All Blacks 2025
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Yep, all the stars aligned - experience, SR champ, lock shortage. Come on down Patty
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Yep, all the stars aligned - experience, SR champ, lock shortage. Come on down Patty
@ACT-Crusader said in All Blacks 2025:
Yep, all the stars aligned - experience, SR champ, lock shortage. Come on down Patty
Any other coach would have made him captain.
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@ACT-Crusader said in All Blacks 2025:
Yep, all the stars aligned - experience, SR champ, lock shortage. Come on down Patty
Any other coach would have made him captain.
@Bones said in All Blacks 2025:
@ACT-Crusader said in All Blacks 2025:
Yep, all the stars aligned - experience, SR champ, lock shortage. Come on down Patty
Any other coach would have made him captain.
First AB captain as a regular non-starter, surprised Razor the Innovator didn’t implement it.
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@canefan said in All Blacks 2025:
Problem with SB, is he considered one of our two best locks?
Who would you say are our best locks?
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@canefan said in All Blacks 2025:
Problem with SB, is he considered one of our two best locks?
Who would you say are our best locks?
@brodean said in All Blacks 2025:
@canefan said in All Blacks 2025:
Problem with SB, is he considered one of our two best locks?
Who would you say are our best locks?
I will ask the questions! Ideally the captain is a consensus pick for his position, I'm just asking the collective and open question, do they think he's one of our top 2?
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@canefan said in All Blacks 2025:
Problem with SB, is he considered one of our two best locks?
Who would you say are our best locks?
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@brodean said in All Blacks 2025:
@canefan said in All Blacks 2025:
Problem with SB, is he considered one of our two best locks?
Who would you say are our best locks?
I will ask the questions! Ideally the captain is a consensus pick for his position, I'm just asking the collective and open question, do they think he's one of our top 2?
@canefan I definitely believe he is and has shown that he is capable of being world class over the last few years
Different question if he's the best captain choice but certainly a starter
If he isn't in the top two then who replaces him? I can't see anyone coming close to either of SB or Vaa'i
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@canefan I definitely believe he is and has shown that he is capable of being world class over the last few years
Different question if he's the best captain choice but certainly a starter
If he isn't in the top two then who replaces him? I can't see anyone coming close to either of SB or Vaa'i
@chucknz said in All Blacks 2025:
@canefan I definitely believe he is and has shown that he is capable of being world class over the last few years
Different question if he's the best captain choice but certainly a starter
If he isn't in the top two then who replaces him? I can't see anyone coming close to either of SB or Vaa'i
I'd agree, he is right now. Hopefully he can grow into the captaincy role more this season
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@canefan I definitely believe he is and has shown that he is capable of being world class over the last few years
Different question if he's the best captain choice but certainly a starter
If he isn't in the top two then who replaces him? I can't see anyone coming close to either of SB or Vaa'i
@chucknz said in All Blacks 2025:
@canefan I definitely believe he is and has shown that he is capable of being world class over the last few years
Different question if he's the best captain choice but certainly a starter
If he isn't in the top two then who replaces him? I can't see anyone coming close to either of SB or Vaa'i
At test level neither of those guys are first class lineout targets off their own ball.
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@canefan I definitely believe he is and has shown that he is capable of being world class over the last few years
Different question if he's the best captain choice but certainly a starter
If he isn't in the top two then who replaces him? I can't see anyone coming close to either of SB or Vaa'i
@chucknz said in All Blacks 2025:
@canefan I definitely believe he is and has shown that he is capable of being world class over the last few years
Different question if he's the best captain choice but certainly a starter
If he isn't in the top two then who replaces him? I can't see anyone coming close to either of SB or Vaa'i
Those two being the two best locks kind of rams home how lucky NZ was to have a duo of 2 metre plus legends in Retallick and Whitelock playing at the same time for as long as they did.
Lightening really did strike twice.
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@chucknz said in All Blacks 2025:
@canefan I definitely believe he is and has shown that he is capable of being world class over the last few years
Different question if he's the best captain choice but certainly a starter
If he isn't in the top two then who replaces him? I can't see anyone coming close to either of SB or Vaa'i
At test level neither of those guys are first class lineout targets off their own ball.
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@chucknz said in All Blacks 2025:
@canefan I definitely believe he is and has shown that he is capable of being world class over the last few years
Different question if he's the best captain choice but certainly a starter
If he isn't in the top two then who replaces him? I can't see anyone coming close to either of SB or Vaa'i
Those two being the two best locks kind of rams home how lucky NZ was to have a duo of 2 metre plus legends in Retallick and Whitelock playing at the same time for as long as they did.
Lightening really did strike twice.
@MN5 said in All Blacks 2025:
Lightening really did strike twice.
