Blues 2020
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Caught up with Tony Hanks at the airport last night , I was waiting for a family member coming in from Melbourne..he was waiting for new Blues signing Joe Marchant and his partner who flew in from England .
I asked him, well Tony, is this our year...?.,he reckons it’s the fittest Blues team he has seen at this stage of the year and not having an end of season tour seems to have refreshed the players ,first preseason game is in 2 x weeks time..I also asked about Reiko Ioane as a potential midfielder , apparently the coaching staff see Reiko as centre long term, it might also be a great way to refresh his career...
Would have love to have quizzed him about a few other things , but my family member turned up ..bugger..
Marchant looked like a good athlete..Mrs looked pretty good as well in leopard number ..!@Steven-Harris did you ask him when he got his teflon coating re-done?
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@KiwiMurph I asked the man question , he gave me answer, that’s all you can do I guess...
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@Steven-Harris did you ask him when he got his teflon coating re-done?
@taniwharugby lol..!I do have a filter you ..!
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@KiwiMurph I asked the man question , he gave me answer, that’s all you can do I guess...
@Steven-Harris said in Blues 2020:
@KiwiMurph I asked the man question , he gave me answer, that’s all you can do I guess...
Speaking to his point Akira does look in far better shape than he did during Mitre 10 Cup (and so he should).
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@Steven-Harris said in Blues 2020:
@KiwiMurph I asked the man question , he gave me answer, that’s all you can do I guess...
Speaking to his point Akira does look in far better shape than he did during Mitre 10 Cup (and so he should).
@KiwiMurph I really think it’s a great opportunity for Akira this season especially with the All Black number 8 jersey up for grabs..
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@KiwiMurph I really think it’s a great opportunity for Akira this season especially with the All Black number 8 jersey up for grabs..
@Steven-Harris Yes and a new All Blacks forward coach who has previously shown a very keen interest in Akira. It's now or never time.
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Looking at the training pictures, you can sort of see who is in the first team at the moment without the ABs.
Papali'i, Gibson and Sotutu in the backrow.
Pierce and Robinson at lock.
Faiane and Marchant in the midfield.
Plummer at 10
Mark Telea on the left wing. -
Looking at the training pictures, you can sort of see who is in the first team at the moment without the ABs.
Papali'i, Gibson and Sotutu in the backrow.
Pierce and Robinson at lock.
Faiane and Marchant in the midfield.
Plummer at 10
Mark Telea on the left wing. -
@Dice I've liked what i've seen from Mark Telea, he looked very handy for North Harbour in the Mitre 10 Cup and could be Sevu Reece type option for the Blues if they develop him right.
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@Canes4life he's fast and agile, I agree he could be a real gem.
@Yeetyaah yeah he's not a big man but seems to always get away / break through tackles.
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@KiwiMurph I really think it’s a great opportunity for Akira this season especially with the All Black number 8 jersey up for grabs..
@Steven-Harris said in Blues 2020:
@KiwiMurph I really think it’s a great opportunity for Akira this season especially with the All Black number 8 jersey up for grabs..
I hope he trains the house down and owns that 8 spot. He would be the most obvious candidate for it right now. I think everyone knows how good he can be.
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@Steven-Harris said in Blues 2020:
@KiwiMurph I really think it’s a great opportunity for Akira this season especially with the All Black number 8 jersey up for grabs..
I hope he trains the house down and owns that 8 spot. He would be the most obvious candidate for it right now. I think everyone knows how good he can be.
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@Tim Looking at the video in this article it appears that Lewis Gjaltema is training with the Blues.
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@Tim without wanting to make light of mental health issues, if not getting picked for the ABs last year has caused him mental issues, I expect that is part of his problem in the first place and he was possibly mentally weak already...is Enoka still with the new coaching team, someone needs to get him in the right space, so much potential.
Just my reading of that anyway.
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@Tim without wanting to make light of mental health issues, if not getting picked for the ABs last year has caused him mental issues, I expect that is part of his problem in the first place and he was possibly mentally weak already...is Enoka still with the new coaching team, someone needs to get him in the right space, so much potential.
Just my reading of that anyway.
@taniwharugby really not sure how you get mentally weak from reading that.
He’s being brutally honest about a hugely disappointing chapter in his career. Is taking responsibility for it and has identified how to improve handling setbacks in the future.
Talking about this instead of bottling it up, like he says in the article, is exactly what we want young men doing. Pretty mature reflection IMO.
Looking forward to seeing if that shows up on the field. Not many players get this much bullshit written about them, even fewer get character assassinated by the AB coach. All very weird.
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Starting XV:
1 Alex Hodgman
2 Kurt Eklund
3 Marcel Renata
4 Jacob Pierce
5 James Tucker
6 Waimana Riedlinger-Kapa
7 Blake Gibson
8 Akira Ioane
9 Jonathan Ruru
10 Otere Black
11 A J Lam
12 TJ Faiane
13 Tamati Tua
14 Mark Telea
15 Matt Duffie
Reserves:
16 Ezekiel Lindenmuth
17 Tevita Mafileo
18 Ray Niuia
19 Luteru Tolai/ Soane Vikena
20 Sam Caird
21 Aaron Carroll
22 Josh Goodhue
23 Dalton Papalii
24 Tom Robinson
25 Tony Lamborn
26 Hoskins Sotutu
27 Sam Nock
28 Lewis Gjaltema
29 Stephen Perofeta
30 Jordan Hyland
31 Harry Plummer
32 Tanielu Tele’a
33 Joe Marchant
34 Emoni Narawa
35 Zarn Sullivan
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@taniwharugby really not sure how you get mentally weak from reading that.
He’s being brutally honest about a hugely disappointing chapter in his career. Is taking responsibility for it and has identified how to improve handling setbacks in the future.
Talking about this instead of bottling it up, like he says in the article, is exactly what we want young men doing. Pretty mature reflection IMO.
Looking forward to seeing if that shows up on the field. Not many players get this much bullshit written about them, even fewer get character assassinated by the AB coach. All very weird.
@Kirwan said in Blues 2020:
@taniwharugby
Not many players get this much bullshit written about them, even fewer get character assassinated by the AB coach. All very weird.Looks like Rieko has had a few things to say on this very topic today.
