Auckland Rugby 2019
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@African-Monkey said in Auckland Rugby 2019:
@nzzp Yeah will be good to have Akira back. Redlinger-Kapa hasn't been great imo and with Papali'i due to come back as well, we should be back at full strength in the back row.
Could we see a Akira, Papali'i and Sotutu backrow at some point? That might be a backrow worth trying out in one of the games. I'm sure we'll get doses of it to end games.
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Auckland B team to play North Harbour (7/09/19):
Note: Trainor on the bench, maybe he did not make the start last week as expected. Plus Suafua at lock.
1.Ezekiel lindenmuth (Suburbs)
2.Mike Sosene-Feagai (Marist)
3.Marco Fepulea'i (Ponsonby)
4.Presley Tufuga (Ponsonby)
5.Cameron Suafoa (College Rifles)
6.Waimana Riedlinger-Kapa (Ponsonby)
7.Aleks Dabek (Ponsonby)
8.Dylan Lam(Grammar TEC)
9.Rilloy Suesue (Ponsonby)
10.Johnny Cooper (Ponsonby)
11.AJ Lam (Grammar TEC)
12.Paul Roache (Ponsonby)
13.Ma'ake Taulahi (College Rifles)
14.Freedom Vaha'akolo (Ponsonby)
15.Matt Storm (Grammar TEC)
16.Michael Lea (Marist)
17.Leka Tu'ungafasi (Grammar TEC)
18.Hau Paea (Mt Wellington)
19.Isi Manu (College Rifles)
20.Brad Moyer (Suburbs)
21.D'Angelo Leuila (Papatoetoe)
22.Jordan Trainor (Ponsonby) -
@Daffy-Jaffy That's a seriously good front row for a B team!
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@Tim ,this team would clean up the Heartland division
we would gladly take Waimana Reidlinger Kapa ,Johnny Cooper and Matt Storm back in a heart beat..I just hope all 3 don’t get lost in the Auckland system.,all hearty Northland Boys..I wonder where Auckland see Waimana, ..?,because when you have Sotutu,Papalii,Ioane,Gibson,Choat and Dunshea in your loose forward mix..I don’t see an opportunity anytime soon..
Same for Johnny Cooper and Matt Storm..ah bugger it, I will just message them and get in their ear..
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@Steven-Harris Haven't been overly impressed with Redlinger-Kapa tbh. I'm sure he'll get plenty more opportunities though as he had played every game until this week.
@Tim Are you talking about Choat?
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If I were Northland , I would make a play for Blake Gibson, he’s got got family in whangarei and it looks like his career has stalled ,a change of scene could be the tonic for this talented 7
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@Steven-Harris Or even Mitchell Gibson who's stuck behind Harmon and Christie at Canterbury. Suprised he went there tbh.
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@shark said in NPC Final - Auckland vs Canterbury (free entry):
Auckland 2/5 to start the season (halfway actually). Yep, Canterbury are too, but one side is muddling around while the other is gaining momentum after a poor start.
At this stage Auckland is panning out as predicted.
Isn't it similar to how Auckland went last year too?
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@Duluth said in Auckland Rugby 2019:
@Hooroo said in NPC Final - Auckland vs Canterbury (free entry):
Isn't it similar to how Auckland went last year too?
Started well, then stumbled through the last third of the round robin
and then went on to win it.
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Yup. I doubt we'll do it this year. The squad is slightly weaker and we haven't replaced the locks in particular.
However I think we'll get better throughout this season as a few players are returning from injury.
Having a genuine fullback would be a good start -
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@Dice said in Ta$man vs Auckland (Premiership semi-final):
The way we corrected things in the last few weeks, I'm hopeful of next season. We were just a totally different team late in the season.
Hooker, Lock and Halfback are the three positions that are concerning still
Hooker
Abel is with the Tahs so will probably be with an NRC side next year.
Apisai was on loan
Sosene-Feagai didn't get much game timeApisai had his moments in general play. Lineout is still a big concern. The fact he was selected so often makes me think the Blues were influencing his selection.
Maybe he fully moves to Auckland because he won't get time in Wellington?I'd like to Eklund come back next year. The Bay have depth at hooker so it's hard for him to get a start. He's not quite back to pre-injury form but I do think he has a high ceiling
Lock
Is Scrafton still with us next year? Hurricanes players from Auckland tend to turn into Wellington players.
He is starting to rival Gibson for the frequency of injuries thoughWhetton is one of the more underrated players in the NPC. We played him into the ground this year.
Lane lacks impact around the field. Maybe an off season of gym/eating will help?
Hopefully some new options come out of club rugby
Halfback
All our halfbacks were erratic. Ruru in particular looked frustrated.
I do wonder if some of the blame belongs with the cleanout work in phase play
Maybe Funaki will be the starter next year?
Other Stuff
I though Choat did well late in the season. Maybe he starts edging ahead of GIbson? I think Gibsons best form was a couple of years ago when he got called into the AB's camp.. the cumulative effect of all the injuries might be taking its toll
Zarn Sullivan should get some starts next year. Plummer has spent time at 12 and 15 this year so we could have both of them on the field.
I still think long term that Plummer will be a 12
