Northland v Canterbury
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Well, shit about to get real(er)
Very disappointing season so far, and it looks like it is about to get worse.
As I have said, I think we have a good squad, although severely lacking in mid-field and an outside back; as @Steven-Harris said to me the other day, shame they shut the door on Jone Macilai, he still has a spark and could have been useful...mind you, with our mid-field woes he might still have not got much decent ball.
Another thing that seems an issue to me, fitness. We do not look fit.
I hate being negative cos thats not how I am, but this weeks game looks to be damage control mode, what would something I am happy with look like?
Happy vs ecstatic are poles apart at this point...a win = ecstatic.
Turning up, putting in a good 80, and just showing you deserve to be playing at this level, would make me happy.
Scorewise, I expect happy looks like, say 24-31
It is legends day on Friday, so, some of the very best to don the Cambridge Blue with the Kauri Tree on the chest wil be in attendance, lets hope these boys give them something to smile about!!
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Well, shit about to get real(er)
Very disappointing season so far, and it looks like it is about to get worse.
As I have said, I think we have a good squad, although severely lacking in mid-field and an outside back; as @Steven-Harris said to me the other day, shame they shut the door on Jone Macilai, he still has a spark and could have been useful...mind you, with our mid-field woes he might still have not got much decent ball.
Another thing that seems an issue to me, fitness. We do not look fit.
I hate being negative cos thats not how I am, but this weeks game looks to be damage control mode, what would something I am happy with look like?
Happy vs ecstatic are poles apart at this point...a win = ecstatic.
Turning up, putting in a good 80, and just showing you deserve to be playing at this level, would make me happy.
Scorewise, I expect happy looks like, say 24-31
It is legends day on Friday, so, some of the very best to don the Cambridge Blue with the Kauri Tree on the chest wil be in attendance, lets hope these boys give them something to smile about!!
@taniwharugby just to confirm Jone Macilai has picked up a contract in Japan.,Awanui did some great work getting him back into shape..
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@taniwharugby just to confirm Jone Macilai has picked up a contract in Japan.,Awanui did some great work getting him back into shape..
@Steven-Harris oh yeah I know he wouldnt be available, but I expect if he had of been selected at the start, he would have been a nice additon to the sqaud which is light on attacking threats.
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excellent, heard we have more injury concerns...
Hyland out for 2-3 weeks
Mayananavua has a calf strain, unknown if available
Goodhue has a shoulder injury, unknown if available
Straker is ill, unkown if he will be availableOlsen having scans on knee, might be gone for season
Robinson & Ranger still not readyOne piece of good news, Matich will be available!
So, what team will probably look like:
Te Whata-Colley
Atkins
Tu'ungafasi
Caird
Sweetman
McNamara
Matich
Matiu
Nock (still like to see Levien given a start, forcing Nock to up his game further)
J-Deb
Leilua (not sure who else we have here with our injuries)
Tua (I'd go with Gregory)
Johnson (I'd go with Cherrington)
Roberts-Te Nana
Gregory (if fit, I want to see Rae get a start)Bench: Hyde, Wright, Abdale-Weir or Stevens, Stokes, Byrne, Levien, Smith, Cherrington/Rae
McNamara might be lock cover, meaning 2 loosies on the bench (assuming they dont call anyone in form the dev side)
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@Steven-Harris oh yeah I know he wouldnt be available, but I expect if he had of been selected at the start, he would have been a nice additon to the sqaud which is light on attacking threats.
@taniwharugby Jone Macilai was on the radar, but pulled out because of the HP process for personal reasons, so I can’t really lump that one on the coaching staff..just a real shame he decided to make himself unavailable..he would have been handy given the plethora of injuries we are having..
And if the game against Canterbury was going to be tough, it just got tougher with all the injuries..
On saying that ,it’s time for all the guys who have not stood up, to bloody well stand up. -
Too many changes each week, never really letting the team settle, the players look like they have put too much muscle on and its affected their mobility around the park, it doesnt matter what the game plan is as the basics are still lacking, set piece still fails under pressure and the ball skills are still poor. This comes back to coaching, get the foundations solid, strong scrum, consistent line out and the ability to catch and pass under pressure or fatigue then defense and effort falls into place, they have enough depth in key positions to build a gameplan around, but it has to be northland rugby, and in the past when northland has been successful solid set piece and ball skills were the teams strength which alloud the individual talent to shine later in the games, unfortunately the team is lacking in those areas, they will proberly go alright against canturbury as they may be taken lightly, but id like to see the coaches go right back to basics, earn the right to go wide, play terratory, crash of 10s etc, no dumb penalties, and stop all the off the ball shit its wasting too much energy. Upset in the making.
