AB EOYT 2018
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Fifita by his own admission loathes the hard work despite his athleticism, so he's back proving himself there. Frizell was solid if unspectacular in his outings and is worth persevering with. Very few good blindsides start their test careers dominating at that level.
Akira plays at 8, so he's behind Read. If you've got an inexperienced blindside, you probably want experience at the back of the scrum in case Read is injured.
@antipodean said in AB EOYT 2018:
Fifita by his own admission loathes the hard work despite his athleticism, so he's back proving himself there. Frizell was solid if unspectacular in his outings and is worth persevering with. Very few good blindsides start their test careers dominating at that level.
Akira plays at 8, so he's behind Read. If you've got an inexperienced blindside, you probably want experience at the back of the scrum in case Read is injured.
I actually thought Frizell did quite well in Nelson. Steamrolling opposition at some occasions. His selection was a total surprise, odd even after hardly starting for the Highlanders, and he's far from the finished product, but definitely showing things that make it worth continuing with him and giving him opportunities.
Fifita; I've more questions about that selection, although the fact that he can play both lock and blindside may have a lot to do with that.
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@kirwan The talking point in itself is interesting. Everyone keeping on repeating the same thing isn't.
Yep, scrolling is definitely what I'm doing most of the time, hoping for a post that's not about the forward Māori Jesus. Unfortunately, I have to read all these repetitive posts first (or at least the first sentence(s), to know that they're repetitive.
@stargazer guess the problem is, when you get a bunch of different posters jumping on at varying times of the day, not reading right back through the entire thread and wanting to have thier 2c worth say on the matter, you will get multiple posts on the topic, but my 2c are no more valid than anyone elses (except @MN5 that guy is stuck in the late 90's when it comes to rugby) so you will always get repetition on a forum.
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@stargazer well what would you like to talk about then?
@mariner4life said in AB EOYT 2018:
@stargazer well what would you like to talk about then?
Other players? The opposition we're going to face on the Northern tour? Game plans? The ABs coaches have said before the French series that this year they were going to experiment with different structures etc; we've seen that in the RC. What has worked so far, and what hasn't. Plenty to talk about.
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Fifita by his own admission loathes the hard work despite his athleticism, so he's back proving himself there. Frizell was solid if unspectacular in his outings and is worth persevering with. Very few good blindsides start their test careers dominating at that level.
Akira plays at 8, so he's behind Read. If you've got an inexperienced blindside, you probably want experience at the back of the scrum in case Read is injured.
@antipodean Who's the experienced number 8 behind Read? Hasn't Whitelock has been demoted to the Japan squad?
Also, it's a bit of a myth that Fifita loathes hard work isn't it? I thought it was more an expression of what his style of game is - Frizell played the exact same style in his first run on test. -
@mariner4life said in AB EOYT 2018:
@stargazer well what would you like to talk about then?
Other players? The opposition we're going to face on the Northern tour? Game plans? The ABs coaches have said before the French series that this year they were going to experiment with different structures etc; we've seen that in the RC. What has worked so far, and what hasn't. Plenty to talk about.
@stargazer said in AB EOYT 2018:
@mariner4life said in AB EOYT 2018:
@stargazer well what would you like to talk about then?
Other players? The opposition we're going to face on the Northern tour? Game plans? The ABs coaches have said before the French series that this year they were going to experiment with different structures etc; we've seen that in the RC. What has worked so far, and what hasn't. Plenty to talk about.
sure.
This tour i think i will be looking at our defensive pattern more than anything. It's felt pretty loose repeatedly this year, often bailed out by our still-excellent scramble defense. Is it linked to our attacking mindset which is fast fast fast, no matter what? Is it the coaches ideas not gelling with players? Is it the constant chopping and changing in midfield? Is it the fact that our pack was allowing South Africa to get fast, front foot ball at will this year?
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Look, i know I'm as guilty as anyone about the on-going Akira drum beating but...
It looks to us from the outside as being bullshit. And the coaches "explanations" are either bullshit or wildly inconsistent.