Unless they had something similar to Michael Jackson or a Jenny Craig diet for tight forwards, I believe you mean Lightning?
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@MN5 said in All Blacks 2025:
Lightening really did strike twice.
Unless they had something similar to Michael Jackson or a Jenny Craig diet for tight forwards, I believe you mean Lightning?
@nostrildamus said in All Blacks 2025:
@MN5 said in All Blacks 2025:
Lightening really did strike twice.
Unless they had something similar to Michael Jackson or a Jenny Craig diet for tight forwards, I believe you mean Lightning?
No. Definitely not a typo. At all.
Retallick in particular is pretty pasty.
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@chucknz said in All Blacks 2025:
@brodean so who in NZ currently is better?
In terms of lineout off their own ball I would say Darry and Lord are easily the best in NZ.
Then you've probably got a group of Vaa'i, Tuipulotu, Holland, Mcwhannell, and Dunshea.
Then you've got Barrett, Shalfoon, Ah Kuoi, Delany and a bunch of others.
Scott Barrett is a good support lineout off own ball. Good lifter. He's good on a defensive lineout. I'd say he's one of the best scrummagers and cleaners around at lock. He's a real scrapper and knows how to win games but he can lose his discipline when things aren't going his teams way.
One of the best maulers around too on attack and defence.
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@chucknz said in All Blacks 2025:
@brodean so who in NZ currently is better?
In terms of lineout off their own ball I would say Darry and Lord are easily the best in NZ.
Then you've probably got a group of Vaa'i, Tuipulotu, Holland, Mcwhannell, and Dunshea.
Then you've got Barrett, Shalfoon, Ah Kuoi, Delany and a bunch of others.
Scott Barrett is a good support lineout off own ball. Good lifter. He's good on a defensive lineout. I'd say he's one of the best scrummagers and cleaners around at lock. He's a real scrapper and knows how to win games but he can lose his discipline when things aren't going his teams way.
One of the best maulers around too on attack and defence.
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@brodean said in All Blacks 2025:
One of the best maulers around too on attack and defence.
and a workrate that is off the charts. Man he gets involved a lot - not always good outcomes, but his motor is massive
@nzzp said in All Blacks 2025:
@brodean said in All Blacks 2025:
One of the best maulers around too on attack and defence.
and a workrate that is off the charts. Man he gets involved a lot - not always good outcomes, but his motor is massive
Yeah the workrate stats are interesting this year.
Locks Contact Involvements Per 80 Minutes ( Carries + Rucks + Tackles )
64.84 Zach Gallagher
58.89 Will Stodart
56.07 Isaia Walker-Leawere
54.02 Jamie Hannah
53.5 Cameron Suafoa
53.09 Fabian Holland
52.83 Caleb Delany
50.23 Josh Lord
49.83 Naitoa Ah Kuoi
49.45 Josh Beehre
48.99 Scott Barrett
47.3 Tupou Vaa'i
46.86 Patrick Tuipulotu
46.47 Antonio Shalfoon
43.36 Allan Craig
40.74 Mitchell DunsheaBased off theanalyst stats.
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@No-Quarter said in All Blacks 2025:
On speed of loosies, McCaw wasn't exactly a speed merchant either. More important than speed, particularly for a loosie playing the tighter role, is a big engine and great game awareness which allows them to get themselves in the right position more often than not.
True, up to a point.
Like someone said with height at the lineout - it's not an issue until it's a big issue. If you aren't fast, you start needing other players who are around you - and then that changes the balance of the trio. And if you aren't fast enough and you go up against players who are faster, that can be a real problem. Also, early McCaw was quick!
We're looking at stats when they can be misleading - part of the issue with early Hooper and with Adam Thomson were they got to lots of places but didn't have a big impact when they did. Razor loves multi-position players, which means you dno't get specialists (by definition) ... and I think that is a real problem at Test level. EB is great in many ways, but he is not fast - seems to struggle to run at times - and I don't think is quick enough to be a 7 in Tests. Obviously Razor and Ryan disagree with me though.
@nzzp said in All Blacks 2025:
@No-Quarter said in All Blacks 2025:
On speed of loosies, McCaw wasn't exactly a speed merchant either. More important than speed, particularly for a loosie playing the tighter role, is a big engine and great game awareness which allows them to get themselves in the right position more often than not.
True, up to a point.
Like someone said with height at the lineout - it's not an issue until it's a big issue. If you aren't fast, you start needing other players who are around you - and then that changes the balance of the trio. And if you aren't fast enough and you go up against players who are faster, that can be a real problem. Also, early McCaw was quick!