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Too many changes each week, never really letting the team settle, the players look like they have put too much muscle on and its affected their mobility around the park, it doesnt matter what the game plan is as the basics are still lacking, set piece still fails under pressure and the ball skills are still poor. This comes back to coaching, get the foundations solid, strong scrum, consistent line out and the ability to catch and pass under pressure or fatigue then defense and effort falls into place, they have enough depth in key positions to build a gameplan around, but it has to be northland rugby, and in the past when northland has been successful solid set piece and ball skills were the teams strength which alloud the individual talent to shine later in the games, unfortunately the team is lacking in those areas, they will proberly go alright against canturbury as they may be taken lightly, but id like to see the coaches go right back to basics, earn the right to go wide, play terratory, crash of 10s etc, no dumb penalties, and stop all the off the ball shit its wasting too much energy. Upset in the making.
@Nath-Jac I dunno, when Northland have looked thier best, our set piece has not been a strength, probably adequate at best and it's been our attacking flair and ability to score from anywhere, no matter how deep the hole we were in that set us apart.
I refer you to my sig line from a few years back:
"I can't tell you how many times the Taniwha lost games we thought they would win. But by God they lost beautifully!"
Nothing beautiful about how we are losing at the moment...sure I'd take winning ugly over losing beautifully, but I'd take losing beautifully over losing ugly.
At least in years gone by, we at least looked like we could pull off an upset, this year, I dont feel as I do normally.
I know its not looking good when TR Jnr isnt begging me to go to games like he usually does.
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I'm going to be at this one, I can only see 1 winner though so not expecting an exciting match
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Northland
1 Isileli Tu'ungafasi (Mid Northern)
2 Paddy Jo Atkins (Wellsford)
3 Corey Te Whata-Colley (Western Sharks)
4 Sean Sweetman (Wellsford)
5 Sam Caird (OBM)
6 Sam McNamara (Waipu)
7 Matt Matich (Western Sharks)
8 Jaycob Matiu (Hora Hora)
9 Sam Nock (c) (Kerikeri)
10 Jack Debreczeni (Eastern)
11 Jonty Rae (OBM)
12 Blake Hohaia (Kamo)
13 Tamati Tua (Kamo)
14 Renata Roberts-Te Nana (OBM)
15 Scott Gregory (Hikurangi)REPLACEMENTS
16 Nick Hyde (Western Sharks)
17 Ross Wright (Wellsford)
18 Boyd Wiggins (OBM)
19 Funaki Setefano
20 Aorangi Stokes (OBM)
21 Harrison Levien (OBM)
22 Tom Smith (Kerikeri)
23 Pisi Leilua (Waipu)Unavailable due to Injury;
Rene Ranger
Tom Robinson
Josh Goodhue
Dan Hawkins
Jack Straker
Jordan Olsen
Kane Jacobson
Temo Mayanavanua -
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Northland midfield's this year:
Hohaia/Johnson
Johnson/Gregory
Hohaia/Johnson
Hohaia/Johnson
Tua/Johnson
Hohaia/TuaI only have confidence in one of those players - Gregory. They seem to prefer him at fullback though
Good to see Isi starting again
@Duluth said in Northland v Canterbury:
Northland midfield's this year:
Hohaia/Johnson
Johnson/Gregory
Hohaia/Johnson
Hohaia/Johnson
Tua/Johnson
Hohaia/TuaI only have confidence in one of those players - Gregory. They seem to prefer him at fullback though
Good to see Isi starting again
What that says is Hohaia has had a charmed run. Would put Johnson over him, yet Johnson isn’t even in the 23.
I’d be going Gregory/Tua for this one, but that will only happen when Canterbury start drilling us.. which will likely be in the first 10-15 minutes.
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Northland
1 Isileli Tu'ungafasi (Mid Northern)
2 Paddy Jo Atkins (Wellsford)
3 Corey Te Whata-Colley (Western Sharks)
4 Sean Sweetman (Wellsford)
5 Sam Caird (OBM)
6 Sam McNamara (Waipu)
7 Matt Matich (Western Sharks)
8 Jaycob Matiu (Hora Hora)
9 Sam Nock (c) (Kerikeri)
10 Jack Debreczeni (Eastern)
11 Jonty Rae (OBM)
12 Blake Hohaia (Kamo)
13 Tamati Tua (Kamo)
14 Renata Roberts-Te Nana (OBM)
15 Scott Gregory (Hikurangi)REPLACEMENTS
16 Nick Hyde (Western Sharks)
17 Ross Wright (Wellsford)
18 Boyd Wiggins (OBM)
19 Funaki Setefano
20 Aorangi Stokes (OBM)
21 Harrison Levien (OBM)
22 Tom Smith (Kerikeri)
23 Pisi Leilua (Waipu)Unavailable due to Injury;
Rene Ranger
Tom Robinson
Josh Goodhue
Dan Hawkins
Jack Straker
Jordan Olsen
Kane Jacobson
Temo Mayanavanua@Stargazer handy injury list
Good to see Rae getting a run...hope he goes well.
