2012 New Zealand Squads

[TRF Mr Fish]

Add them as they're released...

Chiefs:

Fullbacks: Robbie Robinson (Southland), Tim Nanai-Williams (Counties-Manukau).
Wings: Lelia Masaga (Bay of Plenty), Maritino Nemani (Hawke's Bay), Declan O'Donnell (Waikato).
Centres: Richard Kahui (Waikato), Aseli Tikoirotuma (Manawatu).
Second five-eighths: Sonny Bill Williams (Canterbury), Jackson Willison (Waikato).
First five-eighths: Aaron Cruden (Manawatu), Andrew Horrell (Hawke's Bay).
Halfbacks: Brendon Leonard (Waikato), Tawera Kerr-Barlow (Waikato).
Loose forwards: Fritz Lee (Counties-Manukau), Alex Bradley (Waikato), Liam Messam (Waikato), Tanerau Latimer (Bay of Plenty), Scott Waldrom (Taranaki), Sam Cane (Bay of Plenty).
Locks: Craig Clarke (Taranaki), Romana Graham (Waikato), Michael Fitzgerald (Manawatu), Brodie Retallick (Hawke's Bay), Kane Thompson (Hawke's Bay).
Props: Ben Afeaki (North Harbour), Toby Smith (Waikato), Alisona Taumalolo (Hawke's Bay), Ben Tameifuna (Hawke's Bay), Shane Cleaver (Taranaki).
Hookers: Hika Elliot (Hawke's Bay), Mahonri Schwalger (Taranaki).

Which gives us a starting line up of:
Smith, Elliot, Afeaki, Clarke, Fitzgerald, Messam, Waldrom, Lee, Leonard, Cruden, O'Donnell, Williams, Kahui, Masaga, Nanai-Williams

Of course who the second best lock is is still up in the air, loose forwards is a very contestable position (expect Cane to be given a lot of game time) and the second best wing is also contestable.

 

[Larksea]

I was suprised Bradley was signed. Given Messam can play 8 and there is a huge depth of flankers I didn't think 2 spec #8's were needed.

Would have liked to have seen Tim Mikkelson in as wing/15 cover. Both Nanai and Robinson are pretty small for fullback - Tim would have been an option with some size.

 

[TRF Mr Fish]

Of course last year they had Bourke anyway, so that was the case then too... I've always liked Bradley - always gets good go forward for the team.

And I agree about Mikkelson - better player than Robinson. Even Renata would be better...

 

[Darwin]

Blues

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Anthony Boric
Daniel Braid
Luke Braid
Charlie Faumuina
Jerome Kaino
Chris Lowrey
Tevita Mailau
Pauliasi Manu
Tom McCartney
Keven Mealamu
Brad Mika
Liaki Moli
Filo Paulo
Peter Saili
Angus Ta’avao
Ali Williams
Tony Woodcock

Gareth Anscombe
Michael Hobbs
Alby Mathewson
George Moala
Lachie Munro
Ma’a Nonu
David Raikuna
Rene Ranger
Benson Stanley
Sherwin Stowers
Isaia Toeava
Piri Weepu
Rudi Wulf​

 

[TRF Mr Fish]

Squads are nowhere near as exciting as they used to be...

 

[Dizzy]

Well, all the squads are sounding good so far apart from the Canes

 

[Darwin]

Just heard on the radio James Haskell will be playing for the Highlanders this season! Haven't seen this confirmed yet though. Assuming this is correct I presume he will be starting at 7 (with Thomson at 6 and Manu at 8).

Squads are nowhere near as exciting as they used to be...

Yeah, with the new contracting system you know 95% of the squads before they are officially announced.

I really like the look of the Blues squad: they have a quality tight 5 (Woodcock, Mealamu, Faumauina, Boric, Williams), and a talented loose-trio. As always they have plenty of talent in the backline: really glad to see both George Moala and David Raikuna selected too. Both are deadly with the ball in hand - Moala with his pace and power, and Raikuna with his elusiveness. It will be interesting to see what combination of outside backs the Blues settle on this season.

