Name Your AB Team
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A possible scenario that I hope doesn't play-out:
Robertson's squad to have some absolute shockers in it, and the team loses the first test after a red card. If he loses at Eden Park then it's all out war to have him removed.
Imagine this pack running out onto Forsyth Barr Stadium:
1 Bower
2 Taylor
3 Newell
4 Barrett
5 Strange
6 Grace
7 Blackadder
8 Savea -
De Groot
Taylor
Newell
SBarrett
Vai’i
Blackadder
Papali’i
Savea
Ratima
DMac
Clarke
JBarrett
Ioane
Tele'a
BBarrettAumua
Williams
Lomax
Darry
Finau
Christie
ALB
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@mariner4life I won't mind too much if it goes the other way - and by the end of the season it may. But, one of those guys went to the RWC and the other didn't and Jason Ryan helped pick both those teams.
More sneaky is that I'm picking Newell to start and Lomax on the bench. Tyrel looked short of a gallop to me on Saturday, while Fletch has smashed everyone in a vain effort.
As regards hobbits - I'm not unhappy that Taylor and Aumua are in cotton wool this weekend!
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@BerniesCorner Weird to think that at least one of Sotutu or Sititi won't be in the 23.
@sparky said in Name Your AB Team:
@BerniesCorner Weird to think that at least one of Sotutu or Sititi won't be in the 23.
Unless you're planning on dropping Ardie, one of them (probably Sititi) won't even make the squad.
If they only pick five loosies, it's quite likely Sotutu doesn't make it either, because Ardie is locked in and Hoskins doesn't have the same utility value as others.
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@sparky said in Name Your AB Team:
@BerniesCorner Weird to think that at least one of Sotutu or Sititi won't be in the 23.
Unless you're planning on dropping Ardie, one of them (probably Sititi) won't even make the squad.
If they only pick five loosies, it's quite likely Sotutu doesn't make it either, because Ardie is locked in and Hoskins doesn't have the same utility value as others.
@Chris-B said in Name Your AB Team:
@sparky said in Name Your AB Team:
@BerniesCorner Weird to think that at least one of Sotutu or Sititi won't be in the 23.
Unless you're planning on dropping Ardie, one of them (probably Sititi) won't even make the squad.
If they only pick five loosies, it's quite likely Sotutu doesn't make it either, because Ardie is locked in and Hoskins doesn't have the same utility value as others.
yeah this. And because of our dumb ass season format, the guys not picked will twiddle their fucking thumbs.
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@mariner4life I won't mind too much if it goes the other way - and by the end of the season it may. But, one of those guys went to the RWC and the other didn't and Jason Ryan helped pick both those teams.
More sneaky is that I'm picking Newell to start and Lomax on the bench. Tyrel looked short of a gallop to me on Saturday, while Fletch has smashed everyone in a vain effort.
As regards hobbits - I'm not unhappy that Taylor and Aumua are in cotton wool this weekend!
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@Chris-B said in Name Your AB Team:
As regards hobbits - I'm not unhappy that Taylor and Aumua are in cotton wool this weekend!
Taylor needs all the rest he can get when he has to come off the bench to replace himself in your team.
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@ACT-Crusader might need that trick this year!
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Goldie thinks Christie is great and should be the starter. How many head knocks did he take in his career?
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Goldie thinks Christie is great and should be the starter. How many head knocks did he take in his career?
@antipodean said in Name Your AB Team:
Goldie thinks Christie is great and should be the starter. How many head knocks did he take in his career?
I don't think he os too wrong. I have said quite a few times I can see him in the team. Mind you I may of had a few knocks too, but I just don't get the Christie hate.
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@mariner4life I won't mind too much if it goes the other way - and by the end of the season it may. But, one of those guys went to the RWC and the other didn't and Jason Ryan helped pick both those teams.
