The Silver Fern

@No-Quarter said in Thoughts on Cane now?:

@MajorRage good post, though I'm not convinced he went missing, I just think he was asked to play a tighter game against SA. His tackle stats are always up there even in games where he isn't so prominent. I think the fact he can be so devastating with ball in hand counts against him a bit, as when he puts in a tighter shift people think he's gone missing as they expect to see him running over people out wide.

Yeah, probably true.

He's got a bit of Toeava about him on this forum, that's for sure.

@Crucial also he let the English first five waltz past him with BBS yellow card.

I hope Goodhue gets a full season without injuries. I still think he has potential to be a very good centre, even lacking top line speed.

We don't really need a brilliant player at 13, just a competent, organised and reliable player who takes the right options. It's been a while since we saw Goodhue sans injury but he could fill that role if he doesn't break down.

@Joans-Town-Jones said in All Blacks v England:

@TheMojoman said in All Blacks v England:

@nostrildamus said in All Blacks v England:

@TheMojoman Stevenson or Lam?

I'd love to see Stevenson in the mix but IMO he would be competing for the 14 spot with Jordan, Telea and Reece potentially as 15 cover. Lam is a maybe, not sure he has the same impact as Clarke though as a power winger.

Foster (rightly IMO) clearly wants to play a power winger/finesse winger combination with his 14 also an extra FB with kicking etc. Leads me to believe Jordan will be the first choice 14 when fit. Telea has been the find of the northern tour.

I'm on the Shaun Stevenson bandwagon. He needs to be and AB.

an

@broughie said in All Blacks MOTM v Scotland:

@nostrildamus who are you talking about? Coles? Are you testing my attentiveness?

Sorry, rather than testing you I am undoing myself, not enough sleep, meant Codie I think...

Fucking Scooter man. As much as you want to get on him for a multitude of reasons, it's just so hard to because of that workrate .

Savea an obvious choice despite the egg-dive. Paps great, both hookers awesome, Whitelock with some wicked tackles. Amd Smith learned to run again.

Fun!

@Derpus said in ANZAC XV:

It would probably involve the tier of player just below/on the edge of test selection. Doubt you'd have centurians like Whitelock or Hooper lining up.

It'd still be fun though - I think a 23 selected from the best players in SR who arent currently in either test 23s would be fairly competitive.

And yeah, a true ANZAC team would only have a handful of Wallabies - Hooper, Koirobete, Kerevi, Valetini and White would probably be the only ones in with a shot.

I'd say the whole starting front row would get a look in.

@Nepia said in All Blacks vs Wales:

Dagg showing that maybe the standard of education at fancy pants private schools isn't that great. 😉

Well this is triggering cc: @Magpie_in_aus

@pakman said in All Blacks vs Scotland:

@Kiwiwomble said in All Blacks vs Scotland:

@nostrildamus yeah, reminds me of when they tried using crash ball from the blind side with bridge....its like their tactical decisions are not actually related to let alone based on the actual players they select

One crash ball by DH was spectacularly ineffective!

FiFY

I'm astounded the love Dalton is getting.

Came on, bustled, made a few tackles. That's his job. Did fuck all Cane didn't when he was on. We gave up metres and a try when he was on. ALB arguably had more impact, made 5 tackles and he's a centre.

The stats on this game are weird.

@nostrildamus think mate Mounga doesn't go that well with an inside centre type player as much as a 2nd 5/8, someone who plays first receiver a bit and allows him to take the ball a little wider. With the Crusaders off set play especially early in game, Havili often takes the ball off set play. Not a criticism of Mounga, but just something I have seen.

@Billy-Tell said in Who are you watching as priority?:

To be frank (ba dum tish) with the misogynists, BF are great. Super well coached and in Fitzpatrick and Fluhler they have their Nonu and Smith. The men’s XV could emulate their use of when to pick n go and when to spin it. Cocksedge took the right options but still too slow. I have no idea why Demant was relieved of the goal kicking.

So not watching or being interested in the BFs is misogynistic? Or did I misunderstand you?

I haven't seen any comments on here that reflect that attitude. Just people expressing a preference and giving reasons why. I prefer women's Netball to men's Netball. Does that make me prejudice against men?

