Hurricanes vs Crusaders
-
@African-Monkey said in Hurricanes vs Crusaders:
@Crazy-Horse said in Hurricanes vs Crusaders:
@African-Monkey said in Hurricanes vs Crusaders:
Was George Bell the wrong player to invest in for the ABs last year?
Moananu looks 10 times better.
Too early to tell, Bell has hardly been on the park. Bell was pretty bloody good at age grade level so there is some talent there. It will be an interesting battle.
He was last year and was awful albeit in a struggling side, yet managed 3 tests undeserved.
From what I've seen of both, Moananu looks the far better prospect. Quicker over the ball (one of the best in the comp), stronger on the carry, better thrower (Bell was awful in that department last year), so yeah, I think Moananu could be the better one and looks like a matter of when, not if he gets a callup to the next level.
Bell's throwing last year was weird, up until then throwing didn't seem a problem for him. Agree Moananu has made every post a winner, but it's still early days.
-
All these promising number 2s around it’s fantastic but can we have some 10s as well?
-
@Canerbry said in Hurricanes vs Crusaders:
We are adding Moananu to Springer for nominations for Best Outstanding Breakout Crusader Performance Of The Year in the Fernies.
Conversation for the Crusaders thread so move across if you want.
Does anyone know their contract situations? 2 players with a few good players in front of them.
Springer(who also fancies himself as a fullback), with Reece, Fihaki, Jordan and Leicester(yes he also wants to be 13) and Hutchinson coming through the system.
Moananu with 2 ABs in Codie Taylor and George Bell who will be in front of him as well as 2 NZ u20 hookers in Manumaua Letiu who has already debuted for the Crusaders and u20 player of the tournament in Eli Oudenryn who are massive talents who will be right behind him.
There will be a 2 or 3 handy players up for grabs in the near future for other provinces and teams from that bunch. Something to keep an eye on. I know the Highlanders could do with a solid hooker prospect to compete with Kempton and Jack Taylor.
-
@Landers92 said in Hurricanes vs Crusaders:
@Canerbry said in Hurricanes vs Crusaders:
We are adding Moananu to Springer for nominations for Best Outstanding Breakout Crusader Performance Of The Year in the Fernies.
Conversation for the Crusaders thread so move across if you want.
Does anyone know their contract situations? 2 players with a few good players in front of them.
Springer(who also fancies himself as a fullback), with Reece, Fihaki, Jordan and Leicester(yes he always wants to be 13) and Hutchinson coming through the system.
Moananu with 2 ABs in Codie Taylor and George Bell who will be in front of him as well as 2 NZ u20 hookers in Manumaua Letiu who has already debuted for the Crusaders and u20 player of the tournament in Eli Oudenryn who are massive talents who will be right behind him.
There will be a 2 or 3 handy players up for grabs in the near future for other provinces and teams from that bunch. Something to keep an eye on. I know the Highlanders could do with a solid hooker prospect to compete with Kempton and Jack Taylor.
Moaning signed a 2 year to 2026.
-
@Canerbry said in Hurricanes vs Crusaders:
Yeah sorry Canes, you'll need to do better than that.
Quite a few things not quite ticking for the Crusaders yet but it is early in the season - shit handling, missed tackles, standing off turnover ball, but we certainly have the individuals and it will get better.
Shit Wallaby James O'Connor playing the best rugby of his life for the Crusaders. We are adding Moananu to Springer for nominations for Best Outstanding Breakout Crusader Performance Of The Year in the Fernies. Nice game from Dogroll.
The pass at 13:08 in the video above was forward.
The Canes are having similar issues to the Crusaders last year, they just can’t seem to get their best team on the park and are relying on a very ordinary 10 to run the ship. I’d be pretty confident if we had all players available we would look like a completely different team. Just one of those seasons unfortunately.
Thankfully we’ll get a couple of key players back next week so who knows what will happen from here.
-
@African-Monkey said in Hurricanes vs Crusaders:
Was George Bell the wrong player to invest in for the ABs last year?
Moananu looks 10 times better.
The only issue with Moananu is his height. 5 foot 8 is tiny for an international Hooker these days.
-
@sparky said in Hurricanes vs Crusaders:
@African-Monkey said in Hurricanes vs Crusaders:
Was George Bell the wrong player to invest in for the ABs last year?
Moananu looks 10 times better.
The only issue with Moananu is his height. 5 foot 8 is tiny for an international Hooker these days.
He becomes more effective at breakdown as he gets low to the ground.
