Current standings

12 Dalton Papali’i
8 Akira Ioane
7 Tom Robinson
5 Otere Black
3 Jonathan Ruru
3 Caleb Clarke
2 Finlay Christie
2 Nepo Laulala
2 Kurt Eklund
1 Rieko Ioane
1 Stephen Perofeta
1 Hoskins Sotutu

I didn't vote but would like to point out that Blake Gibson was favoured to start by the coaches over Akira Ioane, who nearly had top metres despite coming off the bench. TSF don't seem to rate Gibson well for the match either, does he have a concealed secret weapon or is a vital but well-hidden cog in Rangi's master plan?

I wanted to vote for no one.

Where’s the James Blackwell option? I can’t find him to vote for him?

Current standings

6 Akira Ioane
4 Otere Black
3 Tom Robinson
2 Finlay Christie
2 Nepo Laulala
2 Kurt Eklund
1 Dalton Papali’i
1 Jonathan Ruru
1 Stephen Perofeta

Current standings

6 Akira Ioane
4 Otere Black
1 Dalton Papali’i
1 Jonathan Ruru
1 Stephen Perofeta

@dan54

I like how Black and Plummer are splitting some of the responsibilities. For instance most of the cross field kicks came from Plummer.

I want to see genuine 2nd 5/8ths return to the game. Plummer at the Blues and Havili at the Crusaders might signal a change in tactics of NZ teams

The second playmaker at fullback is useful but I think it's easy to get caught out on defence when there's a quick turnover

@tim probably an outside shot at best given I think he is only in the WTG, but Rob Rush could fill that role.

@duluth said in Super Rugby MOTM Polls:

@hooroo said in Super Rugby MOTM Polls:

I’m saying that come mid season I will prolly be interested again

Wait for a win streak and then jump on the bandwagon 😉

I mean I’ll interested in Super Rugby by mid season. Chiefs will either be good or bad. That’s is very normal

@nzzp said in MOTM v Netherlands... err... Argentina II:

@nostrildamus said in MOTM v Netherlands... err... Argentina II:

@Dan54 said in MOTM v Netherlands... err... Argentina II:

I thought Laulala, Akira and perhaps Moody in that order? I been a huge critic of Akira, but he stepped up last night, and hope he keeps to that standard. Thought Cane went well again, backs were generally ok without looking that flash. Jordan scored a couple of smart tries where his pace showed, but it bit hard to give him points when he only on a while and had 2 touches even if they were good.

good? good? You must have been some player if that only counts as good.

woah, you're really fanboying on WJ. Good player, but two intercepts and a linebreak doesn't make him Cullen. He's a really good player, but we haven't seen it yet at the top level

Oh I'm really an Akira fanboy (but others here have been doing the work for me!)

@Tim nah some surgery booked (shoulder?)

Current voting prior to the final:

20 Rayasi
11 Choat
6 AJ Lam
6 Plummer
5 Sullivan
5 Adams
4 R Ioane
4 Ruru
3 S Tuipulotu
3 A Ioane
3 Whetton
3 Tu'ungafasi
1 Scrafton
1 Funaki
1 Ta’avao

Goodhue and nock for me and Olsen very good also

Current voting after 10 rounds

17 Rayasi
10 Choat
6 AJ Lam
6 Plummer
4 Adams
4 R Ioane
3 Sullivan
3 Ruru
3 S Tuipulotu
3 A Ioane
3 Whetton
3 Tu'ungafasi
1 Scrafton
1 Funaki

@mariner4life said in AB MOTM v Argentina I:

The crushing disappointment and righteous public anger of 2007 forged the success of the next 8 years. And that anger built up over 20 years!

Do we really have to do that again?

Can't we just cut the weak link (s) now please? Really, please!

Went with Rayasi, Scrafton and Sullivan.

@kev think thats a good thing too!!

I gave the game a 2nd look and came away thinking Ta'avao and Adams were our two best in this match. For some big boys, they cover so much ground.

I didn't realize just how good Ta'avao was on first watch. Not only was he one of our busiest players, but along with Adams, he was also our most physical player. He had some nice skillful touches too.

What made his performance even more impressive was that this was his first match since September and he played the whole 84 minutes. Just a massive effort.

I couldn't possibly vote for Rieko simply because of the showboating try which was a carbon copy of the first test except he was lucky enough to keep control.

Epitomised the teams performance. All puff No Huff.

Give it to Jordan Poor bastard did nothing was only on the field 30 seconds and probably won't even remember his test debut.

Akira, Whitelock, Savea

@taniwharugby agree. On the cusp.

Yeah, Frizzel really busy tight 6 doing the yards up fat man's ally with Whitelock creating space further out and being a great defender in close as well. Is it a coincidence that Cane is being able to range a little bit wider and become a ball runner?

Rayasi obviously

Plummer apart from an early shite pass was very good

Plenty of forwards were candidates. I went for Apisai, he spoiled a lot of Waikato attacks and got through a lot of work.