More sneaky is that I'm picking Newell to start and Lomax on the bench. Tyrel looked short of a gallop to me on Saturday, while Fletch has smashed everyone in a vain effort.
As regards hobbits - I'm not unhappy that Taylor and Aumua are in cotton wool this weekend!
@Chris-B said in Name Your AB Team:
@mariner4life I won't mind too much if it goes the other way - and by the end of the season it may. But, one of those guys went to the RWC and the other didn't and Jason Ryan helped pick both those teams.
More sneaky is that I'm picking Newell to start and Lomax on the bench. Tyrel looked short of a gallop to me on Saturday, while Fletch has smashed everyone in a vain effort.
As regards hobbits - I'm not unhappy that Taylor and Aumua are in cotton wool this weekend!
Lomax will be top dog when he gets back up to full fitness. He was one of the ABs best last year and had a great season before injury struck 5-6 weeks ago. I will be very surprised if he doesn't start in the first test of the year. Newell has had a good season though.
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@antipodean said in Name Your AB Team:
Goldie thinks Christie is great and should be the starter. How many head knocks did he take in his career?
I don't think he os too wrong. I have said quite a few times I can see him in the team. Mind you I may of had a few knocks too, but I just don't get the Christie hate.
@Dan54 said in Name Your AB Team:
@antipodean said in Name Your AB Team:
Goldie thinks Christie is great and should be the starter. How many head knocks did he take in his career?
I don't think he os too wrong. I have said quite a few times I can see him in the team. Mind you I may of had a few knocks too, but I just don't get the Christie hate.
Able to see him in the team is recognising the unfortunate reality of the selectors.
I find it unfathomable someone can watch Christie play and not see he's terrible at making good, quick decisions at rucks and throwing fast accurate passes. He's the handbrake on the way the Blues want to play.
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Jesus, I find it disturbing the number of people picking Perenara in the side. It would be a terrible backward looking selection. He's just been comprehensively outplayed by Ratima in a knock-out game: a performance which would have looked far worse if he had been rightly carded during the match.
Do we really have to be so conservative? Haven't we just seen with Roigard that the correct approach is to pick the guy who plays better? Who happens to also be the guy with a ready-made combination with the presumptive 10?@reprobate said in Name Your AB Team:
> Do we really have to be so conservative? Haven't we just seen with Roigard that the correct approach is to pick the guy who plays better?
But that hasn't been the AB coaching strategy for some years now!
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@antipodean said in Name Your AB Team:
Goldie thinks Christie is great and should be the starter. How many head knocks did he take in his career?
I don't think he os too wrong. I have said quite a few times I can see him in the team. Mind you I may of had a few knocks too, but I just don't get the Christie hate.
@Dan54 said in Name Your AB Team:
@antipodean said in Name Your AB Team:
Goldie thinks Christie is great and should be the starter. How many head knocks did he take in his career?
I don't think he os too wrong. I have said quite a few times I can see him in the team. Mind you I may of had a few knocks too, but I just don't get the Christie hate.
i think its just a case of theyre either AB legend who can never have a bad word said against them....or theyre the worst rugby player in history....there is no longer a "pretty good" middle ground when reviewing people
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@Dan54 said in Name Your AB Team:
@antipodean said in Name Your AB Team:
Goldie thinks Christie is great and should be the starter. How many head knocks did he take in his career?
I don't think he os too wrong. I have said quite a few times I can see him in the team. Mind you I may of had a few knocks too, but I just don't get the Christie hate.
Able to see him in the team is recognising the unfortunate reality of the selectors.
I find it unfathomable someone can watch Christie play and not see he's terrible at making good, quick decisions at rucks and throwing fast accurate passes. He's the handbrake on the way the Blues want to play.
@antipodean said in Name Your AB Team:
@Dan54 said in Name Your AB Team:
@antipodean said in Name Your AB Team:
Goldie thinks Christie is great and should be the starter. How many head knocks did he take in his career?