-
@sparky said in Hurricanes vs Crusaders:
@African-Monkey said in Hurricanes vs Crusaders:
Was George Bell the wrong player to invest in for the ABs last year?
Moananu looks 10 times better.
The only issue with Moananu is his height. 5 foot 8 is tiny for an international Hooker these days.
Yep, if Mbonambi had been an inch shorter, he wouldn't even have got one game of international rugby.
-
And despite the comments here, I though both Love and Roigard were fine, for the shit they were fed. Neither set the world on fire, but very hard to do when you're getting smashed all over the park. The difference when Roigard went off was stark. Both did nothing to really dent their ABs prospects
-
@sparky said in Hurricanes vs Crusaders:
@African-Monkey said in Hurricanes vs Crusaders:
Was George Bell the wrong player to invest in for the ABs last year?
Moananu looks 10 times better.
The only issue with Moananu is his height. 5 foot 8 is tiny for an international Hooker these days.
Definite issue for Moananu.
France and SA have super-sized packs and our first choice locks and loosies are already mostly on the small size.
You can't pack much additional weight on a short hooker.
I expect Taylor and Taukeiaho to be our first choices this year for this reason - among others. Aumua should be third choice - Bell and Moananu to fight it out for 4th slot if one is required.
-
-
@Bones said in Hurricanes vs Crusaders:
@sparky said in Hurricanes vs Crusaders:
@African-Monkey said in Hurricanes vs Crusaders:
Was George Bell the wrong player to invest in for the ABs last year?
Moananu looks 10 times better.
The only issue with Moananu is his height. 5 foot 8 is tiny for an international Hooker these days.
Yep, if Mbonambi had been an inch shorter, he wouldn't even have got one game of international rugby.
I was thinking of the same example, and he seems to go alright. I cannot see his height being an issue.
-
@African-Monkey said in Hurricanes vs Crusaders:
@Bones said in Hurricanes vs Crusaders:
@sparky said in Hurricanes vs Crusaders:
@African-Monkey said in Hurricanes vs Crusaders:
Was George Bell the wrong player to invest in for the ABs last year?
Moananu looks 10 times better.
The only issue with Moananu is his height. 5 foot 8 is tiny for an international Hooker these days.
Yep, if Mbonambi had been an inch shorter, he wouldn't even have got one game of international rugby.
I was thinking of the same example, and he seems to go alright. I cannot see his height being an issue.
If anything it's a bonus in this day and age. Has Taylor had many cards for high tackles?
-
@Chris-B said in Hurricanes vs Crusaders:
@sparky said in Hurricanes vs Crusaders:
@African-Monkey said in Hurricanes vs Crusaders:
- Bell and Moananu to fight it out for 4th slot if one is required.
I’d say they view McCalister and Slater ahead of Moananu based off the last couple seasons. Credit to Moananu though, he’s definitely putting himself in those conversations.
-
-
@booboo said in Hurricanes vs Crusaders:
@Bones said in Hurricanes vs Crusaders:
@Chris-B Taylor is smaller than Moananu. Bugger eh. Mauvaka is a kilo lighter.
Really? I'll believe you but wouldn't have picked it by the eye test.
I think he means lighter, not shorter. Even Riccitelli is taller than Moananu.
-
@booboo said in Hurricanes vs Crusaders:
@Bones said in Hurricanes vs Crusaders:
@Chris-B Taylor is smaller than Moananu. Bugger eh. Mauvaka is a kilo lighter.
Really? I'll believe you but wouldn't have picked it by the eye test.
I believe that's what the internet has told Bones, which is slightly different.
Ioane Moananu's Crusaders profile says he's 173 cm and 113kgs.
So according to the internet he's a bit shorter than DMac and 21cms shorter than Akira Ioane - but he weighs in the same as Akira!
I'm sceptical!
-
@Bones said in Hurricanes vs Crusaders:
@African-Monkey said in Hurricanes vs Crusaders:
@Bones said in Hurricanes vs Crusaders:
@sparky said in Hurricanes vs Crusaders:
@African-Monkey said in Hurricanes vs Crusaders:
Was George Bell the wrong player to invest in for the ABs last year?
Moananu looks 10 times better.
The only issue with Moananu is his height. 5 foot 8 is tiny for an international Hooker these days.
Yep, if Mbonambi had been an inch shorter, he wouldn't even have got one game of international rugby.
I was thinking of the same example, and he seems to go alright. I cannot see his height being an issue.
If anything it's a bonus in this day and age. Has Taylor had many cards for high tackles?
And as I pointed out, he uses his short height to his advantage to jackle. He's one of the best in the comp at it.
