Steamers 2020

[trooa]

PS looking forward to the Volcanix this year. They're star studded with the addition of Williams, Willison, Pouri-Lane, Paul (& her sister), Blyde, Robins-Reti and Brazier. Bit gutted FPC players have been taken out of club rugby now, the last match between Rangataua and Rangiuru was top notch and the final would have been epic.

[Snollygoster]

@trooa @trooa I also haven't watched any of the Mount's games (and only one other club game) so have no idea who is playing well or not. If all the rumored signings are true, then our backline will be pretty exciting with competition for places in pretty much all positions. Ainsley and Wardlaw will be big boots to fill in the locking department however but there are quite a few options. Three specialist locks are usually selected with one or two who can play lock/no.6/no.8. Franklin, Leapepe, Van den Hoven, Morris, Kapeli, Matenga, Caroll and Mewett have all be contracted with The Bay before.

[Snollygoster]

[Snollygoster]

Anyone got a lazy $10 to invest ? BOP is already rated as the team most likely to be relegated !!

https://www.tab.co.nz/sports/competition/13748/rugby-union%2Fmitre-10-cup%2Fmitre-10-cup/outrights

[NateHill74]

I talked to Rob Thompson today as he's my coach for school rugby and he's going to Japan and not playing for Bay of Plenty. Confirmed

[Snollygoster]

[Bovidae]

BOP certainly benefit from having the NZ sevens base at the Mount, for both the male and female teams.

[Stargazer]

[Snollygoster]

[Stargazer]

Confirmed:

[Duluth]

Black > Trask

Trask to play at fullback? Not ideal for the Chiefs if Trask is meant to be their first choice 10 in 2021

[Tim]

@Duluth Narawa plays fullback for BOP often?

[Bovidae]

McMillan needs to have his Chiefs hat on this M10 Cup season.

[Yeahtheboys]

9. TTT 10. Black 11. Tiatia 12 Hollinshead 13.? 14. Narawa 15. Trask

[Stargazer]

@Tim In 2019, they used these players as follows:

Dan Hollinshead: 10 (6x), 12 (2x)
Kaleb Trask: 10 (5x), 22 (1x)
Jason Robertson: 10 (1x), 15 (1x), 22 (4x), 23 (1x)

Emoni Narawa: 14 (9x), 15 (2x), 23 (1x)
Chase Tiatia: 15 (6x), 12 (6x)
Cole Forbes: 15 (1x)
Pryor Collier: 15 (2x), 23 (2x)

So, to answer your question, Narawa started at fullback twice (the last two games). Trask was injured at the beginning and at the end of the season.

[Bovidae]

Comments from Black:

The 25-year-old, who enjoyed a stellar 2020 Super Rugby season, has played more than 50 games for the Turbos since 2014, but said he’s trading provinces after becoming a first-time dad and wanting to be closer to family, and to have a connection to his home region, having grown up in the Eastern Bay of Plenty town of Ruatoki.

“We have a home here in Rotorua now and making sure my family could come and watch me play was a big factor,” Black said.

[Tim]

@Stargazer Thanks!

[Cpt Kumera]

Cant wait to see the blue and gold hoops run out in a months time. Love mitre 10 cup or npc over super rugby

[Snollygoster]

I see the North Harbour preseason game has been canned with only the Whakatane game against Counties still scheduled.

You have to wonder how the competition will pan out with the continued virus out breaks and resulting lockdowns. Theres a distinct possibility some teams won't be able to travel and some games won't be able to go ahead. Fingers crossed this doesn't happen.

[trooa]

Thanks for those @Stargazer, really informative. So many different options they can use with their current backline. Black Narawa Tiatia are automatically picked then everybody else at similar levels with different skillsets so will become whats the best fit for the team. Having that preseason game cancelled & maybe the other since we're playing Counties isn't beneficial when you want to be trying out lots of different combinations. Also gutted with North vs South announcement that Eklund is back in Auckland but not surprised either.