Northland 2020
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Now that the coaches are in place and a good number of players are signed I thought it would be a great opportunity to look at some positions that need the biggest attention ..
Tight head prop and First Five are the 2 real major areas ..
In fact all up we are probably looking for 2 players for each position...
In terms of the props, i am reasonably confident with former Fijian prop Graham Dewes stepping in as the forwards coach he will have a handle on some decent props out in the market place not to mention having coached the development team for the last couple of seasons ,he will know what’s coming through..
In terms of locals , Alex Gale from Kamo and if he returns from Queensland Hamish Richardson who played for the Western Sharks might be well worth a look at..As for the first fives, who knows..I know the union is looking at potentially a young Northland boy plying his trade in Auckland which is not a bad thing, but I personally would love to have an experienced head as well
On the local scene, having seen Tom Smith from Kerikeri , just not sure if Mitre 10 is his ceiling at this stage of his career..and maybe Nikau Graham who is only young are other potential options.I have heard D’Angelo Leuila who played for Auckland this year might looking to move as he snookered in behind Harry Plummer..Leuila was quite superb when he played for Auckland against Northland ..
Looking around at the Heartland provinces , the only player that I have seen that looks like he could step up potentially is James Lash who turns out for Buller,.once again though there is a bit of risk and reward involved.A couple of other positions personally I would like to see pursued are Number 8 and openside flanker..
Just on the number 7 jersey..whilst Kara Pryor could frustrate the hell out of me, I really do think he’s a classy player and maybe now that Whitcombe has moved on , might work with a different coaching staff onboard ..I see that he has signed for major league Rugby , but should be free after that , worth going after in my book.And finally with Jacob Matiu playing in the USA and not knowing what’s happening moving forward, I would love to see the union go after a big number 8 who can get some go forward ..
We have not had a player with size in the 8 jersey for a very long time...we have a.ways had smaller sized players in that position..Thomas Anderson impressed me during the 7s campaign with his strength especially..stands around 6’2 .100kgs plus..looks to have great potential..
There’s a couple of other young Northland boys running around in Auckland in Terrell Peita and John Latu who have both got great potential, but the kid I would go after is Pauliasi Manu’s younger brother Isileli Manu..has played Blues Dev and Auckland under 19s ..the kid is a beast, 6’4 118 Kgs .he would give you some go forward no question and from what I believe has a great workrate for such a big man..@Steven-Harris said in Northland 2020:
Leuila was quite superb when he played for Auckland against Northland ..
His general play was terrible in the other matches he played though. Great goal kicker. He’ll be behind Sullivan as well next year, so very poachable
I assume Wiseguy has fallen away? A shame because he has plenty of talent
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@Steven-Harris said in Northland 2020:
Leuila was quite superb when he played for Auckland against Northland ..
His general play was terrible in the other matches he played though. Great goal kicker. He’ll be behind Sullivan as well next year, so very poachable
I assume Wiseguy has fallen away? A shame because he has plenty of talent
@Duluth think Wiseguy went back to Auckland not intending to come back, believe him not making the cut is nothing to do with his onfield play.
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@Steven-Harris said in Northland 2020:
Leuila was quite superb when he played for Auckland against Northland ..
His general play was terrible in the other matches he played though. Great goal kicker. He’ll be behind Sullivan as well next year, so very poachable
I assume Wiseguy has fallen away? A shame because he has plenty of talent
@Duluth Yeah probably best to stay away from Leuila. He's got a decent boot but his distribution from the hand is poor to the point where the outside backs barely see the ball.
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@Steven-Harris said in Northland 2020:
Leuila was quite superb when he played for Auckland against Northland ..
His general play was terrible in the other matches he played though. Great goal kicker. He’ll be behind Sullivan as well next year, so very poachable
I assume Wiseguy has fallen away? A shame because he has plenty of talent
@Duluth Wiseguy is back in Auckland, staying with his parents at the minute, the good thing is he is working which can only be a good thing..he’s actually a classy footballer, just probably all happened a too early for him..hope he comes back in the future , he’s too talented not to...
