@Donsteppa said in QF 3: Jaguares v Chiefs: @mariner4life said in QF 3: Jaguares v Chiefs: If DMac was fit we would be favourites for the whole comp I've gone from wild pessimism about not winning a game all season after that first mauling from the Crusaders, to ridiculous optimism about flying back and forth around the globe and beating everyone over the next three weeks! That's the spirit! My hypocrisy knows no bounds when it comes to supporting the chiefs!!!

Think we’d have a better shot against the Jaguares, but the direct flight to Christchurch is understandably more appealing!

@shark It's not hard to understand, it's merely wrong. Each of Havili'i, Bridge, Reece and Ennor are in possible AB contention. They would not care less about the guys behind them, because the guys behind are far worse than they are. They will play every game as well as they can, because they are looking at higher honours, not over their shoulders. Meanwhile other teams have their best players not being fielded. That's a far worse situation that worrying that some of your also-rans can't make the team. I would love it if the Chiefs could field Damien McKenzie, at the cost of not being able to field Etene Nanai-Seturo.

The tackle is over the top of the shoulder thus probably should be a penalty try anyway.

Not sure if it's been mentioned, but Otere didn't even get off the bench in this game. Actually, 3 players didn't get off the bench, which is pretty rare these days. I bet the coaches were almost going to make it 4, but they somehow convinced themselves to let Pulu come on.

Never forget fellas

@cgrant said in Highlanders vs Chiefs: For a few Ferners here : it's Jacobson and not Jacobsen. Pity. It would make a better story if he was the son of Danish migrants.

@Chester-Draws said in Hurricanes vs Chiefs: @Rancid-Schnitzel said in Hurricanes vs Chiefs: @No-Quarter said in Hurricanes vs Chiefs: @Rancid-Schnitzel I've been waiting for days for you to comment on Jordie's performance. This thread is now complete. Ha ha. He still wasn't at 12 though! For me, this isn't a Canes thing or Beadie's brother thing. I saw Jordie play for the NZ U20s and Canterbury before he ever signed for the Canes (I assumed he would stay down south) and could see that he was a special talent. It's frustrating when he does stupid shit (unnecessary offloads etc) but the potential is massive and he's still very young. Some people are very quick to throw players on the scrap heap. Just look at Nonu. NZ sees lots of "special" players. Sorry, but that's not enough. Damien McKenzie is plenty special, but that doesn't mean he should start every game. Another really special player was Rupeni Caucaunibuca. But special really, really isn't enough. The follow through is just as important. I'm sorry, but that is a bizarre post.

Our forwards were absolute meh for most of that match. TBH I thought we would lose by more when I saw the starting side. But we really need to learn how to defend at close quarters I lost count how many attacks came from straighttheough the middle of the ruck. Where were our guard dogs FFS?

@Nogusta Well that's fucked for the young bloke. He was starting to really show some form too at fullback.

@cgrant good point, almost like a Cane lite.

I was impressed by Luke Jacobson. His tackling was ferocious, hit the rucks with efficiency and ran hard. He is one to watch this year IMO. Incredible game from Alex Nankivell too. I hope he will keep playing like that. A combo with ALB could be interesting in the next weeks to come.

Weber looks well off the pace to me. Hesitant at the breakdown and his passing is erratic at best.

Switching DMac back to his best position is the best news out of Hamilton so far this season, let's hope they try it.

I need to qualify what I meant by my comment about NPC form meaning nothing. It can certainly play you into a Super Rugby squad, but doesn’t neccessarily mean you can translate that form into SR, and some find that step up much harder than expected. It’s relatively easy to dominate at the lower level but then the next step is becoming harder by the year as our depth is eroded. Problem being, how often in the NPC is a freshie coming up against an established Super Rugby player, or veteran, in ten rounds?

@Duluth Missed that.

@Nepia Coaches, as well - Leon, KK, Andrew Goodman, Hammer....Toddy is away seeking global domination!

@Duluth lucky nobody on here got on their high horse insisting that they knew the laws and it was a straight red. #nobody knows the fucken law interpretations with any certainty

So it's not only the Crusaders having their awards night before the SR finals; the Chiefs had their awards night, tonight: 2019 University of Waikato Under 20 Player of the Year - Kaylum Boshier 2019 Splice Construction Development Player of the Year - Aaron Carroll First Windows & Doors 2019 Rookie of the Year - Etene Nanai-Seturo 2019 @waikatodraught Fans’ Player of the Year - Brad Weber 2019 Personality of the Year - Angus Ta’avao 2019 Mana Kotiate - Tyler Ardron 2019 Players’ Player of the Year - Anton Lienert-Brown 2019 Coaches’ Player of the Year - Brad Weber