@nepia yea Katas definitely signed with Auckland. Its the reason Grindlay left. With Tumua Manu, Faiane AND Tele'a not there he was told he was next in line but they changed there tune. He was none too happy so gapped it.

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

@Dice said in Premiership Final - Auckland v Tasman (Free entry):

Congrats Tasman and @Chris-B . Probably would've won by more if Christie's service wasn't so slow.

He probably had his worst game for the season in the final.

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

@Crazy-Horse said in Premiership Semi-Final: Auckland v Waikato:

@Kirwan said in Premiership Semi-Final: Auckland v Waikato:

@Crazy-Horse said in Premiership Semi-Final: Auckland v Waikato:

@Kirwan said in Premiership Semi-Final: Auckland v Waikato:

@African-Monkey said in Premiership Semi-Final: Auckland v Waikato:

I'm 50 mins into this game and geez does TJ have money on Waikato to win? Every decision that goes Auckland's way he sulks like a baby and has done nothing but rip into them when they make an error.

It’s painful, hopefully they give Nisbo the final.

I suspect the reason why some don’t hear it is they kind of agree with TJs anti-Auckland stance. Difference is they aren’t paid to basically promote a sport.

Look at that Oz league commentator that makes a basic try seem like it was orgasmic. It’s almost like he likes the sport or something.

I can't speak for others, but I am not anti Auckland, or anyone else for that matter. I just don't care enough for that shit.

I have asked before, but someone give examples on how he is so mean to Auckland/Blues so I can see what I am missing. I recall TJ being critical and sounding frustrated at the Blues a few seasons ago when they were playing dumb rugby, but at the same time just about everyone on here were expressing the same frustrations.

Lately I have been hearing TJ shooting his load over some of the young Auckland players - Rayasi and Sullivan spring to mind.

Auckland does something good, muted enthusiasm. Opponent does the same thing, creams his pants.

Auckland makes a mistake, goes on a multi minute rant. Opponent does the same thing, doesn’t get mentioned.

Example from this game, Auckland player gets shoulder charged off the ball, with the whiplash effect it looked like it nearly knocked him out.

He goes on and on about it was a harsh penalty.

His job is to commentate, not cheerlead his favourites. Every other province gets a local colour commentator, and they generally keep him in check when he starts talking shit.

If we can’t replace this dickhead, then at least pair him with an ex Auckland player that can call him out when he displays his bias, and crucially can sound enthusiastic for the Auckland team in the biggest rugby market in the country.

Yeah I recall him going on about the shoulder charge but saw it as him not agreeing with the penalty, not an anti Auckland thing. But I acknowledge that could come across as anti Auckland if you had a horse in the race.

Reminds me of people saying Justin Marshall favours the Crusaders in his commentary, but from my perspective as a Crusader supporter it seems the opposite. It's like he deliberately goes against the Crusaders to appear neutral. We all see and interpret things differently.

And you would have a point if it was just me going on about his bias, but even non-Auckland fans notice it.

Went with Rayasi, Scrafton and Sullivan.

I had two moments of pure happiness this year - yelling at my tv until we lost the shield and yelling at my tv until we stayed up

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.

@Chiefy07 I am not sure we would have won with Hawkins. We would have won with a first five eight that kicks well and leads the team around the park. Hawkins kicks have no length, he takes ages to wind up and kick and has been charged down this year because of it. I prefer Wiseguy to him because he carries at the line better. However that said Wiseguy and Johnny also need to work on their kicking games. I think thy both have more upside.

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.

@Yeetyaah said in Auckland v Waikato:

Kinda glad I didn't watch that one. At a mates wedding drunk as shit.

Here’s the highlights. Enjoy 🙂

@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

@Tim said in North Harbour v Auckland:

I had lunch in August in New Market next to the Blues forwards,

Oh man here we go again...

@ACT-Crusader said in Auckland MOTM v Tasman:

Rayasi, Choat, Plummer

Ditto.

@Duluth Not as bad as it looked...

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/provincial/123167928/wanted-for-attempted-murder-jack-whettons-hilarious-shot-at-teammates-over-frightening-lineout-fall

@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.

A bit of cross promotion - free tickets for NZ Warriors members for this game.

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.

@Bovidae said in BOP v Auckland:

The thing is that Karpik is a star at this level but has little impact in SR.

just as well this was a Mitre10 cup game then.. let the man have his 5 minutes 🙂 , although a more cohesive performance as a team, his impact at this level is important

@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

This game was at the same time as the shield match. Sky should realise theres people who will watch one game and record the other

The fluffybunnies announced the shield result and score at the end of this match

Choat, Plummer, Tu’ungafasi

@mikey07 said in Auckland v Wellington:

@nzzp I’ll gladly swap you can have our coaches if you want.

it's too late. They've got the board behind them ... this conspiracy goes All.The.Way.

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.

@Tim the headline says it all.

Not sure what he has been working on :|

@Nogusta Very interesting. Thanks for the update!

Tough loss. Watched the game again and the team put in a great effort, especially the starters. It's too bad that our subs came on and added very little. Outside of Adams, most of the subs had a negative impact on the game, especially Abel. If you watch the last 20 minutes, almost all the missed tackles and mistakes during that time were by our bench players. Their bench was much better and made key plays at the end of the game, which was probably the difference.

I think both packs canceled each other out for the most part. I think our pack struggled to get much go forward for most of the game, but despite that, our backs were pretty dangerous throughout the match. We definitely made a mistake not having Sotutu somewhere in the 23 though.

The way we corrected things in the last few weeks, I'm hopeful of next season. We were just a totally different team late in the season.

LOL, Riccitelli got badly palmed off by Trainor.

@SammyC said in Tasman v Auckland:

Has anyone mentioned how shit Akira Ioane was? 😉

Yes he was very bad. He's put on some weight hasn't he. I couldn;t believe how easily Havili ran around him in that first half. Ha two players share the same non-AB selection disappointment but couldn't be more different in their attitude.

@Stargazer said in Auckland vs Wellington:

Has he been signed by anyone? Also Ben-Nicholas?

I guess we will have to wait for the official squad announcement but surely there must be whispers.

@Dice Yup I know what you mean I've seen the same stuff too. I feel like he's a rough diamond who'll get better in time. His lineout definitely needs working on but he has the physical attributes to go far and is worth perservering with in the long run.

Very late but here are my post match interviews from both the Miter 10 Cup and Farah Palmer Cup games:

@African-Monkey said in Waikato v Auckland:

@shark Interestingly enough, Ennor coming into centre will make it a 5th different midfield combo in a row. Having said that, Ennor and Osborne in the backline makes it a hell of a lot better.

Yep, I noted that early on in the Canterbury vs Southland thread after the teams were posted.

@Dice We had some shockers like Emersen Tamura-Paki, Jono Owen and Isi Tu'ungafasi who were barely club standard. He's done ok since leaving has Isi but he was awful for us.

@Nogusta said in Northland vs. Auckland:

@Daffy-Jaffy and to think Sione Havili was in the mix too. Aleks Dabek is also pretty handy. Been in the Auckland Academy and there or there abouts since leaving school but just absolutely can't get a look in. Currently exploring opportunities outside of Auckland

Northland could have used Aleks Dabek they have so many injuries already

@Nepia Not sure, just heard that they're resting for 2 weeks.

Dalton has come back earlier though as he's just been named on the bench for the game against Northland.

@Tim

Oh well.. I had thought it was the end of 2020

Papali'i yes, but the jury is out on Plummer. He wouldn't be the first Auckland first-five to look good in his first year and then fall away badly.