Exodus 2017
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I thought Luatua had a very good Super season last year and deserved his AB recall. He looked like a viable backup to Read.
I'm still not convinced about Squire (as a starter especially) and Dixon went backwards last year, so having depth in the loose forwards was a positive.
@Bovidae said in Exodus 2017:
I thought Luatua had a very good Super season last year and deserved his AB recall. He looked like a viable backup to Read.
I'm still not convinced about Squire (as a starter especially) and Dixon went backwards last year, so having depth in the loose forwards was a positive.
I agree. Although I don't think Dixon went backwards. He just stayed where he was.
Personally think he is a big loss and I expected him to be the next in line behind Kaino.
So stand up Akira. Park your anger issues and start to play.
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@JayCee said in Exodus 2017:
I'm thinking that it's now "Brad Shields" time
Only if you apply glue to his hands before each match.
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I thought Luatua had turned a corner last year where he and Ioane tore in to the Bulls pack on a two man wrecking mission, i was mightily impressed with his physicality, and figured that was him pressing his claim as the 2nd #8.
Sadly, we will now never know.
For all that say this isn't a loss, it really really is, because i thought we had issues in our loose forwards last year, and we are now left with a couple of guys I'm far from sold on, and the Kaino/Read axis that is another year older (and yes Nepai, battled through last year). Someone needs to step up this year.
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I'm not that fussed. The Blues' fans on the forum wax lyrical about his qualities. Never showed himself remotely decent AB material when given the chance IMHO. I was at the game in Dublin in 2013 when we nearly lost, he was anonymous.
Edit: And when Ratpoo writes an article about what a massive loss it is to the Blues, well...
@Billy-Tell said in Exodus 2017:
I'm not that fussed. The Blues' fans on the forum wax lyrical about his qualities. Never showed himself remotely decent AB material when given the chance IMHO. I was at the game in Dublin in 2013 when we nearly lost, he was anonymous.
That was a long time ago. Kaino didn't set the world on fire when he first put on the Black jersey.
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@Billy-Tell gee look at all the closet blues fans coming out of the woodwork...
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Compared to the class, say, Ireland have in the loose now, losing Luatua is a big blow.
I think Heaslip, O'Brien, Stander and VDF would all make an extended All Blacks squad right now ahead of Squire, Dixon, Ioane, Fifita, Taufua. Maybe even Ardie.
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Fringe player , a fairly good one at that , that is still young ,
I see that as a loss , his best rugby could well be in front of him if we go off the Kaino example
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Compared to the class, say, Ireland have in the loose now, losing Luatua is a big blow.
I think Heaslip, O'Brien, Stander and VDF would all make an extended All Blacks squad right now ahead of Squire, Dixon, Ioane, Fifita, Taufua. Maybe even Ardie.
@TeWaio said in Exodus 2017:
Compared to the class, say, Ireland have in the loose now, losing Luatua is a big blow.
I think Heaslip, O'Brien, Stander and VDF would all make an extended All Blacks squad right now ahead of Squire, Dixon, Ioane, Fifita, Taufua. Maybe even Ardie.
We have great depth in the loose forwards but the quality at test level is a little unproven.
I think a player like VDF would thrive in the ABs but then given a chance so could the others you mention. don't count out Shields either. He never got the chance for an 'apprenticeship tour' due to poorly timed injuries and is doing his maturing at Super Level only. He looks to me like a test type player. Probably needs to ramp up domination in contact just a little. -
One of the articles I read about Luatua equated him to Vito and I think that is fair. Vito hung around for a long time but a versatile forward, like a utility back, gets branded as 'jack of all trades, master of none' which keeps you on the fringe.
Luatua's reasons of wanting to set his family up and give his kids a better life is a good one. As he says, he himself could remain comfortable in NZ but the 'upgrade' for the family pales compared to tucking away some big money in Europe. -
I can see why he's gone, his only real route is as backup to Read, so thats not a great place to be. So good on him & I wish him every success.
But he's a big loss to us, our loosie depth at 6 especially is terrible, Dixon & Squire looked like solid Super players stepping up too far last year. Both look like 6 or 7 out of 10 at international level with zero scope to get better. In contrast Luatua looked like 6/10 with a chance to one day be 8/10 - but only as an 8.
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I thought Vito was a massive loss ,
understand why he went too, but with him, I thought we had a ready made test player waiting in the wings
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I still think Akira Ioane will comfortably make the step up. A few rough edges, but much better raw material to work with.
No need to push the No.6 panic button just yet.
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But that is the problem we have in some areas. It is difficult to hold a ready made player in the wings for a long time. They will never earn the big bucks as a reserve, they don't get the sabbaticals etc.
A reserve/fringe AB is often still a top 10 player in their position in the world and can command a good deal overseas. -
Yeah a young guy like Akira would look ahead and think read and Kai no haven't got too much longer , that could be perfect timing for me if I get my act together.
Then Vito would think my time is now , I haven't got time to wait .
That's where you could say it's disappointing with luatua, he does have time to stake a claim later .
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Well, I'm a bit disappointed - I think M4L explained it best why.
Having said that, Read is no.1 and will be right through to the next WC. Luatua is much better at 8 than anywhere else, so he's not looking at even getting selected if they decide they don't need cover for Read.
Good luck to him, he's very good friends with my cousins and they say he is a super person. Hope he earns a bit of coin and comes back as a veteran player for Super rugby in the future.
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From the article in the Herald today:
Hansen has said in an interview that Luatua's representatives didn't communicate with New Zealand Rugby's contracts team as well as they could have, but Luatua said: "as far as I'm aware everything was on the table. They were aware of my situation.
"I feel like my team communicated that aspect. Whether or not that got to the higher ups I don't know. But my understanding is that New Zealand Rugby were aware of the other offers."
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/rugby/news/article.cfm?c_id=80&objectid=11801221
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Good to see he has thought about returning in future. Doesnt sound like there was much NZ Rugby could have done given his priorities.
@KiwiMurph yeah we just cant keep them all, people move (or don't) for a variety of reasons.
Money isn't always a factor (usually not for those that stay) easy for us to sit here and claim we would do this or that, when most of us have never been in the position to have to make that decision.
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Good to see he has thought about returning in future. Doesnt sound like there was much NZ Rugby could have done given his priorities.
@KiwiMurph said in Exodus 2017:
Good to see he has thought about returning in future. Doesnt sound like there was much NZ Rugby could have done given his priorities.
I'm pleased to see he's been pretty upfront that the cash was just too good to say no to.
That having been said, as I've said before, I'm never happy with anyone leaving to play overseas - especially, when there are important roles they could still be playing here.
They are cashing in on the intellectual property that pretty much all of us have contributed to developing in one way or another.
