The Silver Fern

All I’ve heard is that Big Jim looks to be in. Holland in. No blackadder.
Fusitua in. Proctor in. Reiko as a wing/centre.
Either Christian Lio Willie or Hoskins. Still have made the final call.
Forgot Kirifi too

Had a bit to do with him when he was a colt. Had a smile that would light up the room. Was a cheeky bugger. Very confident kid, not cocky. But the kid loved his footy and worked his arse off.
Bloody gutted when I heard this today.
25 is too young to die. Hug your kids and tell them you love them. Just don’t know when our time is up.

Shit eh. Who would’ve thought. My sources are correct.

My thoughts on why the crusaders win apart from the obvious coaching staff and players

Succession planning
Amazing academy
2 Universities in Christchurch
Razors theme’s
Extreme fitness levels

They know who will be 80-90% of the players in their squad in 3-5 years time. George bell , seb Calder , jack Jones, Jamie Hannah , Taylor Cahill , joe brial , Torian Barnes , Fletcher Anderson Joel Lam , Jone Rova , and others I’ve missed in the chch academy and Many more in Ta$man. They don’t get them all right , but they do a bloody good job.

Having 2 Universities in Christchurch is huge , they both offer rugby scholarships . Which is a massive attraction for out of town kids.
Effectively the crusaders bring them in and someone else pays for it.

I’ve had the privilege of watching razors theme videos for the last 6 years. They get better every year. I’m not going to go into details, but I can see how new players buy in straight away. Every person in the franchise is treated as an equal. All the office staff , kids etc are all involved in the theme.

Right from when they come into the academy they are subject to extreme fitness levels. They work bloody hard. Everything is gps tracked. Even when they’re at club trainings. They have a certain amount of kms they have to travel every week. If they haven’t done it , they do extra sessions on Friday afternoons.

Just my take and there’s plenty more too it. I’m sure I’ve missed quite a bit.

Some of the people on here have thrown the toys out of the cot. Razors a racist now.
Just cause your guy didn’t get picked.
Next you’re going to tell me Razor demanded the white collars back cause there wasn’t enough white in the jersey.
Give yourself an upper cut.

@Bones haha love your work.
I think Razor was always up against it , no matter how well he did. The nth island journos hammer him on everything. Which is par for the course and something I’m sure he expected.
I believe (don’t know) that he never got the coaching group he wanted at the start. He put forward the group that NZ rugby would want to see , to win the job. If you know what I’m trying to say. I think we may see ROG or Andrew Goodman at some stage.
I think he thought his theming and culture from the crusaders would work and it hasn’t. From what I’ve heard Ardie has been quite hard to deal with.
Did the All Blacks actually have that bad a year.?
Yes the loss to Pumas was embarrassing and shouldn’t happen , but they also beat Aussie and were very close against SA
SA are an absolute beast at the moment, potentially one of the greatest teams ever. We beat them in Auckland and got destroyed the week after.
Everyone forgets we were missing some of our stars for the EOYT and Jordie got injured as well. Cant imagine losing Holland just before kickoff helped either. A terrible Codie Taylor YC changed all momentum in that game.

I personally don’t care about rugby like I used to. Whatever it is , the product is not what it used to be. I thought Super and NPC were great last year. Always good when your teams win the championships though.
But international rugby is so over officiated. I used to get up and watch the games live. Now I just watch recorded when i wake up.
Whatever the warriors and NRL have done is working. But rugby people will never accept that.
These are just my thoughts and I’m slightly hungover so not my best work. Happy new year to everyone on here. Let’s hope Razor has a better year.

@mikey07 not true. He was catching up with family in chch before going back to Wellington. Then he was off to Japan.
Had a medical event and passed. Sounds like some sort of heart issue.

The team I put up was just my opinion. Don’t take everything I say as gospel. I know I’m normally right. I personally wouldn’t pick Havilii or George Bell.

Strange ain’t making the All Blacks.

Phew. At least my source was on the mark.

Funeral is at Linwood rugby club tomorrow at 2pm.
The All blacks will be meeting and training in Wellington.

Blackadder and Bell both been training with ABs this week.

Heard Preston to start.

I went back and looked specifically at George bridge . To see why he was almost invisible. Every kick off was kicked to the same side and Will Jordan caught and passed to QT. Then it went left and never got out to bridge. We then snapped back right and because they were so shit we invariably scored off that phase. The ball just didn’t go his way. As a crusaders fan I think he’s a bloody good player. As a All blacks fan I don’t think he is one of our top 5 wingers.
As for Sam Cane, the guy is a freak. If we never had the goat before him then he would be regarded as one of our best ever. Actually watch what he does off the ball. Watch how quickly he gets off the ground and back into the play. These are the things the coaches look for in a 7.

@nzzp I disagree with my crusaders mate above. It was a true title and we weren’t good enough. We knew the rules beforehand.

I just can’t wait for the first loss of the new coaching regime. My god are we going to hear you whinging c**ts then.

@Tim he definitely wanted the job. And was offered it last week. Then shafted this week.

@Jet well done on a great career.
But having kids is the greatest thing I’ve ever done. I didn’t start having them until I was 33.
So I got to travel the world and play rugby. Experience different cultures.
Now watching my kids achieve things because of what I’ve taught them . That’s way better than having a career and no kids IMO.
Just my opinion and life experience. I’m sure your happy with yours

He’s a bloody good kid. I actually got him over from Bristol. He stayed with me for a couple of weeks. He’s been playing pretty well for Sumner. Couple of Bath boys in chch too

@gt12 thanks mate. I only post stuff that I know is 100%. I’m sure I’ve posted somethings that haven’t come true. I know the Folau Fakatava one a few years ago. But he had signed with crusaders and then back flipped on them apparantly. I have a pretty good source on the inside. As does Chris. However I have no idea who the new coach is. The main rumours I’ve heard is Ross Filipo or Andrew Goodman.