Crusaders 2026
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@zedsdeadbaby said in Crusaders 2026:
Moananu to the …Waratahs.
Wow. How can our SR franchises be this stupid. Would walk into the Blues starting lineup.
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@frugby said in Crusaders 2026:
All the NZ sides had their hookers locked in… case of following the opportunities.
Seems insane nobody could find room for him though.
Franchises have gotten rid of several players under contract recently. Moananu was in the top half a dozen hookers in NZ. If he wanted to have stayed someone could have got paid out to make room for him.
It reads like he decided Sydney was better than NZ, and good on him.
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From a Blues perspective, sadly it looks like we jumped the gun and signed Bradley Slater when we could have fit him in.
How long is he at the Tahs for?
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@African-Monkey giving a multi year contract to an unproven guy like Mullan was the bigger error. He better improve fast
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Waratahs social post suggests only for 2026. You’d hope some Kiwi teams manage to offload some talent and get him back to NZ for 2027.
Canes seem like an obvious one.
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@African-Monkey said in Crusaders 2026:
From a Blues perspective, sadly it looks like we jumped the gun and signed Bradley Slater when we could have fit him in.
I truly don't understand how these contract situations work
How could you sign Slater without fully exploring the Moananu situation
It makes no sense.
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@SouthernMann said in Crusaders 2026:
@frugby said in Crusaders 2026:
All the NZ sides had their hookers locked in… case of following the opportunities.
Seems insane nobody could find room for him though.
Franchises have gotten rid of several players under contract recently. Moananu was in the top half a dozen hookers in NZ. If he wanted to have stayed someone could have got paid out to make room for him.
It reads like he decided Sydney was better than NZ, and good on him.
It might read like that, but I’m telling you that isn’t the case. The fact he has only signed for 2026, is notable in that regard.
I also think he probably isn’t rated as highly internally as he is on here.
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@Bovidae said in Crusaders 2026:
@frugby said in Crusaders 2026:
All the NZ sides had their hookers locked in… case of following the opportunities.
Who have MP signed? Both Sama Malolo and Tomasi Maka were listed amongst the 15 players leaving. That only leaves Mills Sanerivi and Sam Moli.
Not sure… I had heard that NZ sides so not sure whether that included MP.
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@frugby said in Crusaders 2026:
All the NZ sides had their hookers locked in… case of following the opportunities.
Seems insane nobody could find room for him though.
Wow, I didn’t expect him to go to Australia. That Slater signing threw an even bigger spanner than first thought. I’ll wear that one. A shame he’s leaving New Zealand
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@frugby said in Crusaders 2026:
@SouthernMann said in Crusaders 2026:
@frugby said in Crusaders 2026:
All the NZ sides had their hookers locked in… case of following the opportunities.
Seems insane nobody could find room for him though.
Franchises have gotten rid of several players under contract recently. Moananu was in the top half a dozen hookers in NZ. If he wanted to have stayed someone could have got paid out to make room for him.
It reads like he decided Sydney was better than NZ, and good on him.
It might read like that, but I’m telling you that isn’t the case. The fact he has only signed for 2026, is notable in that regard.
I also think he probably isn’t rated as highly internally as he is on here.
He may not be rated as highly as members of an anonymous internet forum think... but
He should be rated higher than
H Bell, Vikena, Devery, Tuputupu, Slater, Eklund and Mullan.
That is more than 50% of the contractd hookers.
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Codie Taylor, George Bell, Manumaua Letiu(NZ 20’s and already had a Crusaders debut) and Eli Oudenryn(NZ 20’s and u20 super rugby player of the tournament). Crusaders are in ag good place at hooker even with Moananu leaving.
I wonder if they can keep both youngsters and have 1 in the wider training group. Eli will have plenty of franchises attention now.
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@Duluth said in Crusaders 2026:
@African-Monkey giving a multi year contract to an unproven guy like Mullan was the bigger error. He better improve fast
It's looking that way currently, as he barely played last season, and he looks like he'll be nothing more than a bit part player next season too.
Sorry, don't mean to derail the Crusaders thread like this, but crazy that no NZ side could find Moananu a spot on their rosters.
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@Landers92 said in Crusaders 2026:
Codie Taylor, George Bell, Manumaua Letiu(NZ 20’s and already had a Crusaders debut) and Eli Oudenryn(NZ 20’s and u20 super rugby player of the tournament). Crusaders are in ag good place at hooker even with Moananu leaving.
I wonder if they can keep both youngsters and have 1 in the wider training group. Eli will have plenty of franchises attention now.
Isn’t Eli from Palmy Boys? The Canes should go hard for his signature.
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@KiwiMurph And therein lies the whole problem with our super rugby contracting. The best 15 hookers in the country won't be selected for 2026. Also factor in that new talent will emerge from the NPC this year who also won't get a look in ,as the super rosters are pretty much full up already
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@Kiwidom said in Crusaders 2026:
@KiwiMurph And therein lies the whole problem with our super rugby contracting. The best 15 hookers in the country won't be selected for 2026. Also factor in that new talent will emerge from the NPC this year who also won't get a look in ,as the super rosters are pretty much full up already
What would you propose as a solution? Feels like it's almost impossible to avoid.
If one of the Super Rugby teams were desperate for a long-term hooker and felt Moananu was their man, surely they'd just bring him in in place of a loose forward etc.
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@Mr-Fish I don't think there is a solution to be honest. I liked when Graham Henry was AB coach ,when the AB coaches would have some input into the super team squad selections. This was when the crusaders were stockpiling first fives, to ensure the talent was spread around evenly.
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It’s a bit back to the future but I’d only allow teams to contract max 28 players, then I’d have a draft like the old early days of Super to fill up the remaining (8-10?) spots on their roster.
That would create some jeopardy and create some genuine competition between franchises for players.
I think it would allow franchises to retain their best players still but force them to make decisions about where they ‘stockpile’ any depth. -
I like the idea, but equally players also want stability, so you may just see the guys - who would get picked up - leave to know where they'll be. In other words, things could get even worse.
I'm not sure we pay enough, and that NZ is cheap enough, for people to just pick up their families and move to a new place if they get left out and dependent on the draft.
