Blues 2020
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@Daffy-Jaffy said in Blues 2020:
@rotated re: the midfield - Coach Leon confirmed this morning on Radio sport that once they knew SBW was leaving the plan B was to use Plummer to cover 12 as there were no suitable midfielders available.
When was that? Leon was flagging SBW was gone as early as June, and anyone with foresight would have seen that he was moving on before the season started. Even if he re-signed how could any faith be put in his fitness?
Speaking of Rangi I did enjoy him on the Breakdown trying to play off the Barrett signing as though the move was at least in part because he was so impressed with playing the Blues last season.
@rotated said in Blues 2020:
When was that?
Radio sport Wednesday morning after 7:30am sports news. I tried to sort a link for you but the 'week on demand' page isn't working for me. Won't load anything before Thursday. You could try it yourself here -
https://www.radiosport.co.nz/on-demand/week-on-demand/#panel4 -
Six locks explained?
The absence of several others is also likely to be keenly felt. Tough lock Scott Scrafton has signed with the Hurricanes and the Blues may lack a bit of depth in his area early in the season, with All Black Patrick Tuipulotu a possibility to start a little later and Gerard Cowley-Tuioti recovering from a shoulder injury.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/rugby/news/article.cfm?c_id=80&objectid=12284607
@Tim I think I read on here from Steven Harris that Sam Caird will be training with the team as injury cover, I guess that's for C/T. Interestingly MacDonald said on the radio that Tucker can also play 6 and 8 so that explains why he was grouped with the back rowers on some team lists I saw.
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So what's your first choice XXIII?
- Karl T
- Parsons
- Ofa T
- Tuipulotu
- Pierce
- Robinson
- Papalii
- Ioane
- Christie
- Barrett/Plummer
- Ioane
- Faiane
- Marchant
- Narawa
- Perofeta
Reserves:
- Niuia
- Hodgman
- Renata (Thought he went well in NPC in the scrum)
- Tucker/GCT
- Gibson
- Nock
- Tele'a/Plummer
- Duffie/Telea
Hooker and Lock are hard to pick, as are the lock and loose forward reserve. Hopefully there's a healthy level of rotation. Uncertainty over fullback. Wouldn't be surprised to see Marchant and Ioane swap places.
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@rotated said in Blues 2020:
When was that?
Radio sport Wednesday morning after 7:30am sports news. I tried to sort a link for you but the 'week on demand' page isn't working for me. Won't load anything before Thursday. You could try it yourself here -
https://www.radiosport.co.nz/on-demand/week-on-demand/#panel4@Daffy-Jaffy MacDonald said that they wanted Sione Havili, but he chose the Crusaders. Bugger.
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@rotated said in Blues 2020:
When was that?
Radio sport Wednesday morning after 7:30am sports news. I tried to sort a link for you but the 'week on demand' page isn't working for me. Won't load anything before Thursday. You could try it yourself here -
https://www.radiosport.co.nz/on-demand/week-on-demand/#panel4@Daffy-Jaffy said in Blues 2020:
@rotated said in Blues 2020:
When was that?
Radio sport Wednesday morning after 7:30am sports news. I tried to sort a link for you but the 'week on demand' page isn't working for me. Won't load anything before Thursday. You could try it yourself here -
https://www.radiosport.co.nz/on-demand/week-on-demand/#panel4Appreciate that. Thanks!
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@Daffy-Jaffy MacDonald said that they wanted Sione Havili, but he chose the Crusaders. Bugger.
@Tim Once that happened I would have chased Mitch Jacobson or Slade McDowell before Lamborn. I was surprised neither was picked by their local team. i guess they wanted experience. Re: your team above, The more I look at the balance of the back rowers picked I think you are right that they will use Papalii at 7. I don't think its his best position but it gets all the best players on the park together.
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So what's your first choice XXIII?
- Karl T
- Parsons
- Ofa T
- Tuipulotu
- Pierce
- Robinson
- Papalii
- Ioane
- Christie
- Barrett/Plummer
- Ioane
- Faiane
- Marchant
- Narawa
- Perofeta
Reserves:
- Niuia
- Hodgman
- Renata (Thought he went well in NPC in the scrum)
- Tucker/GCT
- Gibson
- Nock
- Tele'a/Plummer
- Duffie/Telea
Hooker and Lock are hard to pick, as are the lock and loose forward reserve. Hopefully there's a healthy level of rotation. Uncertainty over fullback. Wouldn't be surprised to see Marchant and Ioane swap places.
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@Daffy-Jaffy MacDonald said that they wanted Sione Havili, but he chose the Crusaders. Bugger.
@Tim Meh, not as fussed about missing out on him as a lot of others are on here. Lamborn's ok as backup.
Still too many glaring holes for me especially in the backs. 9 as usual, depth at 12 and 15 could become problem positions for us. I'd assume that Plummer/Groundwater could see a bit of gametime should Faiane go down. Fullback worries me. Think we're screwed there when Perofeta and Duffie inevitably get injured. Maybe Narawa's worth a look there?
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I have to say it does make me grin that the blues fans are lamenting the lack of depth at fullback. See Michael, it was all an act!
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@Bones Settle down mate anything's better than him
@African-Monkey said in Blues 2020:
@Bones Settle down mate anything's better than him
We could play without a fullback and be ahead of where we were with Collins on the field.
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@Tim Once that happened I would have chased Mitch Jacobson or Slade McDowell before Lamborn. I was surprised neither was picked by their local team. i guess they wanted experience. Re: your team above, The more I look at the balance of the back rowers picked I think you are right that they will use Papalii at 7. I don't think its his best position but it gets all the best players on the park together.
