NPC - news, injuries etc
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Not immediately a fan of the geographical split.
Does remind me of the old days of Secon Div North and Second Div South though
If they need a split then base it on finishing position from previous years.
If the issue is who plays who in the x overs then, again, base it on finishing positions from the previous year.
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I'm a fan and have always thought it was better than the Premiership/Championship nonsense.
I'd have Hawke's Bay, not Taranaki in the South Zone.
As for cross over games, base it on seedings from the previous season so that a province plays the teams from the other Zone that have the same seeding, the seeding above and the seeding below.
So if you are seeded 4th in the South Zone you play the 4th, 3rd and 5th in the North Zone.
What if you are seeded 1st or 7th? Well if you are 7th then you'd play the 6th, 7th and 1st from the other Zone. Sure there will be a mismatch with 7th playing 1st but if 7th gets to host the big guns seeded 1st then that is great for gates. And isn't too dissimilar to what some Unions are already doing in their selected cross over games where they elect for a better gate as opposed to better chances on the paddock.
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Is this some sort of Wellington sponsored plan to save their second-division-stuck asses?
I think the Premiership-Championship concept has worked bloody well. It's not ideal having the unbalanced cross-over games, but the geographic split model doesn't address that. All it seems to do is remove the interest of promotion-relegation to an "everyone has a chance" model, but with more mismatches.
Not a fan - seems like pointless meddling of which rugby has done too much in recent times.
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@Chris-B. yeah I think the current format seems to work pretty well despite its flaws, although as I have said before, dropping 1 crossover match would remove the need for that 3 games in 8 days BS, although I hear players quite like that.
Short of 2 clear divisions, which we know they are unlikely to go back to, I think they should stick with the status quo.
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@taniwharugby I wouldn't want to go back to the two clear divisions model, either. That really did promote a rich-get-richer model.
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I would welcome change (but before you pile in, i am well aware i am in the minority on this one).
I find the cross-over games in a 2 division competition an utterly stupid compromise made by the NZRU when relegating a bunch of teams. It always results in at least one side make the finals for Div 2 with a losing record. I never understood playing teams from a different competition for points in your competition.
I know the general consensus is to make every game as relevant as any other, so why not go to a 2 conference system? I don't think NZ is big enough to need a geographical split (especially when you have to go half way up the North Island to split the teams). Just divvie it up some other way (finishing positions the prior year, or hell, even a lottery).
Top 2 at the end of round robin, next 4 play semis, then winners through to the prelims, then the GF. Great system.
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@mariner4life the daft thing is, a similar thing happens in super rugby, except they are just different conferences, not divisions....without discussing the merits of the finals format there haha
Current format not perfect by any stretch, but is probably the best they can do to try to retain some semblance of fairness and as chris b says above, avoiding promoting the rich getting richer.
I know my POV is skewed because my team is usually in the bottom few teams, that is in some part due to their ability in the years since the changes to operate within their means, unlike others that spent shitloads to be better....
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This year is a bit different for Super Rugby, with the Aussies falling off a cliff, but in general, the right teams have made the finals.
I just think, if you are going to have the 2 divisions play each other, why not all play for the same trophy? Lets face it, Canterbury are playing in the final anyway, everyone else can play for the chance to play against them. One year you might get a weaker pool, but the next you might get all the big sides.
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I like it.
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An update on Zac Guildford. I'm looking forward to seeing him play for Waikato. He started off at centre for his club but has been playing at fullback more recently.
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@Bovidae He played a full season for the Magpies at fullback (in 2013, I think?). He'll do well there. He has significantly increased his versatility value as well, with now being able to play wing, fullback and centre. I hope he goes well at Waikato (despite wishing he was still playing in black & white).
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Haven't seen the official announcement, but according to this article on stuff, Rodney So'oialo is the new Wellington Lions forwards coach. Earlier this year, head coach Earl Va'a was replaced by Chris Gibbes. Another new assistant coach appointed earlier this year is Andre Bell, who has returned to NZ from Connacht.
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Official announcement: So'oialo joins Lions coaching staff