Which i could handle if the loose forwards they selected were actually playing the house down. But the sad fact of the matter is they are not. the 6 jersey is a gaping hole of mediocrity, with no player actually looking up to it at the moment. And a couple that have been selected looking miles from the required standard. Squire is the only one who looks half decent, and he is battling to stay on the park. At #8 we have Read, who is a point of difference, but beyond that? Savea had a good game, but it was against Argentina, and i think there is enough evidence around that we shouldn't read too much in to one-offs v Argentina. Luke Whitelock is journeyman level as a test player, he's not good enough to be a starting player for the All Blacks. I can almost see why he is in the squad, almost. Then you get down to Hemapo, a small lock playing 6, and the slow Barrett, who is again a stop-gap measure.
Not a single one of these players is a "complete package" and all have work ons (so, so may work ons). And yet they are brought in because they have something the selectors like, and the coaches back themselves to iron out the rest. And yet the guy who plays better than all of them at the level below somehow has work ons that mean he can't be picked. And he won't benefit from being in the camp. That right there doesn't add up.
If he's a cockhead, and you don't want him around the group, fucking say it. Or say something slightly more definitive than the mealy-mouthed bullshit being floated at the moment. Because absolutely no one except Crucial is buying it.
Akira does shit in games no other player in the country is doing, and yet he rots in the NPC and the Maori tour while our loose forward options run around in Black being below par.
I actually worry about us against Ireland with Savea at 7 and one of the shit 6s. Fucking Retallic better be back, and both Read and Whitelock better have stormers.
@mariner4life said in AB EOYT 2018:
I actually worry about us against Ireland with Savea at 7 and one of the shit 6s. Fucking Retallic better be back, and both Read and Whitelock better have stormers.
I think that they've gone cap-in-hand to Robbie, to free Matt Todd, shows they're expecting these England/Ireland tests to be tight. Won't surprise me at all to see Matt in the seven jersey - with Ardie providing more utility value from the bench - in fact, I'm expecting it.
I'm interested to see what role Dane Coles plays in those two tests - whether he can get sufficiently up to speed to supplant Harris. Hopefully!
Other than Sam Cane (and just maybe Kane Hames), we might be rolling out the A-team forward pack.
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@stargazer said in AB EOYT 2018:
@nepia The complaining has reached excessive levels though. Everyone is repeating everyone. It's not a broken record. It's a broken record collection.
We're all having a shot at the Broken Record Award that @Rancid-Schnitzel has been the front runner for 2 minutes after The Last Jedi was released.
Hansen could solve it all by giving him a game, if he fails we'll shut up.
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@mariner4life said in AB EOYT 2018:
I actually worry about us against Ireland with Savea at 7 and one of the shit 6s. Fucking Retallic better be back, and both Read and Whitelock better have stormers.
I think that they've gone cap-in-hand to Robbie, to free Matt Todd, shows they're expecting these England/Ireland tests to be tight. Won't surprise me at all to see Matt in the seven jersey - with Ardie providing more utility value from the bench - in fact, I'm expecting it.
I'm interested to see what role Dane Coles plays in those two tests - whether he can get sufficiently up to speed to supplant Harris. Hopefully!
Other than Sam Cane (and just maybe Kane Hames), we might be rolling out the A-team forward pack.
@chris-b said in AB EOYT 2018:
@mariner4life said in AB EOYT 2018:
I actually worry about us against Ireland with Savea at 7 and one of the shit 6s. Fucking Retallic better be back, and both Read and Whitelock better have stormers.
I think that they've gone cap-in-hand to Robbie, to free Matt Todd, shows they're expecting these England/Ireland tests to be tight. Won't surprise me at all to see Matt in the seven jersey - with Ardie providing more utility value from the bench - in fact, I'm expecting it.
I'm interested to see what role Dane Coles plays in those two tests - whether he can get sufficiently up to speed to supplant Harris. Hopefully!
Other than Sam Cane (and just maybe Kane Hames), we might be rolling out the A-team forward pack.
Can he walk? Yes. Ok, he's up sufficiently up to speed to supplant Harris.
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@antipodean Who's the experienced number 8 behind Read? Hasn't Whitelock has been demoted to the Japan squad?
