@taniwharugby said in Stupid shit you see on the internet:
@Victor-Meldrew many questions...was it dead, or a pet...I mean, seagulls usually dont just hang around that close...maybe the bird was part of a honey trap?
Asking for a friend?
@taniwharugby said in Stupid shit you see on the internet:
@Victor-Meldrew many questions...was it dead, or a pet...I mean, seagulls usually dont just hang around that close...maybe the bird was part of a honey trap?
Asking for a friend?
@Canes4life said in Crusaders 2024:
@ruggabee Penney also had a crap record with the Waratah's which makes you think maybe he's just a poor coach and doesn't know how to get the best out of his players.
Justin Marshall said on the Breakdown on Sunday that he'll be very surprised if Penney gets the boot, that isn't how the Crusader's operate apparently, but then I thought to myself that the Crusaders simply don't usually lose this bad either so anything's possible.
It's not just a Crusader thing. I said it before, but NZ doesn't tend to sack coaches in a hurry. It's almost as though there is a thinking that holding on to coaches who appear to be struggling as some sort of morally mature stance. There is some benefit to avoiding knee jerk sackings but at times I think NZ goes too far the other way and end up sticking with duds for far too long.
Has a NZ Super coach ever been sacked mid season? Or even before their contract had expired?
The bits of highlights I have seen showed Foulkes bowling early to mid 130's. A bit faster than what I thought. @Chris you were right about his speed.
Regarding Razor's selections, obviously none of us know what he is going to do. I suspect he is smarter than just picking journeyman Crusaders because he knows them, but time will tell.
I am wondering what he is going to do with the likes of Rieko, Ardie and BB. Does he think 13 is the best use of Rieko's talents, is 8 the best place for Ardie, and will he contniue with the two playmaker system at 10 and 15 (ie DM and BB)? These were very much a hallmark of the selection policies of the previous regimes and there is no guarantee that Razor is thinking along the same lines.
@ruggabee said in Crusaders 2024:
@Crazy-Horse said in Crusaders 2024:
@sparky said in Crusaders 2024:
@Billy-Tell Nope but after years and years and years of cocky Crusaders fans. It's very interesting indeed to observe the current state of things.
Besides basking in the Crusaders looking quite poor, what do you find interesting? Hopefully it's more than just nah, nah nah.
I find it interesting just how much difference a change in coach can make (looking at the Hurricanes and Blues here too). Are we seeing how influential Razor was? Are we seeing a team that was more reliant on the missing key players than many realised? A combination of both?
I suspect it is both. I find it hard to believe a Razor coached team with this year's personal and a Penny coached team with last year's personal would have been this poor.
Hoping from an AB perspective it's the Razor factor.
I'm starting to think that Surfer Jesus is no longer a hyperbolic term to describe the Razor.
The team just got unashamedly thrashed by the 12th ranked team. The guy is genuinely a miracle worker having maintained such a cohesive and dominant team-unit performing much greater than the sum of their parts with extremely limited players such as Grace, Havili, McLeod, Ennor, Christie, McAlister, Strange, Gardiner, Drummond, Heinz, etc..
It confirms my long-held belief that these guys were all 'system players' under Razor and were never more than ordinary.
Yeah to borrow a basketball term, many of them were role players who seemed to know what to do and when to do it. It's a sign of a well coached team. We are seeing it now with the improvement at the Canes and the Blues and the continuation at Chiefs.
@Bones said in All Blacks 2024 - looking forward:
@Victor-Meldrew said in All Blacks 2024 - looking forward:
I think Harry Plummer's doing enough to challenge for the utility back slot.
In terms of playing style, he seems somewhere between Cruden and Jodie, with a very low error rate. Runs a backline a heck of a lot better than I remember Beauds doing last year.
I'm on board.
I am 50 mins into the Blues game and I have been having similar thoughts.
Plummer has been the forgotten man in the race to find an AB 10. If my memory serves me well, he came on the scene as a promising 10 and got shovelled out to 12. From an NZ perspective I wouldn't mind seeing more of him at 10 for the Blues.
@Dan54 said in Hurricanes 2024:
@DaGrubster I guessing he still get's AB money , but not Canes?
I like you and see positives, and can understand why players do it.
I am sure @DaGrubster likes you too.
Come to NZ Joey
@African-Monkey said in Hurricanes vs Chiefs:
Funny how last week Wallace Sititi was the next big thing and an AB in waiting after walking through the Moana Pasifika 2nd string side, but got a good lesson last night.
Obviously he may well turn out to be that star in waiting and have a huge career ahead of him, but I think the massive hype was a tad premature.
Didn't see last week. Early days for him for sure, but I thought there were some promising signs from him. There was a passage of play where he featured ball in hand multiple times and seemed to make post contact ground comfortably.
