Crusaders 2017
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@shark said in Crusaders 2017:
Reasonably happy with this squad.
Well stocked in the front row with four current ABs and some quality and up and coming back up.
Locks are a very handy group but I just wonder if there's enough height. Dunshea is also probably more a lock than 6 and has been listed under the loosies but is only about 1.96 or so. Barrett not much bigger and there seems to be conflicting info on Strange but he didn't strike me as 1.99 watching him play. So I would have liked to have seen a 2m + lock found to compliment Whitelock if he's absent.
Quite like the loose forward group but don't see an obvious choice to play 8 with Read out.
No surprises in the half-back group and I'm actually pretty happy with who we have, headed up by Hall. I'm excited about his combination with Mo'unga.
Speaking of whom, I can't wait to see how he goes in Super Rugby next year. And I'm so fucking pleased they've jettisoned Vol au Vent. McKenzie doesn't thrill me either but I like to think Hunt will actually end up covering 10 and 15 from the bench.
Bateman is there as a midfielder, make no mistake. Sure he filled a hole for Wellington a couple of times at 10 but he ain't no first five. What he does do though is add massive experience and also over-stock us with midfielders. Expect to see Havili'i and/or Goodhue used on the wing at times. The key to the midfield is settling on a combination and making sure they can put the wingers in space.
Wing is the most perplexing of the selections. Macilai is the only returning wing and he's out for most of the season. We sign a 31 year old former Wallaby, retain Fifita who I don't think we saw earlier this year and has done nothing in this year's NPC, but have at least opted for two youngsters with potential in Bridge and the Taranaki Fijian who's name escapes me. Add in the aforementioned midfielders and at least we have plenty of options with potential.
At fullback we have Dagg who we can only hope is motivated, with cover from Hunt, Bridge and McKenzie.
Both Ta$man's and the Crusaders' profile have Strange at a height of 1.99m, so I guess that must be right?
Taufua has played 8 for the Crusaders before (and pretty good); in 2015, I think.
Not too sure about Hall, but I guess he'll be better than Drummond.
McKenzie wasn't bad for Taranaki and has been really on target with the boot in Mitre10 Cup; Mo'unga and McKenzie have the best kicking stats of the comp.
Agree about Bateman. He's like a faded version of Crotty. Solid and reliable, just not as good as Crotty, but certainly not bad either. I expect the main midfield combo to be Crotty-Tamanivalu, but Crotty may have the obligatory All Black breaks at the beginning of or during the season, so it's good to have Bateman there.
About the wings: I assume Ioane was signed because there wasn't much chance of finding another strong, big winger without a contract that late in the year (he was signed late July). I guess they were in a difficult situation in that they wanted the new coach to have a say in the hiring & firing, but the new coach was only appointed mid-June. Same with re-signing Macilai, I suppose. At least Ioane comes with experience; Mataele (the young Naki wing and apparently Tamanivalu's nephew) will be a development project and won't be introduced in SR any time soon, unless there are a lot of injuries.
Isn't Bridge more a wing than a fullback? The biggest problem in the backline is IMO the fact that there are many new players and they all have to learn to play with each other. Combined with a new coach and probably/hopefully new game plans, that can be a challenge, although there are several players from Canterbury, Ta$man & Naki.
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@cgrant On another thread, we were wondering whether the squads already include the WTG; someone suggested that was the case, because there are already 38 players on the list. So we may have to wait for the naming of the development teams to see the players that missed out on selection for the senior team.
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@Stargazer said in Crusaders 2017:
@shark said in Crusaders 2017:
Reasonably happy with this squad.
Well stocked in the front row with four current ABs and some quality and up and coming back up.
Locks are a very handy group but I just wonder if there's enough height. Dunshea is also probably more a lock than 6 and has been listed under the loosies but is only about 1.96 or so. Barrett not much bigger and there seems to be conflicting info on Strange but he didn't strike me as 1.99 watching him play. So I would have liked to have seen a 2m + lock found to compliment Whitelock if he's absent.
Quite like the loose forward group but don't see an obvious choice to play 8 with Read out.
No surprises in the half-back group and I'm actually pretty happy with who we have, headed up by Hall. I'm excited about his combination with Mo'unga.
