QF: Otago v Waikato
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Pledger is obviously a soecial talent, but I would be hesitant to pick him this year. He still has the build of a boy and I would hate to see him broken because he was thrown in the deep end too soon.
Watching Cruden pressed home to me how bad our current crop of kickers are at getting distance on their punts. Cruden in his prime was never one of our bigger kickers, but today he consistently got an extra 10 to 20 metres on clearance kicks compared to the younger slosh doing the rounds in NZ rugby at the moment. It is a major weakness.
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That was a great QF to watch as neutral. Haven't seen the above comments, but, as a neutral:
Otago seem to have some promise, and a few prospects destined for bigger things.Waikato....poor discipline. The All Blacks squad members may have promised the world....they delivered an atlas
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@Yeetyaah said in QF: Otago v Waikato:
@frugby said in QF: Otago v Waikato:
Credit Ben O’Keeffe. Allowed that game to flow.
I dunno about that one mate. You can call me sour grapes if you want but I think if it were the other way around the Otago fans would be pretty salty.
The drop goal shouldn't have stood as the ball was touched before it went out, and the counter ruck after the break should have been a yellow.
If your idea of flowing is letting everything go then sure, but Otago defs got the rub of the green a few times, and when a game is that tight it's pretty hard to not be irritated
Yeah sour grapes
Well done Otago, but that Waikato team showed some real mettle. Either team could’ve won and not feel ripped off.
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@Crazy-Horse has superb balance and gets into position for the kick nice and early.
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Cracking watch
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@sparky https://www.facebook.com/100063863314076/posts/943652154440220/?mibextid=rS40aB7S9Ucbxw6v
Cheers Sparky, it became comfortable viewing for me when Pledger scored his 2nd similar to this, well Waikato had other ideas in the final 10 but thankfully we prevailed in the end
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@Yeetyaah said in QF: Otago v Waikato:
@frugby said in QF: Otago v Waikato:
Credit Ben O’Keeffe. Allowed that game to flow.
I dunno about that one mate. You can call me sour grapes if you want but I think if it were the other way around the Otago fans would be pretty salty.
The drop goal shouldn't have stood as the ball was touched before it went out, and the counter ruck after the break should have been a yellow.
If your idea of flowing is letting everything go then sure, but Otago defs got the rub of the green a few times, and when a game is that tight it's pretty hard to not be irritated
I ask,did you see ball touched, because I replayed it and buggered if I could see it. Because the Waikato players said someone had, doesn't make it so.
I will add I thought both teams were pretty good last night, it's not like Otago won because Waikato were shit, I would say maybe just fortunate that Millar got that kick.I will add another thing that impressed me with Pledger, when asked about the intercept try, he said 'I heard them call and go that way earlier, so when I heard same call I waited'. That is a good sign of a kid who using his brain while playing!
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@Grooter said in QF: Otago v Waikato:
@sparky https://www.facebook.com/100063863314076/posts/943652154440220/?mibextid=rS40aB7S9Ucbxw6v
Cheers Sparky, it became comfortable viewing for me when Pledger scored his 2nd similar to this, well Waikato had other ideas in the final 10 but thankfully we prevailed in the endHe said in the post match interview that he heard Roe call the play earlier in the game and just put himself where he remembered the ball going. Heck of a heads up play.
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@Crazy-Horse said in QF: Otago v Waikato:
Pledger is obviously a soecial talent, but I would be hesitant to pick him this year. He still has the build of a boy and I would hate to see him broken because he was thrown in the deep end too soon.
Watching Cruden pressed home to me how bad our current crop of kickers are at getting distance on their punts. Cruden in his prime was never one of our bigger kickers, but today he consistently got an extra 10 to 20 metres on clearance kicks compared to the younger slosh doing the rounds in NZ rugby at the moment. It is a major weakness.
im going to buck the trend....get him in there...i think more young wonder kids (and hes 20 not 17 or somethign) would be good.....i think we've over corrected and we coddle them soo much. Im sure its happened but i cant really remember the last young gun who got a good shot early and burnt out
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@Kiwiwomble said in QF: Otago v Waikato:
@Crazy-Horse said in QF: Otago v Waikato:
Pledger is obviously a soecial talent, but I would be hesitant to pick him this year. He still has the build of a boy and I would hate to see him broken because he was thrown in the deep end too soon.
Watching Cruden pressed home to me how bad our current crop of kickers are at getting distance on their punts. Cruden in his prime was never one of our bigger kickers, but today he consistently got an extra 10 to 20 metres on clearance kicks compared to the younger slosh doing the rounds in NZ rugby at the moment. It is a major weakness.
im going to buck the trend....get him in there...i think more young wonder kids (and hes 20 not 17 or somethign) would be good.....i think we've over corrected and we coddle them soo much. Im sure its happened but i cant really remember the last young gun who got a good shot early and burnt out
Wallace Sititi
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@Kiwiwomble said in QF: Otago v Waikato:
@Crazy-Horse said in QF: Otago v Waikato:
Pledger is obviously a soecial talent, but I would be hesitant to pick him this year. He still has the build of a boy and I would hate to see him broken because he was thrown in the deep end too soon.
Watching Cruden pressed home to me how bad our current crop of kickers are at getting distance on their punts. Cruden in his prime was never one of our bigger kickers, but today he consistently got an extra 10 to 20 metres on clearance kicks compared to the younger slosh doing the rounds in NZ rugby at the moment. It is a major weakness.
im going to buck the trend....get him in there...i think more young wonder kids (and hes 20 not 17 or somethign) would be good.....i think we've over corrected and we coddle them soo much. Im sure its happened but i cant really remember the last young gun who got a good shot early and burnt out
The two that spring to mind are Isaia Toeava and Ben Atiga.
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@Kiwiwomble said in QF: Otago v Waikato:
@brodean i thought he was still in most people 23
Well we'd have to start a poll in SF but not sure if we are a general representation of the population for most people.
Out of the 5 Chiefs loose forwards picked for the ABs this year he was 5th best for me and I dont think there should be 5 Chiefs loose forwards in the squad.
Still I wouldn't use his selection and second season syndrome as an excuse not to pick younger players.
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@Kiwiwomble said in QF: Otago v Waikato:
@brodean do you think thats because he was brought in too early in his career or just because he has a stand out season right when there was urgent need in the ABs...and now hes playing normally?
I would say its mainly because he has been injured and he hasn't been allowed to recover from his injury properly by building form - poor injury management of inexperienced players.
Its ok for a McCaw who has been playing tests for 10 years to come back from injury and slot straight back in but a 23 year old in his second season of Super shouldn't be expected to be dropped back into the RC after an extended injury break which had a brief interlude of Super games.
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@brodean probably fair, but that tells me we just need to be better with players IN the system rather than leaving them to "develop" for years, i think take players on hot form and expose them to the next level...rather than play it too safe and then wonder why they didn;t kick on
