Blues 2021
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Now I understand why they don't try Sullivan at 10. He can actually kick the ball quite far. Not the Blues style at all..
Jokes aside, 15 is one of the most competitive spots for higher honours.. -
@nostrildamus he's 20 years old with 3 Super caps under his belt - higher honours can wait a while - easing him in to Super Rugby at 15 is a smart move.
@kiwimurph yup I should have put a caveat on my post.
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@tim said in Blues 2021:
Any rumours about signings of players or coaches for 2022?
I heard a murmur from a good source that some very interesting signings may be close.
Very vague, but could be a name coming.
I mean, aside from RTS and BB coming back of course
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@tim said in Blues 2021:
Any rumours about signings of players or coaches for 2022?
I heard a murmur from a good source that some very interesting signings may be close.
Very vague, but could be a name coming.
I mean, aside from RTS and BB coming back of course
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@tim said in Blues 2021:
Any rumours about signings of players or coaches for 2022?
I heard a murmur from a good source that some very interesting signings may be close.
Very vague, but could be a name coming.
I mean, aside from RTS and BB coming back of course
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@tim They will be chasing a couple of quality locks with both GC-T and PT heading to the land of Yen. Hopefully Pierce is encouraged to stay on.
@daffy-jaffy said in Blues 2021:
@tim They will be chasing a couple of quality locks with both GC-T and PT heading to the land of Yen.
Not many local locks off contract
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After watching Papalii immediately impress in his first start back from a medial ligament injury, MacDonald held fears the standout openside had tweaked the same knee in his 80-minute effort against the Brumbies.
Lock Josh Goodhue is also unlikely to feature after injuring his ankle, which should pave the way for captain Patrick Tuipulotu to regain his starting role with Sam Darry likely to come into the squad.
"Dalton has had an outstanding year. He looked a bit sore again now which is a bit of a worry," MacDonald said. "Hopefully he's okay. Bonus points are crucial and they were bashing away and he got a turnover midway through that second half that allowed us to exit and put pressure back on them. He makes big plays, he's always on the ball, his defensive work is outstanding. He leads a bit of passion in the team when he's on the park we have a lot more belief."
Changes for the Reds elsewhere appear certain, too, as MacDonald attempts to strike the right balance late in the season. All Blacks prop Nepo Laulala and Akira Ioane could be promoted from the bench, while playmaker Stephen Perofeta has been left to play club rugby in recent weeks.
"You normally see teams starting to dip after four matches so it's about making enough changes to keep us energised but not too many that we lose cohesion," MacDonald said. "At the moment we're playing with some good cohesion – the backs and forwards are complementing each other well so they're the big decisions we'll have to make. There's going to be some forced changes, and there might be a couple of others to make sure we bring some good energy."
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After watching Papalii immediately impress in his first start back from a medial ligament injury, MacDonald held fears the standout openside had tweaked the same knee in his 80-minute effort against the Brumbies.
Lock Josh Goodhue is also unlikely to feature after injuring his ankle, which should pave the way for captain Patrick Tuipulotu to regain his starting role with Sam Darry likely to come into the squad.
"Dalton has had an outstanding year. He looked a bit sore again now which is a bit of a worry," MacDonald said. "Hopefully he's okay. Bonus points are crucial and they were bashing away and he got a turnover midway through that second half that allowed us to exit and put pressure back on them. He makes big plays, he's always on the ball, his defensive work is outstanding. He leads a bit of passion in the team when he's on the park we have a lot more belief."
Changes for the Reds elsewhere appear certain, too, as MacDonald attempts to strike the right balance late in the season. All Blacks prop Nepo Laulala and Akira Ioane could be promoted from the bench, while playmaker Stephen Perofeta has been left to play club rugby in recent weeks.
"You normally see teams starting to dip after four matches so it's about making enough changes to keep us energised but not too many that we lose cohesion," MacDonald said. "At the moment we're playing with some good cohesion – the backs and forwards are complementing each other well so they're the big decisions we'll have to make. There's going to be some forced changes, and there might be a couple of others to make sure we bring some good energy."
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@tim Amusing hearing Dalton say in the after match that was just getting old. I think that he is 25. Poor old bastard. We have space for him in GOM.
You were talking him up a few years ago and you were right. He is seriously good.
@snowy said in Blues 2021:
@tim Amusing hearing Dalton say in the after match that was just getting old. I think that he is 25. Poor old bastard. We have space for him in GOM.
You were talking him up a few years ago and you were right. He is seriously good.
Yeah, 23. Hopefully he is fit. Huge step down to Gibson these days, and I suspect Choat is injured.
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@snowy said in Blues 2021:
@tim Amusing hearing Dalton say in the after match that was just getting old. I think that he is 25. Poor old bastard. We have space for him in GOM.
You were talking him up a few years ago and you were right. He is seriously good.
Yeah, 23. Hopefully he is fit. Huge step down to Gibson these days, and I suspect Choat is injured.
@tim said in Blues 2021:
@snowy said in Blues 2021:
@tim Amusing hearing Dalton say in the after match that was just getting old. I think that he is 25. Poor old bastard. We have space for him in GOM.
You were talking him up a few years ago and you were right. He is seriously good.
