v Hawkes Bay
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Was much improved this week, but still way short of the mark.
Our defence out wide was pretty horrendous. I thought the forwards muscled up to Hawke’s Bays rated pack ok. It was the continuity of Hawkes Bays plays that reamed us in the ass though. They had the ability to string multiple phases, and in doing so wore us thin out wide where they did most of their scoring.
Wasn’t helped with a ref who only seemed to have one arm for at least 70 mins of the game, and he also missed an obvious knock on from Fakatava in the lead up to one of their tries. Happened right in front of me. But oh well, that’s just our luck, typically Northland really. Same shit, different week.
My standouts were Matiu, the two locks and Gregory.
Good to see Tua back, although he looked a bit rusty which is understandable, he’s definitely a step up from Hohaia.
Hoping like hell some of our injured guys are good to roll against Manawatu next week. We bloody need them, especially the big Ginga!
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@J77 there were just little moments that let us down, and some really dumb discipline things .I was really concerned going into this game given the way the Magpies were travelling and also the number of defections we had..
Needed many to stand up, and several did..the 2 locks Temo Mayanavanua looks to have finally found his feet at this level and Sam Caird is just a work horse ,great lineout option and the man has some serious pace..took the quickest man Mason Emerson in the Bay side to drag him down ..
Jacob Matiu continues to go from strength to strength..that’s a novel thing , a number 8 with workrate and putting consistent games together ,hopefully the NZ Maori selectors and a Super Rugby franchise are watching this kid.Sam McNanamara will only get better and I am predicting is probably a player who will end up playing a 100 games for the province..really liked how they used him as a receiver ,good catch and passing skills
I thought it was probably Jack Strakers best ever game in a Taniwha jersey, really busy around the paddock when he was on.I thought Aorangi Stokes made a great fist of the number 7 jersey ,and it was his best game in the Cambridge blue jersey ..
One guy I really enjoyed watching was Paddy Joe Atkins, gee he’s a physical guy,made some huge tackles and in the main did all his core roles well..really happy for him, really decent chap..
Agree with Justin, it was great to see Tamati Tua back..and a much more improved performance from Johnson ,That defensive hit on on either Ili or Toala was memorable...Scott Gregory was great value as well ,such strong bugger, standing down at ground level next to him..he’s a sizeable chap..
Ultimately not the result we wanted, but plenty to get excited about given the numbers we had missingShould have a few back next week including Tom Robinson..?,Ranger may be available for the last 2 x Weeks
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@J77 said in v Hawkes Bay:
Was much improved this week, but still way short of the mark.
Our defence out wide was pretty horrendous.
Wasn’t helped with a ref who only seemed to have one arm for at least 70 mins of the game
My standouts were Matiu, the two locks and Gregory.
Hoping like hell some of our injured guys are good to roll against Manawatu next week. We bloody need them, especially the big
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Being at the game it was obvious that Leiua was out of of position, made poor decisions and ended up tackling no one on 3 of the HB tries.
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Ref was horrible. Reffing in general of the offside line is a problem at the moment. Spoke with one of the TJs after the game and pointed this out and he came up with some bullshit reason about teams not committing numbers to rucks so the offside line is the tackle, not last foot..... whatever, fuck that off right now!
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Matiu and Gregory easily our 2 best on the park.
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My sauce tells me Big Red is still 2-3 weeks away.
At least we were in that game and showed some ticker, I was expecting a bigger hiding than that.
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@Gunner those little things in and around discipline let us down..what we’re your thoughts on Paddy Joe Atkins..?
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@Steven-Harris said in v Hawkes Bay:
@Gunner those little things in and around discipline let us down..what we’re your thoughts on Paddy Joe Atkins..?
Was impressed, good work rate and threw himself into everything.
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I guess another positive is that we have Olsen, Goodhue, Robinson, Matich, Jacobson, Ranger, Hyland missing, all who are probable starters.
Shame the season is all but gone before we are likely to get any of them back.
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@Nepia said in v Hawkes Bay:
@J77 said in v Hawkes Bay:
Only has one arm like him too.
There's a lot of discussion about his one arm in the HB's thread on the match ... I expect looking at it from a different view to yours.
Watching it live at the ground it’s hard to see the little intricacies that he’s blowing penalties for and it comes across as a shit showing by the ref, but I guess the TV replay will show exactly why he seemed to have one arm.
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@J77 I think the YC was harsh, 8 mins in the 2nd spell, and he gives him a card for something done in the 1st half, refs never remember that far back, more so most often the break 'resets' things anyway.
I wish Nock would back himself, he is too ponderous, he is bloody quick, but rarely does he test the defence with his running game, and then there is his positioning, one ruck in particular, hard on our line, and he is set behind our forwards (about a metre or so behind the actual lone) as if he is expecting a ball he needs to clear...unsure if he wasnt aware of where on the field he was or he thought we were going to win the turnover (which it looked clear we weren't)
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@J77 said in v Hawkes Bay:
@Nepia said in v Hawkes Bay:
@J77 said in v Hawkes Bay:
Only has one arm like him too.
There's a lot of discussion about his one arm in the HB's thread on the match ... I expect looking at it from a different view to yours.
Watching it live at the ground it’s hard to see the little intricacies that he’s blowing penalties for and it comes across as a shit showing by the ref, but I guess the TV replay will show exactly why he seemed to have one arm.
Hmmm, I guess view is the wrong word - we thought his one arm was favouring Northland, especially so in the first half.
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@taniwharugby yeah it’s weird with Nock, I don’t know if he realises how much potential he actually has. He needs to push himself further I reckon.
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@J77 said in v Hawkes Bay:
If we actually sit back and try and watch it neutrally the blinkers will come off.
good luck with that.
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@taniwharugby said in v Hawkes Bay:
@J77 said in v Hawkes Bay:
If we actually sit back and try and watch it neutrally the blinkers will come off.
good luck with that.
Yep exactly! Impossible
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There is some talent there but not the mentality
I mention it during the Blues season and Northland fans get all defensive.. then you guys say the same shit during the NPC
4 SR seasons. This is his 5th NPC season. Yet the same complaints keep coming up. How long can you have ‘potential’?
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@Duluth most fans get defensive when they feel people are unfairly criticising players from thier teams...
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It’s the same criticism
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@Duluth and same issue with others...Akira is a prime example, same issues, same criticisms, same defences, how long can he have potential?
Although pretty sure Nock copped plenty of shit from Northland fans in his time for the Blues, not just this year too.
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@Duluth Oh look I agree, but I believe it won’t take much for him to flick a switch mentally..whether he wants to or not is another story.
We’ve had nothing but rocks and diamonds for five years from him. Just needs to stop holding back and put the foot on the throttle!
