Blues 2020
-
@KiwiMurph I asked the man question , he gave me answer, that’s all you can do I guess...
-
@taniwharugby lol..!I do have a filter you ..!
-
@Steven-Harris said in Blues 2020:
@KiwiMurph I asked the man question , he gave me answer, that’s all you can do I guess...
Speaking to his point Akira does look in far better shape than he did during Mitre 10 Cup (and so he should).
-
@KiwiMurph I really think it’s a great opportunity for Akira this season especially with the All Black number 8 jersey up for grabs..
-
@Steven-Harris Yes and a new All Blacks forward coach who has previously shown a very keen interest in Akira. It's now or never time.
-
Looking at the training pictures, you can sort of see who is in the first team at the moment without the ABs.
Papali'i, Gibson and Sotutu in the backrow.
Pierce and Robinson at lock.
Faiane and Marchant in the midfield.
Plummer at 10
Mark Telea on the left wing. -
@Dice I've liked what i've seen from Mark Telea, he looked very handy for North Harbour in the Mitre 10 Cup and could be Sevu Reece type option for the Blues if they develop him right.
-
@Canes4life he's fast and agile, I agree he could be a real gem.
-
-
@Steven-Harris said in Blues 2020:
@KiwiMurph I really think it’s a great opportunity for Akira this season especially with the All Black number 8 jersey up for grabs..
I hope he trains the house down and owns that 8 spot. He would be the most obvious candidate for it right now. I think everyone knows how good he can be.
-
@Tim without wanting to make light of mental health issues, if not getting picked for the ABs last year has caused him mental issues, I expect that is part of his problem in the first place and he was possibly mentally weak already...is Enoka still with the new coaching team, someone needs to get him in the right space, so much potential.
Just my reading of that anyway.
-
@taniwharugby really not sure how you get mentally weak from reading that.
He’s being brutally honest about a hugely disappointing chapter in his career. Is taking responsibility for it and has identified how to improve handling setbacks in the future.
Talking about this instead of bottling it up, like he says in the article, is exactly what we want young men doing. Pretty mature reflection IMO.
Looking forward to seeing if that shows up on the field. Not many players get this much bullshit written about them, even fewer get character assassinated by the AB coach. All very weird.
-
Starting XV:
1 Alex Hodgman
2 Kurt Eklund
3 Marcel Renata
4 Jacob Pierce
5 James Tucker
6 Waimana Riedlinger-Kapa
7 Blake Gibson
8 Akira Ioane
9 Jonathan Ruru
10 Otere Black
11 A J Lam
12 TJ Faiane
13 Tamati Tua
14 Mark Telea
15 Matt Duffie
Reserves:
16 Ezekiel Lindenmuth
17 Tevita Mafileo
18 Ray Niuia
19 Luteru Tolai/ Soane Vikena
20 Sam Caird
21 Aaron Carroll
22 Josh Goodhue
23 Dalton Papalii
24 Tom Robinson
25 Tony Lamborn
26 Hoskins Sotutu
27 Sam Nock
28 Lewis Gjaltema
29 Stephen Perofeta
30 Jordan Hyland
31 Harry Plummer
32 Tanielu Tele’a
33 Joe Marchant
34 Emoni Narawa
35 Zarn Sullivan
-
@Kirwan said in Blues 2020:
@taniwharugby
Not many players get this much bullshit written about them, even fewer get character assassinated by the AB coach. All very weird.Looks like Rieko has had a few things to say on this very topic today.
-
It’s probably the first time Akira has faced adversity in rugby and he hasn’t handled it too well, you could see last year in the ITM cup he was overweight and didn’t look interested. Hopefully a new year and new motivation will get him back to his best because he definitely possesses skills no other number 8 has
