The Bay v Manawatu
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God I love this competition. No game is guaranteed and most teams can test most other teams on their day. The TAB must be counting the cost of their predictions !! There's been so many upsets this year that no team can be taken lightly and that is certainly the case against Manawatu...given their performance against Canterbury as an example. Sure, on paper The Bay should triumph but I wouldn't bet the house on it.
The fight for the all important top of the table (and home semi and possibly home final) between The Bay and The ex Bay is truly fascinating as its so close ! Two wins by BOP would put them on 39. Hawkes Bay should possibly beat Counties (although given their Saturdays performance that is not a certainty) but Tasman may be more challenging. If Tasman rest their top players in preparation for the finals, then Hawkes Bay may have a sniff. A win over Counties and a bonus point loss to Tasman will also put Hawkes Bay on 39 also. Theres so many permutations and bonus points will become seriously important.
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Yes this is a potential banana skin so we need to approach it with the same level of intensity. We should aim for top spot and hopefully win the semi to get a home final.
Manawatu can still make the semis so they won't be on the beach.
What I've really liked about this season is the quality of the players coming through from the academy. We've had young players come through who are outstanding before (Larimer, Cane, Harris) but has been despite the system rather than because of it.
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Bay of Plenty Steamers
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Aidan Ross (C) (32)
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Kurt Eklund (8)
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Ross Geldenhuys (16)
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Baden Wardlaw (16)
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Alex Ainley (6)
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Aaron Carroll (17)
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Hugh Blake (32)
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Hoani Matenga (16)
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Richard Judd (25)
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Kaleb Trask (12)
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Joe Ravouvou (6)
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Chase Tiatia (43)
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Mathew Skipwith-Garland (15)
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Emoni Narawa (9)
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Pryor Collier (3)
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Nathan Vella (5)
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Tevita Mafileo (7)
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Chris Eves* (0)
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Stan van den Hoven* (0)
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Abraham Papali’i (4)
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Joe Johnson* (0)
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Leroy Carter (7)
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Jason Robertson (11)
Would have to be one of the weakest benches we've had for a while.
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Looks a bit makeshift. In the finals now so making sure all players are fresh?
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Maybe Chase Tiatia's best position is 2nd 5/8 indeed. He does not get exposed under the high ball nor gets lost on the field because of his poor positioning at times. His qualities (explosiveness, acceleration, stunning side steps) can be positively exploited there in midfield.
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It's hard to know what's going on injury-wise. I'm glad Karpik is getting a break. Though it would be nice to know who is out of contention and when such players could return. Anyone know if the semifinal draw has been announced, e.g championship 1 vs championship 4 at..... time?
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@cgrant he was a weapon last week. Ngani will test him this weekend
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The 'Poo going at better than a point a minute so far. Three nil to them after a couple of minutes
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Good to see a Hawkes Bay ref assigned to this game. I am sure he knows what is expected of him...
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Sky Go has ads on repeat. It won't let me watch the game.
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@Stockcar86 A little hard to interpret what you mean as we have no love for either team. Perhaps a drawn fixture that is called off early after an all in brawl and the NZRFU declare no points from the game for either team as the punishment?
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@Higgins Look at the Championship table and you have your answer.
Go Manawatu
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@Stargazer said in The Bay v Manawatu:
@Higgins Look at the Championship table and you have your answer.
Go Manawatu
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@Stockcar86 said in The Bay v Manawatu:
Good to see a Hawkes Bay ref assigned to this game. I am sure he knows what is expected of him...
He is also a BoP player as well for a couple of seasons about ten years back it must be observed.
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Fifteen three to The Steamers at halftime. Bad rain fade here in Wellington's Eastern Suburbs has has stopped the coverage for about the last twenty minutes so has given me the chance to watch Nephew Higgins crap team playing in the Australian NPC (but as I type that they fluke their second try to tie things up against Canberra!)
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Manawatu will be kicking themselves ,the prop Sione runs a couple metres 2 far before drawing and passing ,instead passed far too late and forward ..and then Brayden Iose ignores a support runner on the inside..,and then to rub salt,Steamers go 90 metres back the other way..it’s a cruel game..
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That looks like a brocken jaw for Trask
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@Steven-Harris Poor lad has had a lot of injuries already. Sad to see him leaving the field like that.
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@Stargazer never good to see, he’s had his share of injuries in the last 2 seasons..as soon as I saw blood, I knew it was’nt good.
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Hard to see the Turbos coming back now, famous last words..difference being one team knowing how to take their chances ..
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LOL, Matt Cooper already assuming Bop will win the Final.
