Chiefs 2019

Bovidae

My starting XV for game 1 (based on who the coaches picked this year):

Ross/Hames
Harris
Laulala
BBBR
Ardron
Jacobson
Boshier
Seu
TTT/Weber
DMac
Wainui
ALB
Manu
Stevenson
Alaimalo

sparky

Jack Debreczni. Born in Auckland. Hungarian parentage as the name suggests. Went to school in Australia and played for Aussie schoolboys.

Duluth

@booboo said in Chiefs 2019:

Is Dobra ... Debra ... Debre ... the guy who played for the Rebels NZ eligible? If not I'm not a fan or giving an Aussie a contract.

Born in Auckland and hasn’t played for Aus

booboo

@sparky said in Chiefs 2019:

@booboo

Jack Debreczni. Born in Auckland. Hungarian parentage as the name suggests. Went to school in Australia and played for Aussie schoolboys.

@duluth said in Chiefs 2019:

@booboo said in Chiefs 2019:

Is Dobra ... Debra ... Debre ... the guy who played for the Rebels NZ eligible? If not I'm not a fan or giving an Aussie a contract.

Born in Auckland and hasn’t played for Aus

Thanks gents. All good then.

Gunner

Being a prop at the chiefs is like being a 6 at the Highlanders...

5 All Black props, jaysus!

Edit: or is that 4, has Moli played for the ABs? Or is it just that there has been talk of it?

Bovidae

@gunner Moli came off the bench vs the French XV. No tests yet.

booboo

@gunner said in Super Rugby News:

Being a prop at the chiefs is like being a 6 at the Highlanders...

5 All Black props, jaysus!

Edit: or is that 4, has Moli played for the ABs? Or is it just that there has been talk of it?

From wiki

This meant that after starting in a 31-22 loss against the All Blacks for the Barbarians coached by Robbie Deans on 4 November, Moli joined the All Blacks squad again, making his debut for New Zealand against a French XV 10 days later, replacing Tim Perry with 23 minutes left. Moli was one of six players to make their All Blacks debut in the 28-23 win.

Duluth

It will be interesting to see how Debreczeni goes. He struggled at the Rebels and justifiably got passed by a couple of average tens. He always looked ok at fullback IMO

He did play well for Northland though. Was that just because of the drop in class from SR to NPC?
He's very large for a flyhalf, I do wonder if his size counts against him at SR level when things happen a bit faster

Also he's still relatively young so maybe he's just improved

OleOleOle

The Chiefs look inexperienced in the midfield, that could bite.

I'm not convinced by MMac...maybe he was still contracted.

Disappointed that Tupaea is not signed...off to the Blues maybe??

I really want to see what the fuss over Fin Hoeata is all about.

Overall a fairly settled squad...

Bovidae

@oleoleole said in Chiefs 2019:

The Chiefs look inexperienced in the midfield, that could bite.

A lot of pressure on ALB now to stay injury-free. Nankivell is lucky and has never looked completely comfortable at SR level.

The Chiefs have a lot of versatility in the backs with numerous players able to slot in at multiple positions. Putting them in the right positions will be important!

Nepia

Looks kind of weak in the backs without Maori Jesus.

Chris B.

@bovidae Yeah - not sure why they'd keep Nankivell ahead of Aumua unless they had to. Alex doesn't really inspire confidence in me at NPC level.

Crucial

@bovidae said in Chiefs 2019:

@oleoleole said in Chiefs 2019:

The Chiefs look inexperienced in the midfield, that could bite.

A lot of pressure on ALB now to stay injury-free. Nankivell is lucky and has never looked completely comfortable at SR level.

The Chiefs have a lot of versatility in the backs with numerous players able to slot in at multiple positions. Putting them in the right positions will be important!

Yeah. Cooper has already mentioned Moeakiola as being a midfielder/winger. Could be interesting.

Like all of the teams some of the gambles/necessities in previous years are hanging around even if we can all see better options.
Would be nice if franchises had enough money to pay players out at times.

taniwharugby

so is Moeakiola eligible for NZ?

Tim

@chris-b Think Nankivel was on a two year contract.

Nepia

@taniwharugby said in Chiefs 2019:

so is Moeakiola eligible for NZ?

I don't think so. He's a Tongan who's played for Japan (U20s at least).

Nepia

This is weird, I kind of think that Wainui will wind up being our best midfielder (aside from ALB of course), he turned a corner last year with his performances and the rest of the midfield stocks aren't outstanding.

Bovidae

@tim said in Chiefs 2019:

@chris-b Think Nankivel was on a two year contract.

Yes. He'll have plenty to prove this year to get another. Aumua and Verney had 1-yr deals.

gt12

Glad we got Manu, ALB to 12, Manu 13. But after that the midfield looks weak. Nankivelli must be the worst Ta$man midfielder! And, still with MMac FFS. Hurricanes have outside backs stacked up and we’ve got him. Fuck you Cooper.

Locks and loosies look reliant on two familiar faces - feel like we missed a trick not getting one of the younger locks (ala highlanders).

I’m good news though, we kept Stevenson and Alaimalo, and we potentially have the best prop depth of any franchise.

Semi-final looks a good result, doesn’t appear to be a Champiobship team.

Bovidae

@gt12 said in Chiefs 2019:

And, still with MMac FFS. Hurricanes have outside backs stacked up and we’ve got him. Fuck you Cooper.

It's like the Whitelocks in the ABs, buy one and get one free.

Locks and loosies look reliant on two familiar faces - feel like we missed a trick not getting one of the younger locks (ala highlanders).

Who in particular? Whetton? Parkinson was already signed.

I'm comfortable with the Chiefs' locking stocks if BBBR is there. Develop McWhannell and you have an experienced trio (BBBR, Ardron, Allardice) to work with. Hoeata is the big unknown as he didn't play all year.

The Silver Fern

Chiefs 2019