the changes started to ring,we were pushed around in the 2nd half.final score North Harbour 56 Northland 5,halftime 26-5.</p>