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@Steven-Harris said in The Bay v Manawatu:
Hard to see the Turbos coming back now, famous last words..difference being one team knowing how to take their chances ..
@Steven-Harris Yeah apart from handling, lineout, scrum, direct running, tackling, game plan, ruck play and back play penetration.... the only difference was BOP taking its chances.....
Oh actually now that I think about it... nah you are full of it when it comes to BOP for the second week in a row,
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@Stargazer said in The Bay v Manawatu:
LOL, Matt Cooper already assuming Bop will win the Final.
Jesus... if I know one thing abit BOP never ever assume we will anything. Especially with the backline attrition we are facing.
I would put us slightly behind Hawkes if Trask is out and Hollinshead isnt back.
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@Baron-Silas-Greenback and I am living rent free your in head..long may it continue ..!
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@Baron-Silas-Greenback You've got to feel sorry for Trask. Having been out injured for so long, and now again. We've got a few of those players, too. Some guys just don't have any luck.
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@Stargazer every team has injuries, try being a Taniwha supporter, you could roll out a whole team..,we are basically using half of our Dev squad..,I know chatting to the Magpies coaches last week..they were saying they had been fortunate this year ,but had also been hampered by not having several players available at the start of season...
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@Steven-Harris I wasn't talking about the number of injuries teams have. I was talking about some individual players (regardless of which team they play for) who just keep getting injured, some seriously and long-term.
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@Stargazer My apologies,it was more around the the supporters that lament 1 or 2 key injuries and then take the underdog status.
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Convincing win for the Steamers. I'd hoped Manawatu would be more competitive. That 4th spot in the semis will probably be decided in the last round now, unless Taranaki beats Waikato in Hamilton tomorrow.
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@Steven-Harris said in The Bay v Manawatu:
@Baron-Silas-Greenback and I am living rent free your in head..long may it continue ..!
Are you? If everyone who I think is a moron lived in my head that would explain my big head
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@Baron-Silas-Greenback I will give that one, nice come back
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That really looked comfortable today from pitch side. Shame about Trask, we're already down to the bare bones
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That was a deserving win which was summed up nicely by the Turbos Captain after the game saying "They were too good."
We seem to be performing well across the park with few positions letting the team down. I would like to see our forwards getting more praise however as they are "laying the platform" for our flashy backs to perform.
The biggest concern is injuries with probably over a third of the team out for the season or under an injury cloud. I hear Trask has a broken jaw in two places. I'm not sure what the story is with Fuatai's suspension or what the hell happened to Archie White from England.
The location of the Semi (Rotorua or Tauranga) will be interesting. Its a no brainer for me as a packed out Tauranga is way, way better than the sparce crowds at Rotorua. I understand the final (if we make it and top the table) will be under lights at Rotorua.
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@Snollygoster That's why I said it felt comfortable. Our forwards were so dominant it just seemed a matter of time before the tries would come. We even blew a few tries ...
Average Bay score this season is 35-16.
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Another good game lead by a dominant forward pack without probably our most consistent player in karpik. I do need to have a bit of a vent against the union re the info we as fans receive regarding the team and injury updates if they want us to turn up and spend our money at the gate they need to connect with us a bit more. There is also very little in the bay times to promote the team or provide us with more info. Seems the union has got a hell of a lot of things right this season but I don't fell connecting with fans through the media is one of them. lets hope for a good result against Southland and a strong game from Tasman to get us into top spot.
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@bop78 Local sports cvoerage in a number of newspapers is virtually nil. For example in Wellington we do not get anything about senior club rugby be it draws, results or even match reports (same also applies to club softball, cricket, netball, basketball, league, soccer etc). No longer subscribe to the Dominion Post as a result but think coverage of the Lions is not all that it could be either. Maybe the same situation applies in both the Tauranga and Rotorua newspapers?
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@Higgins I don't think media coverage is the main problem. It's the fact that some unions chose to communicate predominantly with the media; the media chose what they publish from what the union tells them, and the fans don't get enough information. If the unions communicated with the fans directly (not via the media), they could control which info reaches the fans and not be dependent on the media publishing just bits and pieces. Some unions are really good at it: they use their social media and their website very well. Some other unions are terrible.
Wellington Rugby uses its website and social media quite well for the Lions and representative rugby. Club rugby and school rugby is reasnably well covered by third party websites and social media. I find info about rugby in Wellington quite accessible compared to, for example, Hawke's Bay.
I completely agree with @bop78 that unions should inform their fans properly and engage with them better, if they want fans to turn up at games.
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I get BOP press releases emailed to me, I will try and post them more.