Speaking of whom, I can't wait to see how he goes in Super Rugby next year. And I'm so fucking pleased they've jettisoned Vol au Vent. McKenzie doesn't thrill me either but I like to think Hunt will actually end up covering 10 and 15 from the bench.
Bateman is there as a midfielder, make no mistake. Sure he filled a hole for Wellington a couple of times at 10 but he ain't no first five. What he does do though is add massive experience and also over-stock us with midfielders. Expect to see Havili'i and/or Goodhue used on the wing at times. The key to the midfield is settling on a combination and making sure they can put the wingers in space.
Wing is the most perplexing of the selections. Macilai is the only returning wing and he's out for most of the season. We sign a 31 year old former Wallaby, retain Fifita who I don't think we saw earlier this year and has done nothing in this year's NPC, but have at least opted for two youngsters with potential in Bridge and the Taranaki Fijian who's name escapes me. Add in the aforementioned midfielders and at least we have plenty of options with potential.
At fullback we have Dagg who we can only hope is motivated, with cover from Hunt, Bridge and McKenzie.
Both Ta$man's and the Crusaders' profile have Strange at a height of 1.99m, so I guess that must be right?
Taufua has played 8 for the Crusaders before (and pretty good); in 2015, I think.
Not too sure about Hall, but I guess he'll be better than Drummond.
McKenzie wasn't bad for Taranaki and has been really on target with the boot in Mitre10 Cup; Mo'unga and McKenzie have the best kicking stats of the comp.
Agree about Bateman. He's like a faded version of Crotty. Solid and reliable, just not as good as Crotty, but certainly not bad either. I expect the main midfield combo to be Crotty-Tamanivalu, but Crotty may have the obligatory All Black breaks at the beginning of or during the season, so it's good to have Bateman there.
About the wings: I assume Ioane was signed because there wasn't much chance of finding another strong, big winger without a contract that late in the year (he was signed late July). I guess they were in a difficult situation in that they wanted the new coach to have a say in the hiring & firing, but the new coach was only appointed mid-June. Same with re-signing Macilai, I suppose. At least Ioane comes with experience; Mataele (the young Naki wing and apparently Tamanivalu's nephew) will be a development project and won't be introduced in SR any time soon, unless there are a lot of injuries.
Isn't Bridge more a wing than a fullback? The biggest problem in the backline is IMO the fact that there are many new players and they all have to learn to play with each other. Combined with a new coach and probably/hopefully new game plans, that can be a challenge, although there are several players from Canterbury, Ta$man & Naki.
Pretty sure Bridge plays fullback at club level and played there for the U20s
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Sam Whitelock will captain the Crusaders in 2017:
http://crusaders.co.nz/news/1035-sam-whitelock-to-captain-bnz-crusaders-in-2017
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The Crusaders development squad - Crusaders Knights - has been named.
They will play 3 games:
- Sat 25 Feb, k/o 1.45pm, Linfield Park, Christchurch: v Highlanders Brave Hearts
- Sat 4 March, k/o TBC, Dunedin (curtain raiser to Highlanders v Crusaders): v Highlanders Bravehearts
- Sat 25 March, k/o TBC, Levin: v Hurricanes dev team
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Crusaders Knights squad for this Saturday's game:
1 Tim Perry, 2. Andrew Makalio, 3. Oli Jager, 4. Jack Powell, 5. Jonno Osbourne, 6. Heiden Bedwell-Curtis, 7. Jed Brown, 8. Sam Godwin
9 Mitchell Drummond, 10. Marty McKenzie, 11. Sione Fifita, 12. Sean Wainui, 13. Braydon Ennor, 14. Manasa Mataele, 15. Will JordanReserves:
16 Nathan Vella, 17. Harry Allen, 18. Samu Tawake, 19. Tom Christie, 20. Isaiah Miller, 21. Leon Fukofuka, 22. Tim O’Malley, 23. Tima Faingaanuku, 24. Josh McKay, 25. Ray Nu’uhttp://crusaders.co.nz/news/1052-crusaders-knights-team-named-to-play-highlanders-development-side
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Last week's game between the Crusaders and Highlanders Development teams ended in a 34-all draw. Another game will be played this Saturday as the curtain raiser to the game between the Highlanders and Crusaders. Kick-off is at 5pm.
