Blues 2019

[Tim]

@muddyriver Fark, they should've signed him when had the chance.

[gt12]

@muddyriver

Or Fiji (much more likely IMO), in which case the NH beckons after Super rugby.

[Chris]

Article Below suggests. Jed Brown and Levi Amua on the Blues Radar link text

[Duluth]

Aumua would suggest we don't have Manu

Brown.. has Kara Pryor been cut? The coaches didn't seem to have much faith in him.

[Daffy Jaffy]

@duluth Steven Harris said on here recently that Pryor may be heading overseas.

[Tim]

@chris Jed Brown would be a good backup 7. Much better than Taramai.

Not a fan of Aumua, gutted if we miss Manu. Mind you, we do need two centres ...

[Duluth]

@tim Rieko

[African Monkey]

Jed Brown? The guy is almost as injury prone as Blake Gibson. Fuck we might see Murphy Taramai get a lot of minutes for us next season again unfortunately.

[Tim]

Another detail from the article is that about 16 of this years Auckland squad will be in the Blues.

Working out who they are should stave off work for this afternoon. Do have a pesky meeting though ..

[Daffy Jaffy]

@tim Harris also mentioned somewhere that Scott Gregory was offered a wtg contract. That would see the mid field/outside backs options being Nonu, SBW, Faiane, Amua, Tele'a, Gregory, Ioane, Nanai, Clarke, Duffie, Trainor, Collins. This seams to be one more than normal so I fear for Trainor missing out or being picked up somewhere else. (yes I wrote Collins last deliberately).

[Tim]

@daffy-jaffy IIRC, Gregory is on a dev contract. Am hoping Talea is the same.

[Daffy Jaffy]

@tim This below off the Blues site says he is on a full contract. Its a shame injury ruined his rep season so we couldn't assess him.

The Blues continues to invest in youth for 2019 and beyond after announcing that three members of the New Zealand Under-20s rugby team will play for the club in Super Rugby next year.

Harry Plummer, Tanielu Tele’a and Hoskins Sotutu, among the seven players from the Blues region in the New Zealand Under-20 side, have been signed for two-year contracts with the Blues.
They were among five young players from the Blues region who spent 10 weeks with the club as part of the Interim Player Contract (ITC) scheme and impressed sufficiently to earn full contracts from 2019.

[Tim]

@daffy-jaffy Someone posted on here that there is a kind of dev contract that is exclusive and pays more. I'm holding on to hope.

[Tim]

If sixteen of the Auckland squad are in the Blues:

Thirteen definites:

tuungufasi
scrafton
Tuipulotu
gibson
papalii
sotutu
ioane
plummer
faiane
nanai
clarke
ioane
talea

Three from this lot:

abel
renata
olmsted
whetton
ruru
fukofuka
manu

[Yeetyaah]

@tim My guess is Ruru, Abel, and Olmstead

[Daffy Jaffy]

A look at the possible 16 aucklanders in the Blues.
Certainties:
Tu'ungafasi
Scrafton
Tuipulotu
Papalii
Gibson​​​​​​​
A Ioane
Sotutu
Plummer
Faiane
Nanai
Clarke
R Ioane
Tele'a.

That leaves spots for 3 of:
Trainor
Olmstead
Abel
Ruru
Renata
Lindenmuth
I Think Ruru is likely so really only 2 spots. Anyone I missed?
This is accepting that Manu, Whetton, Rayasi are signed elsewhere as rumored.

[Chris]

@yeetyaah maybe Renata instead of Abel

[Tim]

@yeetyaah Manu is going to have a blinder when the Chiefs beat us.

Ruru might be a bit like Billy Guiton - important leader at NPC level, but too slow in execution at Super Rugby level.

[Tim]

Lindenmuth is another chance. Wonder if the Crusaders will be interested again?

[Nogusta]

@daffy-jaffy gee I thought both Matt Johnson and Tamati Tua both had a year to go in their contracts as well? Tele'a (and Sotutu) are on draft contracts (what used to be WTG) I believe for 2019 and going on to full for 2020. Plummer full contract for 2019 and 2020. Scott Gregory an ITC (Interim training contract).