I don't think he os too wrong. I have said quite a few times I can see him in the team. Mind you I may of had a few knocks too, but I just don't get the Christie hate.
Able to see him in the team is recognising the unfortunate reality of the selectors.
I find it unfathomable someone can watch Christie play and not see he's terrible at making good, quick decisions at rucks and throwing fast accurate passes. He's the handbrake on the way the Blues want to play.
I know it's old ground, but Roigard off the bench in the Paris final would have given the Boks fits, Christie is just too slow of foot hand and mind
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@Chris-B said in Name Your AB Team:
@mariner4life I won't mind too much if it goes the other way - and by the end of the season it may. But, one of those guys went to the RWC and the other didn't and Jason Ryan helped pick both those teams.
More sneaky is that I'm picking Newell to start and Lomax on the bench. Tyrel looked short of a gallop to me on Saturday, while Fletch has smashed everyone in a vain effort.
As regards hobbits - I'm not unhappy that Taylor and Aumua are in cotton wool this weekend!
Lomax will be top dog when he gets back up to full fitness. He was one of the ABs best last year and had a great season before injury struck 5-6 weeks ago. I will be very surprised if he doesn't start in the first test of the year. Newell has had a good season though.
@Canes4life said in Name Your AB Team:
@Chris-B said in Name Your AB Team:
@mariner4life I won't mind too much if it goes the other way - and by the end of the season it may. But, one of those guys went to the RWC and the other didn't and Jason Ryan helped pick both those teams.
More sneaky is that I'm picking Newell to start and Lomax on the bench. Tyrel looked short of a gallop to me on Saturday, while Fletch has smashed everyone in a vain effort.
As regards hobbits - I'm not unhappy that Taylor and Aumua are in cotton wool this weekend!
Lomax will be top dog when he gets back up to full fitness. He was one of the ABs best last year and had a great season before injury struck 5-6 weeks ago. I will be very surprised if he doesn't start in the first test of the year. Newell has had a good season though.
Not disagreeing with that - Tyrel was one of my Mako boys long before you Canes lot ever got on the bandwagon!
In peak form he's comfortably ahead in my book - but, I barely noticed him on Saturday in general play. Sneaking suspicion they might swap them for the first test.
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Jesus, I find it disturbing the number of people picking Perenara in the side. It would be a terrible backward looking selection. He's just been comprehensively outplayed by Ratima in a knock-out game: a performance which would have looked far worse if he had been rightly carded during the match.
Do we really have to be so conservative? Haven't we just seen with Roigard that the correct approach is to pick the guy who plays better? Who happens to also be the guy with a ready-made combination with the presumptive 10?@reprobate said in Name Your AB Team:
Jesus, I find it disturbing the number of people picking Perenara in the side. It would be a terrible backward looking selection. He's just been comprehensively outplayed by Ratima in a knock-out game: a performance which would have looked far worse if he had been rightly carded during the match.
Do we really have to be so conservative? Haven't we just seen with Roigard that the correct approach is to pick the guy who plays better? Who happens to also be the guy with a ready-made combination with the presumptive 10?Exactly that, if we want experience then we have Christie, Retania has a combination with Dmac and that surely counts for a lot and is in great form - deserves a shot.
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Halfback selections will be very interesting.
Seen a few suggestions about our great depth there, but I'm not sure that's really true at the moment.
We've just lost probably our best ever halfback (and I'm not talking about Super Sid). I think we've got a bunch of very promising young, but largely untried young guys bubbling under - the best of whom is injured - most of the others probably aren't ready for test rugby (see Meg's comments). Then we've got a veteran who had a bit of a shocker on Saturday and another experienced guy who not many people like and definitely has some limitations. Lots of eggs in the Ratima basket - but, he would be a debutant who's spent two weeks in the AB camp.
I'm inclined to think Razor will be a more adventurous selector than me - so I'm looking forward to seeing who he picks - at halfback and a few other places.
