Bledisloe 2
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Time to look at next week I think. Interesting what could happen.
- Crockett confirmed out by Hansen
- Coles confirmed starter by Hansen
- Smiths last game of year. Does he start at fullback or Mackenzie??
- Is Kaino available?
- bench redemption or changes??
I have a feeling Naholo comes in to play up tempo under roof.
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maybe put Dagg back to 14, Smith to FB and then push DMac to the bench after a handy outing last night.
No idea on Kaino, who knows how serious the issue is...as in maybe the wives/husbands of the some of these high profile people know women/men will throw themselves at thier other half, have learnt to accept it but dont like it when it is splashed in the news for the rest of the family to see.
Wonder if A Smith gets a break too, given TJP has fallen away since last year.
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Be interested to see if SBW and Crotty are available too.
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@Tim on video evidence if Hansen says Crockett out then SBW def is. He was in no mans land!!
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BFA 15
Dagg or Naholo 14 -
Also think it's time to look at Ramano. I know Barrett is no 3 but Ramano is not the present or future!! I'm a big Tuipolotou bench option fan. Again he has flaws but 30mins of him in a test is a sight and proven!
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NMS looked quite sharp this arvo
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In terms of impact I reckon Laumape might be a better option than ALB on the bench.
Crotty always gets injured during or after a blinder so I'll bet he's out.
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Don't think DMac is a bench option. He does better from a starting berth, and needs the game time. I imagine Naholo willbe involved somewhere, and Laumape is a better balance if Crotty is out. Surely Laulala - Ofa just isn't an option.
I know he is not selected in the RC squad, but it may be time to also look at options like Tamanivalu, Akira and Hames. And what about Atu Moli.
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I bloody hope the ABs do Pinetree proud on Saturday. Game should be moved to Te Kuiti.
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Smith, Smith and Squire should be starters on their home ground. Not sure about Naholo though. No need to rush back Kaino. Maybe they will give Franks a rest and try Laulala ?
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@Crash said in Bledisloe 2:
Don't think DMac is a bench option. He does better from a starting berth, and needs the game time. I imagine Naholo willbe involved somewhere, and Laumape is a better balance if Crotty is out. Surely Laulala - Ofa just isn't an option.
I know he is not selected in the RC squad, but it may be time to also look at options like Tamanivalu, Akira and Hames. And what about Atu Moli.
Hansen said Hames is in for Crockett.
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Kaino needs some time out, we saw that with Aaron. Squire was excellent.
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@Unite wasn't Hames a penalty magnet during Super Rugby?
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J. Moody
C. Taylor
O. Franks
T. Chief
S. Whitelock
S. Barrett
M. Todd
K. Read
T. Lander
T. Cane
T. Blue
R. Crotty
A. Lienart-Brown
I. Dagg
D. Havili
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I don't see them making many changes after how that first 50min went. Not to the starters anyway.
Coles back if he is right. ALB for Crotty if he is injured (seriously can Crotty play 80min without getting injured?)The other possibility might be Dagg coming back to 14 with Smith to 15. Was Dagg injured for the last game?
I would keep the back three the same personally.
DMac will have learned from a few small mistakes and will have added confidence.Bench is a different matter. Crockett gone so Hames in i guess. They won't drop Ofa. Maybe Barrett comes in for Romano (is Barrett injured?)
Kaino off the bench if he is available.I'd be tempted to stick TKB on the bench. TJP can get a start against the Argies to blow off some steam.
If Crotty is out it would surely be Laumape who comes onto the bench with ALB starting.