@Daffy-Jaffy said in Blues 2020:
Once that happened I would have chased Mitch Jacobson or Slade McDowell before Lamborn. I was surprised neither was picked by their local team.
Unfortunately for Mitch the Chiefs have 3 opensides in their squad so were never going to pick a 4th.
Interestingly MacDonald said on the radio that Tucker can also play 6 and 8 so that explains why he was grouped with the back rowers on some team lists I saw.
I mentioned that earlier. Remember that Tucker played at no.6 for the NZ Provincial Barbarians against the Lions and played there a few times for Waikato this year. When he has played for his club it has usually been at no.8.
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@Daffy-Jaffy said in Blues 2020:
Once that happened I would have chased Mitch Jacobson or Slade McDowell before Lamborn. I was surprised neither was picked by their local team.
Unfortunately for Mitch the Chiefs have 3 opensides in their squad so were never going to pick a 4th.
Interestingly MacDonald said on the radio that Tucker can also play 6 and 8 so that explains why he was grouped with the back rowers on some team lists I saw.
I mentioned that earlier. Remember that Tucker played at no.6 for the NZ Provincial Barbarians against the Lions and played there a few times for Waikato this year. When he has played for his club it has usually been at no.8.
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So what's your first choice XXIII?
- Karl T
- Parsons
- Ofa T
- Tuipulotu
- Pierce
- Robinson
- Papalii
- Ioane
- Christie
- Barrett/Plummer
- Ioane
- Faiane
- Marchant
- Narawa
- Perofeta
Reserves:
- Niuia
- Hodgman
- Renata (Thought he went well in NPC in the scrum)
- Tucker/GCT
- Gibson
- Nock
- Tele'a/Plummer
- Duffie/Telea
Hooker and Lock are hard to pick, as are the lock and loose forward reserve. Hopefully there's a healthy level of rotation. Uncertainty over fullback. Wouldn't be surprised to see Marchant and Ioane swap places.
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@Bovidae I am a fan of Tucker - how do you think he might go covering 6 or 8 at super level? I have only seen him play lock.
@Daffy-Jaffy I think Tucker might be better suited at 6 in SR because he isn't the tallest lock going around. One of his biggest assets is his mobility. No.8 would require more ball-handling from scrums but I am sure he could do a job there too if required.
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@Daffy-Jaffy I think Tucker might be better suited at 6 in SR because he isn't the tallest lock going around. One of his biggest assets is his mobility. No.8 would require more ball-handling from scrums but I am sure he could do a job there too if required.
@Bovidae Sounds like a useful bench option.
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@Tim Once that happened I would have chased Mitch Jacobson or Slade McDowell before Lamborn. I was surprised neither was picked by their local team. i guess they wanted experience. Re: your team above, The more I look at the balance of the back rowers picked I think you are right that they will use Papalii at 7. I don't think its his best position but it gets all the best players on the park together.
@Daffy-Jaffy said in Blues 2020:
The more I look at the balance of the back rowers picked I think you are right that they will use Papalii at 7. I don't think its his best position but it gets all the best players on the park together.
Yeah, there's a lot of 6 cover in the squad so that suggests Papali'i will be used at 7 often
I agree it's not his best position. For some reason his judgement is off and he pushes the refs too hard.. hopefully he fixes that quickly.
I've been saying for a year that I think he's the best blindside in NZ. I hope he still gets significant time in his best spot.It's more about Gibson fading a little IMO. If it's a choice between Robinson or Gibson in the starting xv, Gibson misses out.
That has implications for the captaincy
Last year it was co-captains: Tuipulotu and Gibson. No captain has been announced yet but I assume it will Tuipulotu on his own
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@Daffy-Jaffy said in Blues 2020:
The more I look at the balance of the back rowers picked I think you are right that they will use Papalii at 7. I don't think its his best position but it gets all the best players on the park together.
Yeah, there's a lot of 6 cover in the squad so that suggests Papali'i will be used at 7 often
I agree it's not his best position. For some reason his judgement is off and he pushes the refs too hard.. hopefully he fixes that quickly.
I've been saying for a year that I think he's the best blindside in NZ. I hope he still gets significant time in his best spot.It's more about Gibson fading a little IMO. If it's a choice between Robinson or Gibson in the starting xv, Gibson misses out.
That has implications for the captaincy
Last year it was co-captains: Tuipulotu and Gibson. No captain has been announced yet but I assume it will Tuipulotu on his own
@Duluth While I think the captaincy is good for P.T. i'm not sure he is that good a captain if you know what I mean. It seems to fire him up to play well but he may be not verbal enough with his team or so strategically aware . TJ.F has been mentioned as an option. Papalii has been seen as a leader since his school days but maybe too early yet?
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@Duluth While I think the captaincy is good for P.T. i'm not sure he is that good a captain if you know what I mean. It seems to fire him up to play well but he may be not verbal enough with his team or so strategically aware . TJ.F has been mentioned as an option. Papalii has been seen as a leader since his school days but maybe too early yet?
@Daffy-Jaffy Yeah Patty's always been a quiet guy in general which is why I was suprised he ever got the gig in the first place. I'd prefer TJ Faiane to have it tbh.
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@Duluth While I think the captaincy is good for P.T. i'm not sure he is that good a captain if you know what I mean. It seems to fire him up to play well but he may be not verbal enough with his team or so strategically aware . TJ.F has been mentioned as an option. Papalii has been seen as a leader since his school days but maybe too early yet?
