Chiefs all time XV

mikedogz

Seems to be the theme so will jump on it.

1 Sona Taumalolo
2 Hika Elliot
3 Ben Tameifuna
4 Brodie Retallick
5 Craig Clarke
6 Liam Messam
7 Sam Cane
8 Deon Muir
9 TKB
10 Aaron Cruden
11 Sitiveni Sivivatu
12 SBW
13 Richard Kahui
14 Bruce Reihana
15 DMAC

16 Mahonri Schwalger
17 Pauliasi Manu
18 Deacon Manu
19 Jono Gibbes
20 Marty Holah/Sione Lauaki
21 Augy Pulu
22 Beaver
23 Mils Muliaina

Milk

Hard to argue with that off the top of my head. Maybe Sione Lauaki at 8?

EDIT: Oh and Kelleher and Tom Willis onto the bench. No space for Keith Robinson I guess.

mikedogz

I mainly went of the teams that made the 3 finals. I wasn't a Chiefs fan from day one, coming across when Counties joined so don't remember too many that stood out at super rugby level back then.

mikedogz

Kelleher, Willis, Robinson could be in the Possibles trial game for the all time team. Imagine Retallick and Robinson going toe to toe.

Milk

@mikedogz said in Chiefs all time XV:

I mainly went of the teams that made the 3 finals. I wasn't a Chiefs fan from day one, coming across when Counties joined so don't remember too many that stood out at super rugby level back then.

Probably the best approach

I felt we turned a little bit of a corner once we brought in Kelleher and Tom Willis. We were still shit, but not quite as shit as before.

Sione Lauaki was one of the best rugby players at Super Rugby level I've ever seen.

Rancid Schnitzel

No Ian Jones or Bunce?

gt12

Or Stormy or Glen Osbourne or Walter Little?

Or Monkley or Fozzie

Crucial

As much as I like Reihana's all around skills, I feel that Hungus Masaga deserves a starting spot. Second highest tryscorer in Chiefs history (behind Sivi).

Crucial

@gt12 said in Chiefs all time XV:

Or Stormy or Glen Osbourne or Walter Little?

Or Monkley or Fozzie

I've got a better idea. Glen Jackson instead of Cruden for the home games to ensure a win.

gt12

OK. The Chiefs team I would pick. Not necessarily our greatest contributors (which is why Lomu plays on Sivi's wing), but IMO the best 23 we could put out (I'll have missed some obvious ones).

1 Sona Taumalolo
2 Keven Mealamu
3 Richard Loe
4 Ian Jones
5 Brodie Retallick
6 Liam Messam
7 Sam Cane
8 Sione Lauaki
9 Byron Kelleher
10 Aaron Cruden
11 Jonah Lomu
12 SBW
13 Frank Bunce
14 Sitiveni Sivivatu
15 Mils Muliaina
16 Hika Elliot
17 Pauliasi Manu
18 Ben Tameifuna
19 Jono Gibbes
20 Marty Holah
21 TKB
22 Beaver
23 Richard Kahui

Unlucky:

Collins
White
Hames
Laulala
Willis (and the other Willis)
Robinson
Latimer
Monkley
Leonard
Duggan
Rush
McLeod
Ngatai
Little
ALB
Edit: Umaga
Gear
Osbourne
Reihana
Miller

gt12

@crucial

What are you on about, he's reffing!

Crucial

@gt12 said in Chiefs all time XV:

@crucial

What are you on about, he's reffing!

It's OK, we brought our own ref!

Crucial

@gt12 no Masaga in your long list.

gt12

@crucial

That fucking Hungus is nowhere near my team.

I nearly broke a significant amount of furniture due to him.

I’ll call him unluckyish.

Crucial

@gt12 said in Chiefs all time XV:

@crucial

That fucking Hungus is nowhere near my team.

I nearly broke a significant amount of furniture due to him.

I’ll call him unluckyish.

Can’t deny the man could score tries though.

gt12

@crucial said in Chiefs all time XV:

@gt12 said in Chiefs all time XV:

@crucial

That fucking Hungus is nowhere near my team.

