Championship Final - Hawke's Bay v Northland
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Just watched a replay of the game.
As I thought at the ground, the player of the day was Funaki - awesome effort and skill levels.
Interestingly enough, there were 3 phases (rucks) before the disallowed Dixon try. Basic error by the officials. That s the first thing they should check before anything else.
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@Stockcar86 I cannot understand why a player, any player for that matter, on the team that scores a try that might contain something dodgy in the leadup simply does not attempt the conversion almost instantly. You can even try from one metre in the field of play via a drop kick attempt at the conversion who cares if it goes over or not. If the ref rules try then take the conversion ASAP, that way there can be no referral like there was about three or four times last night.
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@family-man said in Championship Final - Hawke's v Northland:
Faketava is a hell of a player, everything he did was top class, All Black in waiting that’s for sure
All Black probably sometime next season. Hurricane - never good enough in the past and probably unlikely to be in the future if their selection strategy of the last 25 years continues.
One shudders to think who Mr. C Philpott would have plucked out of Canterbury minor grade rugby to pick ahead of him had he still been foisted upon us HB supporters. Luckily it is only the NZ Under 20s he can stuff up with his usual penchant for not winning. -
@Stockcar86 It wouldn't surprise me at all if Funaki gets a recall from Tonga, once they're back to playing test rugby again. He's already capped IIRC, but has certainly played for Tonga "A". Strong man, amazing leg drive. He's been plagued by injury the last two years (played one game for the Magpies in 2018 and was on the bench - but didn't play - for another in 2019), but he's been in the set-up for a few years now and I can see him replace O'Connor on a permanent basis if the latter decides to hang up his boots. Not sure if we have a good openside coming through the academy.
McClutchie will still feel the pain from last night's game; hopefully no serious injury. I also watched the replay and first he was the victim of friendly fire from Visinia (which included what looked like a head knock) in the 25th minute, then that high shoulder hit from Ranger in the 31st minute for which he needed treatment of his shoulder. Then, in the 36th minute the tackle off the ball from Robinson in which he fell on that same shoulder. It's a good thing the season is now over and everyone - except those selected for Maori ABs and Moana Pacifika - can get a rest. It was a pretty hard game, last night, and there will be a lot of sore bodies on both sides.
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@Stargazer What was your honest opinion on the final result? I honestly (admittedly I am looking through just the one eye) thought we looked to be about 25 to 30 points better than Northland. Having those tries rules out did not allow that superiority to be reflected on the scoreboard.
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@Higgins you guys def left points out there, but I reckon we left plenty out there too, some simple errors in your 22 that lead to massive territory gains for you and ultimately tries (ref made a wrong call that lead direct to a try for you guys)
I never expected to win it, and you were the better team, but I think we left plenty behind as well.
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@Higgins I think the first half score was more the result of the Magpies making lots of handling errors (nerves?) than Northland playing that well. They were feeding off our mistakes (looking at you Kurt Baker with your stupid quick line-out throw!!) and good on them. That's what teams should do, but they didn't really create many opportunities themselves (that great try from Robinson being an exception). Also, later in the second half, the Magpies were taking the foot of the throat again and let Northland score tries off mistakes again. Typical example was when Ili let Tua steal that ball from him. So yeah, I agree with you. We should have won with a higher points differential. But full credit to Northland for trying to stay in the fight until the end.
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@Stargazer you can't put all the blame on Baker - Mclutchie threw the hospital pass after the quick throw.
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@KiwiMurph Yep, but Baker is a far more experienced player and McClutchie didn't expect that throw. Sure McC made a mistake, too, but he wouldn't have been put in that position if it wasn't for Baker's bad decision-making.
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@Stargazer it's not clear from the camera angle whether Mclutchie was expecting it or not - he could well have called for it.
I'm certainly a fan of Mclutchie though - can't believe Canes signed Hickey instead.
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@KiwiMurph said in Championship Final - Hawke's v Northland:
@Stargazer it's not clear from the camera angle whether Mclutchie was expecting it or not - he could well have called for it.
I'm certainly a fan of Mclutchie though - can't believe Canes signed Hickey instead.
You could have just said the Jordie defence.
I can 100% believe the Hurricanes signed Hickey. Just look at the history of the Canes.
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@KiwiMurph McClutchie has some brilliant skills this season, often resulting in tries. One example was that awesome try from Fomai, which resulted from a nice little chip kick from McC. Or the kick to Lowe, who offloaded to McLeod to score the try in the semi-final against Taranaki. He had a bit of a slow start to the season, but overall his kicking game has improved immensely from last year and also his goal kicking. I find it mind-boggling that - as far as we know - he again doesn't have a SR contract for next season.
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@KiwiMurph said in Championship Final - Hawke's v Northland:
@Stargazer you can't put all the blame on Baker - Mclutchie threw the hospital pass after the quick throw.
Don't tell us what we can and can't do. I put blame on Baker for the Napier floods. Have even toyed with blaming him for the 1931 Earthquake but thought then he might get credit for Art Deco weekend so decided against it.
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@Nepia I expect it will bite the Canes in the butt, next season(s). I just hope they're not destroying Magpies' careers by not giving them appropriate game time or playing them in the wrong position. Not signing some players is bad enough. I mean, it's not only McClutchie not getting a contract. They could have had better locks with both Cridge and - particularly - Tom Parsons playing so well.
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@Magpie_in_aus Hahaha, you forgot the drought!
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Belated congratulations to the hawkes Bay, despite there being nothing to like about your union since Ian MacRae,(another poach from the West Coast!
) retired. Fittingly the same nickname as the most beloved AFL team.Nah, Fair dues played really good rugby and have a log to look at. Deserved victors, and a great season, you strange fucks
