@Stargazer said in Highlanders 2020:
Did the commentators say why they're having drinks breaks?
Just a guess, it would be heat protocols for pre-season games in Australia at this time of year. Doesn't appear to be too hot in Sydney tonight but it could be 40 degrees plus in Dalby next week for the Waratahs v Reds trial.
@mariner4life said in NRL 2020:
Te Maire Martin forced to retire immediately
Yeah a real shame for him, at just 24 years of age his best footy was still in front of him. This has been on the cards for a while though given the nature of his injury. Just shows that the careers of professional athletes who play contact sports can be very tenuous, and end in an instant.
@KiwiMurph said in Crusaders 2020:
@Cantab79 All nz franchises do this stuff.
Yes, and they need to given the high injury rate in SR and the relatively small squads. In recent years the Crusaders have always had to bring in players from outside their squad to cover for injury. Sevu Reece in 2019 is a example of our important these players can be in NZ Super Rugby.
@chchfanatic said in Crusaders 2020:
@Chris Sam Gilbert told me he was training before Xmas. He’s only there to make up the numbers until sevu and bridge come back. They do it so they can have live trainings , enough people in the drills etc.
That makes lots of sense. Also allows the Super Rugby coaches to get a look at some of these developing players and gets these players familiar with the patterns/calls used by the Crusaders, making it easier for them if/when they do make the step up to SR level.
@Chris said in Crusaders 2020:
Canterbury u/19 Lock Sam Darry is training with the crusaders in pre-season,
some big raps on Sam. At 2.03 Cm he has height.
Good to hear, will keep an eye out for him into the future. It's great to have locks who are 2 metre plus in our system. He might struggle to get any gametime this season as lock is one position where we have strong depth. Even with Whitelock missing for Super Rugby season 2020 we still have four high quality locks in Barrett, Romano, Strange and Dunshea.
Tom Sanders turns 26 early next season. He's been playing provincial Rugby since 2014 and has been a Super Rugby player since 2016. The time is right for him to step up and show that he belongs at this level. It's now or never. With Blackadder gone, I think it'll be between Sanders and Barrett for the no.6 jersey. Dunshea is quite quick for a tall man, but I'm not convinced he has the mobility to play as a flanker at SR level.
I'd normally be very much opposed to Scott Barrett playing at 6. But it could work for the Crusaders in 2020. Our backrow stocks are so depleted that there isn't anyone who can legitimately lay claim to the no.6 jersey. Ethan Blackadder has been around the squad for a while but is injured, and poor Tom Sanders has hardly set Super Rugby alight thus far during his injury plagued career.
Given we have reasonable depth at lock, with Romano, Dunshea and Strange all quality players at this level, it might just be that getting our best XV on the field means switching Barrett to 6. Other positives include it being potentially easier to captain the team from the side of the scrum than in the engine room, Scott Barrett being a decent ball runner which would balance our backrow and the fact that he's generally been a better lifter than target at lineout time.
Anyway, it's all food for thought. We have more experience and quality at lock than any other position and moving Barrett to blindside might just sure up what will be an extremely green backrow.
I worry about the balance of our pack. Under Robertson we've generally had a good ball runner or two in the starting pack, and one coming off the bench. This has complemented our generally strong set piece.
With Pete Samu leaving at the end of 2018, and Jordan Taufua , Kieran Read and Matt Todd leaving at the end of this year, we are going to miss their ability with ball in hand. Billy Harmon, Ethan Blackadder (injured) and Tom Sanders simply don't provide that balance in attack as ball-runners. Whetu Douglas suddenly becomes very valuable as a ball running option, but he will need some help.
Luke Romano's running game has improved with age so he could play a role. What's Sione Havili like with ball in hand?
Cron's role has been replaced by Feek. Plumtree is coaching the forwards which was a role undertaken by Steve Hansen himself. It's hard not to feel like this team is inferior in every aspect to the the previous coaching team, and the one before that.
@Godder said in [Poll] Next All Black Coach:
They could have started 12 months ago and got nowhere because nobody is interested in a 26 candidate process.
The 26 candidate process was a debacle, with NZR desperate to appear like they were looking as far and wide as possible and that the search was genuine. The timing of this process has been a debacle and NZR's refusal to formally look for Hansen's replacement until after the RWC now seems to be deeply flawed. To me this entire recruitment process seems like a sham and it's seems quite obvious that Ian Foster was always going to be appointed. This is a head coach who was in charge of Waikato and the Chiefs for a combined 10 seasons, resulting in zero titles and a winning percentage of 53%.