EDIT: The remaining 3 squads:
HURRICANES:

Jeffery Toomaga-Allen
Beauden Barrett
Tim Bateman
Michael Bent
James Broadhurst
Richard Buckman
Dane Coles
Jason Eaton
Chris Eaton
Reggie Goodes
David Hall
Jayden Hayward
Cory Jane
Daniel Kirkpatrick
Jack Lam
Alapati Leiua
Faifili Levave
Karl Lowe
Motu Matu’u
Ben May
Tristan Moran
Charlie Ngatai
TJ Perenara
Tusi Pisi
Mark Reddish
Julian Savea
Brad Shields
Conrad Smith
Chris Smylie
Andre Taylor
Jeremy Thrush
Victor Vito

CRUSADERS:

Nicholas Barrett
Tyler Bleyendaal
Daniel Carter
Wyatt Crockett
Ryan Crotty
Israel Dagg
Tom Donnelly
Andy Ellis
Corey Flynn
Ben Franks
Owen Franks
Robbie Fruean
Ben Funnell
Zac Guildford
Willi Heinz
Ross Kennedy
Quentin MacDonald
Sean Maitland
Tom Marshall
Richie McCaw
Patrick Osborne
Kieran Read
Luke Romano
Tom Taylor
Matt Todd
Joe Wheeler
Sam Whitelock
George Whitelock
Adam Whitelock
Luke Whitelock

HIGHLANDERS:

Kurt Baker
Josh Bekhuis
Jimmy Cowan
Nick Crosswell
Elliot Dixon
Tamati Ellison
Ma’afu Fia
Hosea Gear
John Hardie
James Haskell
Jarrad Hoeata
Andrew Hore
Chris King
Kendrick Lynn
Jamie Mackintosh
Nasi Manu
Bronson Murray
Chris Noakes
Siale Piutau
Kade Poki
Culum Retallick
Jason Rutledge
Colin Slade
Aaron Smith
Ben Smith
Lima Sopoaga
Adam Thomson
Doug Tietjens
Shaun Treeby
Telusa Veainu

 

[Muzzy]

Blues team looks weak, I have doubts about how Weepu will be for us at first five, and it kinda bothers me that we need to bring 3 guys from wellington as our half back, first five and second five, not a good look.

the Chiefs looks interesting, excited to see what Maritino Nemani is like, suprised to see Tikoirotuma was picked instead of Tokula

 

[Kiwiwomble]

hey darwin, a few names in the highlanders squad i hadn't head mentioned, Noakes? have you heard that?

who is third choice rake?

 

[Darwin]

Blues team looks weak, I have doubts about how Weepu will be for us at first five, and it kinda bothers me that we need to bring 3 guys from wellington as our half back, first five and second five, not a good look.

the Chiefs looks interesting, excited to see what Maritino Nemani is like, suprised to see Tikoirotuma was picked instead of Tokula

Where do you see the major weaknesses in the Blues squad? To me it looks like a very strong squad (on paper at least). Weepu may not have that much experience at 10, but he is surely a massive upgrade over Stephen Brett! If the Blues squad can remain fit (perhaps a big IF) they could very well be ***le contenders in my mind. However if they have a few injuries they may struggle, as they probably are lacking a bit of depth in some positions.

While I too am surprised to see Tikoirotuma picked ahead of Tokula, I think it is a good choice. Tokula looks good with the ball in hand, but he is a hopeless defender - he is even liability at NPC level. Tikoirotuma on the other hand not only offers a strong attacking game, but also a pretty good defensive game too from what I've seen (admittedly not a huge amount).

hey darwin, a few names in the highlanders squad i hadn't head mentioned, Noakes? have you heard that?

who is third choice rake?

Chris Noakes has been the standout 10 in Dunedin club rugby for a number of years. He's had a couple of chances with Otago, but has failed to step-up, and has had a couple of injury problems. He transferred to Bay of Plenty last year and had a pretty solid season with him. He has got a great tactic kicking game, and is a very good goal-kicker, but he does struggle to get the backline running at times. He's certainly got the potential to be a good Super Rugby player, but whether he reaches this potential is another thing!

The Highlanders have only named 2 hookers in their squad, which is the same number as Blues and Chiefs named (not sure why, as all teams named 3 last season). Whichever hooker is named in the wider-training group will probably get plenty of game-time (I'd expect it will be either Brayden Mitchell or Liam Coltman).

 

[ranger]

Well, the Hurricanes are a discrace. The amount of average Wellington players is a travesty. I hope Taranaki gets their own franchise with either Hawkes bay, east coast and Poverty bay or Manawatu and Wanganui/Wairarapa.

 

[Saintjay]

Not sure where the stuff has come from about James Haskell joining Highlanders, he seems happy enough playing rugby at his new club in Japan and Ma Nonu joinig him shortly.

 

[ranger]

The Japanese season finishes before the Super 14 starts. Thats why Nonu was allowed sabatical leave to play there while still under NZRU contract; because he will return to the Blues.

