NPC 2025
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@ploughboy said in NPC 2025:
jezz I'm hoping LJ at 7
Possible, but Mitch is the co-captain and has played fairly well when on the field. Eti has played big minutes for a 20-yr old who wasn't in the original squad so moving him back to the bench seems the best option. Then it is about the loose forward mix.
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@Grooter The only thing I can come up with, is they think Otago are bound for the semis, so Bower will get another game, whereas they want Tosi to get a game in.
Razor's gone native!
It's why we've got all these bloody Chiefs players in the ABs and now he's boosting those central North Island swamp provinces!
Finlay Christie not released to Ta$man - presumably soon on a plane to Europe.
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@Grooter The only thing I can come up with, is they think Otago are bound for the semis, so Bower will get another game, whereas they want Tosi to get a game in.
Razor's gone native!
It's why we've got all these bloody Chiefs players in the ABs and now he's boosting those central North Island swamp provinces!
Finlay Christie not released to Ta$man - presumably soon on a plane to Europe.
No pleasing you, Razor does you a favour and you're still complaining.
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@Nepia Very harsh!
Somewhat in regard to the discussion on Jacombe going to the Highlanders, it can be very unpredictable making these deals.
We swapped out Louie Chapman on the assumption that he would be trapped behind Hotham and Christie for the NPC season - and took Mitch Drummond in exchange.
Now Hotham and Drummond are both broken, and Finlay's in AB camp - we're using Renton and Thornally.
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Dylan Pledger is having something of a historic season, at least as far as attacking numbers are concerned. RugbyPass has the statistical recording for try assists since the 2021 Bunnings NPC season. In that time, the highest recorded number for assists belonged to Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi, with 10 during the 2024 season.
With potentially two games left to play, Pledger has already surpassed that record. On Friday against Waikato, Pledger registered his 14th try assist of the season. When combining these try assist numbers with tries scored – for the total of halfback try involvements – Pledger’s standout season becomes even more apparent.
Here, the record also originated during the 2024 season, with Kyle Preston having 12 total try involvements (8 tries, 4 assists) for Wellington during their victorious season. After scoring another two tries against Waikato, Pledger’s try involvements now total a staggering 21 (7 tries, 14 assists).
A historic season: Pledger’s total try involvements prove to be a statistical outlierWhat the graph furthermore shows is that halfbacks rarely combine high try-scoring rates with high assist numbers. Typically they are finishers or distributors, being either particularly adept at finding the try line (Hotham, Preston, Weber) or at putting others over the line (Drummond, Tahuriorangi, Hall). With Pledger, this either/or seems to not apply.
While Dylan Pledger is far from the finished product – others have already mentioned his need for further physical development, which has also impacted his ability to be an effective defender – this season has shown that he has serious attacking potential, both as a game manager and as a lethal finisher in his own right. And while I feel it's too early to know how he'll go at the next level, at the very least he does deserve some plaudits for what he's achieved at this one.
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19K views · 388 reactions | Kieran Read has nothing but Counties...
Kieran Read has nothing but Counties Manukau in the DNA 👏 📲 Watch LIVE on Sky Sport NZ.
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Roe and Fakatava are getting short changed here.
Yeah, that’s fair enough. The reason I didn’t mention both Roe and Fakatava is because I find it more difficult to put either of them into one of those categories. Roe can have seasons where he’s mainly a distributing threat (2021: 0 tries, 4 try assists; 2024: 1 try, 9 try assists), and others where he’s seemingly looking to cross the chalk himself (2023: 5 tries, 2 try assists). So while he can do both, he hasn’t been able to put the two together simultaneously. So he’s an all-rounder, in theory, but just not quite in execution.
Fakatava, like Pledger, is already a real dual-threat on attack. While he had only try assists (0 tries, 8 assists) in the 2023 season after coming back from persistent injury issues in the previous two years, he’s been one of the standout halfbacks – from a scoring contribution-perspective – both in 2024 and ’25. In 2024, he had 10 try involvements (3 tries, 7 assists) while this year, he’s equalled Preston’s previous record of 12, as he’s scored 3 himself while assisting 9 others.
To me, it looks like Fakatava is gradually returning to his attacking effectiveness from before his injury issues, when he was one of the most dangerous attacking halfbacks in New Zealand. So while the Highlanders are still looking for a quality first five, it could well be that most of their attacking game in 2026 is run through 9 anyway.
