Counties Manukau v Magpies
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@Steven-Harris Thanks for your impressions of the game. Always good to hear from someone who was at the ground!
Despite our terrible season, and the high error rate in games, I think some of our young players are coping reasonably well, all things considered. Just out of interest, I looked up the age of the players in today's line-up:
1 Jason Long (25)
2 Ash Dixon (c) (29)
3 Pouri Rakete-Stones (20)
4 Nick Palmer (25)
5 Geoff Cridge (22)
6 Tony Lamborn (26)
7 Hugh Renton (21)
8 Marino Mikaele-Tu'u (19)
9 Brad Weber (vc) (26)
10 Tiaan Falcon (20)
11 Mason Emerson (21)
12 Richard Buckman (28)
13 Jonah Lowe (21)
14 TJ Vaega (20)
15 Ihaia West (25)
16 Jacob Devery (18 or 19)
17 Tim Farrell (19)
18 Jarvy Aoake (29)
19 Josh Eden-Whaitiri (27?)
20 Fa'alemiga Selesele (28)
21 Ellery Wilson (27)
22 Pasqualle Dunn (23)
23 Cardiff Vaega (25)Rakete-Stones & Mikaele-Tu'u were never meant to start every game, but they do because of injuries to Ben May and Gareth Evans. Three of our six frontrowers are 19-20 years old. Our reserve lock isn't a squad member but a member of our development team. Two of our four loosies are 19 and 21 years old. Of our starting backs, four players (10, 11, 13 and 14) are 20 or 21 years old.
We're having a frustratingly bad season, but looking at the age of many of these players, you could see this as a development year for those players. It's a pity though, that some of the senior players they are supposed to learn from are either injured (May, Allardice, Evans) or have just returned from injury after a long injury break (particularly Weber). Some of these young players also have themselves struggled with injury (Cridge, Farrell & Emerson in particular). All these losses are also bad for self-confidence; while some losses can teach valuable lessons, you don't want these young bucks starting their rugby career without wins either. For the players who debuted last year (Mikaele-Tu'u, Emerson, Lowe and Falcon), it has been two bad seasons already.
It would be nice if we could have at least one more win this season, but I doubt it will happen. Even the Turbos are playing better than us
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