Also, it's a bit of a myth that Fifita loathes hard work isn't it? I thought it was more an expression of what his style of game is - Frizell played the exact same style in his first run on test.@nepia said in AB EOYT 2018:
@antipodean Who's the experienced number 8 behind Read? Hasn't Whitelock has been demoted to the Japan squad?
Don't know - probably Ardie. But it's hard to go past Fox's argument. They want to see evidence of Akira doing whatever they believe is missing from his game. You won't get that as a food bill.
Also, it's a bit of a myth that Fifita loathes hard work isn't it?
His words, not mine.
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This post is deleted!
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@mariner4life said in AB EOYT 2018:
I actually worry about us against Ireland with Savea at 7 and one of the shit 6s. Fucking Retallic better be back, and both Read and Whitelock better have stormers.
I think that they've gone cap-in-hand to Robbie, to free Matt Todd, shows they're expecting these England/Ireland tests to be tight. Won't surprise me at all to see Matt in the seven jersey - with Ardie providing more utility value from the bench - in fact, I'm expecting it.
I'm interested to see what role Dane Coles plays in those two tests - whether he can get sufficiently up to speed to supplant Harris. Hopefully!
Other than Sam Cane (and just maybe Kane Hames), we might be rolling out the A-team forward pack.
@chris-b said in AB EOYT 2018:
@mariner4life said in AB EOYT 2018:
I actually worry about us against Ireland with Savea at 7 and one of the shit 6s. Fucking Retallic better be back, and both Read and Whitelock better have stormers.
I think that they've gone cap-in-hand to Robbie, to free Matt Todd, shows they're expecting these England/Ireland tests to be tight. Won't surprise me at all to see Matt in the seven jersey - with Ardie providing more utility value from the bench - in fact, I'm expecting it.
I'm interested to see what role Dane Coles plays in those two tests - whether he can get sufficiently up to speed to supplant Harris. Hopefully!
Other than Sam Cane (and just maybe Kane Hames), we might be rolling out the A-team forward pack.
I would be pretty happy with that. We're going to have to be a little harder at the ball than we have been of late, simply because Ireland are so happy to play a million really small phases, just keep the ball and wear you down. They are very patient, and very disciplined.
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@nepia said in AB EOYT 2018:
@antipodean Who's the experienced number 8 behind Read? Hasn't Whitelock has been demoted to the Japan squad?
Don't know - probably Ardie. But it's hard to go past Fox's argument. They want to see evidence of Akira doing whatever they believe is missing from his game. You won't get that as a food bill.
Also, it's a bit of a myth that Fifita loathes hard work isn't it?
His words, not mine.
@antipodean said in AB EOYT 2018:
@nepia said in AB EOYT 2018:
@antipodean Who's the experienced number 8 behind Read? Hasn't Whitelock has been demoted to the Japan squad?
Don't know, but it's hard to go past Fox's argument. They want to see evidence of Akira doing whatever they believe is missing from his game. You won't get that as a food bill.
Also, it's a bit of a myth that Fifita loathes hard work isn't it?
His words, not mine.
:smiling_face_with_open_mouth: Nice selective quoting of my post and leaving out the second part of his not direct quote.
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@chris-b said in AB EOYT 2018:
@mariner4life said in AB EOYT 2018:
I actually worry about us against Ireland with Savea at 7 and one of the shit 6s. Fucking Retallic better be back, and both Read and Whitelock better have stormers.
I think that they've gone cap-in-hand to Robbie, to free Matt Todd, shows they're expecting these England/Ireland tests to be tight. Won't surprise me at all to see Matt in the seven jersey - with Ardie providing more utility value from the bench - in fact, I'm expecting it.
I'm interested to see what role Dane Coles plays in those two tests - whether he can get sufficiently up to speed to supplant Harris. Hopefully!
Other than Sam Cane (and just maybe Kane Hames), we might be rolling out the A-team forward pack.
I would be pretty happy with that. We're going to have to be a little harder at the ball than we have been of late, simply because Ireland are so happy to play a million really small phases, just keep the ball and wear you down. They are very patient, and very disciplined.