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@ACT-Crusader said in Bledisloe 2:
J. Moody
C. Taylor
O. Franks
T. Chief
S. Whitelock
S. Barrett
M. Todd
K. Read
T. Lander
T. Cane
T. Blue
R. Crotty
A. Lienart-Brown
I. Dagg
D. HaviliIt's getting kinda old ACTC
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@booboo said in Bledisloe 2:
@ACT-Crusader said in Bledisloe 2:
J. Moody
C. Taylor
O. Franks
T. Chief
S. Whitelock
S. Barrett
M. Todd
K. Read
T. Lander
T. Cane
T. Blue
R. Crotty
A. Lienart-Brown
I. Dagg
D. HaviliIt's getting kinda old ACTC
But I've made changes to the team
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@98blueandgold said in Bledisloe 2:
Also think it's time to look at Ramano. I know Barrett is no 3 but Ramano is not the present or future!! I'm a big Tuipolotou bench option fan. Again he has flaws but 30mins of him in a test is a sight and proven!
Pat T off the bench would provide a lot more impact than Barrett and Romano. Hope he sorts out his off field issues and makes the EOYT.
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@ACT-Crusader said in Bledisloe 2:
@booboo said in Bledisloe 2:
@ACT-Crusader said in Bledisloe 2:
J. Moody
C. Taylor
O. Franks
T. Chief
S. Whitelock
S. Barrett
M. Todd
K. Read
T. Lander
T. Cane
T. Blue
R. Crotty
A. Lienart-Brown
I. Dagg
D. HaviliIt's getting kinda old ACTC
But I've made changes to the team
I mean you may as well ask when the team is named, or blame Deans.
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@pukunui said in Bledisloe 2:
ALB for Crotty if he is injured (seriously can Crotty play 80min without getting injured?)
DMac will have learned from a few small mistakes and will have added confidence.Crotty seems to be the new Kahui.
It will be interesting to see if DMac does learn. He's been making errors all year. It's the way he plays the game. -
@pukunui said in Bledisloe 2:
I don't see them making many changes after how that first 50min went. Not to the starters anyway.
Coles back if he is right. ALB for Crotty if he is injured (seriously can Crotty play 80min without getting injured?)The other possibility might be Dagg coming back to 14 with Smith to 15. Was Dagg injured for the last game?
I would keep the back three the same personally.
DMac will have learned from a few small mistakes and will have added confidence.Bench is a different matter. Crockett gone so Hames in i guess. They won't drop Ofa. Maybe Barrett comes in for Romano (is Barrett injured?)
Kaino off the bench if he is available.I'd be tempted to stick TKB on the bench. TJP can get a start against the Argies to blow off some steam.
If Crotty is out it would surely be Laumape who comes onto the bench with ALB starting.
Dagg wasn't injured, but was being rested because of the workload he's had during the SR season (they did the same with a lot of Crusaders in the Mitre 10 cup). I assume that's also why Scott Barrett didn't play. They obviously couldn't do that with Taylor and Whitelock (although I wouldn't be surprised if Whitelock gets a rest soon and Barrett takes his spot).
I really hope Coles will be able to play again, because Taylor will need a rest at some point and Harris is just not good enough for a start. I also hope Crotty will be able to play, because both the AB's (like the Crusaders') backline doesn't seem to function very well without him.
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@booboo said in Bledisloe 2:
@ACT-Crusader said in Bledisloe 2:
@booboo said in Bledisloe 2:
@ACT-Crusader said in Bledisloe 2:
J. Moody
C. Taylor
O. Franks
T. Chief
S. Whitelock
S. Barrett
M. Todd
K. Read
T. Lander
T. Cane
T. Blue
R. Crotty
A. Lienart-Brown
I. Dagg
D. HaviliIt's getting kinda old ACTC
But I've made changes to the team
I mean you may as well ask when the team is named, or blame Deans.
Well those posts are what keep AB game threads half interesting in the lead up to a test....
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@mimic said in Bledisloe 2:
It will be interesting to see if DMac does learn. He's been making errors all year. It's the way he plays the game.
DMac made less errors than SBW, Read and BBBR in the match.
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@98blueandgold said in Bledisloe 2:
Also think it's time to look at Ramano. I know Barrett is no 3 but Ramano is not the present or future!! I'm a big Tuipolotou bench option fan. Again he has flaws but 30mins of him in a test is a sight and proven!
