Blues 2017
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@African-Monkey might be a bit of a plan to make it easier for out of towners to acclimatise to Auckland. Keep them together for a high quality central city club.
@KiwiMurph Yup good call. I'm not complaining, with Ponsonby being my former club.
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@booboo That's a don't go there club lol but they are doing quite well this season.
@African-Monkey said in Blues 2017:
@booboo That's a don't go there club lol but they are doing quite well this season.
Que?
Loved my time at Eden. Great club. 20 ... ish ... years ago ...
Eden has the best ground in Auckland. The lovely Gribblehirst. A shimmering sea of mud
Always ignored.
Fuck Ponsonby.
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@African-Monkey said in Blues 2017:
@booboo That's a don't go there club lol but they are doing quite well this season.
Que?
Loved my time at Eden. Great club. 20 ... ish ... years ago ...
Eden has the best ground in Auckland. The lovely Gribblehirst. A shimmering sea of mud
Always ignored.
Fuck Ponsonby.
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@African-Monkey said in Blues 2017:
@booboo That's a don't go there club lol but they are doing quite well this season.
Que?
Loved my time at Eden. Great club. 20 ... ish ... years ago ...
Eden has the best ground in Auckland. The lovely Gribblehirst. A shimmering sea of mud
Always ignored.
Fuck Ponsonby.
@booboo said in Blues 2017:
@African-Monkey said in Blues 2017:
@booboo That's a don't go there club lol but they are doing quite well this season.
Que?
Loved my time at Eden. Great club. 20 ... ish ... years ago ...
Eden has the best ground in Auckland. The lovely Gribblehirst. A shimmering sea of mud
Always ignored.
Fuck Ponsonby.
Haha up the Ponies!
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@African-Monkey said in Blues 2017:
@booboo That's a don't go there club lol but they are doing quite well this season.
Que?
Loved my time at Eden. Great club. 20 ... ish ... years ago ...
Eden has the best ground in Auckland. The lovely Gribblehirst. A shimmering sea of mud
Always ignored.
Fuck Ponsonby.
@booboo said in Blues 2017:
@African-Monkey said in Blues 2017:
@booboo That's a don't go there club lol but they are doing quite well this season.
Que?
Loved my time at Eden. Great club. 20 ... ish ... years ago ...
Eden has the best ground in Auckland. The lovely Gribblehirst. A shimmering sea of mud
Always ignored.
Fuck Ponsonby.
Cripes ... just realised it's damned nearly 30 years ago ...
And @KiwiMurph sorry no idea about the field revamp. Just know it was a beautiful field (early in the season) with a great atmosphere. And did quite like swimming in the mud through June and July ...
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@booboo said in Blues 2017:
@African-Monkey said in Blues 2017:
@booboo That's a don't go there club lol but they are doing quite well this season.
Que?
Loved my time at Eden. Great club. 20 ... ish ... years ago ...
Eden has the best ground in Auckland. The lovely Gribblehirst. A shimmering sea of mud
Always ignored.
Fuck Ponsonby.
Cripes ... just realised it's damned nearly 30 years ago ...
And @KiwiMurph sorry no idea about the field revamp. Just know it was a beautiful field (early in the season) with a great atmosphere. And did quite like swimming in the mud through June and July ...
@booboo 2005 Lions tour they had a big marquee on the fields for Lions tour groups (my mate was Manager there at the time)
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@African-Monkey said in Blues 2017:
@booboo That's a don't go there club lol but they are doing quite well this season.
Que?
Loved my time at Eden. Great club. 20 ... ish ... years ago ...
Eden has the best ground in Auckland. The lovely Gribblehirst. A shimmering sea of mud
Always ignored.
Fuck Ponsonby.
@booboo said in Blues 2017:
@African-Monkey said in Blues 2017:
@booboo That's a don't go there club lol but they are doing quite well this season.
Que?
Loved my time at Eden. Great club. 20 ... ish ... years ago ...
Eden has the best ground in Auckland. The lovely Gribblehirst. A shimmering sea of mud
Always ignored.
Fuck Ponsonby.
Good news for you, Eden beat Ponsonby yesterday, 27 - 17.
Eden have made the biggest progress of any club in the last 12 months. They upset University last season in the Portola Trophy Final and have won almost every 7s tournament they've entered.
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@booboo said in Blues 2017:
@African-Monkey said in Blues 2017:
@booboo That's a don't go there club lol but they are doing quite well this season.