Apparently the Hask just really wanted to play Super 14 rugby, and has settled for a pittance of a salary just because he wanted to experience it. Incredibly lucky for the Highlanders, and tough luck for the Canes who really needed a player like that

 

[Kiwiwomble]

Chris Noakes has been the standout 10 in Dunedin club rugby for a number of years. He's had a couple of chances with Otago, but has failed to step-up, and has had a couple of injury problems. He transferred to Bay of Plenty last year and had a pretty solid season with him. He has got a great tactic kicking game, and is a very good goal-kicker, but he does struggle to get the backline running at times. He's certainly got the potential to be a good Super Rugby player, but whether he reaches this potential is another thing!

The Highlanders have only named 2 hookers in their squad, which is the same number as Blues and Chiefs named (not sure why, as all teams named 3 last season). Whichever hooker is named in the wider-training group will probably get plenty of game-time (I'd expect it will be either Brayden Mitchell or Liam Coltman).

yeah, sorry, I kow who Noakes is, I was just surprised to see him mentioned (i didn't realise it was the official squad) as i always thought he ran hot and cold for otago let alone in super rugby.

i'm hoping Coltman will be included in the wider training group, was really impressed with his performances for otago, could be a future leader for otago and the highlanders

 

[Darwin]

Not sure where the stuff has come from about James Haskell joining Highlanders, he seems happy enough playing rugby at his new club in Japan and Ma Nonu joinig him shortly.

Haskell's contract in Japan was apparently for a short period - this contract apparently runs out before the start of the Super Rugby season.

 

[Dizzy]

Well, the Canes don't look as bad as I was expecting.
Tusi Pisi is a great first five and that has been the Hurricanes downfall from the beginning of time is our first five.
I read somewhere earlier that Gillies Kaka had joined the Canes, but hes not on this list.

 

[Darwin]

yeah, sorry, I kow who Noakes is, I was just surprised to see him mentioned (i didn't realise it was the official squad) as i always thought he ran hot and cold for otago let alone in super rugby.

i'm hoping Coltman will be included in the wider training group, was really impressed with his performances for otago, could be a future leader for otago and the highlanders

Yeah I was pretty surprised to see Noakes there too, as I hadn't even heard his name mentioned as a possibility. Personally I wouldn't have picked him, but there really weren't that many first-five options available. The likes of James Marshall and Trent Renata would probably be other options, but neither inspire that much confidence either.

 

[donmcdazzle]

Well, the Canes don't look as bad as I was expecting.
Tusi Pisi is a great first five and that has been the Hurricanes downfall from the beginning of time is our first five.
I read somewhere earlier that Gillies Kaka had joined the Canes, but hes not on this list.

Na, the problem has always been a lack of a hard working tight 5. 1997 was the last time the 'Canes actually had a tight 5 who did all the hard work. The early to mid 2000's 'Canes made up for it with awesome backs and good loosies (Masoe/Collins/So'oialo).

'Canes look awful to me. They neglected so many players from within their region that could've done a decent job for them and just picked incredibly average Wellington players. It's criminal how many middling Wellington players are in there.

Glad to see Tikoirotuma get a nod at the Chiefs, sad to see Bradley picked over the likes of Oliver from Manawatu but I guess Rennie wouldn't have been too popular bringing that many Manawatu guys with him. My early calls about Bourke getting the chop were correct I see.

 

[donmcdazzle]

EDIT: The remaining 3 squads:
HURRICANES:

Jeffery Toomaga-Allen
Michael Bent
Chris Eaton
Reggie Goodes
David Hall
Daniel Kirkpatrick
Alapati Leiua
Faifili Levave
Motu Matu’u
Tristan Moran
Charlie Ngatai
TJ Perenara
Mark Reddish
Jeremy Thrush

All of the above are such average players. How the hurricanes picked these guys while neglecting their own talent bases is criminal.

 

[Kiwiwomble]

Yeah I was pretty surprised to see Noakes there too, as I hadn't even heard his name mentioned as a possibility. Personally I wouldn't have picked him, but there really weren't that many first-five options available. The likes of James Marshall and Trent Renata would probably be other options, but neither inspire that much confidence either.

I had heard talk of Glenn Dickson pinching first five/ fullback cover, he has a good boot but i'm glad he didn't, i always felt he was a bit slow at first five and it would have been a bit of a step backwards....althought Noakes isn't exactly the future is he?

with any luck we will see very little of the 3rd choice first five and lima and colin will have it sorted