@J77 said in JMB/IMB rugby:

Bloody PC gone mad tree hugging society we live in these days.

The game is becoming taylor made for soccer mums/dads.

What happened to the days when I played JMB in the Hokianga/Bay of islands wrestling with giant bush monsters every Saturday.. I would have been 30kgs wringing wet! Loved every minute of it though..

Harden up world!

Stick to the subject, we don't need to hear about what you got up to with your girlfriends

Would be an absolute waste if they put Scott Gregory on the wing or at Fullback. Should be nailed on at 12

I was surprised by Robinsons first half performance (before the YC), he just seemed to seagull around rather than getting stuck in. After he came back on he played a bit more like I was expecting. The YC was damaging but I don't think McDonald will be worried about the intent, just the execution. If he maintains his second half form he will be a big asset for the Blues.

I thought Josh Goodhue had a very good game, carried well and worked hard on defence. No head turning moments but if he keeps playing like that, it should free up some of the other more expansive forwards.

Early days but 9-10 still looks like a weak point. Thought Black stood far too deep which really put the backline on the back foot and meant they were going to have to rely on individual brilliance. Hopefully it improves as the season goes on.

@Crucial said in Blues 2019:

@Tim said in Blues 2019:

Another positive was that Matich looked a lot better than Taramai at this level.

Not getting at your comment or assessment @Tim but it occurred to me that considering the amount of moaning we do about depth being eroded by overseas clubs the players that stick around to make up the numbers here cop a lot of criticism. Taramai is the type of player that could earn ok in Japan/Italy or second tier UK/France yet is still here.
Maybe we should accept that there is a place for these guys and judge them accordingly?

So like Matt Matich then? I had heard he was likely to head offshore after the last NPC if he didn't pick up a SR gig. As @Duluth mentioned he has been consistently good for a few seasons now (arguably much better than Taramai) and never got much of a chance.

These things are a bit pointless at the best of times but why have they started making up these stupid phantom games? They did it with the cricket the other day too - 80s Vs now.

Just compare player for player or leave it out.

Good to hear Macilai has re-signed. If he can get fit and stay fit he will be a massive weapon for us next year. With him and Roberts-TeNana there I don't think we need to recruit from outside the province for outside backs. Ravouvou was talked about but he doesn't seem like the sort of player I want to see us chase.

Feel really sorry for Matich. Has been very consistent for years now and hasn't looked out of place in his few chances at SR yet keeps missing out to unproven youngsters like Sotutu.

I wonder if Ranger does re-sign whether it might be worth looking at putting him on the wing. As much as he was our most dangerous back this year, I also wonder if he was a big part of Hyland not seeing much ball at all. Perhaps if we played a distributor like Gregory at 12 it won't be so bad but if we're stuck with Hohaia playing like this year at 12 we might be better with someone else at 13.

@taniwharugby said in semi final v Waikato:

@chiefy07 think Stokes is closer to a 7 than any of the others in the team, so for me its Matiu/Matich.

What we lose in work rate and accuracy MAtiu brings with his ball carrying and probably harder defence.

The Tua one is interesting, especially as his defence has been poor this season, so he needs to be on ppoint this game otherwise the game could well again get away from us pretty damn quick.

@taniwharugby I think Matich is more than capable of playing 7 at this level. Wasn't he playing 7 for Akl before coming back North? I think Stokes is decent and hasn't done anything wrong but would've liked to have seen Matich in for his defensive work rate - think that will be very important Vs Waikato

Agree on Tua - very important that he is solid in defence. Surprised given how both have played on the wing and how both have played in the midfield this year that they're named how they are.

Biggest surprise for me is Stokes starting ahead of Matich and Tua in midfield whilst Gregory is on the wing. Good to get Ross Wright back. After his defence the last few weeks, Rinakama might be a tad lucky to start.

@tim said in Mitre 10 Cup - news, injuries etc:

@chiefy07 said in Mitre 10 Cup - news, injuries etc:

Wright and Moulds - where I would still rank him personally.

LOL, OK. Not behind Olsen too?

Not currently but if Olsen had the same amount of game time in a top of the table team I'm sure he would look good too. Considering Olsen works full time outside of M10 Cup season I would say he could potentially be better if put in a full time professional environment like Abel has been in for the last 5 years.

I think Ross Wright is the best hooker out of all of them but unfortunately spends most of his time playing loosehead prop.

@taniwharugby said in Mitre 10 Cup - news, injuries etc:

@tim he is of the Going line

IIRC he has been part of a Brumbie Dev/WTG/Main squad for quite a few years, when he played for Northland (suffered a season ending injury fairly early on I think) about 4 or so years back he came and was part of one of the Brumbie squads then.

I suspect they will probably be looking a wee bit closer at him now though.

No he was fit the whole season but ranked behind Wright and Moulds - where I would still rank him personally. IIRC he had a 2 year contract but got out of the 2nd year because he didn't want to be a bench warmer again.