I nearly broke a significant amount of furniture due to him.

I’ll call him unluckyish.

Can’t deny the man could score tries though.

Some good ones too.

But, he fucked up plenty too, the friggin hungus.

I think that Gear is more unlucky, by a long way.

Chester Draws

Aaron Hopa for me over Lauaki. Sione was awesome on his day, but too erratic.

I'm unconvinced that Lomu would get in based on his time at the Chiefs. He wasn't starting for the ABs back then. (Obviously peak Lomu is a shoo-in, but that was earlier).

Nor Mealamu during his brief Chiefs run. An all time Chiefs team needs guys that performed for the Chiefs IMO.

I wouldn't pick Richard Loe because I hate him as a player. Dirty prick. I'd rather slightly less good players I can at least admire. Forearms to heads, eye-gouging, giving away penalties to lose World Cups I can live without.

I prefer Kahui to Bunce, apart from being made of glass, which limited his time at centre. He is one of my all-time favourites.

taniwharugby

@chester-draws rarely saw the best of Bunce in super rugby, weRe years when there were calls he shouldn't make the ABs yet when he pulled on the black jersey...me oh my yes boy

Bovidae

@taniwharugby said in Chiefs all time XV:

@chester-draws rarely saw the best of Bunce in super rugby

And that's being kind.

My team would be:

1 Michael Collins
2 Hika Elliot
3 Ben Tameifuna
4 Brodie Retallick
5 Ian Jones
6 Liam Messam
7 Sam Cane
8 Deon Muir
9 Byron Kelleher
10 Aaron Cruden
11 Sitiveni Sivivatu
12 Walter Little
13 Richard Kahui
14 Roger Randle
15 Mils Muliaina

16 Tom Willis
17 Deacon Manu
18 Nathan White
19 Jonno Gibbes
20 Sione Lauaki
21 TKB
22 DMac
23 Glen Osborne

Loe only played at the Chiefs for one year and was at the backend of his career.

I have excluded two of my favourite players - Holah and Hopa.

Virgil

Are these Alltime XV teams about picking the best performing players who contributed to successful eras for that team or just picking the best All Blacks of all time who happened to play for that team one time or another?

Bovidae

I've selected my team based on who were the best performers over time, not necessarily ABs or players in title winning teams.

gt12

@virgil

I picked the team I wanted to see play.

I might have another go at a team of best performers, or I may decide another metric for making it

mariner4life

I would find it very very hard to leave out heart and soul players like Gibbes and Holah. They were the Chiefs for a while.

Chiefs are stacked on the wings, and battling in other spots.

Mils
Randle
Kahui
Little
Reihana
Beaver
Leanard
Messam
Holah
Gibbes
Retallic
Robinson
White
Willis
Collins

Lauaki first name for the bench, especially if we are playing the Crusaders.

Bovidae

@mariner4life said in Chiefs all time XV:

I would find it very very hard to leave out heart and soul players like Gibbes and Holah. They were the Chiefs for a while.

As did I. But I put Muir in that same category because he was often the best Chiefs player in an underperforming forward pack.

gt12

Fuck this 'best representatives thing'.

I've come up with my own criteria, again.

I can't quite get to 15, so I've got three obvious ring-ins in this team (R).

I reckon that @Bovidae can probably guess how I picked this team, and might be able to help by replacing some of the ring-ins.

Ben May
Keven Mealamu (R)
Nathan White
Jono Gibbes (C)
Steve Gordon
Sione Lauaki
Steven Bates
Deon Muir
Rhys Duggan
Ian Foster
Sitiveni Sivivatu
SBW (R)
Robbie Fruean
Hosea Gear (R)
Bruce Reihana

Nepia

@gt12 You'll have to let us know the criteria that gets Robbie Fruean, Ben May and Big Head Bates in the team.

ploughboy

looks like a te awamutu team

gt12

@ploughboy said in Chiefs all time XV:

looks like a te awamutu team

@Nepia

What he said.