@mariner4life said in AB EOYT 2018:
@chris-b said in AB EOYT 2018:
@mariner4life said in AB EOYT 2018:
I actually worry about us against Ireland with Savea at 7 and one of the shit 6s. Fucking Retallic better be back, and both Read and Whitelock better have stormers.
I think that they've gone cap-in-hand to Robbie, to free Matt Todd, shows they're expecting these England/Ireland tests to be tight. Won't surprise me at all to see Matt in the seven jersey - with Ardie providing more utility value from the bench - in fact, I'm expecting it.
I'm interested to see what role Dane Coles plays in those two tests - whether he can get sufficiently up to speed to supplant Harris. Hopefully!
Other than Sam Cane (and just maybe Kane Hames), we might be rolling out the A-team forward pack.
I would be pretty happy with that. We're going to have to be a little harder at the ball than we have been of late, simply because Ireland are so happy to play a million really small phases, just keep the ball and wear you down. They are very patient, and very disciplined.
We just need to find a heap of blokes who tackle like Cane, Kaino, Collins. Then the Irish won't want to retain and carry the ball.
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Well I am absolutely living for the Akira Ioane posts right now. I cannot get my head around it. Have at it lads, don't let anyone put you off.
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@antipodean Who's the experienced number 8 behind Read? Hasn't Whitelock has been demoted to the Japan squad?
Also, it's a bit of a myth that Fifita loathes hard work isn't it? I thought it was more an expression of what his style of game is - Frizell played the exact same style in his first run on test.@nepia said in AB EOYT 2018:
@antipodean Who's the experienced number 8 behind Read? Hasn't Whitelock has been demoted to the Japan squad?
I think Ardie has pushed Lucky Luke down the No. 8 rankings. From the 32, I'd guess the rankings are:
- Squire, Fifita, Savea, Papali'i
- Todd, Savea, Papali'i
- Read, Savea
Bench: Savea, Papali'i
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This post is deleted!
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@mariner4life said in AB EOYT 2018:
@chris-b said in AB EOYT 2018:
@mariner4life said in AB EOYT 2018:
I actually worry about us against Ireland with Savea at 7 and one of the shit 6s. Fucking Retallic better be back, and both Read and Whitelock better have stormers.
I think that they've gone cap-in-hand to Robbie, to free Matt Todd, shows they're expecting these England/Ireland tests to be tight. Won't surprise me at all to see Matt in the seven jersey - with Ardie providing more utility value from the bench - in fact, I'm expecting it.
I'm interested to see what role Dane Coles plays in those two tests - whether he can get sufficiently up to speed to supplant Harris. Hopefully!
Other than Sam Cane (and just maybe Kane Hames), we might be rolling out the A-team forward pack.
I would be pretty happy with that. We're going to have to be a little harder at the ball than we have been of late, simply because Ireland are so happy to play a million really small phases, just keep the ball and wear you down. They are very patient, and very disciplined.
We just need to find a heap of blokes who tackle like Cane, Kaino, Collins. Then the Irish won't want to retain and carry the ball.
@antipodean said in AB EOYT 2018:
@mariner4life said in AB EOYT 2018:
@chris-b said in AB EOYT 2018:
@mariner4life said in AB EOYT 2018:
I actually worry about us against Ireland with Savea at 7 and one of the shit 6s. Fucking Retallic better be back, and both Read and Whitelock better have stormers.
I think that they've gone cap-in-hand to Robbie, to free Matt Todd, shows they're expecting these England/Ireland tests to be tight. Won't surprise me at all to see Matt in the seven jersey - with Ardie providing more utility value from the bench - in fact, I'm expecting it.
I'm interested to see what role Dane Coles plays in those two tests - whether he can get sufficiently up to speed to supplant Harris. Hopefully!
Other than Sam Cane (and just maybe Kane Hames), we might be rolling out the A-team forward pack.
I would be pretty happy with that. We're going to have to be a little harder at the ball than we have been of late, simply because Ireland are so happy to play a million really small phases, just keep the ball and wear you down. They are very patient, and very disciplined.
We just need to find a heap of blokes who tackle like Cane, Kaino, Collins. Then the Irish won't want to retain and carry the ball.
Papali'i?
