Blues 2018

African Monkey

Yes before the season started I was thinking of 2015 with the draw we had to start the season off. Man this season has the potential to turn to real shit, we may be looking at a wooden spoon battle.

Nepia

@rocky-rockbottom Exciting new halfback Bryn Hall? Clearly you hadn't seen him play previously and were unaware of his tendency to spray balls round like a one armed man firing an MP40 before making this video.

Anyway, nice work, I wonder why I didn't do one for the Hammettuer - laziness I expect.

KiwiMurph

INJURY UPDATE👨🏻‍⚕️🔵
Augustine Pulu - Foot - 5 weeks
Blake Gibson - Shoulder surgery – 7 weeks
Dalton Papalii - Hand fracture - 3 weeks
Glenn Preston - Calf strain - 2 weeks
Otere Black - ACL - Next season
📅 Time frames are expected return dates.

Haha I knew it would be something like this when they said Blake Gibson would be "out for the first part of the season".

Nothing about Kara Pryor - I wonder if he has made the trip to South Africa?

taniwharugby

@kiwimurph or Moulds? While his throwing can be suspect, he has been mentioned as one of the leaders amongst the team, so would have been a better option than Apasai to come on and close out the game

Duluth

@taniwharugby said in Blues 2018:

so would have been a better option than Apasai to come on and close out the game

faint praise..

I agree though. Wright & Eklund would also do a better job

Tim

@kiwimurph So round 10 or 11 for Gibson.

At least Papali'i will be back after the bye.

KiwiMurph

On this African tour I'd like to see Perofeta come on at fullback (im assuming he'll be eased in off the bench) with 30 minutes to go.

He has experience at fullback, can use his running and playmaking ability against tired legs and with both he and Gatland on the park at the same time it offers a nice balance the Blues backline wouldn't have had for a long time.

Tim

The Blues have lost prop Alex Hodgman to an arm injury, with Sione Mafileo travelling as a replacement, but their entire squad showed such form at Ellis Park, including, significantly, their reserves, that Hodgman's absence shouldn't be an issue.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=12011106

Dice

@tim Looks like Ofa will be covering loosehead.

taniwharugby

@tim don't see why not, Stormers coming off 2 bruising losses, a lot will come down to Tana getting his selections right and resisting changing the line-up too much and making change for changes sake

Duluth

@taniwharugby

Also the Stormers have to travel. The Blues might even be favourites.. I wouldn't put any money on it though

Looking forward to the battle between Damian Willemse and Perofeta.

Tim

@duluth said in Blues 2018:

The Blues might even be favourites.. I wouldn't put any money on it though

Even money at the TAB.

KiwiMurph

Any tips on how to embed a video link?

Anyway a nice video of Akira's ball in hand highlights here

https://www.rugbypass.com/news/watch-akira-ioane-turns-man-match-performance-blues

Tim

@kiwimurph said in Blues 2018:

Any tips on how to embed a video link?

You can embed video from youtube, facebook, streamable, gfycat etc.

Easiest way to embed a video from a random site is probably to upload it to streamable.

KiwiMurph

This post is deleted!

SammyC

@kiwimurph said in Blues 2018:

Any tips on how to embed a video link?

Anyway a nice video of Akira's ball in hand highlights here

https://www.rugbypass.com/news/watch-akira-ioane-turns-man-match-performance-blues

Best game I’ve ever seen him play. Really stood up to the big lions pack.

Even more impressive given the altitude and the fact he was still smashing guys up to the end of the game.

Tim

@sammyc I think it was noticeable that he didn't go into any tackles running upright.

KiwiMurph

@sammyc He certainly looks much fitter and much more certain of what his role in the team is. His discipline has really improved (he still has some niggle in his game but personally I think this is overblown - ive seen every first class game he has played and he has never been penalised for any off the ball stuff - compare that to what Dane Coles has done and it's chalk and cheese). Hopefully he can keep it going as it is a long season.

Bones

@kiwimurph pace is a real asset. If he can start throwing in some of those bone jarring hits like Read does I'm sold.

mimic

I'm always surprised at how strong he is, because he's not a big unit, and hes not very muscular.

The Silver Fern

Blues 2018