TA College first, then Te Awamutu Sports, then ring-ins.

mikedogz

My Alternative Chiefs team with heavy Bias

1 Pauliasi Manu
2 Hika Elliot
3 Nepo Laulala
4 Api Naevo
5 Kristian Ormsby
6 Koula Tukino
7 Glen Marsh
8 Errol Brain
9 Danny Lee
10 Beaver
11Sitiveni Sivivatu
12 Bundee Aki
13 SBW
14 Lelia Masaga
15 TNW

16 Mahonri Schwalger
17 Jarrod Firth
18 Lee Lidgard
19 Mark Cooksley
20 Fritz Lee
21 Augy Pulu
22 Niva Ta'auso
23 Loki Crichton

mikedogz

Changed slightly if I used other criteria as well

1 Pauliasi Manu
2 Guy Coleman
3 Nepo Laulala
4 Toby Lynn
5 Mark Burman
6 Koula Tukino
7 Wayne McEntee
8 Errol Brain
9 David Bason
10 Beaver
11 Roger Randle
12 Bundee Aki
13 Richard Kahui
14 Declan O'Donnell
15 Mils Muliaina

Nepia

My Alternative Chiefs team with heavy Bias

Sona Taumolo
Hika Elliott
Ben Tamifuna
Dom Bird
BBBR
Michael Allardice
Colin Bourke
Richard Turner
Daniel Lee
Tian Falcon
Robbie Fruean
Matt Cooper
Andrew Horrell
Roger Randle
Sam McNicol

Bit too much of an ask to get all reserves although can make a decent stab at it: Ben May, Mo Schwalger, Ross Filipo, Brad Weber, Callum Bruce, Dan Waenga, Maritino Nemani

dogmeat

If you're allowed ring ins...

Afeaki
McFarland
Woodcock (R)
Flavell (R)
Jones
Larsen
Barry
Turner
Robinson
Burton
Little
Bunce
Rush
Woods
Osborne

No prizes for guessing my criteria

Nepia

@dogmeat You must be able to make a whole team without ring ins? NH was part of the Chiefs!

dogmeat

@nepia I know that but without trawling through every Chiefs squad to see if they drafted any players we didn't supply props or locks (Kamo apart) in 96-98. This was the hey day of the Brown Bros. Tight forwards were only chosen for Harbour if they were de facto blindsides

MN5

@mikedogz said in Chiefs all time XV:

Changed slightly if I used other criteria as well

1 Pauliasi Manu
2 Guy Coleman
3 Nepo Laulala
4 Toby Lynn
5 Mark Burman
6 Koula Tukino
7 Wayne McEntee
8 Errol Brain
9 David Bason
10 Beaver
11 Roger Randle
12 Bundee Aki
13 Richard Kahui
14 Declan O'Donnell
15 Mils Muliaina

Whatever happened to that joker? He looked the part but then literally vanished off the face of the earth ( even in the early 2000s if was usually pretty easy to find out if someone had gone overseas but not him, he was like a ghost )

Awesome player when in form.

Bovidae

@gt12

Hard to know who else has played for TA Sports in the past as most of the players seem to get farmed out to a Hamilton club or Hautapu nowadays if they need games.

Bovidae

@mikedogz

The last Te Rapa club game I watched was when I went to watch Mils returning from a shoulder injury. Kahui was also playing that day.

gt12

@bovidae

Yeah, it's a sign of how things have changed. Once upon a time, we had a really strong club (and school), where plenty would come (they used to get shared around more too, I assume).

I was sure that we had a hooker in the chiefs squad at some point, and there must be another winger. I started looking but it's much harder to find old squads than it should be.

Bones

@gt12 said in Chiefs all time XV:

@bovidae

Yeah, it's a sign of how things have changed. Once upon a time, we had a really strong club (and school), where plenty would come (they used to get shared around more too, I assume).

I was sure that we had a hooker in the chiefs squad at some point, and there must be another winger. I started looking but it's much harder to find old squads than it should be.

Only in the Chiefs thread would you find a post about sharing around hookers. Some things never change.

Bovidae

@gt12

I was thinking Roy Kinikinilau but he might have been at Marist.

Who was Tom Willis playing for?

The Silver Fern

Chiefs all time XV