@Steve said in 2022 All Blacks NH tour:

@TheMojoman said in 2022 All Blacks NH tour:

@ACT-Crusader said in 2022 All Blacks NH tour:

@TheMojoman said in 2022 All Blacks NH tour:

@Stargazer said in 2022 All Blacks NH tour:

Official:

allblacks 🚨 SQUAD UPDATES | Unfortunately @samcane7 & Dane Coles will be returning to New Zealand after picking up injuries in last nights match. Sam - fractured cheekbone, Dane - calf. All the best with your recovery fellas 💪

@pattytuips, @damianmckenzie_, @tuivasasheck & @braydonennor will join the @allblacksxv in Dublin

@leicester_f will rejoin the squad and @billy_harmon has been called in.

Telea and @asafoaumua will stay with the squad.

That stuff article posted in other threads clearly missed a bit of info.

They must be confident Retallick will escape suspension if they’re sending Tuipulotu to AB XV.

Positive is Papali’i will get an extended run in the 7 jersey. He was dynamite off the bench last night.
Happy for Aumua. Keeping Coles around has hindered his development.

Was he? I’m not sure I can watch it again, but I didn’t think he stood out (other than the hair of course).

I’m a fan of what he can bring though.

If we assume that Ardie is going to start all three tests, the question they may be considering is, do we start Papali’i or Sotutu? It’s not beyond the possibility with Cane injured that they move Ardie. They’ve done it before.

Papali'i was very good, I think 9 tackles in 14 mins plus the turnover which iced the game. He and Tuipulotu (as with most of the bench) did their job in bringing energy.

I think to reduce disruption they'll straight swap Papali'i for Cane and keep Ardie at 8. That way they can free up a bench spot for Sotutu who I thought, barring the turnover on the tryline was generally good.

I can't see Frizell backing up against Wales. He's turning into the modern day Reuben Thorne which is not all bad, you need solid blindsides who do the dirty work, make their tackles, solid carries, rucks/mauls. Akira does that and provides much more with ball-in hand.

Love Papalii but not sure I can cope with our open side flanker looking like Billy Idol.

Hopefully he doesn’t miss the starting XV after putting in the hard yards at training: tries without a place.

@Crucial said in So what did we learn from Bled2?:

@ACT-Crusader said in So what did we learn from Bled2?:

@nzzp said in So what did we learn from Bled2?:

@ACT-Crusader said in So what did we learn from Bled2?:

@nzzp said in So what did we learn from Bled2?:

@Victor-Meldrew said in So what did we learn from Bled2?:

teams who've analysed his play at 12 first

knowing something is coming and doing something about it are two very different things. Big body running straight is a key rugby requirement at the top level. Then if they doubleteam/stack a defence, space is created elsewhere.

Bring it on, JB at 12, Hayman at 8, 2023 is ours

Dagg to 10 and Messam to centre. Mealamu to openside

*Messum

5- Jordie
6- Lomu
7- Mealamu
8- Hayman
9- Cruden
10- Dagg

12- Ardie
13- Messam

DMac as reserve halfback?

I was going to put Ben Blair as halfback, but didn’t want to trigger some of the haters in here

@nzzp said in All Blacks MOTM v Australia II:

@voodoo said in All Blacks MOTM v Australia II:

Seems I'm the only person that feels Smith is worthy of a top 3 spot, and other than Clarke, he was the only guy left to not get a vote.

Youse are crazy!

he suffers from sustained excellence. His normal is massive for us - but he also isn't quite what he was.

How you'd vote for Taylor over Smith I do not know

Yeah, I get that - but I also thought his 1st half in particular was noticably commanding, and such a step up from his recent outings.

The other thing I always notice about Smith is how fast he exits the field after being subbed - he motors and looks fresh as a daisy like he hasn't just played 66mins of rugby!, Bloody show off

Locks after the RWC? Well it will be SB and whoever plays well in super rugby that year as no-one else has been developed 😂

@pakman unseen? Hardly. Still evident v Japan

@Chris-B said in All Blacks MOTM v Aussie I:

@nzzp Just to be clear, this is last week's poll. 🙂

oh holy shit. You're right.

As you were, man, that's a bloody sneaky move.

@Tordah said in Bled 1 Melbourne - pick the score:

ABs to get a decent lead, then falter and almost lose it at the death, but for a B Foley knock-on.

About the closest prediction so far

@ACT-Crusader said in Bledisloe 1:

And if you are league supporter, just be sure to remember that whatever sanction a judiciary spits out there is a premium on top of that for any Warriors

Using the WE CAN'T PUNISH FANS AT FINALS TIME clause, because... well..... 😉