Highlanders 2026
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@upthelanders said in Highlanders 2026:
@jimmyb Sorry gonna have to disagree with that. We’ve got two wanna be Frizzell’s in the All Blacks right now. Parker and Finau.
They’re consistently average. Frizell is inconsistently shit
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yeah, off field shit is enough for me, proper bad dude stuff, but wasted his opportunity in the black jersey, never really stepped up and finally he's like 32 so not exactly one for the future....honestly dont see why we would
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@Kiwiwomble said in Highlanders 2026:
yeah, off field shit is enough for me, proper bad dude stuff, but wasted his opportunity in the black jersey, never really stepped up and finally he's like 32 so not exactly one for the future....honestly dont see why we would
Particularly when we have two young six’s in the squad with plenty of talent
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@upthelanders said in Highlanders 2026:
@jimmyb Sorry gonna have to disagree with that. We’ve got two wanna be Frizzell’s in the All Blacks right now. Parker and Finau.
Frizell is overhyped based on 1 game vs Boks at Mt Smart. You dont want to be Frizell.
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@KiwiMurph I'm of the opinion that he had more to offer at international level than Finau (which isn't saying much), it's early days on Parker so I'll reserve judgement there. But he did run hot and cold at the Highlanders.
On one hand, he wouldn't be bad for depth. But on the other hand there's a lot of other players I wouldn't mind seeing back more than him. And off field stuff didn't help.
If I had my choice in 2027 I'd get Aaron Smith back into the environment, and use Adam Lennox as a utility back given he covers that position for Taranaki. I also wouldn't mind seeing Dickson back if Dunshea leaves next season.
Beyond that I'd be looking to the future. Fletcher Anderson has had an exceptional NPC, and my understanding is he's off contract at the Crusaders. Could be a good pickup. Lucas Casey is another we need to lock down. Then I'd like to see a big 110kg plus Number eight found that we could develop.
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@handa457 said in Highlanders 2026:
@KiwiMurph I'm of the opinion that he had more to offer at international level than Finau (which isn't saying much), it's early days on Parker so I'll reserve judgement there. But he did run hot and cold at the Highlanders.
On one hand, he wouldn't be bad for depth. But on the other hand there's a lot of other players I wouldn't mind seeing back more than him. And off field stuff didn't help.
If I had my choice in 2027 I'd get Aaron Smith back into the environment, and use Adam Lennox as a utility back given he covers that position for Taranaki. I also wouldn't mind seeing Dickson back if Dunshea leaves next season.
Beyond that I'd be looking to the future. Fletcher Anderson has had an exceptional NPC, and my understanding is he's off contract at the Crusaders. Could be a good pickup. Lucas Casey is another we need to lock down. Then I'd like to see a big 110kg plus Number eight found that we could develop.
On the 8, I’d be very much down for converting either Haig or Howden to an 8. Either of them could do it. It allows us to run a pure 7 in Withy and Casey at 7, and creates more balance in the set piece.
On Smith, with how well Pledger is playing and the fact that 9 seems like a position a young player can flourish in early, I’m not sure we desperately need him. A solid 10 would be fantastic.
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@SouthernMann he mentioned it on SportNation
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Bringing in a 38-year-old Aaron Smith into a squad he has been away from for years is not the answer. We also have a perfectly capable cohort of halfbacks. With Pledger being absolutely top draw. With Lennox, Taranaki need to stop stuffing with his development. The kid is a halfback. Leave him there. We also don't need another small utility back. We have Solomon and Hurley. Both are better outside backs than Lennox.
Go hunting for a 110kg no8? Will stodart is 116kg. Withy can play thr workhorse role at 8. Casey can go there as well. Looking at the loosie mix. Sure, we are not the Chiefs with five All Black sixes. We do, have a strong group of guys all 24 and under. We have a strong group of sixes and opensides. We now need to leverage them to work out how to get them to cover the 8 gig as well.
With Frizzell. We'd be dumb to knock him back. From socials it looks like Dunedin is his primary NZ base too. If he wants to be around for a couple of years. That is a win.
Loosie isn't a major issue. A starting 10, prop depth, hooker depth and centre is where our issues are. The squad has come a long way in recent years from when Jona Nareki and Sam Gilbert were some of our star players.
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@ploughboy said in Highlanders 2026:
I'd like to see more of stodart at 8 and Haig at 6
On this, how is Howden playing this NPC season? Haven’t really watched any games outside the Otago ones
