Blues 2024

[Canes4life]

Lol this came up on IG feed, thought the Blues thread would enjoy this despite him obviously playing for the Canes. So funny seeing Telea with a head of hair.

[Canes4life]

In terms of signings for next year, what happened to Payton Spencer? Is he in with a shout or has he aligned himself with the NZ sevens programme?

[Duluth]

@Canes4life

He went for 7’s this year then got injured

[Tim]

May 27, 2024  /  Super Rugby, Rugby, Sport

Gregor Paul: From flash to force - the strategic shift that changed the Blues

The secrets behind the Blues' transformation under coach Vern Cotter.

[Tim]

So, who plays 6 next year? That's a huge hole to fill.

[cgrant]

Segner or Suafoa.

[cgrant]

Among the young guns : Che Clark, Thompson (who has played lock this year), Tristyn Cook.

[sparky]

@Tim Segner.

[African Monkey]

@cgrant Suafoa probably suits Cotter's style of play more, but at the same time, I like what Segner brings but he isn't as strong in the contact areas as others.

[Daffy Jaffy]

Merch -

Official Blues Shop

[Landers92]

@cgrant said in Blues 2024:

Segner or Suafoa.

Would Rob Rush come into contention? That guy has so much talent imo.

[Duluth]

@Tim said in Blues 2024:

So, who plays 6 next year? That's a huge hole to fill.

Suafoa or Clark. I prefer Segner as a 7 or 8

Depends how the NPC goes

It'll be interesting to see where Segner plays for Auckland. I hope we see a a trio of: 7 Choat, 8 Segner & 6 Clark.

I assume Suafoa will mostly start at 8 for Harbour again. He probably has the inside running at this stage

[Kirwan]

Start with Suafoa and develop Clark. Pretty great position to be in.

[Duluth]

If you skim back in thread the main concern before the season kicked off was the locks. The area of weakness became a strength very quickly

Happy with any combination of Tuipulotu, Darry, Beehre, McWhannell.

Thompson had some very useful cameos. Suafoa only got a handful of mins at lock but he's still a handy loosie/lock (in 2023 he started 9 times at lock but is seems to be considered more of a loosie now)

[Duluth]

16 wins in a row at home now. That includes wins against all the other NZ sides

The Blues record is 21 from the first few years of SR

[nzzp]

@Duluth said in Blues 2024:

The Blues record is 21 from the first few years of SR

genuine questio: are you sure? I just went back and checked 96-98; I got 17 for proper comp games ... did they count preseason as well?

Edit: yes, am nerd.

[Duluth]

@nzzp

Is there an error here? Blues at home 96-98

Maybe you're only counting Eden Park? That was 18 17 in a row. There were 3 4 games at Pukekohe too

The current streak includes a Whangarei match

[edit] there was a small error, one of the Pukekohe games had Auckland as the location[/edit]

[nzzp]

@Duluth yep, that's it. Only EP for me.

[mikedogz]

@Duluth said in Blues 2024:

There were 4 games at Pukekohe too

Back when Pukekohe got regular super rugby.

[African Monkey]

@mikedogz Yeah the Blues were good like that.