After Otago: Robinson 3, Matich & Pryor 2 each

Updated:
Tom Robinson 16
Sam Nock 8
Kara Pryor 7
Matt Matich 4
Wiseguy Faiane 3
Josh Goodhue 3
Jordan Olsen 2
Rene Ranger 2
Scott Gregory 1

Usuals (Red, Kara) plus Kalani Going for me. Going looks solid and dependable. Nothing flash but has good hands and solid defence. Lock him in the 12 shirt I say.

Like to see a change around this week. Gregory needs to come into 13 in place of Ranger. If Hyland is fit, get him in there. Brady Rush looks interesting, give him a nudge at FB maybe?

Johnny Cooper needs a start at 10. Hawkins still plays way too much behind the advantage line and stymies our attack.

Have guys like Ranger and Hawkins on the bench, you may see a change in attitude when they come on.

The pack is going good, wouldn’t change anything up there..

@nzzp

He's had some good games (equal 3rd on the voting). However he really should be considered a 12 now

The problem is Hickey is worse and it's probably too early to trust Sullivan

@broughie said in MOTM v Wallabies:

Cane and Clarke were obvious. You could throw a blanket over ALB, BB, Savea and Frizzell. Frizzell probably had his best game as an AB. Still not totally sold on our loosies

That pretty much sums up for me. I like our loosies but I also like the depth of Sotutu and Akira in the wings.

@ACT-Crusader said in Auckland MOTM v Tasman:

Rayasi, Choat, Plummer

Ditto.

Nock, Rene and Red for me.

Goodhue not far behind.

Liking Leliua this year, just finding it frustrating how we fail to get good clean ball across to him, Macilai and Hyland etc. Do that and we’ll start splitting teams open. A lot of this stems from 10 and 12 in my opinion. Changes need to happen here. Give Cooper a crack for starters.

@mariner4life said in All Blacks MOTM v Aus (Oct 11):

@junior said in All Blacks MOTM v Aus (Oct 11):

@gt12 said in All Blacks MOTM v Aus (Oct 11):

Anyone not voting for Cane can GTFO.

I'm shocked that Moody doesn't have more votes. He was a machine on defence today. I would like to see more run metres out of him and Ofa, but since we hardly had the fucking ball, I can't really blame them for that.

After that, I think we have multiple options - from his very brief body of work, I think Clarke showed he belongs at this level and can be a weapon. Terrible selecting is the only thing him not starting showed.

Good point. It was actually annoying how little we used our muscle throughout the match to carry. I'm sure Whitelock had about 5 times as many carries as Pat T, which is just arse about face. I thought we actually started to use our forwards much better after the 80th minute, but even then we did the idiotic thing of giving the ball to Karl for the carry instead of someone better suited for it.

the problem is, more than half of our selected forwards are actually no good at carrying in to the teeth. We are relying on too few to do the heavy lifting. 3 of the 4 props, 1 80 minute lock, and two of the loose forwards are next to useless if you are trying to smash your way through the gain line.

And yet those guys tend to do a disproportionate amount of carrying!

@Duluth said in Auckland MOTM v Taranaki:

@nzzp not often you can vote for two subs

And Ruru at that!

I liked what he and Hickey did coming on, made a real difference. Really disappointed for Plummer and Trainor, but that's life.

@taniwharugby yeah, but such a great team player for us. Made the comment in post match that he wanted to start. Really saw that in his performance.

Your reserve hooker gets my vote, not being able to throw straight helped the BoP immensely 🙂

As I only watched the second half, its a bit difficult but for your mob.

Rayasi took the 3 Monkley medal points (based more on first half work), but also the outside backs were making impressive counter rucks on both sides even in the second. Based on this AJ Lam gets a point for me, tackled and turnover a lot of ball out wide especially on webber, just didn't get any pies. Thought Plummers impact was impressive late too.

@African-Monkey said in Auckland MOTM v Manawatu:

Hickey, Lam and Adams. Funaki unlucky.

Lam, Funaki, Adams

Lam doesn't make many errors and is having lots of positive impact. Adams did his core work and then had two great runs.
Funaki because of how important that performance might be for the overall season (although Ieremia is quite a conservative selector)

Probably unfair on Hickey

@taniwharugby said in Northland MOTM v Counties:

plenty of contendors today, but I reckon the work and go forward of Goodhue, Robinson and Olsen was key.

Kara Pryor was good over the ball again, probably in some of his best form, Nock is starting to look the part, although would like him to run a bit more and keep his hands off the ball until he knows what he is upto, Ross Wright looked good when he came on too

That last 30 was one of the better periods of rugby we have put together for a long while...

4 away wins from 31 now

Bang on. If a I could have voted for four Ross would have picked it up. Not sure if it was just him, but after the Ranger intercept it was great see our scrum and forwards take control of the game.

Choat, Plummer, Tu’ungafasi

After Round 1:

Kara Pryor 3
Sam Nock 2
Wiseguy Faiane 1

I went with Akira, Plummer and Lam.

All 3 were playing really well whilst the rest of the team was struggling around them in the first half.

Ofa was outstanding too.

A couple of the backs need uppercuts but some good performances by a lot of players once we got going.