@Dice said in Highlanders v Hurricanes:

@Winger He was actually pretty good for the Lions last season except for maybe the last couple of games where he seemed to have run out of steam.

I honestly wasn't surprised that he won Wellington Player of the Year. I was surprised that he was playing well though, because I'd never seen much from him in previous seasons, even at U20s level.

He's ordinary. A plodder who has a good attitude it seems. But still a plodder. I watched him closely at 6 as I felt this would be his position if he is to make it (obviously at 1.90 he's not a lock). what a disappointment. So not a lock yet not good enough at 6. Even at NPC level.

One difference between winning teams and those that aren't is coaches who can see this.

@Nepia

Blackwell is also fairly ordinary at NPC level. Even at 6. I watched him closely at 6 in one game and he was only adequate.

Its a mystery why Plumtree has such a hard on for him. It's destroying Plumtree's reputation as a competent coach. Its almost as if Plumtree has totally lost the plot. I don't mean this in a nasty way but as an area of concern. Blackwell is a player that should only ever start when their is no-one else due to injuries

But Plumtree has always had a soft spot for plodders who have a good attitude. Like Princep. But 1.90 Blackwell is really taking it to another level

@Canes4life said in Highlanders v Hurricanes:

I'm so over Plumtree and his pathetic selections - we should be doing better but this idiot keeps picking the same players and expects different results.

• Blackwell tries hard but is too small for a lock - how many games will it take to sink into Plumtree's noggin?
• Prinsep really is ineffective at this level - they must have something against Ben Nicholas, surely he is a better no8 than Prinsep.
• Lam is horrible on defence and only looks good going forward - the Crusaders showed once again that Lam is useless when it comes to the crunch, average under the high ball and clueless when he is on the back foot.

These coaches are completely hopeless. Agree on all these points. But after the disaster last week Plumtree still felt the team was on the right track.

Its a shame really. Canes won the competition and instead of building on this they have thrown it out the window with poor conditioning of players (= injuries), poor recruitment, a poor attack coach etc. Last week it was like a well coached side against a side who had just been thrown together and weren't really interested in playing. It was a terrible performance. Re Jordie. He's not a wing. He wants to play 2nd of FB. Anyway life is what it is. Expecting wellington or the Canes to be consistently a top team is it seems not going to happen

@Toddy said in Hurricanes vs Crusaders:

An embarassing match for the Canes top players. Completely outplayed by their opposites. Tiatia and Lam also badly exposed.

The Canes coaches need to get their act together.

One start would be this. If a player plays a good game one week then they start the next week in the same position. As it is there's no real incentive for players. Play a blinder and they are still dropped or moved around. Goosen should have started this week. And Jordie should have started at 2nd. Reward good form. As it is the selections are a joke. Lam can play like crap and he still gets a start. Other players can have a good game but dropped or on the bench.

My view is Plumtree isn't a head coach. He's a great assistant though.

Cridge will likely last for 5 minutes if he returns before another injury. He's sadly a bit like Fidow. Just too injury prone

Agree on Isaia Walker-Leawere,

Goosen had another good game. Unsure why he got criticism early on but he's a good player.

I'm also unsure why Plumtree likes Blackwell so much. I watched him closely in the NPC last year and even at this level as a lock I was unimpressed. Even at 6 he's fairly ordinary. Maybe I'm missing something. But my view is he will cost us any chance of winning this competition.

@ShadowTrooper

He was once (a good coach) Maybe not really suited as a head coach though. But people lose the plot. One top football coach said (much later in life) they could see clearly what to do when young but towards the end they had lost that ability. It's looking more and more like Plumtree is in this position now.

@Canes4life said in Hurricanes vs Brumbies:

Is there something wrong upstairs with Plumtree? How can you pick the same tight five and expect different results. Matttee Blackwell is not a lock, bring in IWL. Tiatia, Blackwell, May, Riccitelli, Eves, Toomaga Allen, Prinsep, Judd, Garden Bachop, Goosen. Man we are going to struggle this year.

What have Aumua, Ben Nicholas, Cridge etc done to piss Plumtree off?

it looks like Plumtree has lost the plot. He use to make sound selections when coaching Wellington but these locks selections (esp Blackwell) are so bad that I have doubts about his state of mind.

Plumtree was never a great head coach. But he was always a top coach. He never won with Wellington but always came close

But I'm wondering whether he has lost it. It happens at times where great coaches decline rapidly. Like players do. Look at Man United and Mourinho. Plumtree was a top defense coach but last year the defense towards the end was poor. This year his lock selections are idiotic (one is 1.90 and one 1.95) But even selecting Blackwell as his top lock is beyond strange. And he has other options. And he needed to bring in at least one good prop this year but nothing. Also the conditioning of the tight 5 is poor and has been for three years running but no changes on this front. He (or the current coaching team) is ruining the team with bad recruitment, bad conditioning esp of the tight 5, appalling selections and it seems almost nil development of players

The management need to put the hard word on Plumtree. But I have the feeling his time has passed. A once very good coach seems to have declined rapidly. And if this rot is allowed to carry on for too long no one will want to move to the Canes

@Nepia said in Crusaders vs Hurricanes:

Goosen gets another start?

I prefer Goosen to Lam