Tuipulotu should have put in more effort for the Blues this season if he wanted to be an All Black.
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I've got a feeling they will start putting some serious work into akiras development,.
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@SammyC Pretty much. He should be miles ahead of Romano and still ahead of Barrett in the pecking order but only has himself to blame. A full Mitre 10 cup campaign should do him good.
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@Bovidae said in Bledisloe 2:
@mimic said in Bledisloe 2:
It will be interesting to see if DMac does learn. He's been making errors all year. It's the way he plays the game.
DMac made less errors than SBW, Read and BBBR in the match.
I was surprised how often their inside/ deep passes went to no one. Thankfully none of them resulted in run away tries.
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@Bovidae said in Bledisloe 2:
@mimic said in Bledisloe 2:
It will be interesting to see if DMac does learn. He's been making errors all year. It's the way he plays the game.
DMac made less errors than SBW, Read and BBBR in the match.
I don't get the DMac hate. He made one big error in the 2nd half with that pass that was picked up by Beale. Apart from that, he was outstanding and offers a 2nd playmaker option that makes the ABs attack even more threatening and unpredicatble.
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@kiwiinmelb said in Bledisloe 2:
I've got a feeling they will start putting some serious work into akiras development,.
Was it me or he did he look slightly out of condition on the weekend. Seemed to have been working on the stomach region instead of the shoulders and arms. He has the right elements to make a great player but needs to put in the hard yards. Maybe they need to room him with Sam Cane.
Strikes me as a player with amazing natural ability that has been able to use his natural size to dominate school boy/age group opponents but hasn't quite made the same impact at senior level. I really do want him to kick on though.
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@chimoaus said in Bledisloe 2:
Was it me or he did he look slightly out of condition on the weekend.
Strange, I thought Akira was everywhere on the weekend. A pest on defence constantly involved. He was the most prominent player in the last 5min too so I don't think conditioning is an issue
I thought I 'd double check the stats for this game. There's only a handful available but they give you an idea..
In defence he got more turnovers than anyone else (3) and was the second highest tackler for Auckland
In attack he was number one in run metres, carries, defenders beaten and passes by a player not playing 9 or 10.
(run metres is surprising that is almost always a fullback or wing)Stats aren't everything but that certainly matches what I saw.. an All Black level player showing his class at NPC level
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@chimoaus said in Bledisloe 2:
@kiwiinmelb said in Bledisloe 2:
I've got a feeling they will start putting some serious work into akiras development,.
Was it me or he did he look slightly out of condition on the weekend. Seemed to have been working on the stomach region instead of the shoulders and arms. He has the right elements to make a great player but needs to put in the hard yards. Maybe they need to room him with Sam Cane.
Strikes me as a player with amazing natural ability that has been able to use his natural size to dominate school boy/age group opponents but hasn't quite made the same impact at senior level. I really do want him to kick on though.
He was the best player on the park, certainly didn't look out of his condition either.
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@Duluth hopefully he gets to stay in camp for the ABs this weekend...
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For the good of the country of course..
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@antipodean And what was with Read's flick between his legs to no one from that attacking scrum?
Read said himself that they did the simple things well in the 1st half but I think they were too cute with some of the options in the 2nd half (e.g., forced passes, a quick throw-in from TJP).
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Akira has certainly had his battles with his fitness in the past - reading between the lines I don't think he has historically been the best trainer.
But yes he was brilliant on the weekend - he was also hitting a lot of rucks. I'd like to see him given a change off the AB bench.
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@Duluth what else would I want him there for
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@KiwiMurph said in Bledisloe 2:
Akira has certainly had his battles with his fitness in the past - reading between the lines I don't think he has historically been the best trainer.
But yes he was brilliant on the weekend - he was also hitting a lot of rucks. I'd like to see him given a change off the AB bench.
If we are talking about raw potential , i thought he impressed against the Lions too ,
Against seasoned test forwards , his physicality seemed to take them by surprise
