The Silver Fern

@Tim I reckon Manawatu might have the better pack - at least in terms of the "greatness" pantheon.

Waikato only has Loe and (for a short time) Messam as regular first choice ABs.

Manawatu has Knight, Lambert, Shaw and Eveleigh.

@Bovidae said in Ultimate NPC: - Manawatu:

Lee Stensness
Lachie Cameron
Craig Wickes
Ken Granger
Jackson Hemopo
Jason Eaton

Wickes didn't last long.

I thought Granger.

Forgot Nug is from the Poo - My immediate thought was Donaldson

Pretty good pack.

Clayton McMiillan

I get BOP press releases emailed to me, I will try and post them more.

@shark said in Canterbury vs Manawatu:

@Tim said in Canterbury vs Manawatu:

Is Josh McKay the new Michael Collins?

More like a faster Damien McKenzie without the positional smarts.

How fast is he, he must be a bullet? DMac is quick.

How on earth?

Love the finish of the game. Sums up Southland’s woes. Southland player did all the work to stay in the field of play and get the offload off, only for a basic handling error to happen straight after and game over.

Kept scoreless in the second half after a big lead. If Southland were a horse...

@J77 ha not quite, just use them differently.

Outrageously bad refereeing for the Koroi try with the Otere Black obstruction.

Makes my head explode.

@shark I reckon you won't get much use out of Will next year - even if you open that massive red and black chequebook!

Who is the Aussie 10?

@Duluth said in Manawatu v Taranaki:

It looks like a 1980s NPC match

Great to see players with actual mud on their face. Hosing down, and the turf isn't quite as good as a lot of the Tier 1 stadia.

Good fun, though, this is classic rugby

@Magpie_in_aus I'm keeping an eye on it. Haven't seen any injury update, yet.

@sparky

Ben Lam needs to take an angry pill before a game. He has all the skills but just needs more aggression. and his defense needs work

@crucial Tall Matt Todd!

Lineout was rubbish. Missed Parkinson in the first half, but when he came on we lost Makalio and Niuia threw like he'd been taking lessons from Nathan Harris.

Hope Makalio is nothing serious. One of quite a few we don't have great cover for.

Once Lomax came on our scrum was dominant, but we didn't really get the full benefit of that.

Still, points in the bank - onward and upward.

When Hemepo came on he looked like an All Black - a cut above the average.

@shark there’s plenty of locks around. Will Tucker was NZ20s this year. Antonio Shalfoon is a great prospect at Lincoln. Was injured all year , but killing it now for Canterbury maoris. Don’t know if their FABs though.

@nepia Don't worry, he's good for at least 50 more years in black.

Turbos should get a bonus point just for that mascot.

@bovidae said in Manawatu v Waikato:

Anyone know if the Manawatu player has been cited for the cheap shot on Tucker?

NZR is extremely shit when it comes to publishing citings and decisions on citings. I remember finding them last year, but don't quite remember where. I'll keep an eye on it.

Full time: never in doubt, Taranaki keep the shield. 46 - 25.