NPC 2022
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Some progress...
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@bovidae must be hard for Van Rooyen to write an article where he can't jerk Canterbury rugby so much.
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I really hope they're not going for the North-South split. Provinces being in one pool with the same other provinces every year is boring. If they want two pools, split them based on table position at the end of the round robin of the previous year: 1, 3, 5 etc in one division pool, 2, 4, 6 etc in the other.
I'd also like to see an equivalent to the Lochore Cup in the Heartland comp, so that the provinces that will realistically never make the Cup semi-finals, still have a piece of silverware to play for. Or make it Cup, Plate & Bowl, like in sevens.
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@yeetyaah said in NPC - news, injuries etc:
@bovidae must be hard for Van Rooyen to write an article where he can't jerk Canterbury rugby so much.
He and Knowler certainly write to their audience.
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I just want them to extend the comp, why the fuck not? Only needs one more week, and don't have finals, just base it on the leaderboard. Alternate home and aways every two years
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@bovidae Just like Hinton, Jim Kayes and the Ferald (Blues), Aaron Goile (Chiefs), Jamie Wall (Hurricanes), Paul Cully and the entire ODT (Highlanders)
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@stargazer waaah waaah waaah
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@machpants said in NPC - news, injuries etc:
I just want them to extend the comp, why the fuck not? Only needs one more week, and don't have finals, just base it on the leaderboard. Alternate home and aways every two years
I really like the idea of a full round robin, but wouldn't like a comp without a final. It's a pity there's no space in the rugby calendar for two weeks more (14-week competition).
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As the article says a full competition needs to be 15 weeks but there is only a 12-week window. If we avoid midweek games the NPC would need to start earlier (and clash more with club rugby) as the NZRPA won't want to extend the competition into Nov and reduce the player's off-season.
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@bovidae said in NPC - news, injuries etc:
As the article says a full competition needs to be 15 weeks but there is only a 12-week window.
I don't read that in the article at all. It just says that before the current premiership-championship split, there was a 15-week window available. The comp doesn't have to include semi-finals.
If we avoid midweek games the NPC would need to start earlier (and clash more with club rugby) as the NZRPA won't want to extend the competition into Nov and reduce the player's off-season.
Just an impression, but it seems some provinces have ridiculously long club rugby competitions. Maybe provinces should have a look at that.
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Anyway, I'd rather have a competition of one division where teams play 11 of the 13 other provinces and then a Final in week 12, than a competition with two divisions where teams play the 6 provinces of their division and 4 cross-over games, followed by a Semi-final and a Final.
The first format is much simpler. They just need to avoid that teams miss out on playing each other every year. The provinces you don't play should be different every year. Preferably one of those provinces finished in the top 7 the previous year, and the other in the bottom 7.
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@tim said in NPC - news, injuries etc:
@tim said in NPC - news, injuries etc:
Seen the light thank Fuck,Maybe Canterbury can go forward with the right Coach.
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@tim Is that the guy who captained East Coast in the Heartland Championship starting at blindside?
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@higgins Interesting spotting there. No idea, I'm afraid.
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Fortunate to be part of the bubble on the on outer ground at North Harbour Stadium
The North Harbour Knights were made up of mostly their development and academy players with a couple of Harbour players mixed in Tim Sail and Kade Banks were a couple of names to mentionThe starting NZ Babas team was made up a lot of Auckland club players , the odd CM player with a couple of excess players thrown in .literally..!
Experienced veteran hooker Joe Royal skippered the team , other notable players were Harrison Mataele who debuted for Tonga last year and Brumbies and Counties Manukau outside back Nigel Ah WongHarbour who had first use of the wind dominated field position and on the back of a dominant scrum created many opportunities but were only up by 2 tries to one at the break ..the best try coming from 60 metres out after a slick backline move put speedy Harbour fullback Kade Banks into space , he expertly drew the last 2 x defenders and put the very impressive Lemeki Namoa in from 25 metres out .
Banks and Lemeki showing up strongly for Harbour .
Harbour always had the edge in the forwards with Tim Sail,former Ngati Porou East loose forward Hone Haerewa and number 8 Karl Ruzich from Helensville super impressive
Ruzich has something about ,devastating speed for a big fella , looks around 6’3 ..his bother Ben who was in the front row was just as impressive, ticked all the boxes at scrum time and powerful with ball in hand , along with Sam Davis and hooker Coleman in the front row provided a rock solid front row ..Not much to right home about the NZ Babas but that was to be expected given they have had only one training run , and several players had been rung during the week
Could not fault their tenacity ,given Harbour Knights had all the ball, they defended reasonably well and when they did have some ball Ah Wong especially was always a handful ,Sam Wye was elusive behind the base of the scrum , both locks Harrison Mataele and Jackson Wiggins tried hard ..
An interesting player to watch was Victor Ola’agia from Waitemata looks a real genuine athlete , with foot work to match , I actually thought he was a back ..may need to lift his work rate moving forward .
Overall an enjoyable game played with plenty of physicality and even the odd bit of niggleNext week as part of the Blues cup
Which will be over the next 3 x weekends
NZ Babas play the Blues U20 and Northland Futures play North Harbour Knights ..
Will keep you all posted for times , but if you can’t make it will send a report
12 Feb North Harbour Stadium
19 Feb North Harbour Stadium
24 Feb Whangarei Venue TBC
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@steven-harris said in NPC - news, injuries etc:
Karl Ruzich from Helensville super impressive
That's interesting to see - Helensville are returning to premier one club rugby this year for the first time in 12 years.
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@tim apparently he took a year off rugby , very quick for an 8 , and his brother who is a prop is also very quick and both with mullets West Aucklanders would be proud of ..
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Good to see Antonio Makaele-Tu'u back playing
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Auckland age group player Tom Strachan has gone north. Allan Craig not with the Blues in Queenstown.
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@tim apparently NH had huge wind behind them in 1st half for a 19-0 lead
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i might be missing something, very early in the year for any NPC teams to have a squad together isn't it?
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@kiwiwomble they are dev sides.
I know the Northland Dev side, or 'Futures' side has been putting in the work at the new High Performance Centre we have since December.
A handful in that game got time in the NPC for Northland last year too, but this will hopefully keep them on track as too many of our lads turned up for NPC out of shape, despite playing club footy.
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@taniwharugby Are those development sides the same as academy teams? I'm asking because in the Hurricanes region it's the academy teams that are playing each other, this time of the year.
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@stargazer I think they are academy sides but will form majority of the b or dev side later in the year.
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@stargazer it’s a mixture of Academy players and High Performance players with a handful that have NPC experience to guide many of the younger guys ..it’s only the 2nd year that this particular futures programme has been running and its already starting to pay dividends with several players being looked at for Blues Under 20 which been totally unheard of for Northland rugby .
In the past the best under 20s from Northland ended up in Auckland secondary schools and made the Blues under 20 and were lost forever ..I could write a list ,but I will keep it short , so hopefully along with programs like this and their high performance centre in Whangarei ,not to mention a much stronger relationship with the Blues , finally Northland are trending in the right direction , plan is to be as successful as a Hawkes Bay or a Tasman whom I personally see as good benchmarks.
Blow touch is well and truly on the Head Coaches in 2022 -
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Looking forward to seeing Lemeki Namoa in the NPC.
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@tim how is that 2nd try not a knock on from the first five..?
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Denny Solomona has signed with North Harbour
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@bobily2 said in NPC - news, injuries etc:
Denny Solomona has signed with North Harbour
Is that the guy I saw playing for Sale a couple of months ago or another Denny Solomona？