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Had it confirmed to me that Ponsonby and Auckland Dev First Five Johnny Cooper , son of former Northland winger Percy Cooper has been signed by the Taniwha for the 2020 season, however he will play through with Ponsonby until June until he completes his study ..
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Had it confirmed to me that Ponsonby and Auckland Dev First Five Johnny Cooper , son of former Northland winger Percy Cooper has been signed by the Taniwha for the 2020 season, however he will play through with Ponsonby until June until he completes his study ..
A good signing. He's an option at fullback too
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A good signing. He's an option at fullback too
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@Duluth good that he’s able to carry on with his studies ,also heard through a source,don’t know how accurate this is, that Wiseguy Faiane has gone to Canterbury..?
@Steven-Harris if the rumoured off-field issues are true, a complete break into a new environment might see him realise his full potential.
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Tighthead prop Kalolo Tuiloma has signed with Northland for 2020 Mitre 10 Cup season
Date of birth 24 June 1990 (age 29)
Place of birth Wellington, New Zealand
Height 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in)
Weight 137 kg (21 st 8 lb; 302 lb)
School Aorere College
Timaru Boys' High School
Rugby union career
Position(s) Tighthead Prop
Current team Highlanders / Counties Manukau
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2013 South Canterbury ()
2016– Counties Manukau 11 (20)
2016–2017 Grenoble ()
2018– Highlanders 2 -
Tighthead prop Kalolo Tuiloma has signed with Northland for 2020 Mitre 10 Cup season
Date of birth 24 June 1990 (age 29)
Place of birth Wellington, New Zealand
Height 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in)
Weight 137 kg (21 st 8 lb; 302 lb)
School Aorere College
Timaru Boys' High School
Rugby union career
Position(s) Tighthead Prop
Current team Highlanders / Counties Manukau
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2013 South Canterbury ()
2016– Counties Manukau 11 (20)
2016–2017 Grenoble ()
2018– Highlanders 2 -
@Steven-Harris Big man. Hope they can get the best out of him i.e. hope he is fit.
@kev yea I hope our conditioning coach keeps a tight reign on our frontline players, too many looked off the pace last year.
Could be a decent signing though.
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Tighthead prop Kalolo Tuiloma has signed with Northland for 2020 Mitre 10 Cup season
Date of birth 24 June 1990 (age 29)
Place of birth Wellington, New Zealand
Height 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in)
Weight 137 kg (21 st 8 lb; 302 lb)
School Aorere College
Timaru Boys' High School
Rugby union career
Position(s) Tighthead Prop
Current team Highlanders / Counties Manukau
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2013 South Canterbury ()
2016– Counties Manukau 11 (20)
2016–2017 Grenoble ()
2018– Highlanders 2@Steven-Harris said in Northland 2020:
Kalolo Tuiloma
He has signed with Utah Warriors for the 2020 MLR season.
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@Steven-Harris said in Northland 2020:
Kalolo Tuiloma
He has signed with Utah Warriors for the 2020 MLR season.
@Stargazer yeah I had heard that, hopefully he turns up in reasonable shape ..
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@Stargazer yeah I had heard that, hopefully he turns up in reasonable shape ..
@Steven-Harris you would hope that all of the players doing a US gig should come back in decent shape...are these teams doing thier own things or sharing with other codes? If the latter, surely facilities for these guys would likely be superior to many of ours
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Tighthead prop Kalolo Tuiloma has signed with Northland for 2020 Mitre 10 Cup season
Date of birth 24 June 1990 (age 29)
Place of birth Wellington, New Zealand
Height 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in)
Weight 137 kg (21 st 8 lb; 302 lb)
School Aorere College
Timaru Boys' High School
Rugby union career
Position(s) Tighthead Prop
Current team Highlanders / Counties Manukau
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2013 South Canterbury ()
2016– Counties Manukau 11 (20)
2016–2017 Grenoble ()
2018– Highlanders 2@Steven-Harris 6 foot five for a tighthead prop? Looks an ideal candidate for a locking spot in the Hurricanes!
