North Harbour v Hawke's Bay
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@taniwharugby I didn't watch this game - but, I watched last week's one with some concern.
We were poor, but quite a lot of that was down to how good Harbour was. They've possibly got the best forward pack in the competition now the ABs are gone - and the two Bryns are pretty sharp for NPC.
As well as having some firepower they have a very good (though old school) coach!
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Can see Jared Page as a possible fullback option for the Blues..the youngster Jack Heighton also looked very good ..
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@Steven-Harris Did Heighton play at fullback?
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@Steven-Harris said in North Harbour v Hawke's Bay:
@Stargazer just got in from the game, a couple of observations, there was very little penetration or variety in the midfield , Sapsford is big and direct but need to look offload once through contact ..McNicol looked like he had been out of the game for a long time ..they reminded of Athens Turbos last night running into contact all day ..one player being there live , who just seemed uninterested the longer the match went was Kurt Baker, he’s good when things are going your way, but when it’s not, he just looks like he does not want to there ..
I think McNicol last played on 22 February 2020, so you're right about that. Clearly he has some rust to get rid of.
About Sapsford & Baker, haha, I think I've said my bit already. Drop them! -
If we need someone who can cover midfield and outside backs, then Bubba did that last year. He was one of the few today who enhanced his reputation. I'd have him on the bench instead of Sapsford. Start Makene at fullback until McNicol is back in form.
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Seems that Harbour have got some useful outside backs now - Stevenson, Aoake, Page, and Heighton. Halfback is fine with Hall and Gjaltema, but we could do with a back up 10. Where we really lack depth is midfield, though Mikaele Tu'u is a good pickup and has combined well with Little.
I wonder if they could pick up some Auckland midfielders?
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@Stockcar86 Exactly what I was thinking! McClutchie can play 80 minutes anyway, and if he goes down, they can move Makene. Makene was very good at fullback, last season.
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@Nepia said in North Harbour v Hawke's Bay:
@Stargazer said in North Harbour v Hawke's Bay:
@Nepia You don't get Fox Sports More on Kayo?
Funnily enough I just logged into my Kayo account to send my angry man letter and noticed it was available when it clearly wasn't when I first typed out that post.
Foxsports had it live on one of their extra channels and just showed a shortened replay on one of the regular channels.
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@Stargazer said in North Harbour v Hawke's Bay:
Harbour looked good, but the Magpies fielded a B team, so hard to take much away from this game.
With today’s big defeat I reckon it puts that added pressure on those players that were rested today for next weeks Shield defence.
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@ACT-Crusader said in North Harbour v Hawke's Bay:
@Nepia said in North Harbour v Hawke's Bay:
@Stargazer said in North Harbour v Hawke's Bay:
@Nepia You don't get Fox Sports More on Kayo?
Funnily enough I just logged into my Kayo account to send my angry man letter and noticed it was available when it clearly wasn't when I first typed out that post.
Foxsports had it live on one of their extra channels and just showed a shortened replay on one of the regular channels.
Yeah @Stargazer helpfully updated me (one time I'd rather he didn't) - but Kayo has panels like streaming services and when I first looked it didn't have one for it.
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@ACT-Crusader nah, the shield is safe as down there, all but locked away for the summer, Wellington probably the only real challenge to come, I mean, Northland then Manawatu...
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@Stargazer said in North Harbour v Hawke's Bay:
I hope Ozich will seriously consider giving Baker a rest . A season-ending rest. Now that McNicol is back, please, drop Sapsford, too. He must be the most handling error prone, most turnover conceding player we've had in a long time. These guys are sevens players, who need space. They can't handle XVs. How was Baker ever a Highlander?
Congratulations on having Luke Rooney and Marvan Karawana completely erased from your memory. Oh and you can also add Johan Schoonbee if looking for a forward to diss.
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@Stockcar86 said in North Harbour v Hawke's Bay:
If we need someone who can cover midfield and outside backs, then Bubba did that last year. He was one of the few today who enhanced his reputation. I'd have him on the bench instead of Sapsford. Start Makene at fullback until McNicol is back in form.
Will he ever be? He looked considerably short of the standard required yesterday.
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@Stargazer What do you mean? Given he is a full time professional rugby player he has had plenty of time to practice his skills and work on his fitness since then. Sadly they were all lacking yesterday to a big extent.
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