AB EOYT 2018
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@samurai-jack Great to see Nepo Laulala and Joe Moody back.
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Fox was reluctant to publicly pinpoint the aspects of Ioane's game that should improve when the squad was named at the Prebbleton club rooms near Christchurch on Monday, but indicated he was making satisfactory gains. "He's getting better at the areas he's been asked to improve at, and I'm not going to drill down into those," Fox said. "If he comes with us, he's not necessarily going to get a lot of game time. "He knows what he needs to do and we think he's better off with the New Zealand Maori team and playing, being a number one for them, playing footy, and working on the areas that he needs to work on." "We're still very much interested in what he can offer, and Super Rugby next year is going to be quite defining," Fox added. "He's going to have a new forwards coach and hopefully we're going to see that little upward curb continue, we're seeing it now in the areas that he has to continue on. Hopefully we see it in Super Rugby next year." -
@tim I think those in the main squad will miss out as the final Bledisloe is next week. So the likes of Dalton might miss Saturday's match against Wellington.
Those players named in the Japan squad will probably play the NPC final and then fly out afterwards.
Can someone confirm?
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@tim I think those in the main squad will miss out as the final Bledisloe is next week. So the likes of Dalton might miss Saturday's match against Wellington.
Those players named in the Japan squad will probably play the NPC final and then fly out afterwards.
Can someone confirm?
@canes4life Exactly my read on it too. Given Hansen's comments a few days ago that's exactly what it sounds like.
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@tim I think those in the main squad will miss out as the final Bledisloe is next week. So the likes of Dalton might miss Saturday's match against Wellington.
Those players named in the Japan squad will probably play the NPC final and then fly out afterwards.
Can someone confirm?
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@canes4life The Australia game is on the 27th, so two weekends away.
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@tim So Dalton will miss the final if Auckland make it, but play this week?
@canes4life He'll miss the semi this weekend i'd say (as will Fifita for Wellington).
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@canes4life He'll miss the semi this weekend i'd say (as will Fifita for Wellington).
@kiwimurph yeah I think so aswell. I wonder if they will fly someone like Coles out late just to give him some more minutes.
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@canes4life He'll miss the semi this weekend i'd say (as will Fifita for Wellington).
@kiwimurph Really emphasises what little respect the NPC is accorded.
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No Jeffrey Toomaga-Allen. Other props with much less experience picked ahead of him. Is he injured or was he one of Akira's drinking buddies?
@sparky As a Wellington fan I'm glad he's missed out on the All Blacks. Not because we have him for the finals but because I frankly can't see him getting any better. He is too nice, too soft and for a prop at International standard you are going to be taken to the cleaners.
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@kiwimurph Really emphasises what little respect the NPC is accorded.
@tim I think Ta$man has probably come off best from the latest All Blacks announcement. Their favouritism for the title would have gone up a few notches, especially if they can get Frizzell back.
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@tim I think Ta$man has probably come off best from the latest All Blacks announcement. Their favouritism for the title would have gone up a few notches, especially if they can get Frizzell back.
@canes4life Check the Mitre 10 Cup thread.
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@kiwimurph Really emphasises what little respect the NPC is accorded.
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No Will Jordan, but I suspect it's a case of not yet and George Bridge having a more rounded game at the moment.
@sparky Yeah Will Jordan will 100% be an All Black. Looks like a very natural Fullback.
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@rocky-rockbottom said in AB EOYT 2018:
Reado and Ardie: always going to pick these two:
Dick Frizzle: injured (RSI bum splinters from Landers bench. could've happened to anyone)Luke Whitelock: a cantab so must be a good bloke. On tour it's all about having good blokes around that I can relate to. I can't relate to that huge terrifying hua from Auckland. He scares me. Holding up mauls by himself, all that frightening rugby stuff, gah, no thank you.
I can't stand LW either - but i did have to laugh the other day when i was at a presso taken by none other than my "fav" invisible man / rugby player Ruebs Thorne (Phooey - wherever you are i thought of you)... and the first slide they put up was why they'd always pick Whitelock ahead of Ioane.
Anyway obviously Akiras 'attacking' stats were good.. but the rest were mud -
@tim even more daft when you look at Manawatu who had 3 ABs released for thier must win clash with Southland, while no other ABs released, all odd and clearly above my pay grade!
@taniwharugby said in AB EOYT 2018:
@tim even more daft when you look at Manawatu who had 3 ABs released for thier must win clash with Southland, while no other ABs released, all odd and clearly above my pay grade!
Those released players, Hemopo, Laumape and NMS are not in the main squad though. Only in the extras.
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@williethewaiter What competition was these stats from? Because his other (avaialble) stats in Super rugby weren't that mud (especially compared with a similar player who made the ABs like Taufua).
I'm hoping they have better stats than we get, including breakdown attendance, cleanouts, metres run, dominant tackles etc.
I've written about my observations of him in Mitre 10 threads and had the Auckland mafia come down hard on me, but I think itis simply about workrate off the ball. He's a monster with it, and does some great things on defence (e.g., holding up players in the tackle), but is still not always making the effort of others. In the games I watched, he made star plays, but Papali'i always looked like the player who was at a level above in all facets.
NB: To be clear, I'd have picked him. I personally believe that the AB coaches should be good enough coaches to get the best out of him. Of course, it could be that they had a look at him during the French series and he didn't perform, in which case he has a very long road back. If so, he'll be on the Luatua track - off at the end of next year.