Yeah, 23. Hopefully he is fit. Huge step down to Gibson these days, and I suspect Choat is injured.
Yeah I reckon Choat has the right stuff too. Gibson is likely to be done, poor bloke has been surpassed while he was constantly broken.
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@snowy said in Blues 2021:
@tim Amusing hearing Dalton say in the after match that was just getting old. I think that he is 25. Poor old bastard. We have space for him in GOM.
You were talking him up a few years ago and you were right. He is seriously good.
Yeah, 23. Hopefully he is fit. Huge step down to Gibson these days, and I suspect Choat is injured.
@tim said in Blues 2021:
Yeah, 23. Hopefully he is fit. Huge step down to Gibson these days, and I suspect Choat is injured.
Gibson is a shadow of what he was 2-3 years ago. Choat I think has dropped out of favour after a slightly below par game.
The way the bench is set up Papali'i is expected to play 80mins. Ioane is the openside cover and generally subs on relatively early at 6 or 8
I wonder if they'll move back to a 6/2 split for a couple of games?
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Good to see some talk about keeping the forwards fresh. Would've like to see some more flexibility around that earlier in the year.
@duluth said in Blues 2021:
Good to see some talk about keeping the forwards fresh. Would've like to see some more flexibility around that earlier in the year.
Maybe they thought that they needed the no1 pack for SRA to compete. STT isn't so tough so a few more risks. We do have a good group so they don't lose too much with rotation.
Pissed off that G CL is leaving. He's in the form of his life.
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@tim said in Blues 2021:
Yeah, 23. Hopefully he is fit. Huge step down to Gibson these days, and I suspect Choat is injured.
Gibson is a shadow of what he was 2-3 years ago. Choat I think has dropped out of favour after a slightly below par game.
The way the bench is set up Papali'i is expected to play 80mins. Ioane is the openside cover and generally subs on relatively early at 6 or 8
I wonder if they'll move back to a 6/2 split for a couple of games?
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@duluth said in Blues 2021:
Good to see some talk about keeping the forwards fresh. Would've like to see some more flexibility around that earlier in the year.
Maybe they thought that they needed the no1 pack for SRA to compete. STT isn't so tough so a few more risks. We do have a good group so they don't lose too much with rotation.
Pissed off that G CL is leaving. He's in the form of his life.
@snowy said in Blues 2021:
Maybe they thought that they needed the no1 pack for SRA to compete. STT isn't so tough so a few more risks. We do have a good group so they don't lose too much with rotation.
Coventry talked about it at the time. They wanted to keep players in specific roles. He said more improvements come when the players have the same role each week
It's the cohesion v freshness balance MacDonald was talking about above.
My issue with it was Robinson was underused early on when he was the designated sub player. That only changed when injuries came (Tuipulotu). Now Robinson was needed as captain and Akira is the designated sub player and he is underused
There's 3 AB standard players in 2 positions. I think we would've gained more by rotating them. Impossible to prove of course..
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@tim said in Blues 2021:
Yeah, 23. Hopefully he is fit. Huge step down to Gibson these days, and I suspect Choat is injured.
Gibson is a shadow of what he was 2-3 years ago. Choat I think has dropped out of favour after a slightly below par game.
The way the bench is set up Papali'i is expected to play 80mins. Ioane is the openside cover and generally subs on relatively early at 6 or 8
I wonder if they'll move back to a 6/2 split for a couple of games?
@duluth said in Blues 2021:
Choat I think has dropped out of favour after a slightly below par game.
seems Leon must have very specific things he wants players to do or targets to hit and if they dont, then they fall out of favour and seems tough to regain his faith.
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@snowy said in Blues 2021:
Maybe they thought that they needed the no1 pack for SRA to compete. STT isn't so tough so a few more risks. We do have a good group so they don't lose too much with rotation.
Coventry talked about it at the time. They wanted to keep players in specific roles. He said more improvements come when the players have the same role each week
It's the cohesion v freshness balance MacDonald was talking about above.
My issue with it was Robinson was underused early on when he was the designated sub player. That only changed when injuries came (Tuipulotu). Now Robinson was needed as captain and Akira is the designated sub player and he is underused
There's 3 AB standard players in 2 positions. I think we would've gained more by rotating them. Impossible to prove of course..
@duluth said in Blues 2021:
@snowy said in Blues 2021:
Maybe they thought that they needed the no1 pack for SRA to compete. STT isn't so tough so a few more risks. We do have a good group so they don't lose too much with rotation.
Coventry talked about it at the time. They wanted to keep players in specific roles. He said more improvements come when the players have the same role each week
It's the cohesion v freshness balance MacDonald was talking about above.
My issue with it was Robinson was underused early on when he was the designated sub player. That only changed when injuries came (Tuipulotu). Now Robinson was needed as captain and Akira is the designated sub player and he is underused
There's 3 AB standard players in 2 positions. I think we would've gained more by rotating them. Impossible to prove of course..
I'd rather Sotutu was the underused one this year and Robinson and Akira were the two starters. Sotutu last year and this year are two different beasts but two good games in a row for him seems to have papered over that with media and fans.
What is weird, is that I think Akira is the tightest forward of those three in the current game plan, the Ginga Messiah is playing a lot looser than last year clearly on the game plan.