This is the Crusaders Knights team to play the Highlanders Bravehearts:
1 Tim Perry
2 Nathan Vella
3 Oliver Jager
4 Mitchell Dunshea
5 Quinten Strange
6 Ethan Blackadder
7 PeteSamu
8 HeidenBedwell-Curtis
9 LeonFukofuka
10 Tim O’Malley
11 Digby Ioane
12 Inga Finau
13 Poasa Waqanibau
14 Manasa Mataele
15 Josh McKayRESERVES:
16 Tom Crozier
17 Chris Gawler
18 Jack Straker
19 Jonno Osbourne
20 Tom Christie
21 Ere Enari
22 Will Jordan
23 Nigel Gibb
24 Tima Faingaanuku
25 Brett Cameronhttp://crusaders.co.nz/news/1058-crusaders-knights-team-named-to-play-highlanders-bravehearts
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@Tim Can't even remember the last time he played a super rugby game.
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@African-Monkey According to google, that was on 29 May 2015 against the Hurricanes. That was his only SR game of the season. He's 28 ...
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@African-Monkey Perry's been injured for most of the past two Super seasons.
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@Stargazer Highlanders Bravehearts Team named :
15 - Jason Emery - Highlanders
14 - Junior Ngauafe - Southland
11 - Sio Tompkinson - Highlanders
13 - Matt Faddes - Highlanders
12 - Tei Walden - Highlanders
10 - Josh Ioane - Otago
9 - Josh Renton - Highlanders
8 - Bill Fukofuka - Southland
7 - Dillon Hunt - Otago
6 - Adam Knight - Otago
5 - Eli Tonga - Otago
4 - Jackson Hemopo - Highlanders
3- Guy Millar - Highlanders
1 - Aki Seuli - Otago
2 - Flynn Thomas - Southland
Reserves : Sekonia Pole , Atushi Sakete,Emerson Paki, Asaeli Valu , Josh Clark, Slade McDowell ,Tupou Sopaga, Josh Walden and Jonah NarekiPoints to note* : Atushi Sakete, Aseali Valu and Emeron Paki are over from Panasonic in Japan on loan.
Former Penrith Panther and older brother of Lima , Tupou Sopaga has been named in the loose forward reserves. Not sure whether he is assigned to Otago or Southland yet. -
Crusaders Knights team to play the Hurricanes Dev team in Levin (Saturday, k/o 1pm):
- Sean Paranihi
- Andrew Makalio
- Oliver Jager
- Jonno Osbourne
- Quinten Strange
- Sam Godwin
- Tom Christie
- Heiden Bedwell-Curtis
- Leon Fukofuka
- Brett Cameron
- Josh McKay
- Inga Finau
- Sean Wainui
- Caleb Makene
- Braydon Ennor
Reserves:
16. Tom Crozier
17. Harry Allen
18. Jack Straker
19. Jack Powell
20. Dylan Nel
21. Ere Enari
22. Will Jordan
23. Poasa Waqanibauhttp://crusaders.co.nz/news/1068-crusaders-knights-team-named-to-play-hurricanes-development-side
Will post the Canes Dev team's line-up in the Canes thread if/once it has been published.
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Good news from the injury ward:
Midfielder Jack Goodhue is still carrying a leg injury. He along with All Blacks No 8 Kieran Read and wing/midfielder Seta Tamanivalu, and first five-eighth Richie Mo'unga, should be available to play the Sunwolves after next weekend's bye.By the way, the title and summary under the photo are from another article. The title of this article is:
"Keep calm and carry on: Crusaders vow not to let Waratahs niggle them in Sydney"
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Crusaders' travelling squad to South Africa:
Props: Alaalatoa, Crockett, Franks, Moody, Jager
Hookers: Makalio, Taylor
Locks: Barrett, Romano, Whitelock
Loosies: Bedwell-Curtis, Read, Samu, Taufua, Todd
Halfbacks: Drummond, Hall
First-five 8ths: Hunt, Mo'unga
Midfielders: Bateman, Crotty, Goodhue, Wainui
Outside backs: Bridge, Havili, Mataele, TamanivaluOmissions: apart from the known injured players (such as Ioane & Dagg), Ben Funnell is also not in the squad. Didn't look okay yesterday, so maybe he was already playing with a minor injury or a bug. No idea who of the props can cover hooker in case one of Taylor or Makalio goes down.
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Rugby Pass Podcast: The coaching secrets of the Crusaders' Scott Robertson (+ transcript)