Que?
Loved my time at Eden. Great club. 20 ... ish ... years ago ...
Eden has the best ground in Auckland. The lovely Gribblehirst. A shimmering sea of mud
Always ignored.
Fuck Ponsonby.
Good news for you, Eden beat Ponsonby yesterday, 27 - 17.
Eden have made the biggest progress of any club in the last 12 months. They upset University last season in the Portola Trophy Final and have won almost every 7s tournament they've entered.
@Dice said in Blues 2017:
@booboo said in Blues 2017:
@African-Monkey said in Blues 2017:
@booboo That's a don't go there club lol but they are doing quite well this season.
Que?
Loved my time at Eden. Great club. 20 ... ish ... years ago ...
Eden has the best ground in Auckland. The lovely Gribblehirst. A shimmering sea of mud
Always ignored.
Fuck Ponsonby.
Good news for you, Eden beat Ponsonby yesterday, 27 - 17.
Eden have made the biggest progress of any club in the last 12 months. They upset University last season in the Portola Trophy Final and have won almost every 7s tournament they've entered.
@Dice said in Blues 2017:
@booboo said in Blues 2017:
@African-Monkey said in Blues 2017:
@booboo That's a don't go there club lol but they are doing quite well this season.
Que?
Loved my time at Eden. Great club. 20 ... ish ... years ago ...
Eden has the best ground in Auckland. The lovely Gribblehirst. A shimmering sea of mud
Always ignored.
Fuck Ponsonby.
Good news for you, Eden beat Ponsonby yesterday, 27 - 17.
Eden have made the biggest progress of any club in the last 12 months. They upset University last season in the Portola Trophy Final and have won almost every 7s tournament they've entered.
Awesome stuff.
When I was playing we had difficulty avoiding spoonage. IIRC we never did finish last but we gave it a nudge.
Eden beating Pobsonby would never be dreamed of.
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@booboo said in Blues 2017:
@African-Monkey said in Blues 2017:
@booboo That's a don't go there club lol but they are doing quite well this season.
Que?
Loved my time at Eden. Great club. 20 ... ish ... years ago ...
Eden has the best ground in Auckland. The lovely Gribblehirst. A shimmering sea of mud
Always ignored.
Fuck Ponsonby.
Good news for you, Eden beat Ponsonby yesterday, 27 - 17.
Eden have made the biggest progress of any club in the last 12 months. They upset University last season in the Portola Trophy Final and have won almost every 7s tournament they've entered.
@Dice The Costa brothers were big pickups for them. They were highly regarded at Rosmini. They certainly are a team on the up and the gap between the big and small clubs is certainly closing with East Tamaki and Manukau becoming very competitive in recent seasons.
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Blues last 7 games they are 5 wins 1 draw and 1 controversial loss.
That includes trips to Australia, South Africa and Samoa.
Tana and the young team deserve some serious props for that.
Blues are on the rise.
@KiwiMurph Surely we can't keep losing to NZ teams next year as well lol our fortunes have to change. Even this year we should have nailed a few derbies.
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OK, we've seen everything this season now. After feedback from the forum, and looking at who might be available, here is my 2018 squad.
There are eight positions to fill, and beside those I've listed in-region available players, and out of region players who would be desirable to sign and are not known to have signed for a team in 2018.
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Here's a dabble at the preferred match day XXIII. Main positions of contention are noted.
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There are probably three big questions over that team, but the foremost one for me is will the tight forwards perform better and more consistently than this year? I think they can, but it would help to have another strong option at hooker, tighthead prop, and lock. If we are better coached, and the players are more mature, then a significant gain could come from being able to bring on good replacement front row players, and having Goodhue play at Scrafton level at lock - that would enable us to keep players fresh, increase overall quality, and maintain set-piece after replacing players.
I would also like to see Scrafton and Goodhue together, so we can put pressure on the opposition lineout.
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There are probably three big questions over that team, but the foremost one for me is will the tight forwards perform better and more consistently than this year? I think they can, but it would help to have another strong option at hooker, tighthead prop, and lock. If we are better coached, and the players are more mature, then a significant gain could come from being able to bring on good replacement front row players, and having Goodhue play at Scrafton level at lock - that would enable us to keep players fresh, increase overall quality, and maintain set-piece after replacing players.
I would also like to see Scrafton and Goodhue together, so we can put pressure on the opposition lineout.