We're looking at stats when they can be misleading - part of the issue with early Hooper and with Adam Thomson were they got to lots of places but didn't have a big impact when they did. Razor loves multi-position players, which means you dno't get specialists (by definition) ... and I think that is a real problem at Test level. EB is great in many ways, but he is not fast - seems to struggle to run at times - and I don't think is quick enough to be a 7 in Tests. Obviously Razor and Ryan disagree with me though.
Ethan's not really fast enough to be an elite 7. He can obviously play there - he's spent quite a lot of this Super season there - but it's not his best position.
He's a smallish 6. If they want a big 6 they'll pick Finau or Parker - maybe both.
But, Ethan is a probably slightly bigger version of Liam Messam, who went alright.
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@nzzp said in All Blacks 2025:
@No-Quarter said in All Blacks 2025:
On speed of loosies, McCaw wasn't exactly a speed merchant either. More important than speed, particularly for a loosie playing the tighter role, is a big engine and great game awareness which allows them to get themselves in the right position more often than not.
True, up to a point.
Like someone said with height at the lineout - it's not an issue until it's a big issue. If you aren't fast, you start needing other players who are around you - and then that changes the balance of the trio. And if you aren't fast enough and you go up against players who are faster, that can be a real problem. Also, early McCaw was quick!
We're looking at stats when they can be misleading - part of the issue with early Hooper and with Adam Thomson were they got to lots of places but didn't have a big impact when they did. Razor loves multi-position players, which means you dno't get specialists (by definition) ... and I think that is a real problem at Test level. EB is great in many ways, but he is not fast - seems to struggle to run at times - and I don't think is quick enough to be a 7 in Tests. Obviously Razor and Ryan disagree with me though.
Ethan's not really fast enough to be an elite 7. He can obviously play there - he's spent quite a lot of this Super season there - but it's not his best position.
He's a smallish 6. If they want a big 6 they'll pick Finau or Parker - maybe both.
But, Ethan is a probably slightly bigger version of Liam Messam, who went alright.
@Chris-B said in All Blacks 2025:
@nzzp said in All Blacks 2025:
@No-Quarter said in All Blacks 2025:
On speed of loosies, McCaw wasn't exactly a speed merchant either. More important than speed, particularly for a loosie playing the tighter role, is a big engine and great game awareness which allows them to get themselves in the right position more often than not.
True, up to a point.
Like someone said with height at the lineout - it's not an issue until it's a big issue. If you aren't fast, you start needing other players who are around you - and then that changes the balance of the trio. And if you aren't fast enough and you go up against players who are faster, that can be a real problem. Also, early McCaw was quick!
We're looking at stats when they can be misleading - part of the issue with early Hooper and with Adam Thomson were they got to lots of places but didn't have a big impact when they did. Razor loves multi-position players, which means you dno't get specialists (by definition) ... and I think that is a real problem at Test level. EB is great in many ways, but he is not fast - seems to struggle to run at times - and I don't think is quick enough to be a 7 in Tests. Obviously Razor and Ryan disagree with me though.
Ethan's not really fast enough to be an elite 7. He can obviously play there - he's spent quite a lot of this Super season there - but it's not his best position.
He's a smallish 6. If they want a big 6 they'll pick Finau or Parker - maybe both.
But, Ethan is a probably slightly bigger version of Liam Messam, who went alright.
Messam had the pace of a back and was a lot harder hitter in defence.
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@Chris-B said in All Blacks 2025:
@nzzp said in All Blacks 2025:
@No-Quarter said in All Blacks 2025:
On speed of loosies, McCaw wasn't exactly a speed merchant either. More important than speed, particularly for a loosie playing the tighter role, is a big engine and great game awareness which allows them to get themselves in the right position more often than not.
True, up to a point.
Like someone said with height at the lineout - it's not an issue until it's a big issue. If you aren't fast, you start needing other players who are around you - and then that changes the balance of the trio. And if you aren't fast enough and you go up against players who are faster, that can be a real problem. Also, early McCaw was quick!
We're looking at stats when they can be misleading - part of the issue with early Hooper and with Adam Thomson were they got to lots of places but didn't have a big impact when they did. Razor loves multi-position players, which means you dno't get specialists (by definition) ... and I think that is a real problem at Test level. EB is great in many ways, but he is not fast - seems to struggle to run at times - and I don't think is quick enough to be a 7 in Tests. Obviously Razor and Ryan disagree with me though.
Ethan's not really fast enough to be an elite 7. He can obviously play there - he's spent quite a lot of this Super season there - but it's not his best position.
He's a smallish 6. If they want a big 6 they'll pick Finau or Parker - maybe both.
But, Ethan is a probably slightly bigger version of Liam Messam, who went alright.
Messam had the pace of a back and was a lot harder hitter in defence.