Giving another mid-field combo a shot, seems clear they want Gregory at the back, so Hohaia gets another shot....although who knows how they will finish the game.
Again, I look at that pack and it looks solid, and has performed solidly (except v Auckland, but we never do) even with the changes they have made, it seems to be when we (and opposition) get the ball a bit wider the problems start; tactics, confidence, cohesion, execution
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Rene Ranger
Tom Robinson
Josh Goodhue
Dan Hawkins
Jack Straker
Jordan Olsen
Kane Jacobson
Temo MayanavanuGone from last year
Matt Moulds
Murray Douglas
Ropate Rinakama
Kara Pryor
Matt Wright
Jono Kitto
Mac SykesJust seeing that injury list made think of 8 other players that we no longer have from last years team.
Add in that we have not had Rene Ranger and Tom Robinson available , I was just wondering if maybe we have under estimated losing that many players and most of them would have starters in the playing XV has hurt us more than we like to admit.
It’s almost a full playing XV
Whilst I am disappointed with how the season has gone at the halfway mark I am pleased with several of our forwards..
Sam Caird, Sam McNamara, Temo Mayanavanua, all around the 22 year old mark along with Jacob Matiu Jacob Matiu have been outstanding...the set piece scrum and lineout has been solid in the main..
It’s a shame Jacobson has been injured most of the season, it would have been nice to have had quality no 7 during the campaign..that way we could have rotated Matich around the 6,7 and 8 jersey..I was originally excited about the selection of Matt Johnson, but have to say ,underwhelming comes to mind..in fact all of our midfielders have been disappointing..
It’s a real bugger Jordon Hyland has been injuried, he uses his size very well, but I feel he’s be under used as blindside option off the first five...do this move and you hold the loose forwards in.I really like Scott Gregory, but I do wonder if he’s being wasted at fullback given the form of the midfield
Pisi Leilua I would love to see given a run at fullback, played most of his club footy in this position and made the squad on the back of performances in that position..
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Any news on when Tom Robinson will be available? I hope he is able to complete a full off-season with the Blues.
@Tim well that is an interesting question...word is he was good to go last week but Blues not wanting him to play...
@Steven-Harris that is a long list of missing players, but I still think the talent we have is better than the results and how we have played.
Look at that pack this week, still pretty solid looking despite the names missing.
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Any news on when Tom Robinson will be available? I hope he is able to complete a full off-season with the Blues.
@Tim the latest I have heard ,Robinson has had to have his knee rescanned and is unlikely to feature this year.and the news just keeps getting better .not..!,Josh Goodhue and Jordon Olsens injuries are most likely season ending injuries .
Still good opportunity for those outside the match day 23.Jordon Hyland Hamstring 1-2 weeks
Temo Mayanavanua Calf 1-2 weeks
Supporters..Depressed another 5 weeks... -
@Nath-Jac I dunno, when Northland have looked thier best, our set piece has not been a strength, probably adequate at best and it's been our attacking flair and ability to score from anywhere, no matter how deep the hole we were in that set us apart.
I refer you to my sig line from a few years back:
"I can't tell you how many times the Taniwha lost games we thought they would win. But by God they lost beautifully!"
Nothing beautiful about how we are losing at the moment...sure I'd take winning ugly over losing beautifully, but I'd take losing beautifully over losing ugly.
At least in years gone by, we at least looked like we could pull off an upset, this year, I dont feel as I do normally.
I know its not looking good when TR Jnr isnt begging me to go to games like he usually does.
@taniwharugby i here what you are saying and that seems to be what has happened since Whitcomb took over the first time then harris, alot of broken play and tries from turn overs etc, but where i am coming from is the northland teams in the past that have been successful can stay in the grind for the 80mins,complete their basics for long periods, under whitcomb they keep phasing in and out and rely on other teams to click off, i still cant get past the fact that even tho they have made semi finals a couple of times it still is only 11th, 12th in new zealand over all, back in the day north auckland would win 2nd div alot of the time then compete in the 1st div untill relegation but would still be clear class above the hawks bays and bay of plentys etc, one thing that i think would help the team is design a game plan that our weakest players can follow in their sleep, and let our more natural or better skilled players stand out later in the games, i belive all the bad passes, drop ball and dumb penalties result in some of our players trying to execute things that dont come natural to them. We have a great squad and simplifying the structure may be the key to winning, id like to see debreceney take the line on more and look to off load, if the off load not on 2nd phase comes off gregory from the back, these kind of plays will allow our looses more time to be effective and stop doing too much tight stuff.