I also thought he made some pretty good tackles. A couple of times I noticed he put Aumua down. Not saying they were dominant tackles but they were text book.
@frugby said in Highlanders v Rebels:
@SouthernMann said in Highlanders v Rebels:
@Kiwiwomble said in Highlanders v Rebels:
Patchell was always really only a bit of experience until Ajay (and millar) were up to speed to start...and if he's ready to test that a bit faster than we might have though then awesome, Patchell only signed for one year?
Yeah one year for Patchell.
Byron Smith former Blues U20 will be running around for Southland this year.
My concern is around the contract length for Millar. Will be interesting to see how the gametime between Millar and Faleafaga is managed for Otago during the NPC. Same in the midfield between Te Hiwi, Whaanga, Gilbert and if Timu and Umaga-Jensen return. Those are a lot of players to manage in a couple of positions.
Chances are high Millar ends back up at Southland I think... which could be a good outcome for all parties. But at this stage, I am really trying to temper my expectations with Faleafaga, but I think he seriously has the potential to be the best 10 the Highlanders have ever had...
His running game and playmaking out the hand for a 21 year old is ridiculously good. Big If, but if he can nail down the 10 jersey for the Highlanders, and gets the backline firing, what's to say he can't be a massive bolter for the ABs? Would probably take an injury, but outside of Perofeta, DMac and BB who else really is there?
Big call. I am going to have to watch him more closely. So far all I have seen is a kid who looks a good athlete not shitting the bed when given a run.
If more Kiwis played for Aussie teams I' d be worried about the Wallabies poaching a player or two.
Bloody Canes supporters. They win a couple of games at the wrong end of the season and they polute every thread with their chat.
I can see any one of those getting him in trouble when in black. I can see the baying for blood at Twickers now. It'll take a strong ref not to yellow card him.
@Chris said in Crusaders 2024:
@chchfanatic said in Crusaders 2024:
Went and watched University vs Sumner preseason on Saturday.
Toby Bell playing at 12 for University is a future All Black. Never seen him play before. A class above every other player on the field. Has the perfect physique for a 12. Has pace , power and has a quality rugby brain.Watched Bell in the Crusaders U/20 games this year he stood out in those games .
He should get picked the NZ U/20 squad this year.
Is he related to the hooking Bell's?
@Winger said in All Blacks 2024 - looking forward:
@Dan54 said in All Blacks 2024 - looking forward:
Why are some getting all surprised, or even upset at what Ardie has said or done.
Ardie should maybe just focus on the game itself. When he's asked questions about, for example, picking overseas players he should maybe just not answer (likewise Razor). Because there's always a self-interest aspect. Thats what his answer comes across like to me. I would like to play overseas (it's so wonderful) and earn big money but still be picked for the AB's. My view is if he wants to go overseas just go.
And he shouldn't criticise super rugby (as he does). My view is it's a big plus that just NZ, Aust and PI Island teams are involved. The issue is the uneven teams. Esp Aust teams being weaker still. Hopefully the Rebels get the boot but even with 4 teams ... . And MP are still a joke.
Who are you to say what anyone 'should' say?
@Bovidae said in Crystal Glass XV:
@Rancid-Schnitzel said in Crystal Glass XV:
Going back a long way but Jason Goldsmith was the youngest AB I believe and then disappeared due to savage injury.
He played for Waikato while still at school. I remember watching Goldsmith star in Waikato's win against the 1988 Welsh team. He was in the ABs later that year at 18. Retired at 24 due to injuries.
I remember he got a nasty leg break against Canterbury.
@frugby said in All Blacks 2024 - looking forward:
@Bones said in All Blacks 2024 - looking forward:
Mate who knows his stuff reckons Roigard is probably patella tendon and if it's a full rupture, then we've seen the best of Roigard already.
We've already seen one halfback fucked by a knee injury. A second in three years would be a pretty bitter pill to swallow.
If you mean Fakatava I think physically he is starting to look better.
@Duluth said in All Blacks 2024 - looking forward:
@Crazy-Horse Marshall was a different player after the achilles injury
Yeah he was too. Same with Kirwan.
@Bones said in All Blacks 2024 - looking forward:
Mate who knows his stuff reckons Roigard is probably patella tendon and if it's a full rupture, then we've seen the best of Roigard already.
I hope this is not the case but it has definitely crossed my mind that he may not be the same again.
I am trying to think of other talents that were looking 'special' before injury curtailed them. The great MJ springs to mind but he reinvented himself and Jonah as well. It's incredible to think Jonah did what he did while he was sick.
Jason Goldsmith? I am sure there is someone I have forgotten.
See, I always put his referring to the Crusaders as Christchurch as being on par with people who don't call the All Blacks, All Blacks. Because they are scary.