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@Steven-Harris 6 foot five for a tighthead prop? Looks an ideal candidate for a locking spot in the Hurricanes!
@Higgins to me, he looks more around the 6,3 mark, but he is a sizeable human being..they tend to blow out some of these stats in my opinion ..especially our good mate Ken Laban when he’s commentating ..
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Had it confirmed to me that Ponsonby and Auckland Dev First Five Johnny Cooper , son of former Northland winger Percy Cooper has been signed by the Taniwha for the 2020 season, however he will play through with Ponsonby until June until he completes his study ..
@Steven-Harris turns out he's a cousin of a good friend of mine, small world.
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Sir Graham Lowe - Guest Coaching Role with Northland Rugby
Northland Rugby is excited to announce that Sir Graham Lowe has accepted a 2 week guest coaching role with the NRU. The former Rugby League Kiwi, Manly Sea Eagles, Wigan and Queensland State of Origin coach will start when the Mitre 10 squad assembles full time from Monday, July 13. Sir Graham said he is really honoured and excited about the invitation and is looking forward to sharing some of his coaching experience and philosophy with the Mitre 10 squad coaches and players. Acting CEO, Jeremy Ratu: “Having a gentleman of Sir Grahams stature and experience will be an honour and a privilege for the Northland Rugby Union. We expect the benefit of his time in the north to extend not just to Northland Rugby Union staff and Mitre 10 cup players, but also to our volunteers, clubs, and even across other codes. We are incredibly excited to see what he brings to the table.” Head Coach, George Konia: “This will be another exciting year for rugby in Northland, and with the added motivation that this is our Centennial year, we continue to aspire to grow and develop ourselves into a successful rugby province. Therefore, it is a privilege to have Sir Graham come into our team environment to help grow and strengthen us, both on and off the field. He has a wealth of knowledge that we can all learn from, and are all very excited with his involvement”.CHECK OUT THE AM SHOW INTERVIEW WITH SIR GRAHAM LOWE:
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Sir Graham Lowe - Guest Coaching Role with Northland Rugby
Northland Rugby is excited to announce that Sir Graham Lowe has accepted a 2 week guest coaching role with the NRU. The former Rugby League Kiwi, Manly Sea Eagles, Wigan and Queensland State of Origin coach will start when the Mitre 10 squad assembles full time from Monday, July 13. Sir Graham said he is really honoured and excited about the invitation and is looking forward to sharing some of his coaching experience and philosophy with the Mitre 10 squad coaches and players. Acting CEO, Jeremy Ratu: “Having a gentleman of Sir Grahams stature and experience will be an honour and a privilege for the Northland Rugby Union. We expect the benefit of his time in the north to extend not just to Northland Rugby Union staff and Mitre 10 cup players, but also to our volunteers, clubs, and even across other codes. We are incredibly excited to see what he brings to the table.” Head Coach, George Konia: “This will be another exciting year for rugby in Northland, and with the added motivation that this is our Centennial year, we continue to aspire to grow and develop ourselves into a successful rugby province. Therefore, it is a privilege to have Sir Graham come into our team environment to help grow and strengthen us, both on and off the field. He has a wealth of knowledge that we can all learn from, and are all very excited with his involvement”.CHECK OUT THE AM SHOW INTERVIEW WITH SIR GRAHAM LOWE:
@Stargazer yeah I had seen that a few weeks back, think it is always good to have people form outside the sport involved like this.
What I got from that was that Jeremy Ratu was our acting CEO, I had completely missed that over the past couple of months.
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Northland's new kit sponsor: Dynasty Sports
https://www.dynastysport.co.nz/blogs/news/northland-rugby-and-dynasty-sport-a-great-fit
